Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 20 Apr 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. 'VIETNAM' WARNING A MILITARY ADVISERS GO TO LIBYATwenty senior officers – 10 from Britain and 10 from France – are being sent to Benghazi to train rebels fighting Col Gaddafi, ministers announced yesterday. MPs have warned of "mission creep" and raised the spectre of America's long Vietnam war. Gaddafi's foreign minister called the move a "clear violation" of the UN Security Council resolution and warned it would only prolong the crisis . Robert Fox: Libya is not Vietnam - it is the right thing to do MURDOCH'S NEWS CORP TO BID FOR FORMULA ONERupert Murdoch's News Corp is in talks with Mexico's Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, with a plan to make a joint bid to take control of Formula One. It would be the first time that News Corp, which owns the media rights to most Premier League football, would take over an entire sport. The BBC would lose its exclusive rights in the UK. Murdoch and Slim in talks to buy Formula 1 MUSLIM FANATICS 'PLAN ROYAL WEDDING NIGHTMARE' Extremists belonging to the UK group Muslims Against Crusades (above) plan to turn the royal wedding celebrations next week into a "nightmare", publicly burning effigies of Prince William and Kate Middleton, according to today's Daily Mail. Police expect violent clashes as the right-wing English Defence League intend to protest against the Muslim extremists, already known for burning poppies on Armistice Day. FIRST LADY'S PLANE DIVERTED FROM COLLISION COURSEA Presidential jet carrying First Lady Michelle Obama had to abort a landing at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, because it was on a collision course with a cargo plane. An air traffic control error is suspected, the latest in a series of episodes including night shift controllers caught asleep on duty or watching movies. PARCEL BOMBS SENT TO CELTIC MANAGER NEIL LENNONParcel bombs powerful enough to "kill or maim" were sent in the last month to Celtic Manager Neil Lennon and two prominent club supporters, it was revealed last night. The crude, liquid-based bombs were found in different locations in the west of Scotland. First Minister Alex Salmond said a "major police investigation" was underway. Parcel bomb is only latest threat to Neil Lennon MURDERED TOURISTS SPENT LAST HOURS WITH GIRLSJames Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, the British tourists shot dead in Florida, spent their last hours chatting up girls in a Sarasota bar called Smokin' Joes, police revealed yesterday. They released video images of them talking to three different pairs of girls, all sought by police who want to know why the men went on to a high-crime ghetto. What were murdered Brits doing in Florida gangland? OFCOM CRITICISES PRESS OVER X-FACTOR 'OUTRAGE'Media regulator Ofcom has ruled that raunchy dance routines by Christina Aguilera and Rihanna during last year's X-Factor final were "at the limit" of acceptability but did not breach broadcasting rules. But it criticised media coverage of the show by some papers, which stoked outrage by printing pictures that were "significantly more graphic and close up" than what was shown on TV. EU BUDGET INCREASE 'NOT ACCEPTABLE'The EU is on a collision course with member states, including the UK, after asking for a 4.9 per cent increase in its annual budget. A British government spokesman said such a rise would "not be acceptable" at a time when many states were imposing austerity measures. The increase is well above the EU inflation rate, which stands at three per cent. DR WHO ACTRESS ELIZABETH SLADEN DIES The Liverpool-born actress Elisabeth Sladen, who starred in Doctor Who as the Companion Sarah Jane Smith in the 1970s, has died of cancer at the age of 63. Fans of the long-running series reckon Sladen - who played opposite the third and fourth Doctors, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker - was the best ever. Her character was resurrected in 2007 for the children's spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures. Doctor Who's Elisabeth Sladen dies BETS ARE ON FOR ROYAL WEDDING BEING HOTTEST DAYWilliam Hill is offering 66/1 that April 29, the date of the royal wedding, will be the hottest day of 2011. Meanwhile, today is set to be the hottest of the year so far, with 26C forecast. The odds get shorter for April turning out to be the hottest month of 2011 (50/1) and shorter still for a record high being set during the summer (7/1).

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