Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 14 Sep 2018

1. House prices would crash with no-deal Brexit, says Carney

A no-deal Brexit could cause UK house prices to drop by 35% over three years, the governor of the Bank of England has said. Mark Carney warned the Cabinet yesterday that mortgage rates would also rise, making it harder for first-time buyers to get a foot on the ladder, if the UK left the EU without any agreement on future relations.

2. Hurricane Florence cuts power to 150,000

At least 150,000 people are without power in North Carolina as Hurricane Florence makes landfall, with winds topping 100mph. Forecasters say conditions will worsen as the Category 1 storm moves inland. There are fears of widespread flooding, with storm surge waves breaking across coastal towns and cities.

3. Lying novichok suspects ‘insult our intelligence’

Theresa May says claims by two suspected Russian secret service agents that they visited Salisbury as tourists, and not to poison the former spy Sergei Skripal, are “lies and blatant fabrications” that “are an insult to the public’s intelligence”. Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are accused of using the nerve agent novichok to poison Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in March.

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4. Hockney painting expected to make £80m

One of British artist David Hockney’s most recognisable paintings, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), is expected to fetch £80m after being put up for auction. If it makes the estimate at the sale, in New York in November, the colourful painting will become the most expensive work by a living artist. The large canvas was painted in 1972.

5. Amazon’s Bezos to give $2bn to homeless

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is to use $2bn (£1.5bn) to set up a charitable fund to help the homeless and to found pre-schools. Worth $164bn (£125bn), Bezos has been criticised in the past for not doing more philanthropic work. His Day One Fund will help fund existing homeless charities and create a network of pre-schools in low-income areas.

6. Volkswagen to end production of Beetle

Carmaker Volkswagen has announced that it is ceasing production of its iconic Beetle car next year. The Beetle, redesigned in 1999, was originally created for Adolf Hitler as a car for the German masses. Its modern incarnation has been very successful in the US, and production was moved to Mexico as a result.

7. Call to ban 4x4 off-roading in Lake District

Campaigners are calling for off-roading by 4x4 drivers and motorcyclists should be banned in the Lake District, amid claims that the damage caused by such vehicles to farm tracks is threatening the region’s World Heritage Site status. A global body that advises Unesco says the problem is particularly bad in a one-mile square of land north of Coniston Water.

8. Shopkeeper paints over Banksy artwork

A shopkeeper in Bristol has half-destroyed an early artwork by the street artist Banksy, not realising its potential value. Jo Xie was painting over a graffiti-covered metal roller shutter as she got ready to open a new cafe when a passer-by asked if he could take a photograph, because it was an early Banksy, painted when the unit was a skate shop.

9. Uranus Examiner sparks outrage

The launch of a new local newspaper in Missouri is causing controversy, amid criticism of the publication’s name. The Uranus Examiner will serve the tourist town of Uranus - pronounced like the planet – but mayor Luge Hardman has threatened to boycott it, saying the “innuendo of that title puts my city up for public ridicule, and I will not be a part of it”.

10. Briefing: how to retire in your 30s

A growing number of young US professionals are quitting the workforce after embracing a new movement called Fire.

Millennials see Fire, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, as “a way out of soul-sucking, time-stealing work and an economy fueled by consumerism”, reports The New York Times.

Fire Movement: how to retire in your 30s