The News Matrix: Tuesday 1 April 2014

Brooks: why I disposed of ‘smut’

Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rebekah Brooks, feared police investigating phone hacking would discover his personal collection of “smut” unless he took steps to hide it, the phone hacking trial has heard. Mr Brooks, 51, told the Old Bailey that this was why he removed a computer and a jiffy bag containing pornographic DVDs from his Chelsea Harbour home. MORE

Jailed just for being at scene of crime

Hundreds of people in England and Wales are convicted every year even though they were not directly responsible for murder or manslaughter, a new report shows. A 300-year-old law allows someone to be convicted of homicide for just being present at the scene. MORE

Musharraf denies treason charges

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf pleaded not guilty to five counts of treason in court yesterday. Mr Musharraf faces the death penalty if convicted of charges over his suspension of the constitution and imposition of emergency rule in 2007. MORE

Panorama sources leaked before show

The Information Commissioner’s Office is investigating claims that confidential sources of the BBC’s Panorama may have had their identities revealed. Sources for a probe into the mayor of Tower Hamlets in east London were leaked to the mayor’s office before the broadcast. MORE

Russia pulls troops back from border

Russia pulled back a battalion from along the Ukrainian border yesterday in a manoeuvre that Ukraine called baffling. It also sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea to promise quick funds to improve power supplies, water lines and education. MORE

Ex-PM Olmert faces prison over bribery

The former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faces prison after being convicted in a bribery case. The charges claim Mr Olmert paid millions of pounds to politicians to fast-track a luxury property project.

Valls is named as new prime minister

President Francois Hollande named former Interior Minister Manuel Valls as France’s new prime minister yesterday, just 24 hours after his Socialists suffered heavy losses in nationwide municipal elections.

Mr Valls is consistently voted France’s most popular Socialist in opinion polls. He replaces Jean-Marc Ayrault. MORE

No intervention in deportation case

The Home Office will not intervene in the case of a Mauritian student facing deportation. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire has told the House of Commons that 19-year-old Yashika Bageerathi’s case has been through proper legal process, and the Home Office’s decision that she does not need protection from violence or persecution in her homeland has been upheld.