Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 8 Nov 2010

Chilean miner Edison Pena, New York marathon

published 8 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. CLASHES REPORTED ON THAI-BURMA BORDERSunday's general election in Burma, widely criticised by the West because the rules were skewed to keep the military in power, has already led to clashes with rebel forces on the border of Burma and Thailand. Rebel groups meeting in Thailand last week vowed to overthrow the new Burmese government. Reports of thousands of Karen refugees fleeing into Thailand this morning to escape the fighting suggest it was no empty promise. Edward Loxton: Post-election fighting points to civil war CHILE MINER COMPLETES NEW YORK MARATHONHe hobbled in on a bad knee and took almost six hours, but the Chilean miner Edison Pena, one of the 33 men rescued from the San Jose mine last month, managed to complete yesterday's New York City marathon. The race was won by Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam. World record-holder Haile Gebrselassie was forced out after 16 miles with a knee injury and announced his retirement. Edison Pena sings Elvis on Letterman show POOR 'WILL BE PUSHED OUT' OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND Bath, Chelmsford, Newbury and Maidstone are among towns that will become "no-go" areas for the poor within 15 years because of the coalition government's plans to cut housing benefits. The claim, made by the Chartered Institute of Housing, followed the Archbishop of Canterbury's intervention. He said he was worried by the proposal of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to threaten the long-term unemployed with benefit cuts. Archbishop attacks 'get to work or else' threat LADY GAGA IS BIG WINNER AT MTV EUROPE AWARDS New York singer Lady Gaga won best pop act, best song (Bad Romance) and best female artist at Sunday's MTV European Video Awards in Madrid. She accepted the awards via video link from Budapest where she is on tour. The other big winner was Canadian teen star Justin Bieber, who won the Best Push and best male artist awards. Rihanna, Katy Perry, Shakira and Miley Cyrus all performed live. Eva Longoria was the presenter. BRITAIN BATTERED BY STORM WINDSParts of Britain were suffering 50mph-plus winds this morning, with worse on its way. BBC forecasters warned of falling branches. Parts of Scotland, Wales and northern England can expect sleet and and snow, but no region will have a good day. After a brief respite midweek, storms will return by Friday. QANTAS SCARE: AIRBUS JETS STAY GROUNDED Qantas's fleet of six Airbus A380 passenger jets is staying grounded after technical checks found "anomalies" with the superjumbos' Rolls-Royce engines. CEO Alan Joyce said the checks had found "oil where oil shouldn't be" and that the relatively new engines "shouldn't have these issues at this stage". Checks began when an engine on flight QF32 out of Singapore exploded in midair last Thursday. An Airbus problem or a Qantas problem? In pictures: Airbus A380 comes back down to earth Cristiano Ronaldo wins damages in libel trialThe Daily Telegraph has paid "substantial" damages to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo after a libel trial in London. The newspaper claimed in July 2008 that Ronaldo, then a Manchester United player, had gone to a nightclub in Los Angeles where he had drunk alcohol and danced despite having an injured ankle. The report suggested that Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson would be upset at the news. In reality, Ronaldo had neither drunk alcohol nor put aside his crutches to dance. BERLUSCONI MUST RESIGN, SAYS FORMER ALLY Gianfranco Fini, who co-founded the ruling People of Freedom but now leads the breakaway Future and Freedom party, used a Sunday rally near Perugia to call on Silvio Berlusconi to resign. Referring to allegations concerning showgirls and prostitutes, he blamed Berlusconi for a "progressive loss of decorum". If the PM did not resign, he said, his ministers would withdraw support from the governing coalition. Robert Fox on Berlusconi: world awaits the final aria TREYC COHEN LATEST TO LEAVE THE X FACTOR Treyc Cohen was voted off The X Factor last night. Louis Walsh had the casting vote after Cheryl Cole refused to pick between Cohen and Katie Waissel. Walsh chose Waissel to stay. The Irishman was in trouble the previous night for saying 19-year-old Paije Richardson reminded him of "a little Lenny Henry" - bringing charges of racism on Twitter. Louis Walsh called racist after Lenny Henry quip F1 CHAMPTIONSHIP WIDE OPEN AFTER VETTEL VICTORY The 2010 drivers' championship is still wide open with only one race to go - Abu Dhabi next Sunday - after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who came third at Interlagos, remains the favourite for the title, but both Vettel and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber are in with a chance. Britain's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, fourth and fifth yesterday for McLaren, are out of the running. Jenson Button escapes gunmen in Sao Paulo