The News Matrix: Wednesday 4 July 2012

NHS may charge within 10 years

The NHS could start charging for some services and treatments within 10 years, research suggests, in a warning of the effects of austerity measures. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said radical changes were needed to keep up with the demand from Britain's ageing population. MORE

Constable painting sells for over £22m

John Constable's The Lock has become one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold, fetching £22.4m at auction at Christie's. The full price of £22,441,250 for the 1824 masterpiece depicting Suffolk rural life places it joint fourth on the list of most-expensive Old Masters. MORE

UK starting salaries for graduates to rise

The starting salaries of graduates are to rise by 6 per cent to an average of £26,500, while the jobs market is starting to stabilise, research has predicted. A study of 215 employers across the country found that three years of graduate salaries standing still are coming to an end. MORE

Sarkozy is probed over L'Oreal heiress

French investigators have searched former President Nicolas Sarkozy's home and office in a probe into suspected illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. The probe centres on the finances of France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. MORE

Female F1 driver is hurt in freak crash

A Spanish F1 driver was left with "life-threatening" head injuries after a crash at Duxford airfield, near Cambridge, yesterday. Maria de Villota, a test driver for Marussia, collided with a lorry during a test run. MORE

Officer says he was wrong to hit vendor

A police officer accused of killing a newspaper vendor told a court yesterday he was wrong to hit the man with a baton and shove him to the ground during protests in London. PC Simon Harwood, 45, accepted he had "gone over the top" in striking Ian Tomlinson but said he mistakenly believed the 47-year-old was walking towards police lines when he hit him.

Assad aims to avoid conflict with Turkey

President Bashar al-Assad said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces and that he will not allow tensions between the two neighbours to deteriorate into an "armed conflict", a Turkish newspaper reported yesterday. MORE

Protesters win fight to halt copper plant

A city in Sichuan province has scrapped plans for a copper plant after thousands protested over possible health risks. Authorities in Shifang had warned that protesters faced severe punishment. MORE

Unearthed, an early map of America

Researchers at a Munich library have found a rare early-16th century map of America by the cartographer, Martin Waldseemueller, who named the continent. It was hidden in another book. MORE

Couple halfway to Disney trip milestone

A couple from California has passed the halfway mark in a quest to visit Disneyland every day this year. Tonya Mickesh and Jeff Reitz hold annual passes. Both of them were out of work when they decided that instead of moping at home, they would cheer themselves up with the challenge of going to Disneyland every day.

Ian Brady in hospital following a seizure

Moors Murderer Ian Brady was in hospital last night after being taken acutely ill – reportedly following a seizure – at Ashworth high security psychiatric unit, where he has been held since 1985. Next week Brady is due to make his first public appearance since his trial in 1966 in which he, with lover Myra Hindley, was convicted of murdering John Kilbride, 12, Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17.

Pakistan opens supply routes to Nato

Pakistan and the US reached a deal yesterday to reopen land routes that Nato uses to supply troops in Afghanistan, ending a seven-month closure imposed after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by Nato aircraft last November. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered "sincere condolences" for the deaths. MORE

Citizens try to bury past before elections

With Libya's landmark elections now just three days away, citizens are trying hard to put old rivalries behind them. While some families are held in hatred for the actions of relatives years ago, others are harbouring anger over the killings that have continued since Gaddafi's overthrow.

Clarke: UK is losing the war on drugs

Britain is "plainly losing" the war on drugs and may even be going backwards, the Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, below, said yesterday. But he insisted he was personally opposed to decriminalisation and the Government had "no intention whatever" of relaxing the law. MORE