Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 30 Sep 2016

1. World leaders gather for Shimon Peres's funeral

World leaders including US President Barack Obama and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are gathering in Israel for the state funeral of former leader Shimon Peres. The former Israeli president died on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a stroke. The funeral has been surrounded with "unprecedented" security.

2. Philippines' leader Duterte vows to kill 'like Hitler'

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he was happy to be compared to Hitler, saying the Nazi leader had killed "three million Jews", while he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts. Duterte has authorised the extra-judicial killing of alleged drug dealers and addicts since his victory in this year's election.

3. Khan starts inquiry into London property

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched an inquiry into the impact of foreign investment on the capital's housing market, saying there were "real concerns" about rising costs and gentrification. The inquiry will determine the scale of the problem and help "understand the different roles that overseas money plays", he added.

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

4. Rosetta space probe to collide with comet

The European Space Agency will today crash its Rosetta space probe into Comet 67P, ending the spacecraft's 12-year mission in spectacular fashion. Rosetta will continue to transmit images as it crashes, with scientists hoping to get one from as close as 50ft from the surface.

5. Thirtysomethings half as wealthy as those in 40s

Britons in their early 30s are half as wealthy as people ten years older were when they were that age, the Insititute for Fiscal Studies says. Those born in the early 1980s have an average wealth of £27,000 each while those born in the previous decade had reached an average of £53,000 by that time of their lives. The credit crunch and recession has been blamed for the drop in wealth.

6. Senior lawyer for child abuse inquiry resigns

Ben Emmerson, the most senior lawyer working on the inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales, has stepped down, a day after being suspended because of "concerns about his leadership". It has also emerged that the next-most senior lawyer, Elizabeth Prochaska, quit her role on 15 September.

7. John Lewis boss quits to run as mayor

John Lewis boss Andy Street has resigned in order to run as the Conservative candidate for mayor of West Midlands. Street, who calls himself a "proud Brummie" was selected in May. Labour's candidate Sion Simon is currently an MEP for the area.

8. BBC thought Soo would sex up The Sooty Show

The BBC agonised over adding a female character to the hit 1960s children's TV show The Sooty Show, a new documentary has revealed. Sooty creator Harry Corbett lobbied for the change, but his producer said it would "introduce sex into a children's programme". Director general Hugh Carlton Greene eventually voted in favour of Soo joining the cast.

9. Wonder Woman 'obviously' queer says writer

Wonder Woman has "obviously" been in relationships with other women, says author Greg Rucka, who was the series' writer in the 2000s and then wrote about the superhero again this year, to mark her 75th anniversary. He added he had resisted pressure to make her sexuality totally explicit, because that would be "bad writing", but said it was "clear".

10. Briefing: Why Congress overturned Obama's 9/11 veto

The US Congress has voted to override President Barack Obama's veto of a bill allowing families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. The legislation "grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on US soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government", Reuters says.

Congress overrides Barack Obama's veto on 9/11 bill