Daily Briefing

Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 22 Mar 2013

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

1. BLIZZARDS AND FLOODING CAUSE HAVOC
Northern Ireland's crucial World Cup qualifier against Russia at Belfast's Windsor Park has been postponed until Saturday due to the extreme weather affecting large parts of the UK. Up to 16 inches of snow have blanketed higher areas and blizzard conditions have disrupted schools and transport. Heavy rain has caused flooding in Devon and Cornwall.
2. CYPRUS CRISIS: MPS WORKING ON 'PLAN B'
MPs in Cyprus are still trying to formulate a 'Plan B' deal to raise €5.8bn in a bid to head off the collapse of its financial system. The EU has told the country it has to raise the money by Monday in order to secure a €10bn bailout deal. Cyprus had appealed to Russia for financial help, but those entreaties were rebuffed today.
UK News
3. WEST HAM SECURE OLYMPIC STADIUM
West Ham FC have struck a 99-year tenancy deal for the Olympic Stadium in east London after the government agreed to pay an extra £25m towards the £150m-plus cost of adapting the stadium so that it can be used for football and athletics. West Ham should be able to begin playing home games there in time for the 2016 season.
West Ham to move to Olympic stadium on 99-year lease
Europe
4. NICOLAS SARKOZY UNDER INVESTIGATION
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been placed under "formal investigation" - one step short of being charged - over claims that he received illegal donations from the elderly L'Oreal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, in 2007. Sarkozy is accused of exploiting her mental frailty to fund his presidential election campaign.
Sarkozy under investigation for 'exploiting frail L'Oreal heiress'
5. OBAMA CONCLUDES ISRAEL VISIT
Barack Obama has concluded his trip to Israel and the West Bank by paying his respects to victims of the Holocaust and visiting Bethlehem. The US president went to the Yad Vashem museum after seeing the graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin.
UK News
6. KEEP WOMEN OUT OF JAIL, SAYS MINISTER
Courts will be encouraged to send fewer women to jail in a bid to reduce the number of families that are destroyed when a mother is locked up. Women who are "bad and a risk to society" should still go to prison, Justice Minister Helen Grant said, but low-risk female offenders should be given "credible" community sentences whenever possible.
Fewer women should be sent to jail, says Justice Minister
Books
7. CHINUA ACHEBE DIES IN BOSTON AT 82
Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist dubbed the father of African literature – or a "literary Nelson Mandela" - has died at the age of 82 in Boston, Massachusetts. His best-known work remains his first novel, Things Fall Apart, which he published in 1958. It charts the impact of the arrival of British colonial rule on a Nigerian village.
Chinua Achebe, the 'Mandela of Literature', dies at 82
UK News
8. BRITAIN ON BRINK OF RUNNING OUT OF GAS
Britain has only two days' worth of gas left in reserve as the country faces another weekend of bad weather, with snow forecast for much of England and Scotland. Gas demand has been 20% higher than usual. The Times says Britain will struggle to cope with demand if a technical problem forces a North Sea gas field or an import pipeline to shut down.
Britain's running out of gas: just how critical is it?
9. STROKE PUTS DUKE OF KENT IN HOSPITAL
The Queen's cousin the Duke of Kent, 77, is in the King Edward VII Hospital following a stroke, Buckingham Palace announced last night, highlighting the vulnerability of an aging generation of 'working' Royals following the hospital stays of both the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. He has cancelled his engagements for the next three weeks.
Film
10. HOT TICKET: REAL-LIFE THRILLER COMPLIANCE
American psychological thriller 'Compliance' is released in UK cinemas today. The film, based on actual events, tells the nightmarish story of a prank caller who poses as a police officer and convinces the manager of a fast-food restaurant that an employee has committed a crime. "Riveting," says Time Out.
Compliance: taut workplace thriller based on real events