Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 5 Nov 2018

1. Trump and Obama rally voters before US election

President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, yesterday sought votes for their parties in tomorrow’s mid-term US elections. Trump continued his anti-immigration rhetoric, saying the Democrats would turn the US “into Venezuela”. Obama warned: “Sometimes these tactics of scaring people and making stuff up work.”

2. May tries to calms fears of Brexit ‘stitch-up’

Theresa May spent yesterday phoning leavers in her cabinet, The Times says, telling them rumours she is close to agreeing a Brexit deal behind their backs are untrue. She is due to update ministers on the state of the negotiations later this week – and there have been claims she will present them with a draft deal already agreed in outline.

3. Armed forces to recruit soldiers from overseas

Britain’s armed forces are dropping a requirement that applicants to serve must have lived in the UK for at least five years – if they are from Commonwealth countries including India, Canada and Australia. The forces are struggling to recruit, with one official estimate suggesting they will make only 50% of their target this year.

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. Pittsburgh gunman linked to British far-right

It is being reported today that the man suspected of shooting dead 11 people in a Synagogue in Pittsburgh last month had been in contact with British neo-Nazis. Robert Bowers, 46, is thought to have contacted fellow anti-Semites on a social network called Gab. He later used an assault rifle to kill victims including a woman of 97.

5. US sanctions on Iran come back into force

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets yesterday, chanting “Death to America!” the BBC reports, in protest at the resumption of sanctions levied by the US today. The punitive measures, scrapped by Barack Obama in 2015, will hit oil exports, shipping and banking. Iran is hoping other nations will stand by the nuclear deal they signed.

6. Top lawyers call for a second Brexit vote

A group of 1,400 prominent lawyers has written an open letter to the Prime Minister telling her parliament need not be bound by the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum and calling for a second vote on Britain’s EU membership. At the weekend, more than 70 business leaders signed a letter to the Sunday Times calling for another vote.

7. Living wage to rise to £9, over inflation

The UK living wage, a voluntary measure adopted by 4,700 employers including Ikea and Aviva, will rise to £9 an hour – and £10.55 in London – giving 180,000 workers a pay rise above inflation. The national living wage, a government scheme initiated by George Osborne, will also rise next April to £8.21 an hour, from £7.83.

8. Tower of London lit up for WW1 display

The centenary of the end of the first world war was celebrated yesterday, one week early, with a display of around 10,000 flames burning in the dry moat of the Tower of London. A minute’s silence was observed and choral music and poetry were played. Sunday 11 November will be the centenary of the formal Armistice of 1918.

9. Fans mock statue of Mo Salah unveiled in Egypt

Football fans have been enjoying a new statue of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, shown in Egypt at the World Youth Forum. The artwork has prompted memories of the risible bust of Ronaldo unveiled in Madeira airport in 2017, with fans saying the new piece looks more like 70s singers Leo Sayer or Art Garfunkel.

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