Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 27 Apr 2011

published 27 April 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. OBAMA RELEASES OFFICIAL BIRTH CERTIFICATEThe White House has released Barack Obama's birth certificate to end the "silliness" of birther conspiracy theories. Obama has long been dogged by rumours, popular among conservatives and recently dredged up by Donald Trump, that he was born outside the US and was not eligible to be president. But the official document shows Obama was born in Hawaii, just as he claims. Obama birth certificate; Trump takes the credit UK AVOIDS DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION - JUSTThe British economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, according to Office for National Statistics figures released this morning. This means there has been a recovery from the 0.5 per cent contraction in the previous quarter and that Chancellor George Osborne has avoided a double-dip recession. However, he warns: "We are not out of the woods yet." PILOT KILLS US TROOPS IN KABUL SHOOTINGEight American troops and a US contractor have been killed by an Afghan pilot at Kabul airport in an incident at around 6.30 this morning, UK time. The pilot, named as Gul Ahmad, was also killed in the exchange of fire. He was said to be suffering from "mental illness". It was not clear whether he had been recruited by the Taliban. 'CLOSE EU BORDERS' TO BLOCK BOAT PEOPLE Presidents Sarkozy of France and Berlusconi of Italy, facing the influx of north African ‘boat people’, have called for the EU to rewrite the Schengen treaty which currently allows passport-free travel between most EU countries, except Britain. They also want "mechanisms of specific solidarity" including the distribution of immigrants among member states, to save Italy taking the brunt. KATE MIDDLETON ARRIVES IN LONDon FOR WEDDINGKate Middleton arrived in London today to spend her last two nights as a commoner at the Goring Hotel. She spent the Easter weekend with her parents at home in the village of Bucklebury where her fiance enjoyed a leisurely Sunday lunch with her and his future in-laws. Around dawn this morning, the military ran a dress rehearsal for Friday. Wills and Kate fairy tale: Their idea, or ours? In pictures: London prepares for royal wedding CAMERON: BRITAIN MIGHT ARM LIBYAN REBELSDavid Cameron told senior Tory MP William Cash yesterday that Britain might arm Libyan rebels to avoid a long stalemate with the Gaddafi regime. The Prime Minister’s change of stance came as William Hague warned ministers to “prepare for the long haul” and a team from the UN was due in Tripoli to examine claims of human rights violations. FOX SAYS INTERVENTION IN SYRIA 'IMPRACTICAL'Defence secretary Liam Fox said in Washington last night that the idea of Nato intervening in Syria as in Libya was "impractical". In London, foreign secretary William Hague said Britain was working with allies to impose sanctions on the Syrian regime, and, as the violence escalated with tanks occupying cities, was preparing to evacuate up to 700 UK citizens. Syrians randomly fired on by Assad’s security forces MATT SMITH AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH VIE FOR BAFTANominations for the May 22 Bafta TV awards include Doctor Who's Matt Smith for leading actor – the first Doctor ever to be nominated. He will be up against Benedict Cumberbatch, shortlisted for his performance in Sherlock. Natalie Press is up for leading actress in Five Daughters while Mad Men is nominated for the International Award which it has won twice. olympic ticket requests pass 20mOrganisers of the London Olympics have received applications for more than 20 million tickets, more than three times the amount on offer, from 1.8 million people. The deadline for applications was midnight on Tuesday but the website was kept open for an extra hour after it crashed because of a late surge in demand. There will have to be random ballots to decide who gets the tickets for more than half the sessions. GENERAL PETRaEUS to take over at the CIAGeneral David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan and before that Iraq, is expected to be named as the new head of the CIA this week. His appointment will come as part of a reshuffle within the Obama administration, prompted by the retirement of defence secretary Robert Gates. Leon Panetta, the current head of the CIA, is expected to succeed Gates.