Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 18 Jul 2013

1. RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER GETS 5 YEARS

Alexei Navalny, the Russian anti-corruption campaigner, has been found guilty of embezzlement and jailed for five years following his trial in Kirov. The protest leader was accused of defrauding a timber firm but has always insisted he was only brought to trial because of his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Guilty verdict no surprise for Putin enemy Alexei Navalny

2. DOWNTON ABBEY GETS 12 EMMY NOMINATIONS

Downton Abbey has been nominated for 12 Emmy awards, with stars Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Dame Maggie Smith and Jim Carter in the running for acting awards. Julian Fellowes is also nominated in the writing category. Damien Lewis is in the running for a second succesive best actor award for Homeland and Helen Mirren has been nominated for her role in Phil Spector.

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3. UK HEATWAVE MAY HAVE KILLED 760

The heatwave which has hit Britain may have already claimed the lives of up to 760 people, according to scientists. Two more regions - south-west England and the West Midlands - were raised to a "level three" warning by the Met Office today, bringing them into line with the South East and London, where level three warnings remain in place.

Britain bakes, Met Office issues warning - but is it a heatwave?

4. MANDELA IN HOSPITAL FOR 95TH BIRTHDAY

Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th birthday in hospital in Pretoria, where President Jacob Zuma said his health is "steadily improving". To mark International Mandela Day, South Africans have been urged to match the former president's 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.

International Mandela Day – in pictures

5. DOCTOR LEAH TOTTON SCOOPS APPRENTICE

A 24-year-old Irish doctor has become the latest winner of the BBC show The Apprentice and plans to use her £250,000 prize to launch a cosmetic procedures business. Leah Totton, who works in London, beat cake shop boss Luisa Zissman to secure Lord Sugar as her new business partner. She described her victory as "overwhelming".

Apprentice winner Leah Totton lacks 'expertise'

6. ASHES: ENGLAND FINISH ON 289-7

Australia had the better of the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lords today, as England finished on 289-7. Alastair Cook won the toss and batted, but England were in early trouble at 28-3. A century for Ian Bell steadied the ship and England appeared on top at 271-4. But three late wickets for Steve Smith tipped the balance back to Australia.

Anderson and Australian batting key to Ashes Test

7. ROLLING STONE ISSUE PROMPTS UPROAR

Rolling Stone magazine has been forced to defend its latest cover story featuring Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after claims it had rewarded "a terrorist with celebrity treatment". Critics said a picture of Tsarnaev, who has pleaded not guilty to the April 15 bombings, glamourised the 19-year-old. Some US retailers will not stock the issue.

Should Dzhokhar Tsarnaev be on cover of Rolling Stone?

8. MCILROY ENDURES MUIRFIELD NIGHTMARE

Golfer Rory McIlroy carded a disastrous round of eight over par on the first day of the Open. Earlier the young Northern Irishman had dismissed suggestions from Nick Faldo that he was not completely focused on winning his first Open title. American Zach Johnson made the early running on Thursday with a round of five under.

The intelligent punter's guide to the 2013 British Open golf

9. ROYAL BABY: COULD BIRTH BE IN READING?

The world's media are encamped outside St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in west London, but it has now emerged the Duchess of Cambridge could give birth at a hospital in Reading. The Duchess has been staying with her parents in Bucklebury, Berkshire this week, and has arranged a contingency plan to have her baby at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Prince George ‘played sheep in school nativity’

10. HOT TICKET: PEGG IS BACK IN WORLD'S END

British science-fiction comedy 'The World's End' opens in cinemas this week. The conclusion to Edgar Wright's 'Cornetto trilogy' (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) follows five friends whose nostalgic pub crawl is disrupted by an invasion of alien robots. With Simon Pegg. "Gut-bustingly funny," says the Daily Telegraph.

Pegg comedy The World's End is 'gut-bustingly funny'