Daily Briefing

Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 15 Feb 2013

The Week’s super-quick catch-up on the main news talking points, available from 8am daily

Oscar Pistorius
1. OSCAR PISTORIUS WEEPS IN COURT
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius held his head in his hands and was in tears as the charge of murder was read out in court in Pretoria today. The Beeld newspaper now claims he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a bathroom door. Police are expected to oppose bail, saying they have been called to his home for previous "domestic incidents".
Pistorius weeps as court told he murdered Reeva Steenkamp
horsemeat scandal
2. NOW HORSEMEAT IS FOUND IN FRESH 'BEEF'
Asda has withdrawn its Chosen By You 350g Beef Bolognese Sauce from stores after tests found traces of horse DNA. It is the first known case of horsemeat being discovered in a fresh meat product – until now, only frozen meals have been affected. Meanwhile, police have arrested three men working for UK meat plants under the Fraud Act.
Horse-for-beef scandal: Asda withdraws fresh meat products
UK News
3. ED MILIBAND PLEDGES MANSION TAX
Labour will introduce a 'mansion tax' on properties worth £2m-plus and reinstate the 10p tax band controversially abolished by Gordon Brown, if the party wins the 2015 election, Ed Miliband said yesterday. However, the 10p rate will apply only to the first £1,000 of taxable income, leading the Institute of Fiscal Studies to say the measure has "no plausible economic justification".
Ed Miliband woos voters and Lib Dems with mansion tax
Russia
4. RUSSIANS HURT IN METEORITE BLAST
Almost 1000 people were reported to have been injured earlier today when a meteorite exploded above the central Russian region of Chelyabinsk. Fragments of the meteor are reported to have rained down on the area. Unconfirmed reports say it was intercepted by the Russian airforce, who used a missile to destroy it.
Russian meteorite strike injures 1000 - video
5. MISSING TEEN FOUND ALIVE IN OUTBACK
An 18-year-old Londoner missing from cattle station where he was working in central Queensland has been found alive in the outback. Sam Woodhead had set off on a long-distance run on Tuesday and never returned. Police say he was discovered sunburned but otherwise well. He had been in Australia only eight days when he disappeared.
Business
6. WARREN BUFFETT LEADS HEINZ BUYOUT
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is buying food giant Heinz, famed for its '57 Varieties' including tomato ketchup and baked beans, in a deal worth $28bn. The takeover by his Berkshire Hathaway company and a private equity firm 3G is the fourth largest ever food industry buyout. Shares in Heinz immediately rose by 20% to equal the $72.50 price being offered.
Buffett's $28bn Heinz buyout is 'takeover of the year'
7. CORONATION ST ACTOR CHARGED WITH RAPE
Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell was charged in Manchester yesterday with a total of 19 sex offences including the rape of a child, indecently assaulting a child and sexual activity with a child, all committed between 2001 and 2010. Le Vell, 48, whose real name is Michael Turner, has played Kevin Webster, a car mechanic, in the TV soap for 30 years.
8. PM PLEDGES MIGRANT BENEFITS CRACKDOWN
David Cameron, campaigning in the Eastleigh by-election, promised yesterday to crack down on benefits available to migrants in an effort to deter them from coming to Britain and show that "we are not a soft touch". But Viviane Reding, European Commission vice-president, quickly countered that Britain could not control "freedom of movement".
9. SELF-DRIVING 'ROBOT' CAR HAS TEST RUN
A self-driving 'robot' car developed by boffins at Oxford University made its public debut yesterday with a test run around the streets of an industrial estate. The Oxford RobotCar UK Project uses lasers and small cameras to memorise regular journeys, and is a challenge to the "driverless car" programme being developed by Google in California.
Film
10. HOT TICKET: APATOW BACK WITH THIS IS 40
'This is 40', writer-director Judd Apatow's sequel to 'Knocked Up', opens in UK cinemas today. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann star as Pete and Debbie, a married couple struggling to like each other as they face the demands of family life and impending middle age. "Contender for comedy of the year," says Empire.
This is 40 sees Judd Apatow 'back on the laugh track'