Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 12 Sep 2017

1. EU Withdrawal Bill passes first vote

The Government’s EU Withdrawal Bill has passed its first vote in the Commons, by 326 votes to 290, after a debate that lasted into the early hours of this morning. Most Labour MPs voted against the Bill, after shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer called it a “naked power grab” by Theresa May. Amendments will now be tabled.

2. Hurricane Irma leaves Florida powerless

Two-thirds of homes in Florida, some 6.5 million, have been left without electric power after Hurricane Irma passed over the state. Irma made landfall in the US state on Sunday as a category 4 hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm as it moved north. At least four people died, in addition to 37 last week in the Caribbean.

3. Actor’s daughter dies at music festival

Police have opened a murder inquiry after the 25-year-old daughter of actor John Michie, best known for Holby City, was found dead at the Bestival music festival in Dorset. A 28-year-old man from London has been arrested on suspicion of murder after Louella Michie’s body was found in a wooded area at the Lulworth Estate site.

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4. Boris Johnson to visit Caribbean

Boris Johnson is to visit some of Britain’s Caribbean territories to see the damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The Foreign Secretary will visit the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, both badly damaged, to meet affected communities. The Government was criticised last week for taking too long to respond to the natural disaster.

5. Norway: Solberg holds on to power

Norway’s conservative government has held on to power in a tight general election, according to estimates made after 95% of votes have been counted. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she had been given a “mandate for four more years”, with her right-wing coalition of four parties winning 89 seats out of 169 in parliament.

6. Light drinking in pregnancy ‘not harmful’

Despite the certainty that heavy drinking during pregnancy harms babies, researchers from the University of Bristol say there is little evidence that light drinking – which they defined as two small drinks per week – causes problems. Writing in the BMJ Open journal, they say that the effects of light drinking is not being researched thoroughly enough.

7. British soldiers charged with terror

Three men, two of them serving British soldiers, have been charged under terror laws of being members of a banned neo-Nazi organisation. Alexander Deakin, 22, Mikko Vehvilainen, 32, and Mark Barrett, 24, are alleged to have been members of the group, banned by the Home Office last year. They were arrested on 5 September.

8. Stonehenge tunnel gets go-ahead

A controversial plan to move the A303 road into a tunnel as it passes the world-famous Stonehenge neolithic site in Wiltshire has been given the go-ahead. The Department for Transport says the route will avoid important sites and will not spoil the view from the monument, but objectors say it will cut through unknown archaeology nearby.

9. ‘Monkey selfie’ copyright case ends

A legal fight over the copyright of a selfie photograph taken by a macaque monkey in the Indonesian jungle has been won by the photographer whose camera was used. Briton David Slater argued he had put in a lot of effort to get the shot, winning the animal’s trust. The legal case was brought by animal rights group Peta.

10. Briefing: the pilots who fly into category 5 storms

The US air force has released footage taken from inside Hurricane Irma, to show what a category 5 storm looks like from its centre.

The video was captured by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, otherwise known as the Hurricane Hunters, an all-reserve air force unit who gather data by flying their aircraft into storms such as Irma, Reuters reports.

The squad is based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and its origins dates back to a 1943 barroom “dare” by two former army air corps pilots to fly through a hurricane off Texas.

Hurricane hunters: the pilots who fly into category 5 storms