Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 9 Oct 2012

Householders who attack burglars will not face arrest or prosecution unless they use "grossly disproportionate" violence, such as stabbing a burglar who is already unconscious, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling told the Conservative party conference today. He said the law would be changed at "the first opportunity".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced furious anti-austerity protests as she arrived in Greece today. Protests were banned within a 100m radius of the route of her motorcade and snipers were positioned on rooftops. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at a crowd after they attempted to pull down a barrier outside parliament to get to Merkel.

Responding to criticism that he has tried to upstage David Cameron at the Tory conference, Boris Johnson today paid tribute to the PM's "firm leadership", and said of his own achievements as London mayor: "We fought to keep London from lurching back into the grip of a Marxist cabal of taxpayer-funded Chateauneuf du Pape-swilling tax minimisers and bendy bus fetishists."

Nine supporters who pledged bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were yesterday ordered to forfeit £93,500 and told to produce the money by 6 November. The bail holders had "failed in their basic duty to ensure his surrender" when Assange sought sanctuary at the Ecuadorian embassy in June. Last night he entertained pop star Lady Gaga at the embassy.

Comedian Justin Lee Collins has been sentenced to 140 hours of community service after being convicted of harassing former partner Anna Larke. The court heard that she faced emotional abuse and violence. The comic forced her to sleep facing him and made her throw away DVDs featuring actors she found attractive.