The News Matrix: Monday 10 March 2014

Scientists find key to ‘silent killer’ fat

Scientists have discovered the origin of visceral fat – considered a silent killer for its ability to affect people who are relatively slim. It is linked with heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses. Researchers found it derives from a type of cell found in the developing embryo. MORE

‘Dead’ cartel boss killed in shootout

Officials are trying to determine if a man killed yesterday in a shootout was Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, leader of the Knights Templar cartel. Forensic teams are trying to determine his identity, but they believe it is Gonzalez, who was reported dead in 2010.

US says Maduro is seeing conspiracies

The US Vice-President, Joe Biden, has accused Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro of inventing conspiracies by Washington to divert attention from domestic issues. Mr Maduro has faced several weeks of nationwide protests that he claims are a far-right plot.

Housebuyers get referendum jitters

Referendum jitters are affecting demand for Scotland’s world famous real estate, with claims that up to a third of super-rich buyers could be delaying buying decisions. House sales grew by 16 per cent last year but estate agents report buyers’ uncertainty over the future. MORE

Henry Ford’s last grandchild dies at 88

William Clay Ford Sr, last surviving grandchild of Ford Motor Co founder Henry Ford, died yesterday aged 88. Mr Ford, owner of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, died of pneumonia at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores.

‘Corrupt Met officer’ link was suppressed

Intelligence linking John Davidson, an allegedly corrupt police officer on the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation, to the father of David Norris, one of the gang members who stabbed Lawrence to death in 1993, was allegedly suppressed to protect the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner, a memo written in 2000 by a Metropolitan Police lawyer suggests. MORE

‘Party atmosphere’ at fracking protest

Around 1,000 anti-fracking demonstrators have marched through Manchester in what organisers have described as a “party atmosphere”. Greater Manchester Police tweeted of the protest against the controversial shale-gas extraction process: “Around 1,000 people took part and we didn’t have to make any arrests.”

Holyrood ‘kept in the dark’ by MoD

Scotland’s Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead, plans to make a parliamentary statement about a radiation leak at the Vulcan nuclear test reactor to voice concerns that Holyrood ministers and the wider public were “kept in the dark” on the issue by the UK Ministry of Defence.

Rankin snaps stars for Oxfam campaign

Renowned photographer Rankin has snapped singer Nicole Scherzinger and actor Simon Pegg for an Oxfam campaign. A dozen well-known faces have been photographed to highlight the charity’s Lift Lives for Good campaign.

Jet left circling while shifts were changed

An air traffic controller abandoned his post at Guyana’s international airport, forcing an approaching jet to circle until a substitute arrived. Authorities say the controller was frustrated that his shift replacement did not arrive on time.

Pharrell comes to grief on Route 94

The 20-year-old London-based DJ Route 94 has knocked Pharrell Williams off the top of the charts. His “My Love” has gone straight in at No 1 on the Official Singles Chart.

Avant-garde opera chief Mortier dies

Gerard Mortier, a Belgian opera director whose nonconformist style often grated the tradition-bound elite and who became an avant-garde impresario, has died aged 70.