Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 29 May 2013

1. NHS SURGERY: HIGHER RISK ON A FRIDAY

NHS patients who have surgery on a Friday are 44% more likely to die than those who have procedures on a Monday, according to researchers at Imperial College London who examined data from 4m non-emergency operations. The reason is thought to be a poorer quality of aftercare at weekends, when more staff are off-duty.

2. LEE RIGBY DIED OF 'INCISED WOUNDS'

Detectives investigating the brutal murder of drummer Lee Rigby have reiterated an appeal for witnesses to come forward a week after his murder in Woolwich, as a post-mortem concluded the soldier had died from ‘multiple incised wounds’. Police returned to the scene of the 25-year-old’s murder today to hand out leaflets.

Lee Rigby died of multiple wounds, post-mortem shows

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

3. UNIS' 'RATE YOUR SHAG' PAGES DELETED

FACEBOOK has been forced to remove a number of pages encouraging UK university students to rate the performances of their sexual partners online, as students posting on the pages were told they could face disciplinary or possibly legal action. The pages were created by students from various British universities earlier this week.

'Rate Your Shag' university Facebook pages deleted

4. MOD MOVES FAST ON GUANTANAMO CHARGE

The Ministry of Defence will seek to hand over to the Afghan authorities up to 90 suspected insurgents who have been kept at Camp Bastion, without charge, and possibly unlawfully, in circumstances that call to mind Guantanamo Bay, according to lawyers. The MoD says it has "identified a safe transfer route" for the prisoners to be handed over.

5. US OFFICALS CLOSE 'UNDERWORLD BANK'

Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rica-based digital currency company, has been closed amid charges that it was the "financial hub of the cyber-crime world". Five men, including founder Arthur Budovsky, have been charged with money-laundering. Prosecutors in New York say it laundered the proceeds of credit card fraud, child pornography and drug trafficking.

US closes firm accused of '$6bn money-laundering'

6. OXFORD 'SHOULD NAME COLLEGE AFTER MRS T'

Boris Johnson says Oxford University should name a college after Margaret Thatcher. The London Mayor, who read classics at Balliol, told the Global University Summit that the university must "accept the gravity of their error" in refusing to award Thatcher an honorary doctorate in 1985 and, "in the spirit of magnanimity", set up a college in her name.

7. DRONE 'KILLS' TALIBAN'S NO. 2 IN PAKISTAN

Senior Taliban militants in Pakistan, including its second most senior commander, have reportedly been killed by a US drone strike overnight. At least four people, including the Pakistani Taliban's deputy commander Wali ur-Rehman, were killed when the remote-controlled aircraft struck a target in the North Waziristan region.

Taliban's No.2 leader 'killed' by US drone strike in Pakistan

8. FACEBOOK BOWS TO WOMEN'S PROTEST

Facebook has agreed to review its policy on content promoting violence against women following a week-long protest campaign by women's groups. Examples of degrading content include a photograph of a woman in a pool of blood with the caption "I like her for her brains" and a picture of Rihanna's bloodied face captioned: "Chris Brown's Greatest Hits".

Facebook caves in over content degrading to women

9. CONFUSION AS ASHLEY COLE NAMED CAPTAIN

England and Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole has been handed the England captaincy for tonight's friendly against Ireland at Wembley to mark his 100th cap. Manager Roy Hodgson confused sports writers, however, by suggesting that having led the team out and tossed the coin, Cole would defer to Frank Lampard.

Ashley Cole is made England captain for the night (sort of)

10. HOT TICKET: 'SHOW OF YEAR' AT ASHMOLEAN

A new exhibition, 'Master Drawings', has opened at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The selection of works on paper from its internationally renowned collection spans 500 years and includes drawings by Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Degas, Cezanne and David Hockney. "Drawing exhibition of the year," says the FT. Until 18 August.

Show of the year: Ashmolean's dazzling Master Drawings