Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 12 Jul 2019

1. Greg Clark: no-deal Brexit to cost thousands of jobs

Business Secretary Greg Clark has urged his cabinet colleagues to avoid a no-deal Brexit, saying it would cost the country “many thousands of jobs”. Speaking to Sky News, he added: “Everyone knows that.” The intervention makes it “almost certain” that Clark will lose his cabinet position if Boris Johnson become Tory leader, according to the broadcaster.

2. Hunt urges UK envoys to continue ‘speaking truth to power’

Jeremy Hunt has reiterated his support for Sir Kim Darroch, the departing British ambassador to the US, in what The Guardian says is a “coded rebuke” to Tory leadership rival Boris Johnson. Hunt has written to all Foreign Office staff praising Darroch and urging them to continue “speaking truth to power and standing up for British interests”.

3. Google workers listen in on private conversations

Google has admitted that its workers routinely listen to recordings of conversations made by its Assistant artificial-intelligence system, following the leak of 1,000 voice recordings to Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS. The tech company is investigating the breach but insists that contractors only listen to the audio clips - many of which are recorded by users by accident - in order to better understand language patterns and accents.

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4. R. Kelly arrested again on sex crime charges

R&B singer R. Kelly has been arrested in Chicago on federal sex crime charges including child pornography, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice. The 52-year-old is already facing multiple charges of sexual assault and abuse, brought earlier this year after seven women including his ex-wife made allegations against him in a TV documentary.

5. Hunt: I’ll reverse cuts to Royal Navy if elected

Conservative leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has said he will reverse cuts to the size of the Royal Navy if he becomes PM. The pledge comes days after Iran tried to intercept a British tanker before being driven off by Navy frigates. Hunt has already promised to increase defence spending by £15bn over five years if he beats Boris Johnson to the job.

6. US politician refuses interview without chaperone

A Republican candidate for the Mississippi governorship has insisted a female reporter be accompanied by a male colleague if she wanted to interview him. Robert Foster, 36, said he had pledged not to spend time alone with any woman who was not his wife after reporter Larrison Campbell asked to shadow Foster on a 15-hour campaign car journey.

7. Woman arrested for living with mother’s corpse

A woman in Texas is facing up to 20 years in jail and a fine of $10,000 (£8,000) after police found the skeletal remains of her mother in their family home. The daughter, now 47, is alleged to have failed to provide adequate care for her 71-year-old mother, who died after suffering a fall in 2016. The unnamed woman then carried on living in their two-bedroom home with her own daughter.

8. Previously unseen Stanley Kubrick scripts reveal marital strife

The University of the Arts London has revealed it has received new material from the estate of venerated film director Stanley Kubrick, who died in 1999. The papers include three drafts of previously unseen 1950s screenplays, all of which relate to marriage difficulties. Kubrick was then in an unhappy marriage to his second wife.

9. Sotheby’s to hold auction of rare trainers

Sotheby’s is to devote an auction to rare trainers, for the first time ever. The sale in New York will include a sample of the famous Nike Moon Shoe, of which only 12 pairs were produced, for runners at the 1972 Olympic trials. The futuristic shoe has a pre-sale estimate of $160,000 (£128,000). Limited-edition sneakers produced by Adidas, Air Jordan and rapper Kanye West’s Yeezy collection are also going under the hammer.

10. Briefing: what stamp duty cut would mean for London

Plans by Boris Johnson to reverse the stamp duty hikes introduced five years ago could revive prime property prices in London and end the capital’s two-year market slump, new analysis has revealed.

Changes made by then-chancellor George Osborne in 2014 at the height of London’s housing bubble increased stamp duty on homes selling for between £925,000 and £1.5m to 10% and 12% for those over £1.5m.

London house prices: study predicts a 2.5% rise for 2020, but a 1% fall in 2021