Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 25 May 2018

1. North Korea ‘ready to talk at any time’

North Korea has told the US it is willing to talk “at any time in any form” after President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a planned summit with Kim Jong Un. The secretive state also invited western journalists to witness what it said was the demolition of its nuclear site – although some reports say it had collapsed already.

2. Teenager faces 10 terrorism charges

An 18-year-old arrested in Harrow last week has been charged with 10 terror offences. Sudesh Mamoor Faraz Amman faces seven charges of handling information useful for terrorism and three of disseminating terrorist publications and will appear in court in London today. A 19-year-old woman and 18-year-old man were also arrested.

3. Canada restaurant explosion ‘was IED’

A blast in a restaurant in Mississauga, Canada, yesterday was caused by an improvised explosive device, police say. Three people are critically injured and 12 others were also taken to hospital. Two men entered the Bombay Bhel restaurant at 10.32pm local time and detonated the device, fleeing the scene and remaining uninjured.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. Pardon for black boxer after 100 years

The first African-American to be heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, was given an official pardon yesterday for the ‘crime’ of travelling with his white girlfriend, more than 100 years after he spent 12 months in prison. US President Donald Trump signed the pardon in front of current heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

5. Harvey Weinstein to surrender to police

Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to hand himself over to police today. US media say he will be charged with allegedly forcing former actor Lucia Evans to perform oral sex on him in his office in 2004. More than 70 women have accused him of sexual harassment or worse. He denies all claims of non-consensual sex

6. Close result expected in Irish abortion vote

Polls are open today in Ireland for a national referendum on liberalising some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. The result in the once-in-a-generation vote is expected to be close, though the Yes campaign is slightly ahead in polls. At present, abortion is not permitted even in cases of rape, incest or fatal foetal abnormality.

7. MI6 rule change to welcome migrant children

As MI6 launches a new ad campaign aimed at increasing the recruitment of women and people from ethnic minority groups, it has changed its rules to allow the children of migrants to spy for the UK. Applicants will still be required to be British, but the necessity to have at least one parent who has been a British citizen has been dropped.

8. Data watchdog tells firms: ‘Don’t panic’

After a flurry of emails asking customers if they want to stay on mailing lists as an EU deadline for data protection approaches, the Information Commissioner’s Office is telling small firms not to panic if they have not yet complied. The data watchdog says it will be “fair and proportionate” as it enforces the new GDPR data rules.

9. WW2 bunker found under back garden

A roomy concrete bunker dating from the second world war has been uncovered beneath a back garden in Middlesbrough. Homeowner Christ Scott investigated what he thought was a drain cover during renovations, uncovering the concrete-lined, two-room shelter, which still contained furniture. He plans to make it a wine cellar.

10. Briefing: will this May bank holiday be the hottest ever?

A weekend of barbecues, beaches and sunbathing beckons, with temperatures expected to soar across much of Britain over the May bank holiday.

The south of England is expected to experience the highest temperatures - but will it be the hottest bank holiday ever?

Will this May bank holiday be the hottest ever?