Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 17 Jul 2015

1. British pilots carry out airstrikes on Syria

Despite the 2013 parliamentary vote against bombing Syira, three British pilots have carried out air strikes on IS targets there. The pilots in question are part of a group of around 20 British personnel embedded in the US and Canadian air forces. The news comes after a freedom of information request by campaign group Reprieve.

British pilots strike Syria despite parliamentary veto

2. German MPs vote to allow Greek bailout

The German parliament has voted in favour of opening negotiations on a new bailout for Greece, however 48 of Angela Merkel's supporters voted against and there were 40 abstentions. Merkel had warned of "chaos" if the vote did not go through. Greek MPs voted for the bailout late on Wednesday night, despite its hard-hitting austerity measures.

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Greece finally reaches deal to release €12bn bailout funds

3. Memorials mark Ukraine MH17 airliner deaths

The first anniversary of the deaths of 298 passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is being marked today with memorial services in Australia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. Most of the passengers were from Holland. It is widely assumed that rebel fighters with Russian backing shot down the jet in error.

Missile that downed MH17 came from Russia, investigation rules

4. Bank to raise interest rates at New Year

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has said UK interest rates may rise for the first time since the financial crisis “at the turn of this year”. Carney said he expects rates to reach just over 2% within the next three years. The Guardian warns the news may cause the housing market to collapse, hitting buyer confidence.

Pound plunges after Bank of England's dovish rates signal

5. Japan scraps designs for 2020 Olympic stadium

Japan has scrapped designs for a futuristic new stadium for the 2020 Olympics after the building costs doubled. British architect Zaha Hadid designed the venue, which had been likened to a turtle, but Japan says that the contract with Hadid's firm has been cancelled. A new design will be chosen in six months, but the stadium will not now be ready for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

6. Tim Farron wins Lib Dem leadership race

Tim Farron is the new leader of the Liberal Democrats after beating rival Norman Lamb to the role. Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, had been the bookies' favourite since Nick Clegg resigned in the wake of the Lib Dems' shocking general election defeat. Unlike Lamb, Farron did not serve in the Coalition government.

General election 2017: Tim Farron - the Lib Dem leader facing questions over his views about gay sex

7. Johnny Depp’s wife charged with smuggling dogs

Actress Amber Heard, wife of Johnny Depp, has been charged with smuggling her Yorkshire terriers into Australia, where Depp was filming a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in April. She could face a heavy fine or up to ten years in prison. The Australian authorities refused to say why Depp was not facing charges himself.

8. Four 'trapped' after wood mill explosion

"Multiple casualties" have been reported at a wood treatment works near Macclesfield after a series of explosions. A four-storey building collapsed and several large fires broke out at Wood Flour Mills in Bosley. Four people are feared trapped and several people have been hurt, including a 29-year-old woman airlifted to hospital with "serious" burns.

Cheshire explosions: fire rages as four trapped by mill blast

9. 79-year-old motorist stabbed to death in road rage attack

A man has been arrested after a 79-year-old motorist was stabbed to death by another driver in a "frenzied" road rage attack in Sussex. Pensioner Don Lock, 79, was killed after he got out of his car following the shunt with another car on A24 near the village of Findon. Armed officers arrested a man in Worthing on Friday afternoon.

10. Briefing: images of Pluto exceed all expectations

Images taken by New Horizons, the Nasa probe which has explored the dwarf planet Pluto, have surprised the mission team and exceeded their expectations. The New Horizons spacecraft passed alongside Pluto this week after travelling more than three billion miles from Earth, giving human beings their first ever close-up view of the dwarf planet. "This is a tremendous moment in human history," said John Grunsfeld, the space agency's science director.

Pluto: stunning new image unveiled by New Horizons