The News Matrix: Tuesday 10 December 2013

 

Tuesday 10 December 2013 01:00 GMT
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Cameron dithers over 11% pay rise

David Cameron last night insisted there was no need for him to take an immediate decision on whether to accept an inflation-busting 11 per cent rise in his salary – but the Prime Minister was immediately rebuffed by Ed Miliband. The proposed increase would take MPs’ earnings from £66,396 to £74,000 a year in 2015. MORE

PM to call election in response to protests

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced she will dissolve parliament and call an election following a renewed surge of anti-government protests in the capital, Bangkok. The main opposition Democrat Party resigned from parliament on Sunday. MORE

Spies infiltrate online gaming world

British and American spy agencies have infiltrated virtual worlds of Second Life, World of Warcraft and Xbox Live in the search for terrorists, new documents suggest. Once inside, they tried to recruit informants, documents leaked by Edward Snowden have revealed. MORE

Delay in removing chemical weapons

Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of the watchdog leading the mission to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, says there may be delays in transporting the chemicals out of the country. The most toxic of the chemicals are supposed to be taken out of Syria by end of the year.

Female scientists receive less funding

British female scientists are less likely to receive funding than their male counterparts, a study has found. Women also receive significantly smaller sums, according to the authors of the study, which is published in the online journal BMJ Open today.

Centre-left votes for ‘new Tony Blair’

Matteo Renzi, the mayor of Florence, has been crowned secretary of Italy’s centre-left after winning 68 per cent of the vote in primary elections for the leadership of the Democratic Party. MORE

It’s likely there was life on Mars...

Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence to date that Mars was once a habitable planet capable of supporting primitive microbial life forms. Studies carried out by Nasa’s Curiosity rover have uncovered evidence the Red Planet had at least one freshwater lake about 3.6 billion years ago. MORE

Putin tightens his grip on media

President Vladimir Putin dissolved the country’s main state news agency yesterday, replacing it with a new body run by the Kremlin supporter Dmitry Kiselyov. Russia Today was the name given to the outlet, replacing RIA Novosti. Mr Kiselyov is known for his ultra-conservative homophobic views.

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