Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 21 Jul 2017

1. Turkey and Greece hit by strong earthquake

At least two people have died and 120 have been injured after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Greek island of Kos. The victims were tourists from Turkey and Sweden. Around 70 were injured by the same tremor in Bodrum, Turkey. Aftershocks have continued to hit the region.

2. Fox accepts two-year Brexit transition

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox says he accepts the need for a transitional Brexit phase possibly lasting "a couple of years". After previously arguing such a deal should last only months, Fox now says a longer period is "common sense" because there is "uncertainty" over securing a trade deal with the EU by March 2019.

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Brexit: Theresa May says ‘trust me’ to deliver

3. Trump 'may pardon aides in Russia inquiry'

Donald Trump is reportedly considering pardoning aides implicated in the inquiry on alleged Russian interference in the election campaign. The Washington Post said he was consulting advisers "about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself". Democratic Senator Mark Warner said the claim was "extremely disturbing".

4. Record number of flights to pass over UK

Air traffic controllers are expected to handle a record 8,800 flights over the UK today. There are expected to be 770,000 flights in UK airspace this summer, an increase of 40,000 year-on-year. The National Air Traffic Control Service industry body says drastic modernisation is needed to cope with increased numbers.

British skies are near to 'full capacity', says Nats

5. Tower Hamlets apologises for fining five-year-old girl

Tower Hamlets council has apologised to a five-year-old girl after she was issued with a £150 fine for selling 50p cups of lemonade to festival goers. The girl set up the stall in Mile End, east London, as thousands of music fans made their way to the Lovebox Festival at the weekend. Enforcement officers shut the stall down as she did not have a licence. The fine has been cancelled.

6. 'You're not one of us,' Grenfell Tower judge told

The judge heading the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire has been told he should resign because he is "not one of us". Former residents of the high-rise met Sir Martin Moore-Bick last night and told him his establishment background and the lack of diversity on his team meant they have no faith in him.

7. Severn Bridge tolls to be scrapped

Tolls on the Severn Estuary bridges linking England and Wales are to be scrapped by the end of next year, the government says. Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said free crossings would be a major boost to the local economy. However, a report for the government predicted halving the tolls would increase M4 traffic by 17%.

8. Linkin Park singer dies in apparent suicide

Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has died in an apparent suicide at the age of 41. His body was discovered hanging in a private house at 9am local time yesterday, the Los Angeles county coroner said. Linkin Park, which was formed in 1996, have sold 70 million albums and were about to tour.

Chester Bennington dead at 41: Twitter reacts

9. Neil Armstrong's moon bag sold for $1.8m

A bag used to collect rocks on the first trip to the surface of the moon has been auctioned in New York for $1.8m (£1.4m). The outer decontamination bag, used by Neil Armstrong on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, still contains traces of moon dust and small stones. It is the only item from the mission now in private hands.

10. Briefing: The nine ways you can avoid dementia

A third of dementia cases could be avoided if if more people looked after their brain health, according to the biggest-ever study into the causes of the disease. A group of 24 experts on ageing, led by University College London, "looked back at hundreds of research papers and analyses of the causes of dementia to come up with a life-plan which can dramatically cut an individual's chance of developing diseases like Alzheimer's," says the Daily Telegraph. "There are a lot of things that individuals can do and there are a lot of things that public health and policy can do, to reduce the numbers of people developing dementia," said Gill Livingston, professor of psychiatry of older people at University College London and a co-author of the report.

What is dementia and how can it be prevented?

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