Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 22 Nov 2017

1. Chancellor promises ‘Bright future’ in Budget

Philip Hammond will unveil his autumn Budget today, promising to “invest to secure a bright future for Britain”, despite tough constraints on spending. The Chancellor’s biggest measure is expected to be extra money for the NHS – but this will fall short of the £4bn needed to avert a waiting times crisis. He will also scrap central pay caps.

2. Uber concealed hack which hit 57 million people

Uber has admitted it suffered a data breach in 2016, which it kept secret, when hackers stole the names, email addresses and phone numbers of 57 million customers and drivers. The ride-sharing app paid hackers $100,000 (£75,000) to delete the data. Chief executive Travis Kalanick knew about the hack more than one year ago.

3. Zimbabwe: new leader to be sworn in

A successor to Robert Mugabe – expected to be former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa – will be sworn in today, after the 93-year-old autocrat resigned yesterday. The streets of Harare have been filled with Zimbabweans celebrating Mugabe’s departure – and crowds gathered outside the country’s embassies in London and elsewhere.

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4. ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic to learn verdict

A judge in The Hague will give his verdict today on former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, whose slaughter of tens of thousands – mostly Muslim – earned the sobriquet Butcher of Bosnia. Expected to be found guilty of war crimes, Mladic was arrested in 2011 after Brussels insisted he was turned in if Serbia wanted candidacy to join the EU.

5. I’m A Celebrity contestant leaves over ‘racism’

One of the contestants on reality TV show I’m A Celebrity has quit early after he was accused of using racist and homophobic language on Twitter in 2012. YouTube star Jack Maynard’s publicist took the decision to get him out of the Australian bush so he could defend himself after the Tweets emerged. He said he was “ashamed”.

6. Former teen idol David Cassidy dies aged 67

Actor and singer David Cassidy has died at the age of 67, after suffering multiple organ failure. A huge star with a teenage following in the 1970s, Cassidy rose to fame on the musical sitcom The Partridge Family. He went on to sell 30 million records but had struggled with alcohol in recent years, arrested three times for drunk driving.

7. Different drinks lead to different moods, says study

Researchers at King’s College London say a survey of nearly 30,000 people aged 18 to 34 from 21 countries found different different alcohol drinks linked to different moods. Spirits were said to make drinkers feel angry, sexy or tearful; beer relaxed. The team says the effect may be partly due to marketing and the expectations of drinkers.

8. Likely Lads star Rodney Bewes dies at 79

Actor Rodney Bewes, best known as one half of the sitcom The Likely Lads, has died at the age of 79. As Bob Ferris in the show, and its sequel, Yorkshire-born Bewes drew audiences of up to 27 million in the 1960s and 70s. Tributes have been paid by comics and actors including Jack Dee and Ant and Dec, who called Bewes “a fine comic actor”.

9. Sacha Baron Cohen offers to pay Borat fines

The actor Sacha Baron Cohen has offered to pay the fines of six Czech tourists who were reportedly detained by the authorities in Kazakhstan for wearing the skimpy ‘mankinis’ made famous by his character Borat, supposed to be from the former Soviet republic. The tourists had hoped to pose for photos in the capital, Astana.

10. Briefing: the £40bn Brexit ‘divorce bill’

Theresa May appears to have convinced the Cabinet to back plans to double the EU “divorce bill” offer from £20bn to up to £40bn in exchange for assurances that UK-EU trade talks will move ahead.

Although financial details won’t be released until later in the week, claims that government Brexiteers have agreed to the increased payout were widely reported after a two-hour cabinet meeting in Downing Street yesterday.

Brexit: what you should know about the £40bn ‘divorce bill’