Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 28 Apr 2015

1. EIGHT MILLION HIT BY NEPAL EARTHQUAKE

The UN has said that eight million people have been affected by Nepal’s worst earthquake for 80 years. More than 4,000 are confirmed to have died – with 8,000 injured - and 1.4 million will need food aid. An RAF plane has left for Nepal carrying UK aid and troops, including Gurkha engineers.

Major earthquake hits Nepal for second time in two weeks

2. BALTIMORE: STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED

The authorities have declared a state of emergency, called in the national guard and imposed a curfew in Baltimore in response to rioting triggered by the death of a black man in police custody. At least 27 people were arrested on Monday night after violent clashes, rioting and looting. Freddie Gray, 25, died on 19 April.

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

Baltimore riots 2015: why the city looks like a war zone

3. RUSSELL BRAND INTERVIEWS MILIBAND

Labour leader Ed Miliband says he recorded an interview with comedian and activist Russell Brand to "liven up" the election. Brand has previously urged people not to vote and called for a "revolution". David Cameron said he did "not have time" to meet Brand. The interview was due to be released on Tuesday evening.

Election 2015: Nick Robinson, one man who’d welcome a second election

4. BALI EXECUTIONS TO GO AHEAD TODAY

The Indonesian province of Bali was today expected to execute nine foreigners by firing squad despite intense overseas lobbying against the deaths. Two are Australian nationals caught smuggling heroin from the island to Australia in 2005, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. The executions were scheduled for 6pm UK time.

5. BATMAN KILLER ‘CAME TO SLAUGHTER’

A court in Colorado has heard that gunman James Holmes “came to slaughter” 400 people watching the latest Batman film in 2012. Prosecutors say he was sane when he carried out the shootings which left 12 dead and 70 injured. Defenders said the PhD student was a “good kid” suffering from schizophrenia.

James Holmes guilty of Batman shooting: will he face death?

6. UK GROWTH RATE FALLS TO 0.3%

UK economic growth slowed to 0.3% in the first quarter of 2015 according to the Office of National Statistics. The rate of growth halved from 0.6% in the last three months of 2014 and represents the weakest level recorded since the final quarter of 2012. However, the economy is now 2.4% larger than at the same time last year.

7. VENTRILOQUIST KEITH HARRIS DIES AGED 67

Ventriloquist Keith Harris has died of cancer at the age of 67. The entertainer was best known for his act with puppet Orville - a flightless, green, nappy-wearing duck - with whom he had a top ten hit in 1982. He also fronted the Keith Harris show, which ran from 1982 to 1990 on Saturday evenings on BBC1, and was a regular act at Royal Variety s performances.

Keith Harris dies aged 67, after battle with cancer

8. APPLE WATCH: INTERFACE LET-DOWN

Apple’s much-anticipated ‘smartwatch’ has been launched and has received its first reviews. While there is praise for the device’s “beautiful” hardware, several critics have found the interface a disappointment. The Guardian’s reviewer says the software is “confusing” and is critical of the watch’s “poor battery life”.

Apple Watch Series 2: Specs, straps and all you need to know

9. ‘VEGETARIAN T-REX’ UNCOVERED IN CHILE

A bizarre dinosaur which looks as though it was put together from bits of others has been unearthed in Chile. Chilesaurus diegosuarezi was related to T-rex but had turned to vegetarianism. It was named after a young boy, Diego, who found the first fossil when his geologist parents left him to play alone.

10. BRIEFING: HIV HOME TESTING KITS

The first legally-approved HIV self-testing kit has gone sale in the UK, in what manufactures are calling a significant step towards normalising HIV testing. The test, developed by BioSure, is available online and delivers results in just 15 minutes. Charities are hopeful that the home tests will reduce the estimated 26,000 people who have undiagnosed HIV in the UK.

HIV home test kit: how does it work and is it reliable?