Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 7 Apr 2011

published 7 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. NEW TSUNAMI WARNING IN JAPANA tsunami warning was issued for the already-devastated north-east coast of Japan on Thursday after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck 60 miles off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. Those within the warning zone were warned to move to high ground and workers battling to control the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant were ordered to evacuate. They are already struggling to contain radiation after the earlier quake and tsunami on March 11. 60 SCHOOLGIRLS IN BLACKPOOL ‘SEX GROOMING’ CASEPolice have uncovered a 'sex grooming' ring in Blackpool run by a group of men linked to the unsolved murder of 14-year-old girl Charlene Downes. The Times has acquired an unpublished police report which lists more than 60 white girls between the ages of 13 and 15 who were given food, money and shelter in exchange for sexual acts. Their abusers were non-white workers at takeaway restaurants in the seaside town. PORTUGAL CALLS FOR EU BAILOUTPortugal has applied for a €80 billion bailout from the EU after months of resisting following Greece and Ireland in asking for aid. Caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the country had missed its 2010 budget deficit target and a bailout was now "in the national interest". KERR INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ARMS STASHPolice hunting the killers of PC Ronan Kerr, who died in a car bombing in Omagh on Saturday, have arrested a man after finding the largest stash of arms in Northern Ireland in years. The 26-year-old man was arrested in Scotland. The arms included four rifles, detonators, parts for rocket launchers, incendiary bombs and explosives believed to be Semtex. GLENN BECK TO QUIT FOX NEWS SHOWGlenn Beck, voice of the Tea Party and beyond, is to leave his ranting but top-rated 5 pm show on Fox News in December, when his contract expires. The move, said to be amicable on both sides, follows increasing tension between Beck and executives of the Murdoch-owned channel over dwindling ratings and the flight of advertisers since Beck accused President Obama of being "racist". Shell-shocked: Why I mourn for Glenn Beck 13 LIBYAN REBELS KILLED IN NATO MISSILE STRIKERebels forces retreating from Ajdabiya claim to have been hit mistakenly by a Nato missile attack on their tanks. According to local doctors, 13 rebel fighters were killed in the raid on the town south of Benghazi earlier today. Meanwhile, the RAF is increasing its attacks on Gaddafi's positions, according to the Ministry of Defence. UK RECESSION TRIGGERS DEPRESSIONBritain’s persistent recession is behind an alarming increase in the numbers seeking treatment for depression, say GPs and mental health charities. Data obtained by the BBC shows that prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs such as Prozac have increased by 40 per cent in four years, while referrals to "talk therapy" rose by 400 per cent to 600,000 in the last year alone. CHINA ACKNOWLEDGES WEIWEI’S DETENTIONThe Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei is being detained for "suspected economic crimes in accordance with the law" - thought to mean tax evasion - according to a one-line statement which appeared for an hour on Chinese news agency Xinhua’s website before being taken down again. This is the first official news about Ai's status since he was detained at Beijing airport on Sunday. Artists and politicians fear for missing Ai Weiwei GUNMAN KILLS 13 IN RIO SCHOOL ATTACKA gunman has shot and killed 13 people and injured at least 20 more in an attack at a school in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The 24-year-old attacker, named as Wellington Menezes Oliveira, is one of the dead. He is thought to be a former pupil. He entered the school at 8.0am local time and opened fire with two revolvers, aiming at victims heads according to newspaper reports. Eye-witnesses said he then shot himself. OBAMA FRIEND ARRESTED FOR SOLICITING PROSTITUTEA close friend of President Obama's since high school days in Hawaii has been charged in Honolulu with allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover officer posing as a prostitute. Robert Richard Titcomb, 49, was arrested and released on bail on Monday night and is scheduled to appear in court next month. Titcomb and Obama are regularly photographed together when the First Family visit Hawaii. Obama friend arrested in prostitution crackdown