Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 7 Aug 2016

1. Theresa May to reverse grammar schools ban

Theresa May will end the ban on grammar schools imposed almost 20 years ago. The prime minister reportedly sees the reintroduction of grammar schools - banned by Tony Blair in 1998 - as a crucial pillar of her social cohesion agenda. “If you’re a really bright kid you should have the opportunity to excel as far as your talents take you,” said a government source.

2. 'Trumpocalypse' as Republicans defect to Team Hillary

Donald Trump has been hit by defections after his bid for the White House suffered a disastrous week. Long-standing Republicans such as the Hewlett-Packard boss Meg Whitman and Mark Cuban, the technology tycoon who owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, have moved to Team Hillary. Insiders have dubbed the week “Trumplosion” or “Trumpocalypse” after Clinton rose to a 10-point poll lead and swept key swing states.

3. Climate scientists warn planet set to miss crucial target

Leading climate scientists have warned that the world will miss a key climate target. The experts say Earth is perilously close to breaking through a 1.5C upper limit for global warming, only eight months after the target was set. Scientists and campaigners claimed that the target would see the planet avoid desertification, heatwaves, widespread flooding and other global warming impacts.

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4. Gove behind 'Queen backs Brexit' story, says Clegg

Michael Gove was behind The Sun's "Queen Backs Brexit" story, claims Nick Clegg. The former deputy PM told a BBC documentary that "Michael Gove obviously communicated it - well, I know he did". Buckingham Palace complained about the story, which quoted an anonymous source as saying the Queen had "let rip" at Clegg about Europe at Windsor Castle.

5. Hundreds of thousands stuck in council tax poverty trap

Hundreds of thousands of poverty-struck households are having their benefits slashed every week because they are unable to pay their council tax bill. In a vicious circle, families are amassing such arrears, spanning years in some instances, that they are having their benefits cut, driving them further into poverty. In the worst affected city of Liverpool, total council tax owed to city by those with attachments to benefit now stands at nearly £10m.

6. Ecclestone captors sent video of beheading

The kidnappers who held Bernie Ecclestone’s mother-in-law had threatened to return her severed head in a brown shopping bag if a £28m ransom was not paid. The Formula One boss tells The Sunday Times the captors had emailed his wife’s family a gruesome video showing the decapitation of an unidentified woman. Aparecida Schunck was later rescued by police.

7. Mafia says AK-47 demand soaring amid terrorism

Eastern European mafia gangs say demand for their military grade rifles across Europe has soared in two years. The news comes as security experts say Islamist terror cells and "lone wolf" killers now consider automatic weapons the best way to bring mass murder to European streets. The AK-47 is the most requested weapon according to the gangs - a gun rarely used by ordinary criminals.

8. Rio Olympics are hit by new doping scandal

A new doping scandal has hit the Olympics after a Kenyan team boss was filmed offering to protect cheating athletes from the authorities. Major Michael Rotich promised to provide warning of drugs tests to athletes in return for a £10,000 bribe during an undercover investigation. Meanwhile, a senior International Olympic Committee member says the board showed lack of “moral leadership” over the Russia doping crisis.

9. Iranian nuclear scientist was hanged, says family

Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who was detained in 2010, has been executed. Amiri's mother said her son’s body had been returned to them with rope marks around his neck, indicating that he had been hanged. Amiri had been held at a secret location after returning from the United States, where he said he had been forcibly taken by the CIA.

10. Residents could get fracking payments under May plans

Households affected by fracking projects could be paid a proportion of the proceeds of shale gas projects, the government has suggested. A fund was unveiled in 2014 to set aside up to 10% of the tax revenue from fracking to benefit communities in the UK hosting wells. Theresa May is now considering paying the money directly to individual households instead of councils and local trusts.