The News Matrix: Thursday 13 March 2014

Face reconstructed using 3D printer

A British man has undergone pioneering surgery to reconstruct his face using a series of 3D printed parts. Stephen Power, from Cardiff, is one of the first trauma patients in the world to have 3D printing used at every stage of a procedure. Surgeons at Morriston Hospital in Swansea carried out an 8-hour operation after staff spent months producing a 3D model of Mr Power’s skull. MORE

Burma to get £100m despite concerns

UK aid to Burma should rise to £100m, despite concerns about the way the cash is used, the International Development Committee suggests. MPs said they recognised that Burma Campaign UK believe the Government is “naive in rewarding” the Burmese leadership.

Obama imposes sanctions on Russia

In an attempt to pressure Vladimir Putin to remove Russian military presence from Crimea, the Obama administration has authorised the strictest set of sanctions since the Cold War. Barack Obama met with Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, yesterday. MORE

‘Tony Blair offered to aid Rebekah Brooks’

Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson were to help Rebekah Brooks during the final days of the phone-hacking crisis that led to her resignation from Rupert Murdoch’s News International, a jury at the Old Bailey has heard. She said she was offered reassurance from Mr Blair. MORE

Miliband backed for ‘unlikely’ EU vote

Business leaders gave broad support to Ed Miliband’s new policy on Europe after he announced a Labour government was “unlikely” to hold a referendum in the 2015-20 Parliament. However, many employers fear Labour may pursue an “anti-big business” agenda. MORE

Pistorius’s toilet door in court

The door to Oscar Pistorius’s toilet, with a model of the room, was brought into court as part of the prosecution case that his shooting of Reeva Steenkamp was not accidental. MORE

Teacher charged with aiding terror

A 29-year-old man has been charged with intending to assist others to commit acts of terrorism abroad, Greater Manchester police said last night. Jamshed Javeed, a science teacher from the Manchester area, will appear in court today.

Judge orders killer power plant to close

A coal-fired power plant in Savona, North-west Italy, is to close after a judge decided the plant was responsible for 442 deaths. He argued that the plant’s emissions caused more than 400 premature deaths between 2000 and 2007 and 2,000 cases of heart and lung disease.

Cleveland Police freebies revealed

Disgraced senior officials at Britain’s most scandal-hit police force, Cleveland Police, were provided with lavish junkets, including tickets to sports events, by firms linked to a private sector executive involved in outsourcing deals worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. MORE