Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 23 Aug 2012

The proportion of pupils who received top grades in their GCSE exams has fallen for the first time since they were introduced in the 1980s. This year 69.4% of entries earned grades A*-C, compared with 69.8% last year. The proportion of pupils receiving A and A* grades, fell from 23.2% to 22.4%. More than 650,000 pupils got their results today.

Australian authorities have been accused of ignoring recent requests for diplomatic assistance from Julian Assange. His Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzón Real, speaking in Brisbane today, said: “Not at any point in time have consular authorities visited Mr Assange. And I understand that to be an obligation for all citizens of Australia.”

The UK has joined the US in warning Syria that the use or threat of chemical weapons would force them "to revisit their approach" over a military intervention, following telephone talks between Prime Minster David Cameron, President Obama and French President Francois Hollande. They discussed building support for the Free Syria rebel forces.

Todd Akin, the pariah Republican candidate who claimed women's bodies prevent pregnancy in “legitimate rape” cases, agreed yesterday to stay away from next week’s party convention in Florida. But he accused party bosses of trying to override the Missouri voters who picked him for the Senate race and of trying to “take down a pro-life conservative”.

The US space agency Nasa’s Curiosity ‘rover’ finally began to roll on Mars yesterday, two weeks after it landed. It turned its six wheels, drove forward, U-turned and returned to its starting point. "We built a rover and unless the rover roves, we really haven't accomplished anything," said project manager Pete Theisinger, who plans to drive it 20 km.