Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 31 Mar 2014

1. UN: CLIMATE CHANGE ‘SEVERE AND PERVASIVE’

A UN report believed to be the most comprehensive investigation into the effects of climate change yet compiled has found they are likely to be “severe, pervasive and irreversible”. Based on 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies, the report has been agreed after an intensive week of discussions in Yokohama, Japan.

IPCC report: 'no one will be untouched by climate change'

2. NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA EXCHANGE FIRE

North and South Korea have exchanged fire at sea across their disputed western border after the North announced it was holding live-fire drills and several shells landed in Southern territory. Residents on a border island were evacuated into shelters as the South responded with howitzers and F-15 fighter jets.

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North Korea's military drone 'more like a toy'

3. US-RUSSIA TALKS FAIL TO BREAK DEADLOCK

Discussions between US secretary of state John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, yesterday in Paris ended with both sides agreeing there should be a diplomatic solution to the crisis engendered by Russia’s annexation of Crimea - but with no agreement on what that solution might be.

Ukraine rekindles Nato aspirations, angering Russia

4. BROOKS 'HID PORN' TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT

Charlie Brooks, husband of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, has told a court that he hid porn from police as he did not want to embarrass his wife. Brooks was caught on CCTV stashing items behind bins in a carpark before police raided his flat as part of the hacking inquiry. He denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

5. COURT ORDERS JAPAN TO STOP WHALING

The UN's International Court of Justice has ordered Japan to halt its Antarctic whaling programme after ruling that the hunts are not conducted for scientific research. The Australian government brought the case in May 2010 claiming the hunt was commercial whaling in disguise. Japan said it was "deeply disappointed" but would abide by the decision.

6. LABOUR PEER: £10 A MONTH NHS CHARGE

Former Labour health minister Lord Warner has called for radical changes to the NHS, including a £10-a-month membership fee to be levied on the public and “hotel-style charges” for overnight stays. He described the current set-up as “out of date and unaffordable” and said the service was struggling to cope.

NHS patients 'should pay £10 monthly membership fee'

7. OSBORNE COMMITS TO 'FULL EMPLOYMENT'

Chancellor George Osborne has said he wants to create "full employment" in Britain. He outlined the new policy in a speech at Tilbury Port in Essex, where he said he wanted to make sure Britain had a higher proportion of the population in work than any other G7 country. However, he said that "artificial jobs paid for with borrowed money" did not work.

8. HILLSBOROUGH INQUEST JURY CHOSEN

A jury has been selected to hear the fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans in the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. The inquests were ordered in December 2012 when the High Court quashed the original verdicts of accidental death. The hearing could last a year. A panel of six men and five women will be sworn in this week.

Hillsborough: Former police chiefs face charges

9. ELTON JOHN TO MARRY DAVID FURNISH

Elton John is to marry his partner David Furnish after same-sex weddings became legal in the UK. The pair have been in a civil partnership since 2005 but the law changed on Saturday to allow marriages. The couple say the ceremony will take place in May. "We'll do it very quietly. But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion," said John.

Same-sex couples to marry at the stroke of midnight

10. HOT TICKET: MUSICAL SPOOF I CAN'T SING

Harry Hill's musical comedy I Can't Sing has opened at the Palladium, London. The show takes a wry, behind-the-scenes look at the world of television talent show The X Factor, with Nigel Harman as the Simon Cowell-esque judge. "Delightfully bonkers," says the Daily Telegraph. Until 25 October.

I Can't Sing – reviews of Harry Hill's musical X Factor spoof