Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 23 Mar 2011

published 23 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. OSBORNE CUTS FUEL DUTY IN BUDGETChancellor George Osborne has cut fuel duty by 1p a litre in his Budget today. The move will be paid for by a £2bn tax on oil companies. He also froze alcohol duties and air tax, and increased the personal tax allowance by £600. Speaking in the Commons, Osborne said: "Today's Budget is about reforming the nation's economy, so that we have enduring growth and jobs in the future. And it's about doing what we can to help families with the cost of living and the high oil price." Budget 2011: what they’re saying GADDAFI REMAINS DEFIANT AS AIR STRIKES CONTINUEColonel Gaddafi has made another of his lengthy live TV appearances, vowing to achieve victory after a long battle and dubbing the UN-backed force attacking his air defences as "new crusaders". Meanwhile, armed forces minister Nick Harvey has admitted the UK has no Libya exit strategy, asking: "How long is a piece of string?" The Mole: War on Gaddafi is costing a bomb FUKUSHIMA RADIATION REACHES ICELANDA monitoring station in Reykjavik has become the first in Europe to detect miniscule traces of radiation released from the stricken Fukushima plant in Japan in seawater. France said it expected to detect traces today. Meanwhile, the head of Japan's nuclear watchdog, pro-nuclear for 30 years, has called for a worldwide review of the industry. Fukushima workers on kamikaze mission Jerusalem Bomb blast kills oneA bomb exploded in downtown Jerusalem just after 3.0pm local time today. The blast hit two buses, killing a 59-year-old woman and injuring around 25. Police say the bomb was left in a bag on the side of the road near the bus station. AFP news agency says that there are people covered in blood and numerous cars and buses have shattered windows. The entrance to the city has been closed. ACTRESS LIZ TAYLOR DIES AT 79The actress Elizabeth Taylor, star of National Velvet, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, has died in Los Angeles at 79. She had not been well for some time, and recently was treated for congestive heart failure. Her son, Michael Wilding, praised "an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humour, and love". In pictures: Elizabeth Taylor, 1932 - 2011 Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor dies in LA SIAN O'CALLAGHAN SEARCH 'NARROWS CONSIDERABLY'Police have "narrowed considerably" their search for the missing 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan, concentrating on a number of "hot spots" in the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest, outside the Wiltshire town of Marlborough. O'Callaghan was last seen leaving the Suju nightclub in Swindon early on Saturday. A signal from her mobile phone led police to the forest. Police search forest after woman of 22 goes missing MOURINHO: I'LL BE BE BACKFormer Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, now in charge of Real Madrid, has pledged a return to UK football after the end of his contract with the Spanish club. Speaking last night as he visited London, he said: "I miss England and my next job will be in England. There is unfinished business. And I think England wants me back, no?" CHINESE TODDLER WEIGHS NINE STONEA three year old Chinese boy, Lu Hao, now weighs an astonishing 9st 6lb, Chinese media are reporting. His mother, Chen Huan from Guangdong Province, said: "We have to let him be as if we don't feed him he will cry non-stop." Obesity is increasing exponentially. The number affected doubled between 1992 and 2002 and is now 60m. ATHENA TENNIS PLAYER POSTER GIRL SURFACESFiona Walker, the model whose bare bum adorned a thousand teenage bedrooms in the 70s and 80s after she posed in tennis clothes for an Athena poster, has been reunited with the famous image at the launch of an exhibition of tennis art. Now 53, Walker was not paid for the picture, which was taken by her then-boyfriend. In pictures: Poster babes of the 1970s POST-MORTEM SHOWS KNUT DIED OF BRAIN ILLNESSA post-mortem carried out on the remains of the celebrated polar bear, Knut, show the Berlin Zoo resident died of a brain problem. Knut collapsed in front of zoo visitors on Saturday, prompting anger from animal rights campaigners. The zoo said yesterday a post-mortem showed "significant changes to the brain" were the reason for his death. Knut's death could have been avoided, says Peta