Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 1 Aug 2018

1. Facebook uncovers plot to meddle in US election

Facebook says it has discovered several “inauthentic” accounts and pages on its social network that appear to be designed to influence the upcoming US midterm elections, in a manner similar to the supposed Russian plot to get Donald Trump elected in 2016. One page seemed intended to incite a clash between white supremacists and anti-fascists.

2. Trump campaign boss ‘put himself above the law’

Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, put “himself and his money above the law”, a court in Virginia heard yesterday on the first day of his trial for a litany of charges related to financial crimes. The court was told that Manafort enjoyed a lavish lifestyle that included a $21,000 watch and a $15,000 jacket made from ostrich, funded by bank fraud and tax evasion.

3. May to join Macron in holiday retreat for talks

Theresa May is to cut short her holiday in order to join French President Emmanuel Macron in his south of France holiday retreat for talks on Brexit. Yesterday Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt appealed directly to France and Germany, asking them to force the European Commission to strike a “sensible and pragmatic” Brexit deal.

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. Corbyn apologises over Holocaust event

Jeremy Corbyn has apologised for hosting an event at which a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp compared Israeli policy to the Nazi regime and a Palestinian activist said Israel had been “Nazified”. The Labour leader said that he had appeared alongside people whose views he “completely” rejects during the 2010 talk at the House of Commons.

5. ‘Lost’ Monty Python sketches found in archive

Several never-used Monty Python sketches have been found in the archive of former member Michael Palin, after the 75-year-old donated his papers to the British Library. Two were written for the comedy group’s 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but were not included. One features a Wild West bookshop, the other a pink knight.

6. Freemasons to accept men who become women

Freemasonry has been closed to women since its founding in 1717 – but the secretive organisation has now issued guidance saying they can be members if they were men at the time they were inducted. The new “gender reassignment policy” also says that women who become men may apply to become members of the group.

7. Gatwick Express’s ‘30-minute’ claim ruled misleading

Gatwick Express must no longer claim that its airport trains run “non-stop to Victoria Station in half an hour” unless the service manages that feat most of the time, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. The watchdog found that 20.1% of Gatwick Express trains were delayed between 30 April and 26 May this year. The service is run by Govia Thameslink.

8. Star Wars jacket set to fetch £1m at auction

The jacket worn by Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back is expected to sell for up to £1m when it goes under the hammer at a movie memorabilia auction in London. The 600 lots at the Prop House auction next month also include the hoverboard from Back To The Future Part II and Johnny Depp’s Edward Scissorhands costume.

9. Briefing: what is the ‘word gap’ and why does it matter?

The Government is launching a new initiative to address the “scandal” of children starting school in Britain without vital literacy skills.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds will today promise to halve within a decade the number of children lacking the required level of early speaking or reading skills - termed the “word gap” by education experts.

What is the ‘word gap’ and why does it matter?