Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 1 May 2013

1. THREE UK SOLDIERS KILLED BY HELMAND IED

Three British troops have died after their armoured vehicle hit a roadside improvised explosive device in Helmand, Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence says. The men, of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, died on Tuesday. Their next of kin have been informed. The deaths bring the total UK losses in the country since 2001 to 444.

IED kills three British troops in Helmand province

2. OBAMA: WE NEED TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO

US president Barack Obama has reiterated his desire to close the Guantanamo Bay camp on US territory in Cuba where suspected terrorists have been held since 2002. Congress has blocked previous attempts to close the prison. Obama said it was “contrary to who we are” and a recruitment tool for extremists.

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3. BRITISH MAN DIES ON GREENLAND ICE TREK

A British man, Philip Goodeve-Docker, 30, has died while attempting a 400-mile trek across Greenland’s ice sheet. His two companions are in hospital, suffering from frostbite and shock, after they were all caught in a severe storm and their tent blew away. The Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance.

4. SCOTS INDEPENDENCE WOULD ‘DAMAGE’ UK

An independent Scotland would leave the rest of the UK's international reputation damaged, a committee of MPs has said. A report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also said the UK's influence in the EU may decline if there is a yes vote in the 2014 referendum.

5. ACTOR BILL ROACHE IN RAPE ARREST

Coronation street actor Bill Roache has been arrested on suspicion of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1967. The 81-year-old, who has played Ken Barlow in the soap for 53 years, was arrested this morning at his home in Cheshire. Lancashire police said: 'the offences are alleged to have been committed in Haslingden between April and July 1967.”

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache arrested on rape claims

6. OVERSEAS CHILD ABDUCTIONS ON THE RISE

The number of cases handled by the UK’s specialist judicial office that deals with cross-border child custody disputes has more than doubled in the last two years, the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales says. The unit dealt with 3 cases in 2005, 92 in 2010 and 253 last year.

7. POPE CONDEMNS BANGLADESH 'SLAVERY'

Pope Francis has condemned the work conditions of victims of the Bangladesh factory fire as "slave labour", as thousands paraded through Dhaka to demand work safety. The Pontiff told a private mass he had read that the Bangladesh victims were living on 38 euros a month and said their conditions were an affront to man's "capacity to create, to work, to have dignity".

Dhaka factory collapse: protest as death toll hits 400

8. UK TO BE MOST DIVERSE NATION BY 2050

The UK will be the West’s most ethnically diverse nation by 2050, with white Britons a minority by 2066, a controversial report by Oxford academic Prof David Coleman claims. The declining birth rate among white Britons is a factor behind the projected rise, which may not happen if government policies limit immigration.

9. PM: I KNOW VOTERS ARE FRUSTRATED

David Cameron has said he understands voters are “frustrated” in an interview on the final full day of campaigning ahead of Thursday's local elections. The PM said he welcomed the scrutiny UKIP had received ahead of tomorrow’s poll but declined to echo William Hague’s description of UKIP as “clowns”.

Cameron's cunning UKIP plan: don't utter rival party's name

10. HOT TICKET: DEUTSCHE BÖRSE PICS

An exhibition of finalists for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2013 has opened at the Photographers' Gallery, London, including Mishka Henner’s street workers sourced from Google Streetview and Chris Killip’s images of England’s post-industrial decline. “Fascinating,” says Metro. Until 30 June.

Deutsche Börse prize photo show is 'lively' and 'fascinating'