Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 29 Aug 2014

1. MORE TORY MPS TO DEFECT TO UKIP?

Eight more Conservative MPs have held talks with Ukip about defecting, it has been claimed. The news follows the shock defection of Tory Douglas Carswell yesterday. Writing in The Independent, Ukip leader Nigel Farage predicts that “an increasing number” of Tory and Labour backbenchers “will follow” Carswell.

Douglas Carswell: Ukip eyes chance of first MP as Tory defects

2. ROTHERHAM'S ‘COVER-UP’ RAID EXPOSED

Senior Rotherham council staff raided one of their own offices to remove case files and erase computer records detailing the extent of the town’s sex-grooming crisis. In what frontline staff are describing as a high-level cover-up, a raid was carried out in 2002 to remove files from the office of Risky Business, the council’s specialist youth service.

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After Rotherham, should it be mandatory to report abuse fears?

3. HUNT FOR BOY TAKEN FROM HOSPITAL

A five-year-old boy's life is said to be in danger after he who was snatched from hospital by his parents. There are "serious concerns" for Ashya King who was being treated for a brain tumour in Southampton General Hospital. His parents, believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, are thought to have taken him to France.

4. OBAMA AND NATO POINT FINGER AT RUSSIA

Barack Obama and Nato have accused Russia sending troops into Ukraine. The US president said fighting in Ukraine was not the result of a home-grown uprising but of "deep Russian involvement". He added that new satellite images make Moscow’s role clear. Russia rejects Nato's claim that is has poured tanks, artillery and more than 1,000 troops into the east of the country.

Ukraine: Nato to meet amid claims of Russian invasion

5. FIRST EBOLA CASE CONFIRMED IN SENEGAL

Senegal has confirmed its first case of Ebola, making it the fifth African country to be affected by the outbreak. The health ministry said a man from Guinea had been infected by the virus and had immediately been placed in quarantine. Senegal had attempted to close its borders with Guinea to prevent the disease from getting in.

6. UK TERROR THREAT RAISED TO 'SEVERE'

The UK terror threat has been raised from "substantial" to "severe" for the first time since 2011. Home Secretary Theresa May said the decision had been taken because of the situation in Syria and Iraq, where increasing numbers of British jihadists are fighting. The decision comes as Western leaders prepare for a Nato summit in Wales.

IS threat grows as Obama and Cameron prevaricate

7. ICELANDIC VOLCANO STARTS TO ERUPT

Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano has erupted, prompting fears of air travel chaos. A 1km-long fissure eruption is reported to have begun in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier. The Icelandic Met Office has raised its aviation warning level to red and airspace above the eruption has been closed to a height of 1,500m.

Iceland volcano red alert: Will flights be grounded again?

8. JOAN RIVERS ‘RESTING’ IN HOSPITAL

American entertainer Joan Rivers was rushed to hospital after she stopped breathing during a throat procedure at a clinic in New York, say reports. The 81-year-old comic is said to be “resting comfortably” in a medically induced coma after her hospitalisation on Thursday morning. Just hours earlier she had joked about her death during a stand-up show.

9. US JET DIVERTED OVER SEAT ROW

An American Airlines flight from Miami to Paris was diverted due to a row over a reclined seat. Edmund Alexandre had to be restrained by two undercover federal air marshals, said the US attorney’s office. The jet was flown to Boston, where he was arrested and taken to hospital for observation and treatment. He was charged with interfering with a flight crew.

10. HOT TICKET: ECO THRILLER NIGHT MOVES

American eco-terrorism thriller Night Moves is released in UK cinemas today. Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning star as environmentalists who decide to take their beliefs a step further by teaming up with ex-marine Peter Sarsgaard to blow up a hydroelectric dam. "Gripping," says the Daily Telegraph.

Night Moves – reviews of 'riveting' eco-terrorism thriller