Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 16 Nov 2018

1. ‘Defiant’ May ‘staggers on’ towards Brexit

Theresa May is “defiant” today, says the BBC, while The Times sees her as “lonely” as she “staggers on”. The Daily Telegraph thinks her days as leader are numbered. Yesterday, the Prime Minister insisted her vision for Brexit “delivers what the people voted for”. She will answer questions on the deal on LBC radio this morning.

2. Gove considers resigning after rejecting job

Environment Secretary Michael Gove is teetering on the brink of resignation, according to The Times and other newspapers, after surprising Theresa May yesterday by turning down the position of Brexit Secretary. Gove apparently said he would take the job only if he could renegotiate the draft Brexit agreement – but May demurred.

3. California: 631 missing after wildfires

The number of people classed as missing after California’s worst-ever wildfire is 631, police say. At least 63 people have died in the Camp fire in the north of the state, which broke out eight days ago, and nearly 12,000 buildings have been destroyed. Around 9,400 firefighters are still battling the blaze, and others that are still burning in the state.

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4. Khmer Rouge leaders guilty of genocide

Two former Khmer Rouge officials have become the first members of the brutal regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 to be found guilty of genocide. Nuon Chea, 92, was deputy to the leader Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, was the country’s head of state. The two men are serving life sentences for crimes against humanity, but not genocide.

5. Hockney painting sells for record £70m

A record auction price for a work by a living artist was set at Christie’s in New York yesterday, when David Hockney’s 1972 canvas Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90m (£70m). The painting, one of the 81-year-old Yorkshireman’s best known, is “one of the great masterpieces of the modern era”, says Christie’s.

6. EE and Virgin fined £13m for overcharging

Telecoms firms EE and Virgin Media have been fined £13.3m for overcharging customers who wanted to leave mobile phone or broadband contracts early. Regulator Ofcom says 400,000 EE customers were over-billed by a total of £4.3m, while 82,000 Virgin customers paid £2.8m too much. Virgin said it would appeal the finding.

7. ‘I’m a victim again’ says rights campaigner

A women’s rights campaigner who claimed a member of the House of Lords sexually harassed her says she feels “bullied and re-victimised” after peers decided not to suspend him. An internal inquiry found Lord Lester had committed an abuse of power, but Jasvinder Sanghera watched on as the Lords blocked his suspension.

8. Lennon killer ‘feels more shame every year’

The man who shot dead former Beatle John Lennon in New York in 1980 has told a parole board he feels “more and more shame” every year for the killing. A transcript of Mark David Chapman’s latest request for parole, made in August, was released yesterday. The 63-year-old says he has been transformed by Christianity.

9. Homeless Samaritan story ‘completely bogus’

A New Jersey couple and a homeless man “completely made up” a feel-good story that went viral and raised Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless man, $400,000 (£313,000) in crowdfunding donations. Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico insisted Bobbitt had given McClure his last $20 when she ran out of petrol. They are now facing criminal charges.

10. Briefing: is modern life raising our blood pressure?

The common belief that higher blood pressure is an inevitable consequence of ageing has been upended by a newly published study about two isolated Amazonian tribes.

According to the researchers, hypertension may instead be a result of certain aspects of Western lifestyles, “such as high levels of salt in the diet, lack of exercise and heavy drinking”, The Guardian reports. As the newspaper notes, high blood pressure is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Is modern life raising our blood pressure?