Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 21 May 2015

1. WE’LL SEIZE MIGRANT WAGES, SAY TORIES

David Cameron will include a plan to seize wages earned by anyone working unlawfully in the UK in the Queen’s speech, in hopes of making the country a less attractive destination to those seeking asylum and economic migrants. The Guardian says the plan is a response to embarrassing new immigration figures.

Cameron's immigration bill: what is he promising this time?

2. I.S ‘CONTROL ANCIENT CITY OF PALMYRA’

Islamist fighters Islamic State (IS) have taken full control of the ancient ruined city of Palmyra, a Syrian monitoring group has said. The city is home to priceless architectural antiquities from the first century AD - and it is feared that IS will destroy them. The group has smashed ancient artefacts before.

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Islamic State retakes Palmyra in Syria

3. DOCTORS TO PM: GET REAL ON 7-DAY GPS

The British Medical Association says David Cameron needs to “get real” and ditch his “surreal obsession” with ensuring doctors’ surgeries are open seven days a week because GP services are already stretched to breaking point. Dr Chaand Nagpaul also believes plans to recruit 5,000 new GPs will “fail dismally”.

4. SCRABBLE DICTIONARY INCLUDES TEXTSPEAK

A new Scrabble dictionary has caused controversy by including 6,500 new words including slang terms, textspeak and neologisms. Among the new entries are 'lolz', meaning laughs, 'ridic', a shortened form of ridiculous, and 'hactivist', an internet campaigner. Foreign words, including cinq (French for five) also feature.

Yeesh! Scrabble's new words aren't dench, say language lovers

5. GASCOIGNE GETS MIRROR HACKING PAYOUT

Celebrities including footballer Paul Gascoigne, actress Sadie Frost and BBC director Alan Yentob are among eight people to be paid a total of £1.2m in phone-hacking damages by Mirror Group Newspapers. The victims, including several soap stars, a flight attendant and a TV producers were targeted by journalists from Mirror Group titles.

6. PRESIDENTS SAY FAREWELL TO LETTERMAN

Four US presidents helped bid farewell to US talkshow host David Letterman after 33 years as a presenter on NBC and CBS. His final edition of the Late Show featured contributions from George H and George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Other guests included Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Murray.

David Letterman: last Late Show a 'terrific' upbeat affair

7. HATTON GARDEN: EIGHT MEN IN COURT

Eight men, charged in connection with the Hatton Garden jewellery heist, have been remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court. The men, aged 48 to 76, were all charged with conspiracy to burgle. The contents of 56 safety deposit boxes, worth up to £200m, were taken during the heist over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

How the real Hatton Garden robbery played out

8. BANK HOLIDAY RAIL STRIKE CALLED OFF

A national rail strike scheduled for next week has been called off after the TSSA and RMT unions were offered a "revised" pay offer by Network Rail. Signallers, maintenance and station staff had been due to walk out on Monday in a dispute over pay. Network Rail has halted its application for a legal injunction against the strike.

9. FITZGERALD’S GATSBY HOUSE FOR SALE

The former home of American novelist F Scott Fitzgerland, where he is thought to have written his seminal work The Great Gatsby, is for sale at $3.8m (£2.4m). The seven-bedroom ‘manor house’ is 20 miles from NYC in the village of Great Neck Estates. Fitzgerald lived there with his wife Zelda from 1922 to 1924.

10. BRIEFING: IS DEFLATION ALWAYS BAD?

Inflation officially slipped below zero yesterday, and falling prices are not necessarily a cause for celebration. As we experience deflation for the first time since the 1960s, economists are divided about its dangers, and what can be done to get us out of it.

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