The News Matrix: Thursday 17 April 2014

Former bank chief faces drug charges

Former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers has been charged with possession of drugs including cocaine and crystal meth. The Methodist minister, 63, was arrested by officers from West Yorkshire Police in the Liverpool area last year. Flowers was charged with two counts of possession of Class A drugs and one count of possession of a Class C drug, prosecutors said. MORE

Rebels tricked abducted schoolgirls

Boko Haram rebels duped dozens of Nigerian schoolgirls in Chibok town in Borno state into thinking they were soldiers come to evacuate them before abducting over 100 in their latest anti-government raid, one of the survivors said. MORE

Coulson: I listened to hacked messages

Andy Coulson knew that details about David Blunkett published by the News of the World had been obtained from hacked voicemails. The former editor told the phone-hacking trial that chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, told him of voicemails that detailed an affair involving Mr Blunkett. MORE

BA plans to turn waste into jet fuel

British Airways has entered into a partnership to convert landfill waste into jet fuel. The GreenSky London scheme will see the creation of 150 permanent jobs at the Thames Enterprise Park. BA has committed to buying all 50,000 tons a year of the jet fuel produced at the site.

Universities up pay offer for lecturers

A dispute which threatened a shut-down of higher education looked as if it had been settled last night. University bosses doubled their pay offer to 2 per cent at a meeting with union negotiators – and lecturers’ leaders immediately called off a boycott of marking this year’s degrees.

Abu Ghraib prison closes temporarily

A justice ministry official said this week’s closure of Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad was temporary and that it will be reopened once the security situation is stable. After the US-led invasion Abu Ghraib became notorious for a 2004 scandal over abuses of detainees by US guards.

Harold Shipman ‘a good doctor’

Jack Shelmerdine, the son of one of serial killer Harold Shipman’s victims, has maintained Shipman was a “good doctor” and said he views the killing as “euthanasia”. It is 10 years since Shipman committed suicide.

Ohio must recognise same-sex marriages

Ohio officials should recognise the same-sex marriages of four couples who sued over the state’s gay marriage ban, a federal judge said yesterday, be he stayed the broader effects of his ruling to avoid “premature celebration and confusion” in case it is overturned on appeal.