Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 22 Sep 2013

1. HOSTAGES HELD AT KENYA MALL

Further hostages are still inside a shopping centre in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi after 39 people died in yesterday’s assault by a Somali Islamist group, say officials. Children were among those killed by terrorists who were armed with guns and grenades. Some of those killed were executed after failing to recite a Muslim prayer at gunpoint.

2. LABOUR POLICIES' '£27.9BN BLACK HOLE’

Labour has created a £27.9bn “black hole” of unfunded promises to raise welfare spending in its first year of office if it wins the 2015 election, according to treasury officials quoted in the Sunday Times. Meanwhile, justice secretary Chris Grayling tells the Sunday Telegraph that Labour and the Liberal Democrats plan to “clobber the rich” after the next general election.

3. CHINA: BO XILAI CONVICTED OF BRIBERY

A Chinese court has found the disgraced politician Bo Xilai guilty of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. The former party chief of Chongqing, who denied the charges, was sentenced to life imprisonment but has the right to appeal. Bo was removed from office last year during a scandal which saw his wife convicted for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

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4. CAMPBELL: ‘SHYSTER’ MCBRIDE ‘BROKE LAW’

Tony Blair’s ex-spokesman has accused Gordon Brown’s former spin doctor of breaking the law. Alastair Campbell described Damian McBride as a “shyster” and said he “has admitted not just to venality but criminality”. Campbell says McBride broke the law by leaking confidential documents from government computers, raising the possibility of a police investigation.

5. PALESTINIAN MURDERS ISRAELI MAN

An Israeli soldier has been abducted and killed by a Palestinian man in the West Bank. Tomer Hazan, 20, was discovered at the bottom of a well in the village of Sanriya. Nadal Amar, 42, is said to have confessed to the crime and told police that he planned to trade the soldier's body to win the release of his brother, who was jailed in Israel in 2003.

6. FARAGE: TORY PACT ‘EXTREMELY UNLIKELY’

UKIP leader Nigel Farage says it is "extremely unlikely" that his party would form an electoral pact with the Conservatives at the next election. Speaking to The Telegraph, he said that the two parties are "diametrically opposed" on key issues. He went on: “We are opposed to HS2 and to wind farms, and we want to get on with fracking.”

7. COULD ROHANI AND OBAMA MEET?

Iranian hardliners appear to have given tacit support for president Hassan Rouhani to hold an historic meeting with US president Barack Obama which could allow for direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme. It is believed that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has given his blessing for Rouhani to end three decades of animosity between Iran and the US.

8. TEEN KILLED AT TRIBUTE TO VICTIM

A teenage rapper has been stabbed to death after attending a tribute night to another knife murder victim. Joshua Ribera, 18, who used the stage name Depzman, was stabbed outside a club in Birmingham on Friday night. He had been attending a fundraising event in memory of Kyle Sheehan, 16, who was killed a year ago.

9. TREASURY ‘WILL REJECT RBS SPLIT’

A government-commissioned report will reject splitting the Royal Bank of Scotland into a good and bad bank, says the Independent On Sunday. The long-delayed report will be unveiled shortly after the Tory conference. It may recommend hiving off the state-owned lender’s troubled Irish business to appease the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

10. JOSE JOKES AS CHELSEA GO TOP

Jose Mourinho mocked talk of a crisis at Stamford Bridge after his side’s 2-0 victory over Fulham took them to the top of the Premier League. He jokingly described recent poor results as “very bad” and a “disaster”. Manchester City host neighbours United in the Manchester derby today, while Arsenal face Stoke City at the Emirates.