Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 15 Oct 2012

1. SKYDIVER BREAKS SOUND BARRIER

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner yesterday become the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum speed of 833.9mph in the 10-minute descent to earth after jumping from a balloon on the edge of space 24 miles above New Mexico. The 43-year-old also broke records for the highest freefall.

Felix Baumgartner freefall breaks speed of sound

2. MALALA FLOWN TO UK FOR TREATMENT

Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old anti-Taliban campaigner who was shot in the head by a gunman last week, is to be flown Britain for further medical treatment. The Pakistan army says the cost of the transfer is being met by the United Arab Emirates. The Taliban have threatened to target her again.

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Why Malala Yousafzai is flying to Britain for NHS treatment

3. CAMERON SIGNS SCOTTISH VOTE DEAL

David Cameron has signed a "historic" agreement with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in Edinburgh setting out the terms of a referendum on Scottish independence. The vote will take place in autumn 2014 and there will be a single yes or no question about Scotland leaving the UK. People aged 16 and 17 will also be able to vote.

Scotland referendum deal done and Salmond looks like the loser

4. STING GENERAL QUITS BRITISH LEGION

Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely, one of the retired generals caught in a Sunday Times sting apparently offering to influence Whitehall decisions over arms deals, has resigned from the presidency of the Royal British Legion. He said: "The Legion's work, including Remembrance events, must be kept free of any suggestion that they could be used for commercial or political gain."

Generals' offer to lobby for cash is a tragedy for the British Army

5. EU: HAMMOND BACKS GOVE ON 'RE-THINK'

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday backed Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, in calling for a "re-think" on Britain's relationship with the European Union. Gove said Brussels should "give us back our sovereignty or we will walk out". Hammond told the BBC it reflected "what many of us feel".

Cameron under cosh as eight ministers 'ready to quit EU'

6. NEWSNIGHT MYSTERY: DG FACES INQUIRY

BBC Director-General George Entwistle is to be questioned by an independent inquiry about what he knew of the sudden decision to drop a Newsnight investigation into allegations of child abuse against Jimmy Savile. Media observers have called "barely credible" Entwistle's claim that he never asked what the programme was about.

BBC boss under pressure over 'barely credible' Savile stance

7. FRANKIE BOYLE SUES THE MIRROR

Comedian Frankie Boyle, renowned for his bad-taste jokes about celebrities, is suing the Daily Mirror for libel after it called him a "racist". His lawyer said it was one thing to describe Boyle's humour as "vile and offensive" but added: "Accusing him of being a racist is an entirely different matter."

Comedian Frankie Boyle sues Daily Mirror over racism claim

8. ADELE'S BOND THEME MISSES TOP SPOT

Reviews for the new Bond film Skyfall are mainly positive - but Adele's theme song missed out on the number one spot when the new UK singles chart came out yesterday. Dance group Swedish House Mafia hit number 1 with Don't You Worry Child, with Adele at number 2. No Bond theme has yet reached the top spot.

First reviews hail Skyfall as the best Bond in years

9. ECONOMICS NOBEL FOR ROTH AND LLOYD

Nobel prize for economics has been awarded to American professors Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design". Their work has practical applications in deciding the optimal way of allocating resources, such as in school admissions or organs to patients who need transplants.

10. HOT TICKET: GAMBON DOES BECKETT

Samuel Beckett's radio play 'All That Fall' has opened for the first time on stage. Trevor Nunn directs Michael Gambon and Eileen Atkins at London's Jermyn Street Theatre in a darkly comic tale of an elderly wife who begins to suspect her husband of a terrible crime. "Beguiling", says The Guardian. Until 3 November.

Michael Gambon spellbinding in Beckett’s ‘All That Fall’