Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 17 Jan 2011

published 17 January 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0 am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. TEN MONTHS OFF FOR NEW FATHERSBusiness leaders have described as "a complete nightmare" the government's proposal to allow new fathers up to 10 months' paid paternity leave. With the backing of David Cameron, the plan will be presented today by deputy PM Nick Clegg, who will condemn "Edwardian" attitudes to childcare. The Federation of Small Businesses called it "the wrong measure at the wrong time".The British Chambers of Commerce warned it could prevent employers from taking on staff. GOLDEN GLOBES - LONG LIVE THE KINGColin Firth won best actor (drama) at the Golden Globe awards for his role as the stammering George VI in The King's Speech. But The Social Network, about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, was the big winner, scooping best film, best director (David Fincher) and best screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). Paul Giametti won best actor (comedy or musical) for his performance in Barney's Version. Natalie Portman won best actress (drama) for Black Swan. Firth wins Golden Globe - but what chance an Oscar? TUNISIA GETS NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENTA government of national unity has been formed in Tunisia led by current prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, after the president Ben Ali was ousted in a popular uprising. Ghannouchi and several serving ministers have retained their jobs, but opposition figures have also been drafted in. The announcement came after another day of violence between rival politcial groups and as food and as fuel shortages continue. Why did we never know how rotten Tunisia was? THOUSANDS PAY RESPECTS TO MICHAELA HARTE Thousands of mourners, including Irish president Mary McAleese, have attended the funeral (above) of Michaela Harte at St Malachy's in Ballymacilroy, County Tyrone - the church where she married her husband, John McAreavey, on December 30. Michaela, daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football boss Mickey Harte, was found strangled in her room at the Legends Hotel in Mauritius during her honeymoon a week ago. DID MI6 AGENT DIE WHEN 'ART PROJECT' WENT WRONG?Police sources have come up with a bizarre new theory for the death of the MI6 code-breaker Gareth Williams, found dead inside a holdall last August. Police reportedly believe he might have zipped himself inside the bag as research for an art project, but suffocated before he could get out again. He was attending an art course at Central St Martin's and had been given a project called 'Living Spaces'. Did spy Gareth Williams die in bizarre art accident? UNDERCOVER COP 'FEARS FOR HIS LIFE'Mark Kennedy, the undercover policeman who infiltrated the eco protest movement, broke cover yesterday to tell the Mail on Sunday that all his actions had been sanctioned by his superiors and he was no "rogue cop" or agent provocateur. He accused senior officers of deliberately suppressing evidence that would have exonerated six activists facing criminal charges. He claimed he had been scape-goated and now feared for his life. Undercover cop breaks his silence on eco-warrior life KENNY DALGLISH WINS OVER THE KOPNewly installed manager Kenny Dalglish was serenaded by the Liverpool faithful with a passionate rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone when his team took on Merseyside rivals Everton yesterday. The nail-biting game finished 2-2. Manchester United and Tottenham could manage no goals, but one point was enough to put Man U back at the top of the table on points. Manchester City are second. ANTI-SEMITIC LE PEN GOES OUT SNARLINGJean Marie Le Pen, 82, leader of the far-right French National Front for 39 years, handed over the reins of his party to his daughter Marine, following her election yesterday. But he managed to provoke outrage when he referred to a French Jewish journalist who had complained of being thrown out of the party's gala dinner, beaten and receiving racial abuse, saying the journalist's origins "could neither be seen on his (press) card, nor on his nose." GIFFORDS BREATHING WITHOUT VENTILATORCongresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizon on January 8, is no longer attached to a ventilator and is breathing on her own with the help of a tracheotomy tube. Doctors have changed her condition from 'critical' to 'serious'. Meanwhile, according to the Daily Telegraph, demand for guns at Tucson's Pima County fair on Saturday was higher than ever. A gun show organiser said high-profile massacres tend to "energise folks who are Second Amendment advocates". ED MILIBAND AHEAD IN POLLLabour leader Ed Miliband is more popular than Nick Clegg among people who voted Lib Dem at the last general election, according to a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times. Only a third of those who backed Clegg last May would do so again. Meanwhile, Miliband said he would not rule out a future coalition with the Lib Dems under Clegg. "If he was to be a sinner repenteth then maybe things might change".