Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 19 Aug 2019

1. Johnson to meet Merkel and Macron after leak

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Germany and France this week, meeting Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, telling them “there must be a new deal to replace the failed Brussels deal” but still threatening a no-deal Brexit. Sky News points out the tour comes after the damaging leak of a Whitehall report on the effects of no-deal.

Operation Yellowhammer: ex-ministers accused of Brexit sabotage

2. Corbyn in Corby: Johnson is a ‘phoney outsider’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will today call for a general election, accusing Boris Johnson of being “Britain’s Trump, a fake populist and phoney outsider, funded by hedge funds and bankers”. Corbyn will speak today in Corby, a key marginal seat in the east Midlands, promising to do “everything necessary to stop a disastrous no-deal Brexit”

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What would the UK be like under Jeremy Corbyn?

3. Palace denies claim Andrew condoned sex abuse

Buckingham Palace has said the Duke of York is “appalled” by the crimes of his late friend, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who took his own life in jail this month. The statement, which denies Andrew condoned Esptein’s sex-trafficking, comes after the Mail on Sunday published video which it says shows Andrew in Epstein’s home in 2010.

Prince Andrew ‘appalled’ over Epstein sex scandal claims

4. Police appeal for help after Owen Jones attack

Police have appealed for witnesses as they investigate an attack on Guardian columnist Owen Jones, who was punched and kicked at about 2am on Saturday as he celebrated his 35th birthday in a pub near the newspaper’s offices in King’s Cross. Jones, a left-wing firebrand, believes he was targeted by right-wing extremists for his views.

5. Three injured by demolition of Didcot Power Station

The demolition of Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire, which closed in 2013 after 43 years of service, resulted in injuries to three people yesterday. Three cooling towers were collapsed by explosives and a piece of debris struck an overhead cable, which caused a telegraph pole to ignite near spectators, singeing the hair of children.

6. New drive to reverse declining vaccination rates

The government is to push to reverse a recent decline in vaccination rates, brought about by misinformed parents, urging GPs to promote late vaccination for children who have missed both doses of the MMR jab and asking social media companies to help. Three years after measles was eliminated from the UK, the virus has returned.

7. Trump confirms he is ‘looking at’ buying Greenland

US President Donald Trump has confirmed he wants to “buy” Greenland from Denmark, saying it would be “essentially a large real estate deal” and the territory is “strategically” interesting to the US. The Danish prime minister said the idea was “absurd” while Greenland’s own semi-autonomous government insisted the country was not for sale.

8. Pig hearts ‘will be used in humans by 2022’

The surgeon who performed the first heart transplant in the UK, 40 years ago, has told the Sunday Telegraph that pig hearts could be transplanted into humans by 2022. Sir Terence English told the paper the first pig-to-human kidney transplant was planned “before the end of this year”. He admitted it might anger animal rights activists.

9. Vegetable gag named funniest at Edinburgh Fringe

The world’s biggest arts event – the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – has produced its annual best joke, voted for by punters from a shortlist chosen by comedy critics, sponsored by TV channel Dave. The winning joke, by Swedish stand-up Olaf Falafel, is: “I keep randomly shouting out ‘broccoli’ and ‘cauliflower’ – I think I might have florets.”

10. Who was Harold Shipman?

A new BBC documentary series will explore whether attitudes towards the elderly, and respect for doctors, allowed Britain's most prolific serial killer to get away with his crimes for so long.

Who was Harold Shipman?