Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 5 Sep 2018

1. Mervyn King: ‘Brexit approach is incompetent’

The former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has said that the UK’s preparations for Brexit have been “incompetent” and that it “beggars belief” that such a leading economy was being told to take a course of action or face catastrophe. Speaking to the BBC, Lord King claimed that the Government no longer has a credible bargaining position.

2. Hole in space station ‘may have been sabotage’

A tiny hole in the side of the International Space Station that caused the craft to lose oxygen until patched by astronauts was not made by passing debris, the Russian space agency says. Roscosmos believes the hole was drilled by a “wavering hand”, either in error on Earth, or perhaps in space by an astronaut who wanted to go home.

3. Elon Musk calls cave diver a ‘child rapist’

Billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk has repeated – and intensified – his groundless accusations of paedophilia against a British cave diver who helped save a trapped football team. In an email to Buzzfeed News, Musk said that Vernon Unsworth was a “child rapist” who took a “12-year-old bride”. Unsworth is planning to take legal action.

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4. Two-thirds of young women sexually harassed

Almost seven in ten girls and young women in Britain have been sexually harassed in public, a poll conducted for children’s charity Plan International UK suggests. Of more than 1,000 women aged 14 to 21 interviewed, 66% said they had experienced unwanted sexual attention or physical contact in public.

5. Labour adopts anti-Semitism definition in full

The Labour Party’s ruling committee yesterday decided to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, having previously objected to one example amid claims that it might stifle debate on Israel. Leader Jeremy Corbyn was forced to ditch an addition clarification that he had wanted to add.

6. Trump ‘wanted to assassinate President Assad’

Donald Trump urged his defence secretary to assassinate Bashar al-Assad and “kill the f**king lot” of his regime, following a chemical attack on Syrian civilians last year, according to a new book. James “Mad Dog” Mattis is said to have agreed with the US president during a phone conversation but then told his own aides: “We’re not going to do any of that.”

7. Visa debit card error sees customers charged double

Thousands of British debit card holders were charged double for some transactions last week, because of a software error with a type of card reader run by Lloyds Bank and First Data, it has emerged. Affected Visa customers were charged twice in pubs, shops and restaurants even though only one transaction showed up on their receipts.

8. Kevin Spacey will not be charged with 1992 assault

Actor Kevin Spacey will not be charged with an alleged sexual assault on a man in 1992 because it took place too long ago, prosecutors in California have decided. A second case that includes claims that Spacey attacked a man in Malibu in 2016 is still being considered. A case against Steven Seagal will also not go ahead for the same reason.

9. Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland recovered

A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and stolen in 2005 have been found, the FBI says. The sequin-covered shoes, one of four pairs made for the film left in existence and said to be worth as much as $2m (£1.6m), were taken from a museum in Minnesota. US authorities have not said how they were recovered.

10. Briefing: five dramatic political coups

Parliament has reconvened following a six-week recess, but Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have had little respite from party infighting, backbench grumblings and open hostility over the summer.

With talk of takeovers and oustings dominating the headlines, The Week takes a look back at some of the more prominent political plots in recent memory.

Five dramatic political coups in recent British history