Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 9 Jan 2018

1. May’s reshuffle in disarray as Greening quits

Theresa May’s reshuffle plans were spoiled yesterday when Justine Greening refused to become work and pensions secretary after the PM removed her from the role of education secretary. According to media reports, it was the second unexpected outcome for May, after Jeremy Hunt refused to change from health to business secretary.

2. Diesel car sales to ‘plunge’ this year, study says

The worst is yet to come for diesel car sales, following last year’s sharp fall in response to higher taxes and pollution fears, a study has found. Aston University predicts diesels will account for just 15% of the UK market by 2025, says the BBC, with sales expected to fall by 10% this year alone. Diesel cars emit more nitrogen oxide than petrol vehicles, but less carbon dioxide.

3. Toby Young resigns from Office for Students

Journalist Toby Young has resigned from his recent appointment to the new Office for Students, bowing to pressure to go after it emerged he had posted a string of offensive messages on Twitter, including comments about female politicians’ breasts. Young said his presence at the new universities regulator had become a “distraction”.

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4. North Koreans to head south for Winter Olympics

North Korea has said it will attend the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, following the first high-level talks between the two sides for more than two years. South Korea also hopes to hold reunions for families separated by war in the 1950s. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is said to be fearful of a US nuclear attack and hoping to de-escalate tensions.

5. Trump-Russia probe ready to interview president

Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel leading the inquiry into links between Donald Trump’s election 2016 campaign team and Russia, is in talks to interview the US president, The Washington Post reports. Trump has called the investigation a “witch-hunt” and there has been speculation that he will simply fire Mueller if he is too persistent.

6. Morrisons reports ‘strong Christmas trading’

Shares in Morrisons have risen after the supermarket announced it had enjoyed good Christmas trading. Like-for-like sales at the Bradford-based chain rose by 2.1% in the ten weeks up to 7 January. Share prices for Tesco and Sainsbury also rose on the news, with the two supermarkets due to report on their seasonal trading later this week.

7. Intel to make flawed chips safe ‘within a week’

Computer chip manufacturer Intel is to release a software patch which will fix a security flaw in its processors that hackers might be able to exploit. The Meltdown and Spectre flaws became public knowledge last week and affect all devices that feature the chips, which includes most computers. Intel did not apologise for the security flaw.

8. Holidaymakers ‘encouraged to fake illness’

As many as nine million Britons have been approached after a holiday and encouraged to fake illness in order to claim travel insurance, the Association of British Travel Agents says. Holidaymakers are being contacted by claims management companies of the type often known as “ambulance chasers”, via unsolicited phone calls.

9. Solar road stolen in China, days after opening

A new “solar road” in eastern China has been vandalised days after its grand opening. Thieves removed a 6ft stretch of photovoltaic cells covered in transparent concrete from the half-mile stretch of road, in Jinan, Shandong Province. The materials were not valuable, but it is thought the thieves stole the stretch in order to duplicate the technology, says The Guardian.

10. Briefing: the politics of the Winter Olympics

The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea next month will offer an impressive spectacle of sporting prowess but the event could be overshadowed by politics.

North Korea is considering sending athletes to the Games, with much depending on talks in so-called truce village Panmunjom tomorrow, when officials from North and South Korea will sit down together for the first time in two years. Two North Korean athletes have qualified - figure skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik - but Pyongyang did not confirm their slot by the 30 November deadline, Reuters reports.

Winter Olympics 2018: more politics than sports?