MPs to vote on May's election plan • Could RBS sell-off happen soon? • Trump's North Korea 'armada' goes other way

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By Justin Parkinson

MPs to vote on May's snap election plan

Well, she kept that quiet. After consistently saying she wouldn't hold an early general election, Theresa May wants to go to the polls on 8 June. MPs vote later on whether this can happen. The decision looks like a formality, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats backing an election (the SNP says its MPs will abstain). This means the prime minister should easily get the support of two thirds of the House of Commons she needs. The campaign's not even begun and the parties are arguing over Mrs May's decision not to take part in a TV debate. And a star has apparently been born. When told of Mrs May's plan, Brenda, from Bristol, suffering polling booth fatigue after the election of 2015 and last year's EU referendum, responded: "You're joking. Not another one." With Brexit under way, the prime minister - doing well in the opinion polls - is looking to increase her current parliamentary majority by taking seats from Jeremy Corbyn's Labour. But, one expert wonders, are snap elections actually an effective way of achieving this? The Commons debate on Mrs May's plan is scheduled to start at about 12:45, with a vote a couple of hours later. Look forward to a day of high rhetoric and (at least some) political drama. As always, the BBC will be following the action, so keep up to date with our live online coverage.

Why did Theresa May change her mind?   While the polls suggest an early election could make many of her political problems disappear, polls prove nothing. Politics in 2017, as we've discussed again and again, is unpredictable and taking bets is a fool's game. The reasons Theresa May hung back from an early election haven't disappeared.         Read full analysis >        Laura Kuenssberg Political editor

Other top stories

Three white men have been killed in an apparently racially motivated shooting in California. Kori Ali Muhammad fired 16 rounds in 90 seconds in the city of Fresno, south-east of San Francisco. Police said he had shouted "God is great" when arrested, but they are treating the shooting as a hate crime rather than terrorism, as the suspect - a black man - has indicated on social media that he despises white people.

It's more than eight years since taxpayers bailed out the ailing Royal Bank of Scotland, with the Treasury taking on a 72% stake. Until now Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he expected to sell the government's holding no earlier than 2020. But now it looks like this could happen sooner, with shares still at less than half their 2008 price.

US President Donald Trump promised last week to send an "armada" towards North Korea, as the row over missile tests escalated. Yet the naval strike group involved has actually moved further away from the country. It's not clear whether this represents a deliberate deception, a change of plan or simple miscommunication, the BBC's Korea correspondent Stephen Evans says.

What the papers say

Whatever could be preoccupying Fleet Street today? Every main national paper, of course, leads on the proposed election. The Times's headline is a prediction: "May heads for election landslide." The Mail uses its front page to say Mrs May is hoping to call the bluff of "game-playing Remoaners". Its headline is "Crush the saboteurs". And the Sun envisages "Blue murder" of Labour. However, the Mirror concentrates on the prime minister's change of heart over an early election. Reversing the famous statement of her predecessor Margaret Thatcher, it says: "The lady is for turning." A slight pun from the Telegraph - "A bolt from the blue" - evokes the widespread surprise when Mrs May made her announcement.

Daily digest

Football abuse - More than 250 potential suspects, police say

Shark attack - Australia considers cull following teenager's death

Dream over - Leicester City knocked out of Champions League

What makes Moby tick? - A look at the daily lives of whales

If you watch one thing today   My father, Charlie Chaplin

If you listen to one thing today   What happens when our body clocks stop?

If you read one thing today   Bombs in Syria, hostility in Greece

Wednesday lookahead

Today The ballot closes in the Unite union's general secretary election. Incumbent Len McCluskey is facing a challenge from West Midlands official Gerard Coyne. 12:00 Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn face each other at the first Prime Minister's Questions session since the Easter break. The event is expected to be somewhat overshadowed by the debate and vote on an early general election, which follow. 12:00 Head coach Warren Gatland announces the British and Irish Lions squad for this summer's tour of New Zealand.

On this day

1956 Prince Rainier III of Monaco marries the film actress Grace Kelly, star of High Noon. 1993 More than 70 people die in a fire at the besieged headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas. 1995 A car bomb explodes at a government building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected Pope - head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. He takes the name Benedict XVI.

Best of the rest Sheriff's battle to investigate when children die (Los Angeles Times) The joys and tribulations of holidays past (History Today)

New light shed on methane mystery (Bristol University) Why the Chinese failed to fall for Weetabix (Guardian)

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