BUSINESS LEADERS BACK THE TORIES
More than 100 senior business executives gave their support to the Conservative-led Government in a letter to The Daily Telegraph. The signatories praised the decision to lower corporation tax, and warned that a Labour government would “deter investment”. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband claimed that an EU referendum would play havoc with British businesses. In the seven-way leaders’ debate on Thursday night, David Cameron warned voters against “going back to square one” on the economy under Labour. But a snap poll by YouGov declared the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon the night’s winner, with Nigel Farage second and Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband in third and fourth place respectively.
KENYA UNIVERSITY ATTACK
Gunmen from the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab stormed the campus of a university in north-eastern Kenya in the early hours of Thursday morning. The attackers broke into Garissa University College and occupied one of four residential buildings, where they held Christian students hostage and began firing indiscriminately on others. By evening, when the siege was declared over, the death toll stood at 147.
LONDON FIRE
Buildings were emptied, West End shows cancelled and Tube lines disrupted after an electrical fire broke out under the pavement in central London. The mass evacuation began on Wednesday afternoon when smoke was spotted pouring from an inspection cover. Firemen said that the blaze started among underground power cables in Holborn and it could not be extinguished until the current was switched off. It was still burning on Thursday morning and around 1,000 people were affected by power cuts. The cost of
the disruption was estimated at up to £40 million.