The News Matrix: Friday 17 May 2013

Google is ‘evil’ for its approach to taxation

MPs have attacked Google’s attempts to pay less tax. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee was infuriated by the fact Google paid just £6m in corporation tax in 2011 despite generating more than £3bn in UK sales revenue. “You are a company that says you do no evil,” said committee chair Margaret Hodge. “I think that you do do evil.” MORE

Dozen die in Baghdad bombs

Dozens of people were killed by bombs in markets in Baghdad and attacks in northern Iraq yesterday, police said, adding to a surge of sectarian-tinged violence in the past four weeks. Attacks on Sunni and Shia mosques, security forces and tribal leaders are increasing. MORE

Heads to set up their own inspections

Headteachers are to set up a new schools inspection service following claims that Ofsted is responsible for a rise in stress levels in the profession. The National Association of Head Teachers will launch the service – called Instead – in the autumn term. MORE

Pollution fears spark new protest

More than 2,000 people held a demonstration in southern China against plans for a petroleum refinery yesterday. The rare gathering in Kunming comes as members of the rising middle class become increasingly outspoken against environmentally-risky factories. MORE

Factory collapse kills two workers

The ceiling of a Cambodian factory that makes Asics trainers collapsed on workers yesterday, killing two people and injuring seven. About 50 workers were inside a workroom of the factory south of Phnom Penh when the ceiling caved in, police said. MORE

Hi-de-Hi! actor Shane passes away

Paul Shane, the actor famous for starring in the 1980s BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!, has died at the age of 72. His agent said he passed away yesterday at a hospice in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, after a short illness. MORE

Girl hit by train may have been using iPod

A 15-year-old schoolgirl who was killed on a level crossing might have been listening to her iPod as she was struck by a train, an inquest heard. Katie Littlewood was on her way to her Saturday job when she was killed instantly in Hertfordshire last year. Police found a set of earphones and an iPod Nano nearby.

Tsarnaev was taking revenge, report says

Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was found hiding in a boat days after the blasts, left a handwritten message on a wall of the boat before his arrest describing the attack as retribution for US wars in Muslim countries, CBS News reported yesterday, citing anonymous sources. MORE

No happy steal for unlucky car thief

A woman whose car was stolen from her apartment complex saw the vehicle hours later — in the drive-thru of the McDonald’s restaurant where she works. Virginia Maiden, from Kennewick, Washington, called the police, and officers arrested the driver, a 22-year-old woman, at the restaurant.

Wii and Kinect can improve kids’ health

Video games which incorporate exercise may improve children’s health. A study in the Journal of Paediatrics said high intensity activity with games on the Nintendo Wii or Xbox Kinect which track player movement elicited a similar vascular response to moderate intensity exercise.

Butterflies are late after cold weather

Butterflies are emerging weeks later than usual as a result of the cold spring. Conservationists say that spring species, such as grizzled skippers, pearl-bordered fritillaries and wood whites, have been up to a month late. A lingering winter saw the second coldest March on record followed by an icy start to April.

Wanted: Polar bear spotter (with gun...)

The governor’s office on the remote Svalbard islands in Norway is seeking a polar bear spotter to warn researchers conducting projects in the region if the animals approach. The job requires previous experience with the outdoors, a competence with firearms and, unsurprisingly, good polar bear-spotting skills.

Residents snap over secret photos

Residents of a New York apartment building are livid over an exhibition of photos secretly snapped through their windows. Photographer Arne Svenson took the pictures from his apartment across the street. The images are on sale at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea, but some residents are considering legal action.

Block your nose if you go to Eden

Visitors to the Eden Project in Cornwall will be able to catch a whiff of the world’s smelliest plant if they hurry. The giant Titan Arum, which stinks like rotting flesh, flowers for just 48 hours. It began to bloom on Wednesday.

Model Barbie house ‘nicht willkommen’

Feminist protesters burned a doll on a cross and left-wing demonstrators shouted “pink stinks” at the Berlin opening of a life-sized Barbie house yesterday. MORE

Monkey killer given prison sentence

A man who broke into a zoo and beat a Patas monkey to death will spend up to a year in prison and undergo treatment. Michael Watkins, 22, killed the Patas at Boise Zoo, Idaho.