Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 3 Jan 2012

1. STEPHEN LAWRENCE: DOBSON AND NORRIS GUILTY

Gary Dobson and David Norris have been convicted of murdering black teenager Stephen Lawrence, 18 years after he was killed in a racist attack at a south London bus stop. The pair were found guilty after a five-week trial at the Old Bailey. Stephen's parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence, wept as the jury delivered the verdicts.

2. IOWA CAUCUSES: IT'S ANYONE'S GUESS

Six candidates for the Republican nomination to challenge Barack Obama for the US presidency have made their last pitches to voters in Iowa before tonight's caucuses. The Washington Post says that it's anyone's guess which of the frontrunners – Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum – will triumph. But The Guardian reports that Romney was heckled at his closing address.

A guide to the Republican primaries and caucuses

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3. SANDRINGHAM: POLICE LAUNCH MURDER PROBE

Police have launched a murder inquiry after human remains were found on the edge of the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The woman's body was discovered by a member of the public in Anmer, less than two miles from Sandringham House, on New Year's Day. Officers are examining cold cases for links.

4. MAN KILLED IN HIGH WINDS

A 50-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on his van in Kent as storms battered the country today. A bus driver in Surrey was also seriously injured. There were severe weather warnings in place across Britain as England and Wales went back to work after the Christmas break. (For the Scots, there's another bank holiday.)

In pictures: Storms cause flooding and damage across UK

5. RONALD SEARLE DIES IN FRANCE AT 91

Ronald Searle, the cartoonist and illustrator whose drawings inspired the St Trinian's films and who illustrated the Molesworth stories, has died in the South of France aged 91. The curator of the Cartoon Museum said: "He really was one of the most important cartoonists, not just in Britain, but in the rest of the world."

Ronald Searle: cartoonist who beat the Japanese to live to 91

6. MYSTERY OF KILLER'S SIX GUN LICENCES

Michael Atherton, the man who shot dead three women and then killed himself in a house in Horden, Co Durham on Sunday, held licences for six guns despite the police being tipped off three years ago that he suffered mood swings and had threatened to harm himself. Three people escaped the carnage via an upstairs window.

Why did New Year's Day killer hold six firearms licences?

7. HOCKNEY SQUARES UP TO DAMIEN HIRST

David Hockney has had a dig at Damien Hirst for his use of assistants to produce his artworks. A note on the posters for Hockney's upcoming show at the RA says: "All the works here were made by the artist himself, personally." Hockney has admitted that he had in mind Hirst, who employs jewellers and taxidermists among others.

Clash of art's titans as David Hockney attacks Damien Hirst

8. YOUSSOU N'DOUR TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT

The popular Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour has announced he will stand in his country's presidential elections next month against the incumbent Abdoulaye Wade. "It is a supreme patriotic duty," N'Dour told viewers of his own TV network. He was friends with Wade – and even sang for him – until they fell out in 2005.

Youssou N'Dour stands for president in Senegal

9. OFFICIALS MEET OVER BREAST IMPLANTS

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has held talks with senior medical officials about the UK's response to the health scare over faulty breast implants. The news comes as France launches an investigation into how the company PIP was able to supply hundreds of thousands of substandard implants to women around the world. Some 40,000 British women have the implants.

Breast implant scare signals need for greater regulation

10. OLYMPIC VIPS WILL GET FAST-TRACKED

VIP visitors to the London Olympics will enjoy dedicated passport lanes to speed them through Heathrow. The Daily Mail claims to have seen a Border Agency document which states: "Dedicated lanes and the time taken to collect the biometrics of GFM (Games Family Members) may result in delays to non-Olympic passenger journeys."