Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 13 Dec 2015

1. Barack Obama hails climate change deal

David Cameron will abandon his demand for a four-year ban on foreign workers claiming in-work benefits as he prepares to meet fellow European Union leaders this week. The Sunday Times, quoting Downing Street sources, says the prime minister will make it clear that he is open to alternatives. Critics described the development as a “climbdown”.

2. Oxbridge attacked over state schools record

Oxford and Cambridge universities are facing unprecedented condemnation from government advisers over their failure to increase the number of state school pupils studying at Oxbridge colleges. The institutions’ track records will be criticised and individual colleges named and shamed in a bombastic annual report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

3. Saudi Arabia elects its first woman

Saudis have elected their first woman politician, reports the BBC. Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi has become the first woman to take a seat on a municipal council after the kingdom lifted its bar on women taking part in elections. Votes are still being counted in the municipal polls, which were the first where women could vote and stand as candidates.

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4. Cameron attacked over migrant benefits ‘climbdown’

David Cameron will abandon his demand for a four-year ban on foreign workers claiming in-work benefits as he prepares to meet fellow European Union leaders this week. The Sunday Times, quoting Downing Street sources, says the prime minister will make it clear that he is open to alternatives. Critics described the development as a “climbdown”.

5. Lord Lucan ‘jumped off a boat after mistake’

Lord Lucan killed himself after murdering the family nanny by mistake, a friend is claiming. The close friend of Lord Lucan tells the Sunday Telegraph that, contrary to the popular perception that the aristocrat disappeared abroad, he simply jumped off his boat and drowned himself in Newhaven Harbour. He had intended to murder not the nanny, but his wife.

6. ‘Hated’ American raises price of another drug

Martin Shkreli, dubbed the 'most hated man in America', is raising the price of another form of drug, reports the Independent On Sunday. Shkreli, who increased the cost of an effective HIV drug by 5,500%, has now increased the price of medicine used to treat Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause heart failure, from $13.50 to $700.

7. Gordon Banks battles kidney cancer

England legend Gordon Banks is battling kidney cancer, he has told the Sunday Mirror. The 77-year-old World Cup winner has been warned by medics that the remains of his kidney will have to be removed if his cancer grows. Banks is taking chemotherapy tablets to try and avoid a transplant. He says he is using his World Cup spirit in his battle with the disease.

8. Released Guantanamo man slams jihadists

Shaker Aamer, the UK's last Guantanamo Bay detainee who returned home in October after being held for 14 years, has called on jihadists to "get the hell out" of the country. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he denounced terror attacks like the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, saying: "you cannot just kill anybody". He also said he was tortured during his years of captivity.

9. Moderates plan new members to oust Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour opponents are planning to flood the party with 100,000 new moderate members in a bid to get rid of him, claims the Sunday Telegraph. After privately admitting they will have to wait until 2017 to oust him as leader, centrist MPs expect Corbyn to survive next year because the EU referendum will draw attention away from his performance.

10. Euro 2016: Hodgson welcomes Wales draw

England boss Roy Hodgson and Wales manager Chris Coleman have both welcomed the draw for Euro 2016 which put both home nations together in Group B. Hodgson told the BBC: "I feel good about it. We know all the Wales players, but what we know most of all is their team is very organised." Coleman said: "We look forward to it."

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