The News Matrix: Tuesday 8 April 2014

Hain call angers victims of Troubles

Victims of Northern Ireland’s armed conflict have criticised Peter Hain after he called for an end to prosecutions for crimes committed before the Good Friday agreement. No one would be pursued for 3,000 unsolved murders before the 1998 accord. Kenny Donaldson, who represents a victims’ group, said: “It is grossly offensive to all those families who have been denied justice and truth.”

Polish MP becomes ‘migrant’ in Britain

Polish MP Artur Debski, 45, who has come to London to live as a migrant to understand what draws his compatriots to Britain, has revealed he spent the night in a homeless shelter – and warned that arriving without accommodation or a job was “irresponsible”. MORE

‘Most promising lead yet’ in hunt for jet

An Australian ship searching for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has picked up signals consistent with the beacons from aircraft black box recorders, in what search officials said yesterday was the most promising lead yet in the month-long hunt. MORE

Charlie Brooks in ‘Fairy Liquid scare’

Charlie Brooks, the husband of the former chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks, was “close to death” after drinking a pint of Fairy Liquid in the hope it might cure a bad hang-over, a friend has told the hacking trial at the Old Bailey. MORE

Dutch priest shot dead in Homs

A gunman assassinated a well-known Dutch priest yesterday, shooting him in the head in the garden of a monastery where he lived in the central Syrian city of Homs, the Vatican has said. Father Francis Van Der Lugt, a Jesuit, had lived in Syria for decades. MORE

Honeymoon murder suspect extradited

Shrien Dewani, accused of having his wife Anni murdered during their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010, was extradited to South Africa last night, police said. Mr Dewani, 34, from Bristol, denies her murder.

Genocide wounds reopened 20 years on

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon told Rwandans yesterday that the world would “never again” let genocide tear their nation apart, at a ceremony marking 20 years since 800,000 people were massacred. But France did not take part after Rwandan President Paul Kagame renewed accusations of Paris’ “direct role” in the killings. MORE

British man dies on festival coach

A 25-year-old British man collapsed and died in a coach travelling to a music and snowboarding festival. Police said the bus had just arrived at Mayrhofen in the Tyrol, where the “Snowbombing” event is held, when the incident occurred yesterday afternoon. “The investigation is still going on,” a police spokesman said.

7,000-year history of the couch potato

Couch potatoes have a history that stretches back 7,000 years, a study has shown. Scientists at Cambridge University who studied bones dating from 5,300 BC to 850 AD found the leg bones of people living along the fertile Danube river valley became weaker after the emergence of agriculture and the plough.

‘Britain’s Got Talent’ in the record books

Britain’s Got Talent, created by Simon Cowell, has been crowned the most successful reality TV format in the world by the Guinness Book of Records, after being copied in 58 countries. The latest nations to launch their own version of the show include Kazakhstan, Brazil, Moldova and Iceland.

Cambridge beats Oxford in series final

Students from Cambridge’s Trinity College triumphed for a third time as viewers last night saw them win the latest series of University Challenge. The team recaptured the title 19 years after their last success in the BBC2 contest. In the all-male final they beat Somerville College, Oxford, 240 points to 135.

Student travels 26 miles on a pogo stick

Student Jack Sexty, 24, has become the first person to complete a marathon on a pogo stick. Mr Sexty, from Staffordshire, finished the Greater Manchester Marathon in 16 hours in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK. It is also thought he has broken the record for the longest distance travelled on a pogo stick in 24 hours.

Mickey Rooney dies aged 93

Mickey Rooney, the child actor who became the world’s top box office star, has died aged 93. Rooney, who married eight times, died at home on Sunday of natural causes, Los Angeles authorities said. Sir Laurence Olivier once referred to him as the greatest film actor America ever produced.