The News Matrix: Friday 8 July 2011

Iraqis gain court victory in Europe

A public inquiry into the alleged ill-treatment and unlawful killings of Iraqi civilians by British troops is a step closer after a European judgement granted them permission to seek redress in the High Court. The Ministry of Defence will now face questions about the deaths of children such as Hanaan Salih Matrood, 8, who died after being shot by a British patrol.

North Korea ‘paid for nuclear weapons’

The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme claims North Korean officials paid senior Pakistani military figures in the 1990s for weapons technology. Documents appear to show North Korea paid some $3.5m to two officials. MORE

Teenagers charged with stabbing youth

Two teenagers appeared in Camberwell Youth Court yesterday charged with the murder of a 16-year-old boy in London. Yemurai Kanyangarara was stabbed in the neck after getting off a bus in Welling, south-east London, on Friday.

Protesters to take to the streets of Cairo

Egyptians are expected to return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square to protest about the conduct of the military council, which yesterday said police officers would be sacked for their alleged roles in killing protesters during the February uprising. MORE

More meals served, but are they healthy?

More children are eating school dinners – prompting calls for a stronger focus on making them healthy. About 44 per cent of primary school children now eat school meals.

Minister gees up NHS managers

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley called on NHS chiefs to help services “regain the momentum” following the consultation and controversy over the passing of his Health and Social Care Bill, at the NHS Confederation conference in Manchester yesterday.

President appears on TV from retreat

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has appeared publicly for the first time since being injured in an explosion last month. In a video on Yemeni state TV, thought to have been filmed in Saudi Arabia where he is being treated, Mr Saleh lashed out at protesters trying to drive him from power.

UN ‘did not protect’ murdered civilians

The UN mission in Sudan has been accused of failing to protect hundreds of civilians who have been killed in a campaign of violence by the Khartoum government on its southern border, just days before South Sudan declares independence. MORE

Mother jailed for lying to be freed

The woman acquitted this week of killing her two-year-old daughter will be freed from prison on Wednesday after being sentenced in Florida on charges she lied to investigators. The verdict in Casey Anthony’s trial angered many Americans. MORE

Belly buttons full of bacteria strains

Naval-gazing has been taken to a new level by scientists who are undertaking a major investigation into the bacteria that dwells within our belly buttons. The survey has discovered 1,400 strains of bacteria dwelling in and around belly buttons and some are suspected to even be new strains.

Denver’s critic on the best joint joints

With 300 listed in the guidebooks, Denver now has more marijuana dispensaries than it does Starbucks coffee houses. Indeed, the “industry” has become so popular a local magazine has even hired its own critic to advise readers on the best smoking joints in town. MORE

Mother of modern polar bear was brown

The mother of all polar bears lived in the British Isles about 100,000 years ago and she was not white but brown, says a genetic study of the Arctic’s biggest land predator. Scientists traced the ancestry of polar bears to a brown bear that lived prior to the peak of the last ice age.

Pat and her earrings to leave ‘EastEnders’

One of EastEnders’ longest-serving characters and the one with the biggest penchant for garish earrings is bowing out of the show. Pam St Clement, 69, who has played Pat for more than 25 years, will leave the BBC One soap this year. The actress said leaving would be like a bereavement.

Byron tome turns up at US jumble sale

An American woman stumbled across a long-lost tribute to Lord Byron at a church jumble sale in Savannah, Georgia. Marilyn Solana paid about £20 for the original memorial book from the poet’s family vault.

Man gets windpipe grown in lab

Al ab-grown trachea has been implanted into a 36-year-old man by doctors at University College London. In a surgical first, the windpipe was created by seeding the patient’s own stem cells into an artificial “scaffold”.

Civil servants told to don woolly jumpers

Civil servants should wear jumpers, an MP has suggested, as a bid to cut departmental heating bills. James Gray, MP for North Wiltshire, said energy should be conserved in government buildings by encouraging civil servants to layer up.

Beauty queen held with cash stash

Police have arrested Miss Honduras 2009 on money-laundering charges for failing to declare the equivalent of £27,000 when entering the country. Belgica Suarez, 25, claimed the money was earned from modelling jobs. MORE