Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 5 Jan 2018

1. Black cab rapist: MPs want parole decision published

The reasoning behind a parole board’s decision to free the ‘black cab rapist’ John Worboys after less than ten years in jail should be made public, Yvette Cooper MP has said, speaking as chair of the Commons home affairs committee. Worboys was convicted of 19 sexual assaults and rapes – but police later said he had committed 100.

2. White House book published despite Trump threats

The publisher of a new book about the Trump White House has brought forward the release date after the US President threatened legal action. Author Michael Wolff thanked Trump for the extra publicity. The book contains an allegation made by former adviser Steve Bannon that a meeting held by Trump’s son was “treasonous”.

3. ‘Bomb cyclone’ leaves 100,000 US homes powerless

An extreme weather phenomenon called a ‘bomb cyclone’ has brought gales, snow and bitter cold to the north-east of the US. Some 100,000 homes and businesses have been left without power and 17 people have died. Even the southern state of Florida has had its first snowfall in three decades, with iguanas dropping frozen from trees.

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4. Missing Sophie Smith ‘had outlined her intentions’

A woman of 21 who has been missing since 3am on Boxing Day had left a note for her family “outlining her intentions”, police say. Student Sophie Smith had been receiving treatment for depression and severe anxiety and had talked about ending her life in the sea. CCTV footage shows her running towards a beach near her home.

5. MPs call for 25p takeaway coffee cup ‘latte levy’

The Commons environmental audit committee is calling for a 25p charge per takeaway coffee cup, and a ban on the cups by 2023 if a recycling target cannot be met. The so-called ‘latte levy’ has been proposed because just one in 400 cups is currently recycled. Most cups have a plastic lining which means they cannot be reprocessed.

6. Apple says chip flaws make all its devices vulnerable

Apple has said that all iPhones, iPads and Mac computers are vulnerable to attack because of flaws in chips made by Intel and ARM which the tech firm says “apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices”. There is no evidence the Meltdown and Spectre flaws have been exploited by any hackers.

7. Car sales fall for first time in six years

Sales of new cars fell in 2017, manufacturers say, the first time in six years that they have declined year-on-year. Sales were down 5.6% in 2017 compared to 2016. Diesel sales specifically were down 17% because of higher taxes imposed due to pollution fears. But manufacturers point out that 2015 and 2016 were both bumper years.

8. North Korean missile ‘misfired and hit own city’

North Korea hit one of its own cities with a botched missile launch in April last year, according to The Diplomat. The magazine says US intelligence sources told it a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile launched on 28 April broke apart and came down on a factory complex in Tokchon. The magazine says satellite images show the damage.

9. Irn Bru maker: drinkers won’t notice sugar change

The manufacturer of Scotland’s other national drink – bright orange, sugary Irn Bru – has promised drinkers won’t know the difference when the sugar content is halved to avoid a sugary drink levy. However, a petition has already been signed by 20,000 disgruntled fans – and some are already stockpiling supplies of the beverage.

10. Briefing: Donald Trump, a dangerous mind?

With 2018 barely under way, Donald Trump has already bragged about his big nuclear button, threatened to withdraw aid to both Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority, and bizarrely - even by gold-plated Trumpian standards - taken credit for US air safety.

Trump has also set off a firestorm of questions about his mental state, with The Atlantic magazine yesterday calling for a formal system to evaluate the president and “reassure concerned citizens that the ‘leader of the free world’ is not cognitively impaired”.

Donald Trump: a dangerous mind?