Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 3 Jul 2015

1. Tunisia attack: one-minute silence as bodies flown back

A one-minute silence will be held across the UK at midday today, with flags at half-mast, to remember the 38 victims of the shootings at Sousse, Tunisia, last week. The final identifications show that 30 were British. More bodies are being flown back to the UK by the RAF today - and the first inquests will begin.

2. Greek referendum: former PMs back ‘yes’

Three former Greek PMs have thrown their weight behind the campaign for a ‘yes’ vote in Sunday’s national referendum. Incumbent Alexis Tsipras is asking voters to reject a bailout offer from the EU but his predecessors are now warning against isolating Greece in Europe with “recklessness and division”.

3. Batmanghelidjh to quit Kids Company under pressure

Children’s campaigner Camilla Batmanghelidjh, known for colourful clothes, is to step down as head of the charity she founded, Kids Company, after Newsnight reported the government was withholding £3m funding until she went. She told The Guardian she was being “silenced” after criticising state child services.

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4. Nigeria: Boko Haram militants ‘kill 150’

Eyewitnesses have told the BBC that almost 150 people have been killed in the latest two attacks by Islamist group Boko Haram in the north of Nigeria, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Gunmen stormed a village near lake Chad killing 97 including women and children. In the second attack, 48 men were shot after prayers.

5. Hong Kong-to-NI plan was a diplomatic spoof

A retired diplomat has disappointed researchers who found newly-released 1990s documents showing Foreign Office mandarins debating the possibility of moving the entire population of Hong Kong to Northern Ireland when the UK lease on the island expired. David Snoxell told the BBC the plans were “a spoof”.

6. IS are looting ancient sites ‘on industrial scale’

Some ancient sites in Syria no longer hold any value for archaeologists because Islamic State (IS) are looting them on such an industrial scale, UNESCO has warned. Around one in five of 10,000 world-renowned sites in Iraq have also been looted. IS are said to be funding their military campaigns by selling treasures.

7. Wimbledon: Nadal out as Watson faces Williams

Rafael Nadal yesterday made a shock exit from Wimbledon, roundly defeated by a “brilliant” Dustin Brown. Nadal told reporters his glory days may be over after the 30-year-old German beat him 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Today, British number one Heather Watson faces world number one, and five-times champion, Serena Williams.

8. Fox traps eight people inside sports club

A ‘vicious’ fox trapped eight people inside a Cambridgeshire sports club for three hours on Saturday, it has emerged. The animal would not allow them to leave by the club’s front or back door. A pest controller was called but had to retreat. A man on a bicycle was chased into a field and fell off, losing his glasses.

9. Ordnance Survey adopts new toilet symbol

Britain’s official mapping agency, Ordnance Survey (OS), has adopted a new symbol for public toilets after a competition to design one among TV viewers. Previously, maps have used the letters PC, for public convenience, but now they will carry a blue pictogram of a stylized man and woman designed by one Will Chiu.

10. Briefing: why are black churches burning again?

The FBI has launched an investigation fter seven historically black churches were burned down in southern states in the wake of the shooting in Charleston two weeks ago. Churches have gone up in flames in in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee, and while no-one has been hurt, many of the churches have been completely destroyed.

Why are black churches burning again?

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