Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 15 May 2014

1. MINE DISASTER: ONE-DAY STRIKE IN TURKEY

There have been protests and clashes with police in Turkey during a one-day strike called after the country's worst-ever mining disaster, which has killed at least 282. The country's prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, was yesterday forced to hide in a supermarket after a mob attacked his official car.

2. ROLF HARRIS A 'DIRTY OLD MAN'

Entertainer Rolf Harris has been described as a "dirty old man" by the youngest of his alleged victims, who was just seven or eight years old when she says he molested her while signing autographs at a community centre near Portsmouth. She wept as she told Southwark Crown court that he had touched her "aggressively".

3. DONATIONS CONTINUE AFTER STEPHEN’S DEATH

Donations to the JustGiving page of Stephen Sutton, a teenage fundraiser who died yesterday, are flooding in and have passed the £3.5m mark. After being diagnosed with bowel cancer at 15, Sutton wrote a ‘bucket list’ and set out to raise as much for charity as he could. His mother called him “selfless”.

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Stephen Sutton: 'inspirational' teen cancer campaigner dies

4. WING DAMAGE FORCES PLANE TO ABORT FLIGHT

A plane carrying more than 60 people had to turn back to London City Airport today after part of its wing became detached shortly after it took off. Passengers said they heard a loud bang and saw a six foot piece of metal hanging from the left wing. The CityJet flight to Florence circled the Thames Estuary before landing safely.

5. CANNES: GRACE MOVIE IS ‘SO BAD IT’S GOOD’

Early reviews of Grace of Monaco, a biopic of Grace Kelly chosen to open this year’s Cannes film festival, have hailed it as a turkey. Laughter was heard during the press screening, with reviewers saying it was “stiff, stagey” and a “timeless camp classic” which was unintentionally “side-splittingly funny”.

Cannes Film Festival: six to watch – with trailers

6. TIMES JOURNALISTS BEATEN IN SYRIA

Two Times journalists working in Syria have been seized and badly beaten by a rebel gang. Anthony Loyd and Jack Hill were attacked as they headed towards Turkey, but were rescued by other rebel groups. In London, foreign ministers from 11 nations, including America's John Kerry, have been meeting to discuss ways of supporting the Syrian opposition.

7. STATINS SIDE EFFECT CLAIMS WITHDRAWN

Claims that statins could be unsafe have been withdrawn. The British Medical Journal is set to retract two articles that suggested the drugs, widely used to reduce cholesterol levels, could cause side effects for one in five people after the authors withdrew their figures. There are concerns that the articles deterred people from taking the drugs.

Statins: doctors attack plans to increase prescriptions

8. MERGER FOR DIXONS AND CARPHONE W'HOUSE

Dixons and Carphone Warehouse have announced an all-shares merger, saying they hope to capitalise on the growing market for connectivity embedded in household goods, the so-called ‘internet of things’. Dixons Retail owns Currys and PC World. The new company will be called Dixons Carphone.

Dixons, Carphone Warehouse in £3.8bn merger - but why?

9. HOT TICKET: PAJAMA GAME ON WEST END

Richard Eyre's revival of musical comedy The Pajama Game has transferred to the Shaftesbury Theatre, West End. A miserly pyjama factory boss's plans to keep his staff in line go awry when his superintendent falls for the union rep. "Zingingly entertaining," says The Guardian. Until 13 September.

The Pajama Game – reviews of 'delightful' musical comedy

10. OBAMA DEDICATES 9/11 MUSEUM IN NEW YORK

President Obama has helped dedicate a museum commemorating the 9/11 terror attacks on the site of the World Trade Centre in New York. The National September 11 Memorial Museum at Ground Zero opens to the public next week. Exhibits include personal items retrieved from the wreckage and parts of the Twin Towers themselves.

9/11 Museum: five controversies ahead of public opening