Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 12 Jun 2015

1. SURVEILLANCE ROW LOOMS AFTER REPORT

A battle over surveillance is looming at Westminster after a government-commissioned report called for ministers to be stripped of their powers to authorise surveillance warrants. Privacy campaigners have welcomed the findings but Downing Street hinted that David Cameron was wary of changing the rules.

Government gears up for battle over surveillance powers

2. FAST-TRACK ASYLUM RULES 'UNLAWFUL'

The High Court has ruled that the government's 'fast track' system to remove failed asylum seekers from the country is unlawful. The process speeds up legal hearings and appeals, while the applicant remains in detention. The court ruled that detaining the appellant was "unfair" put them at a "disadvantage". The government says it will appeal.

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3. 'BLACK' ACTIVIST 'OUTED' AS WHITE

A civil rights leader in the US who claimed to be of mixed race has sparked a media storm after she was "outed" as white. Rachel Dolezal is president of the Spokane branch of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and has identified as African-American. But now her white parents have revealed that her heritage is European.

4. MALAYSIA: ‘NUDIST’ BRITON FINED AND JAILED

A British woman who posed naked on top of a sacred mountain in Malaysia has been fined and given a three-day jail term for "committing an obscene act in public". Eleanor Hawkins and three other tourists from Canada and Holland have already served their jail terms as they were remanded in custody after being arrested.

Eleanor Hawkins handed jail sentence for naked pictures

5. ‘HUMBLE’ CHARLES KENNEDY LAID TO REST

Former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has been laid to rest in his home town, Fort William, after a service at the church he attended. More than 200 additional seats were provided outside the church. Parish priest Roddy McAuley described the politician, who died of a haemorrhage caused by alcoholism, as a “humble man”.

Charles Kennedy laid to rest near parents in the Highlands

6. NEW PROBE INTO GERMANWINGS CRASH

French prosecutors are to conduct a new investigation to decide if manslaughter charges can be brought in the Germanwings plane crash, which is thought to have been the result of the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz wishing to commit suicide. It is not clear who would be the target of any possible charges.

Woman convicted of fraud after posing as Germanwings crash relative

7. INTERPOL SUSPENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH FIFA

Interpol has suspended its partnership with scandal-hit Fifa and frozen a €20m donation from the organisation, made in 2011 to tackle football match-fixing. The money was to support Interpol's 'Integrity in Sport' programme. Interpol said its partners were required to share its "fundamental values and principles".

Michel Platini will resign at Uefa's next congress

8. STRAUSS-KAHN NOT GUILTY OF PIMPING

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been cleared of hiring prostitutes for sex parties in France, Belgium and the US after a trial in France. The former French presidential hopeful had been charged with "aggravated pimping", but denied knowing that some of the women at the orgies he attended were prostitutes.

9. WORK EXPERIENCE BOY DISCOVERS PLANET

A schoolboy of 15 doing work experience with an astrophysics professor at Keele University discovered a new planet in another solar system. Tom Wagg noticed a minuscule dip in light from a faraway star two years ago. He has stayed in touch with Prof Coel Hellier and now had it confirmed that he did find a planet.

10. BRIEFING: UN SOLDIER SWAP FOOD FOR SEX

United Nations soldiers routinely trade goods for sex while abroad on peacekeeping missions, according to a UN report. The document revealed that 480 sexual exploitation and abuse claims were made between 2008 and 2015, one third of them involving children. Peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Haiti and South Sudan accounted for the largest numbers of accusations.

Predatory peacekeepers: The UN sex abuse scandal