Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 28 Nov 2018

1. Brexit: Treasury to publish economic analysis

The Treasury is today publishing its economic analysis on the long-term effects of Brexit of the economy – and The Daily Telegraph says it will warn that leaving the EU without any trade deal would mean losing £150bn in output over 15 years. Theresa May’s version of Brexit is predicted to lower those loses to £40bn.

2. Ukraine warns of ‘full-scale war’ with Russia

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has warned that his country is “under threat of full-scale war with Russia”. He said Russia was massing troops on Ukraine’s border, days after seizing three Ukrainian naval vessels. US President Donald Trump said he might cancel a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in response.

3. Grenfell Tower fire ‘caused by faulty wiring’

The inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire was told yesterday that the blaze was probably caused by faulty wiring inside a Hotpoint fridge freezer. Electrical fire expert Dr John Glover showed the inquiry panel a picture of a “poor crimp connection” inside the unit’s compressor. The fire at the west London tower block in June last year caused the deaths of 72 people.

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4. Facebook ‘told of Russian meddling in 2014’

Tory MP Damian Collins revealed yesterday that he has seen an internal Facebook email which shows the social networking firm was warned by one of its engineers in 2014 that Russia was harvesting “billions” of items of user data every day. Facebook has insisted it was not aware of Russian interference until after the 2016 US presidential election.

5. China welcomes Cameron – and snubs Trump

Former prime minister David Cameron was welcomed to China yesterday, where he is setting up a private equity fund. Cameron was pictured meeting Chinese premier Li Keqiang – special treatment that The Times says was a “veiled swipe” at Donald Trump. Chinese state media heralded Cameron’s visit as evidence of Beijing’s shared commitment with the UK to “free trade and multilateralism”, seen as coded criticism of US trade sanctions.

6. Corbyn wants debate before I’m A Celebrity final

Labour is pushing for the Brexit debate between leader Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May to be broadcast on ITV just before the final of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! on Sunday 9 December. Other broadcasters are also bidding to host the debate, with the BBC proposing to include other voices in addition to those of Corbyn and the prime minister.

7. Police investigate attack on refugee schoolboy

Police in Huddersfield are investigating a reported racially aggravated assault on a 15-year-old boy that was filmed and posted online.The victim of the alleged attack, at Almondbury Community School, is believed to be a refugee from Syria. The video appears to show the boy being grabbed by the neck and shoved to the ground, before being “waterboarded”.

8. NHS to clamp down on prescribing silk clothes

NHS England is to save money by curbing “low-priority” prescriptions including those for silk garments for people suffering from eczema or dermatitis. A newly published report says there is not enough evidence that wearing silk helps people with skin conditions to justify prescribing them. Medications for acne and some diabetes products are also to be dropped.

9. One in six pints of milk thrown away unused

One in every six pints of milk produced worldwide ends up being poured down the sink, according to research commissioned by The Guardian. Professor Peter Alexander of Edinburgh University calculated that 16% of dairy products are thrown away worldwide – a total of 116 million tonnes a year. About 55 million tonnes never even makes it to shop shelves.

10. Briefing: is university worth the money?

Tuition fee hikes have triggered questions about whether getting a university degree still pays off but now new research appears to confirm that it does - for female graduates, at least.

As the Government prepares to publish a review of higher education funding in 2019, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released the results of an analysis of the tax records of UK graduates now aged 29.

Is university worth the money?