Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 23 Dec 2014

1. THREE GLASGOW DEAD FROM SAME FAMILY

Three of the six victims of the Glasgow bin lorry crash were from the same family. Jack Sweeney, his wife Lorraine and their 18-year-old granddaughter Erin McQuade died when the lorry mounted a pavement in Glasgow and ploughed into pedestrians. Ten people, including the driver, are still in hospital. Witnesses have said they saw the driver slumped over the wheel as the incident unfolded.

Glasgow bin lorry crash: three of six victims from same family

2. NORTHERN IRELAND: AGREEMENT REACHED

A broad plan for financial and welfare reform in Northern Ireland has been agreed at cross-party talks at Stormont. The talks covered a range of issues affecting the power-sharing assembly, including parades and flags. David Cameron said he was pleased that a "workable agreement has been reached". Corporation tax will be devolved under the new deal.

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3. NORTH KOREA ‘HIT BY CYBER ATTACK’

North Korea is partially back online after its limited internet service, controlled by the state, was down for nine hours. The US refused to say whether it believed the country, which it says was behind a cyber-attack on a Hollywood studio Sony Pictures, had been hit by a cyber attack. The US had vowed to retaliate.

North Korea back online: did US bring down the internet?

4. SINGER JOE COCKER DIES AT AGE OF 70

The gravel-voiced rock singer Joe Cocker, famous for his cover of With A Little Help From My Friends, has died at the age of 70 after a long struggle with lung cancer. The Sheffield-born former gas fitter memorably sang the Beatles song at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. It was a number one in the UK in 1968.

Joe Cocker: 5 things you didn't know about Mad Dog singer

5. FRANCE: TROOPS DEPLOYED AFTER ATTACKS

France is to deploy 300 soldiers around the country to boost security over the Christmas period after a spate of attacks.. In the latest incident a man drove a van into shoppers at a Christmas market in Nantes, France, injuring ten. The attack came after a similar one in Dijon yesterday, where at least 13 were injured. The Dijon driver was said to have no known links to jihadist groups.

French president urges calm after third attack in three days

6. UKIP GENERAL SECRETARY STANDS DOWN

Ukip general secretary Roger Bird is to leave his post despite being cleared of harrassment allegations. A disciplinary hearing into Bird's relations with former party candidate Natasha Bolter found "no evidence to support the allegation". However the "unfortunate publicity" has prompted the party to end Bird's contract sooner than had been planned.

7. IMPLANT WILL OFFER ARTHRITIS RELIEF

Doctors have used tiny pacemaker-like implants to effectively cure sufferers of severe rheumatoid arthritis. The trials, in Amsterdam, found that more than half of patients said their condition dramatically improved. The implants fire bursts of electrical impulses into a key nerve taking brain signals to organs.

8. UKRAINE VOTES TO SEEK NATO MEMBERSHIP

Ukraine has risked increasing tensions with Russia after voting to drop its non-aligned status and push for membership of Nato. MPs in Kiev voted 303 to eight in favour of the move. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the move "counterproductive". Russia has denied supplying pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country, but still faces Western sanctions.

9. UK GROWTH FIGURE REVISED DOWNWARDS

The UK economy did not grow as fast in the last year as had been thought. The Office of National Statistics has revised its growth figure for the third quarter, with GDP now 2.6% higher than in the same period in 2013, down from an earlier estimate of 3%. Despite that the figures show that GDP still grew by 0.7% in the third quarter of the year.

10. HOT TICKET: RSC'S SHOEMAKER'S HOLIDAY

The RSC revival of Thomas Dekker's Elizabethan comedy The Shoemaker's Holiday has opened at the Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon. A gentleman deserts the army and disguises himself as shoemaker in order to woo his lower-born beloved. "Gloriously entertaining," says the Daily Telegraph. Until 7 March.

The Shoemaker's Holiday – reviews of ‘glorious' revival