Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 26 Mar 2012

1. PM NAMES DOWNING STREET DINNER GUESTS

The Prime Minister has revealed the names of the Conservative Party donors, including bankers and tycoons, who he invited to dinner at Downing Street. He had earlier refused to do so, arguing such details are "private". David Cameron said he hosted party donors - most of whom he has known "for years" - on four occasions.

The 'come upstairs' supper club: Tory donors are named

2. BRITISH SOLDIERS SHOT BY AFGHAN OFFICER

Two British soldiers have been shot dead by an Afghan army officer after an argument at a British base in Helmand province. Defence secretary Philip Hammond told the Commons the two men died when liuetenant Gul Nazir opened fire on them after a row over entry to the base in Lashkar Gah.

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US gives $47,000 to families of Afghan massacre victims

3. JOBLESS BRITS TO TRAIN AS CURRY CHEFS

Unemployed Britons are to receive Government funding to train as chefs in Indian and Thai restaurants that have become short-staffed due to changes in immigration and minimum-wage legislation. Five Asian and Oriental centres of excellence will be opened by the Government.

4. OBAMA WARNS NORTH KOREA ON TEST

President Barack Obama has warned North Korea not to go ahead with a missile launch planned for mid-April, saying that the regime has nothing to gain from "threats and provocations". He said the test would threaten to derail a food aid deal the US struck with the regime.

5. DIRECTOR DIVES TO EARTH'S DEEPEST POINT

Hollywood director James Cameron has returned to the surface after becoming the first solo diver to visit Earth's deepest point. After reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench, he sent a Tweet reading: "Just arrived at the ocean's deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good."

Why did James Cameron visit the Mariana Trench?

6. HUNGER GAMES SMASHES RECORDS

The Hunger Games has broken US box office records, taking $155m (£98m) in its first weekend. This is the highest ever opening for a non-sequel film and a new record for a film opening outside the summer season. The Hollywood Reporter predicted it would take a maximum of $140m.

Winter's Bone to Hunger Games: Jennifer Lawrence's rise

7. ANGLO-IRISH FIRM STRIKES OIL IN KENYA

Kenya is braced for an 'oil rush' after Anglo-Irish company Tullow Oil struck gold during exploratory drilling according to President Mwai Kibaki. The firm found oil in the country's north-western Turkana region. Tullow Oil, which also discovered oil in Uganda, said the find exceeded its expectations.

8. DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR SIMON COWELL

The BBC's The Voice beat ITV's Britain's Got Talent during the 20 minutes the rival talent shows overlapped on Saturday. The Voice had an average of 8.9m viewers against Talent's 6.6m. Meanwhile, Simon Cowell discovered an intruder armed with a brick in his London home on Saturday evening.

Has the BBC found its Voice in the battle for Saturday nights?

9. DEMENTIA RESEARCH FUNDS DOUBLED

Funding for research into dementia will be more than doubled in a bid to fight the "national crisis" posed by the disease, the Prime Minister will announce today. He will say it is a "scandal" that the UK has not done more to tackle the condition which affects 750,000 people in the UK.

10. HOT TICKET: JULIE LEAVES YOU REELING

Natalie Abrahami's revival of Patrick Marber’s Strindberg-inspired play ‘After Miss Julie’ has opened at the Young Vic in London. The late 19th century tragedy of doomed passion and inequality is relocated to 1940s Britain, with Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) as the destructive Julie. “Leaves you reeling”, says The Times. Until 14 April.

After Miss Julie: kitchen sink drama with an erotic charge