Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 19 Jul 2017

1. 'Russian hackers targeted UK on election day'

Russian hackers broke into UK energy companies on the day of the general election, says a leaked memo from the UK's National Cyber Security Centre. The document warns it has detected "state-sponsored hostile threat actors" targeting the energy and manufacturing sectors.

Energy firms 'hacked on UK election day'

2. Backbench MPs tell May to sack disloyal ministers

Theresa May has been told to sack any minister found to have leaked cabinet secrets or plotted against her. Three senior members of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers gave the Prime Minister their full support to re-establish discipline after days of damaging briefings.

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3. Chris Evans and Gary Lineker top BBC pay list

Chris Evans and Gary Lineker have been named as the two best paid BBC presenters after the corporation published details of its top stars' salaries for the first time. Evans earns more than £2.2m, and Lineker £1.75m. There are 96 presenters on the list, and two thirds are men. The top-earning female star was Claudia Winkleman, who earns less than £500,000.

BBC faces backlash from female stars

4. Trump held private meeting with Putin at G20

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had a private talk during a formal dinner at the G20 summit in Hamburg, the White House confirmed last night. It is not known what the two leaders discussed. President Trump dismissed earlier reports of a second meeting as "fake news".

Trump and Putin had second, undisclosed 'conversation'

5. June third-hottest on record as 2017 nears hat-trick

Last month was the third-hottest June on record, new data suggests, meaning 2017 is poised to complete a hat-trick of annual climate records, with 2015, 2016 and 2017 being the three hottest years since records began. The first six months of this year were also the second-hottest in 138 years.

6. Hidden credit and debit card fees to be banned

Fees for using credit and debit cards are to be banned from next year, saving consumers £500m a year. New rules will prevent retailers from adding extra charges when people are about to pay. Worst offenders are said to be airlines, travel agents, ticket booking websites, universities and councils. A Treasury spokesman said: "Rip-off charges have no place in a modern Britain."

Credit card fees to be banned from January

7. German 'Islamic State bride' found in Mosul

A 16-year-old German girl who travelled to Syria after being radicalised online has reportedly been found in Mosul, Iraq. Linda Wenzel "ran away from home" a year ago after her parents separated and she formed an online relationship with a man belonging to Islamic State. She was discovered in tunnels with other female fighters.

Runaway German girl found in Mosul ruins

8. Cod back on the menu after numbers rise

North Sea cod is once again at sustainable levels, says the Marine Stewardship Council. Numbers plummeted 84% between the 1970s and 2006, but stocks have risen fourfold after the introduction of measures such as larger holes in nets to allow young fish to escape. The council said it could now be sold with its "blue tick" label, indicating it was caught by Scottish and English boats and is "sustainable and fully traceable".

North Sea cod back on the menu

9. Six million must wait longer for state pension

Six million people will have to wait a year longer than expected to get a state pension, after the government brought forward a rise in the pension age. Those currently aged between 39 and 47 will now have to work until they are 68 before they qualify for the benefit. The increase in age was brought forward from 2044 to between 2037 and 2039.

10. Briefing: Is it time the UK decriminalised drugs?

Britain's drug strategy has a clear aim: to "safeguard [the] vulnerable and stop substance misuse". But critics say its outdated methods fail to get to grips with the problem. Announcing the new policy last week, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Britain's "tough law enforcement response" to drug use "must go hand in hand with prevention and recovery" - in other words, the legal fight against drugs will be mixed with medical programmes to help addicts. However, with Ireland, France, Portugal and others moving towards decriminalisation, the UK has become increasingly isolated in its approach. "We are unique among modern democracies in maintaining an approach based on nothing but prohibition," Peter Reynolds, president of Clear Cannabis Law Reform, writes in City AM. "In fact, we now stand closer to countries such as Russia, China, Indonesia, and Singapore. The only thing that separates us from countries with such medieval policies is our lack of the death penalty for drug offences."

Is it time the UK decriminalised drugs?