Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 4 Mar 2016

1. EU: Duncan Smith slams Remain campaign

Iain Duncan Smith has attacked Conservative colleagues campaigning for the UK to stay in the European Union. Writing in the Daily Mail, the Work and Pensions Secretary says the Remain campaign has damaged its own integrity with "desperate and unsubstantiated" claims and "acrimonious" conduct.

2. Cancer discovery is a 'game-changer'

Scientists at University College London have made what they say is a "game-changing" discovery in the fight against cancer. Their findings could lead to a new technique that would help patients fight tumours using their own immune systems and replace toxic treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Game-changer for cancer: new discovery made in UK

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3. Rubio and Cruz taunt Trump in debate

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was on the defensive in a TV debate last night as his nearest rivals, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, turned on him. The debate was "at times nasty and crude", says The Guardian, with the businessman obliquely discussing the size of his genitals at one point. Rubio and Cruz also attacked his immigration and business records.

What is Hillary Clinton doing now?

4. Kim Jong-un 'wants nuclear weapons ready'

North Korea says it will be ready to conduct pre-emptive nuclear strikes at any time under new plans drawn up by dictator Kim Jong-un. The news comes from state media but analysts doubt the country has the capacity to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile. The US condemned the announcement as "provocation".

North Korea detains another US citizen

5. Fallon: Labour threatens thousands of Trident jobs

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has claimed the Labour Party poses a threat to "thousand" of jobs in Scotland, with any decision to scrap the Trident nuclear missile system putting jobs at risk and jeopardising millions of pounds of investment. Scottish Labour said in response that Fallon was practising "aggressive politics".

6. North of England hit by heavy snow

Heavy snowfall overnight has affected travel in Yorkshire and Lancashire, with Leeds/Bradford Airport closed. As much as four inches fell on higher ground and to two inches at lower levels. Several schools are closed in east Lancashire, Leeds and Bradford and drivers have been warned of snow and ice in much of the area.

Will it snow at Easter? Forecasters take a punt

7. Pistorius denied leave to appeal murder conviction

A last-ditch attempt by Paralympian Oscar Pistorius to appeal his murder conviction has been denied on the basis that an appeal would have no prospect of success. Pistorius, who shot dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day in 2013, is facing 15 years in jail.

Oscar Pistorius out of legal options as request to appeal rejected

8. Facebook to pay millions more in UK tax

Facebook is to pay millions of pounds more in tax in the UK after overhauling its tax structure. Profits from the majority of the company's advertising revenue in Britain will now be taxed in Britain, rather than Ireland. The move comes after an avalanche of criticism over the social media network's tax arrangements.

Facebook profits surge 71% in second quarter

9. Warning after Northern Ireland car bomb

A prison officer in Belfast is in hospital after a car bomb exploded under his vehicle as he drove to work. The attack has prompted a senior police officer to warn that republican dissidents in Northern Ireland want to kill members of the security forces in the run up to the centenary of the Easter Rising,

10. Briefing: buy-to-let and the threat to the economy

The huge surge in house purchases by private landlords in recent years could present a major risk to financial stability, warned a deputy governor at the Bank of England. Sir Jon Cunliffe told a House of Lords committee that an army of buy-to-let owners might sell en masse in the event that tax changes or higher interest rates erode their rental profits. This, he added, could spark a "spiral of house price declines". After a recent surge, mortgages for prospective landlords are now making up around one in five home loans.

Buy-to-let mortgages pulled at fastest rate since 2009