Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 2 Jul 2018

1. Struggling high-street shops to shed 22,000 jobs

High-street retailers in Britain will shed nearly 22,000 jobs this year, according to BBC predictions based on latest data. Some 7,000 jobs have already gone and another 9,500 are due to be axed. A further 5,100 jobs are in doubt at Poundworld, which is in administration. In the first six months of 2018, 1,200 stores run by major chains have closed or faced the threat of closure.

2. Top Merkel minister may resign over immigration

Germany’s ruling coalition is under threat of fragmentation amid threats by the country’s interior minister to resign over the recent EU immigration deal arranged in Brussels. Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union, offered to step down last night but was persuaded by his party to have further talks with Merkel today.

3. Downing Street produces third Brexit model

No. 10 has produced a third model for the UK’s trade relations with the EU post-Brexit that is to be discussed by ministers at Chequers on Friday, the BBC reports. The details of the new plan have not been released, but it has been devised after Theresa May’s cabinet failed to agree on two options presented – one more drastic and one less so.

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4. Left-winger Lopez Obrador wins Mexico election

Left-wing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be Mexico’s next president, after his rivals conceded defeat with votes still being counted. Known by the acronym Amlo, the 64-year-old is a former mayor of Mexico City who has run with a promise to tackle the “evil” of corruption. He has also promised to double pensions for the elderly.

5. Survey: most believe NHS will not survive

A majority of Britons fear the NHS will not survive for another 70 years, according to a poll carried out by Sky News. A total of 68% of the 1,138 Sky digital customers surveyed predicted the end of the NHS, celebrating its 70th anniversary this week. A narrow majority of 51% said it provided better care than other EU systems.

6. Williams and Federer open Murray-less Wimbledon

Tennis greats Serena Williams and Roger Federer will both play today at first day of the 2018 Wimbledon tournament. But British two-time winner Andy Murray has pulled out, saying he was fearful of playing too soon after hip surgery. British No. 1s Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta will play their first matches on Tuesday.

7. Man trapped under water at weir dies

A man aged 25 died in the River Derwent, in Derby, yesterday after becoming trapped under a weir. Fire services said they were called out to help three men who had got into difficulties at a spot known locally as Pebble Beach. People across the country have been swimming outdoors as the heatwave continues to bring record temperatures.

8. Artificial ovaries to help cancer sufferers conceive

Scientists in Copenhagen have created an artificial ovary in a laboratory, raising hopes that women whose fertility is destroyed by cancer treatment may one day be able to conceive naturally. The team isolated early-stage follicles in ovarian tissue and grew them on a “scaffold” made of proteins and collagen until they made a functional “ovary”.

9. Cats choreographer Gillian Lynne dead at 92

Choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne has died in hospital in London at the age of 92. Lynne, who was involved in more than 60 West End and Broadway productions, will be best remembered for devising the dances for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. Her routines for that show have been performed 9,000 times in London.

10. Briefing: is there life in UKIP yet?

UKIP bosses are celebrating a reversal in their struggling party’s fortunes after gaining around 500 new members following their decision to join forces with three activists linked to the “alt-right”.

Having taken the reigns in April, new party leader Gerard Batten has “opened its doors to three controversial YouTube personalities”, The Independent reports.

Is there life in UKIP yet?