Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 12 Jun 2013

1. LIONEL MESSI 'TAX FRAUD' CLAIMS

Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi and his father are being investigated in Spain for allegedly defrauding the state of more than 4m euros. The 25-year-old Argentina forward and his father, Jorge Horacio, are suspected of filing fraudulent tax returns for 2007-09, officials say. The World Player of the Year has denied the allegation.

2. POLICE QUESTION 57 AFTER G8 ARRESTS

The Met police are questioning 57 people in connection with protests planned for London ahead of the G8 meeting in Northern Ireland next week after making arrests across the city yesterday. Around 100 officers stormed a squat on Beak Street in Soho after a tip-off that protesters meant to use paint bombs.

London police raid G8 protest base: what was that all about?

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3. NSA: SNOWDEN VOWS TO FIGHT EXTRADITION

In his first interview since vanishing from his Hong Kong hotel on Monday, Edward Snowden has told the South China Morning Post: "I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality." He vowed to fight any attempt to extradite him and said of his decision to leak NSA secrets that he was "neither traitor nor hero. I'm an American".

NSA spy scandal boosts sales of Orwell's '1984' - here's why

4. SCHOOLGIRL TELLS OF ‘CRUSH’ ON TEACHER

A court has heard from the schoolgirl who went to France with teacher Jeremy Forrest last year, sparking a major search. The pupil from Eastbourne said she found Forrest “attractive” and the pair started a sexual relationship. She said she “panicked” when the 'affair' was uncovered and fled with him to France.

Schoolgirl tells how affair with maths teacher Forrest all began

5. AUSSIE CRICKETER DROPPED AFTER BRAWL

Australian cricketer David Warner has been "stood down" by the team and faces disciplinary action after punching England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar on Saturday night. Cricket Australia said Warner was being investigated for breaches of its code of conduct, while the ECB said he "initiated an unprovoked physical attack" on an England player.

Australia axe batsman David Warner after Joe Root bar fight

6. OLDEST MAN EVER DIES AT AGE OF 116

Jiroemon Kimura, named by Guinness World Records as both the world’s oldest person and the oldest man ever to live, died in a Kyoto hospital in the early hours of this morning at 116. A former post office worker, Kimura leaves seven children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

7. FRENCH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS STRIKE

There are delays and disruptions on flights from the UK to France and other European destinations today as French air traffic controllers strike. Half of flights to France’s major airports are cancelled as the three-day strike begins. The controllers are objecting to an "unsafe" EU plan to unify airspace across Europe.

Chaos spreads as more workers join French air strike

8. ARIEL CASTRO ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA

Ariel Castro, the 52-year-old man accused of holding three women captive in his Cleveland, Ohio home for about a decade pleaded not guilty today to hundreds of charges, including rape and kidnapping. Castro is charged with kidnapping the three women and keeping them along with a six-year-old girl he fathered with one of them.

Ariel Castro suicide: could his death have been prevented?

9. GREECE SHUTS DOWN STATE TV TO SAVE CASH

The Greek government has suspended the state broadcaster, ERT, calling it a “haven of waste”. Screens went black as the main channel was shut down yesterday evening, with all 2,500 employees sacked. The government said they could reapply for their jobs when the broadcaster is reorganised and re-launched.

Greece axes state broadcaster ERT as austerity grip tightens

10. HOT TICKET: MILLER’S RUTHERFORD & SON

A revival of Githa Sowerby’s 1912 play ‘Rutherford & Son’ has opened at the St James Theatre, London. Jonathan Miller directs the tale of a domineering patriarch who struggles to control his family and business interests in the industrial north. “Blazingly powerful,” says the Evening Standard. Until 29 June.

Miller's Rutherford & Son 'powerful and prescient'