Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 7 Jul 2011

published 7 July 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. NEWS OF THE WORLD IS TO CLOSE The closure of the News of the World was announced this afternoon by James Murdoch (above), chairman of News International. Next Sunday's paper will be the last in the title's 168-year history. The shock announcement followed news that the Royal British Legion had dropped the paper as its campaign partner over claims that it hacked into voicemails of the families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. The charity said it felt "revulsion" over the allegations. News of the World closes - Sunday Sun mooted The Mole: Blame it on Vince Cable and the Telegraph girls Alexander Cockburn on Murdoch and the NoW FACEBOOK GOES INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH SKYPEFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (above, right) has unveiled a deal with Skype which will allow users to make video calls to friends without leaving the social networking site. At a press conference yesterday, Zuckerberg played down Google's new rival social network, saying: "I'm not going to talk too much about Google." Facebook hurts Google+ with Skype video chat US WARNs 'TERRORISTS WILL EAT BOMBS'The US department of homeland security has warned airlines to expect attacks from terrorists carrying so-called "belly bombs" internally to beat security checks. Officials say al-Qaeda is working on techniques to surgically implant devices in suicide bombers. They warned passengers flying into the US to expect "additional security". INTEREST RATEs HELD AT 0.5 PER CENTThe Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held interest rates at the record low of 0.5 per cent for the 28th month in a row. Although inflation is running at 4.5 per cent no rise was expected because of the weakness of the UK's economic recovery. It is feared an increase in rates would jeopardise what growth the economy has seen. BSKYB DECISION FACES DELAYSShares in BSkyB have fallen after it emerged that cuture secretary Jermy Ford was unlikely to make a decision on the proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation until at least September. The News of the World phone hacking scandal has triggered a deluge of submissions to the government's consultation which could take months to clear. WORKER KILLED AS STADIUM ROOF COLLAPSESPart of the roof at the stadium of Dutch football team FC Twente has collapsed, killing one construction worker and injuring more than a dozen others. The accident happened during building work to expand the capacity of the ground in Enschede. Eyewitnesses said the collapse happened when a crane drove into the stand. HARRY POTTER FANS DESCEND ON LONDONHarry Potter fans have invaded central London ahead of the world premiere of the final film in the series tonight. The movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, will be shown at three cinemas in Leicester Square, but the red carpet will extent to Trafalgar Square, where fans in fancy dress have gathered despite the wet weather. Final Harry Potter film is ‘monumental cinema’ In pictures: Harry Potter premiere in London INDIA: WEDDING PARTY OF 31 KILLED BY TRAINAt least 31 people coming home from a wedding party died in Uttar Pradesh this morning when a train hit their bus and dragged it for over 300 yards along the tracks. The bus had stopped at an unmanned railway crossing because of a broken axle when the train slammed into it. The bride and groom were not involved in the smash. WIKILEAKS FOUNDER CHANGES MIND ON MEMOIRSJulian Assange, the driving force behind whistle-blowing site Wikileaks, has changed his mind about the memoirs he agreed to co-write with novelist Andrew O'Hagan for a reported £930,000, fearing he might give ammunition to US prosecutors. Publisher Canongate had sold the rights to 35 countries around the world. PENSIONER TRIED TO KILL WIFE WITH ELECTRIC CHAIRA 61-year-old retiree has admitted he tried to kill his wife by getting her to sit on a home-made electric chair. Andrew Castle was said to be unable to deal with his wife Margaret's request for a divorce and rigged up the device to murder her. When the attempt went wrong, and she ran away, he tried to use the chair on himself.