Daily Briefing

Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 17 Feb 2013

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

1. PISTORIUS FRIEND TELLS OF PANICKED CALL
A friend of Oscar Pistorius claims the athlete phoned him moments after Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead, saying: "My baba, I’ve killed my baba. God take me away." Justin Divaris claims Pistorious added: “There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva.” South African newspaper Beeld says the athlete tried to save Steenkamp by performing mouth to mouth resuscitation.
2. LABOUR CANDIDATE'S IRA BOMB 'EXCITEMENT'
John O'Farrell, Labour's candidate in the Eastleigh by-election, once wrote of his "surge of excitement" when the IRA tried to murder Margaret Thatcher and his "disappointment" that she did not die in the Brighton hotel attack. Lord Tebbit, who was injured in the blast which crippled his wife for life, describes former comedian O'Farrell as an "incontinently voiced moral reprobate".
3. GOVERNMENT 'IGNORED HORSEMEAT WARNING'
Ministers ignored a warning 18 months ago that illegal horsemeat was slipping into the human food chain, reports the Sunday Times. John Young, a former manager at the Food Standards Agency, wrote to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in April 2011 warning that measures to prevent horsemeat with drug residues getting into human food were "a debacle".
4. SEALS DISPUTE ESQUIRE'S OSAMA STORY
A dramatic account of the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden by a former US navy SEAL has been described as "grossly inaccurate" by several colleagues, reports the Sunday Times. Key details of account, recently published in Esquire magazine, have been disputed including the unnamed SEAL's claim that he was the man who killed the terror leader.
5. CAMERON TRAILS IN BEST PM POLL
David Cameron has come fifth in a poll ranking the eight prime ministers of the last 50 years, reports the Independent On Sunday. Margaret Thatcher topped the poll, finishing 23 points ahead of Cameron. Harold Wilson finished second with Tony Blair in third and Edward Heath fourth. Cameron tied for fifth place with James Callaghan.
6. SEX CRIME SUSPECTS 'SHOULD HAVE ANONYMITY'
Suspects accused of sexual offences should have their identities protected until they are convicted, says the chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales. Maura McGowan QC argues that defendants should have the same right to anonymity as complainants. Rape Crisis says such a reform would lead to less victims reporting crimes and would "victimise victims further".
7. DOZENS DIE IN PAKISTAN BOMBING
At least 79 people have died in a remote-controlled bomb attack in southwest Pakistan. The bombing, in a bazaar near Quetta, targeted Shiite Muslims. The banned Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack. In January, two suicide attacks in Quetta killed at least 92 people.
8. ICELAND TO BAN ONLINE PORNOGRAPHY
Iceland is set to be the first western democracy to try and ban online pornography after a consultation found widespread support for such a move. Iceland's ministry of the interior is drawing up legislation to enforce a ban after concerns over the increasingly violent nature of many websites. A leading anti-pornography campaigner tells The Observer that Britain could follow Iceland's lead.
9. HUGH GRANT: I'M A 'DADDY' AGAIN
Hugh Grant has become a father for the second time. The actor announced on Twitter that he and Chinese actress Tinglan Hong have a baby son called Felix Chang Hong Grant, and declared that he adores both his children "to an uncool degree". Three hours later he added: "And to be crystal clear. I am the Daddy."
10. CUP EXIT HEIGHTENS PRESSURE ON WENGER
Arsenal fans booed and jeered their team as Blackburn Rovers knocked the Gunners out of the FA Cup yesterday. High profile Gunners fans rounded on manager Arsene Wenger in the wake of the 1-0 defeat. Golfer Ian Poulter Tweeted "Wenger, that's your lot, you have to go". Piers Morgan wrote: "Wenger OUT. Now". Arsenal legend Ian Wright described Wenger as "arrogant".