Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 16 Mar 2011

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant damage

published 16 March 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.00 am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. BAHRAIN: three dead as police clear PEARL SQUARE At least three people have been killed in clashes today between police and protesters in Bahrain. Police, backed by helicopters, cleared Manama's Pearl Square of Shia Muslims calling for reform of the Sunni-dominated political system. The BBC says Shia judges have resigned in protest at the crackdown, as has Bahrain's health minister, who is also a Shia. Saudi forces entered Bahrain this week to help enforce a state of emergency. Bahrain protest camp cleared - pictures Bahrain ‘invasion’: why isn’t Cameron bothered? JAPAN CRISIS: NUCLEAR PLANT ABANDONEDThe workers who were trying to stabilise Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have been evacuated after a spike in radiation levels. The development was announced by Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano after smoke was seen rising from reactor 3. Earlier, a blaze struck reactor 4 for the second time in two days. Elsewhere, heavy snow is hampering attempts to rescue tsunami victims. Nuclear winter descends after Japan tsunami - pictures Fukushima: has meltdown already happened? Nuclear power: the future - or history? BRYAN ROBSON HAS SURGERY FOR THROAT CANCERFormer England football captain Bryan Robson has undergone treatment for throat cancer in Bangkok, according to Manchester United, the club for whom he currently works as an ambassador. In a statement, the club said: "The laboratory report revealed a cancerous tumour, which will need further treatment. The oncologist is confident that the condition is treatable." Robson played 90 times for England. NO-FLY ZONE DRAFT RESOLUTION LAUNCHEDBritain, Lebanon and France have tabled a UN resolution establishing a no-fly zone in Libya. The draft resolution would also impose stronger enforcement of the arms embargo, restrictions on Libyan commercial flights landing in other countries, and more travel bans against those linked to the Gaddafi regime. A No 10 source admitted that passing such a resolution would be an uphill struggle. HEALTH BILL COULD DOUBLE GPS' INCOME GPs could more than double their income to £300,000 a year under health secretary Andrew Lansley's plans for the NHS, according to an analysis for the Guardian. The British Medical Association has called the health bill "dangerous" on the grounds that GPs' pay will be linked to rationing patient care; in essence, being rewarded for saving the taxpayer money. Huge international child porn ring busted A huge international internet child porn ring has been smashed after a three year investigation. Undercover police infiltrated Boylover.net, a child porn network with 70,000 members. They have made 170 arrests and identified 230 abused children in countries including the Netherlands, the UK, Australia, Italy, Canada and Thailand. 121 of the arrests in 'Operation Rescue' were in Britain. SUPER-RICH IMMIGRANTS WELCOMEThe super-rich are to be offered a fast track to settle in Britain under new immigration rules. As long as they are willing to keep £5m in a UK bank account they are to be given the right to stay indefinitely in Britain after only three years - two years faster than the five-year wait imposed on every other migrant. Those bringing £10m need wait only two years. AV REFERENDUM HOTS UP AS MILIBAND VOTES YES Ed Miliband wants Labour MPs to vote Yes in the May 5 referendum about the Alternative Vote - the proposed new election system under which voters rank candidates in order of preference. Miliband is urging his MPs to avoid voting against AV just to damage Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems, the party expected to benefit. "Time is ripe for a change," he will say in a speech today. AV referendum threatens to embarrass David Cameron What is alternative vote and how does it work? BBC ACCUSED OF POACHING AUSTRALIAN IDEAA group of Australian TV producers has accused the BBC of plagiarism. They claim that Twenty Ten, the new spoof documentary about the 2012 London Olympics, is "frightfully similar" to The Games, which was set in a fictional Sydney 2000 Olympics planning team. They have instructed a team of London-based lawyers briefed in intellectual property rights. POLICE PICK ON DAFFODIL PICKERSWhen a member of the public reported an act of criminal vandalism, police in Dorset quickly sent a car to the scene. Two sisters, aged six and four, had been spotted picking daffodils in a park in Poole. The police officers warned the girls' parents that they could be arrested for criminal damage. About 20 flowers perished.