Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 3 Mar 2020

1. Three more coronavirus cases confirmed in England

Three more people have tested positive for coronavirus in England, bringing the total number of known infections in the UK to 39. The patients are from Devon and Kent and had recently visited Italy. A fourth case reported in Hertfordshire yesterday proved to be a false positive, health officials say. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted that a large-scale outbreak is now “very likely”.

2. US election: Super Tuesday boost for Biden

Wannabe Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has received a boost as Super Tuesday begins, after securing the backing of former rivals Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke – all of whom have now dropped out of the race. However, Bernie Sanders remains the front runner in the contest as voters in 14 states cast their ballots in the presidential primary.

3. Labour ‘braced for losses’ in council elections

Labour is “braced” for heavy losses in the local elections in May, an internal party memo leaked to the BBC reveals. The document says that internal research suggests Labour will get “one of its worst” results in recent history, and envisages a worst-case scenario in which the party loses 315 seats and control of historic strongholds such as Sheffield.

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4. Air pollution cuts life expectancy by almost three years, study finds

Air pollution outdoors is cutting 2.9 years on average from the life expectancy of humans worldwide, a major study led by a German team suggests. Reducing all fossil fuel emissions to zero could reclaim about a year of that lost time, the scientists calculated. Previous research found that outdoor air pollution causes about 8.8 million early deaths a year.

5. Coronavirus: UK unveils lockdown plans

The UK government is to enact legislation giving ministers greater powers to combat a widespread coronavirus outbreak, as part of a series of measures to be announced today. Unnecessary travel could also be curbed and staff asked to work from home.

6. Hackers ‘targeting video baby monitors’

Hackers may be watching unwitting households by hacking into video baby monitors, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning. The organisation is advising monitor owners to change their devices’ default passwords to something harder to guess, keep the camera software updated, and switch off remote viewing if it is not required.

7. Plan to give domestic abusers lie-detector tests

The latest plans to tighten the law on domestic abuse include a proposal that convicted offenders could be made to take lie detector tests repeatedly after their release from prison in an attempt to stop them reoffending. Other proposals include banning perpetrators from cross-examining their alleged victims in family courts.

8. LA prosecutor’s husband points gun at protesters

The husband of the top state prosecutor in Los Angeles is being investigated after pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home. David Lacey was filmed brandishing the handgun and saying: “Get off my porch. I will shoot you... I don’t care who you are.” LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who is facing a re-election battle this week, has long faced scrutiny for refusing to prosecute police officers who kill citizens.

9. Woman who posed as man on Grindr is jailed

A 30-year-old woman who subjected two gay men to a campaign of harassment and humiliation after setting up fake accounts on Grindr was jailed for 12 months yesterday. Yannick Glaudin admitted stalking and sending sexual photos of one of the men to his family members. The Inner London Crown Court heard that she set out the distress the victim, whom she had never met, and his new boyfriend after the former ended an online relationship with Glaudin, who posed as a man on the dating app.

10. Briefing: growing up on Downing Street

Carrie Symonds has announced that she and Boris Johnson are engaged and expecting their first child together.

The 31-year-old and Johnson, 55, are the first unmarried couple to live in Downing Street, after taking residence last July. So what is in store for baby Johnson?

Boris Johnson’s new baby: what it’s like to grow up in Downing Street