Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 26 Apr 2016

1. Junior doctors on first-ever all-out strike

Junior doctors in England are on strike again today and tomorrow - but for the first time, those providing emergency care have also walked out, after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected a Labour-backed plan to trial unpopular new contracts and assess their impact. From 8am to 5pm, A&E and maternity wards will be staffed by senior consultants.

Hunt to promise 25% rise in student doctor places

2. Data shows council schools outperform academies

Analysis by the Local Government Association suggests that council-run schools perform better than privately controlled, state-funded academy schools. Eighty-six per cent of council-run schools were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, compared to 82 per cent of academies. All schools in England are to become academies.

Subscribe to 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. Hillsborough inquest: 96 victims were unlawfully killed

The Hillsborough inquest jury has ruled that the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 disaster were unlawfully killed. It also cleared supporters of blame for the tragedy, which occurred at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. There were cheers and applause in the courtroom as the verdicts were returned after a hearing that has lasted more than two years.

Hillsborough: Former police chiefs face charges

4. Scottish Power to pay £18m customer service penalty

Scottish Power, one of the UK's "big six" energy providers, is to pay an £18m fine for customer service failings linked to a new computer system. The fine is the third-biggest imposed by watchdog Ofgem, which said Scottish Power had failed to treat customers fairly and had not adequately handled their calls, complaint resolution or billing.

5. Retalier Austin Reed goes into administration

A day after high street store BHS went into administration, putting 11,000 jobs at risk, menswear retailer Austin Reed has also entered administration. The brand, which has 100 standalone stores and is stocked in a further 50, has almost 1,200 staff. It began as a tailor in 1900 and counted Winston Chrurchill as a customer.

6. Trump and Clinton on course to take north-east US

Voters in five north-eastern US states will choose their preferred Democratic or Republican candidate for the presidency today, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump expected to further consolidate their already-substantial leads. Trump's Republican rivals are said to have already shifted their campaigning elsewhere.

7. Ukraine marks Chernobyl disaster, 30 years on

The 30th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster, the meltdown of the Chernobyl reactor in what was then the Soviet Union, is being marked in Ukraine today. Sirens were sounded in the early hours at the time of the first explosion. Babies in the region are still being born with serious deformities.

8. Paris bans cars from Champs-Elysees once a month

The Mayor of Paris has banned vehicles from the city's most famous boulevard, the Champs-Elysees, for one day a month in a bid to reduce air pollution. Anne Hidalgo has made fighting smog one of her top priorities and has enforced similar restrictions on 13 other streets. The ban will apply to the first Sunday of each month.

9. Western European men descended from 'king'

Half of all males in Western Europe are descended from an unknown Bronze Age "king" who lived 4,000 years ago, a new study by genetic scientists claims. He is believed to be one of the earliest people to take power in Europe following the Stone Age. Scientists say he must have existed because of genetic variation in today's European populations.

Half of all males in Western Europe 'descended from one man'

10. Briefing: How Cruz and Kasich plan to trip up Trump

US presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and John Kasich have joined forces in a last-minute attempt to stop frontrunner Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. The surprise alliance involves Cruz suspending campaigning in the Oregon and New Mexico primaries to help his rival, while Kasich is giving Cruz a clear path in the state of Indiana. Defending the deal, Cruz's campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said that having Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be "a sure disaster" for Republicans.

Trump travel ban: Judge expands definition of relatives