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The News Matrix: Friday 5 April 2013

 

Friday 05 April 2013 00:05 BST
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War veteran hopes to find long-lost love

A Second World War veteran is searching for the woman he loved and lost in France 68 years ago. Nikolai Vasenin, who was a prisoner of the Siberian gulags, has appealed to French authorities to find Jeanne Monot – the daughter of a resistance commander with whom he fell in love in 1944. MORE

Renowned film critic Ebert dies aged 70

Roger Ebert, one of the world's most respected film critics, has died at the age of 70. The Pulitzer Prize-winner had endured a decade-long battle with cancer, but continued to work at the Chicago Sun-Times despite his poor health. The newspaper said he "passionately celebrated and promoted excellence in film".

Palestinians protest after three deaths

Protesters clashed with Israeli security in towns across the region yesterday after the deaths of three Palestinians earlier this week. In Hebron, thousands attended the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, a prisoner who died in Israeli custody on Tuesday. Youths hurled rocks and rolled burning tyres. MORE

100 more guns put on Connecticut ban list

A raft of new gun control measures has come into force in Connecticut following the Sandy Hook school shooting that left 27 people dead – including 20 children. About 100 guns have been added to the state's existing assault weapons ban and new rules have been established for buying ammunition.  MORE

Girl consented to sex, says 'trafficker'

A man accused of being part of a child sex ring based in Oxford has admitted having intercourse with one of his accusers but insisted that it was consensual and he thought she was 20. Mohammed Karrar, 38, denied "lying through his teeth" at the Old Bailey as he refuted allegations that he raped and trafficked teenage girls for sex over a period of about five years.

HBOS bosses made 'colossal' mistakes

Three former bosses of HBOS made "colossal" and "catastrophic" mistakes that would have seen the bank go bust even without the financial crisis, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards will say today. They will be told to apologise for their "incompetence". page 7

It's official: the kids are all right

Today's children might be able to throw tantrums that put Kevin the Teenager to shame, but the Office for National Statistics claims that nine out of 10 are relatively happy with their "life as a whole". Of the 10 to 15-year-olds surveyed, only 4 per cent said they were unhappy. MORE

Former consulate nets £23m for Greece

Greece has sold the luxurious London home of its former consul for £23.3m to help reduce its public debt. The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund said the nine-bedroom mansion in sought-after Holland Park had sold for £3.3m more than expected.

Macabre life with a dead brother

A woman who lived with her brother's mummified body for years tried to dispose of his corpse with household rubbish when she finally realised he was dead. The woman, 49, told police she found the desiccated cadaver of Masao Tadano as she and another sister tried to move house last November in Sapporo.

Bare-breast protests for women's rights

Bare-breasted protesters staged rallies at mosques and Tunisian embassies across Europe yesterday. The Ukrainian group Femen held "International Topless Jihad Day" in response to an Islamist crackdown on Arab women's rights. The protesters were painted with slogans including "Bare breasts against Islamism".

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