Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 28 Feb 2012

1. HOMS PHOTOGRAPHER ESCAPES TO LEBANON

Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, injured in the blast that killed his colleague Marie Colvin in Syria last week, has been rescued from the beseiged city of Homs and is reported to be “safe and sound” in Lebanon. The status of another injured journalist, Edith Bouvier, is unclear. President Sarkozy has withdrawn an earlier statement that she was also safe.

2. POLICE EVICT OCCUPY PROTESTERS

Police and bailiffs moved in last night to evict the Occupy protesters from the steps of St Paul's cathedral in London where they had been encamped since October 15. Most of the campers offered no resistance to police as they dragged tents off the site, many of which appeared to still contain belongings.

3. BARCLAYS TOLD TO PAY £500m TAX BILL

Barclays has been ordered by the Treasury to pay £500m in tax it had avoided using complicated financial instruments. The Revenue were told about the tax avoidance schemes by the bank itself after retrospective legislation to end "aggressive tax avoidance" by companies was announced by the government.

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4. COSTA ALLEGRA CRUISE SHIP TOWED

A sister ship of the Costa Concordia – the Italian cruise ship which sank earlier this year – has been taken under tow after it was left adrift in the Indian Ocean with more than 1,000 passengers and crew aboard after a fire caused a power failure. Passengers are expected at the main Seychelles island on Thursday.

5. LEVESON TOLD OF 'CULTURE OF BRIBERY'

Met police deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers yesterday told the Leveson inquiry into media standards that there was a "culture at the Sun of illegal payments" to officials in all areas of public life, in return for stories the vast majority of which were "salacious" and not in the public interest.

6. CAMERON BOWS TO CLEGG OVER NHS

David Cameron has sanctioned a series of changes to his controversial NHS reform bill proposed by Lib Dem deputy PM Nick Clegg, to be put in place by the House of Lords. Clegg says the decision will put patients before profit and prevent the health service from turning into a "US-style market".

7. ROMNEY ACCUSES RIVAL OF 'ROBOCALLS'

US presidential wannabe Mitt Romney has used the eve of a must-win primary in his home state of Michigan to accuse his neck-and-neck rival Rick Santorum of sinking to the last-ditch tactic of using 'robocalls' (automated unsolicited phone calls) to beg Democrat voters to cast their ballots for him.

8. SHOP WORKER COMMITTED £50m FRAUD

A London DIY shop worker who moved from Primrose Hill to Nigeria and used deception to work the political system to become a state governor has admitted fraud totalling almost £50m. James Ibori pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court. When he was arrested he was trying to buy himself a plane.

9. PUTIN MURDER PLOT 'USED AS PR STUNT'

Opponents of Russian PM Vladimir Putin's bid to return to the country's presidency have denounced the authorities for "overplaying" their response to an assassination plan thwarted in Odessa, saying their public TV confession was "part of a clear election campaign". A Putin spokesman said the claim was "blasphemous".

'Convenient' Islamist plot to assassinate Putin is ‘foiled'

10. HOT TICKET: A TASTE OF RAMMSTEIN

The German 'industrial metal' band Rammstein, led by Till Landemann, are on a greatest hits tour of the UK, having received fabulous reviews at London’s O2 Arena. Catch them this week in Newcastle, Manchester or Nottingham. "A show of incandescent magnificence," said The Times.