The News Matrix: Saturday 2 June 2012

Protests ahead of Mubarak verdict

Protests gripped Egypt again yesterday before the verdict in the trial of ex-president Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of people also took to the streets to demand that Ahmed Shafiq, a former senior official in the regime, be disqualified from next month's presidential run-off. MORE

Gadaffi's son 'can stay in the country'

International Criminal Court judges said yesterday that Libya does not have to hand over the son of the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The ruling ends months of pressure on Libyan authorities to surrender Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is wanted by the court on charges of crimes against humanity.

Man denies murder of Indian student

The parents of an Indian student shot in the head in Salford last year came face to face with his killer yesterday. Subhash and Yogini Bidve watched at Manchester Crown Court as Kiaran Stapleton, 21, admitted manslaughter but denied murdering their son Anuj. MORE

Tobacco report wins science-writing prize

Steve Connor, i's Science Editor, has been awarded the prize for best investigative journalism by the Association of British Science Writers for his series "Big Tobacco Exposed", on how tobacco giants are fighting a covert war against British tobacco researchers.

Quarter of staff given £7,000 bonus in 2011

One in four senior civil servants at the troubled UK Border Agency received bonuses of up to £7,000 last year. A fifth took home a bonus of between £4,500 and £5,000, while one in 25 pocketed bonuses of between £5,000 and £7,000 for work carried out in 2010/11, figures showed. MORE

Porn actor sought over killing

French police are searching for a Canadian porn actor suspected of murder and sending body parts in the mail. A French police official said on Friday he is "sure" that Luka Rocco Magnotta is in France while another official said Magnotta flew to Paris from Montreal last weekend. MORE

Landfill turned into vast biogas facility

One of the world's largest landfills, a seaside mountain of rubbish where thousands have made a living sorting through debris, is closing after 34 years. Rio de Janeiro's Jardim Gramacho dump is being transformed into a biogas facility that will harness the gases generated by the rotting trash.

Tax workers to strike over jobs

Revenue and Customs workers have voted to take industrial action in a row over jobs and privatisation. The Public and Commercial Services union said four out of five of its members had backed industrial action short of a strike, and just over half supported walkouts.

Early births linked to psychiatric disorders

Babies born prematurely may have an up to three-fold higher risk of developing a severe psychiatric disorder later in life, researchers have found. The finding shows the explosion in premature births seen around the world could be fuelling a rise in mental ill health. MORE

Suu Kyi urges cautious investment

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has used her first trip outside her country for 24 years to urge foreign firms to invest cautiously in Burma, but to give priority to creating jobs in a bid to help defuse the "time bomb" that is the country's high unemployment rate. MORE

Putin in first road trip since re-election

Vladimir Putin took to the road yesterday for the first time since being returned to the Russian presidency. Having said he was too busy to attend the G8 summit in the US, Mr Putin found time to pay a call on Alexander Lukashenko, the autocrat president of neighbouring Belarus.

French officials to boycott matches

France's government will boycott matches held in Ukraine during the Euro 2012 football championship because of the country's treatment of opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko. "The situation of human rights... prompts serious concerns," said a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Drug-driving tests 'by end of the year'

Devices to test if drivers have taken illegal drugs before getting behind the wheel could be approved for use in police stations by the end of the year. The Government said yesterday that manufacturers have been invited to submit their machines for laboratory testing.

Passenger's hair set on fire during flight

A man has been accused of endangering an aircraft after a flight was diverted when another passenger had their hair singed, police said. The Monarch Airlines flight from Manchester to Palma, Majorca, landed after Colin Jones, 24, allegedly burned the hair of a passenger he was with.

Young savers offered Spiderman towels

Nationalised Spanish lender Bankia has resorted to offering a Spiderman towel to young investors in a bid to hold on to deposits after being taken over by the state in the biggest bank rescue in Spain's history. The drive comes as its competitors also embark on aggressive advertising campaigns.

Witherspoon's father accused of bigamy

The actress Reese Witherspoon's father has been accused of bigamy but cannot remember because of apparent dementia. Witherspoon's mother told a court in Nashville that she only found out that her estranged husband had remarried through a local newspaper.

Earthquake rattles Shropshire town

An earthquake hit the town of Ludlow, the British Geological Survey said, and measured 2.5 on the Richter Scale. A statement on the Survey's website said the temblor, near the Welsh border, in Shropshire, happened yesterday but there have not been reports major disturbances.

Colonel's views on fast food published

KFC is to publish the autobiography of the company's founder "Colonel" Harland Sanders after it was found in an archive last year. The book is not expected to touch on his loathing of the businesspeople to whom he sold the chain in 1964, however, whom he later called "booze hounds". MORE