Your morning briefing: What you should know for Wednesday, March 20

May to ask for Brexit extension

Theresa May will today write to the European Union leaders and ask for a delay to Brexit as her cabinet remains in deadlock.

In a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister is thought likely to suggest a three-month extension to the March 29 deadline.

But there has been speculation that Mrs May could ask for a longer delay, of nine months or a year.

The development comes exactly 1,000 days after the referendum on June 23, 2016.

Trump sees 'huge opportunity' for US-UK trade deal after Brexit

US President Donald Trump sees "huge opportunity" for a trade deal if the Brexit impasse is solved, according to his national security adviser.

John Bolton said that America is “ready to go” on a trade deal with “a newly independent Britain.”

Mr Bolton also accused UK politicians of failing to implement the result of the referendum.

New Zealand PM visits mosque attack victims

Jacinda Arden has visited Christchurch to meet those affected by the New Zealand mosque shootings as the first funerals for victims were taking place.

The country's prime minister visited a school where two boys killed in last week's mosque attacks were students.

In a speech at Cashmere High School, Ms Ardern renewed her call for people to focus on the victims rather than the perpetrator.

She said there will be interest in the suspected terrorist but asked the students not to say his name or dwell on him.

Hot drinks 'linked to higher risk of cancer'

Consuming very hot drinks could be linked to a 90 per cent higher risk of oesophageal cancer, a study of 50,000 people has warned.

Experts found that drinking 700ml per day of tea at 60C or higher was "consistently associated" with an increased risk of the disease.

The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, looked at the drinking habits of 50,045 people aged 40 to 75 in north-eastern Iran.

Love Island to offer training to contestants following deaths

Love Island will offer "bespoke training" to all future contestants following the deaths of two former stars.

2016 contestant Sophie Gradon, 32, was found dead in June last year. Mike Thalassitis, 26, who took part in Love Island a year later, died on Friday.

Following their deaths, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said reality TV shows have a duty to care for contestants after they become famous.

The show has said it will now offer support to all Love Island contestants rather than just those who ask for it.

Comer wins big at RTA awards

Killing Eve star Jodie Comer last night picked up the best female actress award at the Royal Television Awards in London.

Judges described her performance in the BBC series as “iconic,” saying it was “impossible to imagine anyone else inhabiting the role in quite the same way”.

Channel 4’s Derry Girls won the prize for scripted comedy, while Nabhaan Rizwan picked up the breakthrough award for the Informer.

On this day...

1815: After his banishment to Elba, Napoleon returned to regain power in France. It was his "Last Hundred Days", ended by defeat at Waterloo.

1819: The famous and exclusive Burlington Arcade opened in London.

1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published. It became the best-selling novel of the 19th century.

1969: Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

1974: An attempt to kidnap Princess Anne was made by a gunman who fired six shots, then tried to drag her from her car in Pall Mall. He was later charged with attempted murder.

1980: The pirate radio station Radio Caroline, on the ship Mi Amigo, sank after 16 years of broadcasting.