Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 25 Sep 2012

1. BBC SORRY OVER QUEEN'S HAMZA QUERY

The Queen asked a Home Secretary in the previous Labour government why Islamist preacher Abu Hamza could not be arrested, according to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner. The BBC subsequently apologised for breaking the Queen's confidence. The European Court of Human Rights yesterday cleared the way for the extradition of Abu Hamza and four other suspected terrorists to the US from Britain.

Queen asked Home Secretary why Abu Hamza could not be arrested

2. BRITAIN FACES MORE STORMS AND FLOODS

Heavy rain and wind is expected to continue through the day, with over 200 flood warnings and alerts in place, the Environment Agency reports this morning. Four inches of rain have fallen in some places with another four inches expected by tomorrow morning. Hundreds of homes across the country have been flooded and travel warnings are in place. have been issued.

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UK weather: more storms expected as three killed in high winds

3. BORIS BACKS POLICE OVER GATEGATE

London mayor Boris Johnson has said it would have been "wholly common-sensical" for police officers to have arrested Tory Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell over his tirade, alleged to have included the phrase "f***ing plebs", against them at the gates of Downing Street. Earlier, newspapers published the official police log of the incident, with the word "plebs" clearly recorded despite Mitchell's denial that he used the class-based insult.

Andrew Mitchell is 'dead man walking' as 'pleb' log published

4. CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER

China's first aircraft carrier, a refurbished Soviet ship bought from Ukraine and renamed Liaoning, has officially entered service as tensions over the fate of a chain of islands in the East China Sea escalate. Earlier this month Japan purchased several of the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan.

5. SYRIA CONFLICT 'GETTING WORSE' SAYS UN

The situation in Syria is "extremely bad and getting worse", UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said last night after briefing the Security Council following his first visit to the country where 20,000 have died in uprisings against the government. He said there was "no prospect for today or tomorrow to move forward". The government continued to bomb Aleppo.

6. 'SCHOOL KNEW OF TEEN/TEACHER AFFAIR'

Megan Stammers, the 15-year-old schoolgirl from Eastbourne, East Sussex, who is thought to have eloped to France with Jeremy Forrest, 30, a teacher at her Bishop Bell CofE School, was seen holding hands with him on a plane on their return from a school trip to Los Angeles and had been reported to the school authorities, the Daily Mail claims.

School 'knew about teacher's affair with Megan Stammers'

7. FACEBOOK USERS CLAIM 'PRIVACY BREACH'

Facebook was yesterday flooded with complaints that private messages were being republished publicly on users' Timeline features. Facebook denied a breach of privacy, claiming that the messages were public messages being re-posted because of a bug, with founder Mark Zuckerberg saying he too had been hit with the repeat of a message saying "2009 is going to be a huge year".

Facebook shares plunge amid rumours of privacy breach

8. OBAMA WARNS IRAN IN UN ADDRESS

President Barack Obama has told the UN General Assembly that the US will "do what we must" to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. He also condemned violence in the Middle East over an anti-Islam film as "an attack on UN ideals", but he acknowledged that the US-made film was "disgusting".

9. THE QUEEN BUYS OWN WARHOL PORTRAIT

The Queen has bought for her Royal Collection four prints of pop artist Andy Warhol's portrait of her, made in 1985 as part of his series Reigning Queens, it was revealed last night. They are repeating images in different colours, covered in diamond dust. They go on show for the first time in the Windsor Castle exhibition The Queen: Portraits of a Monarch from 23 November.

10. HOT TICKET: ALL-STAR JESUS RESURRECTION

A revival of the hit 1970s Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, has opened its UK tour at the O2 Arena, London. This rock music interpretation of Jesus' life and death stars Ben Forster, former Spice Girl Mel C, and Australian musical comedian Tim Minchin. "Great entertainment," says The Times.

Webber resurrects Jesus Christ Superstar for a new generation