Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 1 Oct 2019

1. Johnson ‘pushing EU to rule out Brexit delay’

Boris Johnson is leaning on the other EU nations to refuse to grant any requested extension to the 31 October Brexit deadline, The Times claims today. The newspaper also reports that senior British judges are planning for an emergency legal challenge if the prime minister fails to abide by the Benn Act, which requires him to seek such a delay if Parliament isn’t happy with his withdrawal deal.

2. Doctors ‘being sexually harassed on the job’

One in five doctors in the UK has either witnessed or suffered from sexual harassment at work, usually perpetrated by patients, a new survey suggests. The Medscape poll of 1,378 hospital doctors and GPs found the most common forms of harassment were being groped or repeatedly and insistently asked on a date.

3. Trump asked Australia to help investigate Mueller

Donald Trump recently called Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ask for help finding evidence to discredit the Mueller inquiry into his alleged collusion with Russia, it has emerged. The Australian government confirmed the reports amid claims that the US president and Attorney General William Barr have also asked officials in the UK and Italy for help investigating the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe.

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4. BBC journalist Hanna Yusuf dead at 27

BBC journalist Hanna Yusuf has died suddenly at the age of 27. Best known for breaking stories about so-called Isis bride Shamima Begum and working conditions at Costa Coffee outlets, Yusuf was born in Somalia and spoke six languages. A video that she made about her decision to wear a hijab went viral in 2015 after being picked up by other news outlets.

5. Opera star Jessye Norman dies at 74

World-renowned US soprano Jessye Norman, one of the few black singers to achieve fame in opera, has died at the age of 74. Born in the Georgia city of Augusta, Norman first made her name in Europe before debuting at the Met in New York in 1983. Her family said she died in a New York hospital of septic shock and multiple organ failure related to complications from a spinal cord injury that she sustained four years ago.

6. Disney confirms gay couple in Star Wars series

Disney has confirmed that two characters in one of its Star Wars spin-offs are a gay couple, as fans had suspected. Orka and Flix, voiced by Jim Rash and Bobby Moynihan, appear in the animated children’s series Star Wars Resistance. Executive producer Jason Ridge said: “They’re absolutely a gay couple and we’re proud of that.”

7. Iceberg weighing 315 billion tonnes breaks off Antarctica

An iceberg weighing 315 billion tonnes has broken off the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica - the biggest berg to calve there in more than 50 years. Measuring 631 square miles, the block of ice is around the same size as the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Identified as D28, the iceberg will have to be monitored and tracked as it poses a risk to shipping.

8. New study says cutting out red meat is pointless

Eating red meat might not be as bad for us as thought, according to a controversial new study that the BBC points out “disagrees with most major [health] organisations on the planet”. The Canadian study, praised by some academics as “rigorous”, found the link to cancer from processed red meat was not as strong as previously believed.

9. Vicar catches thieves ‘lead-handed’ on roof

A vicar has credited the power of prayer for the arrests of two thieves caught stealing metal from the roof of his church, in his words, “lead-handed”. The Reverend Dr Keith Brindle was holding an overnight prayer vigil against knife crime in his Wiltshire church when he heard thudding sounds and called the police.

10. Briefing: the pros and cons of private schools

Private school headteachers have criticised plans to abolish private schools under a Labour government.

Delegates at the party’s recent conference in Brighton voted to “integrate” private schools into the state sector, removing their charitable status, stripping them of tax benefits, and “redistributing” their endowments, investments and properties. The Week examines the pros and cons of private education.

Should private schools be banned? The pros and cons