1. Trump urged to justify his Obama tapping claim
Donald Trump has been urged to provide evidence to support his sensational claim that Barack Obama ordered his phones to be tapped during the election campaign. Republican senator Ben Sasse said the US President’s allegations were "serious" and he should explain the alleged wire-tapping and how he came to know about it. Trump called Obama, who has denied the allegation, "sick" and suggested he should be criminally prosecuted.
2. MPs tell May to guarantee EU citizens right to remain in UK
Theresa May is under fresh pressure over the fate of three million EU nationals living in the UK. MPs are demanding that the rights of the EU nationals must be immediately guaranteed, insisting that the government should not wait for an equivalent assurance over the British citizens in the EU before acting. Hilary Benn said EU citizens had been left under a "cloud of uncertainty".
3. Blair 'angles for job' at secret White House meeting
Tony Blair has attended a "secret meeting" at the White House to discuss becoming Donald Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, claims the Mail on Sunday. The former Labour PM held talks with Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday, one of three private meetings the men have had since September, including a three-hour summit in the West Wing.
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4. Iraqis treated for exposure amid fears of Mosul chemical attack
The United Nations says that 12 people are being treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul, raising fears of the first chemical attack in the besieged Iraqi city. "If the use of chemical weapons is confirmed, this is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime, regardless of who the targets or the victims of the attacks are," said a spokeswoman.
5. Premature babies as light as 1lb can now survive
Doctors say that premature babies who are born weighing as little as 1lb (0.45kg) can now survive. As recently as 10 years ago, a baby born at 26 weeks had a 50% chance of surviving, but that chance has now risen by about 80%. New treatments - including medical trials in the Midlands - are helping to reduce disabilities and boost life expectancy.
6. Watchdog examines claims of misuse of data in politics
The privacy watchdog is holding an inquiry into whether voters’ personal data is misused in political campaigns. Lawyers, privacy campaigners, politicians and technology experts have voiced concern that electoral laws are not keeping up with the pace of technological change. Information supplied by tech company Cambridge Analytica was said to have been vital to the Leave campaign’s success in the EU referendum.
7. Hammond rules out 'spending sprees' in Budget
Philip Hammond says there will be no "spending sprees" in Wednesday's Budget. Writing in The Sunday Times, the Chancellor said although the economy is "robust", disciplined budgeting is important ahead of Brexit. He said the country needed to "get back to living within our means". The Sunday Telegraph says he will unveil radical plans to put technical education on an equal footing to academic studies.
8. Bellew beats Haye with 11th-round stoppage
The WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew stopped arch rival David Haye in a dramatic heavyweight battle at London's O2 Arena. The Observer says that Bellew "ripped up the David Haye script he had always considered a sham" at the end of a fight that will "occupy highlights reels for years to come". Bellew said: "I wanted to really beat him and he really wanted to beat me."
9. Jimmy Carr says tax row could have destroyed career
Jimmy Carr says the controversy over his tax affairs in 2012 could have ended his career. The row over the comic’s involvement in a tax avoidance scheme saw the then prime minister, David Cameron, describe Carr’s actions as "morally wrong". Carr told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs the saga could have been "a career-ender". He has since paid all the tax he owes.
10. Jenni Murray says transgenders are not 'real women'
Dame Jenni Murray says that men who undergo sex change operations cannot be "real women". The broadcaster insists that those who have lived as men, enjoying the inherent privileges, do not have the shared experience of growing up female. "Too many men who change sex model themselves on a male view of what a woman should be," she added. Her comments are set to spark an angry response from transgender activists.
