Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 9 Sep 2010

published 8 September 2010

Our popular news catch-up service, which until last week ran only on Monday mornings, is now daily. You can rely on it to keep you up to date with the main news talking points... David cameron's father diesDavid Cameron's father, Ian, has died after suffering a stroke while on holiday in France. The Prime Minister arrived at the hospital where his 77-year-old father (above, with David) was being treated shortly before he passed away. Cameron has described his father as a "huge hero figure" for carving out a successful career as a stockbroker despite being born with no heels. David Cameron's father dies ROONEY SCORES IN ENGLAND WINWayne Rooney put his personal problems to one side and scored his first international goal for a year as England put their World Cup nightmare behind them to beat Switzerland 3-1 in their Euro 2012 qualifier. But despite dominating the first half England did not make the game safe until the closing stages. The result leaves them top of their group. Air hostess says she rebuffed Rooney's advances Rooney’s public school prostitute ‘not the only girl’ CLINTON CONDEMNS koran BURNING Hillary Clinton has weighed into the row about a ‘Koran-burning day’ to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, saying it would be disrespectful and disgraceful. A small, Florida-based evangelical church, has sparked protest across the Muslim world with its plan, called a danger to troops by Gen David Petraeus, US commander in Afghanistan. ‘Ground Zero mosque’ sparks hate crimes MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE GOES TO THE XXThe UK’s most prestigious pop music award was won by London-based electronic trio The xx last night – to the disappointment of Paul Weller fans who saw the former Jam star become odds-on favourite with bookies at the weekend. Judges praised The xx for a genre-busting album which captured the “feeling of uncertainty” caused by recession. Johnny Dee: the Music of Middle Class Origin awards OBAMA TO BE DOGGED BY AD LIB An apparently off-the-cuff remark by Barack Obama during a routine speech has been seized on by commentators as evidence he is on the back foot and expects to do badly in mid-term elections. Obama complained that lobbyists “talk about me like a dog”, a remark which is said to be a huge mistake as it shows weakness – and is expected to haunt him. Obama’s dog comment a mistake, say experts UN ‘FAILED’ CONGO RAPE VICTIMS A senior UN official has admitted that UN peacekeepers have failed women and children in DR Congo, with more than 500 raped in recent weeks despite a UN presence. Atul Khare, assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, told the security council: "Our actions were not adequate, resulting in unacceptable brutalization of the population." BP report shares blame for oil spillBP has published its own report into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, sharing the blame between itself and partners Transocean and Halliburton. Unsurprisingly, BP absolves itself of gross negligence - a crime that could see it fined up to $21.1bn. The report will provide the company with much-needed ammo in its defence of the multi-billion dollar lawsuits it faces. BP starts up the oil spill blame game Afghan mission accomplished, says think tank An influential security think tank has said the main aim of the US and Britain's intervention in Afghanistan has been achieved and Allied troops should be brought home. The International Institute for Strategic Studies says that now al-Qaeda has been removed, the West's military presence "is out of proportion to the threat the Taliban pose outside Afghanistan". ‘Troops Out!’ call from leading Tory think tank GOOGLE launches INSTANT search Google has upped the stakes in the internet search market by introducing Google Instant, which displays the most appropriate search results as soon as a word is typed. Users now needn't trouble themselves to click the 'search' button. The launch explains a series of mysterious 'Google Doodles' whose significance had tech journalists flummoxed. NEW MACHINE CAN READ MINDSUS scientists are a step closer to a mind-reading machine after using a new type of electrode array to successfully convert thought into speech – offering hope to people suffering ‘locked-in syndrome’ who are unable to speak or move. Researchers predicted what word from a list of ten a patient was thinking between 76 and 90 per cent of the time.