Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 25 Feb 2015

1. ‘AMERICAN SNIPER’ KILLER JAILED FOR LIFE

Eddie Ray Routh, a former marine who shot and killed the soldier made famous by the film American Sniper, has been given a life sentence without parole by a court in Texas. Routh killed Chris Kyle and another man, Chad Littlefield, at a firing range in February 2013. His plea of insanity was rejected.

2. POLICE TASERED 400 CHILDREN IN 2013

More than 400 children were tasered by police in England and Wales in 2013, a 38% rise on 2012, the BBC says. The youngest was 14, though an 11-year-old had one of the electric stun guns drawn on him but not fired. A solicitor involved in taser cases accused the police of “mission creep” in using them.

3. COUNCILS TO RUN £6BN NHS BUDGET

Local councils will control the £6bn budget for health and social care in Greater Manchester from April 2016, the BBC claims. George Osborne is expected to confirm the arrangement on Friday. One expert warned that the plan could succeed, or pose serious risks as “yet another” reorganisation of the NHS.

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4. MORRISONS NAMES NEW CHIEF EXEC

Struggling supermarket chain Morrisons has brought in a new chief executive to help battle falling sales. David Potts is a former director of Tesco, after starting there at the age of 16. Morrisons has been criticised for being slow to enter the convenience store market - and for delays in setting up online operations.

5. AFRICA IS NEW ‘EL DORADO’ OF SPYING

The Guardian says a cache of leaked intelligence documents show that Africa is the new centre of international spying, with China, the US and other western states vying for influence and supremacy there. One officer told the paper the continent it is now the “El Dorado of espionage”, with South Africa at the centre.

6. SCHOOLGIRLS ‘HAVE CROSSED INTO SYRIA’

Three missing east London schoolgirls - Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15 - are believed to have crossed the border from Turkey into Syria with the help of people smugglers as long ago as five or six days. The girls are feared to be attempting to join Sunni extremists Islamic State (IS).

7. GREEK REFORM PLAN EARNS EXTENSION

Greece’s programme of economic reforms has earned the country a four-month extension on its eurozone bailout. Submitted just before the deadline on Monday night, the proposals were approved by eurozone finance ministers, though the IMF chief Christine Lagarde criticised them as not being very specific.

8. US OFFERS $3M FOR RUSSIAN HACKER

The US authorities have offered the largest-ever reward in a cyber-crime case, promising $3m for information leading to the arrest of a hacker, Evgeniy Bogachev. The Russian is believed to be behind the GameOver Zeus attack network which infected more than a million computers and stole $100m.

9. AMNESTY URGES UN TO SURRENDER VETO

Human rights group Amnesty International has urged the five nations who are permanent members of the UN Security Council to give up their power of veto in cases where atrocities are being committed. It says the right to veto has been used to put geopolitical interests before the lives of civilians.

10. BRIEFING: WHICH IS THE RISKIEST DRUG?

A study has found that alcohol is more dangerous than heroin and 115 times more deadly than cannabis, which was found to be the least risky of commonly used recreational drugs. But which is the deadliest overall? The answer is far from straightforward.