Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 18 Sep 2017

1. Police question Parsons Green suspects

Police are still questioning two men arrested over the Parsons Green tube train bombing, which took place on Friday. Aged 21 and 18, they were arrested in Hounslow and Dover respectively. CCTV images have emerged showing a man carrying something resembling the bomb, some 90 minutes before its botched detonation.

2. May meets Trudeau for trade talks

Theresa May is travelling to Canada today for talks about a possible trade deal after the UK leaves the EU. The Prime Minister will meet her Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau. After seven years of negotiation, a trade deal between Canada and the EU comes into force on 21 September – and May hopes for something similar.

3. Hurricane Maria to follow Irma’s trail

Hurricane warnings have been issued for Caribbean nations including Guadeloupe and Dominica as Hurricane Maria strengthens out at sea. The storm is expected to make landfall in the islands late today and forecast to follow a similar course to Hurricane Irma, which devastated the region earlier this month, killing at least 37 people.

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4. London house prices fall by £18,000

House prices in London have fallen by the largest annual amount for ten years – 3.2% – and are also down £18,000 on average compared to last month, figures from property website Rightmove show. There is evidence of a particular slump in the luxury end of the market: prices fell by an average £300,000 on last month in Kensington.

5. PwC pays ethnic minority staff less

PwC pays its black, Asian and minority-ethnic (BAME) staff less, because most are employed in more junior roles, figures published by the accountancy firm show. BAME staff earn on average 13% less than other employees. Publishing the data is not a legal requirement but PwC said it was releasing the figures to speed up change.

6. Labour peer Tessa Jowell ‘has brain cancer’

Former culture secretary Tessa Jowell has brain cancer, her family have announced. The Labour peer, who stood down as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood at the 2015 election, has just celebrated her 70th birthday. Writing on Twitter, Jowell said: “More people living longer better lives with cancer is my birthday pledge.”

7. Handmaid’s Tale wins big at Emmys

The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian feminist novel The Handmaid’s Tale last night became the first series made by a streaming service, rather than a conventional broadcaster, to win the biggest award at the Emmys, Outstanding Drama Series. Donald Trump was the butt of many jokes by ceremony host Stephen Colbert.

8. LGBT student shot dead by US police

Police in Georgia have shot dead a student activist they say was armed with “a knife and a gun”. Scout Schultz, who identified as neither male nor female, was the president of the Pride Alliance at Georgia Institute of Technology. A video filmed by fellow students shows Schultz refusing to drop a knife and telling officers: “Shoot me!”

9. ‘Astronauts’ emerge from Mars simulation

A team of six ‘astronauts’ who have spent the last eight months in isolation on a Hawaiian volcano have emerged from their geodesic dome at the end of the study. After eight months living on freeze-dried and canned food, they immediately enjoyed fresh fruit at a buffet put on by Nasa, which ran the study to simulate a mission to Mars.

10. Briefing: Will interest rates rise this year?

The Bank of England paved the way to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade yesterday, after its main decision-making body said rising inflation and stronger than expected growth could lead to a rate hike “in the coming months”.

While the nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee, which is responsible for setting the UK’s base rate of interest, voted 7-2 to hold rates at 0.25%, it was talking in “much stronger terms” about an increase says the BBC.

In the minutes of its latest meeting, the nine policymakers said there was a “slightly stronger picture” for the economy since its forecasts last month thanks to signs of a firmer housing market, stronger employment and a rebound in retail and new car sales meaning “some withdrawal of monetary stimulus was likely to be appropriate over the coming months”.

Will interest rates rise this year?