The News Matrix: Saturday 18 April 2015

Blaze at gothic hotel in centre of Oxford

Firefighters were called to the famous five-star Randolph Hotel in the centre of the city of Oxford yesterday afternoon to battle a blaze at the 150-year-old gothic building. Eyewitnesses reported thick black smoke plumes coming from the vicinity of the Victorian building. No casualties had been reported, police said last night.

Al-Qaeda takes hold of weapons depot

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch routed government forces from a large weapons depot in the country’s east yesterday, seizing dozens of tanks, Katyusha rocket launchers and small arms, security officials said, as air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition intensified in the capital, Sana’a, and also in Yemen’s second-largest city. The gains highlight how al-Qaeda has exploited the chaos in Yemen.

Isis to be cut from list of hurricane names

The United Nations’ weather agency has taken “Isis” off a list of future Pacific hurricane names, deeming it inappropriate given that the extremist Islamic State group has used it as an acronym. World Meteorological Organisation spokeswoman Clare Nullis, in Geneva, said yesterday the agency’s regional hurricane committee had decided to replace the name with “Ivette”.

Rolls-Royce wins £6.1bn contract

Rolls-Royce has received an order worth £6.1bn to supply engines for 50 Emirates A380 planes. It will be the first time the engineering giant has made engines for the Gulf carrier’s super-jumbo fleet and is its biggest order to date. Emirates president Sir Tim Clark highlighted the “significant economic impact” he expected it would have on aviation manufacturing in the UK and Europe.

Bulletproof vests for women soldiers

A Romanian research institute is developing a bulletproof vest for the growing number of female soldiers serving in the country’s army. While the US Army produces flak jackets for women, they are not common worldwide, prompting the Romanian government to commission the project. For now, its female soldiers wear men’s body armour in smaller sizes, despite their different anatomy.

Man, 21, charged with Karen murder

A 21-year-old man appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of Irish student Karen Buckley. Alexander Pacteau made no plea during a private hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody. The body of Miss Buckley, aged 24, was found on the outskirts of the city this week after a four-day search.

Most-wanted drugs fugitives arrested

Two fugitives who featured on the UK’s most-wanted list on suspicion of drug trafficking were captured in Europe with 24 hours of each other this week, police have said. Jayson McDonald, 37, from Bristol, was found hiding under a bed in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, while Paul Monk, 54, from Romford, Essex, was captured at his villa in Alicante on the Spanish coast.

Immigrants targeted in violence clashes

Violence against immigrants in South Africa continued yesterday, the worst the country has seen in decades. Graphic scenes of violence and bloodshed have emerged from the clashes, which have spread from Durban to Johannesburg in recent days. The Zulu king, whose initial speech is thought to have been a factor in the violence, is set to give a speech in the coming days.

Argentina accused of bullying UK firms

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has accused Argentina of “an outrageous piece of bullying” in response to its taking legal action against three UK firms drilling for oil and gas off the disputed Falkland Islands. The lawsuit has fuelled tensions in the diplomatic row over the islands’ sovereignty.

US consulate hit by car bomb, killing one

A car bombing targeting the US consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital Irbil killed one person and wounded five on Friday, the local mayor said. Photographs posted on social media showed black smoke rising from behind buildings in the Ankawa district, a predominantly Christian area that is popular with foreigners. Isis claimed the attack, the jihadist monitoring group Site said.

Bloomberg trading system collapses

For almost three hours yesterday morning Bloomberg financial trading platforms across the globe collapsed, leaving traders unable to use the systems that give real-time information on shares, transactions and data. The failure led to the Government postponing the planned sale of £3bn of UK debt because the Debt Management Office uses Bloomberg terminals.

Poorer children in South ‘do better’

Disadvantaged young people who grow up in London or the South of England are more likely to be successful than those in the Midlands or the North of England, a think tank has found. The high standards of the capital’s schools are thought to play a key role in the higher rates of social mobility, according to new research by the Sutton Trust.

‘Don’t put Boston bomber to death’

The parents of the boy who was the youngest to die in the 2013 attack on the Boston Marathon have asked prosecutors not to sentence the bomber to death. Bill and Denise Richard, parents of eight-year-old Martin, urged the US Department of Justice to seek a deal in which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would get life in prison without the possibility of parole. They made the statement on the front page of The Boston Globe.

University offers Course of Thrones

An American university is offering a course on the TV series Game of Thrones this semester. Northern Illinois University calls the class “Game of Thrones, Television and Medieval History”. One of the co-professors said the show represents the Middle Ages more accurately than other depictions.

‘Doctor Who’ has Hollywood admirers

A Hollywood version of Doctor Who could be made, according to documents disclosed following the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. There was “tremendous interest” in it, the BBC said during a meeting with Sony last year. The meeting was discussed in an email, made public on WikiLeaks.

Zebras crossing stop the traffic

Three zebras went on the run in Brussels yesterday, after escaping from a local zebra ranch. They got away in the early afternoon and trotted down main streets in the city where they caused traffic jams. The police eventually chased the animals down and caught them, after anaesthetising one.

Motorway turns into a Bees road

A lorry transporting “millions” of live honeybees has overturned in the US state of Washington, unleashing an angry swarm onto a motorway. The truck overturned near the city of Lynnwood, when it attempted to enter an interstate motorway. Beekeepers used smoke to try and calm the bees.