The News Matrix: Wednesday 8 August 2012

Coniston brew wins best beer award

A beer brewed in Cumbria has been named the best in Britain by Camra, the real ale campaign group. No 9 Barley Wine, made by Coniston, is said to be reminiscent of a fine cognac and has an ABV of 8.5 per cent. Coniston, a microbrewery set up in 1995, makes 1,600 gallons a week and has six beers in regular production.

Steel warns Clegg against 'petulance'

Nick Clegg's refusal to back more limited House of Lords reform could make the Deputy Prime Minister look "petulant", according to the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Steel. Lord Steel said the party shouldn't walk away from reform "altogether". Adding to Mr Clegg's woes, David Cameron signalled his intention to force a Commons vote on boundary changes. MORE

For those who want to see no 'evil'

It's the latest prescription for extreme ultra-Orthodox Jewish men: glasses that blur their vision, so they don't have to see women they consider to be immodestly dressed. The spectacles only provide clear vision for up to a few metres so as not to impede movement.

Survive summer with a real hot dog

South Koreans eased the "dog days of summer" as a heatwave continued yesterday by embracing the custom of eating dog meat to help survive the high temperatures. South Koreans traditionally consume dog meat and other delicacies that they believe will increase their stamina on 7 August.

Livestock virus may spread round UK

A livestock disease which causes birth deformities in sheep and cattle could spread across Britain, experts say. Schmallenberg virus, which has no effect on humans or adult animals, is carried by midges. It arrived when infected insects were blown across the Channel last year. MORE

Lovell, father of radio astronomy, dies at 98

Pioneering astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell, founder of the Jodrell Bank Observatory, has died aged 98. He led the team that developed the first ground-scanning radar for RAF aircraft and claimed to have survived a Soviet assassination attempt. MORE

The return of Philip Marlowe

Wisecracking detective Philip Marlowe is to return in a new novel by Booker Prize-winner John Banville. The sleuth appeared in Raymond Chandler novels The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Mr Banville will write as Benjamin Black, the pen name he uses for crime novels.

Rover puts colour into the Red Planet

Nasa's Mars rover has beamed back its first colour image. The image, left, which shows a pebbly landscape and the rim of Gale Crater, looks fuzzy because of dust, but sharper pictures are expected soon.

Gunman already known to FBI

The gunman who killed six worshippers at a Sikh temple had been monitored by anti-hate crime groups while he played in white supremacist heavy metal bands and posted comments on internet forums for skinheads. Wade Michael Page was shot dead after his attack on Sunday. MORE

Jo'burg gets a rare taste of snow

People poured out of offices, pointed mobile phone cameras to the sky and opened their mouths to taste a rare snowfall now blanketing Johannesburg. Snowflakes are an extremely rare commodity in a city where it has only snowed on 22 other days in the last 103 years.

Man held over woman's murder

A 28-year-old man was being questioned last night on suspicion of murdering a 22-year-old woman who was stabbed to death in a taxi on Monday. The suspect, thought to be named Junior Saleem Oakes, was arrested in the garden of a house on Allens Farm in south Birmingham. MORE

Assad terrorises Aleppo from the air

As aerial bombardment and intimidation of Aleppo continued yesterday, Iran assured President Assad Syria was still a vital partner in its anti-Israeli alliance. But it also expressed worry about the fate of more than 40 Iranians kidnapped by rebels. MORE

Fate of holocaust hero still a mystery

The family of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust but disappeared after being arrested by the Red Army in 1945, have called for answers 100 years after his birth as to what happened to him. MORE