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

1. MPS SAVAGE G4S CHIEF OVER OLYMPICS

Nick Buckles, the head of Olympic security firm G4S, was branded "incompetent" and "amateurish" by MPs today over his company's failure to provide enough staff to police the Games. He admitted that the fiasco was a "humiliating shambles" for the company but said it would still claim a £57m management fee.

What is G4S and has it always been so controversial?

2. BBC STAFF SLAMMED FOR TAX SCHEME

The Daily Mail reports that 148 BBC presenters, from a total of 467, are paid "off the books", utilising a tax avoidance scheme to be paid through personal private companies. A Commons select committee of MPs grilled the BBC finance chief Zarin Patel yesterday and dubbed these arrangements "immoral".

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3. POLICE PROBE 'CHOC-ICE' TWEET

Police have launched an investigation into an allegedly racist comment aimed at footballer Ashley Cole on Twitter, after his team mate John Terry was cleared of racism. Cole, who defended Terry during his trial, was described as a 'choc-ice' by a user from Derbyshire after the case, the term refers to someone black on the outside and white on the inside.

4. SYRIA 'WILL USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS'

Nawaf Fares, Syria's former ambassador to Iraq and the most senior member of the Assad regime to defect to the opposition, has told the BBC that Syria will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is "cornered". Kofi Annan meets Vladimir Putin today to discuss the international response to country's raging civil war.

5. YAHOO POACHES CEO FROM GOOGLE

Tech firm Yahoo has appointed a new CEO – and it has headhunted her from rival Google. Marissa Mayer was Google's first female engineer in 1999 and was in charge of Google Earth, Maps, Local and Streetview. She becomes Yahoo's third CEO in 12 months after her predecessor was found to have lied on his CV.

Marissa Mayer's shock move to Yahoo welcomed by analysts

6. FATHER 'KILLED THREE CHILDREN'

Police have launched a murder inquiry after the apparent suicide of 35-year-old Ceri Fuller, from Gloucestershire. Fuller appears to have jumped off a cliff after stabbing his three children, Sam, 12, Rebecca, eight and Charlotte who was seven. All three died. Their bodies were found in woodland in Shropshire.

7. HSBC 'FAILED TO ACT ON MONEY LAUNDERING'

The US Senate has concluded that major bank HSBC – the largest in Europe – ignored warning signs about money laundering and terrorists using its global operations. The scathing findings of an investigation focusing particularly on the bank's Mexican operations will be discussed in Washington today.

8. TRIBUTES PAID TO DEEP PURPLE'S JON LORD

Tributes are being paid to the organist and songwriter Jon Lord, who helped make Deep Purple one of the biggest rock bands in the world in the 1970s and has died with pancreatic cancer at the age of 71. Slash, former Guns 'n' Roses guitarist, tweeted: "One of the biggest, baddest, heaviest sounds in … metal."

9. OLYMPIC PROBLEMS CONTINUE

London's Olympic teething troubles continued as athletes began arriving for the Games. Coaches carrying American and Australian competitors got lost between Heathrow to Stratford, and there was confusion as Olympic traffic lanes came into force. Security company G4S also came under more fire as many of its staff failed to turn up for work.

London makes a shaky start in Olympic image stakes

10. HOT TICKET: PLAYING WITH SPIDER-MAN

You’ve seen the movie, now play the game. The Amazing Spider-Man is a third-person open world action game constructed as an epilogue to the recently released film. Encounter not only the Lizard, but other cross-species including Rhino, Iguana, Vermin and Scorpion. “One hell of a fun ride,” says Impulse Gamer.

The Amazing Spider-Man: addictive super-hero game