Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 7 Feb 2019

1. May ‘will get little help from Brussels’

Theresa May is heading to Brussels today with low expectations of any help from the EU in the bid to push her Brexit deal through Parliament, according to The Times. The newspaper says the bloc will offer a legally binding letter to say the controversial Irish backstop is temporary – but not until much nearer the 29 March Brexit deadline. Last night, Jeremy Corbyn laid out Labour’s terms for backing May.

2. Emiliano Sala search: body recovered

An as-yet unidentified body has been recovered from the wreckage of the light aircraft that crashed in bad weather on 21 January while transporting Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala to his first training session at Cardiff City. Air investigators said the body was brought up in “as dignified a way as possible” in “challenging conditions”.

3. Energy bills to rise as Ofgem increases cap

More than half of all UK households will see an increase in their energy bills from April after regulator Ofgem hiked price caps designed to protect those on poor-value deals. The move is intended to help suppliers cover the increasing cost of energy on the wholesale market. The cap for default and standard variable tariffs will increase by £117 to £1,254 a year.

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4. Parents urged to ban screens from meals

Senior doctors are urging parents to ban their children from bringing screens to meals or taking them into bedrooms. A report coordinated by the chief medical officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, also urges parents not to assume their children are happy for their photos or stories about them to be placed on social media.

5. BBC Radio 4 loses 750,000 listeners

Speech station BBC Radio 4 lost 750,000 listeners last year, while commercial rivals have boomed, new figures show. Audience figures for LBC, where presenters include Nigel Farage and former Radio 4 stalwart Eddie Mair, have climbed to 2.2 million a week. By contrast, BBC 5 Live has lost 10% of its audience, which is now less than five million.

6. Illegal electronic waste: UK worst in EU

Britain is the worst offender in Europe for illegally exporting so-called electronic waste – used circuitry and broken electronic devices – says environmental watchdog the Basel Action Network. The rubbish is being sent from recycling facilities to third-world countries, even though such exports are banned under EU law because the waste contains mercury, lead and other toxins.

7. British Council apologies to George Orwell

The British Council is today apologising to George Orwell for rejecting an essay on food that it commissioned from the late essayist and political writer seven decades ago. The essay was axed on the grounds that it was too rude about the national palate, and flaunted the availability of some foods while much of Europe starved in 1946.

8. Horse-racing meets cancelled over flu

Horse races have been cancelled across the country overnight because of an outbreak of equine flu. Three horses in one stable tested positive for the condition on Wednesday night – and the stable in question had sent horses to Ayr and Ludlow that day. The British Horseracing Authority says it does not know when racing can resume.

9. Robot teaches itself how to ice-skate

A robot made from 3D-printed parts has taught itself to ice skate. Researchers at Switzerland’s ETH Zurich university programmed the machine to know how a skate behaves on ice, and the bot then used machine learning to work out how to move across an ice rink on its four legs.

10. Briefing: what is hallucinogenic weapon 5P-42 Filin?

The Russian navy has begun fitting warships with “visual optical interference” weapons that can cause hallucinations, blindness and vomiting, according to reports.

The non-lethal 5P-42 Filin device was developed in order to make enemy troops miss their targets by inducing delirious conditions, reports the Daily Mail.

5P-42 Filin: Russian navy fits warships with hallucinogenic weapons