Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 1 Jun 2016

1. Leave campaign sets out 'fairer' immigration plan

A post-Brexit UK could have a "fairer, more humane" immigration system that would work better for the economy, claims the Leave campaign. Campaigners including Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are calling for a points-based system for all migrants to the UK. Remain campaigners said the proposal would "wreck" the economy.

Remain-voting City lobby group calls for 'dramatic Brexit U-turn'

2. US terror warning could hit tourism

The travel industry fears a wave of cancellations after tens of thousands of US tourists were warned yesterday that they are at risk of terrorist attacks across Europe this summer. The US State Department said holidaymakers could be in danger at major events, tourist sites, city centres, restaurants and on public transport.

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US issues terror alert for travellers heading to Europe

3. Developing world 'invests more in renewable energy'

Investment in renewable energy was higher in the world’s poorest countries than the richest ones for the first time last year, according to a report. Out of a total of about £196.5bn spent globally on renewable power and fuels, more than £107bn was spent in developing countries such as India and Brazil. Friends of the Earth said it was "shameful" that the UK was being outspent by "much poorer countries".

4. Television writer Carla Lane dies

Tributes are being paid to TV writer Carla Lane, who has died aged 87. Lane, whose shows included the Liver Birds, Bread and Butterflies, passed away in a nursing home in Liverpool. Comedian Ken Dodd called her "a lovely, lovely writer", while Bread star Jean Boht said Lane "loved everybody". The Daily Telegraph said she taught viewers to "recognise humour in human failure".

Carla Lane: Six of her best-loved television sitcoms

5. The rendition row that divided MI5 and MI6

MI5 and MI6 had an unprecedented row over Britain's involvement in controversial and clandestine rendition operations at the height of the "war on terror", The Guardian reveals. The paper reports that the then head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, became so incensed when she discovered the role played by MI6 in abductions leading to suspected extremists being tortured that she expelled a number of her sister agency’s staff.

6. World's longest tunnel opens in Switzerland

The world's longest and deepest railway tunnel has opened in Switzerland. The Gotthard tunnel runs below the Alps between the towns of Erstfeld and Bodio and took 20 years to build. At 35.7 miles long, it takes the record from Japan's Seikan tunnel and is 4.3 miles longer than the Channel Tunnel. At its deepest point, trains run 1.4 miles below the surface of the mountains.

7. EgyptAir black box signals detected

Signals from one of the black boxes of the EgyptAir plane that crashed last month have been detected by a search vessel the Mediterranean sea, French investigators confirmed. A priority search area has been established and specialist equipment capable for searching the sea bed will arrive next week. There have been calls for black boxes to be fitted with ejectors to make them easier to find.

8. New inquests into 1974 Birmingham pub bombing deaths

A coroner has ordered new inquests into deaths of 21 people killed in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, stating that there is a "wealth of evidence that still has not been heard". The original inquests were never completed after the Birmingham Six were convicted of the attacks. Their convictions were later quashed.

9. Migrants bypass Calais through secluded French beaches

Migrants are avoiding stringent new security measures in Calais by choosing secluded beaches in quiet French villages to launch attempts to cross the Channel, claims Sky News. Residents have reported peculiar behaviour on a stretch of coastline south of Calais, saying they have witnessed migrants dragging dinghies into the sea at the dead of night.

10. Briefing: How bacteria from tea could help colonise Mars

Students and scientists at Imperial College London have found a way to modify the bacteria found in Kombucha tea to one day help humans to colonise Mars. The new method gives researchers the ability to manufacture a "wonder material" called bacterial cellulose on demand, says the Daily Telegraph. Bacterial cellulose is currently harvested and used in a range of products, including materials for headphones, ingredients in cosmetics and occasionally as a leather substitute in clothes. But scientists have now developed the DNA tools to control and shape a strain of the bacteria found in Kombucha tea.

How bacteria from tea could help colonise Mars