Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 16 Dec 2015

1. Astronaut Tim Peake: 'sunrise was spectacular'

Major Tim Peake, the first Briton to spend time on the International Space Station (ISS), has arrived safely for his six-month scientific mission. He said: "It was a beautiful launch. That first sunrise was absolutely spectacular." Problems with the an automatic system meant the Russian Soyuz commander had to dock manually.

Not-so-final frontier: Astronaut Tim Peake to return to space

2. Jeb Bush calls Donald Trump the 'chaos candidate'

The nine wannabe Republican presidential candidates who took part in last night's primetime TV debate vied to prove themselves more electable than Donald Trump. Jeb Bush called him a "chaos candidate" who would make a "chaos president". Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz went head-to-head to eclipse Trump, says The Guardian.

Subscribe to 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

Trump travel ban: Judge expands definition of relatives

3. First 1,000 Syrian refugees arrive in UK

The first 1,000 Syrian refugees to be resettled in the UK from camps have arrived in the country. Planes carrying the refugees arrived in Glasgow, London Stansted and Belfast. The government has promised to accept 20,000 Syrians over five years. The new arrivals have been drawn from established refugee camps and will be resettled across 50 different local authorities.

4. Prince Charles 'gets secret cabinet documents'

A freedom of information request has disclosed that Prince Charles routinely receives confidential cabinet papers, including secret files, and has done for decades. The anti-monarchy campaign group Republic fought for three years to have a Whitehall manual released which shows that Charles gets the papers as well as his mother.

Prince Charles's access to secret Cabinet papers 'plain wrong'

5. MPs back fracking under national parks

MPs have voted to allow fracking under national parks. The government wanted companies seeking to extract shale gas to be allowed to drill 1,200 feet under such protected areas, provided surface sites were outside the parks. It won the vote 298 to 261 in the House of Commons. Labour and Greenpeace have accused the Tories of a U-turn after dropping plans for a ban.

6. Thatcher's dispatch box auctioned for £242,500

The red prime ministerial dispatch box used by Margaret Thatcher has sold for £242,500, one of 150 items auctioned by Christie's in London yesterday. Also sold was her 1951 blue velvet wedding dress, which went for £25,000. Bidders from around the world bought handbags, speech notes and gifts from world leaders.

7. Unemployment at lowest rate for ten years

UK unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for almost ten years with 1.71 million people out of work between between August and October. The figure is 110,000 lower than in the previous quarter and the jobless total stands at 5.2%, its lowest since January 2006. There were 31.3 million people in work in the third quarter of the year, half a million more than a year earlier.

8. New Star Wars film is 'a triumph' say critics

The new Star Wars film has been hailed as a triumph after the embargo on reviewing the film was lifted. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic have heaped praise on the JJ Abrams franchise reboot, whioch stars original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher alongside newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens opens in cinemas on Thursday.

Star Wars: Carrie Fisher claims she had affair with Harrison Ford

9. Amazon tells hoverboard owners: throw them out

Online retail giant Amazon has issued an extraordinary warning to customers who bought 'hoverboards' (self-stabilising scooters without handles), telling them to throw them out over fears they may catch fire or even explode. The warning applies to particular models, those with "non-compliant UK plugs". Refunds are offered.

10. Briefing: UK voters are split 50-50 on EU referendum

Public opinion over the UK's future in the European Union is on a knife-edge, according to a poll in the Daily Telegraph. The new study from ICM shows 42 per cent of British voters would prefer to stay the EU, while 41 per cent want to leave. It is the first time since 2013 that the independent polling company has found voters so evenly split.

Brexit: Theresa May says ‘trust me’ to deliver