Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 20 Mar 2015

1. CLOUD MARS UK SOLAR ECLIPSE

Millions of Britons missed out on the opportunity to see an almost-full solar eclipse this morning when cloud obscured the view. The clearest skies were over Lincolnshire, the Midlands, southwest England and southern Wales, but the rest of the country saw skies darken even if the sun itself remained shrouded. Only eight solar eclipses have been visible from the UK in the last 500 years.

UK solar eclipse 2015: Britain prepares for 'doomsday' darkness

2. ARCTIC SEA ICE REACHES RECORD LOW

There was less sea ice in the Arctic Ocean this winter than there has been since records began in 1979. This year the maximum extent was 14.5m square kilometres, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the Unversity of Colorado, reached on 25 February. The Arctic is now moving into spring.

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Melting Antarctic glacier could lead to 11-foot increase in sea levels

3. NIGERIA: WE’LL END BOKO HARAM IN WEEKS

Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, says he is ‘hopeful’ that it will take his army just one month to recover all the territory it has ceded to Islamist terror group Boko Haram. But he admitted he had “underestimated” the group. Violence in the northeast of the country has caused 15,500 deaths since 2012.

Boko Haram: why is Nigeria losing its battle with terror?

4. UK WOMAN AMONG 23 KILLED IN TUNISIA

A British woman of 57, Sally Adey, was one of 23 people killed by gunmen in Tunisia’s famed Bardo Museum yesterday. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, which left her husband, Robert, unharmed. The Adeys were travelling by cruise ship. The two attackers are among the 23 dead.

British woman confirmed dead in Bardo Museum massacre

5. MAN ON DEATH ROW FOR 39 YEARS GETS $1M

An African-American who spent 39 years on death row for the murder of a businessman in Cleveland, Ohio, before being exonerated in 2014 is to receive $1m in compensation. Ricky Jackson, now 58, was one of three men convicted of the crime on false testimony coerced from a 13-year-old ‘witness’ by police.

6. MINISTER UNDER FIRE FOR BLACKING UP

Belgium’s foreign minister, Didier Reynders, says he doesn’t understand all the “fuss” after he was filmed wearing ‘blackface’ make-up, pretending to be an African nobleman in a traditional Brussels festival dating back to 1876. Human Rights Watch condemned his costume as “shocking and embarrassing”.

7. SOUTH KOREA BANS DVD BALLOON DROP

South Korea warns it will intervene if activists try to launch balloons carrying 10,000 DVDs of US movie The Interview over the border to North Korea, saying it would do more harm than good and would put border residents at risk of violence. The comedy film features an actor as N Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

8. ECLIPSE WATCHER IS 'FINE' AFTER BEAR BITE

A Czech man who travelled to Norway to watch today’s solar eclipse from the remote Svalbard islands hopes to be out of hospital this morning, despite a polar bear attack. Jakub Moravec managed to fend off the animal after it went for his head through the wall of his tent. Another camper then shot at it and it fled.

9. OBAMA TO CHARLES: YOU'RE MORE POPULAR

Barack Obama yesterday told Prince Charles that the British royal family was more popular with the American public than its own politicians, as the prince and his wife met the president in the Oval Office. The prince replied: “That’s awfully nice to know.” The royals are spending four days in the US on a goodwill tour.

10. BRIEFING: HELP TO BUY ISAS

George Osborne unveiled a new Help to Buy Isa in yesterday's Budget, which is intended help first-time home buyers save for a deposit. He pledged to give buyers a 25 per cent top-up on their savings – but there are some catches. Not all homes qualify, and there are strict limit in how much you can save each month.

Help to Buy Isas revealed in Budget: how do they work?