Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 22 Dec 2010

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. CABLE STRIPPED OF DUTIES AFTER MURDOCH GAFFELib Dem business minister, Vince Cable, has been humiliatingly stripped of his responsibility for the media – but has clung to the rest of his job, despite suggestions he would be forced to step down after it emerged yesterday that he had told undercover reporters he had "declared war" on media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The Mole: Cable pays a high price for unprotected chat ED MILIBAND CALLS COALITION 'A SHAM'Labour leader Ed Miliband has called the coalition government a "sham" and described Business Secretary Vince Cable as "a useful prop for David Cameron as he seeks to pretend this is something other than a Conservative government". Cable was among senior Lib Dems caught expressing their concerns about Tory policy to two undercover reporters. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore called the tuition fees increase "a car crash, a train wreck". EARTHQUAKE HITS LAKE DISTRICTAn earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale struck Cumbria last night, with its epicentre on the lakes town of Coniston. Witnesses the tremor could be felt for up to a minute – and there were reports of it from as far afield as Kirkudbright in Scotland. One witness said: "It felt like a big train going past right outside the house." BARACK OBAMA SIGNS GAY MILITARY LAWPresident Obama has put the seal on his long campaign to allow gay people to join the US military - and those already serving to be open about their sexuality. At a White House ceremony, he said: "I'm proud to sign a law that will bring an end to 'don't ask, don't tell'. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country that they love." UK POLICE TRAIN BANGLADESH 'DEATH SQUAD'British police officers trained Bangladesh's feared Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), US embassy cables from WikiLeaks reveal. The National Policing Improvement Agency provided training in "investigative interviewing techniques" to an organisation responsible for 622 illegal killings, dubbed a "death squad" by Human Rights Watch. WikiLeaks' Julian Assange: Is he a Mama's boy? ABU HAMZA'S DAUGHTER ARRESTEDChayme, the 26-year-old daughter of radical preacher Abu Hamza, who is currently in HMP Belmarsh awaiting extradition to the US, has been arrested at the prison for allegedly trying to smuggle a sim card to him under her burka. Hamza's eldest son, Mohammed, was also arrested over the incident, which took place on Friday. UK TRAVEL woe continuesThousands of travellers were still stuck at Heathrow and elsewhere in the UK after snowy conditions brought the country to a standstill. However, both of Heathrow's runways are open again today and East Coast mainline trains are running after most of yesterday's trains between Edinburgh and London had to be cancelled. Where’s Cameron’s Big Society when we need it? Can Cameron deal with a winter of discontent? In pictures: snow in the UK ANNA CHAPMAN TO PARTY WITH PUTINGlamorous Russian spy Anna Chapman (above), unmasked this year in the US, is to become the leader of the youth wing of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, Russian media are reporting. Chapman's new role will be announced today at a congress of the Young Guard and will include working with "patriots and young businesspeople". TERROR SUSPECTS TO BE CHARGED 'WITHIN DAYS'Charges are to be brought within days against at least some of the 12 men arrested across England and Wales in dawn raids on Monday. Counter-terror watchdog Lord Carlile of Berriew told MPs it was "very possible" that people would soon be prosecuted over a "significant" terror plot in London, Cardiff, Birmingham and Stoke. PALTROW'S COOKBOOK HITS INTERNETActress Gwyneth Paltrow announced in February that she would publish a cookbook in 2011. Now extracts from an advance copy have appeared on the web. Titled My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family and Togetherness, Paltrow writes earnestly: "Cooking has become my main ancillary passion in life."

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