Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 24 Sep 2013

1. ED MILIBAND VOWS TO FREEZE ENERGY BILLS

Labour will freeze gas and electricity bills for every home and business in the UK for 20 months if the party wins the 2015 election, Ed Miliband vowed in his conference speech this afternoon. He also pledged to help small firms by freezing business rates in England, and to build 200,000 new homes a year, creating a fresh generation of new towns and "garden cities".

2. MALL SIEGE 'OVER' BUT GUNFIRE CONTINUES

Despite a claim by Kenyan officials that the Westgate mall crisis was over, and all hostages still alive were now free, gunfire and explosions continued to be heard late this afternoon. The death toll is 65. It has emerged that a four-year-old British boy, Elliott Prior, persuaded a gunman to spare his family, telling him: "You're a bad man, let us leave."

'You're a bad man' UK boy tells Nairobi terrorist - and is freed

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3. FAIRFAX CONSORTIUM TO BUY BLACKBERRY

Struggling phone manufacturer Blackberry has agreed in principle to be bought by a consortium led by its existing biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, for $4.7bn (£3bn). But the Canadian company, which announced last week it was cutting 4,500 jobs, said it was still exploring other options while negotiations continued.

BlackBerry agrees to $4.7bn takeover deal with Fairfax

4. IRAN: WEST HOPES FOR BETTER RELATIONS

President Obama told the UN General Assembly today that recent moves by Iran should offer the basis for a "meaningful agreement" on its nuclear programme. Words now had to be "matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable", he said. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague met his Iranian counterpart and said Britain was "open to better relations” with Iran.

5. GODFREY BLOOM QUITS UKIP

Controversial UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom has quit the party after being censured last week for joking that party activists were "sluts". Bloom said he intends to remain in the European Parliament as an independent until the end of his term. He said he had "felt for some time" the party was no longer for him.

Is UKIP's Godfrey Bloom the most gaffe-prone MEP ever?

6. FRY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST NSA AND GCHQ

Stephen Fry is among 40 public figures and free speech groups who have signed a petition asking governments to discuss the state monitoring of email and other electronic communications revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Fry said: “You can’t just scream ‘terrorism’ and use it as an excuse for Orwellian snooping.”

7. ISTANBUL IN RUNNING FOR EURO 2020 FINAL

The FA believes Wembley’s main rival to host the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 is Istanbul (other matches will be spread across other nations). General secretary Alex Horne said: “There's a sympathy for Turkey and it does feel like they are the front-runners.” Istanbul lost its bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

8. LONDON 'COULD HAVE OWN NFL FRANCHISE'

The man who runs Wembley Stadium believes it could become the home to an NFL franchise by 2020 - and says the arrival of American football need not undermine Wembley's role as England football's home ground. Roger Maslin was speaking ahead of this weekend's London clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota

London could have own NFL Wembley franchise by 2020

9. WATERPROOF IPHONE 'AD' IS PRANK

A fake advert which suggested that Apple’s iOS 7 software update for its smartphones would render the handsets waterproof appears to have fooled many people into dunking their mobiles into water. The prank, which is thought to have originated on the 4Chan site, involved a very convincing spoof ad image.

iPhone 6 bending reports 'overblown' says test firm

10. HOT TICKET: FIGARO BACK AT ROYAL OPERA

A revival of Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ has opened at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. David McVicar stages the comic opera about the wily servant, Figaro, who must outwit his lecherous master in order to marry his beloved. “Unadulterated joy,” says the Daily Telegraph. Until 7 October.

Royal Opera's Nozze di Figaro revival is 'unadulterated joy'