Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 3 Nov 2018

1. Halt biodiversity loss or face extinction, warns UN

The world has two years to establish a deal for nature to halt a “silent killer” as dangerous as climate change, says the United Nation’s biodiversity chief. Cristiana Pașca Palmer said populations across the globe must press their leaders to draw up strict targets by 2020 to protect insects, birds, plants and mammals essential for food production. “By the time you feel what is happening, it may be too late,” she said.

2. Sir Philip Green's staff come forward with new allegations

Current and former employees of Sir Philip Green have described a climate of fear, bullying and harassment at his company and poured scorn on the mogul’s claims that his behaviour was nothing more than “banter”. Speaking to The Guardian, they say he repeatedly grabbed the bottoms of senior female members of staff and threatened people in meetings. Green has previously denied claims of “unlawful sexual or racist behaviour”.

3. Theresa May could cut tuition fees to £6,500

University tuition fees could be cut to £6,500 under proposals from Theresa May’s commission to recommend higher education reforms. The move would cost the government coffers £3bn a year and could lead to a cap on student numbers or drastically cut university income. University vice-chancellors warn that it could threaten social mobility and force struggling institutions to close.

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4. IVF advances lead to drop in adoption rates

Improvements in IVF are leading to fewer children being adopted, says Anthony Douglas, the chief executive of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Since fertility treatment began in the late-1970s, success rates in the NHS have risen from 7 to 29% for under-35s. “So as a choice, adoption is competing with lots of other ways of having children,” said Douglas.

5. Turkey officially accuses Saudis of Khashoggi murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has directly accused the Saudi regime of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Writing in the Washington Post, he declared: “We know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.” However, he added that he did not believe King Salman was involved and spoke of Turkey's "friendly" ties with Saudi Arabia.

6. Trump 'said black people are too stupid to vote for him'

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen says that the president repeatedly used racist language before he was elected to the White House. Michael Cohen told Vanity Fair that the president had once told him that “black people are too stupid to vote” for him. He also claims Trump challenged him to name “one country run by a black person that’s not a shithole”.

7. Gambaccini wins damages over unfounded sex allegations

Paul Gambaccini has won damages from prosecutors over unfounded allegations of historical sex offences. The radio DJ, 69, was arrested in 2013 over a claim he sexually assaulted two teenage boys in the 1980s. He has always denied the claims, calling the case “completely fictitious”. The CPS says: “We have reached an agreement without admission of liability”.

8. Teenage boy stabbed to death outside Tube station

A 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death outside a Tube station in London. Police found the injured teenager outside Clapham South station in Balham Hill, Wandsworth yesterday afternoon. The boy was taken to hospital where he died shortly afterwards from his injuries. An eye-witness said he saw the victim lying on the ground in a “pool of blood” as someone gave him CPR.

9. Bibi's release delayed as Islamists call for hanging

The release of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who was acquitted eight years after being sentenced to death for blasphemy, has been delayed. Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours. Radical Islamists have called for her to be publicly hanged and one cleric even urges his followers to kill the three judges who acquitted her.

10. Ski resorts open early after heavy snowfalls

Heavy snowfalls have opened ski resorts in the Alps a month early. Verbier in Switzerland has already opened slopes for skiers in what is believed to be the earliest start to the season. This week alone more than three metres of snow has fallen in parts of the southern Swiss Alps and northern Italian Alps. “The Indian summer has ended and given way to winter,” said a company.