The News Matrix: Wednesday 25 May 2011
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Your support makes all the difference.Huhne questioned over speeding claim
The Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has been questioned by police over claims he tried to pass his speeding points on to someone else in March 2003. Vicky Pryce, his ex-wife, who alleges she took three points, is also thought to have been questioned.
Damaged Tesco back open for business
A Tesco Express store in Bristol that was damaged in clashes with police re-opened yesterday. Street riots over the Easter weekend saw the store’s frontage ruined and its skips set alight. The disturbance began when police raided a nearby squat after fearing the store would be petrol-bombed. MORE
Nato steps up attacks on pro-Gaddafi forces
Nato was yesterday showing signs of escalating its attack on the Libyan regime after its heaviest bombing yet of Tripoli and reports that France and Britain are to deploy helicopter gunships against pro-Gaddafi forces in a bid to break the stalemate.
Rescuers race to find tornado survivors
Rescue teams in the US city of Joplin were racing against time yesterday to break up concrete slabs that once made up the walls of a warehouse, to find more trapped survivors. MORE
Advisory post for top Tory donor
Tory peer Lord Ashcroft has been appointed as a “senior independent adviser” on the future of British military bases in Cyprus. Liberal Democrat sources say David Cameron approved the decision despite Nick Clegg raising “concerns” about giving the billionaire Tory donor the job.
Davis is innocent, confirm judges
Judges have overturned the conviction of George Davis for his alleged role in a 1974 raid on the London Electricity Board. Davis became a household name when celebrities including Roger Daltrey proclaimed his innocence.
Teen gets 20 years for contract murder
Santre Sanchez Gayle, who killed a young mother from Hackney with a sawn-off shotgun, has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years. The 15-year-old, who went by the street name of “Riot”, earned just £200 for the murder of Gulistan Subasi.
Israeli PM ends visit with defiant speech
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ended his visit to Washington with a speech to Congress that appeared to dash any hopes of reviving peace talks. Mr Netanyahu said he was willing to make “painful compromises” but this failed to impress Palestinian commentators. MORE
i takes home Platinum Award
At the 2011 Newspaper Awards last evening, i picked up the Platinum Award for “innovation and creativity” in a troubled market. At a separate award ceremony, The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe won the Amnesty International media award in the national newspaper category for a piece entitled “One woman’s silent quest for peace”.
Mubarak to be tried for protest deaths
The former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is to be tried on charges of conspiring to kill protesters against his 30-year rule. The move by the military government is seen as an attempt to satisfy growing anger at its failure to prosecute the old regime. MORE
Marmite jarred by government ban
The Danish government has banned Marmite after discovering that the paste fell foul of legislation restricting the sale of products fortified with added vitamins.
Hitler no longer an honorary citizen
It has taken 66 years but the city of Amstetten was set last night to strike Adolf Hitler’s name from its list of honorary citizens. Many Austrian towns declared Hitler an honorary citizen after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938. Most removed his name in 1945.
Two-thirds of Britons are happy with life
The number of Britons claiming they are satisfied with their lives has risen to 68 per cent, according to the OECD. But while we may be happier, the survey also found that we’re fatter and more likely to feel unsafe on the streets after dark than people in other industrialised nations. MORE
Dog nurses ‘puppies’ of a different stripe
Two rare “liger” cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger at a Chinese zoo are being nursed by a dog after their mother abandoned them. The tiger rejected the cubs after four days. Two later died. Staff at the zoo in Shandong found a dog that had just given birth to feed the ligers.
US author wins Hay pig-naming honour
Gary Shteyngart has become the first American author to win the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction with his dystopian novel Super Sad True Love Story. As is tradition, a local pig will be named in his honour at the Hay Literary Festival in June.
Druggang ‘buys’ police protection
Sixteen Mexican police officers have been detained for allegedly taking bribes to protect members of a drug gang who carried specially marked cards to avoid detention. The gangsters would flash the card, which had an exclusive design, to identify themselves as members.
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