The News Matrix: Friday 13 March 2015

Woman falls under train in rush hour

Officials are investigating how a commuter fell under a train at a London tube station during the rush hour. The woman, in her 20s, fell between the train and the tracks at Clapham South at 8am, Transport for London said. Her injuries were described as “non-life-threatening”.

Spy arrested over helping ‘jihadi’ girls

A foreign spy has been detained on suspicion of helping three British schoolgirls to travel to Syria to join Isis, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has confirmed. The nationality of the person arrested had not been disclosed last night, but the FCO is working closely with the Turkish authorities.

World Bank latest institution to pull out

The World Bank suspended its operations in Yemen yesterday, the latest in a stream of international organisations, Western and Arab embassies to shut down offices in the capital, Sana’a. Western embassies also shut down last month, after Houthi rebels stormed the presidential palace.

Ebola victim in London hospital

A British military healthcare worker is in London’s Royal Free Hospital after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone. Two colleagues are also being assessed at the hospital, while another two are due to arrive in the UK today. None of the four has tested positive, but they were all in contact with the worker.

Ex-Navy analyst admits records theft

A former Navy intelligence analyst pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing records related to his grandfather. Samuel L Morison, 70, was accused of offering to sell to a bookshop-owner US records relating to the work of his late grandfather, Pulitzer Prize-winning naval historian Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison.

Tourist killed after whale lands on boat

A 35-year-old Canadian woman died and two other tourists were injured when a surfacing grey whale crashed on to their boat, Mexican authorities said yesterday. They added that the boat had been carrying nine tourists on a snorkel tour and was quite near the shore when the collision occurred.

Middle-class use of cocaine soars

Cocaine use has soared in middle-class suburbs and deprived city estates, according to a new report by the Government’s drug advisers. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs noted a marked increase in the use of the drug among the “comfortably off”.

TV host sacked for First Lady ape quip

An American talk-show host has been fired after saying that Michelle Obama looked like someone from the cast of Planet of the Apes. Rodner Figueroa, 42, was discussing a viral video that shows a make-up artist transforming himself into different celebrities, including Mrs Obama.

Clifford questioned by Yewtree officers

The shamed celebrity publicist Max Clifford has reportedly been arrested by Operation Yewtree officers. Clifford, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for indecent assault, was interviewed by officers in connection with sexual offence allegations, said the BBC.

First sighting of a lion for 20 years

A lion has been spotted in Gabon for the first time in nearly 20 years, raising hopes that the animals feared extinct there could be returning, conservationists said yesterday. The lion population has fallen sharply due to poaching and loss of habitat.

Disney announces a sequel to ‘Frozen’

Let it go (on)! The Walt Disney Co yesterday officially announced plans to make a sequel to the computer-animated mega-hit Frozen. Since its release in November 2013, the animated fantasy Frozen has made nearly $1.3bn at the global box office and generated a massive merchandising revenue stream. The film also won the Oscar for best animated feature.

Will model birds lure rare terns back?

Hand-painted model birds are being placed in a rare bird’s habitat in a bid to lure them into nesting there again. The RSPB has created the fake birds to put in Langstone Harbour, between Portsmouth and Hayling Island, in Hampshire, in the hope that little terns will feel at home. The breeding little tern population in South-east England has declined by 86 per cent during the past 30 years.

Plea to Bacon over ‘Footloose’ law

A town in Canada has appealed for Kevin Bacon’s help to oppose a new “behaviour bylaw” similar to that portrayed in 1980s cult film Footloose. A jokey Kickstarter letter, which is entitled “Save us Bacon”, reads that Taber in Alberta has passed a law “banning music in public, gatherings of more than three people and swearing”. It has also instituted a curfew on the young.

Special delivery for woman’s birthday

A woman marked her birthday by giving birth at the same hospital she was born in 28 years earlier. When Libby Morris and husband, Tim, arrived at Southmead Hospital in Bristol on 5 March it became apparent their son, Joshua, was going to share his mother’s birthday. Libby said: “It is all very surreal, but it is lovely to think that our birthdays will be very special.”