Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 13 Oct 2019

1. Johnson to speak to EU leaders ahead of crunch summit

Boris Johnson will speak to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, ahead of next week’s crunch summit. “The message is: ‘Let’s finish this off,’” said a source. “The alternative is to agree a friendly version of no deal and finish it that way.”

2. Fifteen million patients had to wait a month for GP appointment

Patients had to wait a month before seeing their doctor in 15 million cases, according to a study in the Sunday Mirror. As a doctor warned: “The wheels are coming off,” it emerged 15 million appointments were delayed more than 28 days in the 12 months to August. Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “The Tories have spent nine years running the NHS into the ground.”

3. Death and destruction as historic typhoon strikes Japan

At least 10 people are reported dead as Japan recovers from its biggest storm in decades. Typhoon Hagibis pounded Japan's capital city of Tokyo and surrounding areas. It triggered floods and landslides as it hit the country with wind speeds of 225km/h (140mph). “The major typhoon has caused immense damage far and wide in eastern Japan,” said a government spokesman.

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4. John McDonnell is ‘Labour leader in all but name after coup’

John McDonnell has led a “silent coup” against Jeremy Corbyn and is now “basically the leader of the Labour Party,” says The Sunday Times. There are claims that the shadow chancellor has replaced the party leader in all but name after he put himself in daily charge of the Labour. “He’s getting his own people in, isolating and picking off the old guard around Corbyn,” said a source.

5. California becomes the first US state to ban fur

California will become the first US state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products under legislation signed yesterday by the governor, Gavin Newsom. The law will bar residents from selling or making clothing, shoes or handbags with fur, starting from 2023. Newsom also signed a law that bars most animals from circus performances.

6. ‘Grenfell law’ to be included in tomorrow's Queen speech

A new law that would force developers and landlords to comply with rigorous new safety standards will be proposed in the Queen’s speech tomorrow. The legislation will be designed to avoid a repeat of the Grenfell Tower disaster. There will also be measures to support the NHS and the police, which Boris Johnson claims will make the United Kingdom “the greatest place on earth”.

7. Men hospitalised after two stabbings in London

A man believed to be in his early 20s suffered multiple stab wounds in an attack at Westfield Shopping Centre in London. Police were called to the scene in Shepherd's Bush shortly after 7pm on Saturday. The attack came a matter of hours after a man was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in Whitechapel, east London.

8. Olivia Colman pinched a loo roll from Buckingham Palace

Olivia Colman, who plays the Queen in the The Crown, has admitted that she and her husband pinched a curious souvenir from Buckingham Palace when they attended a charity bash. “My husband stole some loo roll just to say we got it from Buckingham Palace,” she says. Colman says she thinks the Queen is “an extraordinary human being . . . however you feel about her, she’s been our constant”.

9. Kipchoge becomes first to run a sub-two-hour marathon

Eliud Kipchoge has become the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours. The 34-year-old Kenyan completed the 26.2 miles in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria. “This shows no-one is limited,” said Kipchoge. “Now I've done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me.”

10. Confusion as Trump now defends Rudy Giuliani

Donald Trump called Rudy Giuliani a “great guy” as pressure for an impeachment mounts. A day after he said he didn’t know if the former New York mayor was still his personal attorney, the US president said Giuliani “may seem a little rough around the edges but he is also a great guy and wonderful lawyer”.