The News Matrix: Saturday 13 April 2013

Ranks divided in wake of Plebgate

A rift between Britain’s police officers in the wake of the Plebgate scandal is threatening to derail their opposition to the Government’s reforms. The Police Federation is split over plans to restructure itself after setbacks in its campaign to protect officers’ pay and conditions. MORE

Banned Russians list to strain relations

The US released the names of 18 Russians subject to financial sanctions and visa bans over alleged human rights abuses, including the death in custody of a lawyer. The list will further strain relations with the Moscow and Russia has threatened to retaliate with its own sanctions. MORE

Mother accused of trying to poison girl

A four-year-old Australian girl is seriously ill in a Brisbane hospital after allegedly being poisoned with chemotherapy drugs by her mother, in an apparent attempt to elicit donations from the public by claiming the girl had cancer. A woman, 22, was charged with grievous bodily harm.

Apprentice loses case against Sugar

The Apprentice winner Stella English has lost her constructive dismissal case against Lord Sugar. The Labour peer described Ms English, who said she was treated like an “overpaid lackey” in her time at his company, as a “chancer” who had attempted to blackmail him. MORE

Tamil newsreader fears extradition

A former newsreader on a Tamil TV channel in Sri Lanka has told i she is worried she could be extradited from Dubai back to the country where she believes she could be tortured. Rathimohan Lokini feared she would suffer the same fate as a colleague who was raped and killed. MORE

Google faces up to the realities of death

Google has launched a new will service that allows users to decide what happens to their online accounts when they die. The Inactive Account Manager tool gives users the option to delete the contents of their accounts should they remain inactive for months. MORE

Officers suspended over mass rape

The Kinshasa government has suspended 12 senior military officers and is interrogating suspects in connection with a mass rape in the east of the country. The UN said 126 women were raped in Minova in November after Congolese army troops fled to the town.

Police avoid Shia-led peaceful protest

Thousands of Bahrainis marched peacefully yesterday in the first of a series of protests the Shia-led opposition is planning to hold before next week’s Formula One Grand Prix. Police stayed away from yesterday’s demonstration as protesters denounced the country’s King.

Waitrose acts on bee death pesticides

Waitrose has become the first UK supermarket chain to ask suppliers to stop using “nerve agent” pesticides. More than 30 scientific studies in recent years have linked the neonicotinoid pesticides with dramatic declines in bee populations around the world.

Another unpaid Premier League job

A second Premier League football club has been exposed for advertising an unpaid internship. Wigan Athletic listed a “full-time” position with no salary on the UK Sport website. Reading FC has advertised for a year-long full-time internship that pays no salary. MORE

Family of five dies in crash with lorry

Five people, including a baby, have died in a head-on crash between a car and a lorry near Grimsby yesterday. The victims, thought to be from the same family, were travelling on the A18 in Lincolnshire when the collision occurred. The driver of the lorry sustained minor injuries. MORE

Nato soldiers die in helicopter crash

Two Nato soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force said the cause of the crash was under investigation but initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity. An official in Nangarhar province said the aircraft crash-landed in a farm field.

Youth stabbed after gatecrash attempt

A teenager was stabbed to death after trying to gatecrash a 16th birthday party, the Old Bailey heard. Thomas Overton, 18, was turned away from a house party in Leyton, East London. He and his friends were chased by a pack of youths before a 16-year-old boy stabbed him.

Teenagers hand in £53k left on train

A 70-year-old man has been reunited with a bag stuffed with 467,200 krone (£53,000) after two teenagers discovered the cash on a train and handed it in to police. The 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl identified the owner of the money by a passport also left in the bag.

Vegan wins North Pole marathon

A vegan amateur athlete from Essex has won the women’s race in the North Pole marathon. Fiona Oakes, 43, from Asheldham, battled temperatures of -28C to break the course record by 44 minutes, completing the world’s northernmost marathon in 4 hours 53 minutes.

British sales of fake tan are fading

Fake tan sales dropped in the UK last year as the popularity of The Only Way Is Essex waned. Britons bought 12.7 per cent fewer fake tan products in 2012 than the previous year, and overall value of sales decreased 20.8 per cent. The survey studied 30,000 households to produce the data.

Coma woman wakes and goes to show

A 79-year-old US woman who emerged from a five-year semi-coma after a stroke left her unable to speak, move or eat on her own, has achieved the dream she spoke of in her first words after recovering. Evie Branan said: “I want to go to a Bob Seger concert”. She finally did so on Thursday.

Author exposes sexism in publishing

The US author whose novel The Red Book is longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction has attacked sexism in the arts world. Deborah Copaken Kogan said a publisher once demanded that her memoir about her time as a war photographer be called “Shutterbabe”. MORE