The News Matrix: Wednesday 29 October 2014

Fears over Right to Buy ‘consequences’

Fears have been raised that homes sold under the Government’s Right to Buy initiative in England will not be adequately replaced, prompting “drastic consequences” for future generations. David Orr of the National Housing Federation has sent a letter to Housing Minister Brandon Lewis which has been co-signed by 20 housing associations, calling for an overhaul of the scheme.

Sturgeon will work for ‘common cause’

Nicola Sturgeon will work to build “unity and common cause” in Scotland when she becomes the country’s first ever female First Minister next month. Ms Sturgeon embarked on a series of rallies yesterday promising to make the NHS her “daily priority”.

Troopers in hunt for the ‘Diaper Sniper’

Police are tracking a man who allegedly shot dead a State Trooper last month and disappeared into the forests of a remote region of northeastern Pennsylvania. Eric Frein has been nicknamed the Diaper Sniper after leaving a trail including a used nappy.

Nottinghamshire rattled by tremor

Experts have confirmed that an earthquake rattled Nottinghamshire last night after social media sites were flooded with reports of a tremor. The magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck less than a mile from Hucknall at around 7.17pm, according to the British Geological Survey.

UN condemns US blockade yet again

The UN General Assembly voted yesterday overwhelmingly for the 23rd time to condemn the decades-long US economic embargo against Cuba, with many nations praising the state for its response to Ebola. The only countries to vote against the declaration were the US and Israel.

Hostage says Isis is ready to take Kobani

The new Isis video featuring British hostage John Cantlie is revealing about the Islamic militants’ plans. In the video Cantlie, dressed in black, speaks from Kobani, which Isis claims it is on the verge of taking over. The video is the sixth featuring the photojournalist.

Bellingham to top bestseller list

Lynda Bellingham’s autobiography, There’s Something I’ve Been Dying to Tell You, is set to top the bestseller list after selling 35,084 copies in the week after her death from cancer on 19 October, aged 66.

Kim ‘had surgery for cyst on ankle’

South Korea’s spy agency said yesterday it has solved the mystery of the leader Kim Jong-un’s six-week public absence. The National Intelligence Service said a foreign doctor operated on Mr Kim in September or October to remove a cyst from his right ankle.

Threatened tortoises back from the brink

A giant tortoise subspecies once on the brink of extinction has made a comeback on its Galapagos island home. In the 1960s only 15 remained on the island of Espanola. Today, 40 years after captive-bred tortoises were reintroduced to the island by the Galapagos National Park Service, their numbers have risen to 1,000.

Pull over, ma’am – I need to lick your feet

A school district police officer in Houston pulled over a motorist and then asked to smell and lick her feet. Patrick Quinn, 26, claimed he found marijuana paraphernalia and, according to authorities, told her he had a foot fetish and would release her if she let him sniff her feet. He then changed his mind and let her go.

What’s the story of the Oasis theft?

Police investigating the theft of a painting of Oasis stolen from a gallery in Bury have made lyric-based jokes about the theft: the force was not sure of the “master plan” and “some might say” they were looking for an Oasis fan, in references to two songs by the Manchester rock group.

Strawberry harvest provides the cream

British strawberry growers are celebrating a record-breaking crop thanks to mild weather, new farming techniques and hardier varieties of the fruit. British Summer Fruits, the body that represents most growers, said the crop was already a “staggering” 60,170 tonnes, 8 per cent more than last year.

40,000 years old – and still has its hair

Nearly 40,000 years old and in surprisingly good shape, the carcass of a woolly mammoth has gone on display in Moscow. Scientists, who found the teenage mammoth in 2010 in the far north region of Yakutia, named it Yuka and said its carcass bore traces indicating that humans hunted mammoths during the Ice Age.