The News Matrix: Monday 27 April 2015

How the rich keep on getting richer

The super-rich of Britain have seen their bank balances soar over the last year, widening the gap between rich and poor yet further. The wealth of the most affluent 1,000 people rose by 5.4 per cent to reach a record £547.1bn, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

Palestinian tells of hostage release

A Palestinian intelligence official has provided details of the release on Friday of two Swedish hostages held in Syria for 17 months, saying their captors drove them to a pre-arranged drop-off point, pushed them out of the car and sped off. The official said the Jabhat al-Nusra militants were not paid a ransom.

School bans cancer sufferer from classes

A 12-year-old cancer patient has reportedly been dismissed from school for a poor attendance and academic record. Rose McGrath, diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012, was told by her school in Michigan that she could no longer come to the school because she had attended only 32 days out of the school year.

Hostage payment rules under review

The Obama administration is considering changing a policy prohibiting families of hostages overseas from making ransom payments to abductors, according to a report. It is believed that the policy is being reviewed after James Foley’s parents claimed an official threatened them with prosecution.

More pressure on DPP over Janner

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, was under increasing pressure last night to re-open the case against Lord Janner. A former detective inspector has claimed that in 1991 he was ordered to drop an investigation into child sex allegations because Lord Janner was then an MP.

Bergen-Belsen: the survivors remember

Holocaust survivors and officials gathered yesterday at the memorial site of the former concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany to commemorate the liberation of the camp 70 years ago on 15 April 1945 by British soldiers. More than 10,000 dead bodies were found when they entered the camp.

Kirkbride up for posthumous award

Coronation Street legend Anne Kirkbride is up for a British Soap Award, nearly four months after her death. The 60-year-old actress, who played Deidre Barlow, starred in the ITV soap for 44 years but had been off the screen since September following her diagnosis with cancer.

Still confused about those dinosaurs...

Thirty per cent of people in Spain think humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs, according to a new study. It also said 25 per cent of respondents think the Sun orbits the Earth. Scientific knowledge is at least improving in the country – in 2006, 50 per cent of people believed humans once lived with dinosaurs.

Vaccine could block Parkinson’s disease

Scientists may be able to block Parkinson’s after research indicated a specific protein which could cause the disease. A vaccine could help attack the abnormal protein to stop the disease destroying brain cells. “It has transformed the way we see Parkinson’s,” said Prof Roger Barker at Cambridge University.

Wimbledon bans use of selfie sticks

Wimbledon has become the latest high-profile venue to ban “selfie sticks”. Tennis fans hoping to capture a snap with a star will find it more difficult this year after the All England Lawn Tennis Club moved to stop people using them in the grounds, according to a visitors’ guide for this year’s tournament in south-west London.

Police collar coyote by Manhattan café

A wily coyote has been caught in New York after many recent sightings of the animal. Police collared the creature near a sidewalk café in downtown Manhattan on Saturday. The coyote was spotted shortly after 7.30am and officers tailed her around a marina and a Hudson River park for about an hour before using a tranquilizer dart.