Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 18 May 2012

1. FRENCH GOVERNMENT TAKES A PAY CUT

France's new government held its first Cabinet meeting yesterday and announced a 30% pay cut for President Francois Hollande and his ministers, as promised in his campaign. His monthly salary goes down from €21,300 to €14,900. Hollande also kept a promise to split his Cabinet evenly between men and women.

2. NORTHERN ROCK WILL COST TAXPAYERS £2BN

The taxpayer will lose £2bn once the assets of collapsed "bad" bank Northern Rock Asset Management are wound down, the National Audit Office estimated yesterday, and reported that taxpayers lost £480m last year on the sale of Northern Rock PLC to Virgin Money. The bank was split into the two companies when rescued in 2008.

3. SPAIN MOVES TO CENTRE OF EURO CRISIS

Spain became the focus of the eurozone crisis yesterday as its national borrowing costs rocketed following a mass downgrade by credit agencies of its banking sector. Moody's slashed the credit ratings of 16 banks, and also downgraded Santander UK to A2, one notch higher than its parent Banco Santander. Greece fell to "junk" rating CCC.

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Should UK customers be worried about Santander downgrade?

4. OLYMPIC FLAME ARRIVES IN UK TONIGHT

The Olympic flame will be flown in to Britain from Greece today, arriving at an airbase in Cornwall at 7.30pm for a welcoming ceremony. The 8,000 mile, 70 day torch relay will start tomorrow at Land's End with Olympic champion sailor Ben Ainslie carrying the flame.

5. TIMES EDITOR'S 'FISTICUFFS' WITH MURDOCH

Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the Times, told the Leveson Inquiry yesterday that the paper had "lost its sense of moral responsibility" when Rupert Murdoch bought it in 1981. He said that Murdoch had tried to wield his influence at the paper, and that an argument over a report on the economy "almost ended in fisticuffs".

6. FACEBOOK SHARES GO ON MARKET AT $38

Facebook announced yesterday that it was valuing its shares, which go on sale in New York today in its IPO (initial public offering), at $38. At this price the social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg would be worth $104 billion, a possible record flotation.

7. DONNA SUMMER IS DEAD AT 63

Donna Summer, the queen of 1970s disco famous for classics including I Feel Love and Love To Love You Baby, has died at the age of 63, at home in Florida following a battle with cancer. R&B singer Mary J Blige hailed her as "truly a game changer".

Musicians pay tribute to Donna Summer, who has died aged 63

8. ADELE SCOOPS NOVELLO 'SONGWRITER' AWARD

Adele yesterday collected two prizes at the Ivor Novello songwriting awards, for Songwriter of the Year and for 'most performed work' for Rolling in the Deep. PJ Harvey won the album award for Let England Shake, and Ed Sheeran won the premier award, 'Best Song Musically and Lyrically', for The A-Team.

9. TRAYVON MARTIN KILLER WAS BRUISED

Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing by a Florida vigilante led to protests and a murder charge, had traces of marijuana in his system on the night he died, a postmortem report revealed yesterday. George Zimmerman, the killer, was shown to have had bruises after the confrontation.

10. HOT TICKET: BARON COHEN'S DICTATOR

The Dictator, a new comedy from Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen, has opened in cinemas. Baron Cohen stars as the fictional dictator of a North African country, who must travel to New York to defend his nuclear weapons plans. "Leaves you laughing helplessly," says Rolling Stone.

Baron Cohen's The Dictator is a gross-out film with a message