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

1. CASE FOR HS2 NOT CONVINCING, SAY LORDS

A House of Lords committee has said the government has made no “convincing” case for spending £50bn on a new high-speed rail link between London and the North, HS2. The committee said there had been no “proper assessment” of alternative ways of increasing rail capacity, which might be more cost-effective.

HS2 contracts worth £6.6bn awarded

2. ALPS PLANE CRASH: UK VICTIMS ‘LIKELY’

The foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has said it is “likely” that there were British nationals on board the Germanwings plane which crashed in the French Alps yesterday. All 150 people on the jet are thought to have been killed after it plummeted out of the sky without a distress call. The black box has been found.

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Andreas Lubitz: Germanwings pilot tore up sick note for day of crash

3. SALMOND: SNP COULD BLOCK QUEEN’S SPEECH

Alex Salmond has suggested the SNP could block a Tory government after the next election by voting down its Queen’s Speech - if it only held a parliamentary minority. He said Labour would need to join with the SNP to effect the ‘block’. Opinion polls suggest the SNP will have many more MPs after the election.

Salmond threatens to block a Tory minority government

4. US ACCUSES ISRAEL OF SPYING ON IRAN TALKS

The White House has seemingly decided to brief the US press that Israel has been spying on international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme - and leaking the information to Republican senators. The Wall Street Journal says it began soon after the US started secret communications with Iran in 2012.

5. KNOX AND SOLLECITO VERDICTS DUE TODAY

Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito will find out today if their 2007 conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, Knox’s flatmate, have been upheld. The two served four years but were released on appeal - a decision later reversed by another court. Today is the final decision.

Amanda Knox claims inmate tried to seduce her behind bars

6. MAD MEN’S JOHN HAMM ADMITS REHAB

Actor John Hamm, who plays hard-drinking 1950s advertising exec Don Draper in TV drama Mad Men, has admitted he went into rehab for alcoholism recently. The 44-year-old underwent treatment with the support of his partner, Jennifer Westfeldt, shortly before he began filming the seventh and final series.

7. BURGER KING FIRM 3G CAPITAL TO BUY KRAFT

3G Capital, the firm behind Burger King and Heinz, is in “advanced talks” to buy US-based food manufacturer Kraft for more than $40bn (£27bn). Kraft bought UK chocolate manufacturer Cadbury for £11.5m in 2010 but later spun it off into a separate firm, Mondelez. Kraft shares were up 15% on the news.

8. BUYING BREAST MILK ONLINE ‘POSES RISKS’

Buying breast milk online poses serious health risks, say experts. The trade in human milk has boomed, fuelled partly by bodybuilders and ‘adult baby’ fetishists. With sellers including intravenous drug users, the milk should be screened for hepatitis, HIV and syphilis, say University of London researchers.

9. KEW TESTS TAGGING FOR HONEY BEES

Ecologists at Kew Gardens are testing a new way to track the movements of bees. Tiny tags are super-glued to the insects’ backs with an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip and aerial. The tags will improve knowledge of bee behaviour as scientists try to understand why their numbers are declining.

10. BRIEFING: IS DEFLATION ALWAYS BAD?

"Deflationary contagion" is in the air, and falling prices are not necessarily a cause for celebration. As inflation reaches zero in Britain, economists are divided about the dangers of deflation, and what can be done to keep us out of it.

Deflation: UK prices are now falling, but is that a bad thing?