Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 12 Jan 2011

published 12 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. THREE CHARGED OVER MICHAELA HARTE STRANGLING Three hotel workers were due in court today in Mauritius following the murder of Michaela Harte, the daughter of football manager Mickey Harte, while on honeymoon. Two of the men are charged with murder and one with conspiracy to murder. The 27-year-old teacher's body was by her husband John McAreavey when he went to look for her in their room. She had been strangled. Mickey Harte told reporters outside his Co Tyrone home: "This is too horrible to contemplate. We are just all devastated." British bride strangled on Mauritius honeymoon QUEENSLAND FLOODS: BRISBANE HOLDS ITS BREATH Central Brisbane was described as a ghost town today, with electricity cut and residents either gone or hiding indoors as the city prepared for the worst of the floods. Water levels were expected to peak at 5.2m on Wednesday evening (UK time). To the west, rescue workers are searching the Lockyer Valley for survivors of an "inland tsunami": more than 90 people are missing after homes were ripped off their foundations by the surging floodwaters. Eighty per cent of the province is now under water and the death toll stands at 12. In pictures: Escape from Brisbane JACKO'S DOCTOR TO BE TRIED FOR MANSLAUGHTER Dr Conrad Murray (above), Michael Jackson's personal doctor at the time of his death, has been ordered to face trial for involuntary manslaughter. Judge Michael Pastor gave the ruling after hearing six days' of evidence against the doctor, including accusations that he waited 21 minutes after Jackson stopped breathing before calling for an ambulance. Allegedly, he was trying to hide evidence of the cocktail of drugs he had administered to his patient. SHOOTER'S FAMILY EXPRESS SORROWThe family of Jared Lee Loughner, accused of shooting six people dead and attempting to assassinate congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona, said yesterday: "We wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss." Amid massive security, President Obama is due in Tucson today to make what some say will be the most difficult speech of his presidency. Alexander Cockburn: Republican chickens come home to roost in Tucson MODEL CLAIMS PRINCE ASKED FOR 'PRIVATE SHOW'A Mozambique-born model, Tasha de Vasconcelos, claims in an autobiography published this week that Prince Charles was so seduced by her beauty when they met at a London charity function that he said: "You are magnificent. Would you ever consider a private catwalk show... just for me?" She says she turned down his request. Camilla was present - "but didn't utter a single word to me for the whole night." Prince Charles asked for a 'private show' BARCLAYS BOSS REFUSES TO FOREGO HIS BONUS The new boss of Barclays Bank, the American Bob Diamond, refused to bow to pressure from MPs on the Treasury selected committee yesterday who asked if he would waive his bonus for 2010, thought to be in the region of £8m. He said it was a matter for him and his family. He also said that banks should be allowed to fail and should not be bailed out by the taxpayer. "There was a period of remorse and apology for banks and I think that period needs to be over." What they are saying about Bob Diamond and bonuses Lloyds CEO Eric Daniels to receive £2m bonus TED 'GOLDEN VOICE' WILLIAMS ARRESTEDTed Williams, the homeless man whose 'golden voice' became a YouTube sensation last week, bringing him offers of work in advertising and movies, was arrested by Los Angeles police on Monday night after an "altercation" with his daughter at a Hollywood hotel. He was later released without charge. MOSLEY TAKES PRIVACY BATTLE TO STRASBOURG Former F1 boss Max Mosley took his long-running privacy battle to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday. Mosley, who successfully sued the News of the World for invading his privacy when it photographed him talking part in a sadomasochistic "orgy" with prostitutes, wants the court to rule that newspapers should always notify people before publishing reports about their private lives. His opponents see it as a threat to press freedom. Briefing: what does Mosley's media crusade mean to the press? CONVICTED MP ILLSLEY STANDS DOWN Former Labour MP Eric Illsley, who became the first sitting MP to be convicted over the Parliamentary expenses scandal, is standing down. He was elected as the Labour candidate for Barnsley Central in May, but had been sitting as an independent since being suspended by the party over the allegations. On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to false accounting worth £14,000. He will be sentenced next month. The decision will trigger a by-election. PALIN'S 'BLOOD LIBEL' DEFENCE UPSETS JEWSSarah Palin has attacked critics who blame her for inspiring the shooting of Democrat Representative Gabrielle Giffords at the weekend. "Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn," she said. But her use of "blood libel", which refers to the myth that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make matzos at Passover has raised eyebrows because Giffords is Jewish.