Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 5 Apr 2016

1. Steel crisis: Javid to meet potential Port Talbot buyer

Business Secretary Sajid Javid is today meeting a tycoon who might buy the Port Talbot steelworks from Tata Steel, which wants to divest itself of all its UK steelworks. Sanjeev Gupta, who owns Liberty House, is also considering buying other UK steel plants. Afterwards, Javid will fly to India to discuss the timing of the sale with Tata.

2. Corbyn calls on Cameron to publish tax returns

Jeremy Corbyn has called on David Cameron to publish his tax returns after the leaked Panama Papers revealed the PM's late father, Ian, had set up a company there. The Labour leader demanded an independent investigation into all Britons caught up in the leak and called for "direct rule" on British overseas territories if they do not comply with UK tax law.

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IMF: Information sharing plan as Panama Papers fallout continues

3. Panama Papers: Sanctioned firms on Fonseca's books

Leaked documents suggest that Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca helped 33 firms or individuals subject to US Treasury sanctions. They were based in Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe - and one had links to North Korea's nuclear programme. Other papers name close relatives of several Chinese leaders and associates of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Putin and the Panama Papers: The Kremlin's web of cash

4. Climate change will cost world $2.5tn

The first estimate from economic modelling of the impact of climate change on the world economy has found it could cut the value of global financial assets by $2.5tn - and losses could soar to $24tn under worst-case scenarios. Led by the London School of Economics, the research said limiting temperature rises makes financial sense.

Climate change could cost the world £1.8tn if left unchecked

5. Call for vigils to remember Battle of the Somme

Communities across the UK are being urged to hold vigils on 30 June or 1 July to mark the 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. There were more than 1,000,000 French, British and German casualties in the battle, which has "come to symbolise the tragic scale and futility of modern industrialised warfare", says the Royal British Legion.

6. Simpsons character Smithers comes out as gay

After 27 years in the closet, The Simpsons character Waylon Smithers Jr has been given a coming-out episode. Smithers' passion for his evil geriatric employer, Mr Burns, has long been a source of humour on the show, but now one of the writers, inspired by his own gay son, has allowed the character to admit his sexuality in public.

The Simpsons' Smithers comes out as gay after 27 years

7. Two 15-year-old girls convicted of 'brutal' murder

Two 15-year-old girls who beat a woman to death in her own home using items including a shovel, a kettle and a coffee table as weapons have been found guilty of murder. Angela Wrightson, 39, suffered more than 100 injuries - including 80 to her face - during the "sustained and brutal" attack Hartlepool in December 2014. The two girls will be sentenced on Thursday.

8. Caudwell hits out over Brexit 'hysteria'

Phones 4U founder John Caudwell has hit out at the "hysteria" surrounding Brexit and rejected claims that leaving the EU would cost millions of jobs. He also claimed membership of the European Union cost the UK £8bn a year. Meanwhile, new figures show Britain is the first-choice destination for Europeans seeking to work abroad.

Remain-voting City lobby group calls for 'dramatic Brexit U-turn'

9. Trump will 'cut off' cash to Mexico to pay for wall

US presidential hopeful Donald Trump says he will force Mexico to pay for a 1,000-mile long wall along its border with the US by cutting off money transfers to the country. He outlined his plans in a memo to the Washington Post, saying he would amend part of the Patriot Act to stop money transfers unless Mexico made a "one-time payment of $5-10bn" to pay for the wall.

10. Briefing: How the HMRC could swing the EU referendum

The number of migrants from the European Union working in the UK is set to be revealed just weeks before the referendum on Britain's EU membership. The release of the data could prove a dramatic plot twist in the debate, as campaigners believe the figures will prove immigration levels have been drastically underestimated. Following pressure from MPs, HMRC will disclose how many national insurance numbers are being used by people from the European Economic Area.

Remain-voting City lobby group calls for 'dramatic Brexit U-turn'

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