Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 4 Feb 2011

published 4 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. MUBARAK DEPARTURE: IS TODAY THE DAY?As Egyptian pro-democracy protesters hit the streets for a 'Friday of Departure' rally in Cairo, there are signs that they might get their wish. President Mubarak said yesterday that he wanted to end his reign but was staying on because he feared Egypt would sink into chaos. And the New York Times is reporting that the White House is discussing with Egyptian officials a plan for Mubarak to resign immediately and for a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the army to run the country until free and fair elections can be held in September. ED MILIBAND: A GENERATION UNDER THREATThe long-held ideal that each generation will enjoy more opportunities than the previous one is under threat in Britain because of coalition cuts, according to Labour leader Ed Miliband. He is due to say in a speech in Gateshead today: "For the first time in generations there is now a real and legitimate fear that the British promise will be broken and the next generation will have fewer opportunities and find it harder to get on than the last. 'LAST TANGO' ACTRESS MARIA SCHNEIDER DIES AT 58 Actress Maria Schneider, whose sex scenes at age 19 with Marlon Brando in the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris set a new benchmark in cinema, has died in Paris after a long illness. Baby-faced and voluptuous, Schneider played a free-spirited young woman who enters into a torrid affair with a recently widowed US businessman (Brando). Director Bernardo Bertolucci said he chose Schneider for the role because she seemed "like a Lolita, but more perverse". Bertolucci apologises as Last Tango star Schneider dies NO REGRETS - DONALD RUMSFELD MEMOIR LEAKED Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld makes no apologies for his handling of the Iraq invasion and aftermath in his memoir, Known and Unknown, according to advance copies obtained by US newspapers. He defends the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced techniques" at Guantanamo Bay, but one of his "biggest disappointments" was his failure to "help persuade America and the world the truth about Gitmo". Charles Laurence: Donald Rumsfeld tortures the truth BBC APOLOGISES FOR TOP GEAR'S MEXICAN OFFENCE The BBC has apologised to Mexico's ambassador in London for the branding of Mexicans as "lazy" and "oafish" in a recent Top Gear programme. The remarks caused outrage in Mexico, even being discussed in the Mexican senate. The BBC apologised for the offence caused but stressed that jokes based on national stereotyping were part of British national humour and are allowed within BBC guidelines. PAKISTAN CRICKETERS FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES The three Pakistani cricketers at the centre of last summer's spot-fixing scandal are to face criminal charges in Britain. Bowlers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and their then-captain Salman Butt are accused of conspiring to cheat bookmakers and obtaining and accepting corrupt payments. Agent Mazhar Majeed has also been charged. The men were caught up in a News of the World sting and accused of arranging to bowl no-balls during the Lord's Test. KENNETH COLE'S CAIRO MARKETING TACTIC BACKFIRES US designer Kenneth Cole has been forced to apologise after suggesting on Twitter that the riots in Cairo were caused by people racing to get their hands on his new fashion collection. Retweets caused anger among people who are following the Egyptian uprising and Cole returned to tweet: "We weren't intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment." Cole blasted for Cairo protest PR tweet BANGLADESHI GIRL DIES AFTER FLOGGINGPolice have arrested four people and are hunting others after a 14-year-old Bangladeshi girl died when she was given 100 lashes with a bamboo cane on the order of a village cleric. Mosammet Hena was alleged to have had an illicit affair with her married cousin, Mahbub. Despite reports that she was actually raped by Mahbub, both were sentenced to be flogged. Mosammet collapsed during the ordeal and died in hospital a week later. Mahbub is on the run. UK FACES UNIQUE TERROR THREATThe secret intelligence service MI6 has warned that Britain is "hard pressed" to prevent suicide bomb attacks from a generation of home-grown terrorists. A warning that many British-born radicals are undergoing training to become "suicide operatives", but do not appear on the intelligence services' "radar", was given in a private briefing to visiting US congressmen and in turn appears in embassy cables published today by WikiLeaks in partnership with the Daily Telegraph NOTORIOUS CONMAN RICO SUAVE 'ARRESTED IN SYDNEY'Police in Australia believe they may have caught a notorious international conman known as Rico Suave, wanted for a series of thefts from hotel rooms in the US and Australia. Peruvian Hernan Antonio Briones-Castillo, 44, was arrested in Sydney this week and accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of cash and jewellery. Suave's high profile victims in the US include the Israeli basketball team, Mexican football players and a Florida sugar baron.