The News Matrix: Wednesday 16 May 2012

Nerve surgery helps paralysed man move hand

A paralysed man in the US has regained limited use of his hand after pioneering surgery to bypass damage to his spinal cord. Surgeons at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis restored some hand function in the unnamed patient, who can now feed himself and write.

Teachers worried over reclassification

Campaigners have claimed they are "worried" by government plans which could see thousands of children removed from the special-needs register. Christine Blower, of the National Union of Teachers, said ministers were "wilfully ignoring" the support for the current system. MORE

DSK sues maid who alleged sex assault

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has filed a $1m lawsuit against Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault last year, costing him his job. MORE

Officer charged over internet child sex

A serving officer in the Metropolitan Police has been charged with trying to meet a child on the internet for sex. Christopher Exley, 32, will appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court today accused of planning a child-sex offence. Exley has been suspended from police duties.

Benefit cuts for the blind spark outrage

Liberal Democrat MPs have revolted over plans that could reduce benefits paid to thousands of blind people. Rebel members are demanding a U-turn after it emerged that partially sighted people could lose up to £120 a week when Disability Living Allowance is replaced in April. MORE

A4e contract terminated

A Government contract awarded to welfare-to-work firm A4e has been terminated over fears that it presented "too great a risk". The company has been stripped of its Mandatory Work Contract, Employment Minister Chris Grayling has confirmed. The deal aimed to help get 1,000 jobless people in the South-east back into work.

Four-day week to ease debt pain

The governor of California, Jerry Brown, has announced his austerity budget to stem the state's financial crisis. It includes a four-day, 38-hour working week for state offices, which employ around 200,000 people. His target: to chip away at the state's projected $16bn annual deficit and $40bn of debt. MORE

Suspected spy is hanged for killing

Iran has hanged a man sentenced to death for killing a nuclear physicist in 2010. Iranian television said Majid Jamali Fashi, who had been accused of working for Israeli intelligence, was hanged in Tehran yesterday after being convicted of the killing of physics Professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi. MORE

FA Cup programme nets £23,500

A world record has been set for the sale of a football programme. The 1909 FA Cup final programme detailing the tie between Manchester United and Bristol City sold yesterday for £23,500 at Sotheby's by Graham Budd Auctions.

Kodak admits to its nuclear secret

Kodak has admitted that for 30 years it ran a small nuclear reactor in a basement on its campus in Rochester, New York, unknown to almost everyone bar a few scientists and engineers. Now decommissioned, the plant was used to test chemicals and perform neutron radiography, a form of imaging.

Sixties Zodiac Killer 'enjoying retirement'

Forty years after he last struck, the Zodiac Killer is alive, aged 91, and enjoying retirement in a small city in northern California, it was claimed yesterday. The notorious murderer, who killed five people in and around San Francisco in the late 1960s, got away with the crimes because of a cover-up, according to a new book.

Moyles cast as Herod in 'Superstar' remake

Andrew Lloyd Webber announced the shock casting of Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles as King Herod in a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. Moyles, 38, received a personal phonecall from Lord Lloyd-Webber asking him to star in the rock opera, which will be staged at London's O2 in September before it goes on a nationwide tour.

Gagging order for Gaga in Jakarta

Police have refused a permit for Lady Gaga to perform in the Indonesian capital Jakarta next month, bowing to pressure from Islamic groups who voiced objections to her "vulgar" style. Indonesia has the world's largest population of Muslims, as well as significant minorities of Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.