Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 12 Jul 2018

1. May publishing Brexit blueprint at last

The Government will today publish its long-awaited “blueprint” for the UK’s post-Brexit relations with the EU, with new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab insisting that the document is respectful of the result of the 2016 referendum but will also serve the needs of business. EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the plans must be workable.

2. Thousands of police deployed for Trump’s UK visit

Donald Trump arrives in London tonight for his first visit to the UK as US president, triggering a huge security operation. Police are planning the biggest mobilisation of officers since the 2011 riots. Trump’s itinerary mostly avoids central London, where the bulk of the protests against his perceived racism, sexism and his treatment of migrants are due to take place.

3. Southgate: ‘England players came of age’

England manager Gareth Southgate said last night that his players “have come of age on the international stage” as he reacted to the 2-1 defeat to Croatia that ended the team’s World Cup run. Despite the disappointment, fans and commentators called for a hero’s welcome for a team that went further than any England side since 1990.

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. Thai cave rescue: movie and museum planned

The caves from which 12 boys and their football coach were rescued this week after more than 16 days trapped underground will become a “living museum”, Thai officials say. Two Hollywood film studios have said they are in separate talks to develop a film about the dramatic rescue of the boys from the Tham Luang cave complex by divers.

5. Hijacked cars set on fire in Northern Ireland

Vehicles including a bus were hijacked and then set on fire in Northern Ireland last night as police warned that loyalist paramilitaries were planning “serious disorder” over attempts to control their traditional Eleventh Night bonfires. Petrol bombs and missiles were thrown in Londonderry. Hundreds of bonfires were lit last night by protestants in Belfast to mark the annual celebration marking the 1690 Battle of the Boyne.

6. Papa John’s founder resigns over racial slur

The founder of the pizza chain Papa John’s has resigned from the company’s board after using the N-word in a conference call. John Schnatter used the racial slur in a media training session in May. Schnatter resigned as CEO last year after he criticised American football players for kneeling during the US national anthem to protest police treatment of black people.

7. Campaigner swims from Land’s end to Dover

A campaigner for better protection for the world’s oceans has set off to swim the 350 miles from Land’s End to Dover – along the entire south coast of England. Lewis Pugh hopes to manage the feat in just 50 days and will not be wearing a wetsuit. He said it was the longest swim ever attempted using English Channel rules.

8. Passengers kicked out of first class by rail boss

Southern Rail has had terrible publicity in recent years – and things have just got worse for the rail company after a senior manager of its parent company was photographed taking up two seats in first class on a packed, late-running train. Mark Boon, Govia’s head of network operations, told passengers with standard class tickets to leave the carriage and then placed his bag on the empty seat beside him.

9. Man cuts off world’s longest fingernails

The man with the world’s longest fingernails has cut them for the first time in 66 years. Shridhar Chillal’s nails, which have a combined length greater than that of a London bus, will now go on display in New York City. The 82-year-old, from the Indian city of Pune, decided to start growing the nails on his left hand as a schoolboy after being scolded for accidentally breaking a teacher’s nail.

10. Briefing: is Salisbury safe?

The deadly novichok nerve agent that killed a Wiltshire woman could remain active for 50 years, police have warned.

Last night Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, head of UK counterterrorism policing, told a packed public meeting in Amesbury that officers were working on the theory that Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley came into contact with the lethal nerve agent after opening a container.

He said that if “sealed in a container”, novichok “could last 50 years”, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Novichok poisoning: is Wiltshire safe?