Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 23 Aug 2019

1. Macron angers Brazil president with fires plea

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has angered Brazil’s leader Jair Bolsonaro, under whose regressive presidency there has been increased burning of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Macron said the fires were an “international crisis” that should be discussed at this weekend’s G7 summit in France. Bolsonaro accused him of political manoeuvring.

Brazilian wildfires: Bolsonaro accuses NGOs of burning rainforest

2. Travellers warned of long delays over bank holiday

Those travelling by car and train over this Bank Holiday weekend have been told to expect long delays. Hold-ups of up to an hour are expected on the M25 and M6 on Friday afternoon, while up to half an hour is likely on Saturday. King’s Cross station will be closed on Saturday and Sunday, as will the East Coast Main Line station of Newark.

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3. Four-in-one heart pill plan for developing nations

A trial in Iran suggests that a four-in-one daily pill could prevent a third of heart problems and strokes in developing or middle-income nations. The polypill, not yet licensed in the UK, thins blood, lowers blood pressure and reduces cholesterol. In richer nations, doctors are able to offer more individually tailored advice and medication.

4. Prince Andrew “got foot massage” in Epstein apartment

Prince Andrew was seen receiving a foot massage from a young woman in the New York apartment of his late friend, the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to the author Evgeny Morozov, who claims he heard the story from literary agent John Brockman. Andrew has denied knowing that Epstein was trafficking underage girls for sex.

Prince Andrew ‘appalled’ over Epstein sex scandal claims

5. Women complain of harassment at Edinburgh Fringe

Female performers handing out flyers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe are increasingly reporting sexual harassment, according to the actors’ union Equity. One performer told the BBC she had been groped and subjected to lewd comments which had unsettled her. Police Scotland said it had not received any complaints of sexual harassment.

6. Five killed and 100 injured by lightning in Tatra mountains

Five people were killed yesterday, and another 100 injured, by lightning strikes in the Tatra mountains, which straddle Poland and Slovakia. Some of those hurt have suffered serious injuries including burns and head wounds. A group of tourists at the summit of 1,894-metre Giewont in Poland were among those struck by lightning.

7. Fog warning ahead of record-breaking Bank Holiday temperatures

The Met Office warned of thick fog this morning across much of southern England, ahead of a Bank Holiday weekend which could set new temperature records. The chilly weather and mist is expected to give way to warmer weather this afternoon for much of the country, with a record-breaking 33°C forecast in the South on Monday.

8. Louis Theroux: Savile was “an education in grooming”

Presenter Louis Theroux spoke yesterday at the Edinburgh TV Festival about his failure to unmask sex offender Jimmy Savile when he interviewed him in 2000. Theroux, now 49, said being duped by the DJ gave him “an education into how grooming works and how abuse often takes place”. Victims came forward after Savile’s 2011 death.

9. Apple credit card: don’t let it touch wallet or jeans

Apple’s new credit card – sleekly branded and made of titanium – should be kept away from wallets, pockets, jeans, keys, coins and other credit cards for fear of damage, the tech giant says. The care instructions for the new card have prompted hilarity online, with one Twitter humorist suggesting making a knitted cosy to keep it in.

Apple Card: customers warned over damage caused by wallets and jeans

10. Briefing: can Trump end birthright citizenship?

President Donald Trump has again suggested his administration is working towards ending birthright citizenship, a constitutional right that grants citizenship to all children born in the US, regardless of their parents’ nationality.

So, what is it and will it be abolished?

Can Trump end birthright citizenship?