Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 5 Jul 2019

1. Jaguar Land Rover to make electric cars in UK

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will today announce an investment worth hundreds of millions of pounds in electric vehicle-making at its plant in Birmingham, securing hundreds of jobs. The Castle Bromwich site is to produce an electric version of the Jaguar XJ, which will no longer be produced in diesel or petrol versions. The news has prompted accusations that JLR cried wolf over the dangers of a no-deal Brexit.

Why Jaguar Land Rover has changed its tune over Brexit

2. By-election pact targets Conservative majority

The Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid Cymru have agreed to work together at a by-election next month in Brecon and Radnorshire in an attempt to reduce the Conservative’s parliamentary majority to just three. Plaid Cymru and the Greens will not put up candidates in order to help Jane Dodds, Lib Dem leader in Wales, secure the seat for her party in the 1 August vote.

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Today’s newspapers: ‘Bullish Boris ready to walk away’

3. China ‘separating Muslim children from families’

The Chinese authorities are deliberately separating Muslim children from their families in the far western Xinjiang region so that they grow up without their faith and language, according to the BBC. An investigation by the broadcaster found that parents are being detained in camps for re-education, while their children are taken to orphanages or schools where they live in isolation.

China ‘separates Muslim children from families’

4. Iran summons UK ambassador over tanker seizure

Iran yesterday called the British ambassador to its foreign ministry to explain the the “illegal seizure” by Royal Marines of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar. Gibraltarian authorities say the tanker, called the Grace 1, was transporting oil to the Banyas Refinery in Syria, in violation of EU sanctions.

5. Lawyer who racially abused air crew found dead

A British human rights lawyer who was sentenced to six months in jail after being filmed racially abusing crew on an Air India flight was found dead days after being released from prison, police say. The lifeless body of Simone Burns was discovered at Beachy Head, in East Sussex, on 1 June. Friends told The Daily Telegraph that the 50-year-old, from Hove, had been targeted by online trolls.

6. County lines gangs ‘enslaving’ seven-year-olds

So-called county lines drug gangs are “enslaving” children as young as seven into criminality, according to a new report from The Children’s Society. The charity says the main age range targeted is 14 to 17. Children are routinely harmed, threatened with harm or told their loved ones will be hurt if they do not help gangs sell drugs.

7. May ‘tried to block Johnson’s security clearance’

Boris Johnson was almost denied the full security clearance usually given to foreign secretaries when he held that office following a “row” behind the scenes, the BBC reports. The broadcaster says sources claim there was “nervousness over Mr Johnson’s lack of discipline, and hostility between him and Theresa May”.

8. Tree-planting ‘could remove two-thirds of emissions’

A worldwide campaign of tree planting could remove two-thirds of all the greenhouse gases that have been emitted by human activity, new research by a Swiss-led team suggests. The analysis found that there are more than four billion acres of treeless land worldwide on which 1.2 trillion native tree saplings could grow.

9. Trump addresses military at controversial parade

US President Donald Trump yesterday praised his country’s military at a controversial Fourth of July parade. He told a large crowd in Washington D.C.: “Together we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told, the story of America.” Trump had ordered that tanks be part of the parade on the National Mall but the vehicles had to stay on a side road amid fears they might damage the grounds around the Lincoln Memorial.

Unifying or waste of money? Trump’s Fourth of July event divides US

10. Briefing: who will be the next head of the IMF?

George Osborne is reportedly considering throwing his hat into the ring to become the next chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), replacing Christine Lagarde.

According to The Guardian, the former chancellor has “told allies he would be well suited to succeed Lagarde”, after it emerged this week that she has been nominated to succeed Mario Draghi as head of the European Central Bank.

Who will be the next head of the IMF?