Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 19 Feb 2017

1. Donald Trump attacks media at Florida rally

Donald Trump has launched another attack on the media at a "campaign rally for America" event in the state of Florida. The US President told the crowd the media did not want "to report the truth" and had its own agenda. He also defended the achievements of his presidency so far, and claimed that a spirit of optimism was sweeping the US.

2. Ecuadorean poll could send Julian Assange packing

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be expelled from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has been hiding since June 2012, if the country’s voters back the centre-right candidate in today’s presidential election. Guillermo Lasso warned last week that he would force Assange to leave his ground-floor room in the red-brick building in Knightsbridge, west London.

3. Slaughterhouse audits reveal hygiene horror show

One in four slaughterhouses are failing to take basic hygiene precautions to stop contaminated meat reaching shops. The failings leave consumers at risk of serious food poisoning illnesses such as E coli, salmonella or campylobacter. Audits found instances of carcasses coming into contact with the factory floor, often filthy with the debris of slaughter, and meat splashed with water containing faecal matter.

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4. Moscow 'plotted to overthrow European government'

Russia plotted to assassinate the prime minister of a European nation and overthrow its government last year, according to senior Westminster sources. Moscow intelligence officers directed an election-day plot to attack Montenegro’s parliament and kill the pro-Western leader, to sabotage the country’s plan to join Nato. The plot, which was foiled only hours before it was due to be carried out, would have caused heavy bloodshed.

5. Detective '120%' certain Edward Heath was a paedophile

The police chief investigating allegations that Sir Edward Heath was a paedophile is convinced the claims are "120 per cent" genuine, reports the Mail on Sunday. More than 30 people have come forward with claims of sexual abuse by the former Tory PM and are said to have given "strikingly similar" accounts of incidents to Wiltshire detectives – even though the individuals are not known to each other.

6. US begins 'routine' patrols in South China Sea

A US aircraft carrier has started what it calls "routine operations" in the South China Sea. The deployment of the vessel, with a fleet of supporting warships, comes days after China's foreign ministry warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty in the region. Beijing claims several contested shoals, islets and reefs in the area.

7. EU citizens could face legal limbo after Brexit

The European Union believes millions of its nationals living in the UK will be left stranded in a legal no man’s land after Brexit because of the weaknesses of the British immigration system. MEPs and senior European diplomats fear bedlam as the Home Office does not have the information or systems to select who can stay once the UK restricts access to nationals from the other 27 EU member states.

8. World Trade Centre terror chief dies in jail

The extremist cleric who is believed to have masterminded the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre has died in jail. Blind sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman was jailed for life for conspiring with those who carried out the New York City bombing, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others. He was also convicted of planning attacks on the United Nations and several bridges and tunnels.

9. Iraq launches offensive to liberate Mosul

Iraqi forces have begun an offensive to liberate the western part of the city of Mosul from Islamic State. The BBC says that "smoke rose over villages as hundreds of military vehicles, backed by air power, rolled across the desert towards the jihadists' positions" today. The government retook the eastern side of the city, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq, in January.

10. Geert Wilders says 'Moroccan scum' blight Netherlands

Extremist Dutch politician Geert Wilders launched his campaign to lead Holland yesterday by denouncing "Moroccan scum" whom he claimed "make the streets unsafe". The current frontrunner toured a market square in the small town of Spijkenisse, rallying voters with a call to "make the Netherlands ours again". He also spoke out against what he called the "Islamisation" of Holland.