Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 28 Jul 2019

1. Boris sets up no-deal war cabinet following poll bounce

Boris Johnson has set up a “war cabinet” to deliver Brexit “by any means necessary” by October 31 after Michael Gove, the minister responsible for no-deal preparations, warned that there was “now a very real prospect” of no deal. Meanwhile, a new poll found that replacing Theresa May with Johnson has given the Tories a 10-point “Boris bounce”.

2. Philip Hammond and Labour plot to block no-deal

Former Tory chancellor Philip Hammond held private talks with Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer last week, to discuss cross-party moves aimed at preventing Boris Johnson agreeing a no-deal Brexit. The Observer says the pair agreed to work together through the summer recess with other leading parliamentarians who oppose no deal, including former Tory ministers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve.

3. Trump accused of racist attack on black lawmaker

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused US President Donald Trump of “racist attacks” in his tweets about an African-American lawmaker. Trump described Democratic Rep Elijah Cummings’ majority-black district in Baltimore as a “rodent-infested mess”. He added that Cummings was a “bully” for criticising the treatment of migrants at the US-Mexico border.

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4. Police fire tear gas in Hong Kong protest clashes

Police fired tear gas during clashes at a banned rally in Hong Kong. As several thousand pro-democracy demonstrators marched to protest against suspected gang attacks that left 45 people injured last weekend, some threw bottles and rocks. Members of the pro-democracy movement accuse the police of reacting slowly to last weekend’s violence.

5. Jared O'Mara to step down following former aide's attack

The independent MP Jared O’Mara has revealed he will resign. The onetime Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, who defeated Nick Clegg in 2017, hit the headlines earlier this week when his former aide claimed he was “the most disgustingly morally bankrupt person I have ever had the displeasure of working with”. Another junior staffer accused him of sexually harassing her.

6. Authorities say dissident Republicans tried to kill police

Dissident Republicans have attempted to kill police officers responding to a report from the public, the authorities in Northern Ireland have announced. Investigators believe a viable explosive device discovered in Craigavon, County Armagh, was a bid to target members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In April, the journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed by a New IRA gunman while reporting on riots in Londonderry.

7. Women ‘eat two biscuits too many each day’

Women are eating “two biscuits too much each day” and must lose weight to curb their risk of cancer, says the chief medical officer. Professor Dame Sally Davies says: “We need people to think about [eating] a little less every day so that they’re stable — and [eating] a little less than that every day to steadily drop [their weight].”

8. US students ‘admit stabbing a Rome policeman to death’

Two US students have admitted stabbing a policeman to death in Rome after a drug deal went wrong, according to officials in Italy. Deputy brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega was allegedly stabbed eight times while investigating the theft of a bag. An investigator said two men snatched a bag from a drug dealer in Rome after he gave them a “different substance” instead of cocaine.

9. Ehud Barak ready for one last stab at Israeli politics

Six years after leaving frontline politics, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has announced his return to the fray. The 77-year-old has made an agreement with Nitzan Horowitz, the leader of the Zionist-left Meretz party, and Stav Shaffir, a parliamentarian who defected from Labour, to form a new party, the Democratic Union.

10. British teen stunned to come second in Fortnite championships

A British teenager has won nearly a million pounds after coming second in the Fortnite World Cup finals. Jaden Ashman from Essex will share $2.25m (£1.8m) with his Dutch playing partner. The 15-year-old told the BBC he was “stunned” to have finished so high. The online shooter game Fortnite has 250m users worldwide.