The News Matrix: Monday 9 February 2015

Government sets up debt-relief fund

The Government has pledged to give £32.7m to a new fund to help relieve pressure on debt payments owed by countries financially strained by the Ebola outbreak. The money will allow Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to focus on fighting the outbreak and repairing their economies.

By-election loss a blow to far right

The powerful electoral momentum of France’s far-right was slowed last night by a narrow defeat in a by-election in eastern France. President François Hollande’s socialists hung on to Franche Comté in the first big electoral test since the terrorist attacks a month ago.

Labour tries to move on from Boots row

Labour MPs have insisted their party is “furiously” pro-business. Shadow cabinet members Tristram Hunt and Caroline Flint played down Ed Miliband’s high-profile spat with Boots chief executive Stefano Pessina, whom he dismissed as a Monaco-based tax avoider.

Syria-bound man’s passport seized

Japanese authorities have seized and confiscated the passport of a photo-journalist who intended to travel to Syria, saying it was necessary to protect his life. But photographer Yuichi Sugimoto, 59, has described the move as a threat to the freedom of press.

Author ‘hurt’ by book speculation

Harper Lee’s lawyer Tonja B Carter has said the novelist was “extremely hurt and humiliated” by speculation that she had been duped into publishing new book ‘Go Set a Watchman’.

Give trolls ‘internet asbos’, say MPs

People who post racial hatred on social media should be treated like sex offenders and served with “internet asbos” banning them social networking sites, a group of MPs alarmed by rising anti-semitism have proposed. The MPs warn that racist abuse and violence directed at Jewish people in the UK is twice as common now as in the 1990s.

Teenager shot dead in ‘targeted attack’

A 17-year-old boy has been shot dead in a “targeted attack”, police suspect. Kevin Wilson was named yesterday as the victim of the killing in Liverpool on Saturday. He was found by police with a gunshot wound to the back at around 8.30pm. Police said they were working to establish the motive.

Family urge thief to hand himself in

The family of a pensioner whose purse was stolen as she lay dying after a traffic accident have urged the culprit to give himself up. Police have described the theft from 82-year-old Irene Ditcher in Leigh, Greater Manchester, as a “disgusting” crime.

Magna Carta copy found in scrapbook

An early copy of Magna Carta has been discovered in a council’s archives. The manuscript, found inside a scrapbook, could be worth up to £10m and dates back to 1300. It is one of only 24 original copies of Magna Carta known to exist.

Surfer recovering after shark attack

A surfer is recovering after being bitten by a shark off the east coast of Australia. The 35-year-old was surfing off a beach south of Byron Bay, a tourist town 500 miles north of Sydney, when he was attacked by the two- to three-metre shark.

Scientists’ new plan to contact ET

Astronomers are to transmit signals from radio telescopes in a bid to make contact with other life forms. Scientists will discuss the project at the annual meeting of the American Association of Advancing Science next week.

Goulding knocks Ronson off top spot

Ellie Goulding has ended Mark Ronson’s seven-week reign at the top of the singles chart after her “Love Me Like You Do” toppled “Uptown Funk” from the number one spot. Her single is the fastest-selling single of the year so far.