Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 28 Aug 2013

1. SYRIA: UN URGES INTERVENTION DELAY

Britain and the US are under pressure to delay any military intervention in Syria after UN chief Ban Ki-moon said more time should be allowed for inspections of the site of the chemical attack near Damascus. The UK's National Security Council gave its unanimous backing for a response to the atrocity today. The issue will be debated by parliament tomorrow.

Syria: should MPs support UK military intervention?

2. FACEBOOK: GOVT DEMANDS FOR DATA

Government agencies around the world demanded information on 38,000 Facebook users in the first half of the year, with the majority of requests from the US. The UK asked for data on 2,337 people- 68% of which were approved. The social networking site said it hoped the figures- released for the first time last night- would help the "ongoing debate" about how governments use data.

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

Governments flood Facebook with personal data requests

3. CARNEY VOWS TO KEEP RATES LOW

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, has used his first major speech to press home his determination to keep interest rates at their record lows until the "fledgling" economic recovery is secured. The Canadian left the door ajar to a fresh round of quantitative easing if market turmoil threatened to choke off growth.

Mark Carney's 'ingenious' reversal of forward guidance

4. FORMER JPMORGAN TRADER ARRESTED

A former trader for JPMorgan, wanted in the US in connection with the "London whale" trading scam, has been arrested by Spanish police. Javier Martin-Artajo is accused of altering bank records to hide $6.2bn in trading losses. Prosecutors have alleged that traders "creatively cook the books" to bolster the market value of an investment portfolio.

'London Whale' scandal: ex-JPMorgan banker held

5. 'TWO YEARS JAIL' FOR PERU DRUGS WOMAN

Michaella McCollum Connolly would spend as little as two years in a Peruvian jail if she pleads guilty to trafficking £1.5m of cocaine, her lawyer has said. Peter Madden warned that Connolly, who is from Northern Ireland, could spend the same amount of time in jail before receiving a trial if she continues to plead not guilty.

6. KING'S 'DREAM' SPEECH REMEMBERED

Fifty years since Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, veterans of the civil rights era and campaigners will meet in Washington today to remember his landmark address on racial tolerance. US president Barack Obama will make an address while across the country bells will ring to mark his final words, "let freedom ring".

Martin Luther King in quotes

7. JOE FRANCIS JAILED FOR ASSAULT

JOE Francis, the millionaire creator of the "amateur porn company" Girls Gone Wild has been jailed for attacking a woman at his Los Angeles mansion. The 40-year-old US entrepreneur will appeal against the 270-day jail term and a court order requiring him to undertake an anger-management course and attend 52 psychological counselling sessions

Girls Gone Wild's Joe Francis jailed for assault

8. TWERKING DANCES INTO DICTIONARY

Twerking, the raunchy dance move performed by Miley Cyrus at the MTV video awards, has been added to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary. Other words included are Omnishambles - the word popularised by TV's fictional spin doctor Malcolm Tucker - and tech-related words including 'phablet' and 'selfie'.

Twerking and omnishambles get dictionary approval

9. ARSENAL WIN LEADS TO EUROPE

Aaron Ramsey ensured Arsenal will be going through to the group stage of the Champions League, scoring twice to help the team beat the Turkish side Fenerbahce 2-0. Last night's win gave the side a 5-0 win on aggregate. It is the 16th year in a row that Arsenal have qualified for the competition. The draw will take place on Thursday.

Arsenal stroll back into Europe, but Wenger sweats on injuries

10. HOT TICKET: DYLAN AT PORTRAIT GALLERY

A new exhibition of drawings by internationally renowned musician and poet, Bob Dylan, has opened at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Face Value presents 12 of Dylan's pastel 'portraits' of fictional characters drawn from real and imagined subjects. "Intriguing," says the Daily Telegraph. Until 5 January.

Bob Dylan draws praise for Face Value at Portrait Gallery