Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 15 Jul 2015

1. Tories stage huge union crackdown

The Tories unveiled the biggest crackdown on trade union rights for 30 years today. The plans include a bid to criminalise picketing, to permit employers to hire strike-breaking agency staff and stem the flow of union funds to the Labour party. New rules will require that at least 40% of those asked to vote support the strike in most key public services.

Tories launch crackdown on trade union strikes

2. Iran deal ‘will spark new arms race’

The deal between Iran and six world powers will prompt a new arms race in the Middle East, it was claimed last night. Officials in Israel and Saudi Arabia described the agreement as a fatal error that gives Iran a green light to continue funding terrorism. Saudi Arabia warned it would develop its own nuclear arms if the deal failed to curb Tehran’s atomic ambitions.

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Iran nuclear deal: a sign of hope or a dark day in history?

3. 1D star set to become a father?

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson is to become a father. The 23-year-old singer is reportedly expecting a baby with American stylist Briana Jungwirth, also 23. His representatives have refused to comment on the report. A friend of Tomlinson and Jungwirth is quoted in The Sun as saying: "Louis is really excited about becoming a dad.”

4. IMF attacks the EU bailout deal

The International Monetary Fund has slammed the bailout deal offered by eurozone leaders to Greece. The creditor said Greece's public debt had become "highly unsustainable" and it needed relief from its debts. PM Alexis Tsipras has described the bailout deal with European creditors as "blackmail", and warned it could be some time before banks fully reopen.

Greece finally reaches deal to release €12bn bailout funds

5. British Gas to cut prices by 5% from August

British Gas has announced a 5% cut in gas prices from 27 August. It is the second reduction in six months, and the company claims that the two cuts will knock £72 off a typical annual bill. The wholesale price of gas has fallen by 25% since December 2014, but British Gas says higher pipeline costs made a larger cut impossible.

6. 'Book-keeper of Auschwitz' found guilty in Germany

A Nazi guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp has been convicted of being an accessory to the murder of at least 300,000 Jews. Oskar Groening, 94, who admitted his "moral guilt" but denied genocide, was jailed for four years by the German court. Groening counted the belongings taken prisoners and was known as the "book-keeper of Auschwitz".

7. Donald Trump in Nazi tweet gaffe

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has stumbled into a fresh controversy after he accidentally posted a tweet showing Nazis marching under the White House. He tweeted montage of the US flag, bank notes, the White House and marching troops with the message “Make America Great Again”. He deleted it when it was pointed out the troops were from the Waffen SS.

Donald Trump’s most hostile quotes

8. Desmond Tutu taken to hospital

Desmond Tutu is in a Cape Town hospital being treated for what his family describes as a persistent infection. In a statement released by the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, his daughter, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, said she hopes the Archbishop Emeritus will be home again "in a day or two".

Archbishop Desmond Tutu admitted to hospital

9. Unemployment rises for first time in two years

Unemployment rose by 15,000 between March and May of this year, the first rise in two years. According to government figures 1.85 million people were unemployed during the three months from March to May, and the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefit in June rose by 7,000 to 804,200. Meanwhuile average earnings once again rose by more than inflation.

10. Briefing: Why the Ku Klux Klan is growing in numbers

As America struggles to come to terms with last month's murder of nine African American worshippers in a church in South Carolina, the number of new recruits joining the Ku Klux Klan is growing. The KKK was first established after the American Civil War by a small group of Confederate veterans who opposed the abolition of slavery and African Americans being granted basic civil rights. But now it is attempting to enter the mainstream – and to expand its membership base.

Ku Klux Klan boasts rising numbers as racial tensions soar