Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 3 Feb 2015

1. NEWS CORP ESCAPES US BRIBERY CHARGE

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp will not be prosecuted in the US for bribery. After an investigation, the Department of Justice has decided the US-based company does not need to face charges for breaking American anti-corruption laws because its UK journalists had allegedly bribed British police officers.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp avoids US corruption charges

2. MPS VOTE ON THREE-PARENT BABY ISSUE

MPs have today been debating whether to allow babies to be created in the UK using DNA from thee separate people, effectively giving them three parents. The measure would allow parents with genetic problems to have healthy children by “patching” their DNA. Church leaders are opposed to the practice.

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'Three-parent babies': MPs to vote on divisive legislation

3. ENGLISH MPS TO GET POWER OF VETO

English MPs are to be given a "veto" over bills that only affect them under new Conservative Party proposals. Commons leader William Hague said the plan was a fair solution to the issues raised by regional assemblies. Bills affecting only England must be approved by English MPs before they are debated by the rest of Parliament. Some say the plans do not go far enough.

English votes for English laws: how will the proposals work?

4. POLICE DATABASE KEEPS INNOCENT FACES

Mugshots of hundreds of thousands of innocent people are held on police databases, the BBC’s Newsnight programme says. The faces, alongside those of convicted criminals, have been uploaded by forces in England and Wales without Home Office approval. Civil liberties campaigners are concerned.

5. HARPER LEE TO PUBLISH NEW NOVEL

A follow up to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is to be published, 55 years after her iconic novel about the American south was released. The new book, Go Set a Watchman, featuring the character Scout as an adult, was put aside on the advice of her publisher in the 1950s. Lee, now 88, said she "hadn't realised" the manuscript had survived.

6. SERBIA AND CROATIA 'GENOCIDE' REJECTED

Claims by Serbia and Croatia that they had committed acts of genocide against each other following the break-up of Yugoslavia have been rejected by the International Court of Justice. Delivering the verdict at The Hague, Judge Peter Tomka said "specific intent" intent had not been proved and added that "ethnic cleansing does not constitute genocide".

7. MURDER CHARGE FOR RAP’S SUGE KNIGHT

Suge Knight, a music mogul who founded Death Row Records in the 1990s and signed artists including Snoop Dogg and Tupac, has been charged with murder over a fatal hit-and-run. Marion ‘Suge’ Knight’s lawyer says his client hit two men by accident while trying to evade an attack. One man died.

Rap mogul Suge Knight charged with hit-and-run murder

8. TALBOT TRIAL HALTED AFTER COURTROOM FALL

The trial of former TV weather man Fred Talbot, accused of indecent assaults on underage boys, has been halted after he was taken to hospital with head injuries after falling from the witness box. Talbot tripped during a break in proceedings and fell into a table. He appeared to lose consciousness and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

9. REAL MONEY HIDDEN IN MONOPOLY GAME

The makers of the board game Monopoly in France, Hasbro, are marking the game’s 80th anniversary there by hiding a set entirely furnished with real money (it totals some £16,000) among the others, to be sold to a lucky customer at the normal price. Another 80 sets will also have some real notes.

Monopoly celebrates 80 years with cash hidden inside games

10. BRIEFING: WHY PETER GRESTE WAS FREED

Australian Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has been freed from prison in Egypt after 400 days, but his two colleagues remain still in jail. Greste was freed under a decree by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi that permits foreign detainees to be deported for trial. Greste says he will now dedicate himself to fighting for the release of his colleagues

Peter Greste: why Al-Jazeera journalist was freed in Egypt