Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 26 Nov 2010

Smoke billows from Yeonpyeong island in South Korea near the border with North Korea

published 26 November 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. 'BRINK OF WAR' WARNING FROM NORTH KOREANorth Korea has warned that a joint US-South Korean naval exercise due to begin on Sunday, involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier, is provocative. "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the [North]," the Communist state's official KCNA news agency said. Korea's bitter divide PRESSURE MOUNTS TO EVICT PEER OVER 'BREEDING' JIBE Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to evict Lord [Howard] Flight from the Tory party after the newly installed peer told the London Evening Standard: "We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it's jolly expensive... But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that's not very sensible." It follows Tory peer Lord Young's "you never had it so good" howler. Flight apologises for 'breeding' sneer COLD SPELL TO LAST A FORTNIGHTMuch of Scotland, northern England and the west country is under snow this morning, and the whole country is experiencing temperatures below freezing. Forecasters predict 10 inches of snow in the worst affected areas and say the cold spell could last as long as a fortnight. Ice has made roads treacherous in many areas. Today's forecast is for more sleet and snow. In pictures: UK hit by early snow UK braced for cold snap ENGLAND FIGHT BACK IN FIRST ASHES TESTEngland fought back on the second day of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane to leave the match on a knife edge. When rain brought a premature end to the day's play Australia were still trailing England's first innings total of 260 on 220-5, with Michael Hussey unbeaten on 81. Earlier Jimmy Anderson cleaned up opener Michael Watson and dismissed captain Ricky Ponting for just 10 as the Aussies slid from 78-0 to 100-3, and later 143-5. MI6 'FOOLED BY TALIBAN IMPOSTOR'Britain's secret intelligence service has been tricked by a man posing as Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, second in command of the Afghan Taliban, according to the Times. MI6 agents flew the man to Kabul, pinning their hopes on him to forge a new peaceful relationship between the Taliban and the Afghan government. However, other sources suggest US and Afghan officials are also to blame for the cock-up. Taliban impostor: should MI6 take all the blame? BERNIE ECCLESTONE MUGGED ON DOORSTEPFormula 1 racing boss Bernie Ecclestone was treated in hospital after being mugged on his London doorstep on Wednesday night. Four robbers were lying in wait when the 80-year-old billionaire returned to his apartment block with 31-year-old Brazilian girlfriend, Fabiana Flosi. He was punched and kicked to the ground by the gang who took an estimated £200,000 worth of jewellery and watches off the couple. NRA WANTS GUN RIGHTS FOR 18-YEAR-OLDSAmid fears that the National Rifle Association will enjoy more influence following the midterm elections, two lawsuits have been filed in Lubbock, Texas demanding the right for 18-year-olds to buy handguns and carry them is public as concealed weapons. Currently that right is limited to people over 21. The NRA argues that 18-year-olds are considered adult for "almost all purposes" and should enjoy the constitutional right to bear arms. POLICE CHIEF WARNS OF NEW ERA OF UNRESTBritain's most senior police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, has warned of a new era of civil unrest, saying the two recent days of action organised by students were unusually violent and showed that the "the game has changed". The comment by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police was seen as provocative ahead of next Tuesday's plan for classroom walkouts and marches by more than 11,000 students. In pictures: The Day X protests Jonn Elledge: The fair way to fund universities? Income tax LEMBIT OPIK BITTEN BY SNAKEFormer Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik and Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder both drew blood when they were bitten by an Australian carpet python during a task on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! currently filming in Australia. At least Opik will now have something to talk about. Actor Nigel Havers, who walked out of the show earlier this week, gave as one of his reasons for quitting Opik's deadly dull conversation. Havers quits over electric shocks - and Opik's conversation £8 billion to be spent on railways The government has announced plans to invest £8bn in Britain's railways. The plans include 2,100 new carriages to tackle overcrowding and electrification of routes between London and Oxford, and Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackpool. However, the investment will be paid for by increases in fares, which will go up by an average of 6.2 per cent in the new year. Overcrowded railways to get £8bn investment