Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 15 Nov 2017

1. Zimbabwe military denies coup attempt

Military leaders in Zimbabwe have denied carrying out a coup after taking control of state television and President Robert Mugabe. In a statement read out on air, Major General Sibusiso Moyo said the 93-year-old leader was “safe”, but did not say where he was. Heavy gun and artillery fire could be heard in northern parts of Harare this morning, the BBC says.

2. North Korea 'sentences Donald Trump to death’

North Korean state media has called US President Donald Trump a “hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people” after he mocked Kim Jong-un as being “short and fat”. Pyongyang media says Trump’s “worst crime” was to have “hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership”.

3. Dominic Grieve to defy ‘blood-curdling’ Brexit threats

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve, the Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, says he will vote against an amendment to the EU withdrawal bill which fixes a date for Brexit, despite “blood-curdling threats” and “arm twisting” from the Tory whips. Grieve is one of as many as 15 Conservatives who may rebel, The Guardian claims.

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4. Johnson meets Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is today meeting the husband of British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in Iran on charges of sedition since 2016. A Foreign Office statement said the two men will discuss Richard Ratcliffe’s request to give his wife “diplomatic protection”.

5. Russia ‘co-ordinated Brexit Twitter accounts’

Twitter accounts identified by the US as fakes created by Russia made a co-ordinated attempt to influence the result of the Brexit referendum in 2016, according to analysis by the Oxford Internet Institute. The campaign was much lower-level than the attempt made to influence last year’s US presidential election, says Sky News.

6. Australians vote for marriage equality

Australia has voted in favour of legalising same-sex weddings in a non-binding referendum. The postal vote was 61.6% in favour, prompting supporters to celebrate in public spaces, singing, dancing and waving flags. A bill to legalise gay weddings was proposed to the Senate earlier today.

7. Universities told to end advertising boasts

Six British universities have been told their marketing claims are excessive and must be changed. The Advertising Standards Authority told Falmouth University to stop calling itself “the UK’s number one arts university”, while the University of Leicester was told it could no longer claim to be a “top 1% world university”.

8. Commuters asked to help stop suicides

British Transport Police (BTP) and other groups are appealing to commuters to help stop suicides by starting a conversation with anyone who seems vulnerable. BTP said danger signs include people standing alone and isolated, or looking distant and withdrawn. From 2016 to 2017, 273 people took their own lives on UK railways.

9. Homes for £1 regeneration scheme

A second tranche of homes on sale for £1 are being offered in Stoke-on-Trent, as the local council continues a policy it hopes will regenerate run-down parts of the town. Up to 25 homes will be bought by the local authority at a cost of £1.5m and offered to people with local connections who cannot otherwise afford to buy.

10. Briefing: farm murders in South Africa

Protesters claim that farmers are much more likely to be murdered than the average South African – and that many of the brutal attacks are racially motivated. There is a "popular narrative that the country’s white farming minority is under siege", says the Mail and Guardian. But what is the real story behind this highly politicised debate?

Fact Check: The truth about farm murders in South Africa