Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 24 Jan 2018

1. Legal cases dropped over evidence failures

The number of court cases abandoned because of failures to disclose evidence to the defending lawyers has increased by 70% in the past two years, according to data obtained by the BBC through a freedom of information request. Last year, 916 people had charges dropped for this reason, up from 537 in 2014-15. Two recent rape cases highlighted the problem.

2. UK opposes strong new EU recycling targets

Confidential documents secured by Greenpeace show that the Government is opposing tougher EU targets for recycling, according to a report by The Guardian - even though Theresa May this month announced a 25-year plan for the environment that promised “ambitious new future targets”. The EU aims to recycle at least 65% of all urban waste by 2035.

3. Facebook engineer invents new unit of time

A software engineer working for Facebook has created a new unit of time, the “flick”. Longer than a nanosecond, the flick is a contraction of “frame-tick” and is 1/705,600,000 of a second. It has been designated in an attempt to help developers keep video effects in sync. One academic told the BBC that the unit would help improve virtual reality.

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4. Newspapers threaten legal action over Worboys

The UK’s two biggest-selling newspapers, The Sun and the Daily Mail, have joined forces to threaten legal action unless the parole board reveals its reasons for deciding to release convicted multiple rapist John Worboys, the so-called Black Cab Rapist. The newspapers say if the reasons are not released in seven days, they will sue.

5. Gunmen storm Save the Children offices

Gunmen have attacked the offices of Save the Children in Jalalabad, in east Afghanistan. At least 11 people have been injured and the attack is continuing this morning. Witnesses say a car bomb exploded at the gates of the charity’s compound at about 4.40am GMT today. The attackers then ran into the building and opened fire.

6. Belgium: ‘Deacon of Death’ gives evidence

A man dubbed the Deacon of Death by the Belgian press was stressed out about renovations to his house when he began his killing spree, a court heard yesterday. Ivo Poppe, a Roman Catholic deacon and former nurse, is accused of killing at least ten people, including his own mother, by injecting air into their veins. He says the killings were intended to end suffering in ill people.

7. Motor insurance premiums at record high

The average motor insurance premium has risen by £30 in the last year and now stands at £493, the Association of British Insurers says. The industry body blames the increase on government taxes and changes to the rules on payouts. The average policy has risen by almost a third since 2014.

8. US sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin dies at 88

American sci-fi and fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin, best known for her children’s series A Wizard of Earthsea, has died at the age of 88 at her home in Portland, Oregon, following a period of ill health. Le Guin was influenced by anarchist and Taoist thinking, and wrote parables about real-world problems.

9. Little Mix promoter sued over sign language

A promoter who put on a concert by the band Little Mix is being sued by a deaf parent who took her hearing daughter to the show but was disappointed to find there was no sign language interpreter for the support acts. LHG Live says it had acceded to Sally Reynolds’ request for an interpreter for the main act and had also upgraded her tickets.

10. Briefing: why the Turkey-Syria border conflict is a ‘proxy war’ for US-Russia

Ankara today announced its first two combat deaths in Turkey’s clash with US-backed Kurdish fighters south of the border in Syria - a battle many see as a proxy war pitting Russian military might against a weakened America.

“Relations between Turkey and Russia have been gradually getting closer in the context of the Syria conflict, whereas tensions have been rising between Ankara and Washington, which backs the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria,” reports Al Jazeera.

Why the Turkey-Syria border conflict is a ‘proxy war’ for US-Russia