Friday evening news briefing: Sir John Major gives PM election headache

Former PM Major tells voters to back ex-Tory rebels

Sir John Major is calling on voters to back rebel candidates running against Boris Johnson in order to block a hard Brexit. The former Conservative prime minister is endorsing three "principled" former Tory ministers who are now standing as independents; David Gauke, Dominic Grieve and Anne Milton. His appeal comes ahead of a Final Say rally, where he will describe Brexit as "the worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime". It is not the kind of thing Mr Johnson would have wanted before his head-to-head TV debate with Jeremy Corbyn tonight.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has called Labour claims that his Brexit deal would lead to customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland "complete nonsense". Mr Corbyn said he had found a confidential government report which "drives a coach and horses" through Mr Johnson's claim there will be no border in the Irish Sea under his plan. But the PM insisted voters should believe him when he says there will be no checks on goods going between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He also warned Labour wants to rig a second referendum by giving two million EU nationals the vote if Mr Corbyn wins the election.

PS - Head to The Telegraph's liveblog for a special general election rap battle between Tory, Labour and Lib Dem candidates. Don't cover your ears - the results are surprisingly good. Watch the post at 3.46pm.

Serial rapist guilty of 37 charges in two-week rampage

On his arrest, violent offender Joseph McCann told police: "If you had caught me for the first two, the rest of this wouldn't have happened." Today, the serial rapist, who snatched victims off the streets before assaulting them in a “vicious and depraved” rampage, has been found guilty of 37 charges at an Old Bailey trial. The convicted burglar had been freed because of a probation error. He then went on a cocaine and vodka-fuelled rampage, abducting, raping and assaulting victims aged between 11 and 71 in Watford, London and the North West. McCann, 34, changed his appearance and moved across five police force areas as he evaded police for 15 days despite telling his first victim his surname. Verity Bowman has full details of how the attacks unfolded.

Robot back on space station after 'less sulky' upgrade

When Arthur C Clarke invented the sociopathic computer HAL 9000, which menaced astronauts in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, he insisted it was merely a coincidence that the name was just one letter shift away from IBM. So it was all the stranger when IBM designed the first cyborg-companion to the International Space Station (ISS) last year only for it to refuse to follow instructions and sulkily accuse crew members of being "mean". Now, following a reboot, a second version of the floating basketball-sized robot has returned to the ISS, and this time programmers have promised a more friendly tone. Sarah Knapton reveals how the robot got tetchy with its fellow crew members.

News digest

• Grenfell Tower | London fire chief steps down with extra £46k

• Legal win | Victory for couple 'told they couldn't adopt white child'

• London Bridge hero | Man who tackled killer was friend of victim

• Polar bears stranded | Dozens outside village due to melting ice

• Back to life | British woman revived six hours after cardiac arrest

Video: Channel 4 apologises to PM for 'racist' subtitles

Channel 4 News has apologised after misquoting Boris Johnson to make him appear racist. In the latest row between the broadcaster and the Tories, Channel 4 tweeted a clip of the Prime Minister speaking on the campaign trail with the subtitle "people of colour". Mr Johnson actually said he was in favour of "people of talent" coming to the UK, as part of a "properly controlled" immigration system after Brexit. Watch it here.

Comment

• Tom Harris | The most tragic part of Labour's anti-Semitism scandal

• Alan Cochrane | Weather's not half as frightful as Sturgeon's record

• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | French defend exorbitant pension perks

• Oliver Brown | 'Little fat kid' Ruiz can call time on Joshua's career

• Jamie Carragher | It's never been so hard to find the right manager

World news: The one story you must read today...

France strikes | French unions have called for a fresh day of mass protests next Tuesday as a nationwide strike over pensions caused fresh travel chaos for the second straight day. Buoyed by high turnout on Thursday when a million-odd French took to the streets to protest against the government’s plan to end exorbitant pension perks for certain sectors, unions ratcheted up the pressure by announcing a second national day of protest next week. Read on for the latest.

Editor's choice

1. England's lost county | Where warm beer and village cricket are eternal virtues

2. Iconic Manchester derby images | The stories behind the photos ahead of Saturday's big clash

3. Katie Morley Investigates | 'Barclays shared my data with other customer with similar name'

Business and money briefing

Load off their mind | Eddie Stobart has been saved from collapse after shareholders "overwhelmingly" backed a £55m rescue plan following a crunch meeting in London today. An offshore fund will take a majority stake in the trucking company in return for a high-interest loan.

• What business wants | Sunderland aims to be 'poster city for Brexit'

• DeepMind founder leaves | Is British AI lab free from Google control?

• On top of markets | Live stocks and shares updates 24 hours a day

Sport briefing

Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr rematch | Anthony Joshua has dropped to lighter than 17 stone for the first time since 2014 for his redemption fight against Andy Ruiz Jr tomorrow. Daniel Zeqiri reports from the weigh-in and here are all the details about the bout.

• Transfer ban overturned | Lampard gets £150m to spend in January

• Sam Wallace | The valuable lesson Chelsea learned from transfer ban

• Austin Healey | My 10-point plan to change the boring Premiership

What's on TV tonight

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Amazon Prime, from today | This delightful 1950s comedy-drama, about a housewife who turns to stand-up when her marriage breaks down, returns to our screens for a third series. Read on for more.

And finally...

Double trouble | Twins, triplets and quadruplets are in decline for the first time in a decade, official figures show, following changes to IVF rules. The Office for National Statistics today revealed the lowest multiple maternity rate since 2007. Read on for details.