The News Matrix: Tuesday 27 May 2014

Psychological risk for cardiac patients

Heart attack patients are being refused psychological support even though evidence shows that nearly half suffer anxiety and depression, campaigners have warned, which in some cases increases their risk of dying from the condition. Research has found that psychological problems are linked with poorer outcomes for cardiac patients, and a much higher risk of dying.

Pfizer drops £69bn AstraZeneca bid

Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical firm, has abandoned its proposal to take over AstraZeneca, in the face of widespread opposition. The company had until yesterday to decide whether or not to make a new offer. It now has to wait six months before it can launch another bid. MORE

Kiev ‘ready for talks with Moscow’

The President-elect, Petro Poroshenko, said he wants to begin talks with Moscow and end a pro-Russia insurgency in the east, but the separatists escalated the conflict by occupying Donetsk airport, and the government in Kiev responded with an air strike. MORE

State ‘should teach elderly to use web’

The Government must commit to teaching older people internet skills such as using email to help them combat loneliness, according to research published today. Some four in 10 people aged 65 or over do not have access to the internet at home, the Policy Exchange says. MORE

Hunt stepped up for disaster ferry owner

The hunt is being stepped up for the owner of the ferry company whose vessel, the Sewol, sank last month with the loss of more than 300 lives. Prosecutors are now offering $500,000 for information leading to the arrest of Yoo Byung-eun – a tenfold increase in the bounty.

UK reconsiders military relations

Britain is reviewing its military relationship with Thailand following a coup, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said. Thailand’s army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who received approval from the country’s King yesterday, seized control of the government last week. MORE

Senator shocks with fake pipe bomb

Veteran Senator and sheep farmer Bill Heffernan, 71, startled his colleagues in Canberra yesterday by producing a fake pipe bomb in parliament to make a point about lax security. MORE

Teenagers involved in one crash in eight

Teenage drivers are involved in almost one in eight accidents where there is an injury, says the RAC. Statistics for five years showed 11.9 per cent of casualties were injured or killed in collisions with a driver aged 17-19. The age group makes up only 1.5 per cent of licensed drivers.