Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 16 Apr 2018

1. May to justify Syria air strikes to MPs

Theresa May will face MPs’ questions in the Commons today on her decision to join the US and France in air strikes on Syria. The retaliatory attack, on Saturday, was launched in response to allegations of the Assad regime using chemical weapons on its own citizens. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday called for the introduction of a legal requirement for Parliament to be given a vote on all future UK military action overseas.

2. Trump ‘wants US troops out of Syria quickly’

The White House has said that Donald Trump still wants American troops to leave Syria “as quickly as possible”, following claims by French President Emmanuel Macron that he had persuaded the US president to keep a military presence in the war-torn country for “the long term”. The White House statement added that the US wants its allies “to take greater responsibility both militarily and financially for securing the region”.

3. Stephen Lawrence father: ‘I forgive killers’

Dr Neville Lawrence, the campaigner whose son was murdered by a racist gang in south London 25 years ago, has said he forgives the killers – some of whom have never been convicted of the crime after a bungled investigation. Lawrence said making the decision to forgive the men who killed his son was “one of the hardest things” he has done.

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4. Comey: Trump is ‘morally unfit’ for presidency

Former FBI director James Comey said yesterday that Donald Trump is “morally unfit” to be the US president, in part because he treats women “like pieces of meat”. In his first in-depth interview since he was fired by Trump last year, Comey told ABC News that Trump does not place a “high value” on truth.

5. Cross-party MP group pushes for second Brexit vote

A group of MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats is calling for a second Brexit referendum. The lawmakers, who include Labour’s Chuka Umunna and Greens’ Caroline Lucas, are avoiding the phrase “second referendum”, however. Instead, they are calling for a “people’s vote” aimed at giving youth a voice.

6. Channel 4 opens bids for regional headquarters

Channel 4 has asked regional and city leaders to make it an offer: the state-owned broadcaster plans to open three new centres outside London, one of which will be its official headquarters. The front runner is said to be Birmingham. At present, 30 of the channel’s 800 staff work outside the capital. It plans to move 300 jobs from London.

7. Philip Green remains defiant on BHS pensions pot

Sir Philip Green broke his silence on the BHS pensions scandal yesterday, telling The Mail on Sunday that selling the firm to bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1, one year before it went bust, was the “worst mistake of my life”. But the Topshop tycoon remained defiant, saying he was in no way to blame for the collapse of the retailer.

8. Full Metal Jacket actor Lee Ermey dies

Actor R. Lee Ermey, best known as the sadistic drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam war film Full Metal Jacket, has died at the age of 74. Emery was a drill and staff sergeant in the US marines when he was recruited to advise Kubrick on military procedure. Kubrick was persuaded to cast Ermey himself – and the role led to others.

9. Manchester’s ‘canal pusher’ strikes again

Stories of a serial attacker who pushes people into Manchester’s canals, long dismissed by police as urban legends, have surfaced again after a violent attack last week. A 34-year-old office worker was pushed into a canal in the city by a man he described as a “complete psychopath”. The victim said he was lucky to have survived the ordeal.

10. Briefing: is drinking wine good or bad for you?

Bon viveurs have been left reeling by reports that drinking ten glasses of wine a week can shorten life expectancy by two years.

Or to put it another way, you lose “15 minutes of life for each unit above the safe amount, the equivalent of smoking a cigarette”, says The Daily Telegraph’s science editor Sarah Knapton.

Is drinking wine good or bad for your health?