The News Matrix: Thursday 28 July 2011

Former NOTW pair to face MPs’ questions

Colin Myler, the News of the World’s former editor, and Tom Crone, its former legal manager will face questions in Parliament over James Murdoch’s knowledge of an email containing crucial evidence in the hacking scandal. Murdoch told MPs last week he did not know about the email. MORE

Man’s gastric bypass will not be paid for

A 22-stone man has lost his appeal against a health authority’s decision not to fund his obesity surgery. Tom Condliff, 62, wanted North Staffordshire PCT to pay for a gastric bypass that could save his life. The Court of Appeal ruled that the PCT had not breached his human rights in refusing to pay for it.

Adoptions at lowest level since 1997

The number of adoptions in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level since 1997. Charities yesterday blamed excessive delays in adoption proceedings. Last year, the number fell to 4,472 – 4 per cent down on 2009 and lower than at any time since data was first gathered. MORE

CSI fanatic ‘framed ex-girlfriend’

Former Wall Street analyst Seemona Sumasar, who claims she was jailed after being framed by her C.S.I. obsessed ex-boyfriend for three fictitious armed robberies, is to sue the New York Police Department. MORE

British Gas fined £2.5m by regulator

British Gas has been fined £2.5m by Ofgem for its poor response to customer complaints. The company did not reinvestigate repeated problems and failed to inform customers when they were entitled to refer the case to the energy ombudsman, Ofgem said. British Gas called the fine “totally disproportionate”. MORE

Suicide bomb kills mayor of Kandahar

A suicide bomber has killed the mayor of Kandahar City, depriving the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, of another ally in southern Afghanistan. The murder of Ghulam Haider Hamidi comes two weeks after a bodyguard shot Ahmed Wali Karzai, the President’s half-brother. MORE

Fears that Mubarak may not stand trial

Ex-president Hosni Mubarak has refused to eat for four days and is weak, his chief doctor says, fuelling speculation he will be unable to stand trial next week. Delaying his trial may flame tensions between the military running Egypt and those who demand faster change. MORE

National Trust wins case over tree death

The National Trust was not to blame for the death of an 11-year-old boy crushed by a falling tree branch at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk, a Trust property, in 2007, the High Court has ruled. The family of Daniel Mullinger was seeking compensation, but Mr Justice Mackay said the Trust had not been negligent.

India swoons over Pakistani minister

The tortuous peace process between South Asia’s nuclear-armed neighbours received a jolt of energy yesterday when Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar held “constructive” talks with her Indian counterpart, SM Krishna. MORE

Nevermind cover banned

The cover to Nirvana’s album Nevermind has been removed from the band’s Facebook page as it violates the website’s terms of use. Facebook does not allow photos that contain nudity. The cover features a naked baby in a swimming pool, pursuing a dollar bill.

Police seize £1bn of criminals’ assets

A record £1bn of criminals’ assets were seized or frozen by police last year. The haul included sports cars, luxury watches, diamond earrings and designer clothes. Almost £50m was returned to victims of crime over the year, the Home Office will say today. Organised crime costs Britain around £40bn a year.

Goldfish found alive 134 days after quake

They are the smallest and toughest survivors of the earthquake that struck Christchurch last February: two goldfish which spent 134 days in a tank with no one to feed them or clean their water. Discovered earlier this month, Shaggy and Daphne are believed to have survived on weed and algae. MORE

Wanted man’s bones missing for 27 years

Authorities have identified the bones found in the chimney of a bank in Louisiana as belonging to a man missing for 27 years. Joseph W. Schexnider, 22, was last seen in January 1984, when he was wanted for possessing a stolen car. It is not clear why or when Mr Schexnider entered the chimney, or how he died.

Urinating cabbie gets six penalty points

A taxi driver has been given six penalty points on his licence after being caught on camera urinating in a Berkshire road. Slough Council reprimanded the driver after resident Colin Davey, 60, raised the alarm about cabbies urinating outside his home on Kenilworth Close. The driver “apologised profusely”.

Wonder horse goes on winning...

The veteran trainer Sir Henry Cecil ranked his three-year-old miler Frankel with Shergar as the best horse he has ever seen, after the three-year-old – a runaway victor in this year’s 2000 Guineas – won the duel of the generations with the four-year-old Canford Cliffs in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. MORE