1. US backs Israeli claim that ‘Iran lied’ on nuclear deal
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has enthusiastically backed claims by Israel that Iran has reneged on its agreement to drop its nuclear ambitions. The assertions were made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised presentation, complete with powerpoint-style slides. Iran says the claims are rehashed and untrue.
2. Ashley Judd sues Harvey Weinstein for damaged career
US actor Ashley Judd has started a legal action against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, claiming he held back her career in retaliation for her rejecting his sexual advances. Weinstein denies all claims of non-consensual sex but has admitted misconduct. Director Quentin Tarantino, meanwhile, says Weinstein’s firm owes him $4m.
3. Home Secretary Sajid Javid sets out his stall
Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary, yesterday tried to put distance between himself and his predecessors, disowning the phrase “hostile environment”, which was used by them to connote a toughness on allowing migrants into the UK. He said he had been greatly affected by the Windrush scandal as a second-generation immigrant.
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4. Scotland brings in minimum alcohol price law
The price of high-strength, cheap alcohol in Scotland rises today as a law to increase the minimum price at which drink can be sold comes into force. The legislation was originally passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2012 but has faced legal challenges since. The idea is to target the drinks which problem drinkers favour, like cheap cider.
5. Undercover policeman faces prosecution
A woman who was in a relationship for six months with an undercover police officer who was using a false identity to infiltrate a campaign group of which she was a member is asking the Crown Prosecution Service to change its mind on charging him. ‘Monica’ says she would not have dated DC Jim Boyling if she had known his true motives.
6. Rice and pasta ‘could bring on the menopause’
Researchers at the University of Leeds say a diet containing lots of pasta and rice could bring on the menopause as much as one-and-a-half years earlier, while women who eat oily fish, peas and beans could delay the end of their fertility. Refined carbohydrates were found to increase the risk of insulin resistance, which can boost oestrogen.
7. ‘Gay cake’ bakery case reaches Supreme Court
The UK’s Supreme Court will meet in Northern Ireland for the first time today and tomorrow as it hears an appeal by a bakery which refused to make a cake celebrating gay marriage. Ashers Bakery in Belfast refused to make the cake for rights activist Gareth Lee in 2014. The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict next year.
8. Cinema apologises for ejecting Asperger’s sufferer
The British Film Institute on London’s South Bank has apologised after its staff forcibly removed a woman from a screening of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – her favourite film – because she was laughing too loudly. Tamsin Parker, 25, explained she has Asperger syndrome as she was ejected. Other filmgoers were appalled by the decision.
9. Sainsbury’s chief filmed singing We’re In The Money
Sainsbury’s has objected to ITV releasing video of its chief executive, Mike Coupe, singing We’re In The Money, from the musical 42nd Street, on the day he announced a merger with Asda. Coupe said he was composing himself for an interview and regretted the choice of song, which includes the line: “Let’s lend it, spend it, send it rolling along.”
10. Briefing: what can be done about the Irish border?
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is on a two-day visit to Ireland amid rising tensions over the future of the Irish border following Brexit.
“Twenty-two months on from Britain’s EU referendum, the Irish question has become the most intractable of Brexit dilemmas,” says the Financial Times.
Boris Johnson’s alternative to the Irish backstop
