Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 28 Dec 2015

1. Cameron to visit floods as extra troops help

David Cameron is to visit flooded areas in the north of England, where more than 30 severe flood warnings are still in place. A total of 500 troops have now been deployed to help the emergency services in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. In York, the river Ouse has stopped rising, with some evacuations cancelled.

2. One prisoner a week released early in error

Figures from the ministry of justice obtained by PA show that prisoners are being released early by mistake in England and Wales at a rate of just under one a week. The error has happened 505 times in the past ten years. In one case, prisoner Martynas Kusptys was released while on remand. He was later convicted of murder.

3. Baron Cohen and Fisher give £670,000 to charity

Sacha Baron Cohen and his wife, the actor Isla Fisher, have donated £670,000 to help Syrian refugees. The money is divided between the International Rescue Committee and Save The Children and will help refugees in neighbouring countries as well. Cohen is best known for his comic characters Borat, Ali G and Bruno.

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4. El Salvador: star footballer Pacheco murdered

Former El Salvador footballer Alfredo Pacheco, the most-capped player in the national team’s history, has been murdered. The 33-year-old, who was banned for life in 2013 for match fixing, was shot dead at a petrol station in the city of Santa Ana, west of the capital. El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

5. Tornadoes kill eleven people in Texas

Eleven people have been killed in Texas by tornadoes, while heavy rain and snow have left 11 people dead in Missouri and Illinois. Five people died in Garland, near Dallas, when their cars were blown off a motorway. Drifts have also left roads impassable. Reports said the destruction spread across 40 square miles.

6. Japan and South Korea agree on ‘comfort women’

Japan and South Korea have reached an agreement on a compensation deal to settle the issue of ‘comfort women’, women forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two. Japan will pay 1bn yen (£5.6m) to a South Korean fund for the victims. The agreement is the first deal on the issue since 1965.

7. Sulphuric acid train derails in Australia

A 2km exclusion zone is in place after a train carrying sulphuric acid derailed in Australia. The 26-carriage freight train was carrying some 200,000 litres of the corrosive liquid when the accident happened in north-west Queensland on Sunday morning. Three train staff were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

8. Bromley: boy charged over ‘knife fight’

A 16-year-old boy has been charged over an alleged knife fight in a shopping centre in Bromley, south-east London. A photo taken by a member of the public at the scene appeared to show that a machete had been found there and video filmed by another passer-by showed shoppers fleeing from the mall in panic.

9. Dead whale on Welsh beach ‘is health risk’

The badly-decomposed carcass of a whale, believed to be a minke, washed up on a Welsh beach is a health risk, the Coastguard warns. The agency is discouraging the public from getting too close to take photographs. The 27-foot animal washed up at Dyfi Ynyslas National Nature Reserve, Ceredigion, on Christmas Day.

10. Briefing: What is Britain's role in Yemen?

As the civil war in Yemen continues, Britain's role in the conflict is a source of growing concern. According to The Independent "British-supplied planes and British-made missiles have been part of near-daily air raids in Yemen carried out by a nine-country, Saudi Arabian-led coalition." The UK was the number one supplier of major weapons to the Saudi kingdom last year and scores of British-made fighter jets are currently being flown by the Saudi royal air force, making the UK’s involvement "irrefutable", the paper says.

What is Britain's role in Yemen?