The News Matrix: Wednesday 29 January

Complaints double for paid-for accounts

Complaints about paid-for current accounts have more than doubled in the past year, figures from the ombudsman reveal. Some 3,107 new complaints were made to the Financial Ombudsman Service about “packaged” accounts in the first three quarters of this financial year, surging from 1,629 cases for the whole of 2012-13.

BBC sued by chief who wasted £100m

The BBC technology chief who oversaw a project that wasted £100m of licence fee money is suing the BBC after it ended his employment. John Linwood was suspended as the BBC’s chief technology officer in May when the failed initiative was closed down. MORE

Father of far-right Pinar dies aged 95

Blas Pinar, regarded as the father of Spain’s far-right who voiced support for General Franco’s military dictatorship after the introduction of democracy, has died aged 95. Pinar set up the Fuerza Nueva party and won a seat in parliament in 1979, holding it for three years.

Children of brainy parents test better

Youngsters with parents who were educated to degree level are much more likely to score higher in tests than those whose parents’ left school after doing their GCSEs, a new study from the Institute of Education’s Research Centre on Learning and Life Chances shows.

Prime Minister and cabinet resign

President Viktor Yanukovych has accepted the resignation of the Prime Minister and his cabinet amid continuing anti-government protests. Mykola Azarov had offered to quit to create “social and political compromise”. But the concessions fall short of opposition demands. MORE

Morsi defiant during jailbreak trial

The former President Mohammed Morsi struck a defiant tone at his trial over his escape from prison in 2011. “I am the President. How can I be kept in a dump for weeks?” shouted Mr Morsi. MORE

Mladic refuses to give evidence at trial

Ex-Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic refused to testify yesterday after former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic called him as a defence witness at his war crimes trial at The Hague. Denouncing the UN tribunal as “satanic”, Mr Mladic said testifying could prejudice his own case. MORE

Cocaine speedboat halted in Caribbean

More than a tonne of cocaine has been seized from a speedboat in the Caribbean in an operation involving a Royal Navy crew, the Ministry of Defence has said. A speedboat suspected of drug smuggling was forced to stop south of the Dominican Republic. The haul was worth more than £300m.

Businessman says sorry for Nazi slur

A venture capitalist has apologised for comparing a row about free buses for tech workers in Silicon Valley to the persecution of the Jews. In an open letter to the Wall Street Journal, Tom Perkins described a “rising tide of hatred” of the wealthy, comparing it with Nazi Germany’s “war on its ‘1 per cent’, namely its Jews”.

‘It’s Raining Men’ back in the charts

The 1980s hit “It’s Raining Men” is back in the charts. Music fans have mobilised to protest against Ukip councillor David Silvester’s claims that the UK has been “beset by storms” since the passage of the new law on gay marriage. The song is expected to hit the top 20 by Sunday thanks to a social-media campaign.

Falling in love... hook, eye and sinker

The Japanese lingerie maker Ravijour has designed a bra that springs open only when, the manufacturer claims, the wearer is truly in love. Linked to an app, and measuring the heartbeat, the “True Love Tester” has a clasp at the front which will unlock if the technology determines that love is in the air.

How to get traffic police in a flap

A learner-driver accompanied only by her pet parrot has been stopped on a motorway. The driver, in her fifties, was pulled over near junction 22 of the M62 in West Yorkshire. Drivers who hold a provisional licence are banned from driving on motorways and must be accompanied by a qualified motorist. MORE