Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 12 Apr 2010

published 12 April 2010

Enjoyed the sunshine and never got around to reading the Sunday papers? Fell asleep before the US Masters finished? Totally missed Saturday's Grand National? The First Post's Monday morning service, posted at 8.0 am, is designed to help... CAR BOMB EXPLODES NEAR MI5 HQResidents of Holywood, County Down had to be evacuated from their homes early this morning when a car bomb exploded near Palace Barracks, the Northern Ireland headquarters of the British intelligence service, MI5. No one was killed by the hugely symbolic attack soon after midnight - clearly timed to coincide with the transfer today of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont. POLES MOURN PRESIDENT KACZYNSKIThe body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski will lie in state at the presidential palace in Warsaw for the rest of the week after being flown home from Russia yesterday. Kaczynski, his wife and several politicians and Polish government officials died when their Soviet-era Tupolev plane crashed in thick fog at Smolensk airport on Saturday. The group were due to attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massace, when Soviet secret police executed 15,000 Polish officers in one of the most notorious incidents of World War Two. Pictures... MICKELSON WINS US MASTERSPhil Mickelson won the US Masters golf tournament at Augusta, Georgia last night, pulling ahead of England's disappointed Lee Westwood by three strokes in the closing stages. Tiger Woods finished fourth, and said he was going to take time off to "re-evaluate" before deciding which tournament to play next. According to tabloid reports, he returns to Florida to face the music over an alleged affair with the daughter of a neighbour on his Isleworth estate. More... LABOUR PROMISES INCOME TAX FREEZEWith the general election just 24 days away, Gordon Brown was due to launch Labour's manifesto this morning. According to leaks, it will represent a return to 'Blairism', with law and order high on the agenda, along with a promise not to raise income tax. An opinion poll for the Sun puts the Tories six points ahead of Labour, still not enough to avoid a hung parliament. But The First's Post's Mole reports that the Labour camp fears the polls are not accurately reflecting the electorate's desire for change. More... TERRE'BLANCHE WANTED TO SODOMISE ME, SAYS ACCUSEDA lawyer representing one of the two South African farm workers accused of killing Eugene Terre'Blanche last weekend claims the white supremacist leader had tried to sodomise him. "My instructions from my client are that there was some sodomy going on and it sparked the murder of Mr Terre'Blanche. This is going to form part of our defence during trial," said Puna Moroko, the lawyer for Chris Mahlangu, 28. It had been reported previously that the killing was the result of a row over unpaid wages. NATIONAL WINNER TONY MCCOY CAUGHT BY POLICEBritain's bookmakers lost a fortune on Saturday when the punters' favourite Don't Push It, ridden by Irish jockey Tony McCoy, won the Grand National at Aintree. McCoy is reckoned to be the greatest jump jockey of all time - but he has never won the National until now. As he left Aintree by car, McCoy was caught by police using his mobile phone while driving - it was his mother calling to congratulate him. BBC DECIDES TO SAVE 6 MUSICFollowing protests from listeners, the BBC appears to have reversed its plan to scrap the digital radio station, 6 Music. Instead, the corporation is examining the idea of re-branding it as Radio 2 Extra. It would feature the same sort of playlist as it does now, and retain the same DJs, including Lauren Laverne and former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, both of whom were nominated for Sony awards last week. TOURISTS WARNED ABOUT TRAVEL TO THAILAND Four soldiers and 17 civilians died on Saturday when 'red shirt' protestors loyal to the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra clashed with troops on the streets of Bangkok. It was the worst day of political violence in Thailand in two decades and British tourists have been warned to exercise "extreme caution" if they insist on visiting the country. Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current PM, expressed his regret at the deaths in a televised address late on Saturday night, but refused to step down. MALCOLM MCLAREN 'KILLED BY ASBESTOS'Young Kim, the girlfriend of Malcolm McLaren, believes the former Sex Pistols manager may have died because he was exposed to asbestos while smashing the ceiling of the London boutique, Sex, he owned in the 1970s with his then partner Vivienne Westwood. Kim says McLaren broke open the ceiling of the King's Road shop to make it look like a bomb had hit the store and as a result was exposed to asbestos - the most likely cause of mesothelionma, the cancer that killed him at the age of 64 last week. SACHSGATE 'HILARIOUS', SAYS ROSS Jonathan Ross, about to leave the BBC, told the Guardian on Saturday that the whole saga surrounding the notorious obscene phone messages he and Russell Brand left on the answerphone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs in October 2008 was "hilarious" and "intrinsically unimportant". Sachs responded on Sunday: "We accepted their apology and now he seems to be making light of the situation."