Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 1 Aug 2012

1. PHELPS IS GREATEST EVER OLYMPIAN

American swimmer Michael Phelps has become the greatest Olympian of all time, winning a record 19th medal, silver in the 4x200m relay yesterday evening. But he had a shock disappointment when he lost a 200m butterfly final for the first time since 2001 to a blistering finish from 20-year-old South African Chad le Clos.

Is Phelps the greatest? Rivals for his Olympic crown think not

2. BADMINTON PLAYERS DISQUALIFIED

Eight women's doubles badminton players have been disqualified from the Olympics for deliberately trying to lose their games on Tuesday. A team from China, two from South Korea and another from Indonesia were thrown out after they tried to lose group-stage games to manipulate their quarter-final draw.

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China 'cheats' in the dock again after badminton fiasco

3. TEAM GB WINS FIRST GOLD MEDALS

Team GB claimed its first gold medals of the London Olympics today. Rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning triumphed in the women's pair before cyclist Bradley Wiggins won the time trial at Hampton Court Palace. Chris Froome came third in the cycling to give Team GB another bronze.

Bradley v Borat: can Wiggins halt the sneers for Team GB?

4. GORE VIDAL DEAD AT AGE OF 86

Novelist, fearless political commentator and society wit Gore Vidal died last night at his home in Los Angeles of pneumonia at the age of 86, his family has confirmed. Vidal once dubbed Ronald Reagan "the acting president", criticised the US after 9/11 and wrote ground-breakingly about homosexuality as early as the 1950s.

Gore Vidal dies at 86: ten things you might want to know

5. HOUSE PRICES FALLING, SAYS LENDER

Building society and mortgage lender Nationwide says house prices have fallen across the UK for the fourth time in five months. A drop of 0.7 per cent in July has taken price 2.6 per cent lower than they were 12 months ago, with the average host now costing £164,389. Nationwide said wet weather was only partly to blame.

6. MICROSOFT DROPS HOTMAIL NAME

Software giant Microsoft is to drop the name and identity of Hotmail, its free webmail service since 1998. It will be replaced by Outlook.com, a webmail service with integrated video chat using Skype. In a move seen as a challenge to Google's Gmail, the new service will allow users to sort email as it arrives to avoid junk.

7. ARGENTINE WAR CEMETERY VANDALISED

The relatives of 200 Argentine war dead buried on the Falklands Islands have complained to the British ambassador in Buenos Aires after a cemetery was vandalised. Police are investigating after the glass in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary was broken. Relatives of the dead called it an "act of sacrilege".

No excuses for desecration of Argentines' Falklands cemetery

8. RAUSING ADMITS WIFE DEATH CHARGE

Billionaire Hans Kristian Rausing today admitted a charge of preventing the lawful or decent burial of his wife, Eva, after she died at their £70m London home in May. The couple had both fought drug addiction and Isleworth Crown Court heard that Rausing hid his wife's body under clothing and bin bags after she died. Her remains were discovered last month.

9. 'BLACK WEDNESDAY' AS DOCTORS START

Today is so-called 'black Wednesday', the annual day when thousands of junior doctors start new jobs across the UK and thousands more change roles as they start a new year of training - leading to a spike in death rates. Patients admitted on the first Wednesday in August are said to be six per cent more likely to die.

10. HOT TICKET: LONDON IN BLACK AND WHITE

Tate Britain's summer exhibition, 'Another London', documents the city through the eyes of foreign photographers who visited it between 1930 and 1980. The show features 180 works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Dora Maar and Irving Penn among many others. “Rich and arresting”, says the FT.

Tate's Another London: see the city through foreign eyes