Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 9 Oct 2019

1. Johnson to meet Varadkar as deadline looms

Commentators are predicting that Boris Johnson will not agree a Brexit deal by the 31 October deadline for the UK to leave the EU, despite a meeting with Irish leader Leo Varadkar today. Varadkar told Irish broadcaster RTE that it would be “very difficult” for a deal to be struck because there were “big gaps” between the two sides.

Today’s newspapers: ‘Bullish Boris ready to walk away’

2. Trump refuses to recognise impeachment inquiry

US President Donald Trump is refusing to cooperate with the Democrat-led inquiry into possibly impeaching him for leaning on Ukraine to probe the business dealings of rival Joe Biden’s son. The BBC says the White House’s failure to recognise the inquiry puts the presidency and “perhaps the rule of law itself” at stake.

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Defiant Trump bars ambassador from testifying at impeachment inquiry

3. Turkey says US has handed over Isis fight

Donald Trump has handed over the fight against Islamic State (Isis) fighters in northern Syria to Turkey, according to leaders in Ankara, who say their forces will cross the border “shortly”. The surprise US decision to withdraw from the region, leaving Kurdish troops unsupported, was announced on Sunday.

US abandons Kurds in Syria: what it means for the Middle East

4. Hundreds of temperature records set this year

Analysis of data from the northern hemisphere shows that, in almost 400 places in a total of 29 countries, the highest temperature ever measured was recorded this summer. Some of the weather stations included drew on almost 40 years of observations.

5. Swampy the eco-protester back in court

Daniel Hooper, better known as eco-warrior Swampy, was back in court on Tuesday after being arrested for blockading an oil refinery in Wales in an Extinction Rebellion protest. The 46-year-old - who became famous back in the 1990s for his protests against the construction of new roads including the A30 in Devon - said the new wave of unrest had given him “hope” after a “quiet ten years”.

A history of civil disobedience

6. Humpback whale found dead in Thames

A 30ft-long humpback whale spotted in the Thames last week was found dead yesterday afternoon, nine hours after the last sighting. The animal was found motionless near the Dartford Crossing at Greenhithe. A post-mortem is to be carried out. Volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue had received reports that the whale was in trouble in shallow water.

7. Professor’s bad day improved by Nobel

A Swiss-born Cambridge University astrophysicist who discovered the first planet known to orbit a star other than our own sun says he was having a bad day when he learned he is to receive the Nobel prize for physics. Didier Queloz had problems with his bike and was struggling to get a new project past university bureaucracy when he got the call from Sweden this week.

Trio win Nobel physics prize for work to understand cosmos

8. Council houses in Norwich win architecture prize

The Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture award, has been given to a council housing project for the first time. The development of almost 100 ultra low-energy homes on Goldsmith Street in Norwich is a “modern masterpiece” according to judges. The homes are terraced and rented on secure tenancies.

9. UK ticket holder wins £170m Euromillions lottery

A UK ticket holder has won £170,221,000 on the Euromillions lottery, after the jackpot rolled over for five weeks. The ticket holder has not come forward yet and it is not known if it is an individual or a group.

10. Briefing: the world’s most prolific serial killers

The FBI has named convicted murderer Samuel Little as the most prolific serial killer in US history.

The 73-year-old is serving time for the murders of three women but has now confessed to a total of 93 - of which 50 killings have been conclusively linked to him by US authorities. He joins these other murderers on the list of history’s deadliest serial killers.

The world’s most prolific serial killers