The News Matrix: Thursday 13 November 2014

Ebola death toll exceeds 5,000

More than 5,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak that is ravaging West Africa, the World Health Organisation has said. There are some signs that the rate of new infections may be slowing overall in Guinea and Liberia, but there are still areas of those countries where transmission remains high, and they are surging in Sierra Leone, the health agency said yesterday.

Death ‘may be linked to dental practice’

Detectives are investigating whether there is a link between the death of a 23-year-old woman in 2013 and dental treatment she received at a practice in Nottingham. The dentist, Desmond D’Mello, has been suspended amid claims he breached clinical standards.

Car bombs in east kill four people

Car bombs exploded in eastern Libyan towns under the control of the internationally recognised government yesterday, killing at least four people and wounding at least 20 others, officials said. One car bomb went off in Tobruk, where the elected parliament is based in a hotel.

Stabbed nurse ‘was let down’ by police

A nurse who was stabbed 130 times by her ex-boyfriend was “badly let down” by Greater Manchester Police when she reported a death threat by him, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has found. Katie Cullen, 34, was stabbed by Iman Saeed Ghaefelipour in 2009.

New decree may free jailed journalists

The President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, issued a decree yesterday granting him the power to deport foreign defendants convicted of crimes. The move could allow him to free imprisoned journalists from Al-Jazeera, whose imprisonment has drawn international condemnation.

‘Review all Fake Sheikh convictions’

A former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, has called for a review of all convictions involving evidence from the “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood after solicitors claimed that the Sun on Sunday journalist’s wrongdoings were more serious than phone hacking.

‘Casualty’ actress dies of cancer

Casualty actress Rebekah Gibbs (left, with her daughter Gigi) has died of breast cancer. Gibbs, 41, played paramedic Nina Farr for more than 100 episodes of the BBC drama before being diagnosed in 2008.

Virgin survivor was thrown from rocket

Peter Siebold, the surviving pilot of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, was thrown from the rocket-powered vehicle when it broke apart last month and was able to unbuckle himself from his seat before his parachute deployed automatically, United States officials said.

Bible named world’s most influential title

The Bible has been named the most influential book of all time, followed by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin Of Species, Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History Of Time and Albert Einstein’s Relativity. The YouGov survey for the Folio Society asked people to rank the books which have had the most influence on today’s society.

Breakfast in bed world record broken

A Shanghai hotel moved dozens of beds into one giant room to serve breakfast to 388 people, claiming in doing so they broke a world record. The 388 people were served croissants, noodles and fruit in bed at the Pudong Shangri-la hotel yesterday morning, beating the former world record of 288 people.

Booker winner up for Bad Sex prize

The Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan is one of 10 authors shortlisted for the Literary Review’s Bad Sex in Fiction prize. His novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North will be considered alongside works by TV presenter Kirsty Wark, Wilbur Smith and Haruki Murakami to take the title.

Lego sequel to boost its female focus

The Lego Movie 2 is set to have more female characters, according to its writers. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller told the BBC: “It’s important to us that the movie plays broadly and that we inspire young women.” The Lego Movie has made more than $468m (£294m) worldwide. Its follow-up is due in 2018.

Don’t leave me hanging, guys

Two window washers were trapped 69 stories up One World Trade Center yesterday for more than an hour before firefighters were able to cut through a window and pull them to safety. The rescue occurred on the south side of the 1,776-ft (541m) building, where the open-topped platform hung at a 45-degree angle.