Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 16 Oct 2010
Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0 am, and on weekends at 11.0 am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date with the main news talking points... CAMERON STEPS IN TO LESSEN DEFENCE CUTSThe PM has intervened in the battle on cuts between Liam Fox at the MoD and George Osborne at the Treasury. Osborne wanted Fox to accept a 10 per cent cut to defence spending instead of the 7 per cent they had agreed, but after angry pleas from the army and comments by Hillary Clinton, Cameron set the figure at 7 to 8 per cent. Government spending cuts – how bad might it be? BRITISH AID WORKER KIDNAPPED IN SOMALIAA British security consultant to aid agencies in Somalia and Somaliland has been kidnapped while on assignment for Save the Children. The man was seized with his Somali fixer, who was released soon after, from a compound in the northern town of Adado by the al-Shabaab Islamist group and taken to the pirate stronghold Hobyo. ANGELINA JOLIE TO PLAY CLEOPATRA IN 3DAvatar and Titanic director James Cameron is to make a 3D biopic about ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra, with Angelina Jolie taking the title role. Scott Rudin, known for The Social Network and The Queen will produce, though the deal is not yet finalised. The news took Hollywood by surprise when it broke on Deadline.com. Zuckerberg no charmer yet critics like Facebook tale 28 CHILE MINERS DISCHARGED IN SECRETA further 28 of the 33 miners who spent 69 days underground in Chile have been discharged from hospital. The men were released in secret on Friday to protect them and their families, Chilean officials said. Just two men remain in hospital, one suffering from a dental infection and the other with vertigo affecting his balance. The mine rescue in pictures CHERYL COLE: I WILL ALWAYS LOVE ASHLEYGirls Aloud singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole was reduced to tears throughout a two-hour interview with Piers Morgan last night, to be broadcast later this year. And she said she is still distraught over her divorce from cheating footballer Ashley Cole. She said: "I hope we can be friends again. A part of me will always love Ashley." Visa problems halt Gamu's X Factor second chance MPS WANT INQUIRY INTO DEPORTATION DEATHMPs are calling for a "wide-ranging and independent inquiry" into the death of Jimmy Mubenga who collapsed and died after security guards tried to force him onto a British Airways flight to be deported back to Angola after he was denied permission to remain in the UK. Scotland Yard’s homicide unit has taken over the police inquiry. KEITH RICHARDS: MICK HAS A 'TINY TODGER'Rock 'n' Roll legend Keith Richards has reopened an old feud with his band mate Sir Mick Jagger in his new autobiography by questioning the size of his songwriting partner's genitalia. He writes: "Marianne Faithfull had no fun with [Mick's] tiny todger. I know he's got an enormous pair of balls - but it doesn't quite fill the gap." BURN-A-KORAN-DAY PASTOR WINS CARPastor Terry Jones, the Floridian religious extremist who planned a koran-burning to commemorate 9/11, has won a car for calling it off after international outrage. A New Jersey car dealership offered Jones a free car if he cancelled the event last month in a wacky radio ad. Jones has called their bluff and will collect a $14,000 Hyundai. NEW OWNERS FLY OUT TO LIVERPOOLJohn W Henry, the American billionaire futures trader who owns the Boston Red Sox, has bought Liverpool FC, bringing to an end months of wrangling by the club's previous US owners and heartache for fans. Chairman Martin Broughton likened the buyout to the club winning on penalties. Henry will fly out to Merseyside tomorrow. NESV finally buys Liverpool SCOTLAND SCRAPS PRESCRIPTION CHARGESScottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon will tell her SNP party conference today that the Scottish Government is to go ahead with its plan to completely axe prescription charges from next April, despite the recession. Similar proposals were put on hold in England this year due to severe financial pressures on the NHS.
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