Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 7 Oct 2019

1. Macron gives Johnson week to overhaul Brexit plan

French President Emmanuel Macron has told Boris Johnson that the EU will decide at the end of this week whether a Brexit deal will be possible. The prime minister has embarked on a round of calls to EU leaders in a bid to persuade them that his ideas for the Irish border are workable.

2. Knife crime ‘rising fastest outside London’

Knife crime rates are rising faster in some regional towns and cities than in London, a new analysis of police data carried out by the BBC suggests. Overall, London remains the most dangerous part of England and Wales - but the rates of serious knife crime offences in areas including Manchester, Slough, Liverpool and Blackpool are increasing more quickly than in some of the capital’s boroughs.

3. Trump ‘erratic’ over Ukraine call scandal

Donald Trump’s public statements are growing increasingly erratic as an attempt to impeach him “builds”, according to The Guardian. The US president now says that he was told to make a controversial call to Ukraine by former adviser Rick Perry and that he “didn’t even want to make the call”.

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4. US to step aside for Turkey in northern Syria

In a major shift of policy, the US has said it will step aside in northern Syria to allow Turkey to carry out an operation against Kurdish militiamen. The invasion would leave Turkey responsible for all Islamic State prisoners in the area, according to a statement issued by the US yesterday.

5. Centre of Milky Way exploded 3.5 million years ago, say experts

A huge energy flare exploded through the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, around 3.5 million years ago, scientists now believe. A team from the University of Sydney say data from the Hubble space telescope proves the galaxy is much more dynamic, and less settled, than previously thought.

6. Family of stabbed teenager ‘can’t forgive killer’

The family of a teenager who died last year in Manchester after being stabbed in the heart by a friend have said they cannot forgive his killer. Joshua Molnar, now 18, has been acquitted of murder and manslaughter over the killing of 17-year-old Yousef Makki as both boys were carrying knives. Molnar is serving a 16-month detention training order.

7. Drummer Ginger Baker dies at age of 80

British drummer Ginger Baker has died in hospital at the age of 80, after battling heart problems in recent years. Baker began as a jazz performer but is best known for his work with Eric Clapton in Cream.

8. Graham Norton: ‘Telegraph made me nauseous’

Chat show host Graham Norton has said he stood down after 12 years as a Daily Telegraph columnist because the paper’s support of Boris Johnson and stance on Donald Trump’s supreme court pick Bret Kavanaugh made him feel “nauseous”. Norton quit one year ago.

9. Briefing: countries where smacking children is illegal

Scotland is on track to become the first UK country to ban parents from smacking their children.

Across the world, only a minority of countries have completely outlawed corporal punishment.

Countries where smacking children is illegal