Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 16 May 2015

1. BOSTON BOMBER WILL BE EXECUTED

Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been sentenced to die by lethal injection for his role in the 2013 attack. Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Tsarnaev, now 21, and his brother placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon. Survivors say “justice has prevailed”. A firefighter who treated victims said: "He's going to go to hell. That's where he wanted to go."

2. CHUKA ‘WAS IN A REALLY BAD PLACE’

Chuka Umunna was in a “really bad place” when he decided to drop out of the Labour leadership race, say friends. The shadow business secretary said his “very real concerns” about the “scrutiny and attention” he was receiving led him to abandon his attempt to succeed Ed Miliband. According to The Times, friends pleaded urged him to reconsider before he went public with his decision.

3. BAN OPINION POLLS, SAYS PM ADVISER

The man behind David Cameron’s election victory has attacked Britain’s political class for badly misjudging the result, saying it was their “judgment day and they lost”. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Lynton Crosby, the PM’s Australian election strategist, said that public opinion polls should be banned during the final three weeks of future campaigns.

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4. US & RUSSIA DISCUSS POST-ASSAD PLAN

The US and Russia have held talks over the fall of president Assad amid signs that Syria’s four-year civil war is turning decisively against him. US secretary of state John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov this week. Although Moscow was not ready to drop its long-standing support for Assad, both sides recognised that a post-Assad transition would need to be discussed.

5. WILL HUNTING BAN GO WITHIN MONTHS?

The hunting ban will be repealed within 12 months, says The Independent. David Cameron is under pressure from Tories to honour quickly the party’s electoral pledge to hold a free Commons vote on the ban. The pro-hunting lobby, which has examined the views of the MPs elected on May 7, believes it has achieved the “magic number” of 286 votes it needs to win.

6. ARE LABOUR OUT OF POWER FOREVER?

Labour might be out of power forever, warns leadership candidate Liz Kendall. Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “If you look at what has happened in Scotland over the past few years, we have gone from being the dominant party to a party that is facing extinction. One more parliament like the last means we might be unable to form a majority government again.”

7. LORD JANNER DECISION UNDER REVIEW

The decision of the CPS not to prosecute Lord Janner is under review, says The Guardian. The director of public prosecutions ruled that the Labour peer was too ill to stand trial over alleged child sex crimes, but CPS has confirmed an unnamed QC is carrying out a review. The 86-year-old Labour peer was accused of 22 sex offences but his family have always strenuously denied the allegations.

8. GEORGE OSBORNE: NEXT BUDGET IN JULY

George Osborne has announced he will deliver a new budget on 8 July. Writing in The Sun, the chancellor said his next budget would be aimed at "working people" and "entrench stability and security". Admitting it was "unusual" to have two Budgets in the same year, he said he wanted to turn "promises made in the election into a reality".

9. UKIP MP: ‘TAKE A BREAK, NIGEL’

Nigel Farage "needs to take a break now", says UKIP’s only MP Douglas Carswell. Writing in the Times, Carswell said he admired Farage, but questioned his "ill-advised" comments about HIV patients, made in a TV leaders' debate. However, Farage ruled out quitting as leader on BBC's Question Time on Thursday, saying he had "phenomenal" support.

10. STEVEN GERRARD’S FINAL ANFIELD MATCH

Steven Gerrard will become a "great manager" when he retires from playing, according to ex-Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier. The midfielder makes his final Anfield appearance for the Reds today when Crystal Palace are the visitors. The Liverpool captain is joining LA Galaxy in the USA's Major League Soccer this summer after 17 years in the Reds' first team.