Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 30 Nov 2013

1. HELICOPTER CRASHES INTO GLASGOW PUB

Three people are feared dead after a police helicopter crashed into a busy Glasgow pub last night. The chopper crashed into The Clutha pub on the banks of the River Clyde at 22:25. Police say there are “numerous” casualties but have not confirmed whether anyone has died. Some customers are still trapped in the left hand side of the building.

2. RIGBY MURDER SUSPECT ‘DID IT FOR GOD’

One of the men accused of murdering Fusilier Lee Rigby claimed he did it for his God, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. The court was told that Michael Adebolajo told paramedics: “Your Government is all wrong. I did it for my God.” Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are standing trial over the killing of the Fusilier.

3. BANKER BONUSES RISE DESPITE CRASH

Britain’s financial elite is the highest paid in Europe with 2,700 British bankers pocketing an average of £1.6m each, says the Daily Mail. The figure is up from £1.2m in 2011 and has led to accusations that bankers have learned nothing from the financial crash. “This goes to prove that the idea that banks are cutting back is a lie,” said Deborah Hargreaves of campaign group the High Pay Centre.

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

4. CHINA SCRAMBLES JETS IN DISPUTED ZONE

China scrambled fighter jets towards US and Japanese planes in its airspace yesterday. As tension grows over the disputed airspace, the ministry of defence announced that it sent jets to investigate two US reconnaissance aircraft and 10 Japanese early warning, reconnaissance and fighter planes that had entered the new air defence zone over the East China Sea.

5. SUN HITS BACK AT ‘HYPOCRITE’ BRAND

Russell Brand has attacked The Sun newspaper, describing it as “the fecund bone-yard of gossip, poison and lies”. The comedian also describes Rupert Murdoch as “an animatronic al-Qaeda recruitment poster”. However, The Sun has hit back, with an article entitled “20 reasons why Brand is the biggest hypocrite in Britain”.

6. SCUFFLES BREAK OUT ON BLACK FRIDAY

Fights broke out in Asda stores yesterday as the supermarket brought the American tradition of Black Friday to Britain. Customers scrapped after queuing for several hours for cut-price electrical goods at the Walmart-owned stores. A man was arrested in Bristol and a women in Merseyside was reportedly taken to hospital after being assaulted.

7. BOB DYLAN SUED FOR ‘RACIST’ COMMENTS

Bob Dylan is being sued by a Croatian community group for making allegedly “racist” comments during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Asked about race relations in America, the musician said that black people can sense if someone has “a slave master or Klan” in their blood, adding: “Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.”

8. CYCLISTS STAGE LONDON ‘DIE-IN’

Around 1,000 cyclists staged a ‘die-in’ protest in London yesterday to call for the government to improve road safety in the capital. The vigil, held outside Transport for London’s headquarters in Southwark, follows the deaths of six cyclists in two weeks. Similar protests were held in the 1970s in the Netherlands, sparking a radical overhaul in traffic management.

9. DETECTIVE ACCUSED OF CANNIBALISM

A German detective has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a cannibalistic murder. After body parts were found in his garden, the 55-year-old detective admitted murdering a 59-year-old man he met through an online sex chat room for people interested in cannibalism, but he has not confessed to consuming his victim.

10. WENGER: ENGLAND IS ’99.9% CLEAN’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he doubts that match-fixing will ever disappear. As two men appeared in court charged over alleged match-fixing in the English game, the Gunners boss claimed England is “99.9% clean” but said he doubts the problem can be “eradicated completely”. Leaders Arsenal play at Cardiff City this afternoon.