10 things you need to know today: April 5, 2015

1. Wisconsin ends Kentucky's perfect season

Kentucky's bid for a perfect season ended Saturday with a 71-64 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four. The Wildcats, who finish at 38-1 on the year, had hoped to become the first team to go undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers — and the first ever to go 40-0. "This may never be done again," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. Wisconsin advances to play Duke, which on Saturday walloped Michigan State to set up a title match on Monday between two No. 1 seeds.

Sports Illustrated ESPN

2. Large Hadron Collider back online after two-year upgrade

After a two-year shutdown to make improvements and upgrades, the Large Hadron Collider is back online as scientists embark on a new mission to unlock elemental mysteries of the universe. For the first time since 2013, scientists from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) this weekend shot particle beams through the enormous machine's 16.8-mile tunnel. "It's fantastic to see it going so well after two years and such a major overhaul," Rolf Heuer, CERN's director general, said. The largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the LHC discovered the elusive Higgs boson particle two years ago.

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The Guardian

3. Kenya identifies massacre gunman as son of government official

The son of a Kenyan government official was one of the gunmen who last week slaughtered 148 people in an attack on a university, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said Sunday. Abdirahim Mohammed Abdullahi, the son of a government chief in the county of Mandera, was one of four al Shabab gunman who carried out the attack before being killed by Kenyan authorities. Responding to al Shabab's threat that more attacks would follow, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday said the government would "fight terrorism to the end" and "respond in the fiercest way possible."

Reuters

4. Pope Francis prays for successful Iranian nuclear deal

In an Easter message Sunday, Pope Francis expressed tacit support for the framework nuclear deal reached last week between the U.S., Iran, and international negotiators. "In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world," Pope Francis said in his "Urbi et Orbi" message. Announced on Thursday, the framework deal would sharply restrict Iran's nuclear program in exchange for an end to international sanctions. Negotiators have until June 30 to strike a final, comprehensive agreement.

The Los Angeles Times

5. Fidel Castro makes first public appearance in more than a year

"Full of vitality," according to local media, former Cuban President Fidel Castro on Monday made a public appearance for the first time in more than a year while greeting a Venezuelan delegation. The 88-year-old last appeared in public on Jan. 8, 2014, at the opening of a Havana cultural center. He definitively stepped down from power in 2008, at which time his brother, Raul Castro, took over the presidency. Local media offered no explanation as to why the appearance was not reported for almost a week.

CNN

6. Italy rescues 1,500 migrants in 24 hours

The Italian navy and coast guard on Saturday rescued 1,500 migrants in five separate incidents in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said Sunday. Three of the five ships sent rescue signals after encountering difficulties near the coast of Libya. Italy rescued 170,000 migrants in the Mediterranean last year.

NBC

7. Rob Ford named to Hockey Hall of Fame's board

Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been appointed to the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum's board of directors, the institution revealed Saturday. After months of strenuous denials and a mounting body of blunders, the infamous ex-mayor admitted in 2013 to having smoked crack cocaine in a "drunken stupor" while in office. "When people call me they know they're getting someone that's experienced," Ford, now a Toronto city councilor and an avowed football and hockey fanatic, said.

The Toronto Star

8. Blue Bell ice cream closes plant over listeria scare

Blue Bell ice cream on Friday announced the temporary closure of a plant in Oklahoma due to concerns about listeria contamination. The company said in a statement it was closing the plant "out of an abundance of caution" and would reopen the facility "once our investigation is complete and we have made all necessary improvements." Last month, the company initiated a recall after tracing a listeria contamination to products made in the Oklahoma plant.

USA Today

9. Ex-Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Robert Burns Jr. dies in car crash

Robert Burns Jr., the former drummer for hard rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died late Friday night in a single-car crash in Georgia. He was 64 years old. A Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman said Burns' car went off a curve on a road near Cartersville and struck a tree, adding that the accident remains under investigation. A founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Burns left the band in 1974, but not before working with the group on such hits as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird."

Rolling Stone

10. Baseball returns with Opening Night

In an annual sign of springtime, baseball returns Sunday with an Opening Night matchup between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. One of the game's great rivalries, the matchup pits a Cardinals franchise riding a decade of success against a legendarily cursed organization poised for a breakout year. The inaugural game will be followed by 14 more matchups Monday for Opening Day.

USA Today