Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 29 Mar 2017

1. Brexit: May signs letter triggering Article 50

Theresa May has started the Brexit process, signing a letter at Downing Street last night giving official notice of the UK's withdrawal from the EU under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. It was delivered to European Council President Donald Tusk at 12.30 BST today. May later told the House of Commons that now was the "moment for the country to come together".

Brexit: Theresa May says ‘trust me’ to deliver

2. Francois Fillon's wife charged in 'fake jobs' inquiry

French presidential candidate Francois Fillon's wife Penelope was yesterday charged with embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds and aggravated fraud after hours of questioning. It is claimed that she unlawfully took taxpayers' money for a fictitious job as her husband's parliamentary assistant.

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

3. Khalid Masood was 'apolitical and friendly'

Westminster attacker Khalid Masood's former employer says the knifeman was apolitical and friendly when he knew him. Farasat Latif, who managed Masood at a language school in Luton from 2010 to 2012, told the BBC that Masood expressed a dislike for radical Islamist preachers and had focused on his family after a violent criminal past.

Khalid Masood: Police unlock Westminster attacker's final text

4. Bob Dylan to accept Noble Prize

Bob Dylan will accept his Nobel Prize for Literature this weekend when he travels to Stockholm where he is giving two concerts. The 75-year-old will meet the academy in private. Dylan did not pick up the award in October, and has yet to deliver the lecture that is required for him to receive the £725,000 prize, but could provide a taped version.

5. 'Hillsborough law' to be presented to parliament

Former Labour cabinet minister Andy Burnham will today propose a "Hillsborough law" to make police forces and public authorities to act with "transparency, candour and frankness" or face imprisonment. His bill, which will be presented to parliament today, has been developed after the second set of inquests into the 1989 disaster.

6. Trump scraps Obama climate legislation

Donald Trump has signed an executive order repealing much of the climate change regulation put in place by his predecessor Barack Obama. He signed the document flanked by a group of coal miners in the White House, outside there were protests outside. Trump's Energy Independence Executive Order suspends measures enacted by Obama to protect the environment and encourage green industries.

Donald Trump sued by two states over business links

7. Laptop cabin ban 'ineffective', says IATA

Banning laptops and other large electronics on certain flights from the Arab world by the US and UK governments will not be effective as a security measure and will harm airlines commercially. airline trade group the IATA says. It was also critical that the bans apply only to certain airlines.

8. Marine 'always regretted' killing Taliban fighter

The wife of Royal Marine Alexander Blackman says he has "always regretted" killing a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011 and would change the events "in a heartbeat". Claire Blackman was speaking a day after it was revealed that her husband would be free within weeks after his murder conviction was downgraded to manslaughter.

Marine A: Alexander Blackman released from prison

9. 'Miraculous' discovery of Thailand tigers

Conservationists say it is "miraculous" that a previously unknown breeding population of the critically endangered Indochinese tiger has been discovered in a national park in Thailand. Fewer than 250 of the big cats remain in the wild. The discovery of a population with at least six cubs is said to show anti-poaching measures working.

10. Briefing: UK joins boycott of UN nuclear weapons ban

Britain, the US and France are among 40 countries that have boycotted United Nations talks on a worldwide nuclear weapons ban. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called the ban "unrealistic" and said there were "bad actors" who cannot be trusted, reports the BBC. "There is nothing I want more from my family than a world with no nuclear weapons. But we have to be realistic. Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?" she asked.

US and UK join boycott of UN talks to ban nuclear weapons