Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 2 May 2013

1. BOSTON BOMB SUSPECT’S FRIENDS HELD

Three college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been arrested by US police. Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice; Robel Phillipos with making false statements. They are said to have removed a backpack filled with fireworks emptied of gunpowder from Tsarnaev’s room three days after the Boston bombing.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's 'closest friends' arrested in Boston

2. JURY VISITS APRIL JONES’S HOMETOWN

The jury in the trial of Mark Bridger, accused of murdering missing five-year-old April Jones in a sexually-motivated attack, will today visit her hometown, Machynlleth in Wales, to see key locations connected with the prosecution case. Bridger has claimed he accidentally hit the girl with his car.

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3. ENGLAND: LOCAL ELECTIONS OPEN

Voters have been going to the polls across England today to elect 27 county councils and unitary authorities last contested in 2009, with more than 2,300 council seats at stake. Labour are also defending a by-election for South Shields, David Miliband’s old constituency, and mayoral elections are being held in Doncaster and North Tyneside.

Cameron battles UKIP threat with guarantee of EU vote

4. N KOREA GIVES US MAN 15 YEARS LABOUR

North Korea has heightened diplomatic tension with the US, sentencing an American citizen, 44-year-old Kenneth Bae, also known as Pae Jun-ho, to 15 years’ hard labour for “anti-government crimes”. Bae is believed to be a tour operator of Korean descent, described by friends as a devout Christian.

American gets 15 years' hard labour in North Korea

5. INTEREST RATES CUT TO RECORD LOW

The European Central Bank has cut its interest rates to a record low of 0.5% amid concerns about the lack of growth in the eurozone. The cut, from 0.75%, is the first for ten months and comes after more miserable economic data showed record unemployment and shrinking manufacturing in the 17-nation bloc. The euro strengthened against the dollar after the news.

6. STUART HALL: 'MY DISGRACE IS COMPLETE'

Veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall has admitted indecently assaulting girls aged as young as nine. The 83-year-old pleaded guilty to 14 offences involving 13 victims, dating from 1967 to 1985. Outside court Hall’s lawyer said he wanted to apologise to his victims and was “aware his disgrace is complete.” Hall will be sentenced next month.

BBC presenter Stuart Hall admits child sex abuse

7. ACTOR BILL ROACHE CHARGED WITH RAPE

Coronation Street stalwart Bill Roache has been charged with two counts of raping a 15-year-old girl in the 1960s. The 81-year-old actor, who has appeared on the show as Ken Barlow since 1960, was arrested at his home in Cheshire yesterday morning. ITV said Roache will not be appearing on the soap until “legal proceedings are concluded”.

8. CLEGG: UKIP DRAGGING CAMERON TO RIGHT

Deputy PM Nick Clegg has said Ukip has forced the Tories to lurch to the right, making coalition even harder. Interviewed ahead of the local elections, Clegg cited Conservative policies on welfare, Europe and climate change as three key areas. He vowed to “dig in my heels” to avoid the whole Coalition shifting rightwards.

Cameron battles UKIP threat with guarantee of EU vote

9. 'DEAD' U.S. MOTHER FOUND LIVING HOMELESS

An American mother of two who vanished in 2002 without explanation has made herself known to police, three years after she was declared legally dead, and explained she took a split-second decision to hitchhike to Florida with two homeless people who approached her in a park as she was going through divorce.

10. HOT TICKET: ENO REVIVES LA BOHEME

The English National Opera’s revival of Jonathan Miller's production of Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ has opened at the Coliseum, London. Miller shifts the doomed love story of the two young bohemians, Mimi and Rodolfo, to 1930s Paris. “Immensely moving,” says The Guardian. Until 29 June.

ENO revival of Miller's 1930s La Bohème 'immensely moving'