Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 23 Oct 2015

1. Sweden: school killings had racist motive

Police in Sweden say they believe the killings of a teacher and a 17-year-old pupil at a school near Gothenburg were racially motivated. Swedish media have named the attacker, who seriously wounded two others, as 21-year-old Anton Lundin-Pettersson. Shot dead by police, he reportedly expressed far-right sympathies online.

Sweden school attack: police investigate racist motive

2. Clutha Bar helicopter pilot did not follow protocol

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed onto a Glasgow pub killing ten people was flying despite low fuel warnings. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report said that fuel pumps had been turned off and the pilot, David Traill, did not follow emergency protocol after fuel warnings before the helicopter crashed into the Clutha Bar in December 2013.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

3. TalkTalk data theft: company boss gets ransom demand

The chief executive of TalkTalk says she has received a ransom demand after the phone and broadband provider admitted that all of its four million customers may have had their banking details and personal information stolen in a "significant and sustained cyber-attack". Dido Harding said she did not know if the emailed demand was genuine.

TalkTalk hit with record fine for data breach

4. 43 killed in French bus crash fire

At least 43 people, including a child, have been killed in France after the coach full of pensioners collided with a lorry near the village of Puisseguin, east of Bordeaux and both vehicles burst into flames. At least 41 bus passengers, the driver of the truck and his son were killed in the blaze. Only eight people are believed to have survived.

At least 42 dead in France's worst bus crash for three decades

5. Monsoon tops minimum wage shame list

High street retailer Monsoon Accessorize is at the top of the latest name-and-shame list of companies who do not pay their employees the minimum wage. The firm deducted the cost of discounted clothing from staff pay, taking it below the £6.70-an-hour legal minimum. The rest of the top ten were less well-known businesses.

6. Clinton denies 'misleading' US on Benghazi

Giving testimony to a senate committee for 11 hours yesterday, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton denied in heated exchanges that she had misled the US public over the deaths of four Americans at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton was accused of initially trying to cover up the 2012 terrorist attack.

What is Hillary Clinton doing now?

7. Cameron and president Xi share a pint in the pub

David Cameron and the president of China, Xi Jinping, went to a village pub for a pint of ale and a snack before a formal dinner at Chequers, the PM's rural residence, yesterday. Xi had said he was keen to try British ale, so Cameron took him to the Plough at Cadsden, where he famously once left behind his daughter Nancy.

Xi Jinping's UK visit: pomp, protests and a pint at the pub – in pictures

8. Hurricane Patricia: Mexico braced for biggest-ever storm

Mexico is braced for the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western hemisphere. Hurricane Patricia has developed into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm comparable with Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines in 2013, killing 6,300 people. Patricia, which has sustained winds of 200mph, was expected to strike Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday afternoon.

9. Seven hurt as car hits pedestrians in Surrey

A baby and a toddler were among seven people taken to hospital after a car mounted the pavement outside a shopping centre in Guildford. A 13-month old girl and a 60-year-old man were airlifted to hospital after the crash on Friday morning. The Volkswagen Polo hit "a number of people" in North Street outside The Friary Centre. The elderly driver appeared to lose consciousness.

10. Briefing: Starbucks tax ruling is 'tip of the iceberg'

Starbucks and Fiat are to be hit with a tax bill of tens of millions of euros, after a European Commission investigation ruled their so-called "sweetheart" deals with Luxembourg and the Netherlands are unlawful. The companies and governments have publicly disagreed with the decision, while campaigners have alleged their cases represent the "tip of the iceberg" on corporate tax avoidance.

Starbucks and Fiat tax ruling is 'tip of the iceberg'