The News Matrix: Friday 27 February 2015

Prince visits Japan’s nuclear disaster zone

Prince William is making his first trip to Japan and will meet survivors of the 2011 tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He will be taken to see the Fukushima prefecture, a children’s playground and will eat local food with Japanese premier, Shinzo Abe.

Patients ‘still at risk’ of Savile-type crime

Investigations into the Jimmy Savile sex scandal have revealed that national schemes which allow more than 70,000 volunteers to work for the NHS remain flawed. Officials have warned that unless safeguards now put in place are adhered to, offences such as Savile’s crimes could well be repeated.

Peers call for a UK ‘Arctic ambassador’

Britain needs to “up its game” in the battle to save the Arctic, warns a report by the House of Lords which judges the Government’s current approach as “too hesitant and cautious”. The report says the Government should appoint an ambassador – as France and Japan have already done.

Failed corruption case to be reviewed

A review has been announced into a collapsed police corruption trial that saw more than £30m of taxpayers’ money spent on an inconclusive investigation into whether South Wales Police officers perverted the course of justice in the case of the 1988 murder of the Cardiff prostitute Lynette White.

Every mother needs midwife, says report

Women giving birth should have one-on-one care from a midwife, a health watchdog says. Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advise hospitals to monitor whether they have enough staff to provide safe care. A new guide will help to assess the number of midwives required.

UN leader calls for an end to violence

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is backing efforts by South American nations to re-launch a dialogue between Venezuela’s government and opposition. It comes after renewed violence, including the killing by police of a 14-year-old boy at an anti-government rally in San Cristóbal on Tuesday.

Suicide bomber attacks Nato envoy

A suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a vehicle belonging to Nato’s top envoy in Afghanistan, killing a Turkish soldier and wounding another. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Ismail Aramaz but said it had intended to target a US troop convoy.

Life for ‘death nurse’ who murdered 30

A 38-year-old former orderly nicknamed “the death nurse of Delmenhorst” has been jailed for life by a German court. The orderly, referred to in court only as Niels H, admitted killing at least 30 patients in possibly the nation’s worst serial murder case since the Second World War.

Israeli PM angers pro-Israeli group

Growing opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to attack US policy on Iran while addressing Congress next week has even provoked one leading pro-Israel lobby group to urge the Israeli Prime Minister to stay away. “Congress isn’t a prop for your election campaign,” J Street declared in newspaper ads.

High times come to Capitol Hill

Possession of marijuana in small amounts is now legal in Washington DC after a face-off between local officials and the US Congress over whether the new standards are lawful. The law allows adults to possess up to 2 ounces (56 grams) of marijuana and to grow six plants – but sales remain banned.

All you need is cash: Macca’s home sold

One of Sir Paul McCartney’s childhood homes in Liverpool has sold for £150,000 at an auction. The three-bedroom, mid-terrace former council house was snapped up by an anonymous bidder in the UK. McCartney was four when in 1947 his parents, Jim and Mary, moved into 72 Western Avenue, Speke.

How Sahara’s dust reaches the Amazon

Millions of tons of nutrient-rich dust from the Sahara desert is carried 1,600 miles every year by wind and weather before landing on the Amazon rainforest, Nasa says. Its experts calculated the precise amount using satellite data – 182 million tons, equivalent to the contents of 689,290 large lorries.

Bill Bryson heads back to our islands

After two decades, Bill Bryson is to publish a sequel to his best-seller Notes From A Small Island. The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island will be his first travel book for 15 years. After writing about his native US and Australia, the former Independent journalist has decided it is time to return to the subject of British Isles.