The News Matrix: Friday 26 July 2013

Bradley Manning (Getty)

Manning leaked ‘to gain notoriety’

Bradley Manning spilled secrets to WikiLeaks to gain notoriety, prosecutors said as his trial came to an end. Major Ashden Fein said Private Manning was not the troubled soldier the defence claims. MORE

Fracking? Not in my back yard...

The prospect of fracking for oil and gas next to a West Sussex village has caused upheaval in the local political landscape. Tories in Balcombe are turning away from the party which promotes fracking, while local MP and Cabinet Office Secretary Francis Maude has taken a pounding for not opposing the scheme. Fracking company Cuadrilla is to begin exploring a site near the village. MORE

Opposition leader is assassinated

Angry anti-government demonstrators took to the streets of Tunisia last night after gunmen killed the leader of a leftist opposition party, raising fears of renewed chaos in. A similar assassination plunged the country into crisis just five months ago. MORE

Passers-by seize would-be bank thief

Police hailed “brave members of the public” who seized a man suspected of trying to rob a bank with an AK47-style weapon. The suspect, in his thirties, was said to have fled empty-handed from a Barclays bank through the Borough area of London yesterday. No shots were fired.

Pope says rich must end inequality

Pope Francis told slum dwellers in Rio de Janeiro that the world’s rich must do much more to wipe out economic inequality as he visited one of the city’s favelas yesterday. “No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world,” he told residents. MORE

Lib Dem members want a left turn

Some 55 per cent of Liberal Democrat members want Nick Clegg to strike a deal with Labour at the next election, against 18 per cent in favour of continuing a pact with the Tories. Mr Clegg has insisted that the party is “equidistant” between the two. MORE

Airport plan would create 243,00 jobs

Some 243,00 jobs would be created by Birmingham airport’s plans to compete with Heathrow and become one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs. The project, revealed last month by i, would cost around £7bn and be able to cater for 70 million passengers by 2030.

Civil war death toll passes 100,000

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed that the death toll in the Syrian civil war has passed 100,000, up from nearly 93,000 just over a month ago. He called on the Syrian government and opposition to halt the violence and said peace talks are “imperative”.