Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 17 Jan 2012

1. FEARS GROW FOR CRUISE SHIP MISSING

Twenty-nine passengers of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which sank off the coast of Italy on Friday night, are still unaccounted for. Six bodies have been recovered so far, with work to locate the missing going on throughout the night. The local coastguard said there was still a "glimmer of hope".

Concordia captain and Knox: victims of Italy's blame culture

2. UNITE BOSS: MILIBAND FACING DEFEAT

Len McCluskey, the head of the UK's biggest union, Unite, says Labour leader Ed Miliband has set the party on a path to "destruction" and "certain election defeat" after he backed the Government's pay freeze for public sector workers. McCluskey writes in the Guardian that the decision could prompt a coup.

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3. OLYMPIC SECURITY FILES LEFT ON TRAIN

A commuter found a dossier of files with detailed plans for the policing of this summer's Olympics on a train after it was left there by mistake by a senior detective. The member of the public handed the files to the Sun newspaper. The Met said the documents were not "operationally sensitive".

4. NI CHIEF TELLS OF 'COMPUTER HACKING'

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop has told the Leveson Inquiry that new laws are not needed to govern the press. News International chief executive Tom Mockridge also gave evidence and revealed that a Times reporter was disciplined for trying to hack a computer in 2009, and that the use of private investigators was now banned at the company.

Hislop supports Murdoch over regulation and free content

5. MITT ROMNEY TO MAKE TAX PUBLIC

US presidential wannabe Mitt Romney was yesterday forced to agree that he should make his private personal financial and tax records public. It's thought the former CEO of Bain Capital will be one of the wealthiest presidential candidates in history if he secures the Republican nomination.

6. CAMERON BACKS ROYAL YACHT PLAN

After a Downing St spokesman yesterday dismissed the idea as not an "appropriate" use of public money, David Cameron has given his support the suggestion that a new royal yacht costing £60m should be bought to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee – funded, at least in part, by private backers.

Does the Queen deserve a new yacht as a Jubilee present?

7. PAKISTAN DISMISS ENGLAND FOR 192

England's cricketers were bowled out for 192 by Pakistan in the first Test in Dubai. Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat, but his side made a terrible start and were 52 for five at lunch. Only an unbeaten 70 from Matt Prior gave the scoreline some respectability. Pakistan's hero was spinner Saeed Ajmal who took seven for 55.

8. CHINA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS

China's rampant economy grew at the slowest rate in more than two years over the past quarter, new figures show. The world's second-biggest economy, next to the US, its GDP expanded by 8.9 per cent in the three months to the end of December – as opposed to growth of 9.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

9. WIKIPEDIA TO CLOSE FOR 24 HOURS

Online encyclopaedia Wikipedia will voluntarily shut down for 24 hours from 5am GMT tomorrow in protest at controversial mooted US anti-piracy legislation, Sopa (the Stop Online Piracy Act). The bill has effectively been stopped by opposition from the White House but the 'strike' will go ahead anyway.

Wikipedia to shut down for a day in piracy protest

10. TS ELIOT PRIZE GOES TO BURNSIDE

Scottish poet John Burnside has won the UK's biggest poetry award, the TS Eliot Prize, with his collection Black Cat Bone – for which he was also awarded the Forward prize last year. The creative writing teacher said he was "stunned" and would put the £15,000 prize money towards repairing his leaking roof.