Daily Briefing

Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 16 Feb 2013

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

1. ASSANGE POLICE BILL NEARLY £3M TO DATE
Scotland Yard says the cost of monitoring Julian Assange has already reached £2.9m and could soar as high as £6m a year. Metropolitan Police officers have been stationed outside the Ecuador embassy since the Wikileaks founder, who faces extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations which he denies, took refuge there in June.
2. EX SUN EDITOR TO REPRESENT PISTORIUS
Former editor of The Sun Stuart Higgins has flown to South Africa to head the media defence of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who has been charged with murdering his girlfriend. Higgins, who now works in public relations, represented the athlete during London 2012. Pistorius wept in court yesterday as he denied murdering Reeva Steenkamp.
3. HORSE SCANDAL BOOSTS LOCAL TRADE
The horsemeat saga is boosting takings for small, independent butchers. Overall sales have risen by 20% and sales of beef burgers and meatballs are up 30%. Meanwhile, kosher butchers have told the Jewish Chronicle that trade is "booming". The Licensed Kosher Meat Traders’ Association says the scandal could be “the best thing” to happen to the kosher meat industry for years.
4. TORY SPARKS GAY PARENTING ROW
Senior Tory MP David Jones has caused a storm with his claim that same sex couples "clearly" cannot provide a "warm and safe environment" in which to raise children. The Welsh secretary denied he is homophobic, stating he had "people in my life who are important to me who are gay". Labour said his comments show "the nasty party is alive and well".
5. BOY, 9, 'COMMITS SUICIDE'
A boy of nine is believed to have committed suicide after facing “relentless bullying”. Aaron Dugmore's mother found him hanging in the family home in Birmingham. The boy's family and neighbours say he had been targeted by older bullies at Erdington Hall Primary School. He is thought to be the second youngest child to commit suicide in the UK.
6. 'AGGRESSIVE' GOVT DEPARTMENT REVEALED
An internal grievance report has compared goings on in the Department of Education with the raucous BBC political comedy The Thick Of It. It complains of an "aggressive, intimidating culture", and a “macho" atmosphere of "favouritism", reports The Independent. One staffer says "DfE probably now stands for 'Dump F***ing Everyone'.”
7. ASTEROID IN HISTORIC NEAR MISS
An asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool passed Earth at a distance of just 27,700km last night, closer than any previous asteroid its size. The space rock 2012 DA14 is 143,000 tonnes and would have wiped out 750 square miles had it struck. Meanwhile, a 20,000-strong team is starting the clean-up process after a meteor hit Russia, injuring 1,200 people.
8. FORMER LEEDS WINGER: I'M GAY
Former Leeds United winger Robbie Rogers has revealed he is gay. Writing on his website, the American player also announced that he is "stepping away" from the game. He wrote: "I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity". The FA offered Rogers its "full backing" regardless of whether he resumes his football career.
9. OSBORNE CALLS FOR GLOBAL TAX EFFORT
George Osborne has called for a coordinated global crackdown on multinational companies who engage in "profit shifting" to avoid tax. The chancellor, who is in Moscow meeting with the G20 group of major economies, told BBC News that international tax laws "have not changed in decades" and need to be renewed to reflect the online age.
10. YOUNG DRIVER NUMBERS DROPPING
The number of young people taking driving tests has dropped by almost a fifth, reveals research by the Department for Transport. The number of 17 to 19-year olds taking the test fell by nearly 18% since 2007. The RAC says that the average mileage among young Londoners who have passed the test has fallen 50% since 1996.