Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 7 Jun 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. News of the World apologises to Sienna Miller News Group, the Rupert Murdoch company that owns the News of the World, has apologised to Sienna Miller for hacking into her phone. The statement, read out in court, apologised for "the distress caused to her by accessing of her voicemail messages, the publication of the private information... and the related harassment she suffered". Miller accepted £100,000 in damages last month. Nursery worker pleads guilty to toddler rapePaul Anthony Wilson has pleaded guilty to two counts of raping a toddler in addition to 45 other charges at Birmingham Crown Court. The other charges relate to grooming young girls over the internet and creating and distributing indecent images. Wilson, 20, worked at the Little Stars Nursery in Nechells. He faces an indeterminate sentence when he returns to court on July 27. LLOYD'S REFUSES PAY-OUT TO MICHAEL JACKSON'S ESTATELloyd's of London have gone to court to argue that they have no duty to pay the $17.5m insurance policy for the doomed Michael Jackson (above) comeback tour 'This is It', the Hollywood gossip site TMZ reports. It is claimed that Jackson's promoters fraudulently obtained the policy by failing to disclose that he was taking Propofol, the drug that killed him. GRAYLING FACES STUDENT PROTEST OVER NEW UNIAC Grayling faces a protest today by students angry at his private university, the New College of the Humanities, which opens in September 2012, charging £18,000 for University of London degrees taught by celebrity professors. Mark Bergfel, a member of the National Executive Council of the NUS, dismisses it as "the most elitist attempt ever to privatise higher education". The protest is at 6pm at Foyles in London's Charing Cross Road. AC Grayling’s new college hit by plagiarism row 'Most spreading' tree in the UK identified A tree in Wiltshire has been confirmed as having the "largest single spread" in the UK, the BBC reports. The branches of the 250-year-old Oriental plane at Corsham Court, near Chippenham, have an average spread of 64m. The research was conducted to compile the Tree Register of the British Isles, which identifies 200,000 of the UK's "superlative" trees. HALF OF APPLICANTS FOR OLYMPIC TICKETS GOT NONEFifty-five per cent of those who applied for London 2012 tickets through the ballot received no tickets at all, the BBC reports. About 1.8 million applied for 6.6 million tickets. There are no tickets left for the opening, closing or finals of athletic events, and there are no cheaper tickets left for the promised second ballot. ROYAL MARINES ON STANDBY OFF YEMEN COASTA force of 80 Royal Marines is on standby off the coast of Yemen this morning to help evacuate British civilians if necessary. Against international wishes, President Saleh, in Saudi Arabia for treatment to wounds, fully intends to return to Yemen, according to his vice-president, who has refused to take over from him. Saudi Arabia won’t send Saleh back – will they? RETAIL SALES CRASH AMID ECONOMIC GLOOMRetail sales fell 2.1 per cent in May compared to 2010, the British Retail Consortium reports. The fall is "more realistic" than the minor increase in spending over Easter and the bank holiday. Sales were down from fashion to big-ticket items, making "squeezed" customers’ fear of spending "clear to see". IMF: no change in UK economic policy needed SYRIA TO RETALIATE FOR KILLING OF 120 POLICESyria's government vowed last night to react "decisively" to armed rebels blamed for the deaths of 120 security police in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. Residents responded by saying there would be massive bloodshed if the authorities attempted to restore control by force. SIMON COWELL SAYS HE WAS 'NO MONSTER' Simon Cowell denied last night that he had been "a monster" in pulling Cheryl Cole from the US version of The X Factor talent show. Producers complained that she was not "contributing" as a judge and he wanted to bring her back to Britain to "protect" her. He added: "She wasn't terrible. She was good."

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