Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 2 Aug 2011

A man walks past the US Senate on Capitol Hill, Washington

Democrats hopes of winning the all-important upper house fade as Biden nears victory in battle for White House

published 2 August 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. WASHINGTON passes DEBT LIMIT dealThe US House of Representatives yesterday passed a last-chance deal to raise the limit on government borrowing and avoid a federal default on debt by 269 votes to 161. The deal raises the debt ceiling by up to $2.4 trillion and makes spending cuts of about the same value over 10 years. The bill will be put to the Senate today. Richard Ehrman: This brinkmanship goes back to the banking crisis US debt deal: Tea Party may regret this victory SYRIA REPEATS TANK ASSAULTS ON REBEL CITY HamaTanks entered the centre of the restive Syrian city of Hama for the second day yesterday with shelling and machine gun fire intensifying in the evening during prayers for the Muslim fast of Ramadan. Rebels say at least 130 have died so far. The UN Security Council meets to discuss the situation today. Robert Fox: Assad's desperate regime cannot win this civil war FATHER LEAVES HOSPITAL WITH ARTIFICIAL HEARTA 40-year-old father who was dying from heart failure has become the first person in Britain to be allowed to leave hospital with an artificial heart. Matthew Green had the implant fitted at Papworth hospital near Cambridge last month. The device is designed to keep him alive while he waits for a transplant. MURDOCH ATTACKER JAILED FOR SIX WEEKSJonathan May-Bowles, the protestor who threw a foam pie at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to MPs last month has been jailed for six weeks. Meanwhile, Stuart Kuttner, who was managing editor at the News of the World for 22 years, has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking and of bribery at the paper. Video: Deng and Murdoch naked in NMA's version of 'piegate' DI CAPRIO TOPS FORBES HOLLYWOOD RICH LISTActor Leonardo Di Caprio has topped Forbes magazine's annual list of the best paid actors in Hollywood after earning $77m in the last year thanks to the hit films Shutter Island and Inception. Pirates of the Caribbean and Rango star Johnny Depp was in second with $50m and Adam Sandler, Will Smith and Tom Hanks also made the top five. OLYMPIC PARK NEIGHBOURHOODS NAMEDThe names of the neighbourhoods to be built on the site of the London Olympic Park after the 2012 Games have been decided. The districts, where 8,000 homes will be built over the next 20 years, will be called Chobham Manor, Eastwick, Marshgate Wharf, Sweetwater and Pudding Mill. There will also be a Queen Elizabeth Park. OSAMA BIN LADEN DEATH WAS A MISSION TO KILLThe May 1 raid that ended in the death of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad was all along a "covert mission into Pakistan to kill", the New Yorker magazine asserted yesterday in a challenge to the White House claim that he could have been taken alive. "There was never any question of detaining or capturing him," an officer said. HARRY POTTER BREAKS BILLION DOLLAR BARRIERHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has broken the $1bn barrier at the worldwide box office, distributor Warner Bros reported last night. it is the first of the eight-part series to reach the milestone. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone earned $974.8 m in 2001. KINGS OF LEON CANCELS US TOUR AMID 'EXHAUSTION'The Kings of Leon cancelled their US tour last night after frontman Caleb Followill failed to complete a concert in Dallas. The official reason was that he had lost his voice to "dehydration", but Caleb's brother Jared tweeted: "I can't lie. There are bigger problems in our band than not drinking enough Gatorade." INDIAN TECH FIRM DELETed NEWS INTERNATIONAL EMAILSHCL, an Indian-based IT firm which has a contract with Rupert Murdoch's News International, yesterday told the Commons home affairs committee that it had been consulted on deleting large numbers of emails on nine occasions between April 2010 and July 2011. HCL says the work was routine.