Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 27 Nov 2011

1. SIX MORE YEARS OF CUTS SAYS OSBORNE

Chancellor George Osborne will warn that Britain faces six more years of spending cuts as he delivers his autumn statement on Tuesday. He will unveil a scheme to underwrite up to £20bn of loans to small firms, a freeze in petrol duty, and a cap on rail fare rises for season tickets and travel on key commuter routes.

2. PAID AMNESTY OFFERED TO TALIBAN

Taliban members will be paid £100 a month to stop fighting in a new "reintegration" initiative approved by the British Government to end the insurgency. Amnesty will be given to fighters including those who have attacked and killed British forces and taken part in atrocities including beheadings and murder of children.

3. EURO CRACKDOWN ON FACEBOOK ADVERTISING

Facebook faces a crackdown on how it exploits its users' personal information to create bespoke advertising. A European Commission directive will ban the targeted advertising method Facebook employs to gather information about its users' interests, sexuality and location, unless users specifically authorise it.

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4. PAKISTAN REVIEWS US AND NATO TIES

Pakistan is reviewing its diplomatic, military and intelligence links with the US and Nato after the alliance struck a Pakistani army checkpoint, killing at least 24 people. The PM has cut supply lines to Nato in Afghanistan. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has offered America's "deepest condolences" for the deaths.

5. HUGE NASA ROVER ON WAY TO MARS

The largest and best-equipped robot ever sent to explore another planet is on its way to Mars after being launched by NASA yesterday. Nicknamed Curiosity, the rover will take eight and a half months to reach Mars, where it will search for evidence that Earth's next-door neighbour has ever supported microbial life.

6. ASHES WIDOW DIES AFTER MUGGING

A 79-year-old widow has died after trying to fight off thieves as they snatched a handbag containing her husband’s ashes. Nellie Geraghty, who had carried the ashes of her husband Frank with her since his death 17 years ago, was attacked in Oldham on Thursday. Police are questioning two teenagers on suspicion of murder.

7. ARAB LEAGUE VOTES ON SYRIA

The Arab League will vote today on proposed economic sanctions against Syria. Among the measures to be discussed are the freezing of all Syrian assets in Arab countries and a travel ban on senior officials. The draft sanctions document - drawn up on Saturday - requires the support of two-thirds of ministers.

8. NEW DEATH AS EGYPT PREPARES FOR POLLS

A new eruption of violence between demonstrators and police in Egypt has left a young pro-democracy demonstrator dead, as the country prepares to hold its first post-revolutionary parliamentary elections on Monday. Protestors are calling for a civilian "national salvation" government to be formed.

9. PIPPA SIGNS SIX-FIGURE BOOK DEAL

Pippa Middleton has signed a £400,000 deal to write a book about being the perfect party hostess, reports the Mail On Sunday. The younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge is understood to have agreed the deal with publisher Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin books, after a bidding war also involving HarperCollins and Random House.

10. SIR ALEX RISKS WRATH OF FA

Sir Alex Ferguson faces censure from the FA after asking whether linesman John Flynn should “ever get a game again” following his part in a contentious penalty which handed Newcastle a 1-1 draw against Manchester United. Ferguson, given a five-match ban for criticising a referee last season, described the penalty award as a “travesty”.