The News Matrix: Friday 2 November 2012

Child prodigy's amazing app

A 17-year-old boy from Wimbledon will today launch an iPhone app that is backed by Apple design guru Sir Jonathan Ive, Rupert Murdoch and Stephen Fry. Nick D'Aloisio's Summly app simplifies accessing news stories on a mobile. He began to work on it at 12 and employs seven staff in a Shoreditch office.

Drugs charge after 'cocaine' trick-or-treat

A man has been charged with possession of class-A drugs after children out trick-or-treating for Halloween were allegedly given bags of cocaine. Bags containing the powder were apparently handed to youngsters having fun in Royton, Greater Manchester. The accused man, 23, is due before Oldham magistrates' court today.

Cumberbatch to star as Epstein

Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has landed the role of Brian Epstein in a new film about the legendary Beatles manager, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Paul McGuigan, who worked with Cumberbatch on four episodes of the acclaimed BBC drama, will direct the movie.

Elitism excludes women from top

The "clique" of David Cameron's Old Etonian and Oxford friends is making it difficult for women to break into the very top levels of government, a Whitehall grandee has warned. Dame Helen Ghosh said Westminster is being driven by powerful networks of men. She later claimed she hadn't said there were too few women in the Prime Minister's team. MORE

Osborne's policies to blame for recession

The Chancellor's austerity measures played a major part in causing Britain's recession, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said yesterday. George Osborne's policies had proved "self-defeating", and had "little success in boosting infrastructure spending".

Boy hurt after 'Onion Bomb' explodes

A 10-year-old boy has suffered serious burns and "horrific" facial injuries after a firework exploded in his face while he was playing with it in Salford, Greater Manchester, yesterday. The firework was an Onion Bomb, which is used in professional displays and not on general sale.

Journalist cleared over Swiss bank list

A court in Athens acquitted a journalist facing jail for publishing a list of 2,000 Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland. The story created a stir in a country unwilling to go after wealthy tax evaders, while ordinary citizens have shouldered the brunt of austerity measures. MORE

Police find body in deep water

Officers searching for a 12-year-old boy from Lincolnshire who went missing on a French island have found a body. Pierre Barnes, who was in Porquerolles for the half-term holidays, vanished while on a bike ride on Saturday. The body was found near a pleasure boat in deep water.

Hollande shrugs off fall in popularity

President François Hollande, facing an unprecedented meltdown in his popularity, has criticised the impatience of voters, but promised that his softly-softly approach would triumph in the end. In a lengthy interview almost six months after his election, he insisted he had not been shocked by his fall in the polls. MORE

FCO spends £10K on stuffed snake

The taxpayer has funded £10,000 of "essential maintenance" on Albert, the stuffed anaconda hanging in the Foreign Office library. Officials in William Hague's department noticed the reptile was in poor condition.

Obama goes back on campaign trail

President Barack Obama went back onto the campaign trail yesterday after visiting victims of Superstorm Sandy, and boosted by an endorsement from New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Today, however, the latest batch of monthly jobs figures will remind voters of the slow speed of the recovery. MORE

Putin 'recovering from bad back'

Where is Vladimir Putin? It emerged this week that the President had rarely left his official residence and put off several trips abroad. A Kremlin spokesman insisted he has just pulled a muscle. MORE