Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 18 Aug 2015

1. British national killed in Bangkok bomb

A Briton was among those killed by the Bangkok bomb blast it has been confirmed. The female victim was a resident of Hong Kong. Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha, said the bombing of the Hindu shrine in Bangkok was the country’s “worst ever attack”. At least 20 people were killed, with scores of others injured. Police have released CCTV footage of suspect.

Bangkok bomb inquiry branded 'chaotic' as two men cleared

2. Burnham and Cooper trade blows as Corbyn sails on

With left-winger Jeremy Corbyn still ahead of them in the polls, labour leadership candidates Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper have been trading blows through their campaign teams. Burnham accused Cooper of contesting the office “out of pride” and Cooper said Burnham should “step back” and give her a free run against Corbyn.

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Jeremy Corbyn is a 'disaster', says Stephen Hawking

3. Fly-pasts 75 years after Battle of Britain

Planes including 18 Hurricanes and six Spitfires will fly over various parts of southeast England today to mark the 75th anniversary of the ‘Hardest Day’, when when Germany and the UK recorded their worst losses in the aerial Battle of Britain, with the RAF losing 136 aircraft in 24 hours. They flew over London on Saturday.

What was the Battle of Britain and why was it so important?

4. Rail fares rise three times faster than wages

A new study by the TUC has found that regulated rail fares have risen almost three times as fast as average national wages over the past five years. The union’s general secretary Frances O’Grady said commuters were “seriously out of pocket” after fares rose by an average of 25% between 2010 and 2015 while wages were up by just 9%.

5. Indonesia plane crash: 54 bodies found

Rescuers in Indonesia say they have recovered the bodies of all 54 people who died when their plane crashed in the country’s Papua region on Sunday. The black box data recorder has also been recovered from the wreckage of the Trigana Air plane which came down in dense forest in a mountainous area near its destination, Oksibil.

Trigana Air crash: search teams find all 54 bodies in wreckage

6. ‘Soft touch’ GPs give out too many antibiotics

A leading figure in the NHS, Prof Mark Baker of NICE, says “soft touch” doctors should be disciplined for prescribing too many antibiotics, with immunity rising. Baker said there were currently 10 million prescriptions a year and that was inappropriate. A GPs’ group called his intervention “counterproductive and uhelpful”

UK supermarkets 'contributing to antibiotics crisis'

7. 20km high 'space elevator' for astronauts

Plans for a 20km high "space elevator" for astronauts have been given a boost after the Canadian company behind the idea was granted US and UK patents. The ThothX Tower is an inflatable, freestanding structure 20-times the heigh of the world's tallest building. It would transport astronauts by electrical elevator where they can board space planes.

'Space elevator' could take astronauts 20km into the sky

8. UK inflation rate turns positive again at 0.1%

The UK's inflation rate has turned positive, with the Consumer Prices Index measure for July rising to 0.1% from June's 0%. The Retail Prices Index measure was unchanged at 1%. The CPI has been almost flat for the past six months, and turned negative in April for the first time since 1960. The underlying rate, which ignores energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose to 1.2%.

9. Batman impersonator killed by ‘batmobile’

A US Batman impersonator who spent his days visiting sick children in hospital and giving them toys at his own expense has been killed after being struck by his own black Lamborghini ‘batmobile’, which was rear-ended as he checked the engine. Leonard Robinson, 51, found fame after video of police pulling him over went viral.

10. Briefing: the world's forgotten wars

While headline-grabbing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya dominate the international news agenda, many others escape our attention. For example, Pakistan's struggle with the Taliban is well documented, but the Balochistan Conflict, fought between the separatist Balochi Liberation Army (BLA) and the Pakistani government, has been raging on and off for decades without attracting the same coverage. According to the humanitarian watchdog IRIN, this has resulted in more than 3,000 deaths, and untold disappearances.

Forgotten conflicts: the wars that go unnoticed