Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 3 Jun 2011

published 3 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. MLADIC CALLS war crimes CHARGES 'MONSTROUS'Former Bosnian-Serb army general Ratko Mladic has appeared for the first time in the dock at the Hague war crimes tribunal. Mladic told the court after his rights had been read: "I am a gravely ill man and need more time to understand what was read out so please be patient." The charges against Mladic include genocide and relate, among other events, to the Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Muslims were killed. Mladic called the charges "monstrous". FOUR DEAD IN WELSH OIL REFINERY EXPLOSIONAn investigation is underway into an explosion at the Chevron oil refinery in Pembroke Dock, Wales, last night which killed four people. Police said that a 730 cubic metre storage tank exploded during maintenance work. It was described as a "tragic accident". SPAIN DEMANDS COMPENSATION FOR E.COLI SCARESpanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain will demand reparations for the economic losses suffered because the country was wrongly blamed as the source of the E.coli that has killed 18 people and left hundreds more seriously ill. Tens of thousands of kilos of fruit and vegetables have been destroyed after import bans. Briefing: Deadly German E. coli is a new strain, says WHO BLOGGER CLAIMS BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT IS RIGGEDSaturday's final of Britain's Got Talent has been rigged for victory by 12-year-old favourite Ronan Parke, a blogger claimed yesterday. Simon Cowell denied it and lodged a complaint of criminal "malicious communications" with the police. The blogger claims Cowell signed a secret management deal with Parke two years ago. FBI TO INVESTIGATE GOOGLE HACKING FROM CHINAThe FBI is to investigate "very serious" allegations that the Google accounts of senior US government officials have been attacked by Chinese hackers, secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced last night. In the face of Chinese denials, Google claims "hundreds" of users have been hacked from Jinan in Shandong province. CRACKDOWN ON SEXUALISED VIDEO CONTENTThe government plans to tighten regulations on sexualised music videos produced by artists such as Rihanna and Christina Aguilera, according to the Guardian. Among proposals are a single portal for parents to complain about products they deem inappropriate for their children. Can the government stop sexualisation of children? In pictures: Cher has a lot to answer for FRench sexism soar after dsk arrestThe number of sexual harassment complaints submitted to women's support groups in France has risen 600 per cent since Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest on sexual assault allegations last month. Olivia Cattan, president of Paroles de Femmes, told the Independent: "The telephone never stops ringing... It's as if an invisible barrier has broken." NEW YORK TIMES APPOINTS FIRST FEMALE EDITORThe New York Times, long referred to as the Old Grey Lady for its austere tone, has appointed staff veteran Jill Abramson as its first female executive editor, the top job, in its 160 years. She said the appointment felt like "ascending to Valhalla". She replaces retiring editor Bill Keller. KIDNAPPER 'STOLE MY LIFE' SAYS JAYCEE DUGARD Jaycee Dugard, the 31-year-old Californian who was kidnapped as a child and held captive in squalor for 18 years, told her kidnapper Phillip Garrido yesterday: "I hated every second of every day for 18 years. You stole my life." Garrido was sentenced to 431 years, and his wife, Nancy, to 36 years. Jaycee Dugard and the parallels with Fritz and McCann SONY HACKED AGAIN AND USERS' DETAILS STOLENHacker group Lulz Security yesterday claimed that it had attacked SonyPictures.com and stolen more than one million passwords, email addresses and other information including addresses and dates of birth of customers. In April, hackers broke in the PlayStation network and stole data from more than 77 million accounts.