The News Matrix: Tuesday 31 March 2015

Sociable children go on to earn more

Young people with lots of friends in secondary school are more likely to earn higher salaries later, a study has claimed. After-school clubs, trips and activities that allow interaction can help pupils go on to earn 10 per cent more than their peers, according to the research.

Nuclear talks with Iran are stalled

Iran and major powers have been struggling to reach a preliminary nuclear accord, with both sides sticking to their positions in the run-up to today’s deadline. Iran, the US, Britain and others have been trying to break an impasse in negotiations to stop Tehran having the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb.

Easter rush will be busier than ever

Data compiled by i of the UK’s busiest airports reveals the Easter travel rush will be busier than ever. Tomorrow will be the peak day for passenger departures at Edinburgh airport, with more than 17,000 people jetting off. Engineering works and heavy traffic will affect those travelling by road and rail.

Flooding in desert area kills 17 people

Chile’s government said yesterday that 17 people had been killed and 20 were missing after torrential rains caused flooding in a northern desert region. Rains last week swelled rivers and led to flash-flooding. Communities have been digging houses and cars out of the mud and working to reopen roads.

Benefits workers sentenced for scam

Ten former employees of the outsourcing company A4e have been sentenced for defrauding taxpayers out of almost £300,000. The workers were found guilty of making up files, forging signatures and falsely claiming they had helped people find jobs in order to hit targets and take home bonuses.

Murder suicide suspected in deaths

A couple and two children have been found dead with stab wounds in an apparent murder suicide. Officers called to a flat in the British Overseas Territory yesterday found the bodies of a 31-year-old British man, a 37-year-old Spanish woman, a four-year old Spanish girl and a baby girl who was six weeks old.

Swedish ferry runs on methanol

Swedish ferry operator Stena Line says it has converted one of its ships to enable it to run on methanol, testing the potential of the environmentally friendly fuel for the shipping industry. The company said the Stena Germanica is operating between Kiel, Germany, and Goteborg, Sweden.

Massacre museum reopens to the public

The Bardo Museum reopened to the public yesterday for the first time since extremist gunmen opened fire on foreign tourists earlier this month, killing 22 people in the country’s worst attack on civilians in 13 years. A steady flow of visitors walked past flowers and flags laid in honour of the victims.

Binge drinking costs us nearly £5bn a year

Binge drinking is costing taxpayers £4.9bn a year, a study by researchers at the University of Bath’s Institute for Policy Research and Essex University has shown. The cost of factors on which binge drinking has an effect, including A&E admissions, road accidents and police officers on duty, were taken into account.

Woman finds kidney donor herself

A woman has found a kidney donor after painting an appeal on the rear window of her car. Christine Royles, of Maine, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that led to kidney failure in December 2013. She went on the national waiting list to find a donor, but decided to take matters into her own hands.

Shep, the sheep dog drone, is a viral hit

A farmer has shunned traditional methods of shepherding by replacing his trusty canine friend with Shep, the world’s first drone sheepdog. Footage taken by Paul Brennan in Carlow, near Dublin, featuring the drone with a flock has gone viral but the National Farmers’ Union said it did not think the idea would take off.

Muslims want Pope to take the chair

A Muslim family in Bosnia have spent a week carving a special chair for Pope Francis to sit on during his visit to Bosnia. Salem Hajdarovac and his son Edin, both devout Muslims, have put all other orders on hold to produce the perfect chair by 6 June, when the Pontiff will hold a mass in Sarajevo.

Medieval recipe could beat MRSA

A garlic-based “potion” listed in a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon manuscript has been found to kill off the MRSA superbug. Microbiologists at the University of Nottingham say early trials of the 10th-century remedy – which also contains cow bile – have yielded “astonishing” results.