Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 7 Aug 2012

1. TEAM GB BEATS OLYMPIC GOLD RECORD

Team GB today claimed its 20th gold medal of London 2012, surpassing its record haul from the Beijing Olympics. Alistair Brownlee won the men's triathlon and the dressage team then triumphed to make the 2012 Olympics the most successful of modern times. Team GB's cyclists were set to add the tally at the velodrome on Tuesday evening.

2. CAMEROON ATHLETES DISAPPEAR IN LONDON

Seven members of the Cameroon squad have gone missing from the Olympic Village in London according to officials. It is thought they want to remain in Europe rather than return home. The missing athletes are the reserve goalkeeper of the women's football squad, a swimmer and five boxers.

3. CLEGG: COALITION CONTRACT IS 'BROKEN'

Nick Clegg said yesterday the Coalition "contract" is "broken" as the alliance collapse with the Lib Dems deciding to block electoral boundary changes in retaliation after the Conservatives dropped their support of Lords reform. Clegg said: "Coalition works on mutual respect." Tory Jeremy Hunt said he was "very disappointed".

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

Lords reform fiasco threatens to kibosh Clegg deal with Labour

4. STANDARD CHARTERED IN IRAN SCANDAL

British multinational bank Standard Chartered has been accused by US regulators of helping Iran launder billions of dollars. The bank is accused of hiding £160bn which was used to fund Hezbollah and Iran's nuclear programme. The New York Department of Financial Services is threatening to revoke the firm's New York licence to bank.

Standard Chartered scandal: what is UK bank accused of?

5. ART CRITIC ROBERT HUGHES DEAD AT 74

Australian-born art critic Robert Hughes, who lived in New York for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 74 after battling illness. Hughes was feted for his historical account of the founding of Australia, The Fatal Shore. His wife, Doris Downes Hughes, said she was at his side in Calvary Hospital, NYC, when he died.

Robert Hughes: the Aussie who crashed through art's barriers

6. COALITION HAS SOLD 21 PLAYING FIELDS

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt says the government wants to use Olympic success to boost participation in school sports. But The Guardian reports the Coalition has approved the sell-off of 21 school sports pitches since coming to power in 2010 and observes that seven of Team GB went to the same private school, Millfield.

7. U.S. SAYS SYRIAN REGIME IS 'CRUMBLING'

Following the shock defection of his Prime Minister, Riad Hajib, said to be in Qatar, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime is crumbling, says the US. A spokesman said the defection was "just the latest indication that Assad has lost control of Syria and that the momentum is with the opposition forces and the Syrian people".

8. SIKH TEMPLE GUNMAN WAS NEO NAZI

Wade Michael Page, the 40-year-old who murdered six worshippers at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Sunday before being shot dead by police, was the frontman of white supremacist hardcore rock group End Apathy, it has emerged. Page was a US Army veteran who received a discharge that was "not honourable".

Wade Michael Page: Sikh temple killer was a neo-Nazi rocker

9. NOT ON FACEBOOK? YOU MUST BE A PSYCHO

Not joining social networking site Facebook is a sign of psychopathy, reports the Daily Mail, pointing out that neither the alleged Batman shooter John Holmes, nor Norwegian mass murder Anders Breivik were signed up. The paper says some employers and psychologists consider a refusal to join to be "suspicious".

Not on Facebook? You're probably a psychopath

10. HOT TICKET: CURIOUS NIGHTS AT THE NATIONAL

Mark Haddon’s quirky novel /The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time/, in which we see the world through the eyes of an autistic teenager, has been turned into a play at the National Theatre. Luke Treadaway plays 15-year-old maths genius Christopher. “Funny and extremely moving,” says the Telegraph.

Mark Haddon's cult novel makes a curiously good play