Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 30 Jul 2019

1. Pound falls to two-year low amid Brexit fears

The pound fell to a two-year low of just $1.2230 against the US dollar yesterday, sterling’s worst valuation since Theresa May triggered the Article 50 Brexit process in March 2017. Experts say that Boris Johnson’s hard-line “deal or no deal” stance has spooked investors. No other major currency has performed as badly since Johnson became PM last week.

2. Police ‘must be investigated over abuse fraudster’

The Metropolitan Police officers should be investigated over their handling of the bogus VIP abuse ring claims made by Carl Beech, according to a retired High Court judge brought in by the force to review Operation Midland. In an article for the Daily Mail today, Sir Richard Henriques writes that search warrants were obtained unlawfully during the two-year investigation. Beech, 51, was jailed last week for 18 years for inventing the false allegations of murder and child sexual abuse.

3. Boy dies after being pushed under train

A boy of eight was killed by a high-speed train after he and his mother were pushed onto tracks at Frankfurt’s main railway station in a seemingly random attack yesterday. The boy’s mother survived by rolling into a gap between two platforms. The man who pushed them both was arrested but has refused to speak.

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4. Johnson arrives in Wales on tour of the nations

Boris Johnson is today making his first visit to Wales since becoming prime minister. Yesterday, the new Tory leader was booed in the street as he visited Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh. The Glasgow Herald notes that when talking to reporters, Johnson seemed unsure how many independence referendums on Scottish independence have been held.

5. At least 18 killed in plane crash in Pakistan

At least 18 people were killed when a small military aircraft crashed into a residential area of the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi early on Tuesday. The dead included 13 civilians, with a further 12 injured. Witnesses said the crash created a “huge explosion” and a fireball. Seven members of one family burned to death.

6. Ethiopia plants 350 million trees in a day

An Ethiopian government minister has announced that 350 million trees have been planted across the country in a single day, as part of a campaign to tackle climate change. The previous record for the most trees planted in a day was 50 million, in India in 2016. Ethiopia has pledged to grow four billion this summer and is encouraging all its citizens to plant at least 40 seedlings each.

7. Emmerdale actor ‘bit man in pub beer garden row’

An actor in long-running ITV soap Emmerdale bit a man during a row in a pub beer garden, a court heard yesterday. Mark Jordon, 54, who plays Daz Spencer, is accused of attacking Andrew Potts in Oldham in July 2018. The court was told that Jordon lashed out after Potts’s partner allegedly called his daughter a “slag”.

8. Climate activist Thunberg sailing to US on yacht

Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg will embark on a two-week journey from the UK to the US on a high-tech racing yacht next month, in order to attend a UN climate summit without resorting to plane travel. The 16-year-old, who started a wave of school strikes, is currently on a one-year sabbatical from school. She has become a global figure in the fight for action on climate change.

9. Love Island winners to share £50,000 prize money

The latest series of ITV2 reality TV show Love Island reached its climax last night, with Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea crowned the winners. Gill, a beauty therapist from Newcastle, will share the £50,000 prize money with O’Shea, a rugby player from Limerick. Their victory came as something of a surprise, as Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague had been the bookies’ favourites.

10. Briefing: who is Carrie Symonds?

Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds are officially moving into Downing Street this week.

The couple will live in the flats above No. 11 rather than No. 10, reports Sky News, noting that Symonds will be the first “live-in girlfriend” of a UK prime minister. So who is she and how did she meet Johnson?

Where is Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds?