The News Matrix: Tuesday 22 February 2011

Red seaweed could destroy malaria bug

A red seaweed found in the Pacific contains substances that could destroy malaria parasites, scientists said yesterday. They said it attacks the most dangerous form of the disease, which is developing resistance to existing drugs. MORE

Elisabeth Murdoch moves in with Dad

Rupert Murdoch bought his daughter Elisabeth’s television production company Shine for £415m yesterday, paving the way for her to take a place on the board of his News Corp media empire. The deal had been widely expected. MORE

Red romantics in the spotlight

Forget Wills and Kate, in China, there’s only one “royal” couple in town. Bo Guagua and Chen Xiaodan, true Communist red-bloods and scions of famous members of the Politburo are apparently an item and the focus of great attention among Beijing’s chattering classes. MORE

Suicide forces NFL to confront injury risk

An American footballer who committed suicide last week has donated his brain for research into injury, starting a debate in the sport which could led to dramatic changes. MORE

Search for WWII ‘experiment’ bodies

Japan is excavating a former army medical school to search for human remains from a Second World War biological warfare programme. An 88-year-old former nurse said experiments had been carried out on foreign prisoners of war. MORE

Drone attacks begin in Northern Pakistan

The United States restarted its drone attacks against suspected Islamists in Northern Pakistan after a hiatus of almost a month. The latest deadly attack, yesterday, is thought to have killed at least seven people. MORE

Future solar storms could cost billions

The cost of another solar storm could end up being the equivalent to a “global Hurricane Katrina”, scientists cautioned yesterday. Damage from a solar flare similar to the one that occurred last week could cause up to $2,000bn (£1,232) in destruction to communications satellites, electric power grids and GPS navigation systems. MORE

Criminals could be genetically different

People who commit “white-collar” crime have been found to have brains that are structurally different from the brains of non-criminals with similar backgrounds, scientists said. A study found that white-collar criminals had more grey matter than people who were not criminals. MORE

Boyle tops overseas album charts again

Susan Boyle boasts the highest-selling album overseas of any UK act for a second year in a row. The Gift sold 3.7 million copies worldwide, according to research by Music Week magazine.

Every little helps, but this is ridiculous

Motorists thought they were in for the deal of a decade when pranksters changed a petrol station price sign at a Tesco garage in Dorset. The price of unleaded outside the 24-hour Tesco was changed from 125.9p to 25.9p a litre on Sunday morning and the letters LOL were written below.

Footie fans moved by toads on roads

Migrating toads will force fans of German football club Freiburg to find a different way home when they leave their stadium after Saturday’s game against VfL Wolfsburg. One of the access roads will be closed for the annual trek of amphibians.

Facebook photos trap benefits cheat

A woman who falsely claimed thousands of pounds in benefits was caught after she posted photos of her wedding in Barbados on Facebook. Hazel Cunningham, 47, has been sentenced to 120 days in prison.

BBC in breach of strobe guidelines

The BBC has breached guidelines for not warning viewers about flashing images in their announcement of the royal wedding last year. The TV broadcasters should have informed the audience that its 13-second clip contained flash photography, Ofcom has ruled.

Blogging teacher remains defiant

Natalie Munroe, a teacher in Philadelphia suspended after blogging that her students were “rude, disengaged, lazy whiners”, has claimed she did nothing wrong and said “some [people] don’t want to hear the truth”.