Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 23 Feb 2011

published 23 February 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. OVER 50,000 JOBS TO GO IN NHSFreedom of information requests more than 50,000 jobs will be lost in the NHS under cut-backs. The figures from NHS trusts were collated by union-funded website False Economy - but the Royal College of Nursing said that the figures confirmed its own fears and doctors' organisation the BMA said the cuts were a "false economy". GADDAFI CLINGS TO POWER AS EAST LIBYA FALLSMuammar Gaddafi is battling to retain control of Tripoli and the west of Libya after defecting army units and protesters strengthened their grip on the country's east. Foreigners continue to flee the country amid chaotic scenes at Tripoli airport. Pro-Gadaffi gunmen are said to be patrolling the streets of the capital as calls grow for some kind of international response. Britain and Libya: a very embarrassing friendship Libya protests - pictures TEN BRITONS AMONG NZ QUAKE DEADAt least ten Britons are among the dead after yesterday's earthquake in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island. More than 75 people are known to have died in 6.3-magnitude tremor, with more than 300 still missing. Police say there are "bodies littering the streets" of the garden city and appalling scenes of "incredible carnage". In pictures: New Zealand earthquake Video: One minute after earthquake PRINCE WILLIAM'S STAG DO ALL AT SEAThe Royal wedding will be prefaced by a nautical stag do, the Sun claims today. The paper says the weekend, planned by younger brother Harry, will take place largely at sea with guests taking part in water sports including waterskiing and speed boat racing before embarking on a pub crawl by motorboat on England's south coast. RAHM EMANUEL BECOMES CHICAGO MAYORBarack Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, yesterday became the mayor of Chicago, with a comfortable first round victory of more than 50 per cent of the vote. The 51-year-old, who is the first Jewish leader of America's third-largest city, tweeted last night that his victory was "humbling" and "most gratifying". SCIENTISTS NAME 'THUNDER THIGHS' DINOSAUR Palaeontologists in the UK have named a newly-discovered dinosaur found in Utah 'thunder thighs' because of its unusually large hip bones. They believe that Brontomerus mcintoshi ('brontomerus' comes from the Greek words for 'thunder' and 'thigh') used its hefty haunches to deliver a powerful kick to its attackers. CORNISH PASTIES GET PROTECTED STATUSCornish pasties have joined Melton Mowbray pork pies and Arbroath Smokies on the list of British foods given 'Protected Geographical Indication' status by the EC. After a nine-year campaign by Cornishmen, it will now be illegal to describe a pasty as 'Cornish' unless it has been baked, or at least prepared, in that county. FACEBOOK VOTING FOR X FACTORImpresario Simon Cowell is in talks to arrange a tie-in with Facebook, starting on the upcoming US series of X Factor. The deal will allow viewers to vote contestants off the show via the social networking site. In the UK, fans will buy credit on Facebook and then spend it voting; in the US, broadcasting laws mean voting will be free. CHILD KILLER COLIN HATCH 'MURDERED' IN PRISONChild killer Colin Hatch has been found dead at Full Sutton maximum-security prison near York, and another inmate has been arrested on suspicion of murdering him. Hatch, 38, was jailed for life in 1994 for the abduction, abuse and murder of seven-year-old Sean Williams. He was on parole for another sex attack at the time and he had a string of other convictions. He died in what police called "an incident" on Tuesday night. PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS TAKE MORE SICK DAYSThe 'sickness gap' between private and public sector workers is growing, with public sector workers a third more likely to take a day off than those in the private sector. In the final quarter of 2010 3.1 per cent of those working in the public sector took a day off each week, in the private sector the figure was 2.3 per cent. Last week David Cameron announced a review into sickness leave.