Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 24 Jul 2015

1. Obama to warn African leaders over 'discrimination'

US President Barak Obama has vowed to deliver a "blunt message" to African leaders about gay rights and discrimination during a visit to his ancestral home, Kenya, and Ethiopia. It will be his first visit to Kenya since becoming president and he will become the first US leader to address the African Union when he travels on to Ethiopia on Sunday.

2. Three dead after Louisiana cinema shooting

Hours after President Obama said he regretted not passing gun control laws, a man opened fire in a Louisiana cinema, killing two people before taking his own life. The shootings in Lafayette, during a screening of Trainwreck, injured a further seven people. No motive has been discovered. The shooter was 59-year-old white male John Houser.

Louisiana shooting: gunman opens fire on cinema audience

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

3. Fifa sponsors call meeting over corruption scandal

Fifa is to hold a meeting with its main sponsors to duiscuss their concerns over the corruption scandal that has engulfed football's governing body. The summit was requested by three major backers, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa. Fifa has admitted the twin investigations into corruption allegations in the US and Switzerland have put off other sponsors.

4. Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria

Turkish jets have carried out air strikes over the border in Syria for the first time since the rise of Islamic State (IS), hitting three IS targets hours after the two sides exchanged fire near the border. Turkish state TV insisted the planes had not violated Syrian air space because they had attacked a border town, Havar, near Kilis.

Nato backs Turkey in fight against Islamic State in Syria

5. Labour backer says Corbyn could split party

One of Labour’s biggest donors has warned that if left-winger Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader the party could split in two - and wealthy backers might withdraw their support. John Mills is backing Liz Kendall, who placed fourth in a recent poll which suggested Corbyn, originally standing only to widen the debate, will win.

Jeremy Corbyn is a 'disaster', says Stephen Hawking

6. World’s first malaria vaccine one step closer

The world’s first vaccine to protect against malaria infection has been cleared for use by the European Medicines Agency, a significant stage in its progress towards coming into service. Now the WHO must rule whether to recommend Mosquirix, also known as RTS,S, for children. The company producing it has pledged not to make a profit

Malaria vaccine given green light by EU regulators

7. Missing Ben Needham: police to return to Greece

UK police detectives are to travel to Greece to follow up further leads in the case of Ben Needham, who went missing as a toddler in 1991 on a family holiday to the island of Kos. His mother Kerry made an appeal for information on Greek TV in May and police say they received 200 calls as a result, some with new lines of inquiry.

8. Hundreds of migrants disrupt Channel Tunnel services

Cross-Channel rail operator Eurotunnel says "hundreds" of migrants are breaking into its terminal in France every night in a bid to make it to Britain, after passenger and freight services were again hit by delays on Friday. Migrants have been filmed travelling through the tunnel on empty freight carriages returning to the UK to collect containers.

9. Six members of child sex ring convicted of abuse

Six members of a child sex ring have been found guilty of abusing of two schoolgirls in Aylesbury on a "massive scale". Four other men were cleared of charges against them while the jury failed to reach a verdict on an 11th. One of the girls was abused by as many as 60 men while aged just 12 or 13, the court heard. They will be sentenced in September.

10. Briefing: the terror of Sri Lanka's Black July

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the beginning Black July, a massacre that served as the catalyst for the most violent period in Sri Lanka's history. Thousands of Tamils were killed by members of the Sinhalese majority in 1983, propelling the country into a civil war which lasted 26 years and left more than 100,000 people dead. The government categorised the violence as race riots that erupted in response to the murder of Sinhala soldiers, but evidence suggests the massacre was pre-planned and state-sanctioned.

Black July anniversary: the legacy of the Tamil massacre in Sri Lanka

Explore More