The News Matrix: Thursday 20 November 2014

Home of synagogue attacker demolished

The East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly attack last month was demolished yesterday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised strict security measures in the wake of a fatal synagogue assault on Tuesday.

Bill Cosby comedy show scrapped

Television network NBC last night said it has scrapped a Bill Cosby comedy show that was under development. The announcement came after Netflix announced on Tuesday that it was postponing a new Cosby stand-up special after renewed rape allegations against the comedian.

Mobile TV set to improve, says Ofcom

It will soon be easier, faster and cheaper to watch television on mobile phones and tablets, as Ofcom announces it will deliver more airwaves for mobile broadband services by 2022. “Demand is going through the roof,” said a spokesman for the regulator.

Beauty queen and sister found dead

A beauty queen has been found murdered days before she was due to compete in the Miss World pageant in London. The bodies of Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and her sister Sofia, 23, were found buried in western Honduras. Maria Jose’s boyfriend has been arrested.

America stopped by big freeze

Heavy snow and freezing temperatures have blasted the US, with some Northeast towns declaring emergencies. In western New York a storm brought as much as 4ft (1.2m) of snow.

Gender wage gap at its lowest level ever

The gap between men and women’s earnings is at its lowest level since records began, figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed. Men earn 17.5 per cent more than women on average per hour, a fall of around two percentage points in a year. This means that women earn 82p for every £1 earned by a man.

North-South divide in life expectancy

According to the Office for National Statistics, girls born in Chiltern and boys born in south Cambridgeshire will live the longest, to 86.4 years and 83 years respectively. Female life expectancy is lowest in Manchester, at 80, while male life expectancy is lowest in Blackpool, at 74.3.

Pilot whales at risk of stranding

Police and seafarers are trying to guide a pod of up to 40 pilot whales away from the Essex coast following fears they may become stranded by the changing tides. The whales are between Jaywick and Brightlingsea. It is not known what led the pod into the shallower waters.

Norwegians visit 19 countries in 24 hours

Three Norwegian friends have beaten the record of the number of countries visited in one day after entering 19 countries in 24 hours. They successfully drove from Greece to Italy via (including) Bosnia, Czech Republic, Germany and France while “travelling the shortest distance [on] the best-maintained roads”.

Banking fosters ‘dishonest culture’

Banking fosters a culture of dishonesty, according to a study in Nature. A test designed to expose levels of cheating revealed that bank employees are generally as honest as other people but become more dishonest in their workplace. Scientists suggest it could be addressed by introducing a code of ethical conduct.

Students arrested for three-fingered salute

Five university students have been arrested after giving a three-fingered salute, a symbol of resistance inspired by the book trilogy The Hunger Games, to the army-backed prime minister, General Prayuth Chan-ocha. Use of the salute, popular after the May coup, has largely stopped after the military banned it.

Bad guys beware: Luther is back

Idris Elba’s maverick detective John Luther is heading back to TV with two special episodes set for BBC One next year. The hit show, which is about to be remade in the United States, stars The Wire actor as the troubled police officer and starts filming in London in March.

Lance Armstrong fails another test

The disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong failed to complete a beer-mile run at a race near his Texas home yesterday. Challengers must drink a beer every 400m round the track. However, Armstrong, 43, dropped out after just one lap, claiming that the challenge was a lot harder than he had anticipated.