Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 17 May 2011

published 17 May 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. QUEEN LAYS WREATH IN IRELANDThe Queen has laid a wreath for those who died fighting for Irish independence at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin during the first visit to the country by a British monarch. A massive security operation involving 40,000 people is in place in Ireland amid protests against the visit. There were also bomb scares in London for the second day running. Earlier, the Queen was welcomed by Irish president resident Mary McAleese. Crispin Black on the tensions surrounding the Queen's visit to Dublin PRESSURE GROWS ON STRAUSS-KAHN As IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn remains in New York's notorious Rikers Island jail on charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid, pressure is growing for him to step down. Austria's finance minister Maria Fekter called on him to consider his position and her counterpart in Spain offered sympathy to the victim. A judge deemed Strauss-Kahn a flight-risk and remanded him in custody after hearing the graphic accusations against him on Monday. RWANDAN ARMY CHIEF JAILED OVER GENOCIDEFormer Rwandan army chief Augustin Bizimungu has been jailed for 30 years by a war-crimes tribunal for his role in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis, who he described as "cockroaches". Around 800,000 people died in the massacres. Paramilitary police chief Augustin Ndindiliyimana was also convicted, but released for time already served. Two other generals were jailed for 20 years. INFLATION JUMPS TO 4.5 per centPressure on interest rates has increased after the UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual inflation rate rose 0.5 per cent in April to 4.5 per cent. Much of the rise was due to increased transport costs, thanks to Easter rises in air and sea fares, and alcohol and tobacco prices. The rise was bigger than analysts expected and the CPI is now at its highest level since October 2008. WORLD'S OLDEST PANDA, MING ming, DIESThe world's oldest panda, Ming Ming, has died at the age of 34 from old age and kidney failure according to Chinese state media. Origianlly from Sichuan, she had been living in a zoo in Guangdong province since 1998. Giant pandas have a life expectancy of 15 in the wild and around 22 in captivity. FUKUSHIMA NUKE PLANT DID MELTDOWN AFTER TSUNAMIThe Fukushima nuclear power plant did suffer a near complete meltdown within 16 hours of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, its operator Tepco finally admits today. Most of the fuel in No 1 reactor melted and dripped onto the floor - and it is likely the same happened at reactors 2 and 3. FOX CHALLENGES CAMERON ON FOREIGN AID COMMITMENTDefence secretary Liam Fox has objected to primce minister David Cameron's plan to enshrine in law a promise to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on overseas aid, a leaked letter published in the Times reveals this morning. Downing Street responds that it remains "fully committed" to implementing the pledge. MUBARAK'S WIFE OFFERS TO RETURN ILL-GOTTEN GAINSSuzanne, wife of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, has agreed to hand over a luxury Cairo villa and £2 million in cash in a deal which might, under Egyptian law, allow her to avoid corruption charges. Mubarak himself, in detention in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, is offering to make an apology on national television. DOWNING STREET RETIRES THE FICTIONAL MRS ADAMSDavid Cameron promised yesterday to stop the use of the signature of the fictional Mrs E Adams and other computer-generated pseudonyms on letters from Downing Street. The practice, a response to a security threat in 2005, came to light when Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman complained in the Commons of getting a letter from "Mrs Adams". TRUMP QUITS PRESIDENTIAL FRAY, RETURNS TO REALITY TVDonald Trump, property magnate and host of Celebrity Apprentice, yesterday announced that he will not be running for president. He said he could beat Barack Obama, but "business is my greatest passion". He will sign on for another Apprentice season. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee also quit the Republican race, to return to his Fox TV show. Was Trump’s presidential bid just a publicity stunt?