Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 22 Oct 2012

1. PM: BBC IS CHANGING ITS STORY OVER SAVILE

David Cameron has intervened in the row over why Newsnight spiked an investigation into child abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile, accusing the BBC of “effectively changing its story”. The Prime Minister was speaking after the BBC announced Newsnight editor Peter Rippon would “step aside” for the duration of an inquiry and issued corrections to a statement he had written regarding his reasons for dropping the investigation.

'Crisis at the BBC': what the Panorama team has found out

2. ITALY JAILS SCIENTISTS OVER AQUILA QUAKE

Six Italian scientists and a former government official have been jailed for six years for providing "inexact, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the tremors that were felt ahead of the 2009 Aquila earthquake which killed 309 people. The defence insisted there is no way to predict earthquakes.

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3. MAN IN COURT OVER HIT AND RUN DEATH

A 31-year-old man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with the murder of Karina Menzies, the mother of three who was hit by a van in Cardiff on Friday afternoon. Matthew Tvrdon was also charged with 13 counts of attempted murder in relation to other pedestrians hit. He will appear before Newport Crown Court on Tuesday.

Cardiff hit-and-run murder suspect to appear in court

4. US ELECTION: IT'S NECK AND NECK

President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney were running neck and neck in the opinion polls last night as they prepared to meet in tonight's final TV debate. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll put national support for both at 47%. A poll in the crucial swing state of Ohio showed Romney cutting Obama's lead there from 6% to 2%.

Turnout critical as polls put Obama and Romney level

5. THREE ACCUSED OF PLOTTING BOMBINGS

Three men have gone on trial in London accused of plotting a series of bomb blasts using rucksacks that could have been even worse than the 7/7 attacks. Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27, are accused of being part of a Birmingham-based terror cell that planned bombings in 2011. They deny engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.

6. AL-HILLI RELATIVE SLAMS FRENCH PROBE

A relative of Saad al-Hilli, who was shot dead with his wife and mother-in-law in the woods near Lake Annecy on 5 September, has attacked the French prosecutor for focusing on the theory that the murder was related to the family's background. Dr Ahmad al-Saffar, the uncle of al-Hilli's wife, said it was "unfortunate" that the prosecutor was "dismissing all other lines of investigation".

Saad al-Hilli killing: was French cyclist the primary target?

7. THREE SHOT DEAD IN US BEAUTY SPA SPREE

Three people died yesterday when a man launched a shooting spree at the Azana beauty spa in Brookfield, near Milwaukee in Wisconsin. The shooter, identified as Radcliffe Haughton, 45, killed himself at the scene. His wife, who had taken out a restraining order against him, was among the victims. It was the second mass shooting in Wisconsin this year.

8. ARMSTRONG STRIPPED OF TOUR TITLES

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life by the sport's governing body the UCI, which has accepted the damning findings of a US Anti-Doping Agency investigation, released two weeks ago. "He deserves to be forgotten," said UCI president Pat McQaid.

Armstrong stripped of Tour de France titles, could he face jail?

9. POPE NAMES NATIVE AMERICAN SAINT

A Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha, known as Lily of the Mowhawks, was among six new saints named yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI at the start of a drive for new devotees around the world. Kateri, converted by missionaries in the 17th century, was credited with a "miracle" in which she saved a child from flesh-eating bacterium. She died aged 24.

10. HOT TICKET: V&A GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

A major new exhibition of Hollywood costumes has opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum. 'Hollywood Costume' features key costumes from over 100 film characters from early Charlie Chaplin silent pictures to James Cameron's Avatar. "Enough to give you goosebumps," says The Guardian. Until 27 January.

Jaw-dropping new Hollywood Costume show at the V&A