Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 29 Nov 2017

1. UK ‘may offer EU divorce bill of up to £50bn’

The UK has made another, larger offer of the “divorce bill” it must pay to leave the EU, according to the BBC. The offer of €50bn (£44bn) has been given a “broad welcome” by Brussels, the broadcaster says. The Government has played down reports that the final amount could be up to €55bn - equivalent to almost £50bn. In September it offered €20bn (£17.7bn).

2. North Korea says new missile can strike US

North Korea says it has successfully tested a new missile that could deliver a nuclear payload to anywhere in the US. A state TV broadcast said the Hwasong-15 missile is “significantly more” powerful than anything the hermit state has tested before. Asked about the news, US President Donald Trump said: “We will take care of it.”

3. Apple scrambles to fix login glitch

Apple is working on a software update for its latest operating system – MacOS High Sierra – after a Turkish developer noticed a “huge” security flaw. Lemi Ergin found that anyone can log in to a Mac computer without a password by typing in the username “root” and then hitting “enter” a few times. Ergin drew the flaw to Apple’s attention via Twitter.

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4. Total value of UK housing passes £6tn

The total value of all the houses in the UK has passed more than £6tn, according to mortgage lender Halifax. In 2007, it was just £4tn. The firm’s newly released report also says that the value of homes in London alone is higher than that of all the houses in Scotland, Wales and the north of England combined. Just 48% of London homes are owner-occupied.

5. New York truck attack suspect pleads not guilty

The man accused of driving a truck into pedestrians in New York City in October, killing eight and injuring 12, has pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism. Sayfullo Saipov, who arrived in the US from Uzbekistan in 2010, is reported by investigators to have bragged to them that he “felt good about what he had done” and supported Islamic State.

6. London Stock Exchange boss stands down

The head of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Xavier Rolet, is stepping down immediately, bringing forward a planned departure at the end of next year. The decision follows a protracted row between the LSE board and an institutional investor who wanted Rolet to stay. Yesterday the Bank of England intervened, calling for “clarity”.

7. New food waste guidelines: ‘keep apples in fridge’

Consumers will be urged to keep apples refrigerated to avoid food waste in new labelling guidelines from the Government’s food advisory board Wrap. Some two million tons of food are wasted every year by British households because it is not eaten in time. Wrap says a third of this waste happens because best before and use by dates are too confusing for shoppers.

8. Grayling ‘might reopen axed railway lines’

Some of the many railway lines dismantled during the 1960s Beeching purge could be reopened, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling will say when he presents his new transport strategy today, if it is thought they “could help create new economic opportunities”. Labour called the strategy a series of “flimsy re-announcements” and “unfunded proposals”.

9. DNA samples ‘prove’ yeti is brown bear

Stories of a huge, man-like creature living in the Himalayas are probably the result of bear sightings, according to new research by the University at Buffalo, in New York State. The team did DNA analysis of nine samples supposedly from yetis, or abominable snowmen, and found that they all came from bears. One “stuffed yeti” was made from a bearskin and dog teeth.

10. Briefing: daring tales of North Korean defectors

Dramatic video showing a soldier escaping across the North Korean border despite being shot five times was shared around the world last week - and his recovery is still making headlines.

The security camera footage, released by the United Nations Command in Seoul, is all the more remarkable because Oh’s escape differed in almost every respect from the experience of most North Korean defectors.

How hard is it to escape North Korea?