Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 31 Mar 2011

published 31 March 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER DEFECTS TO UKCol Gaddafi's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, has defected to Britain, arriving yesterday in a private plane. The 59 year-old (above) is known to have masterminded terrorist attacks but has never been formally charged. The government said he had not been offered immunity from prosecution. Meanwhile, President Obama is reported to have signed a secret order authorising the CIA and special forces to help the rebels, which could include supplying arms. Moussa Koussa defection: who is he and can he be trusted? FORMER MP JIM DEVINE JAILED OVER EXPENSESFormer Labour MP Jim Devine, convicted of fiddling his parliamentary expenses, has been jailed for 16 months. He was found guilty of two counts of false accounting worth £8,385 last month. Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Sanders said Devine, who has been declared bankrupt, defrauded the public in a "calculated and deliberate way". He is the third former MP to be jailed in the wake of the expenses scandal. MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER ATTACKS BILL GATESBillionaire Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has written a scathing attack on Bill Gates in a memoir to be published in April. He accuses him of being a bullying boss thriving on conflict, who broke his bond and revealed his "true character" when he forced Allen out of Microsoft "wanting the whole pie for himself". Microsoft co-founder slams ruthless Bill Gates SUTHERLAND STARS IN WEB THRILLERKiefer Sutherland, star of TV series 24, is breaking new ground by with his latest venture - a thriller broadcast only on the internet. The show, called The Confession, comprises short 'webisodes' uploaded on US site Hulu.com. Most of the action takes place in a confessional where Sutherland speaks to a priest, played by John Hurt. Flashbacks explore Sutherland's violent past. PRISON PRIVATISATION PLANS A 'DISGRACE' Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has warned he will draft in the army if prison officers go on strike over his privatisation plans, branded a "disgrace" by the Prison Officers Association. Under the scheme, Doncaster prison will be run on a "payment by results" basis and the new Featherstone prison will be privately run. Controversially HMP Birmingham will be the first public sector jail to be privatised. GIRL, 5, VICTIM OF LONDON GANG SHOOTINGA 'drive-by shooting' by teenage gangsters on bicycles in Stockwell, south London, has left five-year-old Thushara Kameleswran fighting for her life. She is believed to be the youngest victim yet of London gun violence. A 35 year-old man is also in a critical condition. A £50,000 reward has been offered for information. The intended targets of the gang have come forward to police. FUKUSHIMA REACTORS DECOMMISSIONEDThe four damaged reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant are to be decommissioned. The operator Tepco, which may now have to be nationalised, made the announcement as radiation continued to leak out. Japanese experts are considering whether to seal the reactor buildings under a cover of special material and there is pressure to widen the 20km exclusion zone. BUFFETT HEIR APPARENT OUT AFTER 'INSIDER TRADING'David Sokol, heir apparent to Warren Buffett, the world's most successful investor and third richest man, has resigned from Berkshire Hathaway after reportedly buying shares in a company he was advising Buffett to acquire. He bought the chemical company Lubrizol shares at $104 in January. On March 18, Buffett snapped up Lubrizol for $9 billion, raising the share value to $135. Buffett heir Sokol quits amid share deal furore 'HELLO BOYS' WONDERBRA AD IS ALL-TIME WINNERBack in the 90s, giant billboards featuring model Eva Herzigova's cleavage uplifted by Wonderbra, and the slogan 'Hello Boys', stopped traffic and were blamed for accidents. Now they have been voted most "iconic" billboard in a poll by the trade body Outdoor Media Centre. Second was the dole queue ad, "Labour Isn't Working", which helped get Margaret Thatcher elected. In pictures: The best posters ever FATHER OF RAPE VICTIM TAKES REVENGE A South African rugby player has been arrested in Durban, suspected of hacking to death and decapitating three men in a rampage following the rape of his daughter during a burglary. He left the heads in dustbins. Blue Bulls player Joseph Ntshongwana is reported to have driven into a township wielding an axe, seeking revenge. Rugby player ‘kills three men for daughter’s rape’