Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 26 Feb 2015

1. NHS BOSSES ‘KNEW ABOUT SAVILE ABUSE’

An independent report has found that at least ten complaints about Jimmy Savile were ignored by senior NHS managers over two decades as he continued to abuse patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. One girl aged eight or nine was raped ten times by the entertainer.

Jimmy Savile: Stoke Mandeville staff were 'told of sex abuse'

2. AFGHAN RAID HERO GIVEN VICTORIA CROSS

A British soldier who took on 20 Taliban fighters single-handedly, inspiring his comrades to fight back and saving the life of a US marine, has been awarded the Victoria Cross. Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey is the first living serviceman to be awarded the UK’s highest military honour for actions in Afghanistan.

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3. STATE-OWNED RBS FILES £3.5BN LOSS

State-owned bank RBS has reported a loss of £3.5bn for 2014, exacerbated by a £4bn writedown on the sale of its US business Citizens. The bank lost £9bn in 2013. Despite the improvement, chancellor George Osborne has written to new chairman Howard Davies asking that no executives receive bonuses.

4. MIGRATION FIGURES 'UNDERMINE PM'

New figures released today have “shattered” David Cameron’s pledge to reduce net migration to “tens of thousands”, says The Guardian. The PM said he would cut the influx by 60% from 244,000 when he took office in 2010. Instead, the figures show net migration rose to 298,000 last year, even as emigration increased.

5. HEAD TRANSPLANTS FOR HUMANS IN 2017

An Italian neurosurgeon says he could carry out the first human head transplants by 2017 - if society wants it. The procedure would give a donor body to patients suffering from degeneration of the muscles and nerves, or those with late-stage cancer. Sergio Canavero says the recipient would keep their own voice.

6. MADONNA BLAMES FALL ON DODGY CLOAK

Madonna took a spectacular tumble down a flight of steps on stage at the Brit Awards last night - and later blamed the mishap on an Armani cloak she was wearing which was tied too tight. The 56-year-old crashed to the floor as she sang Living For Love, featuring the lyric: “Took me to heaven and let me fall down.”

7. MPS: LICENCE FEE HAS NO LONG-TERM FUTURE

The Culture, Media and Sport select committee has warned that it sees no “long-term future for the licence fee in its current form”. The MPs said it was becoming “harder and harder to justify”, in part because of increased online “catch-up” viewing, and should be replaced with a compulsory levy on all households.

8. SPACEY TO BE GIVEN SPECIAL OLIVIER AWARD

US actor Kevin Spacey is to receive a special Olivier award in April, honouring him for his contribution to UK theatre in 11 years as artistic director at London’s Old Vic. The 55-year-old Oscar winner is widely credited with reviving the theatre’s fortunes. Matilda director Matthew Warchus takes over in September.

9. CRACK MAYOR FORD SELLS TIE ON EBAY

Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto, is selling the tie he wore when he admitted on TV that he had smoked crack cocaine while in office. The tie, and other items of memorabilia, are to appear on eBay. Ford previously said 10% of profits would go to cancer research - he quit office after being diagnosed with cancer.

10. BRIEFING: CHILEAN SHEEP-EATING PLANTS

Was The Day of the Triffids in fact a documentary based on the life cycle of the Puya chilensis? The macabre desert plant appears to have a knack for luring sheep to their deaths and then feasting on their remains.

Beware, the sheep-eating plants of Chile