Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 24 Feb 2019

1. 'Vicious' cabinet war as May 'certain' to delay Brexit vote

Theresa May “looks certain” to shelve plans for a Commons vote on her deal this week, says The Sunday Times. A “vicious” cabinet war has erupted over a plot by senior ministers to delay Brexit, with five cabinet colleagues turning on Amber Rudd, calling for her to be sacked after she openly vowed to defy the PM by voting to delay article 50.

2. Opioid epidemic sees UK 'hurtling towards US crisis'

Britain is in the grip of an opioid epidemic which kills five people every day, reports The Sunday Times. Senior doctors, drug specialists and MPs warn that the UK is “hurtling towards a US-style crisis” amid a huge rise in prescriptions of powerful painkillers and soaring addiction rates, overdoses and deaths.

3. Shamima Begum regrets speaking out over her plight

Shamima Begum says the British government is “making an example" of her by stripping her of UK citizenship. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph in the al-Hol camp in Syria, the 19-year-old from east London said: “I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That’s why I spoke.”

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4. Labour MP says support growing for second referendum

A Labour MP says support is growing among Jeremy Corbyn’s team and Tory cabinet ministers for his proposal to support Theresa May’s Brexit deal in exchange for a second referendum. Phil Wilson is tabling an amendment that backs the PM's current deal on the condition that it is put to another referendum, with the options of May's plan or remaining in the European Union. He claims shadow chancellor John McDonnell is “very keen”.

5. Deadly clashes in Venezuela over aid blockage

At least two people were killed when deadly clashes broke out in Venezuelan border towns on Saturday. The violence came after President Nicolás Maduro prevented humanitarian aid from crossing from Colombia and Brazil. As troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters at least two people were killed. Maduro sees the aid as a security threat.

6. NHS fines disabled teenager with mental age of two

NHS bosses fined a severely disabled teenager £100 and threatened her with debt collectors over a free dental checkup. Aimee Morrow, 19, who has a mental age of two, was accused of wrongly claiming a free check-up. Her father said: “The whole thing was an absolute farce. I told them I was not going to pay it and they could take us to court. I am just appalled by the levels of incompetence.”

7. Facebook attacked over data access to period tracker

Facebook is under attack over an app that reveals the period dates of its users. The Wall Street Journal says the social media giant can receive information from numerous apps even if the user does not have a Facebook account. These included the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker, which reportedly shared with Facebook when users were having their periods or when they were trying to become pregnant.

8. Kim Jong-un travelling by train to Trump summit

Kim Jong-un is travelling by train to Vietnam for his second summit with US president Donald Trump. State media reported that the North Korean leader was accompanied by Kim Yong-chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and by his sister Kim Yo-jong. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam.

9. 'KKK row' paper appoints African-American editor

A newspaper in Alabama that was attacked for an editorial calling for the Ku Klux Klan to “ride again” has named an African-American woman as its new editor and publisher. Elecia R. Dexter has taken the role at the weekly Democrat-Reporter in Linden, Alabama, from Goodloe Sutton, the longtime owner of the paper who wrote the offending editorial.

10. Major Labour donor hands money to the Independent Group

Sir David Garrard, a property tycoon who donated £1.5m to the Labour party under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, has become a donor to the Independent Group. Sir David is the first major Labour funder to donate to the IG, to which eight of the party's MPs defected last week, along with three Tories.