Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 23 Nov 2011

1. JAMES MURDOCH QUITS SUN AND TIMES BOARDS

Under-fire media baron James Murdoch has stepped down from the boards of News Group Newspapers Limited, which publishes The Sun, and Times Newspapers Limited, which runs The Times and Sunday Times. He has also quit as a director of News International Holdings. However, he remains executive chairman of News International and deputy chief operating officer of News Corp.

James Murdoch quits Times and Sun boards: er, sort of

2. UN CHIEF CALLS FOR EGYPT PROBE

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an independent probe into the deaths of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square at the hands of Egyptian security forces. Activists remain in the square despite a promise from Field Marshall Tantawi, Egypt's top military officer, for a speedier handover to civilian rule and presidential elections before July.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Egypt's army appeals to Tahrir but public anger unstoppable

3. HACKING 'WIDESPREAD' SAYS SOLICITOR

Mark Lewis, the solicitor representing several victims of press intrusion, including the family of Milly Dowler, has told the Leveson Inquiry that journalists believed phone hacking was "no worse than speeding" and that he felt it was widespread across the media. Kate McCann, the mother of missing girl Madeleine, told the inquiry she felt "violated" when her diary was published by the News of the World.

'This is not the Steve Coogan and Hugh Grant show'

4. HOUSE PRICE DROP: 'GET USED TO IT'

David Miles, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, says house prices will not return to pre-credit crunch levels and suggests that young people may have to wait until they are in their forties to buy a home. He did not "think we should regret" the transformation of the housing market.

5. THREE REPORTS REVEAL RUGBY FIASCO

The extent of England's Rugby World Cup fiasco was exposed last night by the leaking of confidential reports into events in New Zealand from the RFU, the players' union and the professional clubs. Players and RFU officials both accuse some squad members of being more interested in "getting cash and caps" than improving their game.

England rugby players 'cared more about money than sport'

6. REAL WAGES FALL BY 3.5% IN UK

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that average salaries in the UK have fallen by 3.5% in real terms as pay rises fail to keep pace with inflation. An average full-time employee earned £26,200 in the year to April, up 1.4% on the previous 12 months. However, with inflation running at 5%, that amounts to a pay cut.

7. LIVERPOOL CRIME FAMILY JAILED

Seven members of three generations of the Whitney crime family in Liverpool, and six more of their associates, were jailed for up to nine years yesterday for wholesaling heroin, cocaine and crack across the city's housing estates. Boss Paul Whitney, 33, shared the dock with, among others, mother Carol, 54, father Leslie, 57, and sister Lisa, 30.

Family-run Whitney drugs gang jailed in Liverpool

8. CLIMATEGATE 2: NEW ROW ERUPTS

A new row over global warning, dubbed Climategate 2, has erupted after emails between prominent scientists were leaked online on the eve of the COP17 UN talks. They are thought to be from the same batch that were posted on the internet two years ago before talks in Copenhagen. The leak is thought to be an attempt to discredit the theory that humans are causing climate change.

Scientist slams 'pathetic' climategate 2 email dump

9. FACEBOOK SHRINKS DEGREES OF SEPARATION

A Facebook study claimed yesterday that the social network has reduced the "degrees of separation" between all people from the "six degrees" proposed by Hungarian Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 to just 4.74. Data scientist Lars Backstrom said that means that of any of Facebook's 721 million members, "a friend of your friend knows a friend of their friend".

Facebook has reduced six degrees of separation to 4.7

10. HOT TICKET: ROCK WITH THE PRINCE

Rock and pop royalty are stepping on stage tonight for The Prince's Trust Rock Gala, one of the biggest charity fundraisers of the year. Pete Townsend, Boy George, Chris De Burgh, Julian Lennon and singing comedian Tim Minchin are among the acts making an appearance. Tickets remain available for the Royal Albert Hall concert.