Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 28 Oct 2010

published 28 October 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... BORIS ATTACKS 'KOSOVO-STYLE SOCIAL CLEANSINGA row between Boris Johnson and David Cameron over housing benefit cuts has turned nasty. Referring to proposals which will likely force poor families to leave London, the Tory mayor told BBC radio: "We will not accept any kind of Kosovo-style social cleansing of London." A spokesman said the PM "doesn't agree with what Boris Johnson has said or indeed the way he said it." The Mole: Boris riles Cameron with Kosovo remark JAMES BOND'S ASTON MARTIN SOLD FOR £2.6M Even James Bond fans are feeling the pinch. The silver Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger and Thunderball went for only £2.6m at a London auction on Wednesday. Complete with ejector seats, a bullet-proof shield and revolving license plates, it had been expected to fetch over £3m. The new owner's identity is a mystery. WASHINGTON DC BOMB PLOT: MAN ARRESTEDA Pakistani-born US citizen was arrested on Wednesday and charged with plotting to bomb stations on the Washington DC metro. Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Virginia, appears to have been caught in an FBI sting operation, volunteering to help undercover agents he believed were al-Qaeda operatives. He took video footage of four stations, two of them near the Pentagon. EXMOOR EMPEROR MAY BE ALIVE AFTER ALLThe 9ft red stag known as the Exmoor Emperor (above) may not have been killed, as was widely reported earlier this month. There have been several sightings of the magnificent stag since its reported demise at the hands of a trophy hunter. One theory is that its death was invented by local people to protect the animal. "Most locals are fiercely protective of this stag, knowing him very well," said one farmer. CAMERON PLEADS FOR LOWER EU BUDGETDavid Cameron travelled to Brussels today, admitting he faced a "difficult" summit meeting. He hoped to persuade other European leaders that a six per cent rise in the EU budget was "unacceptable" and that any increase should be as low as possible. A six per cent rise would cost the UK nearly £1bn a year. MI6 AGENT'S DEATH 'STILL A MYSTERY' Latest tests for drugs, alcohol and poisons on the body of the MI6 agent Gareth Williams, found dead in his London flat in August, have all drawn a blank. A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said no further tests would be carried out, but inquiries would continue in an effort to establish how his body came to be inside a sports holdall. TSUNAMI: WHY THERE WAS NO WARNINGThe death toll in the Mentawai islands of Indonesia has risen above 300, and at least 500 people are still unaccounted for, following Monday's tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake. It has been confirmed that an early-warning system installed after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean was not working. Two devices that measure waves had been vandalised - but had not been immediately replaced because of the expense. In pictures: tsunami hits Indonesia KARL ROVE QUESTIONS PALIN'S LACK OF GRAVITAS George Bush's former political advisor Karl Rove has questioned whether Sarah Palin has the necessary gravitas to run for the presidency. Referring to her upcoming TV show from Alaska, he said: "With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'That helps me see you in the Oval Office'." Palin 'lacks gravitas' to be president AL-JAZEERA VIDEO: BIN LADEN THREATENS FRANCE A video posted on Al-Jazeera's website purports to carry the voice of Osama bin Laden threatening revenge for France's support of the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and for the ban on burkas. The voice claims that the recent kidnap of five French nationals in Niger by 'Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb' was just the start. Video: Bin Laden threatens France BBC JOURNALISTS TO STRIKE Members of the National Union of Journalists at the BBC have voted to stage two 48-hour strikes - on November 5/6 and November 15/16 - over the corporation's plans to reduce their generous pension entitlement. The union said they were being asked to "pay more, work longer and receive lower pensions".