Yahoo News The 8 things you might have missed this weekend
Theresa May will stress today that she will not renegotiate the EU Withdrawal Agreement, Donald Trump is facing ridicule for suggesting fire-hit California should copy Finland in raking forest floors, and a landmark study has given new hope to peanut allergy sufferers.
Meanwhile, England have won their Nations League group with victory over Croatia, and Ireland beat the All Blacks in an epic victory.
If you've been away from a screen or newspaper all weekend or want a summary, here's a quick recap of the main events.
1. Brexit
Theresa May will confront the “gang of five” Cabinet Brexiteers on Monday by saying she will not renegotiate the EU Withdrawal Agreement, in a move that risks prompting fresh ministerial resignations.
The Prime Minister will use a speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to say the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU have been “agreed in full” and the only thing left to discuss is the future trade deal.
Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, is expected to convene a meeting on Monday with Michael Gove, Liam Fox, Chris Grayling and Penny Mordaunt to decide how they can press Mrs May for last-minute changes to the deal. They believe there is still time to negotiate alterations, such as giving Britain a unilateral right to end any “backstop” arrangement over Northern Ireland.
It comes at the start of a week fraught with danger for Mrs May, who could face a no-confidence vote as soon as Tuesday if 48 Tory MPs formally call for one. The DUP is also contemplating telling its 10 MPs to vote in favour of opposition amendments to the Budget legislation, in a move that would hugely undermine Mrs May’s authority.
2. Trump ridiculed for telling Californians to copy Finland and rake forests
Donald Trump’s weekend visit to fire-ravaged California has prompted a withering barrage of ridicule and anger after he suggested the state should copy Finland in raking forest floors to prevent a repeat of wildfires that have killed at least 77 people.
He claimed he had received the tip from the president of Finland, who promptly said he could not remember offering such advice.
“You gotta take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important,” said Mr Trump during his trip.
“I was with the president of Finland and he called it a forest nation, and they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don’t have any problem.”
But in an interview published in the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper, Sauli Niinisto said he told his American counterpart that the secret lay in an extensive monitoring system.
Authorities are still sifting through the charred wreckage of California's deadliest ever wildfire, searching for any signs of the 993 people now listed as missing after the Camp Fire tore through the mountain town of Paradise.
3. Peanut allergy study points to live-saving treatment
Peanut allergy sufferers have been given new hope following the results of the largest study of its kind in the world.
Children diagnosed with a severe allergy took part in a trial where they were given increasing amounts of peanut protein over a year.
The landmark trial found that participants not normally able to tolerate exposure to even a tenth of a single peanut could eventually cope with two whole peanuts.
It is believed that by gradually building up tolerance levels, allergy sufferers could protect themselves from accidental exposure.
Researchers from Evelina London Children's Hospital and King's College London took part in a study which suggests immunotherapy treatment, already used to treat pollen and bee sting allergies, could protect people from life-threatening reactions.
4. Violent protests over fuel price hike roil France
The tally of injured in assaults, fights, and stabbings during France's “yellow vest” protests against fuel price hikes has jumped to more than 400 after a restive night.
Fourteen of the injured were in a serious condition as the demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron, the French president, went into their second day.
One person died on Saturday during the protests, for which people are wearing high-visibility yellow vests and setting up road blocks across the country.
Of the 409 injured, 28 are members of the police and fire brigade, said Christophe Castaner, the interior minister.
About 3,500 of the estimated 288,000 people who took part in Saturday's protests stayed out overnight to continue demonstrating.
Diesel and petrol price rises, which are due to come into force in January, are part of Mr Macron’s bid to wean France off fossil fuels.
5. Swimmer dies in suspected stingray attack in Australia
A swimmer died after a rare suspected stingray attack off an Australian beach while another two people were mauled in separate shark encounters this weekend.
The 42-year-old's death came more than a decade after world-renowned "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed when a stingray barb punctured his chest while he was filming on the famed Great Barrier Reef.
The man was in waters off Lauderdale Beach, around 14 miles from Hobart in the southern island state of Tasmania Saturday when he "sustained a puncture wound to his lower abdomen... possibly inflicted by a marine animal", police said.
In the first shark attack of the weekend, a 24-year-old man, who was taking part in a surf lesson in waters off Seven Mile Beach, 81 miles south of Sydney, suffered serious cuts after an encounter on Saturday.
That attack was followed by another on Sunday off the north coast, when a teenage boy was bitten on his arm and leg while spearfishing off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
6. Harry Kane gives England battling win over Croatia
They played “Football’s Coming Home” at the final whistle and why not? This is not about triumphalism, arrogance or presumption. It is about enjoying a young England team enjoying themselves under a young England manager in front of a Wembley full-house. It is about continuing to restore a sense of fun, a warm-glow, around England. It is about the depth of belief and desire to overturn a deficit against the nation who denied England a place in the World Cup Final.
The prize this time was nowhere near the same scale as that tournament but, by beating Croatia, England have won their Nations League group and will go forward as one of four teams to the finals in Portugal next June. They finish ahead of Spain and they relegate Croatia which does not provide any revenge for losing in Moscow last July but, well, will do for now. This was a tough group.
Read Jason Burt's full report.
7. Ireland beat All Blacks 16-9
Raise the arm, salute the winner, the undisputed heavyweight champions wearing emerald green. It didn’t need a hyped-up promoter to over-sell an occasion that lived up to its top-of-the-card billing from first whistle to last with punch and counter-punch, a match for the ages, confirmed only at the death with New Zealand striving right to the end.
The All Blacks didn’t score a try. Now there’s a sentence that has rarely been penned over the last decade and encapsulates just how stirring Ireland’s defence was, built on the credo that they shall not pass. And they didn’t.
So now we had better believe in them, Ireland duly laying claim to being the best in the world in 2018 after recording their first ever win over the All Blacks in Dublin thanks to Jacob Stockdale’s 48th-minute try.
Read Mick Cleary's full report.
8. Zverev makes statement with Djokovic victory
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new diner at tennis’s top table. And Alexander Zverev is only 21 years old – the youngest winner of the Nitto ATP Finals since Novak Djokovic in 2008.
Zverev, the mop-topped German beanpole, has been the leading performer on the ATP tour – as opposed to the slams – for a couple of seasons now. But to beat the very same Djokovic in Sunday night’s final was comfortably his finest hour.
To appreciate the scale of this achievement, you have to remember how bulletproof Djokovic has looked all week. Until Sunday, he had not even lost a set, nor dropped his serve, as he casually mugged four of the world’s best. One of them, ironically, was Zverev himself, who managed just five games in a round-robin match that Djokovic described as “not great quality”.
Once Zverev entered the knockout stages, though, he was a man transformed. Not only did he pull off the ultimate double, knocking out Roger Federer and Djokovic – two consummate indoor players – in successive matches. But he also dealt superbly with the awkwardness of Saturday night’s conclusion, in which he was unfairly booed after ejecting Federer in straight sets.
Read Simon Briggs' full report.
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