Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 25 Feb 2018

1. Top Labour figures warn Corbyn on single market

An alliance of more than 80 senior figures from the Labour Party will warn Jeremy Corbyn that he will be unable to fund his proposed investment in schools, hospitals and social care unless the UK stays in the EU single market. The MPs, MEPs and other figures say Corbyn’s agenda requires Britain to avoid the "multibillion-pound hit to the public finances that leaving the single market would entail".

2. University bosses' lavish expenses laid bare

The extravagant expense accounts of some of Britain’s university vice-chancellors have been revealed, prompting comparisons with the 2009 MPs’ expenses scandal. According to Channel 4, university bosses are enjoying first-class air travel, five-star hotels and fine dining as lecturers face potential cuts to their pensions. Collectively, the country’s vice-chancellors and senior colleagues claimed almost £8m in expenses over the last two years.

3. Trump slams Democrat memo as 'total bust'

Democrats on the House intelligence committee have defended official investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A long-awaited memo condemns Republican for their "effort to undermine" investigations. Taking to Twitter, Donald Trump called the Democrat memo "a total political and legal BUST", adding: "SO ILLEGAL!"

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4. IOC close to lifting Russia's Olympic ban

The end of Russia's Olympic exile has moved one step closer after the International Olympic Committee said the ban will be lifted if there are no more doping violations from their athletes at Pyeongchang 2018. Russia was banned because of state-sponsored doping at Sochi 2014, described as by the IOC as "an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport".

5. United Nations agrees 30-day ceasefire in Syria

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations. Syrian government forces have been bombing the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, where the week's death toll is higher than 500 civilians - including 127 children. However, concern has been raised that some leading jihadist rebel groups are not covered by the truce.

6. Leaked email conflicts with Philip Green's claims

A leaked email shows Sir Philip Green has discussed selling Top Shop to a Chinese buyer over dinner, despite his public insistence that reports of such a plan were "malicious rumour-mongering". The Pensions Regulator is on alert amid rumours that Sir Philip is considering a sale of part of his retail empire Arcadia, which has a £565m pension deficit.

7. Ivanka demands 'maximum pressure' on North Korea

Ivanka Trump has called for "maximum pressure" on North Korea. Leading a US delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the US President’s adviser and daughter made the statement during a trip intended to show a more moderate side of US diplomacy on the peninsula. Referring to the visit, Donald Trump wrote: "We cannot have a better, or smarter, person representing our country."

8. Tory MP apologises for 'wholly untrue' Corbyn claim

A Conservative Party vice-chairman has apologised to Jeremy Corbyn over a tweet he wrote alleging the Labour leader had links to cold war spies. Ben Bradley MP was threatened with legal action after making unfounded claims that the Labour leader "sold British secrets to communist spies". Bradley wrote: "I fully accept that my statement was wholly untrue and false."

9. 'Foolishness' leading to epidemic of sleeplessness

Britain is suffering an epidemic of sleeplessness, according to a professor. In her book The Business of Sleep, Professor Vicki Culpin, writes: "Never before have significant percentages of working adults been so sleep deprived." She describes "an age of foolishness" in which people are unaware of the "serious cognitive and health consequences of insufficient or poor quality sleep".

10. Trailblazer of Bollywood Sridevi dies at 54

The Bollywood superstar Sridevi has died at the age of 54. She passed away yesterday in Dubai after suffering a heart attack, her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor told the Indian Express. Sridevi was regarded as a trailblazer - the first female superstar in the male-dominated Bollywood industry. Over five decades, she starred in more than 150 films, including Mr India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma.