The News Matrix: Monday 03 November 2014

 

Monday 03 November 2014 01:00 GMT
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‘Final warning’ over climate change

Experts have issued a “final warning” about the need to address climate change before it is too late. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was still possible to keep within the target of no more than a 2C rise in global average temperatures.

Farming blamed for fall in bird numbers

Europe has 421 million fewer birds today than it did three decades ago, as the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation has sharply reduced suitable habitats, a study by Exeter University has found. About 90 per cent of the losses have affected the most common species.

Britain funds three labs in Sierra Leone

Britain is setting up three new labs in Sierra Leone to help check the spread of the Ebola virus. The Government has pledged £20m to build and staff the labs, which will be used to test blood samples for the virus. The first lab opened in Kerry Town last week.

Murphy rejects Scots income-tax power

The MP expected to become the next Scottish Labour Party leader has rejected proposals to give Holyrood total power to set income tax rates north of the border. Jim Murphy dismissed Gordon Brown’s warning that full income-tax powers were a “Tory trap”.

Clarinettist Acker Bilk dies at 85

Acker Bilk, the jazz clarinettist who spent more than a year in the charts with “Stranger on the Shore”, has died aged 85. Pamela Sutton, his manager, said: “His music was legendary.”

Banker in court over Hong Kong killings

A British banker will appear in court today accused of murdering two women at his luxury flat in Hong Kong. Rurik Jutting, 29, a Cambridge graduate, has worked for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in the former British colony for more than a year. He reportedly called police in the early hours of Saturday and officers found a woman dead at the property.

Democrats prepare for loss of Senate

Democrats are bracing themselves for tomorrow’s midterm elections, as voters express their dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama, who has mostly stayed away from the campaign trail for fear of sinking his party’s chances wherever the races are close.

Sussex road ‘most dangerous’ in UK

A 12-mile stretch of road in West Sussex is the most persistently dangerous in Britain, the Road Safety Foundation says. The stretch is on the A285 between Chichester and Petworth, where fatal and serious crashes increased by 16 per cent between 2007 and 2012.

75-year-old to race in yacht ‘Grey Power’

The veteran yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 75, has set off on a solo transatlantic race 45 years after he became the first man to sail alone non-stop around the world. Sir Robin entered his yacht Grey Power in the Route du Rhum contest.

Man cuts off digits in get-rich-quick fraud

An insurance salesman who sawed off his finger and thumb in an attempt to claim insurance has been convicted of fraud. The 50-year-old took out four separate policies and would have received €1.4m (£1m) if he had not been caught.

Mummified body found at hospital

A mummified body, believed to be that of a 65-year-old patient who went missing three years ago, was found at a hospital in northern Italy behind a skylight.

Seal pups invade Lincolnshire beach

Thirty-four seal pups have been seen on the Lincolnshire coast, with hundreds more expected as the breeding season starts at Doona Nook reserve, North Somercotes.

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