Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 15 Dec 2016

1. Brexit trade deal 'could take ten years'

The remaining 27 EU member states believe negotiating a trade deal for a post-Brexit UK could take as long as ten years and might still fail, says Britain's ambassador to the bloc. The BBC reports Sir Ivan Rogers warned the government the process could take as long as a decade in October, but his advice was not made public.

Brexit: Theresa May says ‘trust me’ to deliver

2. Evacuation of east Aleppo finally underway

The evacuation of hundreds of civilians, rebels and their families from an enclave of east Aleppo, Syria's second city, has begun following a 24-hour delay, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. State TV showed footage of ambulances and a long line of green buses leaving eastern Aleppo. Government forces now control almost all of the city.

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Syria 'planning a new chemical attack', US claims

3. Trump 'may damage US intelligence agencies'

Former CIA director Michael Hayden warned hostile comments about US intelligence made by Republican president-elect Donald Trump risk discouraging the country's spies and could undermine the moral authority of their leaders to send them "into harm's way", reports The Guardian.

4. New police officers to have degree-level education

Police officers recruited in England and Wales from next year will have to be educated to degree level, the College of Policing has announced. Those applying without degrees will be able to take an unfunded three-year policing course or paid "degree apprenticeship". Current requirements vary between forces.

5. One billion Yahoo accounts hacked

Yahoo has revealed that a billion user accounts were hacked in 2013, a year prior to the theft of data from 500 million users in 2014, which was revealed in September this year. The email company says the attack was by an "unauthorised third party". It blames state-sponsored hackers for the 2014 hit.

Yahoo hack may have affected 'one billion users'

6. QPR 'kept on coach after investigation'

Queens Park Rangers football club continued to employ youth officer Chris Gieler after carrying out an internal investigation into his behaviour towards young players in the 1980s, claims the BBC. A former QPR player last week claimed Gieler, who died in 2002, had sexually assaulted him at the age of 15.

7. Uber's self-driving cars stopped for running red lights

Uber has been ordered to take its self-driving cars off the streets of San Francisco after the vehicles were caught running red lights on their first day out. The pilot scheme is on hold until the company gets the relevant state permits for autonomous vehicles. Uber blamed the red-light failures on human error.

8. Southern rail services still severely disrupted

Southern rail commuters have been warned services will be "severely disrupted" today, despite the ending of a 48-hour strike by RMT union drivers that stopped almost all of the company's trains on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some routes are still not running because of an overtime ban by drivers in the Aslef union.

9. Sky and 21st Century Fox agree takeoever deal

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has agreed a takeover deal with broadcaster Sky, that values the company at £18.5bn. The company will pay £11.7bn for the 61% stake in Sky it does not already own. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has ten days to decide whether to refer the deal to Ofcom amid concerns about Murdoch's influence.

Murdoch's Sky deal faces hurdles but share price rises

10. Postal strike: When is the last date for Christmas post?

Postal workers are to stage five days of strike action in the run-up to Christmas as part of a dispute over jobs, pensions and branch closures. However, the Post Office and Royal Mail, which is responsible for delivering the post, says the last posting dates for Christmas deliveries will not be affected by the strike. The cut-off date for first class post is Wednesday 21 December.

When are the last post dates for Christmas 2019?