The News Matrix: Thursday 19 April 2012

Games 'unlikely to bring extra visitors'

Any rise in UK tourism numbers this year is "against all the odds", says Visit Britain's chairman. Christopher Rodrigues warned that in the years countries host major events, tourism spending falls. "A flat year would mean we've done well against all the odds, all the history," he said. MORE

Rebekah Brooks could face charge

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, could be charged with perverting the course of justice after her name was included among 11 suspects in the first files handed over to prosecutors by detectives investigating phone hacking.

Breivik demands death or acquittal

Anders Behring Breivik angrily dismissed the prospect of a lengthy jail term as "pathetic" yesterday and insisted that the death penalty or acquittal were the only "logical" legal responses to his slaughter of 77 people last year. The outburst came on the third day of his trial. MORE

Life through a lens for convicted killer

A man has been jailed for at least 18 years for murdering his ex-lover, becoming the first convicted killer to have his sentence filmed for British TV in the process. Judge Lord Bracadale handed down a mandatory life sentence at the conclusion of the trial in Edinburgh.

TV legend Dick Clark dies at the age of 82

Dick Clark, the US television host who helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream on the American Bandstand show, has died at the age of 82. He was nicknamed "the world's oldest teenager" because of his boyish looks.

Employ a hoodie, Minister urges firms

British employers should hire "surly", hoodie-wearing young British men rather than experienced Eastern Europeans, the Employment Minister Chris Grayling said yesterday. Firms were guilty of overlooking the potential of British school and college leavers as they seek out more presentable workers from abroad to fill new positions, he claimed. MORE

Zimmerman judge decides to step down

The judge presiding over the trial of George Zimmerman, who is accused of shooting dead Trayvon Martin, has removed herself from the case. Judge Jessica Recksiedler reportedly stepped down over her ties to a prominent TV legal analyst, who had been outspoken about the case.

British soldier dies of wounds in the UK

A British soldier has died of his wounds after an explosion in southern Afghanistan last week. The soldier was from the 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). He was flown back to the UK where he died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

New Delhi flexes its military missiles

India is planning to launch a ballistic missile today that would enable it to target not just south Asia but China and even parts of Europe. The country is keen to flex its military and strategic muscles by showing off the Agni-V, a 3,000-mile range missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead. MORE

O'Grady on brink of making TUC history

The TUC looks set to appoint its first female general secretary after Brendan Barber announced that he is to retire from the role at the end of the year. Frances O'Grady, currently number two in the organisation, is thought to be the front runner for the post which will be decided at a meeting of the TUC's executive in May.

Woman admits to lying over kidnap

A woman who claimed she had been kidnapped has admitted she faked the story so she could visit her boyfriend in Mexico. Jessica Rodriguez, from Arizona, said she had been taken to an unknown location because she would not have been allowed to visit her boyfriend, who is a person of interest in a murder investigation.

Attenborough's 'fake' polar film up for Bafta

The controversial BBC nature documentary which used footage of polar bears taken in a zoo has been nominated for an audience award at next month's TV Baftas. The David Attenborough-narrated Frozen Planet will compete against Celebrity Juice, Sherlock and The Great British Bake Off in an award voted for by the public.

Frozen cows may have to be exploded

Authorities are stumped over how to clear a group of cows that wandered into an old ranger cabin high in the Rocky Mountains, then died and froze solid when they couldn't get out. Explosives have been suggested as a means of removing the animals near the Conundrum Hot Springs, a 9-mile (14km) hike from Aspen, Colorado.

Chinese treasures stolen in Cambridge

A hoard of rare Chinese artefacts has been stolen from Cambridge University. Eighteen items including a 14th-century Ming jade cup and a 16th-century jade buffalo were stolen in a raid on Fitzwilliam Museum on Friday. Police refused to speculate on whether the robbery was linked to a similar recent theft at Durham University.