Top News Stories –

Andy Murray and Kim Sears wedding: Hundreds of wellwishers flood Dunblane –
Hundreds of people turned out to see Andy Murray wed Kim Sears in Dunblane Cathedral this afternoon. The couple, who turned down all offers from celebrity magazines to cover their wedding, made sure that their wedding remained a private affair – with Sears’ careful arrival granting onlookers the barest of glimpses of her dress. Murray and Sears, an artist, married in Dunblane’s 12th century cathedral at 4pm before attending a small reception with family and friends. The pair met in 2005 when they were introduced by Sear’s father Nigel, a tennis coach. [The Independent]
Kim Sears and Andy Murray (Photo by Stirling Council)

Grand National 2015: Many Clouds wins as McCoy finishes fifth –
Many Clouds won the 2015 Grand National to give jockey Leighton Aspell his second consecutive victory in the race. Champion jockey AP McCoy was denied a fairytale Aintree farewell, finishing fifth on favourite Shutthefrontdoor. The Northern Irishman had said he would retire immediately if he had won, but the 40-year-old could now race on until the Sandown meeting at the end of April. [BBC]
A P McCoy

Boat Races 2015: Oxford women and men beat Cambridge –
Heavy favourites Oxford beat Cambridge to win the historic first staging of the Women’s Boat Race on the same course and same day as the men. They finished six-and-a-half lengths ahead over the four-mile, 374-yard stretch from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge in London on Saturday. The Dark Blues were half a length up after the first minute and pulled away ruthlessly to finish 19 seconds clear. Oxford also won the men’s race for the sixth time in eight years. In doing so, president Constantine Louloudis became just the 15th man to triumph for a fourth time. [BBC]

Capitol Building on lockdown after shots fired –
Shots were fired near the front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, according to police. The seat of Congress was immediately put on lockdown.
It later emerged that a man had committed suicide by shooting himself, sparking the alert. “The suspected shooter has been neutralised but the US Capitol Building has been locked down as a precautionary measure,” said Lt Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Police, adding that no-one was being allowed to enter or exit. Police said they were also investigating a suspicious package on the lower West Terrace of the building, believed to be the man’s suitcase. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

One Bright Dot from Clément Morin on Vimeo.

List of the day –

Grand National Winners since 1946  (List from Wikipedia)

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War (2015)
  • Heavy Saudi Arabian air strikes hit southern Yemen resulting in at least 20 deaths of Houthis soldiers and two members of rival militias. Saudi Arabia claims to have killed 500 rebels since the start of military operations in March. (Reuters), (CNN)
  • India evacuated 5600 people including 960 foreign nationals from Yemen under Operation Raahat. Several flights were allowed to take off and land in Yemen despite the no-fly zone declared on the country. (NYT)
• Turkey–PKK conflict
  • Turkey sends additional troops and aircraft into Agri Province after four soldiers are injured in clashes with PKK insurgents. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the beneficiary of a controversial bail-out from the Bank of Italy in 2013 admits that its exposure to Nomura Holdings is greater than the regulatory limit. (Bloomberg)

International relations

• The President of the United States Barack Obama and the President of Cuba Raul Castro meet at the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas inPanama. This marks the first meeting of the leaders of the two countries since the Cuban Revolution. (ABC News America)

Law and crime

• An Egyptian court sentences the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and fourteen other people to death for inciting violence.(CNN)
• Bangladeshi Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is executed for war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War. (The Hindu)

Politics and elections

• Voters in Nigeria go to the polls for gubernatorial and state Assembly elections. At least nine people are killed in election day violence, most of them in Rivers State. (BBC), (Deutsche Welle)

Sports

• 2015 Grand National
  • The 168th annual running of the Grand National steeplechase race occurs at Aintree Racecourse near the English city of Liverpool. Many Clouds ridden by Leighton Aspell is the winner. (Sky News)
• The Boat Races 2015
  • Rowing teams from University of Oxford and University of Cambridge meet on the River Thames with Oxford successful in both the men’s and women’s races. (BBC), (BBC)

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