Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 28 Jun 2011

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published 28 June 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. HIGHER EDUCATION 'COMPETITION' PLAN UNVEILEDGovernment plans to introduce competition to higher education in Britain and give students consumer powers were due to be unveiled on Tuesday. Universities minister David Willetts said he wanted to put "students in the driving seat". The National Union of Students said it would cause "complete market chaos". PM IN LAST-DITCH CALL TO HALT THURSDAY'S STRIKEPrime Minister David Cameron will make another call to public sector workers to call of Thursday’s strike over pension reforms when he addresses the Local Government Association (LGA) conference today. It follows the collapse of talks between the gvernment and unions on Monday. Up to 750,000 teachers and civil servants are set to strike. NADAL FIT TO CARRY ON AT WIMBLEDON Wimbledon tennis champ Rafa Nadal has announced he is fit to play in the quarter-finals of Wednesday after an injury scare. The Spanish champion injured his foot against Juan Martin Del Potro on Monday, but later wrote on Facebook: "The tests don't show an injury. Today I will practise and I'll play tomorrow." In pictures: Wimbledon's manic Monday VIOLENCE IN GREECE AS STRIKE HITS Riot police have clashed with protestors after Greek unions launched a general strike this morning, rejecting calls for cuts after PM George Papandreou told MPs debating his austerity plan that it is the only way to avoid national debt default and get the country "back on its feet". Police fired teargas as violence broke out in Athens. In pictures: violence in Athens as Greeks go on strike MICHELLE YEOH DEPORTED FROM BURMAActress Michelle Yeoh was deported from Burma after being blacklisted for playing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The former Bond girl travelled to Burma to try and meet Suu Kyi, who she plays in Luc Besson's forthcoming film, The Lady. The Malaysian-born actress was put on a plane home soon after landing in Rangoon. SOUTH EAST ON ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMSSouth east England was put on alert for flash flooding as violent storms spread across the region on Monday afternoon. Lightning struck the control tower at Gatwick Airport leading to delays for passengers, and in south London firefighters were called to a blaze in a residential tower block thought to have been hit by lightning. POLICE DOG HANDLER ATTEMPTS SUICIDESgt Ian Craven, 49, head of the Met Police Dog Training Establishment, was being treated yesterday after slashing his wrists following the discovery on Sunday that he had left two dogs, a Belgian Malinois bitch and an Alasatian puppy, to die of heat in his locked vehicle. Police dog handler ‘attempts suicide’ after dogs die in car CHINESE DEMAND £1m from AI WEIWEI Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been told to pay the Beijing authorities £1m in unpaid taxes, according to his friends. The artists was detained for almost three months by the government before being released last week. His family and human rights activists deny that he owes tax and say he was detained because of his politics. MAN WHO 'SOLD' OBAMA'S SENATE SEAT FACES JAIL Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor, was found guilty yesterday of trying to sell the US Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. He was convicted of 17 charges of attempted bribery and extortion, and faces a 300-year jail sentence. He said: "Frankly, I'm stunned." MICHELE BACHMANN DECLARES WHITE HOUSE RUNMichele Bachmann, the Tea Party leader in the US Congress, officially declared in Iowa yesterday that she will run for the Republican nomination for the White House next year. She said she was "the bold choice", with "real solutions" coming from "the most powerful unit of all - our families." Michele Bachmann gives Palin a nasty surprise