Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 17 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. MANNING 'DETERIORATES' AS ASSANGE IS FREEDAs WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was finally freed on £240,000 bail while he waits to fight Swedish extradition proceedings, Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of leaking military and diplomatic material to him, is said to be "deteriorating" in solitary confinement in Virginia. A computer researcher who visits Manning twice a month, said: "Over the last few weeks I have noticed a steady decline in his mental and physical wellbeing." Suspected WikiLeaker Manning is 'in decline' THE BIG FREEZE - NOW IT GETS SERIOUSThe Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for most of the country as snow and freezing conditions sweep in from the Arctic. Regional airports and more than 1,000 schools have been closed and police in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland have warned against "non-essential travel" just as the Christmas getaway begins. More heavy snow is expected in the south on Saturday. In pictures: Snow and ice grip the northern hemisphere In pictures: the big freeze of 1962 PINK PANTHER DIRECTOR BLAKE EDWARDS DIESBlake Edwards, the American director of some of the most popular film comedies of the past half-century, has died at 88 in hospital in Santa Monica, California, following complications from pneumonia. His wife, Sound of Music star Julie Andrews, was at his bedside. His hits included Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961, the Dudley Moore/Bo Derek film 10, and the string of Pink Panther films starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. PRISONERS TO BE ALLOWED TO VOTEThe government has announced that prisoners serving sentences of less than four years will be allowed to vote. The decision comes five years after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that denying prisoners the right to vote was unlawful. But the announcement came on the same day that a man serving life for raping and murdering his seven-year-old niece had his claim to a vote dismissed by the Court of Appeal. OBAMAS NOT INVITED TO ROYAL WEDDINGA senior courtier has confirmed to the Daily Mail that Barack and Michelle Obama have not been invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Because William is not the heir to the throne, it does not count as a state occasion. Only heads of state who know the couple will be invited - which could get Nicolas and Carla Sarkozy into Westminster Abbey. Weddings are gang-bangs says 'ousted' royal reporter Dimbleby Australia on top in PerthAustralia took control of the third Ashes test in Perth on a day that saw the much-maligned fast bowler Mitchell Johnson destroy England's batting. He took 6 for 38, including the wicket of Kevin Pietersen for a duck, as England were bundled out for 187. The visitors then made early inroads into Australia's batting but could not stop the home side building a lead of 200 with seven second innings wickets remaining at the close. Australia favourites as Mitchell Johnson wreaks havoc CLEGG VOWS TO FIGHT BANK BONUSESNick Clegg has warned that the coalition government will take tough measures against banks who continue to pay out big bonuses without increasing their lending to small businesses. He told the Financial Times that banks "don't operate in a social vacuum". His remarks is seen as a bid to reassure Lib Dem voters who were promised a crackdown on bank bonuses and are already disillusioned with the party's U-turn on tuition fees. Nick Clegg warns banks on excessive bonuses JAPANESE MAN ARRESTED AFTER STABBING 13Police in the Japanese city of Toride have arrested a man after a knife attack left 13 injured, some of them children. The 27-year-old man boarded two buses parked outside the train station and randomly stabbed passengers. The incident echoed an attack in central Tokyo in 2008 when seven people died. This time, only one person was hospitalised. AFGHANISTAN: WESTERN EXIT 'ON TARGET'A US military strategy review claims the 'surge' of 30,000 extra troops ordered a year ago by President Obama has succeeded in arresting the momentum of the Taliban. As a result, Obama says he is "still optimistic" that the US we can start pulling out of Afghanistan next July. PM David Cameron reconfirmed Britain's plan to withdraw all troops by the end of 2014. JERRY SEINFELD COMES TO LONDONJerry Seinfeld, star and co-creator of the long-running TV comedy Seinfeld, is to perform at the O2 Arena in London next June 3 for one night only. Tickets for what is his first stand-up gig in Britain since 1988 go on sale at 9.0am today. Told that fans were shocked by the prices - which begin at £70 and go up to £100 - Seinfeld told the Guardian: "I am terribly, terribly sorry." Jerry Seinfeld due in town - but he needs new material

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