Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 8 Jul 2016

1. Five police officers shot dead in Dallas

Eleven police officers have been shot, five of them fatally, by at least two snipers at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Dallas, Texas. Police have detained three people and are investigating claims by one of them that there are bombs "all over" the city. One sniper is still at large and exchanging sporadic gunfire with officers.

2. British troops heading for Estonia and Poland

David Cameron will today announce that hundreds of British troops are being sent to Estonia and Poland as part of the Nato response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the continuing conflict in Ukraine. Some 500 troops will be deployed to Estonia and 150 will go to Poland. The UK will also lead a standby force.

3. IS kills 30 at Shia shrine in Iraq

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deaths of at least 30 people at a Shia shrine in Balad, Iraq. A suicide bomber is said to have detonated his belt at the entrance of the site before gunmen shot at worshippers. Meanwhile, 292 people are now known to have died in Sunday's car bombing in Baghdad.

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4. Corbyn defiant as Labour membership surges

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has written a defiant article for The Guardian making it clear he will not stand down, despite intense pressure from his MPs. In the piece, he argues that the party has seen a surge of membership and now has 500,000 supporters, the most in modern times, and hails a "political sea change".

5. Two bodies recovered after wall collapse

Two of five bodies have now been removed from a Birmingham recycling centre where a retaining wall holding scrap metal collapsed yesterday. Search efforts continue, with police saying it is a "difficult and complex process". The five men were Spanish nationals of Gambian origin.

6. Three heart units told to stop complex surgery

NHS England has told three major heart units to stop complex surgery over concerns about standards. The hospitals involved say they will fight the decision, which one boss called "irrational and reckless". Another five hospitals providing other types of heart treatment have also been told to stop.

7. Brexit vote turmoil as property funds cut value

Another three City firms have cut the value of their property funds as investors panic after the vote to leave the EU. Some £5bn of commercial property could be put up for sale after Legal & General, Foreign & Colonial and Kames cut their funds. L&G reduced by 10%, on top of a 5% cut last week. Aberdeen has suspended trading.

8. Polish family's shed destroyed in racist attack

An arson attack on a Polish family's garden shed in Plymouth is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime after a note was left telling them to "go back to your f****** country". The Banaszka family, who own a computer repair business, have lived in the UK for ten years.

9. Drone used in hunt for escaped Dartmoor lynx

Police hunting for a lynx that escaped from Dartmoor Zoo are using a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera to search for the animal. The two-year-old Carpathian lynx, which is about the size of a Labrador, arrived at the zoo on Wednesday but chewed through a board in his enclosure to escape. Experts say he is likely to be hiding nearby.

10. Prostitution: The pros and cons of decriminalisation

Politicians have called for reforms to the prostitution laws in England and Wales to give greater protection to sex workers and bring legislation in line with reforms in other countries. In an interim report, presented last week, the home affairs select committee of MPs said the Home Office should immediately introduce legislation to allow for solicitation by sex workers and to change brothel-keeping laws to allow workers to share premises.

The pros and cons of decriminalising prostitution