The News Matrix: Monday 16 March 2015

Musician snatched at gig and murdered

A musician was kidnapped as he played at a bar in northern Mexico, and his dead body was found shortly after. Several men climbed on the stage and grabbed 20-year-old Rogelio “El Chiken” Contreras Rivera. His body was discovered about 40 minutes later with signs of torture and a bullet hole in its head.

Rich ‘have unfair edge over school places’

Rich parents are gaining an unfair advantage over less-wealthy neighbours by bagging places for their children at the best schools, a new book has claimed. Private tutoring and the ability to move house to the catchment area of a desirable school is leading to a skewed admissions system.

VE Day celebrations to be held in capital

A chain of beacons will be lit across the country, Spitfire and Lancaster planes will take to the skies and a star-studded concert will be held in London to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day on 8 May. Three days of festivities are being planned to mark the end of World War II in Europe.

Netanyahu in final bid to win votes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a last-ditch attempt to save his campaign, playing on an anti-Arab sentiment, as polls appeared to put him on course to lose in tomorrow’s elections. Mr Netanyahu suggested that an international conspiracy was organising support to see him lose.

Residents remember persecuted Jews

Residents of Thessaloniki yesterday placed flowers on train tracks and inside old cattle wagons in solemn remembrance of nearly 50,000 local Jews who were transported to Nazi death camps during World War II. About 2,000 people joined together for the 72nd anniversary of the roundup.

End of the road for ‘hellish’ bus station

A brutalist bus station described as the “mouth of hell” has been pulled down, nearly 40 years after it was built in Northampton. More than 400 homes were temporarily evacuated before the Greyfriars building, which opened in 1976, was brought down. The building was flattened in about 10 seconds.

Alleged potential Isis recruits arrested

Three London teenagers have been arrested after allegedly travelling to Turkey with the aim of entering Syria to join Isis. Officers from the Metropolitan Police confirmed the group had been stopped by Turkish authorities and were now in custody in the UK.

Sir Elton fury at D&G over IVF comments

Sir Elton John has called for a boycott of fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana after he said the designers labelled children born through IVF “synthetic”. The songwriter, who has two children with his husband David Furnish, angrily rebuked the Italian pair for criticising same-sex families and the use of fertility treatment.

Thousands march against corruption

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marched in more than 50 cities around the country to demand President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and to criticise government corruption. Police estimated 15,000 people marched along Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Finding Richard III was ‘incredible luck’

Finding the bones of Richard III under a council car park in Leicester was a stroke of “incredible luck”, according to those who made the discovery in 2012, three years after the start of the search for the lost king. “50cm in another [direction] and we’d have missed him entirely,” said Mathew Morris, site director.

It’s a sky and shark dive for centenarian

An adventurous South African centenarian marked her 100th birthday over the weekend by taking a parachute jump, and plans to continue the celebrations today, with a shark cage dive. Georgina Harwood said this was her third skydive. She did her first when she was 92 years old in 2007.

Smile with Sheeran in UN’s happy list

A playlist of songs is to be released to mark the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness this Friday. It will be based on suggestions by musicians and people around the world. Stars such as Ed Sheeran, James Blunt and David Guetta have all made suggestions, as has the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon (“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder).