The News Matrix: Saturday 28 June 2014

New hip ‘better than an iPhone’

According to patient surveys which score procedures against corporate customer satisfaction marks, NHS hip replacements score better than Apple iPhones. The results also showed that NHS knee operations were better rated than Sky’s customer service.

Thousands flee massive flooding

Floods caused by torrential rains have forced the evacuation of 200,000 people living near the Paraguay and Parana rivers. The governor of the Paraguayan state of Neembucu said the rains had destroyed crops, flooded homes and blocked roads.

Benghazi’s women honour Bugaighis

The women of Benghazi paid their last respects yesterday to Salwa Bugaighis, the human rights campaigner killed in her home by gunmen after the country’s elections this week. It is now known that her husband, Essam Al-Ghariani, was also killed after he was abducted by a gang on Wednesday.

Elections to be held in October next year

The leader of the military junta said a new interim constitution will be introduced next month and elections held next year. General Prayuth Chan-ocha announced last night that the temporary constitution will allow an interim legislature to begin governing in September.

Pistorius trial faces further delays

The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius could face further delays after one of the psychiatrists assessing his mental state suffered a heart attack. Dr Leon Fine is part of the four person team investigating the athlete’s mental health. This 30-day assessment was due to be completed yesterday.

Hail and lightning halts performance

Torrential rain, hail and lightning brought all outside performances at the festival to a halt last night. The plug was pulled at around 6pm, forcing Rudimental to finish their set two songs early. A spokesperson said it was a safety precaution. Music resumed an hour later.

Terrace’s capacity ‘was miscalculated’

A structural engineer told the inquest into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster the total capacity of the Leppings Lane terrace was tragically miscalculated. John Cutlack said the safety certificate allowed 10,100 people when he calculated a safe figure of 7,247.

Police chief: move on from Troubles

The Chief Constable of Northern Ireland has encouraged his successors not to investigate Troubles murders that happened before the 1998 Good Friday agreement. As he left the force, Matt Baggott said that more needs to be done to move on.

Bill Clinton talks his way into a fortune

Bill Clinton has leveraged his global popularity into a personal fortune. Starting two weeks after exiting the Oval Office, Mr Clinton has delivered hundreds of paid speeches, lifting a family that was “dead broke”, as his wife, Hillary, phrased it earlier this month, to great wealth.

Carney warns over rising interest rates

Interest rates are likely to increase to about 2.5 per cent within the next three years, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned. Rates would stabilise at about 2.5 per cent, rather than rising to the previous norm of about 5 per cent, signalling an end to cheap borrowing.

UN lacks funds to restore mausoleums

Unesco said it was more than two-thirds short of the $11m (£6.5m) needed to help restore Timbuktu’s mausoleums and other Malian cultural treasures destroyed by Islamic radicals two years ago. In three months, the UN cultural agency has raised only $3m.

One million workers to strike over cuts

Members of the GMB Union will join a national day of action that could see more than one million workers on strike on cuts and pay. GMB said that council workers voted by three to one to walk out on 10 July alongside members of Unison and the National Union of Teachers.

Couple jailed for ‘mass murder’ plot

A man and a woman, both 24, were convicted yesterday in Helsinki of possessing weapons, ammunition and chemicals meant for the “mass murder” of at least 50 people at the country’s largest university. They were each sentenced to at least three years in prison.

Man jailed for 11 years for VAT scam

One of Britain’s most wanted tax fugitives has been jailed for 11 years and six months for tax fraud. Michael Voudouri laundered £11.6m through accounts and individuals between 2001 and 2004 as part of a VAT scam. He failed to appear for sentencing and was extradited to Scotland from Cyprus.

Man accused of hiring hitmen

Last night, Wojciech Janowski – according to French investigators a calculating but blundering, murderer – was formally accused of hiring two hoodlums from a Marseille slum to murder an elderly multi-billionairess who was the mother of his partner.

Morbid museum’s body of work

The Morbid Anatomy Museum opens in New York today, promising a journey to the dark side. Highlights of the opening exhibition, “The Art of Mourning”, include a brooch made from human teeth and an 1850s memorial wreath woven from locks of the deceased’s hair.

Ol’ Blue Eyes still driving fans wild

Frank Sinatra’s first driver’s license has sold for $15,757 (£9,250) at auction. The yellowed 1934 license was issued, typo and all, to Francis Sintra, 841 Garden Street, Hoboken, New Jersey. The license was signed by the 19-year-old a year before his first break in the music industry.

Couple tie knot with Haribo rings

A couple whose wedding rings were stolen on the eve of their wedding tied the knot with Haribo sweets instead last weekend. David and Natalie Norris were robbed when they left the front door of their home in Meriden, West Midlands, unlocked to let in their son.

Fans cash in on ticket blunder

Tickets for Arcade Fire’s British Summertime Show in Hyde Park were being sold at just £2.50 yesterday after a staff discount was leaked. The tickets were originally being sold for £50, but a link that circulated saw tickets for the festival let go at a reduced price.

Kamara catches a thief on Rio streets

Former footballer Chris Kamara has helped catch a suspected thief in Rio de Janeiro, by chasing him down the street. The former Swindon, Stoke City and Luton Town player, now a reporter for Sky Sports, tweeted: “Not lost me pace” after the man was arrested.