Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 17 Feb 2014

1. CO-PILOT ARRESTED AFTER GENEVA HIJACK

The co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines jet has been arrested after hijacking the plane and landing it in Geneva before claiming asylum. He took control of the plane, bound for Italy, when the captain left the cockpit to go to the toilet. After landing he climbed down from the cockpit window using a rope and surrendered to police.

Hijacked plane forced to land at Geneva airport

2. GRAVITY WINS BEST BRITISH FILM BAFTA

Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity has won the Bafta award for best British film - and for best director, visual effects and other categories. While its stars are American, the film was shot and made in the UK. Best film overall was 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, who took best actor.

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Baftas 2014: night of surprises leaves Oscars race wide open

3. MORE FLOODS ON WAY AS WARNINGS ISSUED

The Met Office has issued a severe rain weather warning for southwest England today, with up to 20mm expected. Sixteen severe flood warnings are in place across the south - but the situation should at least improve on the Thames. Ahead of a visit to the west, David Cameron said the floods were a “tragedy”.

4. CLEGG OPENS DOOR TO LAB-LIB COALITION

Nick Clegg, deputy PM and Liberal leader, has raised the possibility of a Labour-Liberal coalition after the next election, saying Labour has “changed” and now recognises it may have to share power. He also told a BBC radio documentary the Tories were too ideological and needed to re-engage with voters.

Clegg hints at Lib-Lab coalition: hold your horses, says Prezza

5. SALMOND HITS BACK OVER POUND AND EU

Alex Salmond has gone on the attack against Chancellor George Osborne and other Westminster politicians who have said Scotland will have to leave the pound if it votes for independence later this year. He disputed the claim in a speech in Aberdeen where he also said he was confident that an independent Scotland would be allowed to join the EU.

Scottish independence: Is IndyRef2 'dead' after election losses?

6. IRA CLAIMS IT SENT ARMY PARCEL BOMBS

A group claiming to be the IRA says it is responsible for a series of parcel bombs sent to British Army recruitment offices in England last week. The claim was made in a call to a media organisation in Northern Ireland, in which a codeword, recognised by Scotland Yard was used. Republican terror groups have not struck in England for almost a decade.

7. KIM JONG-UN'S 'CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY'

A UN inquiry has warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he could face trial for "crimes against humanity" because of the human rights abuses going on in the secretive state he rules. The leader of the year-long inquiry, Michael Kirby, a retired Australian judge, has compared Kim's regime to that of Pol Pot and the Nazis.

8. UK DEVELOPS BLIGHT-RESISTING GM POTATO

British scientists have developed a genetically modified Desiree potato which is resistant to the tubers’ greatest enemy: the disease late blight. The blight caused the Irish potato famine of the 1840s and still plagues farmers but a three-year trial shows the GM potato resists exposure to the disease.

9. USA: WOMAN OF 19 CLAIMS 22 MURDERS

A 19-year-old woman charged alongside her husband with killing a man they met after advertising on Craigslist offering companionship for money has claimed responsibility for at least another 22 murders after joining a satanic cult at the age of 13. Lawyers are seeking a psychiatric evaluation for Miranda Barbour.

10. HOT TICKET: ORWELL'S 1984 AT THE ALMEIDA

A new stage adaptation of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, 1984, has opened at the Almeida Theatre, London. In an imagined oppressive future Britain a man commits the subversive acts of thinking, writing a diary, and falling in love, under the gaze of Big Brother. "Ingenious," says The Times.

1984 – reviews of Almeida's 'bold' staging of Orwell's novel