Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 17 Jun 2019

1. Tory leadership rivals debate without Johnson

Five of the six candidates vying to replace Theresa May as the next prime minister debated with each other on Channel 4 last night – alongside an empty podium to represent Boris Johnson, who refused to take part. The candidates repeatedly clashed over Brexit but, according to The Guardian’s John Crace, the clear debate winner was the empty lectern.

2. Four murders in London in four days

Police are increasing their presence on the streets of London following four murders in the capital in as many days. The Metropolitan Police said they were using “operational tactics in targeted locations to prevent further violence”. A man in his 40s was stabbed to death in Stratford early today, and two teenagers and a man in his 30s have died in separate attacks since Friday.

3. Hong Kong protester Wong calls for Lam to quit

One of the best known activists in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement has called on the territory’s leader Carrie Lam to step down, following the biggest demonstration in years. Joshua Wong spoke out after some two million people marched in the city yesterday to protest against plans to make it easier to extradite people to mainland China.

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4. Labour deputy to call for anti-Brexit stance

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson is calling on Jeremy Corbyn to position their party firmly against Brexit. In a speech to the Centre for European Reform think tank today, Watson will say: “Our members are Remain, our values are Remain, our hearts are Remain.” His intervention would have come ahead of a tricky meeting of Labour’s divided shadow cabinet, but members were told yesterday that the talks had been postponed.

5. Teachers to be trained to spot mental health issues

Theresa May is announcing today that all teachers in England and Wales are to get training to spot the early signs of mental health issues in children. The move is part of a package of measures aimed at prioritising prevention. NHS staff will also be encouraged to undertake suicide prevention training.

6. Painting cycle lanes is ‘waste of time’

The Government has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds painting cycle lanes on busy roads, according to the UK’s cycling and walking commissioners. In a letter to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the commissioners - who include Olympic champion Chris Boardman - say that cycle lanes that are not physically separated from other traffic are merely a “gesture” and do not make people on bikes feel safer.

7. UK ‘cryoegg’ to explore under Greenland ice sheet

British scientists are visiting Greenland this week to trial new sensors that can be placed under the 1.2 mile-thick ice sheet. Dubbed “cryoeggs”, the devices are designed to give researchers insight into the way glaciers move and how meltwater underneath ice behaves, in a bid to understand melting of the ice sheet.

8. Clooney impersonator arrested in Thailand

An Italian who allegedly posed as US actor George Clooney to sell clothes online has been arrested in Thailand along with his wife following years on the run. The pair, Francesco Galdelli, 58, and Vanja Goffi, 45, have been dubbed Italy’s Bonnie and Clyde and have been wanted by Interpol since 2013. They are also accused of a series of other scams and frauds in Italy.

9. Fatboy Slim launches exhibition of Smileys

Hundreds of items from a collection of Smiley memorabilia amassed by DJ Fatboy Slim are to form the centrepiece of a new art exhibition by the musician, real name Norman Cook. The exhibition, Smile High Club, opens in Lisbon on 21 June and will feature items including shoes, jewellery, clocks and prints bearing the iconic logo, which is believed to have been created by US artist Harvey Ball in 1963 - the same year Cook was born.

10. Briefing: who were the Central Park Five?

A new television drama about the so-called Central Park Five has been the most-watched series on Netflix in the US every day since it premiered on 31 May, the streaming service has announced.

Four-part mini-series When They See Us, created by Ava DuVernay, revisits the infamous Central Park jogger case of 1989, when five young men of colour were falsely accused of the rape and assault of a white woman in New York City’s Central Park. So what happened to the Central Park Five?