The News Matrix: Thursday 17 October 2013

Prison voting ruling is ‘common sense’

David Cameron has welcomed a Supreme Court ruling against giving prisoners the right to vote, calling it a “victory for common sense”. The European Court of Human Rights ruled a blanket ban on voting was illegal, but the Supreme Court threw out appeals from convicted murderers George McGeoch and Pete Chester, who had been fighting to take part in elections. MORE

Conflict ‘has killed nearly half a million’

Almost half a million people have been killed in Iraq since the invasion 10 years ago, a study has found. Researchers from Iraq, the US and Canada found that up to the middle of 2011, 461,000 people had died, either through acts of violence, or for other reasons related to the war.

Apprenticeships ‘need urgent reform’

An overhaul of England’s apprenticeship system is required in order to prevent young people being offered qualifications of little value, a study has found. Many apprenticeships are low quality and too short compared with other EU countries, The Sutton Trust says.

Dutch diplomat beaten in Moscow

A Dutch diplomat was beaten up in his Moscow apartment yesterday, prompting an immediate demand for an explanation from the Netherlands’ embassy. The assault follows the arrest of a Russian diplomat in The Netherlands. Moscow was quick to express its regrets. MORE

New guidelines deal with child sex abuse

New guidelines for dealing with child sex abuse cases published today will mark “the most fundamental attitude shift” in the criminal justice system in a generation, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, has claimed. The guidelines cover how a case should be built. MORE

‘BMW bought Merkel’ claim

Angela Merkel has been accused of being “bought” after BMW donated €700,000 to her party days before European environment ministers gave in to German demands to scrap an agreement to cap car emissions.