Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 26 Aug 2011
Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. RAF tornadoes bomb gaddafi hometown bunkerBritish Tornado jets have bombed a bunker in Colonel Gaddafi's home town of Sirte. Rebels are preparing an offensive on the town, which is still held by loyalist forces. The UN has appealed for "restraint" from both Libyan rebels and Gaddafi loyalists amid evidence of atrocities on both sides. Libya today: an overthrow waiting for a strategy Man with the golden tea trolley: Gaddafi’s bling pad Bomber Megrahi vanishes along with can of worms US BRACES FOR ARRIVAL OF HURRICANE IRENESeven states have declared emergencies as Hurricane Irene barrels towards the east coast of the US. Currently a category two storm with winds of up to 110 mph, it is expected to strengthen before making landfall in North Carolina on Saturday and weakening as it works its way up to New York. At least $14bn in damage is anticipated. In pictures: Hurricane Irene 'INCOMPETENT' JAPANESE PM STANDS DOWNJapan is looking for its sixth leader in five years after Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced his resignation today. Kan has been widely criticised for not showing competent leadership in the wake of the March earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing nuclear crisis. Seiji Maehara is the Japanese public's favourite to take over. AMY WINEHOUSE ALBUM BECOMES BIGGEST SELLERAmy Winehouse's 2006 album Back to Black has become the biggest selling album of the 21st century, reaching a total of 3,259,100 copies following her death. It has overtaken James Blunt's Back to Bedlam by 18,000, the Official Chart Company reports. Singer Tony Bennett will lead a tribute to Winehouse at the MTV awards on Sunday. Winehouse album is top UK seller in 21st century Fatal bomb attack on UN building in nigeria At least 16 people have died in an apparent suicide car bomb at a United Nations building in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Nobody has claimed responsibility, but a UN official told the BBC that the organisation had been warned last month it might be attacked by local Islamist group Boko Haram. Astronomers discover planet made of diamondAstronomers have discovered a planet that might be made of diamond orbiting a tiny star. Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne told Reuters the planet is effectively "a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun". NUROFEN ALERT AFTER PSYCHOSIS DRUG ERRORAnyone who has bought a packet of Nurofen Plus in Britain recently is urged to check whether the box contains Seroquel X, an anti-psychotic drug that can cause suicidal behaviour. Blister packs of Seroquel X, used for treating schizophrenia and depression, were mistakenly packed inside Nurofen Plus boxes at a warehouse. AUSTRIA ARRESTS FATHER IN NEW INCEST CASEAustrian police yesterday arrested an 80-year-old man accused of imprisoning and sexually abusing his two daughters for more than 40 years. The incest allegations, reminiscent of the Josef Fritzl case of 2009, surfaced in May when the daughters, 53 and 45, escaped after one allegedly knocked her father down as he tried to rape her. STRAUSS-KAHN GETS HIS PASSPORT BACKFallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was finally free to return to France last night after his lawyers recovered his passport, held as part of his bail conditions, following dismissal of all sex assault charges against him. But the IMF revealed that instead he will visit his former colleagues at the Fund's offices in Washington early next week. Diallo's dramatic rape lie doomed case against DSK BRITISH OBESITY TO SWELL TO 26 MILLIONToo much cheap rich food, too little exercise and lack of government action mean that Britain will have at least 26 million clinically obese men and women by 2030, a rise of 11 million, a study in the Lancet reports today. Oxford professor Kim McPherson warns of an extra £2bn in annual health costs and a legacy of "people dying young".
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