Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 10 Nov 2010

published 10 November 2010

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0 am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. STUDENT FEE PROTEST TURNS VIOLENTA protest in central London by 50,000-plus students against the government's plan to raise tuition fees had escalated by mid-afternoon today, with protesters occupying the roof of Millbank Tower, where the Tory party headquarters are housed. At least nine people have been reported injured. National Union of Students president Aaron Porter said of the violence: "This was not part of our plan." The coalition government has proposed raising tuition fees as high as £9,000 - nearly three times the current maximum. In pictures: Students invade Conservative Party HQ EMBRACE DEMOCRACY, CAMERON TELLS CHINESE China's leaders should embrace democracy and human rights and accept that political freedom, the rule of law and a free press represent the best way to stability and prosperity, David Cameron said in a speech today to Beijing students. It will be some time - if ever - before ordinary Chinese hear Cameron's thoughts - the speech was not due to be broadcast in China. BUSH 'RISKS PROSECUTION' OVER TORTUREThe leading British human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC, has told Channel 4 News that, by confessing in his memoir to sanctioning the waterboarding of al-Qaeda suspects, George W Bush risks prosecution because the practice "clearly passes the severe pain threshold in the definition of torture in international law." There would be pressure on the UK government to investigate if Bush were ever to visit Britain, he said. 'Decision Points': what they are saying COMMONS EXPENSES: THREE MPS FACE TRIALThree former Labour MPs are to face trial on fraud charges after the Supreme Court dismissed their appeal this morning. David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine are accused of theft by false accounting following last year's expose of parliamentary expense "fiddles" by many MPs. They had argued that they were protected by the 302-year-old defence of 'parliamentary privilege'. The Supreme Court disagreed. FALKLANDS AT RISK, WARN FORMER NAVY CHIEFS The decision to scrap Harriet jets and decommission HMS Ark Royal, as part of the recent defence review, was "strategically and financially perverse" and invites the Argentina to attempt again to take the Falkland islands. That's the view of four retired Navy chiefs and one former Royal Marine who have written to the Times urging a rethink "before it is too late". 10 PER CENT PAY RISE AND XMAS GIFT FOR GOOGLERS Everyone who works for Google is to be given a $1,000 pre-Christmas bonus and a 10 per cent rise from January 1 as part of an effort by the search giant to retain staff. (Ten per cent of former Google staffers now work for Facebook.) The pay rise was announced by CEO Eric Schmidt in an internal email to all 'Googlers': he evenpromised to pay the taxes due on the bonus. Google begins 'war for talent' FERGUSON ROUNDS ON 'STUPID' MAN CITYManchester United manager Alex Ferguson has rounded on Manchester City ahead of this evening's derby match. He lambasted his rivals for their "stupid" behaviour since being taken over by rich backers from Abu Dhabi and accused them of "screaming from the rooftops" while failing to win any trophies. He said some City fans felt "embarrassed" by their club. Ferguson attacks City OBAMA: INDONESIA IS AN INSPIRATIONIndonesia, with its tolerance of different religions, is an inspiration to the Muslim world, Barack Obama told university students in Jakarta yesterday. The US President, who spent part of his childhood in the country, began his speech in Indonesian: "Let me begin with a simple statement; Indonesia is part of me." He reminisced about mangos growing in the garden and running in the fields with buffalo. SINGAPORE AIRLINES GROUNDS AIRBUSESSingapore Airlines has grounded three Airbus A380s after checks discovered oil leaks in their Rolls Royce engines. On Monday, Quantas announced it had found the same problem and its fleet of A380s remains grounded. The checks follow the midair explosion last week of an engine on a Quantas superjumbo, forced it to land at Singapore's Changi airport on only three engines. Boeing 787 Dreamliner joins A380 in the dock Back down to earth: history of the A380 in pictures BRITAIN TOPS COCAINE TABLE Britain tops the European 'league table' for cocaine use, according to statistics issued today by the EU drugs agency. Among people in the 15 to 34 age bracket, 6.2 per cent admitted to having used cocaine in the last year. This puts the UK ahead of other EU countries - and also ahead of the United States where only 4.5 per cent of the same age group admit to using the drug.