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

1. Commuters face delays as ice grips roads

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice for much of England and other parts of the UK, after the coldest night of the year. Temperatures dipped to -13C in Shawbury, Shropshire, and lying snow and slush has turned to ice across most of the country. Hundreds of schools are closed for a second day in a row.

2. Woman killed by four hit-and-run drivers

A woman died after being run over and then hit by a further three vehicles in London yesterday. None of the four drivers stopped. The victim, believed to be in her 20s or 30s, was hit by a lorry as she used a pedestrian crossing in Tulse Hill. She was struck by a second lorry – and then by two cars. The dead woman has not yet been formally identified.

3. Astronomers to check ‘visitor’ for signs of life

Astronomers are to use one of the world’s largest telescopes to check whether a 1,300ft-long cigar-shaped visiting “asteroid” shows any signs of being artificial. ‘Oumuamua is the first object seen in our solar system known to have arrived from elsewhere. Professor Avi Loeb of Harvard University said the object’s long shape was “curious”.

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4. Ambassador expects Trump visit next year

The US ambassador to the UK said this morning he thinks Donald Trump will make his controversial state visit to Britain next year. Woody Johnson told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “It hasn’t been officially announced, but I hope he does.” Johnson added that a recent row between Trump and Theresa May over Islamophobia had been “misinterpreted”.

5. US think tank warns of Brexit fallout

A leading US think tank has produced a study warning that nearly all possible trading relationships between the UK and European Union will be less favourable than the current situation. The state-sponsored Rand Corporation says the worst outcome would be no deal, which it predicted would leave the UK economy 4.9% poorer by 2029.

6. Apple buys UK firm Shazam for $400m

Apple has bought UK tech company Shazam, which developed an app that can identify music being played in bars or on the radio for its users. Shazam is believed to have been sold for $400m (£300m) - less than half the $1bn valuation used when the London-based firm tapped investors for cash as recently as 2015.

7. New York subway bomb was ‘amateur level’

New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has said that the bomb in the New York City subway on Monday morning was “amateur level” and may not have fully exploded, limiting damage. Three people and the suspected bomber received non-life threatening injuries in the blast, which occured at 7.30am local time in a passage linking two subways under a bus terminus in central Manhattan.

8. Labour clears Clive Lewis of sexual harassment

An internal inquiry by Labour has found Clive Lewis MP not guilty of sexual harassment, following claims by a party supporter that he groped her at this year’s Labour conference in Brighton. The former defence shadow said: “I am very pleased to be able to put this behind me and move on.” He said that the party was “right” to have investigated.

9. Doctor defends ‘man-flu’ as evolutionary hangover

An American doctor has published a defence of men accused of overreacting to cold symptoms, saying that “man flu” really might be worse for men than women – and suggesting it could be a result of the way genders have evolved. Dr Kyle Sue’s findings are “somewhat tongue-in-cheek”, says The Guardian, but are based on real science.

10. Briefing: Australia’s wary war against Chinese interference

Australia has ambitious plans to curb China’s influence in its internal politics, modelled in part on US laws that ban foreign campaign donations and require the registration of lobbyists working for nation states.

But with China now Australia’s largest trading partner, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may be biting the hand that feeds him and his 24.5 million fellow Australians.

Australia’s wary war against Chinese interference