Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 27 Feb 2018

1. Warnings of further snow disruption

Police are warning of “treacherous” driving conditions in Kent, Surrey, Suffolk and Sussex as disruption caused by heavy snowfall continues. The M20 in Kent has been blocked by stranded lorries and hundreds of trains have been cancelled. The country is in the grip of what is expected to be the coldest week of the winter.

2. School shooting officer denies cowardice

An armed police officer branded a coward by his sheriff and US President Donald Trump because he did not intervene in the Florida school shooting, but stood his ground outside, has defended himself against accusations of cowardice. Scot Peterson’s lawyer said his client thought the gunman was outside and followed his training.

3. Canadians plead guilty of cocaine smuggling

Two Canadians accused of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £12m (A$21m) into Sydney, Australia, on a cruise ship have pleaded guilty. Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, admitted smuggling 210lb of the drug on the MS Sea Princess in 2016 – the largest quantity of the drug discovered on a passenger boat.

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4. Suicide after vigilante paedophile sting

An inquest has heard a gardener from Hampshire was found dead three days after he fell victim to a ‘sting’ by a vigilante organisation hunting paedophiles online. David Baker, 43, was arrested after a group based in Southampton posted footage of him allegedly trying to meet a 14-year-old for sex in a supermarket car park in 2017.

5. Comcast tries to outbid Murdoch for Sky

US cable giant Comcast has submitted a £22m takeover bid for UK broadcaster Sky, in an attempt to outbid Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. The US firm said its all-cash offer of £12.50 per share would mean a 16% better payday for shareholders. Fox’s bid to take over Sky has been held up since December 2016 by competition concerns.

6. Diabetes diagnoses double in 20 years

The number of diabetes sufferers in the UK has more than doubled in the past two decades, new analysis by Diabetes UK suggests. The charity says 1.8 million over-16s were diagnosed with the condition in 1998. Now, there are 3.7 million known sufferers. The charity says the rise in type 2 has been the worst, driven by obesity.

7. US urges Russia to push for Syria cease-fire

The US has added diplomatic pressure on Russia to intervene in Syria to enforce a UN-mandated cease-fire, accusing the Assad regime of using chlorine gas and saying Vladimir Putin has “the influence to stop these operations”. Putin yesterday called for daily five-hour cease-fires in air strikes but the UN cease-fire has been ignored.

8. Saudi king fires top generals

King Salman of Saudi Arabia has fired a number of his top military in a series of late-night decrees which also included the unprecedented appointment of a woman as deputy minister of labour and social development. Saudi watchers say the military changes may reflect an attempt by Salman’s son, Prince Mohammed, to consolidate power.

9. Women in Syria ‘sexually exploited for aid’

Local officials and other men working for aid agencies and the UN in Syria, sometimes delivering aid, have traded food and lifts for sexual favours from women, it has been claimed. Aid workers told the BBC that the abuse was so widespread some women would not go to distribution centres for fear of being considered prostitutes.

10. Northern Ireland’s power games and players

If Theresa May thought last week’s invitation to Downing Street would push Sinn Fein and the DUP to resolve Northern Ireland’s power-sharing gridlock, the Prime Minister sorely underestimated her guests.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was not impressed with May’s advice to “reflect” rather than reconvene negotiations, TheJournal.ie says. The British government has “no plan, no map” to restore power-sharing, McDonald told reporters.

Northern Ireland: power games and political players