Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 31 Aug 2019

1. EU ‘wants to extend Brexit deadline’ claims report

The European Union wants to extend Article 50 to avoid a no deal Brexit, claims the Daily Telegraph, as Eurosceptic MPs allege Brussels is starting to “crack” under the pressure applied by Boris Johnson. According to the report, Emmanuel Macron is ready to “withdraw” the October 31 deadline, as the European Commission said another extension was “obviously a possibility”.

2. Donald Trump may have tweeted classified imagery

Donald Trump may have publicly released classified imagery after he claimed that Washington had nothing to do with the explosion of an Iranian rocket. The US president tweeted a photo of such high resolution that it prompted questions about national security. Asked if he had published a classified photo, he said: “I released a photo, which I had the absolute right to do.”

3. Trial date set for alleged architect of 9/11 attacks

The date of a trial has been set for Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged architect of the September 11 attacks. He will be tried, along with four other men, at a military court in Guantánamo Bay from 11 January 2021.The five men are charged with war crimes including terrorism and the murder of almost 3,000 people. If convicted they face the death penalty.

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4. Breakthrough means fillings may become thing of the past

Scientists may be ready to make fillings a thing of the past. Enamel cannot self-repair but experts in China have found that blending calcium and phosphate ions with the chemical trimethylamine in an alcohol solution causes enamel to grow with the same structure as teeth. The regrown tooth enamel may be tested on people in the near future.

5. Chancellor ‘voiced his anger’ to Boris over aide sacking

Sajid Javid “voiced anger” to Boris Johnson over the sacking of one of his special advisers by Downing Street, according to the BBC. Sonia Khan was frogmarched from Downing Street by police on Thursday after her security clearance was withdrawn. A Whitehall source said the sacking had created an “unhelpful political row” between the chancellor and Boris Johnson.

6. Robert Kennedy's assassin is hospitalised after stabbing

The man jailed for assassinating Robert Kennedy has been hospitalised after being stabbed by a fellow inmate in prison. A statement from the California corrections department said a man was stabbed on Friday afternoon at the Richard J Donovan correctional facility near San Diego. Government sources say it was Sirhan Sirhan, jailed for 50 years for killing Kennedy.

7. Counter-demonstrators spark disorder at Irish unity march

An Irish unity march in Glasgow sparked “significant disorder,” with riot police, mounted officers, a force helicopter and dog units deployed to quell the trouble. Police said the march through the city’s Govan area, organised by the James Connolly Republican Flute Band, was met by hundreds of “disruptive” counter-demonstrators at about 7pm. Glasgow City Council tweeted that the events in Govan were “unacceptable”

8. Twitter boss's account is hacked and hijacked

The Twitter account of Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive officer, was hacked yesterday. The attack became apparent when the account @jack began publishing a series of tweets from the hackers. The volley of tweets included racism, admiration for Adolf Hitler and a reference to “a bomb at Twitter HQ”. The offenders appear to refer to themselves as the “Chuckling Squad”.

9. Instagram blamed for rise in eating disorders

Instagram is responsible for the rise in eating disorders such as orthorexia, according to nutritional experts. Rhiannon Lambert, a nutritionist on London's Harley Street, told Sky News: “With the variety of influencers claiming that what they eat can heal something or solve something, that's not necessarily true and it can cause a condition to get even worse.”

10. Strictly Come Dancing ‘set to allow same-sex couples’

Strictly Come Dancing will reportedly allow same-sex couples to compete in the next series in 2020. A BBC source claims that after years of campaigning by viewers and judge Craig Revel-Horwood, bosses have backed down. “It has dawned on people at the BBC that the original British show looks a bit backwards in not having embraced the notion of a same-sex couple,” said the source.