Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 9 May 2016

1. PM warns Brexit could threaten peace in Europe

David Cameron is to warn today that peace in Europe could be put at risk if the UK withdraws from the EU. He will say that the country has regretted "turning its back on Europe" in the past. Former London mayor Boris Johnson, meanwhile, will make a "cosmopolitan case for Brexit" before boarding a "battle bus" to tour the UK for the Leave campaign.

Remain-voting City lobby group calls for 'dramatic Brexit U-turn'

2. BBC journalist expelled from North Korea

The BBC's Tokyo correspondent, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, has been expelled from North Korea for "insulting the country's dignity" in his reports. He was detained last Friday, along with a producer and cameraman, and questioned for eight hours. The BBC apparently decided not to report his detention until sure he was safe.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

North Korea detains another US citizen

3. Junior doctors enter new talks with government

Junior doctors and the government are to start fresh talks over contracts which the medics say are unfair and dangerous. The talks are a "small breakthrough", says The Guardian. Meanwhile, a petition urges the chief executive of Manchester NHS Trust not to impose the contracts even if ordered to.

4. TV Baftas: Wolf Hall director defends BBC

Film director Peter Kosminsky last night won a TV Bafta for his costume drama Wolf Hall and used his acceptance speech to warn the government was trying to "eviscerate" the BBC and this was "scary stuff". He received a standing ovation from the audience after saying a privatised corporation would only serve its shareholders.

Bafta TV Awards 2016: Graham Norton's diciest gags

5. Transit of Mercury visible in Europe

The planet Mercury has been making its way between the Earth and Sun, an event that happens only a few times every century and will not occur again until 2019. The transit, visible in most of North America and Western Europe and streamed live on the internet, was taking place between 12.12pm BST and 7.42pm BST.

6. Nationwide increases mortgage age to 85

Nationwide is to increase the age limit at which it will plan for mortgage loan repayments to 85, meaning a 60-year-old could now take out a 25-year mortgage. The increase comes after Halifax said it would increase its limit from 75 to 80 from today. The move reflects the economic reality of people living and working for longer.

Nationwide and Halifax extend mortgage age limits

7. Canada: Fire destroys 20% of Fort McMurray

A huge wildfire in the Canadian province Alberta has destroyed around 20% of Fort McMurray. The city is in the country's oil sands region and the fire has caused production to be halted or decreased at some oil plants. The fire has burned for a week but grew more slowly at the weekend. The city's 100,000 inhabitants have been evacuated

Canada declines Russia's offer of water bombers to help fight wildfire

8. Co-creator of Neighbours soap opera dies

Reg Grundy, whose name is familiar to British TV viewers from the credits of Australian soap Neighbours, has died at the age of 92. Grundy was the co-creator and producer of the series in the mid-1980s and also had a hand in Prisoner: Cell Block H and The Young Doctors. "Reg Grundies" is used as rhyming slang for underwear in Australia.

9. 64-year-old jailed for 1984 murder of Melanie Road

A 64-year-old father-of-four has been jailed for life after admitting the murder of 17-year-old Melanie Road in Bath 32 years ago. Road was sexually assaulted and stabbed as she made her way home from a nightclub in 1984. Christopher Hampton, who was caught by DNA evidence, changed his plea to guilty before the start of his trial. He must serve a minimum term of 22 years.

10. Briefing: Embryo breakthrough sparks fierce ethical debate

Scientists have kept human embryos alive in a laboratory for longer than ever before, but the major breakthrough has reignited an old ethical debate. Research teams from the University of Cambridge and the Rockefeller University in New York cultured the embryos for 13 days, almost double the previous record and past the point at which a foetus would naturally implant in the womb. "It opens a new window on the earliest stages of human development while pushing the limits of embryonic research," says the Wall Street Journal.

Human embryo breakthrough sparks fierce ethical debate