Your morning briefing: What you should know for Monday, April 8

The top stories you're waking up to today
Jason Collie8 April 2019

Social media companies to be forced to protect users from harmful content

Senior managers at social media companies will be personally liable if users are not protected from harmful content, according to a long-awaited Government white paper.

The joint proposal on online harms says a regulator will be appointed to ensure internet firms meet their responsibilities, which will be outlined in a mandatory duty of care.

The regulator will have the power to issue substantial fines, block access to sites and potentially impose liability on individual members of senior management, the proposal says.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless welcome the scheme, saying it would make the UK a world pioneer in protecting children online.

May continues to hope to find breakthrough for Brexit deal

Time is running out for Theresa May to reach a Brexit compromise with Labour ahead of a summit with European leaders this week.

The Prime Minister has angered Tories by holding talks with Labour, with Brexiteers including Boris Johnson concerned she will accept a customs union as the price for a deal with Jeremy Corbyn.

Mrs May has told European Union leaders she wants a delay to Brexit until June 30 at the latest, with the possibility of an early exit if she can get a deal through Parliament.

In a video message recorded in her Chequers country retreat, Mrs May said both sides will have to compromise in the cross-party talks with Labour because the only choices were a deal with the EU or not leaving at all.

Speedboat killer mixes apology to family with blame for victim

Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has said he unreservedly apologises for the role he played in Charlotte Brown's death but insists he was not solely responsible.

Ms Brown died when she was thrown from a boat while on a date with Shepherd in 2015 and Shepherd is facing a six year sentence for her mansalughter.

Ahead of being extradited back to Britain this week from Georgia, Shepherd sent his condolences to Ms Brown’s family but repeated his claim that it was her actions that ultimately led to the accident.

"I can understand why her family apportion the entire blame on me. But the reality is not quite so simple," he told The Sun.

"Absolutely, unreservedly, I apologise for the role I played, and undeniably I did play a part.

"It was ultimately Charlotte's action to accelerate in the manner that she did, even though I failed to prevent her."

The Sun said Ms Brown’s father Graham had no comment on his apology, while her mother, Roz Wickens, told the paper: "I don't want to sound disrespectful, but nothing he says will bring my daughter back."

Shepherd is appealing his conviction.

Woman held in Dubai 'after husband's new love in Facebook post'

A British woman is facing two years in jail in Dubai for allegedly using disparaging language about her ex-husband's new wife on Facebook, campaigners have claimed.

Laleh Shahravesh was arrested in March after visiting the United Arab Emirates for her former husband’s funeral, according to the Detained In Dubai campaign group.

Ms Shahravesh is alleged to have posted "I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse" in 2016 after discovering he had remarried.

The campaign group said her daughter is now appealing to the UAE’s rulers to let her mother return to her home in Richmond, south-west London.

Ultra-low emission zone in force in London

London has today introduced one of the world's toughest vehicle emissions standards.

Drivers of older, more polluting cars face paying a new £12.50 fee to enter the centre of the capital under the ultra-low emission zone.

Diesel cars must be less than roughly four years old to avoid the charge, while petrol cars must be less than about 13 years old.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said the scheme is being brought in because thousands of Londoners are dying early every year as a result of toxic air, with an increased risk of cancer, asthma, dementia and stroke.

Ant's triumphant return to TV

Ant and Dec's return to TV screens on Britain's Got Talent has become the biggest programme of 2019 so far, according to initial figures.

The ITV talent show averaged 8.1 million viewers, peaking with 9.7 million on Saturday night, beating the return of Line Of Duty the previous weekend.

Britain's Got Talent featured the return to TV screens of the much-loved TV presenting duo after Ant took a break following his drink-driving conviction last year.

On this day

1925: The Australian government and the British Colonial Office offered low-interest loans to enable Britons to emigrate to Australia.

1967: Bare-foot Sandie Shaw won the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK with Puppet On A String.

1973: Death of Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor who pioneered Cubism, aged 91.

1986: Clint Eastwood was elected Mayor of Carmel in California.

2005: More than four million people attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

2013: Former prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher died at the age of 87 following a stroke.

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