Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 15 Jan 2020

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1. Ministers agree Flybe rescue deal
2. HS2 ‘will damage wildlife at hundreds of sites’
3. Newspaper defends publishing Meghan letter
4. More sex ‘makes early menopause less likely’
5. US Democrats: Sanders and Warren clash on TV
6. US jet dumps fuel over schoolchildren
7. Stephen King facing backlash over diversity tweet
8. Machu Picchu: tourists deported after defecation
9. Teenager Billie Eilish to sing new Bond theme
10. Briefing: the problem with the UK’s immigration rules

published 15 January 2020

1. Ministers agree Flybe rescue deal

The Government has struck a deal with Flybe shareholders following crisis talks to prevent the collapse of the regional airline and save 2,000 jobs. The firm’s owners have agreed to put more money into the carrier, while ministers are backing plans to delay a £106m air passenger duty bill. The Government has also pledged to review taxes on domestic flights before the March budget.

The proposed HS2 rail link will irreparably damage wildlife and habitats at hundreds of sites – and even drive species to extinction, according to a study by 14 ecological organisations including the National Trust and Woodland Trust. A newly published report says the project will destroy or irreparably damage five wildlife refuges of international importance, 33 legally protected sites of special scientific interest, 693 local wildlife sites and 108 ancient woodlands.

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The Mail on Sunday has submitted a vigorous defence of its decision to publish of a letter written by the Duchess of Sussex to her father. Meghan Markle is suing the newspaper and its parent group for breach of copyright, invasion of privacy and misuse of personal data. But in documents filed at the High Court, The Mail on Sunday denies the charges and argues that the Royals “rely on publicity about themselves” to maintain their “privileged positions” and that the Duchess could not “have a reasonable expectation of privacy that the contents of the letter were private and would remain so”.

Women who have sex more often are less likely to go through the menopause early, researchers have suggested. A University College London team analysed data collected from nearly 3,000 women who were followed for ten years, and found that those who reported engaging in sexual activity weekly were 28% less likely to have experienced menopause at any given age than women who engaged in sexual activity less than once a month.

The seventh debate between US Democrats vying to be their party’s next presidential candidate saw two of the most left-wing contenders repeatedly locking horns last night. Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of having told her in 2018 that no woman could win the presidency – a claim that he has denied - and appeared to reject his offer of a handshake at the end of the televised debate, in Des Moines, Iowa.