Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 3 Jan 2017

1. Man shot dead during 'pre-planned' operation on M62

A man has been shot dead by police during a "pre-planned" operation on the M62 near Huddersfield yesterday evening, while a number of others were also arrested, with some needing hospital treatment for injuries. A West Yorkshire Police said the incident was not related to terrorism.

Police find gun in car of man killed in M62 shooting

2. Briton killed fighting Islamic State in Syria

A Briton who travelled to Syria to fight Islamic State alongside the Kurdish YPG forces has been killed. Chef Ryan Lock, 20, from Chichester, West Sussex, had no military experience but joined the Kurdish troops in August last year. His family said he was a "very caring and loving boy who would do anything to help anyone".

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3. EU ambassador Sir Ivan Rogers resigns

Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK's ambassador to the EU, has resigned. He had been in the job since 2013 and was expected to play a key role in this year's Brexit talks. He is said to have resigned so that a successor can be appointed before the negotiations get underway. Last year it was revealed he feared a UK-EU trade deal could take ten years to finalise.

4. Finland trials income for the unemployed

Finland is to replace unemployment benefits with a guaranteed basic income in a trial designed to end the cycle of welfare dependence. In the first such test in Europe, out-of-work Finns will receive a monthly payment, equal to the current level of unemployment benefit but with no conditions attached. It will continue to be paid even after receiving a job.

Finland to trial basic income for the unemployed

5. Rail passengers to protest annual price hike

Passengers' groups are to protest the annual rail price hike in Glasgow, London and elsewhere. Three groups have joined forces to demonstrate outside more than 100 stations in England today and in Scotland tomorrow. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will join the King's Cross protest today. Prices have risen an average of 2.3%.

6. Britain now 'more racist and less happy'

Most Britons believe the country is more racist and less happy than it was a year ago, says a poll carried out by the data division of Sky News, with three-quarters believing the UK is now more divided and only 7% saying it is more united. A majority say tensions between communities will worsen with Brexit.

7. Syrian rebels boycott Russia-brokered peace talks

Rebel groups in Syria say they are suspending preparations for talks later this month brokered by Russia and Turkey, saying: "The regime and its allies have continued firing and committed many and large violations." All discussions of attending the Kazakhstan talks would be "frozen" as a consequence, they added.

8. Trump: North Korean missile test 'won't happen'

Donald Trump has derided the possibility of North Korea testing nuclear missiles capable of threatening the US, tweeting simply that it "won't happen". He also continued his criticism of China in another post, accusing Beijing of failing to "help with North Korea" while profiting from US trade.

9. Art critic and author John Berger dies at 90

Art critic and novelist John Berger has died at the age of 90. He was best known for his 1972 TV series Ways of Seeing, which argued that mass media has affected the way we interpret art, but also won the Booker Prize for his novel G, donating half the prize money to the radical African-American group the Black Panthers.

John Berger: Five key works by the late art critic

10. Briefing: Five books to read before you see the new films

Next year will see some beloved books getting the big-screen treatment - and some possible accolades to match. Idris Elba, Kate Winslet and several other heavyweight actors will be taking on some highly anticipated reworkings in the coming months. With this in mind, now seems as good a time as any to explore their paperback counterparts. So now is the time to pick up Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, The Circle by Dave Eggers and The Mountain Between us by Charles Martin.

Eight books to read before you see the film adaptation