Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 30 Jan 2012

1. HESTER ROW: No 10 WON'T STOP BONUSES

Downing Street will not seek to block bonuses to other RBS executives after Stephen Hester waived his £1m shares award. "We are not going to micro-manage bonuses," a spokeswoman told the BBC. City sources claim Hester and other board members considered resigning.

Phew! Surely Stephen Hester will get his knighthood now

2. SARKOZY: UK ‘HAS NO INDUSTRY’

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told French television viewers that “the United Kingdom has no industry any more”. During an election broadcast he was asked to defend his proposed VAT rise and told a similar move led to a rise in prices in the UK, leading to his outburst.

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'UK has no industry' Sarkozy says in pre-Brussels interview

3. GIVE SMACKING ADVICE, URGES BORIS

Boris Johnson has asked the Government to offer parents clear advice about when they can smack their children, after David Lammy MP called for the laws to be relaxed. Johnson said that parents “should be seen as the natural figures of authority” but feel “anxious” about their rights.

4. HONOUR KILLING: THREE JAILED FOR LIFE

Three members of an Afghan immigrant family living in Canada have been jailed for life after being found guilty of killing three teenage girls and another woman in an “honour killing”. Mohammad Shafia, his wife and son did not approve of the girls seeing non-Muslim boys and wearing western clothes.

Honour killing: Afghan family drowned three teenage sisters

5. SPEED ROWED WITH WIFE BEFORE HE DIED

The inquest into the death of Wales football manager Gary Speed has heard that he rowed with his wife the night before he died and that she spent the night in her car. He also sent her a text days earlier in which he talked about killing himself. Speed was found hanged at his home in November last year.

6. NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS EPIC FINAL

World number one Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in an Australian Open five-setter that went five hours 53 minutes – the longest grand slam final of all time. The Serbian won the thrilling match 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 and hailed it as the greatest moment of his career.

Greatest final? Tributes flood in after epic win for Djokovic

7. ROMNEY AHEAD IN FLORIDA, POLLS SAY

Latest polls make Mitt Romney the favourite to win tomorrow’s Republican Presidential primary in Florida. A Marist Institute poll for NBC puts Romney ahead of Newt Gingrich by 15 points - 42% to 27%. Women say they prefer Romney over Gingrich by 47% to 26%.

$10m on Gingrich - Sheldon Adelson's worst gamble?

8. JONATHAN FRANZEN ATTACKS EBOOKS

The US author Jonathan Franzen has launched an attack on ebooks, suggesting the fact they can be changed remotely by publishers is “not compatible with a system of justice”. In the first press conference of his career, he added that “serious readers” prefer the permanence of the printed page.

Franzen says ebooks are not compatible with justice

9. DAVIS BEATS STREEP TO BEST ACTRESS

Civil rights drama The Help was a surprise winner at last night’s Screen Actors Guild awards, taking a cluster of gongs including best actress for Viola Davis. Davis saw off bookies’ favourite Meryl Streep, suggesting next month’s best actress Oscar is not the the dead cert many thought.

Oscars: Can Viola Davis beat Meryl Streep to best actress?

10. HOT TICKET: SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

Oliver Goldsmith’s classic crowd-pleasing comedy of class and mistaken identity previews at the National Theatre. Jamie Lloyd directs Harry Hadden-Paton, League of Gentleman’s Steve Pemberton, and ex-Coronation Street Katherine Kelly as the eponymous “she” who disguises herself as a barmaid to win a shy lover. Until 28 March.