Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 4 Sep 2010

published 4 September 2010

Our popular news catch-up service, which until this 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... ANDY COULSON'S JOB 'SAFE' The Prime Minister's media adviser Andy Coulson is said to be safe in his job, despite claims in the New York Times magazine that he condoned the use of illegal voicemail hacking when he was editor of the News of the World. A government source told the BBC that Coulson "is going nowhere" - even if Tessa Jowell is reporting that her phone was hacked 28 times while she was a Cabinet minister. Coulson 'discussed phone hacking', says NYT PARIS HILTON OUT-TWITTEreD Socialite Paris Hilton tried to get out of a recent cocaine bust in Las Vegas by saying the handbag containing the drugs was borrowed from a friend. Good try - but she appears to have been caught out by her own Twittering. She posted a photo of the bag on Twitter a month before she was arrested, with the message: 'Love My New Chanel Purse I Got Today'. Hilton claims she was set up AIR CRASH AND EARTHQUAKE IN NEW ZEALAND The pilot and eight passengers died when a sky-diving plane burst into flames shortly after taking off from an airstrip at Fox Glacier, New Zealand today. The accident occurred only hours after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused serious damage and power cuts in the Christchurch area, on the other side of the South Island. BLAIR 'STILL ADMIRES' BROWN Tony Blair says there are many things he admires about Gordon Brown and he would "probably" still go for a drink with him - despite calling his successor "maddening" in his memoirs. Blair made the comment on the Late Late Show in Dublin, where he also said radical Islam was the biggest threat to the world today. Charitable Brown shows up Bully Blair LET AIR STEWARDESSES FLY, SAYS O'LEARY He's made us pay extra for taking luggage and for using the inflight lavatories. Now Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is suggesting co-pilots could be fired and air stewardesses trained to take over in emergencies. "Why does every plane have two pilots? Really, you only need one pilot," he told Bloomberg BusinessWeek. ENGLAND BEAT BULGARIA 4-0 He still didn't look happy afterwards, but England manager Fabio Capello got the result he needed at Wembley last night - a 4-0 drubbing of Bulgaria, including a classy hat-trick from the striker whose inclusion had raised eyebrows, Jermain Defoe. Wayne Rooney contributed several deft passes but no goal. Adam Johnson scored the fourth. AHMADINEJAD RUBBISHES PEACE TALKS In a live TV broadcast to mark al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Netanyahu-Abbas peace talks as "stillborn and doomed". The Iranian president said: "The fate of Palestine is determined in Palestine and through the resistance of the Palestinian people, rather than in Washington, Paris and London." Alexander Cockburn: Another useless summit 'BUNDLES OF CASH' FOUND IN CRICKETERS' ROOMS Police who searched the hotel rooms of the Pakistani cricket team following last Sunday's allegations of match-rigging found bundles of cash in four players' rooms, according to the Times. The players were the same three suspended by the ICC - captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif - plus wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. Pakistan trio charged by ICC DOCTORS DEMAND KELLY INQUEST Five of the doctors who have questioned whether Dr David Kelly really committed suicide are to ask the High Court to force the Attorney-General to open an inquest into the government scientist's death. The doctors believe the evidence did not support the 2003 Hutton Inquiry finding that Kelly bled to death. NO PLOUGHMAN'S LUNCH IN BRAY 'Snail porridge' chef Heston Blumenthal has been accused of trying to turn Bray into 'Hestonworld' after taking over the Berkshire village's last remaining 'ordinary boozer'. Having found worldwide fame with his innovative cooking at the Fat Duck, he bought the Hind's Head pub - and now he's got the Crown, too. Locals in search of a pint and a ploughman's are upset.