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

1. EU leaders tell May: no Brexit renegotiation

European Union leaders yesterday told Theresa May there was no possibility of renegotiating her Brexit deal, adding that it was not their job to satisfy the demands of rebellious Tories. The knock-back, at a summit in Brussels, is a “humiliation” for the prime minister, says The Times. However, Downing Street says EU leaders have not ruled out further discussions.

2. Strasbourg gunman Chekatt shot dead by police

The man believed to have shot dead three people and injured another 12 at a Christmas market in Strasbourg three days ago has been killed in a gunfight with police. Cherif Chekatt, 29, was spotted walking down a street in the city by officers, who ordered him to stop. He opened fire and was killed when they fired back.

3. Dimbleby quits Question Time after 25 years

Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby chaired his final edition of the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme Question Time last night, after 25 years leading debates between politicians and other prominent guests. The 80-year-old received a standing ovation from the studio audience and guests – but insisted he was not retiring from TV.

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4. Travellers being offered just one dollar per pound

Some passengers exchanging money at UK airports are now being offered just one US dollar for each of their pounds, as the value of sterling continues to fall, the BBC reports. In some places, the pound buys less than one euro. The broadcaster notes that “most experts say the politics of Brexit” are chiefly to blame for the slump.

5. Actor Sondra Locke dies at 74

Oscar-nominated actor Sondra Locke has died at the age of 74 at her Los Angeles home, after suffering cardiac arrest brought on by breast and bone cancer. Locke was in a relationship with actor-director Clint Eastwood for 13 years and co-starred in six films with him, including The Outlaw Josey Wales and Sudden Impact.

6. Sexist stereotypes to be banned in ads

The Advertising Standards Authority is to ban advertisers from depicting men and women engaged in gender-stereotypical activities, according to reports. As of next year, adverts will no longer be allowed depict people seeming failing to achieve a task because of gender – such as a woman who is not able to do DIY, or a man struggling to change a nappy.

7. US plane makes U-turn over human heart

A passenger plane flying from Seattle to Dallas had to turn back two hours into its flight on Sunday after a human heart was found aboard, it has emerged. The organ was meant for medical use - although it had not been intended for a specific patient - and was left on the Southwest Airlines jet by accident after a previous flight. The heart was rushed to a Seattle-based donor facility in time for medics to be able to recover a valve for use in a future transplant.

8. Virgin rocket-plane flown to edge of space

Virgin Galactic has taken a major step towards its goal of taking paying passengers into space. Two test pilots flew the VSS Unity rocketship from California to the edge of space yesterday for the first time, hitting an altitude of 51 miles. The space plane, also known as SpaceShipTwo, was built by British-American manufacturing firm The Spaceship Company.

9. Guitarist Keith Richards ‘has given up drinking’

The legendarily hard-living Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has revealed he has more or less given up drinking: he told an interviewer he still has the occasional glass of wine or beer but has not touched his favourite whiskey for around a year. Bandmate Ron Wood said the 74-year-old was now “much more mellow” and open to new ideas.

10. Briefing: why is China detaining Canadian citizens?

A businessman has become the second Canadian within days to be detained in China on suspicion of harming national security, Chinese state media is reporting.

Michael Spavor is director of the Paektu Cultural Exchange, a company “that runs cultural and business exchanges with North Korea”, says Washington DC-based news site NPR. He is perhaps best-known for facilitating the visits of former basketball star Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang.

China: 13 Canadians held in ‘tit-for-tat’ detentions