1. Chancellor to use 'headroom' to 'attack problems'
Philip Hammond will use "headroom" in the public finances to target spending on housing and health, a friend has told the BBC. According to former transport minister Stephen Hammond, the chancellor wants to use next week’s Budget to "attack problems" that have made the government unpopular. "I am absolutely convinced that he'll be looking at some housing ideas," he said, adding that "there are some really creative ones" around housing.
2. Mugabe under the cosh as Zimbabweans prepare to march
President Robert Mugabe is under increasing pressure, as Zimbabweans prepare to join a march calling for their country's leader to resign. As posters around the capital of Harare say: "We can't have a 93-year-old person ruling more than 15 million people," Zimbabwe's military has said it supports a rally due to be held there today, organised by long-standing opponents of Mugabe.
3. Trump to put trophy hunting decision on hold
Donald Trump says he is putting a controversial decision to allow imports of elephant trophies on hold until he can "review all conservation facts". The US President angered animal lovers when he announced he would allow hunters who kill elephants in Zimbabwe to bring their trophies back to America. But writing on Twitter he said would delay the decision "until such time as I review all conservation facts".
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4. EU 'threatens' to withhold Thatcher's rebate
The European Union is threatening to withhold Britain’s final rebate payment of €5bn, reports the Daily Telegraph. Sources say that negotiations over the Brexit bill have still not settled whether the UK would receive the €5bn (£4.46bn) payment as part of the final settlement when it leaves the EU in March 2019. The rebate was won by Margaret Thatcher in 1984.
5. Gerry Adams 'will still hold power' after stepping down
Gerry Adams will announce his plans to retire after 34 years as president of Sinn Féin today. Some analysts say that Adams’ resignation, which he will announce at Dublin’s RDS conference hall, will improve Sinn Féin’s electoral chances in the Irish Republic. However, others argue the 69-year-old will still "hold the centre of power" in Sinn Féin long after his official successor takes the top job.
6. Parental alienation could backfire under new rules
A "groundbreaking" process being trialled by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service means that divorcing parents could be denied contact with their children if they try to turn them against their former partner. Experts say that parental alienation - where one parent poisons their child against the other - occurs in significant numbers of the 125,000 cases it dealt with each year.
7. 'Campus chaos' could ensue after retirement reform
A union has warned of strike "chaos" on campuses after plans were unveiled to replace university staff’s guaranteed pension benefits with less secure retirement plans. The University and College Union, the trade union for higher education staff, said the new scheme could lead to a final pension worth only around 20% of the "best" defined benefit arrangements.
8. Dog ownership slashes your chance of heart attack
Owning a dog significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks and other fatal conditions, according to a new study. Among people who live alone, owning a dog cuts the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 36%. In households with more than one person under the same roof, dogs lowered deaths from heart disease by 15%, the researchers revealed.
9. Catholic priest says Christians must abandon Christmas
An Irish Catholic priest says Christians should stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by "Santa and reindeer". Father Desmond O’Donnell said Christians must come to accept that Christmas now has no sacred meaning. "We’ve lost Christmas, just like we lost Easter, and should abandon the word completely," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "We need to let it go," he added.
10. Jay Z says US law is 'entrapping and harassing' black people
Rapper Jay Z says the US legal system is stalking back people. Writing after fellow rapper Meek Mill received a sentence of two to four years in prison after violating his probation, Jay Z argued: "What’s happening to Meek Mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day."
