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

1. Vote Leave group 'broke law' during EU referendum

A Brexit activist says Vote Leave broke the law during the European Union referendum campaign by exceeding legal spending limits. Speaking to Channel 4 News, Shahmir Sanni said that the official Brexit campaign used a different group, BeLeave, to overspend. "Vote Leave cheated," he said. "People have been lied to and the referendum wasn't legitimate."

2. Theresa May told to act on 'funeral poverty' issue

MPs have told Theresa May to act on the worsening funeral poverty "crisis" after it was revealed that babies are being buried in cardboard coffins and local councils are denying relatives their loved ones’ ashes. "It is sickening that people’s financial stability should be a factor in how they choose to lay their loved ones to rest," they said, after a Sunday Times investigation revealed "harrowing" details.

3. First non-stop flight between Australia and UK completed

The first non-stop flight between Australia and the UK has landed at London, making history. Qantas 9 (QF9) landed at Heathrow's Terminal 3 just after 5am this morning - just 17 hours after leaving Perth. It completed the journey of around 9,000 miles to touch down two minutes earlier than scheduled. Qantas has described the new Perth-London service as a "game-changing route".

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4. Macca marches against guns for John Lennon

Sir Paul McCartney says he took part in the March for Our Lives event in New York because "one of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here". He was referring to fellow Beatle John Lennon. Thousands of people also rallied in Washington DC and other US cities on Saturday, expressing support for action on gun reform

5. Beast from the East may return within days

Just when you thought it was safe to put away your scarf and gloves, snow and freezing weather is expected to return parts of the UK by Easter. As speculation grows that the "beast from the east" will return for a third appearance, the Met Office said a white Easter in Scotland and the east coast of England was increasingly likely.

6. Facebook warned about security years before it acted

Bosses at Facebook were warned that its users were at risk two years before the data of 50m people was accessed by Cambridge Analytica, reports the Daily Telegraph. As far back as 2011, the company’s European regulator said that the social network was failing to ensure that data was protected when passed to third-party software developers. Facebook did not fully act on the issue for another four years.

7. Maternity staff numbers will be boosted in coming years

The largest-ever increase of maternity staff in England will see three thousand extra midwives trained during the next four years. Ministers have announced a 25% boost in training places, which it said amounted to the "largest ever" increase in NHS midwives and maternity staff. The Royal College of Midwives estimates that services in England are 3,500 midwives short.

8. Life expectancy for men set to equalise with women

Men could have the same life expectancy as women by 2032 for the first time since records began. Variations in lifespans have swung over the past 150 years. The gap was biggest in 1969, when women lived on average five years and eight months longer than men. It is now two and a half years but that is expected to change in the coming decades.

9. MPs to compare a failed Brexit with Suez crisis

If the government fails to deliver a clean Brexit, it will be Britain’s biggest "national humiliation" since the Suez crisis, a 60-strong group of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs will warn this week. Jacob Rees-Mogg will say that if Britain did not leave the EU or the transition period became a permanent arrangement, it would cause "the most almighty smash to the national psyche that could be imagined".

10. Calls for Aussie captain's head after ball tampering admission

Australia captain Steve Smith has admitted that his team deliberately tampered with the ball during the third Test against South Africa. Batsman Cameron Bancroft was seen removing an object from his pocket while he shined the ball. An Australian government agency says captain Steve Smith must be immediately removed from his role.

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