The News Matrix: Wednesday 24 September 2014

NHS volunteers join fight against Ebola

British doctors, nurses and paramedics are flocking to join the front line in the fight against Ebola. At least 164 NHS staff have already answered a call for volunteers issued by the Government’s chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies on Friday. The Department of Health said the number is “going up all the time”.

Sex lessons ‘vital’ to combat internet porn

Compulsory lessons in sex and relationships in primary and secondary schools are vital to combat the effects of online pornography. Organisations such as Mumsnet say children should begin learning about respect, equality and privacy from the age of five.

Murderer absconds while on home leave

A murderer has gone missing while on a home visit from prison. Albert Edward Stanley, 63, failed to return to HMP Leyhill in South Gloucestershire this week following leave in Guildford, Surrey. Stanley was given a life sentence in 1980 for a murder in East Sussex.

‘Doctors ignored Stephen’s symptoms’

The mother of the teenage cancer patient and fundraiser Stephen Sutton has revealed that medics “ignored” pleas to test her son for cancer when he was first showing symptoms. Jane Sutton said doctors insisted Stephen was suffering from serious constipation.

Al-Qaeda member sentenced to life

Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, an al-Qaeda spokesman after 9/11, has been sentenced to life in prison for terrorism-related charges at a trial in New York. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, 48, is the highest-ranking al-Qaeda figure to face trial on US soil since the attacks.

Plans shelved for tough abortion law

Spain has dropped plans to limit abortion to cases of rape or where the mother’s health is at serious risk. The government will instead seek to stop 16- and 17-year-olds having an abortion without parental consent. Abortion is legal in Spain in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Ban Ki-moon has high hopes for climate talks

World leaders have been drafting a new climate agreement at the United Nations in New York ahead of talks in Paris next year. “Today, we must set the world on a new course,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Three people shot dead at UPS facility

Three people have been killed in a shooting at a United Parcel Service (UPS) facility in Alabama, US police have said. Birmingham Police Lt Sean Edwards said the gunman – a UPS employee – was killed along with two other people in the incident. AP

Hip-hop artist Dr Dre is highest paid

With $620m (£378m) in estimated pre-tax earnings, the veteran rapper and record producer Dr Dre topped the Forbes list as the highest- paid hip-hop artist, ousting Sean “Diddy” Combs from the top spot.

PM: ‘Queen purred after No vote’

The Queen “purred down the line” when David Cameron informed her that Scotland had rejected independence, the Prime Minister has claimed. His odd assertion was picked up by press microphones in New York yesterday.

Exchange students spread the love

More than a quarter of people who have taken part in the EU’s Erasmus programme have met their long-term partner while studying abroad. More than one million babies may have been produced as a result of the exchange initiative.

‘Lost’ Banksy stencil on show

A Banksy artwork which disappeared from a building wall has been exhibited in a school – after being hidden under a bed for four years. Leopard and Barcode had been on the side of a house on Pembroke Road, in Bristol. It was put on display at Nailsea School in Somerset.

India’s ‘Mom’ craft set to land on Mars

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission has begun its final positioning for entering the orbit of Mars today. The spacecraft, which is affectionately nicknamed MOM, was built with home-grown technology for only £45m.