The News Matrix: Monday 22 April 2013

Bombing suspect ‘unable to speak’

The surviving suspect in the Boston bombings remained in serious condition yesterday, unable to speak due to injuries to his neck. While Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was being guarded by police, Mayor Thomas Menino said authorities may never be able to speak with him. MORE

The latest postcode lottery: prison time

Sentencing by magistrates is a postcode lottery, campaigners have warned, with the number of convicted criminals sent to prison varying dramatically. Someone convicted in Derbyshire is four times more likely to be jailed than someone in Northumbria.

Councillor’s ethnic comment attacked

The Conservative party has condemned comments by one of its own councillors about ethnic minority children. John Cherry, speaking against a plan to set up a free state boarding school, said Pakistani children would fail to “rise to the top” and should stay in London.

Rescuers head for remote quake zone

Rescuers struggled to reach a remote, rural corner of south-western China yesterday as the toll of the dead and missing from the country’s worst earthquake in three years climbed to 208. The 6.6 magnitude quake struck in Lushan county, near the city of Ya’an. MORE

Police tackle protests as F1 race goes on

Protesters blocked roads and police fired teargas at a school in Bahrain yesterday, activists said, as the Gulf state staged a Formula One race, promoted, by the government but seen by the opposition as a PR stunt.

Nurses say wards often understaffed

Three-quarters of hospital wards in England are dangerously under-staffed at least once a month, a survey shows. The Royal College of Nursing polled 2,000 nurses about staffing levels. The Government opposes mandatory minimum staffing levels but the nursing union says nine out of 10 of its members would support the measure to protect patient safety.

Guantanamo hunger strike continues

Just over half of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are on hunger strike, the US military has said. Of the prison’s 166 detainees, 84 have been classified as hunger strikers at the US military base in Cuba. About a week after a clash between guards and prisoners, the hunger strike is steadily growing. MORE

Rohingya killings ‘were planned’

Violence against Burma’s Rohingya Muslims last October was a planned assault involving Burmese security forces and Buddhist monks, Human Rights Watch claims in a report released today. More than 180 people were killed and 100,000 left homeless by anti-Rohingya violence last year.

Michael Bublé finds out what it’s like…

Michael Bublé has the fastest selling album of the year after his latest recording, To Be Loved, outsold the rest of the top five combined. The Canadian’s third UK number one album in a row sold 121,000 copies in its opening week.

Hermit brings home the (stolen) bacon

A man who lived in the woods in Maine as a hermit for nearly three decades was carrying bacon, marshmallows and $395 in cash when he was arrested on burglary charges earlier this month, according to a police affidavit.

Nice to meet you, er, Eric, was it? Sorry...

Always forgetting people’s names? Scientists have observed that, in all animals, some memories that can be recalled hours later may briefly be inaccessible after their formation.

Stolen painting lacks resale value

A Washington man was arrested after he allegedly tried to sell a stolen painting to the antique shop where the victim of the theft had originally bought it.