The News Matrix: Wednesday 12 September 2012

Cable and Osborne battle over bank

Vince Cable and George Osborne are locked in "battle" over a whether a new Government-backed bank should lend money directly to small businesses. The Treasury says the "small business bank" scheme will encourage businesses to access existing funds. MORE

BBC 'did not rate new Alan Partridge series'

Mid Morning Matters, the latest series featuring Steve Coogan's popular comic creation Alan Partridge left the BBC because executives there did not think it was worthy of a prime-time spot, co-creator Armando Iannucci has claimed. He said they took the series to Sky because the BBC was intent on interfering.

6,400 treated in hospital for stress

Thousands of Britons have been admitted to hospital with stress since the recession hit, new figures show. Some 6,400 people were treated in the 12 months to May 2012, a seven per cent rise on the previous year and a leap of 47 per cent since 2007-8.  MORE

PM unhappy with Euro bailout terms

Spain's prime minister has said that he won't accept certain conditions in return for a European Central Bank proposal to buy Spanish government bonds. Mariano Rajoy warned there are "certain red lines" he won't cross if Spain asks the eurozone's bailout funds for help. MORE

News Corp behind prison officer arrest

A prison officer was arrested yesterday by police investigating corrupt payments by journalists. The 31-year-old was held at his home in Northampton on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and misconduct in a public office. He is the 44th person to be arrested as part of Operation Elveden. The arrest is a result of information passed to police by News Corp, Scotland Yard said.

Struggling families miss help to cut bills

About £50m of Government funds earmarked to help vulnerable people cut their bills could go unclaimed despite millions facing the prospect of a winter without heating. The soon-to-be scrapped Warm Front scheme could help an average family save £600 a year on energy bills.

Fisherman saved after night in bin

A fisherman spent a night adrift in a plastic fish bin measuring just one square metre after his boat was hit by big waves and overturned off the coast of Alaska.

A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted 19-year-old Ryan Harris from his plastic "lifeboat" more than 24 hours after the boat sank.

Mammoth find may hold living cells

Scientists have discovered well-preserved frozen woolly mammoth fragments deep in Siberia that may contain living cells, apparently edging a tad closer to the "Jurassic Park" possibility of cloning a prehistoric animal. A team of researchers discovered mammoth hair, soft tissues and bone marrow 100m underground.

Protesters bring down US flag

Ultra-conservative Egyptian protesters climbed the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo yesterday and brought down the flag, replacing it with an Islamic one to protest against a film attacking Mohamed.

National strike call to oust NUM leaders

Firebrand politician Julius Malema has called for a national miners strike demanding the removal of the leadership of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers. Thousands of striking miners blowing vuvuzelas and whistles responded enthusiastically to Malema's comments.

Wind turbines 'could power the planet'

The Earth has more than enough wind to power the entire world, at least technically, two studies say. The research, by two separate US science teams, calculated that existing wind turbine technology could produce hundreds of trillions of watts of power. That is more than 10 times what the world now consumes.

Can Hilary Mantel make it a double?

Hilary Mantel could join an elite group of authors who have won the Man Booker Prize twice after she was again shortlisted for the most prestigious award in Britain's literary calendar. Her novel Bring Up The Bodies faces competition from Will Self, Alison Moore, Tan Twan Eng, Jeet Thayil and Deborah Levy.  MORE