Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 22 Oct 2019

1. Johnson in final bid to ram through Brexit deal

The Commons will today vote on Boris Johnson’s last attempt to push through his Brexit deal in time for the 31 October deadline. If the UK is to leave the EU on that date, MPs will have to agree to a special fast-track timetable - but Labour has already said it does not believe this leaves enough scope to properly examine the proposals.

What powers does the House of Commons speaker have?

2. Canada: Trudeau wins election by narrow margin

Canada’s Liberal Party has held onto power in a close-run election, meaning Justin Trudeau remains prime minister but will now be heading a minority government. With voting continuing, the Liberals are expected to claim 156 seats, 14 short of a majority, while the Conservative opposition has 122.

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Justin Trudeau wins election - but not a majority

3. Abortion and same-sex marriage for Northern Ireland

Abortion has been decriminalised in Northern Ireland following years of campaigning – and same-sex marriage is also to be legalised, with the first weddings in February. The changes were voted for by MPs in Westminster, because the Stormont Assembly has not sat for more than 1,000 days, and came into force at midnight last night.

What is going on at Stormont?

4. Kurds jeer US troops leaving northern Syria

Kurdish civilians yesterday jeered and slow-clapped US troops as they continued their exit from northern Syria, abandoning their former allies. The Times reports that a “form of ethnic cleansing” is under way as Kurds flee the region for fear of Turkish incursions, with 200,000 already displaced by fighting in the past fortnight.

5. Facebook reveals Russian meddling in 2020 election

Facebook says it has taken down four foreign operations attempting to influence the 2020 US election - one created by Russia and three by Iran. The Russian campaign involved a fake Facebook profile and 50 Instagram accounts. These pushed both conservative and progressive views, but all attacked Joe Biden.

6. Former footballers ‘more likely to die of dementia’

Former professional footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to die from dementia and other neurological diseases than the general population, a new study suggests. Experts at Glasgow University have been investigating fears that heading the ball could be linked to brain injuries. However, the research also established that ex-pro footballers live longer on average and have a lower risk of heart disease.

Why everyone’s talking about football’s dementia timebomb

7. UK police to interview Harry Dunn suspect in US

Detectives from Northamptonshire Police are to fly to the US to interview Anne Sacoolas, the US diplomat’s wife suspected of killing teenager Harry Dunn in a head-on crash outside an airbase in August. Sacoolas fled the UK and claimed diplomatic immunity after the accident. Dunn’s family said the police trip was “perplexing”, because they had been told officials were deciding whether to charge her and bring on extradition proceedings.

Harry Dunn: Anne Sacoolas charged with death by dangerous driving

8. Electric cars to get green number plates

Fully electric cars may be issued with number plates with a green background, under under government plans to encourage drivers to buy zero-emission vehicles. The Department for Transport says the new licence plates would make the least polluting cars easily identifiable and help their drivers benefit from incentives such as free parking or access to clean air zones. The idea comes from Canada, where it is believed to have helped push up electric car sales.

Battery electric vs. hydrogen fuel cell vehicles: which are the better zero-emission cars?

9. England named second-best tourism destination

Travel guide Lonely Planet has named England the second-best country in the world to visit, with Bhutan in the top spot. The guide says that one constant amid all the Brexit chaos of recent years “has been the timeless treasures that England is famous for: the historic castles and cathedrals, the quaint villages and rolling countryside, and of course, the seaside”.

10. Briefing: what will happen to Syria?

In the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to hastily withdraw all US troops from Syria, much attention has been heaped upon the subsequent assault on Kurdish positions by Turkish armed forces and Washington’s withering diplomatic standing in the Middle East.

But by upending the balance of power in Syria, Trump appears to have left the door open for an old foe to take full advantage of the power vacuum that appears to be forming: Russia. What happens next?

What will happen to Syria?