Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 3 Nov 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. OBAMA LOSES HOUSE BUT NOT SENATEAs predicted, President Barack Obama has suffered a major political setback in the midterm elections with the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives. It means Republicans will be able to block White House initiatives for the rest of his presidential term. However, the Democrats have retained control of the Senate. As Alexander Cockburn writes for The First Post today, they have the right-wing Tea Party to thank. Alexander Cockburn: Midterm madness in America STUDENTS FACE £9,000 FEES FROM 2012English university students face annual tuition fees of up to £6,000 from 2012 - nearly double the current £3,290 limit - with a higher tier of £9,000 allowed if the university can prove it is giving special support to poorer applicants. The new fee structure was due to be unveiled by universities minister David Willetts today. Lib Dem MPs, who signed personal pledges before the May election to vote against any such increase, face a backlash. MADELEINE MCCANN PARENTS ASK FOR MORE CASH Kate and Gerry McCann (above), who have been hunting for their daughter Madeleine ever since she was allegedly abducted on the Algarve in May 2007, are asking the public to donate again so that they can keep the search alive. Without more cash, the Find Madeleine Fund will run dry by early 2011. In an interview with the Sun, Kate McCann has admitted for the first time that she and her husband might never find their daughter. Maddy fund to run dry in 2011 MPS PLEAD FOR ASHTIANI'S LIFEA letter signed by 119 MPs, pleading with Tehran authorities to outlaw all forms of execution for those convicted of adultery, was delivered to the Iranian Embassy in London yesterday amid growing rumours that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was due to be executed in jail today. But reports on Wednesday afternoon quoted an Iranian official as saying Ashtiani was in "perfect health". Briefing: Ashtiani's ordeal MANY DEAD AFTER BAGHDAD BOMB ATTACKSThe death toll from a wave of bomb attacks on Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad on Tuesday is mounting, with sources on Wednesday afternoon reporting the number of victims to be between 64 and 113. Hundreds more have been injured. At least 15 separate blasts were reported, many of them caused by car bombs. The attacks, thought to be the work of al-Qaeda, followed a memorial service for some of those killed on Sunday when Islamist gunmen massacred more than 50 people inside the Our Lady of Salvation church. BERLUSCONI: 'AT LEAST I'M NOT GAY'Silvio Berlusconi has enraged gay rights campaigners and opposition MPs by responding to allegations concerning his relationship with 17-year-old belly-dancer Karima Keyek - aka Ruby Rubacuori - with the retort: "I work extremely hard and if every now and then I look at the face of a beautiful girl then it's better to be passionate about beautiful girls than gay". He rejected calls for his resignation. Berlusconi ally: PM may have to quit ANGELA MERKEL TARGETED BY PARCEL BOMBERS All overseas mail shipments from Greece have been temporarily suspended after German police intercepted a parcel bomb found in Chancellor Angela Merkel's office. Similar bombs have also been discovered addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, apparently sent by far-left extremists in Athens, where small bombs exploded yesterday at the Swiss and Russian embassies. BALE STARS AS SPURS BEAT INTER MILANTottenham Hotspur produced one of the great Champions League performances of recent years to beat the holders Inter Milan 3-1 at White Hart Lane. The goals came from Rafael Van der Vaart, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko, but the undisputed star of the show was Gareth Bale, who set up two goals and cemented his reputation as one of the best players in Europe. Elsewhere Manchester United beat Turkish side Bursaspor 3-0. TIMMS ATTACKER jailed for lifeRoshonara Choudhry, the 21-year-old student who stabbed Labour MP Stephen Timms for supporting the Iraq war, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to attempted murder at the Old Bailey. She will serve at least 15 years. It has emerged that Choudhry was inspired by the sermons of radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, wanted by the CIA for running Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - the terror group thought to be behind last week's cargo bomb plot. Mystery of UPS cargo jet crash PRISONER VOTE RULING MAKES PM 'PHYSICALLY ILL' Prime Minister David Cameron has told the House of Commons that the prospect of giving convicted prisoners the vote makes him feel "physically ill", but he has no choice in the matter. He has been forced to accept that some 70,000 inmates in British prisons will now be allowed to vote thanks to a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2004 that the 140-year-old ban was illegal.

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