Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 20 Sep 2017

1. Mexico: Huge earthquake kills 225

At least 225 people have been killed by a huge earthquake in Mexico, with the death toll expected to rise. The magnitude 7.1 tremor struck Puebla state, 76 miles from Mexico City, yesterday. More than 40 buildings in the capital have collapsed, including a school. Rescuers are digging through the rubble for survivors.

2. Maria: Puerto Ricans told ‘evacuate or die’

Hurricane Maria is bearing down on Puerto Rico, with residents warned to evacuate “or you are going to die” by the island’s safety commissioner. The category five hurricane has hit the southernmost of the British Virgin Islands after causing serious damage on Dominica on Monday, largely severing communications to that island.

3. Parsons Green bomb: Two more arrests in Wales

Two more men were arrested in Wales today in connection with the explosion on a London Underground train on Friday, bringing the total number of arrests to five. The two, aged 48 and 30, were held in Newport following the arrest of a 25-year-old man at a separate address in the city last night. Police have been given more time to question two men arrested in Kent and west London on Saturday.

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4. Brazil: Men arrested over kayaker’s death

Three men have been arrested in Brazil over the death of British kayaker Emma Kelty, who went missing last week while attempting to paddle from source to sea on the Amazon. Kelty, 43, was 42 days into her trip when she activated a distress beacon last Wednesday in an area notorious for river pirates. Her body has not yet been found.

5. NHS to offer drug denied to AA Gill

The NHS in England is to reverse its policy on a drug which can extend the life of lung cancer sufferers, offering it to them immediately after previously ruling it too expensive. Campaigners including the late restaurant critic AA Gill had called on the service to offer nivolumab, a pioneering immunotherapy which can extend life by months.

6. Trump’s UN ‘hate speech’ criticised

Some of the response to Donald Trump’s first address to the UN general assembly, in which he threatened to “totally destroy North Korea” and called Iran a “rogue regime”, is highly critical. Iran accused Trump of “hate speech”, while Sweden’s foreign minister said it was “the wrong speech, at the wrong time, to the wrong audience”.

7. William raises ‘massive question’ of drugs

Prince William yesterday asked a group of former addicts if they believed drug use should be legalised, saying it was a “massive question” which he “had to ask”. The duke did not give his personal opinion but thanked people he met at the Spitalfields Crypt Trust for giving him a “very useful little snapshot” of the issue.

8. Fallon considers medals for drone pilots

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon is considering awarding medals to military drone pilots, in a change of policy. At the moment medals are given on the basis of physical exposure to danger but with increasing use of unmanned aircraft, Fallon said recognition of achievement must “adapt”. Drones are used extensively against Islamic State.

9. Manchester police still using Windows XP

The second largest police force in Britain still relies on the outdated operating system Windows XP, it has admitted. Greater Manchester Police says 1,518 – around 20% – of its PCs use the software, released in 2001 and superseded by Vista five years later. These machines would be vulnerable to cyber-attacks, if connected to the internet.

10. Briefing: AI can detect Alzheimer’s a decade before symptoms show

Researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) programme that can detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease up to ten years before symptoms appear.

Developed by a team at the University of Bari, in Italy, the computer system scans the brain for “tiny structural changes” that indicate the early stages of the disease, reports Engadget.

AI can detect Alzheimer’s a decade before symptoms show