Philippa Taylor
BBC Local Live

If you haven't noticed, the annual celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading, is taking place at a number of schools across the county.

Most of them are marking World Book Day today, but Mellis Primary School opted to get in the mood yesterday:

Deputy head teacher Kelly Floyd said: "When they [the pupils] come in, they put so much effort into the activities because they enjoy the fun of the baking and the artwork that goes with the day.

"It's all about taking the book, and making it creative for them."

What's your favourite children's book? Click on the "Get involved" link at the top of the page to let us know. I think mine would have to be Five on a Treasure Island - the very first of  Enid Blyton's Famous Five, external series. Oh to be young and enjoy them again.

Do you agree with Deg Spaz, who's tweeted about accessibility to Portman Road tickets as and when Ed Sheeran names a date?

Share your views via the "Get involved" link at the top of this feed.

Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Ryman Premier Division club Lowestoft Town, external would like to extend Nico Cotton's loan spell from Southend United.

Image source, Southend United FC

The 20-year-old midfielder's impressed since arriving at Crown Meadow early last month.

"Nico's a nice lad and he's fitted in really well here," said Trawler Boys manager Ady Gallagher. "If we can extend his stay we'll extend it.

"If we don't get him it won't be the end of the world but if we do get him then I think he'll benefit from being here and we'll benefit from having him."

Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Ipswich Town, external defender Tommy Smith has told BBC Suffolk Sport how he's had to adapt the way he prepares for games after undergoing back surgery.

The 26-year-old returned to action in Sunday's East Anglian derby after five months on the sidelines.

"Before I'd never had to do Pilates but I am now, five days a week. That's just to ensure my core muscles, front and back, stay strong enough to support my back."

A man was injured when a gas canister exploded in Red Lodge yesterday evening.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was treated at the scene off Turnpike Road for burns to his upper body.

As the  East Anglian Daily Times, external  has reported, he was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital for further care.

Suffolk Police has been rated as "good" by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies, external , which monitors its performance.

The force was given the rating in all four areas of assessment, which include how effective it is at preventing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and tackling serious and organised crime across the county. 

The report also praises the way the officers approach vulnerable people and the measures all staff take to keep them safe. 

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Jupp said: "It needs to be borne in mind that this 'good' grading was achieved in the face of a continual financially challenging climate and one of changing and increasing demand on our service.

"It's also important to recognise that this inspection was conducted after the latest phase of the Suffolk Local Policing Review was implemented, so effectively the report is an endorsement of our work to transform and modernise our service and ensure we can respond effectively to current and future challenges."

Ipswich Star

Here's the front page of the Ipswich Star, external :

Image source, Ipswich Star

East Anglian Daily Times

Here's the front page of the west edition of the East Anglian Daily Times, external :

Image source, EADT

Kate Williams
BBC Local Live

I'm at Ipswich Crown Court, where the defendant, who says he is Vital Dapi, but the prosecution says is Ali Qazimaj, is being cross-examined by Karim Khalil QC.

The defendant has been shown a number of photographs, from a number of different years, some of which he disputes are actually of him.

He denies murdering Peter and Sylvia Stuart, from Weybread.

As we move away from Ed Sheeran updates for now, we have news that two men who were arrested yesterday in connection with the fatal stabbing incident  in Ipswich last month have been bailed.

Dean Stansby, 41, from Trimley St Mary, died in hospital on 8 February, shortly after being stabbed in the vicinity of Ancaster Road.

A 33-year-old man from Ipswich arrested on 1 March on suspicion of murder has been bailed and is due to return to police on 24 May. 

A 36-year-old man, also from Ipswich, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been bailed to return to police on 23 May.

To date, seven people have been arrested in connection with the incident, and all are on bail pending further inquiries.

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

A few years ago Ed Sheeran was sleeping on couches as he travelled from one gig to another - playing at whichever venue would have him.

Now, as he sits among the elite of the musical world, I asked him what advice he had for those musicians starting out.

Image source, Ben Matthews

"Always be as individual as possible, never follow the crowds," he said.

"I remember doing shows and really, really standing out and feeling that was a bad thing - because I wasn't dressing the same as people, singing the same as people, or doing the same things, but inevitably that was the thing that made me stand out.

"So use your insecurities as weapons which can be useful to you. Remain individual.

"Write as many songs as possible and try and do as many shows as possible, but the way to stand out is being yourself - because no-one can be a better you than you.

"And also, first and foremost, you have to enjoy it.

"I found at the beginning of my career I was playing shows, and sort of censuring myself, not using loop pedals and not rapping, because I thought that's what labels wanted and I just really didn't enjoy myself.

"The moment I stopped doing that and started enjoying myself, everything started going really well."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

Ed Sheeran has a busy year planned - with his third album, ÷, released tonight and a world tour starting later this month.

But, not one to take it easy, the singer is already planning what he'll do next.

Image source, Atlantic/Greg Williams

"I'm working on a movie, but not like a high-budget Hollywood movie, quite a low-budget UK one, with a soundtrack to go along with that," he said.

"That's very, very, very early doors.

"I'm going to be working on the songs for that and learning my lines, and then I guess I'll start on the fourth album.

"But I've got a long tour that spans into 2019, so I'll be doing all that while I'm on tour.

"I want to be heavily involved in not really making it glitz and glam, so it's going to be a slow process but I think it will be something really beautiful."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

Skate and surf company Hoax has the MTV European Music Awards to thank for landing the celebrity backing of Ed Sheeran.

The singer was in Woodbridge filming a skit called Straight Outta Framlingham, external ahead of presenting the 2015 ceremony, when he was spotted by someone from the company, which is based in Suffolk.

Image source, MTV

"I, like everyone in Suffolk who was a boy or girl, wore Hoax at some point during their childhood," he said. 

"I was in Woodbridge Market Hill and someone ran up and gave me a Hoax deck, and I was like wow I didn't know Hoax was still going, because I hadn't seen them around for a bit.

"It turned out the guy who gave it to me was the new owner, so I took his details and he sent me a load of stuff.

"When this album campaign was coming up I said if you send me some more stuff I'll wear it on all my appearances - so I've done it at the Brits, the Grammys and my photo shoots now.

"It's all UK made and distributed from Suffolk, and I think it's important to support homegrown stuff like that.

"I think we've finally made it as well, because there are now fake Hoax wear on eBay."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

Melvin Benn, the man behind the Latitude and Reading/Leeds festivals, yesterday described Ed Sheeran as "the most famous man in the world". The singer has had number one albums all around the globe, and his live shows sell out in minutes.

What could be seen as a downside of this success is the constant desire from the press, fuelled by the continued popularity of previous coverage, for updates about Ed Sheeran.

Image source, Getty Images

It now seems that almost everything the singer does warrants a news story.

What does Sheeran, who says he monitors the coverage, think about this?

"It's a tiny bit annoying, because not everything gets reported properly," he said. "I haven't been in this position before where everything I say ends up in a tabloid paper.

"But I guess it comes with the territory."

In Eraser, the opening track of new album ÷, Sheeran sings "I wish my private life would have never gone public" - and it seems like he's closed the door a bit on letting things be known about life away from entertaining.

"I'm a bit more guarded with it on this one," he said. "So the press kind of know everything about my public life, and a small amount about my personal life.

"Whereas with the last album it was all open for everyone to see."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

I remember asking Ed Sheeran a few years ago if he would like to play a gig at Framlingham Castle, which became the subject of his hit Castle on the Hill and is near where he grew up, and continues to live.

Image source, Getty Images

At the time he ruled out the idea, saying he wasn't keen on thousands of fans descending on his doorstep.

But with his continued success, the idea of him playing there must have come up again, right?

"Yeah, I think it's still too close to home," he said.

"I would love to play Portman Road, I think that would be the closest to home I'd be comfortable playing.

"I don't know when that's going to happen, but it will happen eventually in my career."

Had he been contacted by the club since he spoke about the potential gig in January, external ?

"They did, but we'd already booked in all the gigs for next year. You basically can't book a certain gig too close to each other - so if you've got a show in London the promoters get a bit weird if you book in Ipswich.

"So when I do it it's going to have to be a one off thing."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

Ed Sheeran's "driving at 90 down those country lanes" lyric prompted a plea for caution when Castle on the Hill was released in January.

If the singer could go back in time, would he change the lyric?

"I don't think it specifically says miles per hour - it could be kilometres per hour," he said. "I'm not encouraging speeding at all, I'm just singing it in a song."

In Crosstown Traffic, Jimi Hendrix sang "90 miles an hour, girl, is the speed I drive". This wasn't lost on Sheeran.  

"No-one is going in at Jimi Hendrix, who actually says 90mph is the speed I drive."

The controversy over the lyric has, however, prompted a novel marketing strategy for the release of his new album, ÷.

"We're actually putting up road signs all of next week around Suffolk, saying drive safe," he said.

"We have a marketing spend for this album and I wanted to do some sort of billboards in Suffolk. We then thought it would be quite funny instead of having billboards up saying the album is out, just having a blue sign that says 'drive safe'."

Image source, Suffolk Roadsafe

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

In an interview with Mark Savage , Ed Sheeran revealed that he'd written "six or seven songs about Suffolk" before deciding that Castle on the Hill was the best of the bunch.

Speaking to him yesterday, I asked him what the other songs were about.

Image source, Geograph: Keith Evans

"They were very similar subjects to what's in Castle on the Hill, but sung in a different way," he said.

"They all had that stadium rock feel, but Castle on the Hill turned out the best."

He said they didn't have any specific subjects, but all were "talking about childhood".

When he released Shape of You and Castle on the Hill in January, he hoped the "love song for Suffolk" would eventually knock the former off the number one spot. 

Was he disappointed that hasn't happened?

"Not really," he said. "It's gone platinum in the UK, which means when I now play it at a show it's going to have the same reaction as a song like Shape of You.

"There was a part of me that wanted them to switch, but it soon became aware to me that Shape of You was going to be the bulldozer of the two."

Richard Haugh
BBC Introducing in Suffolk

Even though the title of Ed Sheeran's new album follows a pattern (his first two releases were + and x), the singer says the title, ÷, is relevant to the music.

Speaking about the diverse nature of the single releases from ÷ and the SBTV premiered Eraser, Sheeran said: "All four of those songs are really different from each other, and that's the whole theme of Divide, all the songs are very eclectic and divided.

"There's a thread that goes between them, which is me, but they've all got very different sounds.

"It sounds very cheesy to say, but expect the unexpected."

Sheeran has made a habit of crossing genres - with the recent Brits performance showing he's as comfortable performing ballads as he is playing alongside grime artists.

"It would be boring just to do one thing," he said. "It's exciting dipping your toes into things - even if I'm not the master of a certain genre, it's good to dip your toe in."

Image source, Getty Images