Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 6 Jun 2019

1. May and Macron launch new D-Day memorial

Theresa May is joining French President Emmanuel Macron in Normandy today to see the first stone laid of a memorial to the British soldiers killed during the D-Day landings and Battle of Normandy. Due to be completed within a year, the memorial will record the names of the 22,442 troops who died there in 1944, and is the result of two years of historical research.

2. Bridgend: fears for 1,700 jobs at Ford plant

Union leaders are meeting management at Ford’s Bridgend plant today, ahead of an announcement on the proposed closure of the engine manufacturing base. The plant, which has been operating for 40 years, employs 1,700 workers from across south Wales. Hundreds of further jobs at supply firms could also be axed if the plant is shut down.

3. Young ‘can no longer afford to move to cities’

High rents in English cities are forcing young people to stay in small towns with limited prospects, the Resolution Foundation has warned. The think tank says the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a new job and moving home has fallen by 40% over the past two decades.

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4. Gove: ‘I’m not wedded to 31 October Brexit’

Tory leadership contender Michael Gove said last night that he was not “wedded” to the current 31 October deadline for Brexit and insisted the UK must not be bound by an “arbitrary” date if it is to get the best exit deal. Leadership rival Rory Stewart said yesterday that there was no chance of negotiating a new deal by that date.

5. Insurer Aviva to cut 1,800 positions

Aviva is to cut 1,800 jobs over the next three years as part of a plan aiming at reducing costs by £300m a year. The insurance giant would not say how many of those jobs will go in the UK, where around half its 30,000-strong workforce are based. A new chief executive, Maurice Tulloch, took the reins of the firm three months ago.

6. Heathrow to permit liquids in hand luggage

Britain’s busiest airport is to end its ban on liquids and laptops being left inside hand luggage at security checks, in a move that will reduce waiting times. Heathrow Airport bosses say 3D security equipment is being installed that will be able to scan bags in more detail. The maximum quantity of 100ml per container of liquids or gels will still apply, however.

7. Ultimate limit of human endurance defined

US researchers say they have found a formula for the top limit of human physical endurance after studying data from a 3,000-mile run, the Tour de France and other ultimate athletic events. The team, from Duke University, say the average person can expend at most 2.5 times the body’s resting metabolic rate per day – around 4,000 calories.

8. Matt Hancock calls Jeremy Corbyn anti-Semitic

Conservative leadership hopeful Matt Hancock yesterday said that if Labour were elected, Jeremy Corbyn would be “the first anti-Semitic leader of a Western nation since the Second World War”. The jibe refers to claims that a blind eye has been turned to prejudice in Labour. The opposition party said the health secretary’s words were a “baseless attack”.

9. Need for unity on discussion of constipation

A team from King’s College London says a definition of constipation needs to be agreed between medics and patients, with doctors considering it a serious matter and sufferers less concerned. Medics don’t currently list straining on the toilet as a symptom. The charity Guts UK responded to the news by saying the “poo taboo is over”.

10. Briefing: how Eid al-Fitr is celebrated

Millions of Muslims around the world will be celebrating Eid Al-Fitr this week, following a month of fasting.

Eid al-Fitr - Arabic for “the feast of the breaking of the fast” - is when Muslims return to regular eating cycles and thank Allah for sustaining them during Ramadan, which they hope has “brought them closer to God”.

Eid al-Fitr 2019: everything you need to know about the Muslim festival