Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 22 Aug 2019

1. Buoyed up by Merkel, Johnson meets downbeat Macron

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in France today to meet President Emmanuel Macron, who yesterday damped hopes of renegotiating the Irish border backstop element of the Brexit deal, saying that was “not an option”. In Germany yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel gave Johnson 30 days to sort out an alternative to the backstop.

Emmanuel Macron plays down backstop hopes

2. Official figures under-counted EU migrants by 240,000

The Office for National Statistics has admitted underestimating the number of long-term migrants from other EU nations in the UK between 2009 and 2016 by 240,000, leading critics to say their figures should not have been used by governments setting policy. The service overstated how many non-EU migrants live in the UK by 170,000.

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3. MPs: people must stop driving to end pollution

A cross-party committee of MPs has said that “personal vehicle ownership” will have to decrease for the UK to hit its climate change targets, echoing Oxford academics who say even electric cars cause too much pollution. The Science and Technology select committee says that improved technology alone will not stop pollution problems.

4. WWF warns rivers used as ‘open sewers’ in England

Targets to reduce pollution levels in English rivers are unlikely to be met without tighter laws to stop their use as “open sewers”, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says. At the moment, just 14% of English rivers are said to be in “good health”, says the BBC, with the government aiming to raise the percentage to 75% by 2027.

5. Russians sign petition calling for pardon of murder sisters

More than 300,000 Russians have signed a petition calling on the government to pardon three sisters who, as teenagers last year, killed their father in his sleep after years of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan have no legal protection because there are no laws on domestic abuse in Russia.

6. Man with dementia ‘marries’ wife after forgetting wedding

A retired TV magician suffering from dementia was given a second ‘wedding’ to his wife of 12 years by friends and family after he forgot their first ceremony. Bill Duncan, 71, took aback his wife Anne, 69, by proposing, thinking she was his new girlfriend. She says he has enjoyed a “new lease of life” since the pretend ceremony last week.

7. German eight-year-old drives car at 87mph on motorway

A German eight-year-old broke down in tears when police found him parked at the side of a motorway after having driven his family Volkswagen at 87mph. The boy, reported missing by his parents, told officer he “just wanted to drive a little bit”. He had pulled over, put his hazard warning lights on and set a warning triangle in the road.

8. Channel 4 boss: we’re fighting against Netflix and porn

The chief executive of Channel 4, Alex Mahon, told an audience at the Edinburgh Television Festival yesterday that she is locked in a battle for viewers with “Netflix and porn”. Mahon made her joke while revealing the channel’s new shows, including one in which reality star Scarlett Moffat will live in Namibia with her family.

9. Hollywood property valued at $1bn sells for $100,000

An empty lot in the Hollywood hills with a commanding location above the mansions of Bel Air which was put on the market at $1bn (£820m) last year has finally sold for just $100,000 (£82,000). The plot, known as The Mountain, has been the subject of legal wrangling for years and it is not clear if the buyers will be allowed to build on it.

10. Briefing: the largest protests in history

The recent demonstrations in Hong Kong have seen an estimated two million people taking to the streets in the largest protests in the territory’s history.

The Week explores how their scale compares to previous demonstrations around the world.

The largest protests in history