Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 20 Jun 2018

1. Report on Gosport hospital deaths out today

The conclusions of an inquiry into the deaths of hundreds of elderly patients in Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire come out today, 20 years after concerns were first raised on the number of painkilling injections prescribed there. Retired doctor Jane Barton is at the centre of the inquiry into failings between 1988 and 2000.

2. US pulls out of UN Human Rights Council

The US has quit the UN Human Rights Council, alleging it is politically biased. US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the Council was a “hypocritical and self-serving” body which “makes a mockery of human rights”. She added that Israel is “singled out in a way that no other country is singled out” by the 47-member group.

3. Five injured by battery explosion in Tube station

Five people were injured yesterday by an explosion at Southgate Underground station in west London. Police say the “minor explosion” was not terror-related but was caused by a short-circuited battery. Six-foot flames and a smell of burning rubber were reported by witnesses. Some injuries were caused when people ran in panic.

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4. Canada legalises recreational marijuana use

Canada has become the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalise recreational use of marijuana. The country’s senate voted in favour of the Cannabis Act yesterday, 52 to 29, despite opposition from conservatives and indigenous groups. The new law will come into effect by September. Medical use has been legal since 2001.

5. Ban mobile phones in schools, says Hancock

Culture Secretary Matt Hancock, who has his own eponymous social media network for those keen to keep up with his political work, has said schools should ban pupils from carrying mobile phones. However, he does not believe this should be enforced by legislation. Instead he says more headteachers should ban the handheld devices.

6. Microsoft staff ask firm to stop Border Patrol work

More than 100 employees of Microsoft have written an open letter to the tech giant calling on it to stop working with the US Border Patrol, as concern deepens in the US about the separation of families trying to enter the country illegally. In the letter, the staff say they “refuse to be complicit” in removing children from their parents.

7. African nation denies bankrupt Becker is diplomat

The Central African Republic has denied that German former tennis star Boris Becker is one of its diplomats, saying the passport he claims gives him immunity from prosecution over his debts in the UK is “a fake”. Civil servant Cherubin Moroubama told AFP the passport’s serial number matches one of a batch of passports stolen in 2014.

8. Japan fans impress by cleaning up stadium

Japanese football fans impressed their Russian hosts yesterday by cleaning up the stadium in which they watched their national side beat a South American team for the first time, using bin bags they brought for the purpose. The behaviour is not unusual, says the BBC, but happens after every match. Japan beat Colombia 2-1 last night.

9. Space-bound Bakewell pudding goes missing

A Bakewell pudding launched towards space by a primary school has gone missing. The local delicacy is somewhere in or above the stratosphere after being launched by pupils at St Anselm’s Preparatory School in Derbyshrie, with hopes it might reach 114,000ft. Tracking devices were attached – but these have since stopped working.

10. Briefing: what is Kim Jong Un doing in China?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has landed in Beijing for a two-day state visit to China, Chinese state media have announced.

It is Kim’s third trip to China this year, and comes a week after he met President Donald Trump in Singapore for a historic summit between North Korea and the US.

What is Kim Jong Un doing in China?