Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 18 Jan 2018

1. Uk to pay extra £44.5m towards Calais security

Britain is to commit an extra £44.5m to be spent on fencing, CCTV and other security technology in the French port of Calais, in an attempt to stop migrants crossing the Channel to the UK. The spending will be announced as French President Emmanuel Macron visits Britain for talks with Theresa May. Macron is also expected to say that France will loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK.

2. Drivers warned of continued snow and ice

The Met Office has yellow weather warnings for snow and ice, and for high winds, in place until 11am and 9am respectively this morning. Gusts of up to 75mph are forecast for much of England, posing a danger to life, and snowy conditions are expected in the north of England, Northern Ireland and southern and western Scotland.

3. Taxpayers owe £199bn under PFI deals

The taxpayer still owes £199bn to private contractors hired under the PFI (Private Finance Initiative) scheme and its successor, despite a lack of evidence to show better value for money than public procurement, according to the National Audit Office. These figures predate the collapse of Carillion, which held several PFI contracts.

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4. Latest Apple bug is ChaiOS ‘text bomb’

A computer security expert has demonstrated a bug in Apple’s iPhones and Mac computers. Simply sending a link to the ChaiOS code, written to “make a point” by Abraham Masri, causes the devices to crash. The problem is just the latest of several embarrassing flaws in Apple software – including a password problem in the latest operating system.

5. Oil from tanker spreads across East China Sea

Oil from a sunken Iranian tanker has spread across almost 40 square miles of the East China Sea, Chinese authorities say. The tanker Sanchi crashed into a freighter on 6 January and burst into flames. It sank on Sunday after three bodies had been recovered, with 29 other crew presumed dead. It is the worst oil spill in decades.

6. Jo Cox: late MP ‘experienced loneliness’

The late Jo Cox MP experienced periods of profound loneliness, at university and when she became a mother, her sister has said. Cox, who was murdered by a right-wing extremist during the EU referendum campaign, had headed a loneliness initiative in Parliament. The Government has just created a loneliness minister to carry on her work.

7. Canada: Facebook selfie helped convict killer

A selfie posted on Facebook helped convict a Canadian woman who murdered her friend after an argument. Cheyenne Antoine, 21, posted a picture of herself with victim Brittney Gargol hours before the killing. In the image, Antoine can be seen to be wearing the belt she used to strangle the 18-year-old, before dumping her body at a tip.

8. Emily Maitlis fears stalker will never stop

Newsreader Emily Maitlis has spoken about the distress caused by 20 years of stalking perpetrated by a former friend, Edward Vines, who has been jailed for 45 months for breaching a restraining order. She compared it to a chronic illness that interrupted her ability to function and said Vines’s actions were a symptom of his mental ill-health.

9. Trump voter jury request turned down

Three men on trial for an alleged bomb plot targeting Muslims in Kansas have had their request for a jury of Donald Trump voters turned down. Lawyers for Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen had asked for a jury drawn from a rural area where people were more likely to have voted for the US president and to have conservative views.

10. Briefing: ‘minister for loneliness’ pledges to defeat endemic problem

Theresa May has appointed Britain’s first minister for the lonely in order to help continue the work of the murdered MP Jo Cox.

Sports and Civil Society Minister Tracey Crouch has been tasked with setting out a new strategy for helping the millions of people believed to be suffering from loneliness in the UK. She has been asked to pull together all strands of government, including the Treasury, the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions, to tackle the problem.

New ‘minister for loneliness’ pledges to defeat endemic problem