Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 13 Jan 2011

published 13 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. 350-PLUS DIE IN BRAZILIAN MUDSLIDESScenes of devastation are reported from Brazil where heavy rains - 10 inches in less than 24 hours - have caused mudslides to destroy thousands of hillside homes built without foundations. At least 350 people are reported dead and 1,000 are missing. More than 140 people have died in the town of Teresopolis, 40 miles north of Rio de Janeiro and at least 155 bodies have been recovered from the nearby town of Nova Friburgo. Hundreds die in Brazil flooding SUSPECT 'CONFESSES' TO MAURITIUS HONEYMOON MURDERPolice in Mauritius say that one of three men who have been charged over the murder of Michaela Harte has confessed to her killing. Avinash Treebhoowoon allegedly admitted strangling the daughter of well-known Gaelic football coach Mickey Harte when she caught him rummaging through her belongings. Michaela, a former beauty queen, was killed while honeymooning on the tropical island. TUCSON: OBAMA CALLS FOR 'MORE CIVILITY'President Obama has been described as 'Pastor in chief' and 'Consoler in chief' after last night's address to the Tucson memorial service for those killed in Saturday's gun rampage. He called for "more civility in our public discourse" but avoided taking sides in the issue of growing political rhetoric, which many observers believes was to blame for the shooting. "What we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other." What they are saying about Obama's Tucson speech MEANWHILE, LOUGHNER 'SMIRKS' IN HIS CELLJared Lee Loughner, in custody following the Tucson gun rampage that left six dead and Gabrielle Giffords with a bullet in her brain, has been sitting in his cell with a smirk on his face, according to US Marshall David Gonzales. "He has this sort of 'paranoid headlights' stare," Gonzales told the Daily Beast. "He just sat there, elbows resting on his knees, staring straight ahead and smirking." AND CONGRESSMAN WANTS GUNS ON CAPITOL HILLUS Congressman Louie Gohmert says he is drafting a measure that would allow members of Congress to carry guns in the Capitol, and even onto the floor of the House of Representatives. Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, says that in the wake of the Arizona shootings he and his colleagues should be allowed to arm themselves. "There's no security for us," he states. "There is some protection in having protection." Charles Laurence: gunslinger's rights on Capitol Hill BRISBANE FLOODS CLEAN-UP to cost £3bnBrisbane breathed a sigh of relief today as floodwaters finally started to recede from a peak depth of 4.46 metres. The cost of rebuilding could reach A$5bn (£3.2bn) and Queensland premier Anna Bligh says the state "faces a reconstruction task of postwar proportions". Fifteen people have died in the floods, while 61 remain missing. In pictures: Brisbane floods Briefing: the effects of the floods will be felt beyond Queensland DITA VON TEESE TOLD TO COVER UP CLEAVAGE FOR CSIBurlesque dancer Dita Von Teese has revealed that she was forced to cover up her assets when she made a guest appearance in US detective series CSI. She said that programme makers were concerned about the amount of "offensive cleavage" on show, explaining: "We had to take it down a notch." Von Teese plays a schoolteacher and nightclub dancer called Rita Von Squeeze in an upcoming episode of the show, set in Las Vegas. Dita Von Teese joins Katy Perry on TV cleavage blacklist JO YEATES 'WAS NOT SEEING ANOTHER MAN'A friend of Jo Yeates, subject of the ongoing murder hunt in Bristol, has dismissed speculation that she had been having an affair. Rebecca Scott, who spoke with Yeates on her mobile phone as she walked home on the night of December 17, the last time she was seen alive, said: "I was not aware of anyone else on the scene. Jo was besotted with Greg [Reardon, the boyfriend she lived with], and he was with her." 2010 WORLD'S WARMEST YEAR ON RECORDThe recent snow and freezing temperatures in Britain and the US obscures the fact that 2010 tied with 2005 as the world's warmest year on record, according to the National Climatic Data Centre in North Carolina. The Earth's average temperature was 58.12 degrees, which is 1.12 degrees above the 20th-century average of 57 degrees. It was also the wettest year on record due to heavy rain in Asia and Central America. DAVOS ISSUES GENDER QUOTA RULEOrganisers of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, which opens on January 26, have decided to do something about it being a virtually male-only event. 'Strategic partners' - a group of about 100 companies who attend - have been ordered to include at least one woman in every group of five executives.