Saturday's news in less than two minutes

Indian student dies in detention centre

An Indian student has died in a Melbourne immigration detention centre. The 27-year-old took his life on Thursday night in his cell inside Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre. The man had been placed in detention after overstaying his visa.

Abbott Government to implement drone surveillance program

The Federal Government will reintroduce large-scale unmanned aircraft to Australia’s maritime surveillance. News Limited are reporting that Defence Minister David Johnston is keen to resurrect the idea o unmanned surveillance, after Labor withdrew from the US Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance project in 2009. The $2.5 billion strategy would include seven platforms based around the country. The drones could also be used for other purposes, such as bushfire management.

UK begins biggest emergency relief effort since WWII

Thousands of Britain’s military personnel have been deployed to suburban streets after the country was hit by intense storms. The country has been hit by 140km/h winds, and 5cm of rain fell in just six hours along England’s south coast. Prince William and Prince Harry were spotted helping the relief effort, sandbagging a local school near Windsor Castle.

Java volcano kills three and grounds flights

Three people are dead and thousands displaced after a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Mount Kelud erupted late on Thursday night destroying villages in the east of Java. 75,000 people are estimated to still be in temporary shelters after leaving their homes. All flights to and from the region’s international airports Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang and Bandung, have been grounded.

Crimes against humanity occurred in North Korea, UN

A UN panel, led by retired Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby, has called for an investigation into crimes agains humanity in North Korea. In a report to be released on Monday, the panel lists crimes such as extermination, crimes against starving populations, and a widespread abduction campaign as necessitating the investigation.

Facebook gives users custom gender options

Facebook users will no longer have to identify as a man or a woman. The social media network has announced that it will be introducing custom gender options for its users. The changes will first occur for those using the ‘Facebook (US)’ language style, but there are plans to extend the changes to all language styles.

Facebook said in a statement:

This will open up a menu where you can select up to ten gender definitions. Among these are genders such as “cisgender,” “transgender” and “intersex,” as well as many other nuanced options. Beyond that, we are now allowing people to select a “neutral” pronoun on the site. For those not comfortable identifying as traditionally male or female, there is now an option to be referred to as “they/their/them.” For instance, instead of saying “Write on Matt’s wall for HIS birthday,” the text will read “Write on Matt’s wall for THEIR birthday.