Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 15 Jan 2013

Healthy women with a family history of breast cancer could soon be offered daily preventative medication in the form of the drugs tomoxifen or raloxifene. The watchdog NICE, often accused of stopping the NHS from using expensive drugs, is issuing new guidelines on the basis that the drugs could save thousands of lives.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is reported to have confessed finally to using performance-enhancing drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey recorded last night and due to be broadcast on Thursday, he also threatened to testify against cycling officials who "knew about his doping and possibly facilitated it", according to the New York Times.

Islamist forces in northern Mali, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad, vowed to "open the gates of hell" in revenge on France yesterday, "striking at the heart" of the country in retaliation for its intervention on behalf of the Mali government. The UN Security Council unanimously backed President Hollande's decision.

An Observer article by Julie Burchill that called transsexuals 'dicks in chick's clothing' was last night taken offline after a flood of complaints. Liberal Democrat minister Lynne Featherstone called for Burchill to be sacked. But more protesters then complained that the paper had failed to protect Burchill's right to free speech.