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

1. Rock legend Chuck Berry dies at 90

Chuck Berry has died aged 90, police in Missouri have announced. The rock and roll legend was found unresponsive at lunchtime yesterday, St Charles County police said. Over a glittering seven-decade career, Berry produced a string of hits including classics Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny B. Goode. Mick Jagger, the Jacksons and Bruce Springsteen were among those to pay tribute to Berry.

2. Boris to fly to US to patch up relations with Trump

Boris Johnson will jet to Washington to smooth things over with Donald Trump after a row over intelligence threatened to damage relations with Britain. The Foreign Secretary will meet White House aides on Tuesday after GCHQ was accused by Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, of spying on Trump during his presidential campaign. Boris will also attend a summit in Washington to discuss plans aimed at defeating Islamic State.

3. Rape accusers to be spared courtroom cross-examination

Rape victims will be spared the ordeal of cross-examination live in court under reforms announced today. From September, victims will be able to give evidence in a pre-recorded video that will be played to the jury once the trial begins. Speaking to The Sunday Times, the justice secretary, Elizabeth Truss, said: "There is more we can do to help alleged victims in these cases."

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4. Cross-party group to attack May's grammar schools plan

Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs are uniting in an unprecedented cross-party campaign to try and block Theresa May’s flagship education reform. Tory former education secretary Nicky Morgan is teaming up with her previous Labour shadow Lucy Powell and the Liberal Democrat former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to condemn the grammar schools plans as damaging to social mobility, ideologically driven and divisive.

5. Boko Haram escapee speaks out about remaining captives

A schoolgirl who escaped from Boko Haram in Nigeria has urged the international community not to forget those still in captivity. The Chibok pupil told a conference in Dubai: "These girls are human beings, not something that we can forget about." April will mark the third anniversary of the abduction of more than 270 girls by the militant group which is still holding about 195 of the young women.

6. Don't like Brexit? Move to Scotland, says Sturgeon.

Nicola Sturgeon has invited anyone in the UK who is unhappy with Brexit to move to Scotland. The SNP leader said: "So let me issue this open invitation today: Scotland isn't full up. If you are as appalled as we are at the path this Westminster government is taking, come and join us. Come here to live, work, invest or study.”

7. Osborne's editorship to spark crackdown on second jobs

George Osborne’s controversial appointment as the editor of the London Evening Standard will trigger new crackdowns on MPs taking second jobs. An official review by the committee of standards in public life is now expected after the watchdog’s chairman told The Sunday Times he was "uncomfortable" with Osborne’s arrangement. A Labour MP is drawing up a report on second jobs that could ban MPs from any work while the Commons is sitting.

8. Princess Diana 'caught up with sleep' on honeymoon

Princess Diana used her honeymoon to catch up on sleep, according to letters she sent at the time. In one letter, composed on Royal Yacht Britannia crested paper and dated August 15, 1981, she wrote: "The honeymoon was a perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep...." Diana and Prince Charles married in July 1981, before separating in 1992 and divorcing in 1996.

9. Farron compares Theresa May to Trump and Putin

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron will accuse the Prime Minister of pursuing "aggressive, nationalistic" politics akin to those of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Speaking at his party’s conference, he will say that Theresa May is part of a "new world order". He will add that Winston Churchill's "vision for a world that achieves peace through trade, common values and shared endeavour [is] evaporating before our eyes".

10. Whitehall accused of neglecting the Cornish people

The Council of Europe 
has condemned the British government for neglecting the people of Cornwall. In a report examining the "protection of national minorities", the Council concludes that Whitehall must do far more for the benefit of its southernmost county. The measures suggested include reviving Cornish as a language and preventing the "Disneyfication" of treasured landmarks as Tintagel Castle.