Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 6 Apr 2010

Mine workers rescued in Shanxi province of China

published 6 April 2010

Slept through the Today programme? Forgot to buy the Sunday papers? Unaware the long Easter holiday was finally over? The First Post's post-weekend service, posted at 8.0 am, is designed to help... MINERS' FAMILIES CELEBRATE 'MIRACLE' RESCUEMore than 100 mineworkers were pulled to safety yesterday after being trapped for eight days in a flooded mine shaft in northern China without food and water. Some of the men survived by strapping themselves to the walls with their belts, after a water flooded through the Wangjialing pit like a tidal wave. Three-thousand rescue workers have been toiling since March 28 to save the men. On Monday they found 115 alive; this morning they are still hoping to save 33 men known to trapped. But after finding five bodies overnight, hope is running out. GENERAL ELECTION A CLOSE-RUN THINGGordon Brown is due to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament this morning after which he will call the general election for May 6. Opinion polls are giving mixed signals: a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times put the Tories 10 points ahead, suggesting a small majority for David Cameron. An ICM poll for the Guardian yesterday put the lead at only four points, which could mean Brown hanging onto power in a hung parliament. The Mole... POPE REFUSES TO APOLOGISERoman Catholic archbishops across Europe used Easter Day sermons to apologise to their congregations for the church's lax treatment of paedophile priests in the past, and urged worshippers not to abandon the church. But there was no apology from Pope Benedict in his Easter address at the Vatican, despite the recent wave of criticism. Elsewhere, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was forced to express his "deep sorrow and regret" for saying on Radio 4's Start the Week, broadcast yesterday, that the Irish Catholic church had "lost all credibility". EASTER SPORTS PARADEHeavyweight boxer David Haye hopes to take on Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium this autumn after putting on dazzling display at the Manchester MEN Arena on Saturday to stop Hispanic-American fighter John Ruiz in the ninth round. Cambridge beat favourites Oxford to won the University Boat Race. Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 to go top of the Premier League. Arsenal stay third after beating Wolves 1-0 with a last-minute header by Nicklas Bendtner. Pictures.... QUEEN WANTS MONARCHY CUT TO 'FAB FOUR'The Queen aims to tighten the royal belt and reduce the number of active, hospital-opening royals to just four - herself, Prince Charles and her grandsons Princes William and Harry. "Her Majesty ... is determined to pass on a fit and healthy institution," a royal source is reported to have told the News of the World. The slimmed-down monarchy will reportedly be phased in from this June. US TYCOON BACKS VIRGIN BANK BIDSir Richard Branson's bid to take Virgin into high street banking has received a boost with the news that the 72-year-old American entrepreneur Wilbur Ross is paying £100m for a 21 per cent stake in Virgin Money and has declared himself ready to put up a further £500m to help Branson buy part of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Ross, who made his name turning round coal and steel businesses in the US, is putting his number two, James Lockhart, on the Virgin Money board. TIGER WOODS 'BLOWN AWAY' BY FANSTiger Woods, making his comeback this week at the US Masters, told a packed press conference on Monday that he had been "blown away" by the reception of fans during a practice round at Augusta, Georgia. He also appeared relieved to have been greeted warmly by fellow professionals. But he admitted that his wife Elin Nordegren would not be attending the tournament. More... EMMANUEL COLLEGE WIN UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE The team from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, led by their 19-year-old captain Alex Guttenplan, coasted to victory over St John's College, Oxford in yesterday's final of the BBC2 quiz, University Challenge, winning by 315 to 100 points. Guttenplan had captivated viewers with his wide general knowledge and his calm in the face of the notoriously feisty host, Jeremy Paxman. When in an earlier round he paused momentarily before answering a question about the poet WH Auden correctly, Paxman told him: "Good guess". Guttenplan responded: "It wasn't a guess." BOB DYLAN SCRAPS EAST ASIA TOURBob Dylan has pulled out of a tour of East Asia after being refused permission to perform in Shanghai and Beijing by the Chinese government who were unimpressed by the 68-year-old singer's counter-culture image. "The chance to play in China was the main attraction for him," said a spokesman for the tour organisers. "When that fell through everything else was called off." The British band Oasis were similarly barred from performing in China last year. CHERIE BLAIR STARTS A FIRE Three fire engines were called to the Buckinghamshire mansion of Tony and Cherie Blair at the weekend after the former PM's wife burnt the toast. One of their neighbours in Wotton Underwood told the Daily Mail: "We have had dinner invitations from them but we've always had prior commitments so we've had to decline. Just as well, if preparing a few slices of toast is too taxing."