Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 6 Aug 2017

1. UN unanimously passes fresh North Korea sanctions

The United Nations has agreed fresh sanctions against North Korea over its missile programme. Welcoming the vote, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said it was "the most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation". The resolution bans North Korean exports and limits investments in the country. It was passed unanimously.

2. Tax wealth or lose power, says former May aide

The Conservatives will lose the next election if they support "unbridled capitalism" and refuse to tax wealth to help the "struggling many", warns a former adviser to Theresa May. Writing in The Observer, Will Tanner, the former deputy head of May’s policy unit, said the Tories must back higher tax on sales of expensive homes, more rights for workers and curbs on immigration.

3. Milly Dowler's killer linked to 24 violent attacks

The murderer of Milly Dowler has been linked with a spree of unprovoked bludgeon attacks on women across Britain. Levi Bellfield, a former wheel-clamper from west London, is now linked to 24 violent attacks and rapes in the two decades before he was caught in 2004. Bellfield, who is serving two whole-life tariffs, is challenging his conviction for murdering schoolgirl Dowler in 2002.

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4. Children online time 'like junk food', says expert

Parents must ration their children’s use of social media and the internet "like junk food", says the children's commissioner. Speaking to The Observer, Anne Longfield said: "None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time. For those same reasons we shouldn't want our children to do the same with their online time."

5. Government 'will agree £36bn Brexit divorce bill'

Britain is will to pay up to £36bn to the European Union to settle the Brexit divorce bill, says the Sunday Telegraph. Three separate sources in Whitehall have reportedly confirmed the figure, dismissing previous claims that the Prime Minister would agree to a £50bn bill. The EU’s opening position is believed to be around €60bn - not €100bn as previously reported.

6. White House defends Trump's 17-day 'working vacation'

Donald Trump has defended his plans to spend 17 days at his New Jersey golf club. Taking to Twitter, the US President wrote that he was "working" while "long planned construction is being done at the White House". He added: "This is not a vacation - meetings and calls!" His aides insist that the trip is a "working vacation".

7. Worst day of the week for train punctuality revealed

Almost 50% of trains on Tuesday evenings arrive at least a minute late and 15.2% arrive at least five minutes late or cancelled, according to analysis from The Sunday Times. Upton, in the Wirral, was the worst station overall - every train of the 190 calling there during the two-week study was late. At 14 stations, including Weymouth, Dorset, more than three-quarters were late.

8. Transporting author says poor are pushed out of arts

Irvine Welsh says "poor people" are being pushed out of the arts. The Trainspotting author says that "a lot of rich kids" now go into the arts where they "use the connections that wealthy people have, that poor people don't have, to get established in these fields". The result, says Welsh, is that "you're getting a blanding out of the voices".

9. Usain Bolt beaten in farewell race by former doper Gatlin

Usain Bolt bowed out of athletics with his first loss in four years as American Justin Gatlin beat him in his 100m farewell race. Gatlin, who served a doping ban between 2006 and 2010, was loudly booed by the sell-out London crowd when it was announced he had clinched the world championship title. "I'm sorry I couldn't end it on a winning note," said third-placed Bolt.

10. Time magazine sued for gender and age discrimination

A co-founder of the Women’s Equality party is suing Time magazine for gender and age discrimination. Catherine Mayer’s law suit means the weekly magazine is the latest major media company to be embroiled in accusations of institutional sexism after the BBC controversy last month. In 2016, a series of high-profile sexual harassment cases pushed US TV giant Fox News into the headlines.

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