The News Matrix: Tuesday 17 December 2013

Lord accused of wrongful claims

The Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield was last night facing accusations of claiming £300 for spending less than an hour at the House of Lords without taking part in any votes, discussions or meetings. An investigation by The Daily Mirror alleged that Mr Hanningfield, 73, claimed as much as £5,700 over the course of one month this year.

A generation will rely on inheritance

The children of the 1960s and 1970s will only be better off than the previous generation when they retire due to inheritance, an economic think-tank has found. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said people born these decades will be less likely to own a home than their parents.

‘Give ex-drug addicts key roles in court’

Reformed drug addicts should be encouraged to become magistrates, an influential think tank says today. Policy Exchange calls for ex-offenders to be given a key role in the justice system, following an overhaul of the composition of magistrates’ benches. MORE

NSA phone ops ‘likely to be illegal’

The US government’s gathering of Americans’ phone records is likely to be illegal, a judge ruled yesterday and ordered suspension of the collection of data on two phone company customers who sued the Obama administration. The decision is on hold pending a government appeal. MORE

English/Mandarin school gets go-ahead

Plans for the UK’s first English/Mandarin bilingual primary school were announced last night. The school, which will open in Barnet, north London, in September 2014, has been given the go-ahead under the Education Secretary Michael Gove’s free-schools programme.

Styles wins in bid to stop harassment

Harry Styles, 19, has won a court order stopping paparazzi from harassing him. The One Direction star, left, applied to the High Court after failing to persuade a number of photographers to stop their behaviour.MORE

Prosecutors close in on last Nazi suspects

As prosecutors look to finalise an investigation that is expected to lead to the prosecution of the last Nazi war criminals in the country, some of them have been tracked down to be confronted with the allegations. The hunt was instigated by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. MORE

Officer accused of plotting a coup

Security forces yesterday surrounded the home of a high-ranking officer accused of plotting a coup. By evening Col Marcel Ntsourou, once considered a close ally of the country’s president, was under arrest and is expected to face charges today. It is unclear what he will be charged with.