Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 17 Jul 2018

1. Vote Leave referred to police and fined

Brexit campaign group Vote Leave has been fined £61,000 and referred to the police following an Electoral Commission probe. The investigation found that the group broke electoral law and exceeded its permitted campaign spending by almost £500,000 when it donated £625,000 to another pro-Brexit campaign, BeLeave.

2. Trump faces backlash after defending Putin

Donald Trump flew home to the US yesterday to face a backlash over his comments following his bilateral summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. Despite a consensus among US intelligence agencies to the contrary, Trump accepted Putin’s repeated assurances that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 US election.

3. May avoids Brexit defeat by three votes

Theresa May last night saw off a Tory rebellion on Brexit by the narrowest of margins – three votes. A total of 14 Tory MPs voted against the Government, in protest at concessions made to Brexit hardliners, but the bill passed by 305 to 302. The prime minister had earlier accepted amendments proposed by Brexiteers, prompting one junior minister to resign.

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4. Hosepipe ban for millions in England

A hosepipe ban is to be enforced in northwest England in a bid to to “safeguard essential supplies”, with reservoir levels low as a result of the long heatwave, water firm United Utilities (UU) has announced. The ban comes into force from 5 August and will affect around seven million people. Gardeners may still use watering cans. Other regional water companies said they had no plans to impose bans.

5. Pussy Riot jailed for World Cup protest

Four members of Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot have been jailed for 15 days for invading the pitch at the World Cup final, in a political protest against Vladimir Putin’s regime. The three women and one man ran onto the pitch wearing police uniforms, and one managed to high-five French player Mbappe.

6. Lava hits Hawaii tour boat, injuring 23

A tour boat in Hawaii was struck by flying lava yesterday, injuring 23 people. One passenger suffered a broken leg, while others sustained burns. All are being treated in hospital. Photographs show a large hole in the top of the vessel caused by the debris from Kilauea, which has been erupting since May. It has been claimed that the boat had left a safety zone.

7. Usain Bolt ‘to play football in Australia’

Champion athlete Usain Bolt is set to play for Australian A-League football team the Central Coast Mariners. Bolt’s agent said a six-week trial had been arranged “in principle”, while the team said the legendary runner could be taken on for the rest of the season “if all goes well”. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist retired from athletics last year.

8. Slime toys may be harmful to children

Some of the slime sold for children to play with contains unsafe levels of the chemical boron and could cause vomiting and impair fertility, Which? is warning. Of 11 products analysed for the consumer group, eight were found to be potentially dangerous. One of the slimes had four times the EU’s official safe level of boron.

9. Sharks to move into warmer UK waters

As many as ten species of shark not previously found in British waters will move into the warmer seas created by global warming, an expert has predicted. Ken Collins, of the University of Southampton, said blacktip, tiger and hammerhead sharks were likely to arrive around the UK within the next 30 years as temperatures rise.

10. Briefing: will the Zimbabwe elections be free and fair?

Zimbabweans are preparing to head to the polls in the first election since former president Robert Mugabe was removed from power in November last year.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, president and leader of the ruling Zanu-PF, is standing against more than a dozen other candidates, including Nelson Chamisa from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country’s main opposition alliance.

The vote on 30 July will be the first time in two decades that the ballot will not feature Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who died of cancer earlier this year.

Zimbabwe elections: will the vote be free and fair?