Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 15 Nov 2018

1. May’s Brexit deal receives cabinet backing

The cabinet yesterday voted – in some cases reluctantly – to back the draft Brexit divorce deal agreed between Theresa May and the EU. There is now expected to be an EU summit on 25 November to formalise the arrangement, after which the deal will have to be agreed by MPs – and May could face a leadership challenge first.

2. NHS could be short of 350,000 staff by 2030

Three major health think tanks are warning together that NHS England could be short of 350,000 staff by 2030, if current staffing levels continue. They say the service is at a tipping point – with the staff shortage so acute some of the recently-announced £20.5bn extra funding may never be spent. The service already lacks 100,000 staff.

3. Inner-city children’s lungs stunted by pollution

Children growing up in inner London have their lungs stunted by pollution, leaving them damaged for life, according to a study of 2,000 individuals led by Queen Mary University. The study also found that the new charges to limit the entry of polluting trucks to the capital did reduce pollution a little – but not enough to prevent lung damage.

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4. White House aide leaves after Melania row

A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump is leaving her role as deputy national security adviser after the First Lady, Melania Trump, asked for her sacking. The two women clashed over seating arrangements when Melania Trump visited Africa earlier this year. It is thought Donald Trump may be about to shake up his top team.

5. Tree planting ‘must double to help climate’

The governmental Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says tree planting must double in the UK by 2020 to help limit climate change – and prepare the country for the extra floods expected as a consequence of global warming. The CCC says land currently used to produce food must be converted to forestry to effect the change.

6. Stormy Daniels lawyer in domestic violence arrest

The lawyer of adult film star Stormy Daniels, who is suing US President Donald Trump for defamation after an alleged affair, has been arrested on a domestic violence charge. Michael Avenatti, an outspoken critic of Trump, has said the charge is “completely bogus” but police said there was visible harm to his alleged victim.

7. Facebook ‘tried to discredit critics with PR’

The New York Times reports Facebook hired a PR firm to discredit its critics by alleging they were agents of the billionaire George Soros, who is a frequent target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. At the same time, the social networking giant urged Jewish groups to object to a cartoon used by its opponents which had anti-Semitic precedents.

8. Astronomers find planet orbiting nearest star

In recent years, astronomers have been identifying more and more ‘exoplanets’ - planets which orbit a star other than our own Sun. Now one has been spotted orbiting one of our nearest neighbours, Barnard’s Star, which is ‘just’ six light years away. The new planet is thought to be three times the mass of Earth and is likely to be rocky.

9. No Christmas Day episode for Doctor Who

A modern Christmas tradition will be broken by the BBC this year: there will be no Christmas Day special episode of Doctor Who. Instead, the first episode of the upcoming series will be shown on New Year’s Day. The BBC says Jodie Whittaker’s Time Lord will face “a terrifying evil … from across the centuries of Earth’s history”.

10. Briefing: what is swatting?

A California man has admitted making a hoax call to police that led to the death of a 28-year-old stranger.

Tyler Barriss, 26, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the so-called swatting prank, when he reported a bogus hostage situation. So what exactly is swatting?

What is swatting?