Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 13 Sep 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... UNIONS THREATEN 'WINTER OF DISCONTENT' Union leaders gathered in Manchester for this week's TUC annual conference have warned of a co-ordinated campaign of industrial action and civil disobedience in protest at job cuts in the NHS, the police, local councils and other public services. "The poorer you are, the more you lose," said TUC chief Brendan Barber about the coalition government's programme of cuts. TURKEY HEADS FOR EU MEMBERSHIP Turks have voted by 58 per cent to 42 per cent for far-reaching constitutional changes which will take the country a giant step closer to EU membership. Out goes the military era, and in comes democracy. Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who campaigned hard for the Yes vote, said Turkey had "crossed a historic threshold toward advanced democracy and the supremacy of law". PADDICK SUES POLICE OVER PHONE HACKINGThe Metropolitan Police is to be the subject of a judicial review into the way it handled the investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World in 2006. Brian Paddick, the force's former deputy assistant commissioner, MP Chris Bryant and writer Brendan Montague brought the proceedings, because they were not told by police that their privacy may have been breached. Guardian's pursuit of hacking story threatens press freedom Why is the Met reopening its hacking inquiry? BERLUSCONI'S HITLER JOKE FALLS FLATSilvio Berlusconi has been urged to apologise to Israel after making a joke about Hitler at a rally on Sunday. In the Italian prime minister's joke, the Nazi leader is urged to return to power. Hitler says: "OK, but on one condition: this time I’m going to be evil." Berlusconi also made light of Italy's economic woes, suggesting that women should marry him for his money. The wit and wisdom of Berlusconi HALO FANS QUEUE FOR NEW GAME LAUNCHGamers are expected to queue in their hundreds tonight in the hope of being one of the first to get their hands on a copy of Halo: Reach, the latest game in the hugely popular Microsoft Xbox series when it is released at midnight. Halo: Reach is the last in the series of six games to be developed by the game developer Bungie, and according to early reviews, the best. What they're saying about Halo: Reach PALIN TAKES A STEP CLOSER TO DECLARING Sarah Palin will be the main speaker at a $100-a-plate Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa this Friday, increasing speculation that she will campaign to seek the Republican nomination to stand against Barack Obama in 2012. The Iowa caucus, which traditionally kicks off the White House race, is not until February 2012, but serious contenders have to begin courting support in the state long before they formally declare their candidacy. It's time for Sarah Palin to step up to the plate MEXICAN KILLER 'EL GRANDE' CAPTURED Sergio Villarreal Barragan, a notorious Mexican killer who belonged to the Beltran Leyva drugs cartel, was captured in central Mexico yesterday. Nicknamed 'El Grande' - he weighs 18 stone - Villareal, a former policeman-turned-hitman, had a bounty of $2 million on his head. As The First Post reported last week, the brutal drugs war is overshadowing this week's bicentennial of Mexico's independence from Spain. BREAKFAST COMPLAINT STARTS KILLING SPREE A 47-year-old Kentucky man enraged by this wife's failure to cook his eggs the way he liked them, went on a shooting spree in his pyjamas, killing his wife, his stepdaughter and three neighbours. "He just got mad at her for not making his breakfast right and he shot her," said a relative of two of the dead neighbours. "She tried to run to tell my family and he shot them too." Stanley Neace then turned his 12-gauge shotgun on himself. LEWIS HAMILTON LOSES F1 LEAD British racing driver Lewis Hamilton threw away his lead in the drivers' championship with a reckless manoeuvre on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix which led to his early retirement from the race. Fernando Alonso won for Ferrari and, by coming sixth, Mark Webber moved into the championship lead. Hamilton was furious with himself, saying: "The championship is not over, but it is mistakes like I made today that lose world championships." Button and Hamilton frustrated at Monza GP FEMALE STUDENTS SELL SEX TO FUND STUDIES A Times report today finds an increasing number of female university students are selling sex to older men in order to finance their education. They are going to so-called 'sugar daddy' websites to find wealthy men willing to pay monthly allowances of £1,000 or more in return for regular sex. 'Sugar daddies' pay to be members of the sites such as seekingarrangement.com; 'sugar babies' can register for free.

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