Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 2 Apr 2015

1. LEADERS’ TV DEBATE: BOOKIES TIP FARAGE

Ukip’s Nigel Farage is the bookmakers’ favourite to ‘win’ tonight’s seven-way party leaders’ TV debate. There are expected to be four snap polls immediately afterwards - and while Farage is the bookies’ tip, YouGov thinks David Cameron will win. He is said to be hoping to rise above the “chaos” of smaller parties.

2. KENYAN UNIVERSITY ATTACKED BY GUNMEN

Masked gunmen have stormed a university compound in eastern Kenya, killing at least two people. Heavy gunfire and explosions have been heard at Garissa University College. The college is near the Somali border, prompting speculation that the attack may be the latest by al-Shabab, Islamist fighters in Somalia.

Kenya university attack: shots going off 'like fireworks'

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

3. RUSSIAN TRAWLER SINKS KILLING 54

At least 54 sailors have died after a Russian freezer trawler with a crew of 132 sank in the Sea of Okhotsk, in the far east of the country. The crew were from Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Myanmar and Vanuatu. Sixty-three have been rescued, many suffering from hypothermia. The ship may have been holed by an iceberg.

4. TURKEY TO DEPORT SYRIA BORDER BRITONS

Nine Britons, including two women and four children, arrested in Turkey as they tried to make their way across the border to Syria are to be deported back to the UK. It is not known why they were trying to cross the border but there is speculation they wanted to get into territory controlled by Islamic State.

5. LABOUR: TORIES WILL CLOSE SURE START

Labour has claimed that a Conservative victory in the election could lead to the closure of 1,000 Sure Start centres, which provide childcare, early education and family and health support. The party says 40,000 places have been lost already. In response, the Tories accused the opposition of “scare-mongering”.

6. SYRIA A ‘FINISHING SCHOOL’ FOR TERROR

A UN report has described Iraq and Syria as “finishing schools” for extremists, citing a sharp rise in the number of foreign fighters joining terrorist groups there. The reports says there are now 25,000, from more than 100 countries. It warns that the defeat of Islamic State could scatter fighters across the world.

7. LONDON: KINGSWAY FIRE CONTROLLED

A fire which paralysed a major road through central London yesterday has been brought under control. The blaze, caused by a faulty electrical junction box, led police to evacuate more than 2,000 people from nearby offices. Seventy fire-fighters were called to the scene, getting the fire under control by around 8pm.

8. JOHN LENNON’S EX-WIFE CYNTHIA DIES

Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of John Lennon, has died at her home in Spain at the age of 75 after what her family described as a “short but brave battle with cancer”. Her son with Lennon, Julian, was with her. Cynthia met the future Beatle at art school in 1957. Their marriage was kept secret as he rose to fame.

9. FOOTBALLERS GET SEX CONSENT TRAINING

Championship football club Brighton and Hove Albion is giving its youth team players training in law and ethics surrounding sexual consent, led by a former police detective and a psychotherapist. In 2013, four current and former Brighton players were cleared of sexual assault charges at the Old Bailey.

10. Briefing: Germanwings conspiracy theories

Supporters of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz claim he has been framed as a killer as part of an elaborate cover-up. A Facebook page called "Andreas Lubitz A320, we are against the hunt" offers a range of alternative theories for why the Germanwings plane crashed, including the suggestions that Lufthansa has sought to pin the blame on Lubitz to hide mechanical problems with the plane.

Germanwings conspiracy theories: cover-up claims emerge