Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 2 Nov 2018

1. Brexit donor Banks faces criminal inquiry

Arron Banks, a key donor to UKIP’s 2016 campaign for the UK to leave the EU, is the subject of a criminal investigation. The National Crime Agency is looking into claims that Banks received illegal overseas donations to fund the campaign, and hid their source. His Leave.EU campaign is also under investigation.

2. Rudd resignation inquiry blames civil servants

A leaked report on the events that led to Amber Rudd’s resignation from her role as home secretary has found that her downfall was the result of failures by her own officials. Rudd stepped down in April after it emerged she had given a misleading answer on immigration removal targets. But the internal report says civil servants had repeatedly given her incorrect information.

3. Trump ramps up immigration rhetoric

US President Donald Trump has ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric in the run-up to the midterm elections next week, promising to create “cities of tents” on the border with Mexico under a policy that will only grant asylum to those who ask for it at US borders. He also said troops would be justified in shooting any migrants who throw rocks at them.

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4. Extreme weather and heat increasing in UK

Britain has experienced more weather extremes in the past ten years compared with previous decades, according to the Met Office. The average hottest day in each year of the past ten was 0.8C warmer than in those from 1961 to 1990, while the coldest days and nights were 1.7C warmer. The figures are consistent with climate warming trends across the world.

5. David Cameron ‘wants return to front-line politics’

Former prime minister David Cameron is “bored sh**less” and wants to return to front-line politics, according to The Sun. The newspaper quotes anonymous “friends” of the 52-year-old, who say he would like to be foreign secretary. The Sun adds that Cameron may first wait for the fall-out from his memoirs, due next year, to die down.

6. Australian man jailed for encouraging suicide

An Australian man who encouraged his wife to take her own life so that he could collect an insurance payout has been jailed for ten years. Delivering the verdict at Queensland Supreme Court, Justice Peter Davis said appeared to be the world’s first such conviction. Graham Morant, 68, had denied talking wife Jennifer into taking her own life in 2014.

7. China bus plunge followed fight with driver

Security camera footage has revealed the driver of a bus which plunged off a bridge in Chongqing this week was fighting with a passenger moments earlier. At least 13 people died when the bus fell 164ft into the Yangtze River, and two others are still missing. Police said a passenger was angry because her stop was missed.

8. Usain Bolt leaves Australian football club

Eight-time Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has finished his trial with football team the Central Coast Mariners in Australia, and will not be staying on at the club. Bolt scored twice for the team in his first match – a friendly – but was not given any games during the season proper. Owner Mike Charlesworth said Bolt had “made great strides”.

9. Japanese island lost without anyone noticing

Japan’s ocean territory is set to shrink by half a kilometre following the discovery that a small island on its northern borders has disappeared. Esanbe island was last surveyed in 1987 – and at some point between then and now has vanished, presumably as a result of erosion. The island’s absence had not been noticed by locals.

10. Briefing: how and where money is being laundered

Security Minister Ben Wallace has pledged to take action against criminals laundering billions of pounds through public schools, football clubs and luxury-car sellers.

Announcing the crackdown, he said: “We have to make sure that when the [criminals] go out to try to spend their ill-gotten gains, that we all take a role in asking: does this pass the sniff test?”

How and where money is being laundered