The News Matrix: Friday 28 November 2014

£1m NHS fraud couple are jailed

A couple who defrauded the NHS of up to £1m to sustain a lavish lifestyle have been jailed. John Leigh, 54, and Deborah Hancox, 45, sold equipment and services to the NHS at inflated prices. Yesterday at Manchester Crown Court they were sentenced to 44 months and two years respectively, after earlier pleading guilty. The pair were extradited from Southern Cyprus last year.

Taliban attack kills UK embassy guard

A Taliban suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a British embassy vehicle in the Afghan capital, Kabul. A British security guard and an Afghan worker were among five people killed. Three other Afghans died and more than 30 were wounded.

Father killed and dismembered by son

A man has been found guilty of murdering his father, whom he stabbed and dismembered before placing his body parts in boxes which he used as a television stand. Nathan Robinson, 27, used a Stanley knife, a hacksaw and a saw to cut up the body of William Spiller in Bournemouth.

Big loan for Le Pen from Russian bank

The political firepower of Marine Le Pen’s Front National is to be transformed by a €40m loan from a bank with links to the Kremlin, it was alleged yesterday. Ms Le Pen confirmed earlier this week that a Russian bank was lending her far-right party €9m.

Calls for buffer zone near abortion clinics

“Buffer zones” should be set up around abortion clinics to prevent women being “intimidated” by anti-abortion activists, medical and rights groups have said. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service said there had been a sharp escalation in protests outside clinics.

Rise to power of Kim Jong-un’s sister

North Korea has revealed that leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, holds a senior role in the ruling Workers’ Party, strengthening analysts’ views that she is an increasingly important part of the family dynasty that runs the country.

Police make arrest over Surrey murders

Lithuanian builder Viktoras Bruzas was arrested last night by police investigating a double murder in Surrey. The bodies of Patrick and Gillian Kettyle were found at a house in Fetcham yesterday morning.

Stores prepare for ‘Black Friday’ frenzy

British retailers are set for a “Black Friday” frenzy today on what is likely to be the year’s biggest shopping day. Visa predicts that £518m will be spent on its cards. The Black Friday tradition hails from the US, where Christmas shoppers head out after their Thanksgiving feasts.

Music fans push back the vinyl frontier

Annual sales of vinyl records have reached their highest level for two decades, passing the one million-mark last weekend. As the digital music revolution continues apace, 12-inch singles and albums have succeeded in luring collectors and a new generation of “hipsters” back into record shops.

‘Alice’ manuscript heads to America

Lewis Carroll’s original handwritten manuscript for Alice in Wonderland will travel to the US to mark its 150th anniversary. The British Library says it will loan the book – given by Carroll to Alice Liddell, who inspired it – to New York’s Morgan Library and Museum and the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia.

Most popular Yahoo searches revealed

The World Cup, Michael Schumacher and the iPhone 6 have grabbed the public’s attention more than any other subjects this year, according to the search engine Yahoo. The internet company’s annual Year in Review is put together by analysing billions of searches made using Yahoo Search.

Italian gang palms off €300 fake note

After being flooded with Teutonic imports in the past decade, Italy has exported something to Germany: the €300 note. The bogus money came to the attention of police, who have now arrested the gang behind the world’s largest counterfeit money operation, which dumped 500 million fake euros on the continent.

Frida Kahlo’s home to be recreated

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s native garden and studio outside Mexico City will be reimagined at the New York Botanical Garden next year. The garden will use flowers and plants native to Mexico in the exhibition Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, which will open on 16 May and run to 1 November.