Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 13 Sep 2013

1. DELHI GANG RAPE: 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH

The four men convicted of gang-raping a 23-year-old student in Delhi last December have been sentenced to death. Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta took part in a rape so brutal the woman died two weeks later from internal injuries. Her death led to protests across India and tougher laws on sexual offences.

Delhi gang rape: four men sentenced to death

2. SYRIA APPLIES TO JOIN UN CHEMICAL ACCORD

The UN has confirmed it has received an application to join the international Chemical Weapons Convention, the first stage of the plan negotiated by Russia. Information on the weapons is due to be handed over in 30 days. This is standard procedure but the US is demanding that it be speeded up on this occasion.

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UN inspectors will blame Assad for chemical attack, says report

3. SURVEYORS: BANK MUST CAP HOUSE PRICES

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the Bank of England must use its powers to limit house price increases to five per cent per year to “take the froth” out of the housing boom. They don’t want the bank to cap the amount individuals can charge for their homes, just to control how much banks lend via mortgages.

Should BoE cap national house price growth at 5% a year?

4. RUSSIAN HOSPITAL FIRE: TOLL MOUNTS

As many as 37 patients at a Russian psychiatric hospital are now feared to have died in a fire, the second such incident this year. The blaze in the facility near Luka, Novgorod, is said to have been caused by a patient setting fire to a bed. In April, a fire at a mental hospital near Moscow killed 38.

37 dead after fire in Russian psychiatric hospital

5. TWITTER TO FLOAT ON U.S. STOCK MARKET

Micro-blogging site Twitter has filed paperwork with US regulators to pave the way for a flotation on the stock market. The site has been valued by private investors at more than $10bn and is on track to make $583m in revenue for this year alone. The company made the announcement via its Twitter feed, naturally.

Twitter set for stock market debut after filing for IPO

6. GERMAN CANDIDATE ‘GIVES THE FINGER’

Peer Steinbruck, the Social Democrat rival to Angela Merkel in this month’s general election, has angered some Germans by agreeing to be photographed ‘giving the finger’ on the cover of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. An ordinary German citizen could be fined up to €4,000 for making the same gesture at someone in the street, Der Spiegel points out.

Peer Steinbruck, Merkel's rival, gives Germany the finger

7. SUICIDE BOMBER HITS U.S. CONSULATE

Taliban fighters have attacked the US consulate in the city of Herat in western Afghanistan. Several Afghan police are said to have been killed and injured in an accompanying gun battle - some reports say two killed and eighteen injured. The US said all consulate staff were safe and accounted for after the dawn raid.

8. SURROUND SOUND MAN DOLBY DEAD AT 80

Ray Dolby, the US engineer whose name is familiar to millions of cinema goers as the pioneer of ‘surround sound’, has died in San Francisco aged 80. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s for years and recently contracted Leukemia. Kevin Yeaman, president of Dolby Laboratories, described him as “a true visionary”.

Ray Dolby: hiss-toric change to music and movies

9. MORRISSEY HALTS HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Former Smiths frontman Morrissey has halted plans to release his autobiography, three days before publication. A "last-minute content disagreement" with publisher, Penguin, was cited as the reason the 54-year-old has stalled the book which details his childhood in Manchester and relationship with Johnny Marr.

10. HOT TICKET: F1 DRAMA RUSH ‘FULL OF THRILLS’

Biographical action drama ‘Rush’ opens at UK cinemas today. Set in the glamorous 1970s golden age of Formula 1 motor racing, it tells the true story of the rivalry between two drivers, playboy Englishman James Hunt and methodical Austrian Niki Lauda. Stars Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Lauda. “Full of thrills,” says Empire.

'Thrilling' Formula One film Rush not just for petrol heads