The News Matrix: Monday 12 May 2014

Man charged with mother’s murder

A 44-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his pensioner mother who was found stabbed to death after her flat was set alight. Peter Holboll, from west London, was also charged with arson. Four adults and one child were rescued from the fire.

11 students charged after protest arrests

The courts have ordered 11 students to stand trial, but they freed more than 150 others arrested with them during raids on their encampments. Hundreds of police arrested 243 students protesting against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.

Boarding schools’ abuse ‘shameful’

Accounts of historic abuse have been “shaming” for everyone involved in running boarding schools Ray McGovern, chairman of the Boarding Schools Association, has said. He added today’s boarding schools should not be judged on their predecessors’ actions.

Third body found in balloon tragedy

Search teams in Virginia yesterday discovered the body of the third person who died when a hot-air balloon struck a power line and plummeted to the ground in flames on Friday, police said. Crews were still looking for the wreckage of the balloon and basket.

Political opponents kept apart by police

The caretaker government said yesterday that it would tighten security in Bangkok to prevent clashes that could arise between the two sides in an escalating political crisis.

Super-jail ‘would harm teenagers’

Plans to build Europe’s biggest children’s prison in the Midlands would put young offenders at increased risk of harm and even death, campaigners have warned. The Government intends to create a network of “secure colleges” but penal reform groups are urging MPs to back an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, which will be debated today.

Support for DJ who resigned over song

A BBC DJ fired after unwittingly playing a song containing the N-word has been defended by anti-racism campaigners. Weyman Bennett, of Unite Against Facism, said DJ David Lowe had made a mistake and should not have been forced out.

Plea for Boko Haram sanctions

A leading Nigerian rights group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, demanded the UN Security Council impose sanctions on Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group that has abducted over 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria last month.

Cranston’s doubts over ‘Godzilla’ script

Actor Bryan Cranston had doubts about the script for Godzilla he said at the European premier of the film in London’s Leicester Square last night. He had to be convinced about playing Joe Brody after first passing on the part in the monster movie.

Chelsea signs Alan Titchmarsh

The gardener and TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh is marking 50 years in the business by designing a Chelsea Flower Show feature garden for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Britain in Bloom scheme, also celebrating its half century.

Cheshire-bound for Disney’s new drama

The Cheshire village of Arley is expecting a boom in tourism after the Walt Disney Company’s Evermoor, a teen fantasy drama, is shown in the autumn.

Monument reopens after quake repairs

With its white marble patched and repaired, the Washington Monument is set to reopen for the first time since a 2011 earthquake caused widespread damage.