Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 2 Jun 2018
- 1. Trump says North Korea summit will go ahead
- 2. MPs and peers to be sent Brexit avoidance map
- 3. Google profiting from 'abusive' tracking apps
- 4. Visa back at 'full capacity' after chaotic disruption
- 5. English countryside 'is being concreted over'
- 6. Obesity: ministers to outlaw 'guilt lanes' at supermarkets
- 7. Palestinian medic 'shot by Israeli soldiers' at border
- 8. Labour commits to wholesale overhaul of the NHS
- 9. Washington says China is 'intimidating' its neighbours
- 10. 'Brave' Benedict Cumberbatch saves cyclist in London
1. Trump says North Korea summit will go ahead
Donald Trump has announced that the 12 June summit with Kim Jong-un will go ahead as planned in Singapore. Speaking to reporters, the US President said the encounter could lead to several further meetings. "We are going to start a process," he said. "I think they’d like to see something happen and if we can work something out that will be good."
2. MPs and peers to be sent Brexit avoidance map
A roadmap to avoid Brexit will be sent to MPs and peers next week, reports The Guardian. The campaign group Best for Britain is pushing for a second referendum on whatever deal Theresa May agrees with the European Union. The group, backed by George Soros, says a referendum could be held within 17 working days of parliament legislating for one, meaning it could be held in December.
3. Google profiting from 'abusive' tracking apps
Google is cashing in on the sale of apps that are being used by abusive men to spy illegally on their partners, reports The Times. The apps, which track movements, are secretly installed on phones. It is estimated that they are used against at least 10,000 women in Britain annually. More than 3,000 spy apps are up for sale on Google’s Play Store.
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4. Visa back at 'full capacity' after chaotic disruption
Visa is operating at "full capacity", the company says, hours after major disruption. Millions of people were left unable to pay in shops, petrol stations and railway stations across Britain and Europe after an unprecedented crash in Visa’s payment system. Visa apologised and ruled out "malicious" activity as the cause of the disruption, which caused chaos at supermarket checkouts.
5. English countryside 'is being concreted over'
Conservationists say the countryside is being "concreted over" as it is revealed that greenfield land is being developed at the fastest rate for 25 years. The Campaign to Protect Rural England says farmland, forests and gardens are being swallowed up at an "alarming" rate. The group blames a slackening of planning rules for a surge in development in "wastefully low densities" in rural areas.
6. Obesity: ministers to outlaw 'guilt lanes' at supermarkets
The government will force supermarkets to ban "guilt lanes" at supermarket checkouts and end two-for-one offers on junk food. Amid a crackdown on child obesity, ministers are also planning a 9pm watershed on advertising products high in sugar and salt from 2020. They may also ban the use of cartoon characters and stars to promote junk food.
7. Palestinian medic 'shot by Israeli soldiers' at border
A young Palestinian woman has been shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza fence, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In the latest violence on the border, Razan al-Najjar, 21, was shot near Khan Yunis. She was a volunteer with the ministry, wearing a white medical uniform. Her death brings the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123.
8. Labour commits to wholesale overhaul of the NHS
Labour has committed for the first time to a wholesale restructure of the National Health Service. The shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, said the party has officially rejected the prospect of working within the existing structures, calling them unfit for purpose. "It’s my intention that the next Labour government should bring forward legislation to reinstate the NHS," he said.
9. Washington says China is 'intimidating' its neighbours
China is intimidating its neighbours, US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said. Speaking in Singapore, General Mattis said Beijing is deploying missiles "tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion". He added that Washington wanted complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and stated the issue of US troops in South Korea was "not on the table".
10. 'Brave' Benedict Cumberbatch saves cyclist in London
The actor Benedict Cumberbatch has saved a cyclist who was being attacked, reports Sky News. The star of Sherlock was described as "brave and selfless" after he helped a food delivery rider who was being beaten up by a gang of people near Baker Street, the road where fictional detective Sherlock Holmes lived. An eye witness said: "If he hadn't stepped in, the cyclist could have been seriously injured."
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