Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 11 Dec 2016

1. Two 'bomb' blasts in Istanbul kill 29 people

Twenty nine people have been killed in twin explosions outside a football stadium in Istanbul. At least one of the blasts was caused by a car bomb and targeted a riot police bus directly outside the Besiktas stadium. A government source said it was believed that a suspected suicide bomber had struck Macka Park, next to the stadium, also known as the Vodafone Arena.

2. Leading UK churches warned of Korean 'cult'

Some of the UK’s largest congregations have been warned of possible infiltration by a group accused of being a "cult" promoting "control and deception". The Church of England has issued a formal alert to almost 500 parishes in London about the activities of the group known as Parachristo, which runs Bible study courses at an industrial unit under a Botox clinic and a personal training company in the Docklands.

3. Trump 'poised to appoint oil boss friend of Putin'

A leading oil boss has met president-elect Donald Trump amid growing speculation that he is being considered for US secretary of state. NBC News quotes sources close to Trump as saying that Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is likely to be named next week. Tillerson, 64, has a business relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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

4. Campaigners prepare new court bid to block Brexit

A new court case is threatening to derail Brexit. Two claimaints will write to the government tomorrow saying they are taking it to the High Court in an effort to keep Britain in the single market. The pair — one a "remain" voter, the other who voted for Brexit — will seek a judicial review in an attempt to give MPs a new power of veto over the terms on which Britain leaves the EU.

5. Harsh discipline for Amazon's 'elves' exposed

Amazon workers are being threatened with the sack if they take four days off sick, even if they have a doctor’s note, reports The Sunday Times. The online retail giant, which last year made more than £6bn of revenues in Britain, has a disciplinary system under which points are accrued for illness. Workers are issued a penalty point for each episode of sickness.

6. Conservative proposals are 'making social care worse'

New figures show government plans are "making social care worse", says The Observer. An investigation found that the landmark government scheme designed to ease the strain on packed hospitals – the Better Care Fund – is failing to deliver its aims of keeping older people healthy at home and so cutting "bedblocking", despite £4bn a year being poured into it.

7. Leading critic AA Gill dies at the age of 62

Restaurant critic AA Gill has died, aged 62, three weeks after revealing he had cancer. The Sunday Times columnist told the newspaper last month that he had been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers. Gill, who had been having chemotherapy, said that he had been "very lucky" in his life. Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens said Gill had been "a giant among journalists".

8. Islamic State returns to historic Palmyra in Syria

Fighters from Islamic State have re-entered Palmyra in Syria nine months after they were expelled by pro-Assad forces backed by Russia. A local group reports that militants have overrun the city's military warehouse and its northern and western districts after taking several government positions, oil fields, and strategic hilltops in the surrounding countryside in an intensive 72 hour campaign.

9. Block Murdoch's Sky takeover, ex-BBC man tells PM

A former BBC executive has called on Theresa May to block Rupert Murdoch's £11.2bn bid to takeover Sky. Sir Michael Lyons said a "fit and proper person" test should be applied to the media mogul's plan. Murdoch's bid through 21st Century Fox for a complete takeover of the broadcaster comes five years after he abandoned a previous attempt following the phone hacking scandal.

10. Taxpayers hand 'witch hunt' Iraqi 'fixer' £110,000

An Iraqi at the centre of a "witch hunt" against British soldiers was paid more than £110,000 in taxpayers’ money, reports the Sunday Telegraph. Abu Jamal was paid to carry out administrative tasks, while at the same time hustling for business as he searched for alleged victims of abuses by troops. Jamal’s claims led to scores of soldiers who fought in Iraq being investigated for war crimes.