Yahoo News Your morning briefing: What you should know for Wednesday, September 18
PM to defend Parliament shutdown in court battle
Boris Johnson is today set to defend his controversial decision to shut down Parliament for five weeks as a court battle at the UK's highest court enters its second day.
Lawyers representing the Prime Minister will argue that his prorogation advice to the Queen was lawful and that, in any event, the court cannot interfere in political matters.
The Supreme Court in London is hearing historic appeals from two separate challenges brought in England and Scotland to the prorogation of Parliament.
Mr Johnson says the five-week suspension is to allow the Government to set out a new legislative agenda in a Queen's Speech when MPs return to Parliament on October 14.
But those who brought legal challenges against his decision argue the prorogation is designed to prevent parliamentary scrutiny of the UK's impending exit from the EU on October 31.
Australians held in Iran on spying charges, Tehran confirms
Two British-Australians and an Australian national are being held in Iran for spying and "taking images at sensitive areas", Tehran has said.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University, has been in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for almost a year, having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence.
Another British-Australian woman, blogger Jolie King, and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin, have been held for the past 10 weeks in an unrelated incident.
Evin prison, the main detention centre for Iran's political prisoners, is also holding Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian mother who is midway through a five year sentence on spying charges.
'Several hurt' as car ploughs into Trump Plaza
Several people have reportedly been injured after a car ploughed through the front doors of Trump Plaza in New York.
Footages showed shattered glass around the entrance of the luxury building in New Rochelle as a battered car was left in the lobby.
Mr Aiello reported that a number of people were hurt in the smash last night, but said none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Tattooed Samoa rugby stars to cover up at Japan World Cup
Samoan rugby players will wear skin suits to cover their traditional tattoos during some training sessions at the World Cup in order not to offend their Japanese hosts.
Samoa captain Jack Lam said team officials consulted an expert on Japanese culture to make sure tattooed players avoided any cultural issues.
Tattoos are often associated with organised crime in Japan, and people with tattoos are often banned at bath houses and swimming pools.
"We had someone coming in and giving us a heads-up about what we could expect in Japan," Lam said.
"There's a lot of similarities in our cultures but when it comes to the tattoos ... it's quite normal in our culture.
Israel election too close to call, exit polls show
Benjamin Netanyahu's battle for political survival last night looked set to stretch on for days after the Israel election exit polls showed the race was too close to call.
Surveys by Israeli TV stations gave the Prime Minister’s right-wing Likud 31-33 of parliament's 120 seats compared to 32-34 for the centrist Blue and White.
The election was called after Mr Netanyahu, 69, failed in efforts to cobble together a coalition following an April ballot in which Likud and Blue and White wound up in a dead heat, each taking 35 parliamentary seats.
It is the first time Israel has had two general elections in a single year.
Addressing crowds after the exit polls were released, Mr Netanyahu said the state of Israel “is at an historic junction.”
Champions League: Liverpool and Chelsea defeats
Liverpool's Champions League title defence got off to a stuttering start as Jurgen Klopp's Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat against Napoli last night.
Returning to Stadio San Paolo - where they lost 1-0 in the group stages last season - Liverpool fell behind with nine minutes remaining from the penalty spot. Dries Mertens stepped up and fired in from the spot after Jose Callejon went down under a challenge from Andrew Robertson.
With time running out, Virgil van Dijk made an uncharacteristic mistake to tee up former Tottenham forward Fernando Llorente for a simple finish to wrap up the game.
At Stamford Bridge, Ross Barkley missed a late penalty as Chelsea succumbed to a 1-0 home defeat to Valencia in Frank Lampard's first Champions League match as manager.
Rodrigo's volley put the Spanish side ahead before the Blues won a contentious late penalty after Daniel Wass was adjudged to have handled in the area.
But substitute Barkley stepped up and hit the crossbar with his effort to miss the chance to salvage a draw.
On this day…
1810: Chile revolted and gained independence from Spain.
1851: The New York Times was first published.
1948: Some 7,000 tons of food supplies and petrol were airlifted into Berlin by British and American aircraft, defying a three-month Russian blockade.
1949: The British pound was devalued by 30% by Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Stafford Cripps, from 4.03 dollars to 2.80 dollars. On the same day, the milk ration was reduced to two pints a week per person.
1951: The Al Read Show started on BBC radio, with Jimmy Edwards and Pat Kirkwood. Read originated the catchphrases "Right monkey" and "You'll be lucky!"
1961: UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold was killed when his plane was sabotaged and crashed in the jungle in Northern Rhodesia.
1970: Rock star Jimi Hendrix died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, apparently suffering from a drug overdose.
1976: In China, 800 million citizens paid a last tribute to their leader Mao Tse-Tung at the beginning of a memorial service. For three minutes, one-fifth of the world's population stood in silence.
1981: France abolished execution by guillotine.
