Daily Briefing

Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 29 Jan 2012

The Week’s super-quick catch-up on the main news talking points, available from 8am daily

High pay
1. PRESSURE ON RBS OVER £8M BONUSES
RBS chief exec Stephen Hester, vilified for accepting a £963,000 bonus last week, will shortly receive bonuses worth almost £8m, it has emerged. David Cameron is under pressure to intervene - and the decision of RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton to waive his £1.4m shares reward this year makes Hester's payout look particularly bad.
Hester's bonus: much bigger than taxpayers were first told
2. SYRIAN TROOPS MOVE ON DAMASCUS SUBURBS
Syrian tanks are shelling Damascus in an effort to re-take suburbs occupied by rebel forces, the BBC reports. Activists say dozens have been killed in the fiercest fighting so far in the ten-month uprising against the rule of Bashar al-Assad. Earlier, Syria said the Arab League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission was a cynical ploy designed to increase pressure for foreign intervention which would lead to "increase violence".
3. REDUCE WEEKEND DEATHS, NHS TOLD
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has ordered a “fundamental rethink” of how hospitals are run on Saturdays and Sundays after it emerged that mortality rates are up to 20% higher at weekends. Many hospitals close operating theatres and other key facilities at weekends. Lansley said the NHS must become truly “24/7”.
4. POLICE ARREST OVER FA CUP GESTURE
Police have arrested a 59-year-old man over an alleged gesture made at the match between Liverpool and Manchester United. The arrest followed the emergence of a picture which appeared to show a Liverpool fan making a 'monkey’ gesture. Liverpool fans booed each time Patrice Evra - victim of racist abuse by a Liverpool's Suarez - touched the ball.
5. ABBOTT 'FELL ASLEEP' IN PARLIAMENT
Labour MP Diane Abbott fell asleep during a committee meeting on abortion laws, claims a Tory MP. Nadine Dorries said Abbott "slept through" the first meeting, "didn’t turn up" for the second and "arrived late" for a third. Stewart Jackson MP backed up Dorries' sleeping claim which is denied by Abbott, who has since resigned from the committee.
6. REFORM SMACKING LAWS, SAYS MP
Tottenham MP David Lammy has called for the laws against smacking children to be relaxed, saying the fact parents are "no longer sovereign in their own homes" contributed to the summer riots. He added that the current law - which prohibits any force that "reddens the skin" - is irrelevant to his black constituents.
7. BABY JOY FOR FRANK SKINNER AT 55
The comedian and broadcaster Frank Skinner has revealed he is to become a father for the first time at the age of 55. He is expecting the child with his long term partner Cath Mason, an agent. He announced the news on his radio show, saying: "I have something of an announcement to make ... I'm going to be a father."
8. UK 'COULD NOT RECLAIM FALKLANDS'
Britain could not reclaim the Falklands if Argentina invaded again, General Sir Michael Jackson has told The Sunday Telegraph. The former head of the army said defence cuts left the UK in a position where it would be "impossible" to win the Islands back. He also spoke of "disagreeable noises coming from Buenos Aires" over the Islands.
9. RUSSIAN EXILES TO SHAME 'CORRUPT' KREMLINITES
A group of Russian multi-millionaires who fled Moscow say they will use Britain as a base from which to expose corruption at the heart of the Kremlin. The group, which calls itself the International Anti-Corruption Committee, claims it will identify 50 bureaucrats who have stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from the state and hidden it overseas.
10. SUN JOURNALISTS AND OFFICER BAILED
Four journalists and a police officer arrested over alleged payments made to police by journalists from The Sun newspaper have been released on bail. Evidence of the alleged payments had been handed by News International to Scotland Yard, in a move described by the corporation as evidence of its determination to "drain the swamp".