1. ROYAL MAIL SALE ‘DEEPLY’ UNDERVALUED
The National Audit Office has criticised the government for setting the share price too low for the Royal Mail when it was privatised, saying too much emphasis was placed on completing the sale within this parliament rather than getting the best value. It says Vince Cable was told he could get an extra £750m by City advisers.
Royal Mail shares rebound after strong Christmas
2. NATO SEES NO SIGN OF RUSSIAN TROOP PULLOUT
Foreign ministers from the 28 Nato nations have been meeting today for the first time since Russia annexed Crimea. They will discuss the formal suspension of co-operation with Moscow and debate siting permanent military bases in Baltic states. Nato today said there was no sign of Russia withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian border area.
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3. DRONE CRASHES ON KOREAN BORDER ISLAND
The South Korean military says it is examining a drone which crashed on an island in a disputed region of its border with North Korea as the two nations exchanged artillery fire into the sea yesterday. The aircraft is said to be 10 feet long, with a Japanese engine and Chinese parts. It is fitted with a camera.
4. SAHARAN DUST ADDS TO AIR POLLUTION
Dust from the Sahara is causing unusually high levels of air pollution, which could affect the elderly or people with health issues. Some parts of eastern England, the Midlands and Wales will experience the highest levels of air pollution on the government scale this week, and those with heart and lung problems should avoid "strenuous activity".
5. SEVEN-A-DAY FRUIT AND VEG ‘SAVES LIVES’
Researchers say the government should upgrade its advice to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day to seven. A study of 65,000 adults found they were 42% less likely to die at any age if they ate seven portions a day, as opposed to 29% if they ate five. The coalition says its current advice is sufficient.
Why seven fruit and veg a day is better than five
6. MALAYSIA ASKS U.S FOR DEEP-SEA SEARCH KIT
Malaysia and the US are in discussions about supplying the former with military deep-sea search equipment as the hunt for the missing flight MH370 continues. Ten planes and nine ships are still scouring the ocean for wreckage. The plane's black box recorder is set to lose power 30 days after a crash.
MH370: mysterious 89kg load ‘added to cargo flight list after take-off’
7. NEW HILLSBOROUGH INQUESTS UNDERWAY
Fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 have opened. Lord Justice Goldring told jurors that the incident was "the worst ever disaster at a British sports stadium" and was "seared into the memories" of everyone affected by it. The original verdicts of accidental death were quashed in 2012.
Hillsborough: Former police chiefs face charges
8. SCHOOLGIRL KILLED IN WALL COLLAPSE
A 12-year-old girl has been killed after a wall at a school in Edinburgh collapsed on her. The accident is thought to have happened in a PE changing room at around 10am this morning. The pupil received treatment from ambulance staff, but was pronounced dead at the scene. In 2011 another pupil suffered serious injuries when she fell down a lift shaft at the school.
9. HOUSE MUSIC PIONEER FRANKIE KNUCKLES DIES
Pioneering house music producer Frankie Knuckles has died "unexpectedly" at the age of 59. Although he was born in the Bronx, New York, Knuckles made his name as a DJ in the early Chicago house scene of the 1980s. As well as helping to establish his genre of music, Knuckles mixed records by artists such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode.
10. HOT TICKET: GLOBE'S CANDLELIT OPERA
The Royal Opera production of Francesco Cavalli's rarely-performed L'Ormindo has opened at the Globe's candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. The comic romantic opera follows two princes vying for the love of the unhappy wife of an old king. "Magical," says The Independent. Until 12 April.
L'Ormindo – reviews of Royal Opera's candlelit Baroque gem
