December 9, 2015

Top News Stories –

Angela Merkel named as Time magazine’s person of the year –
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has been named by Time magazine as its person of the year – the first woman to receive the accolade in almost 30 years. Mrs Merkel, 61, was chosen for her leadership at a time of immense difficulty in Europe, and becomes the first woman to be named as person of the year since 1986. Last year’s winners were the Ebola fighters. “Not once or twice but three times there has been reason to wonder this year whether Europe could continue to exist – not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft,” said Nancy Gibbs, editor of the magazine. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Angela_Merkel_Times_Magazine_CoverAngela Merkel Time Magazine Cover

Knightsbridge to fine boy-racers up to £1,000 if they rev their supercar engines –
For years they have infuriated residents in London’s Knightsbridge with their incessant racing around the neighbourhood in noisy supercars. But boy-racers found guilty of wrecking the peace will now be fined £1000 after locals won a battle to make the uncouth behaviour a criminal offence. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which plays host to Harrods department store, has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which hopes to restore peace to the neighbourhood. [Daily Telegraph]

Denmark: Nature agency offers free ponds to landowners –
Denmark’s nature agency is offering to pay for people to have ponds installed on their land in an effort to protect endangered wildlife. The government’s AgriFish Agency is offering to foot the bill for creating water features up to 1,000 sq m (10,764 sq ft) in size, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reports. But such is the level of interest in the new scheme, officials say they probably won’t be able to meet demand. So far there have been more than 100 inquiries by interested landowners, the report says. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

YouTube Rewind: Now Watch Me 2015 | #YouTubeRewind [Over 13 million views in 24 hours]

List of the Day –

The Shortlist for Times Person of the Year 2015
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Donald Trump
Black Lives Matter
Hassan Rouhani
Travis Kalanick
Caitlyn Jenner

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March 18, 2016

Top News Stories –

Hulk Hogan awarded $115m in Gawker sex tape case –
A Florida jury has awarded Hulk Hogan $115m (£79m) after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler. Mr Hogan’s legal team argued the New York-based website violated his privacy and the video was not newsworthy. The case, which pitted freedom of the press against a celebrity’s right to privacy, has been closely watched. The video was posted in 2012 after Mr Hogan was secretly recorded having sex with his friend’s wife. Mr Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, said the release of the sex tape hurt his career. He was one of the most popular professional wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s and later starred in his own reality television show with his family. [BBC]
Hulk_Hogan_2014Hulk Hogan

Sport Relief raises ‘a record’ £55m –
More than £55m has been raised so far for charity on Sport Relief’s live TV show, ahead of a weekend of fundraising. David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Gary Lineker and Greg James were among those who hosted the BBC show, broadcast from London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Highlights included a Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em sketch featuring tennis siblings Andy and Jamie Murray. The total of £55,444,906 breaks the previous on-the-night record of £51m. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sportrelief_logo

Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes –
Iain Duncan Smith has dramatically resigned from the [UK] Government in protest at George Osborne’s proposed cuts to benefits for the disabled. The former Conservative leader said that plans to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion were a “compromise too far” and said that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead. He added that they are “not defensible” when announced alongside a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers. Mr Duncan Smith [a former Conservative Leader] also accused the Chancellor of forcing through cuts to welfare for “political” rather than national economic reasons. [Daily Telegraph]
Iain_Duncan_SmithIain Duncan Smith

Australia Senate passes reforms after farcical all-nighter –
Monty Python references, a colonoscopy analogy and a pyjama-clad senator featured during an all-night sitting of Australia’s upper house. The Senate has finally passed changes to how its members are elected after 28 hours of debate. The changes will disadvantage so-called micro parties that have gained increasing power in the Senate. The ruling conservative Coalition formed an unlikely partnership with the Greens party to pass the reforms. But the opposition Labor Party and micro party senators, who opposed the laws, dragged out the debate with filibuster tactics and amendments. During the all-night debate, Labor senators consistently spoke off-topic to delay votes to the legislation giving voters greater control over where their preferences were allocated. The laws eventually passed by a margin of 36-24. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Proof of evolution that you can find on your body

List of the Day –

Total charity donations “on the night” by BBC Sport Relief

2004 £11,078,359
2006 c. £18,000,000
2008 £19,640,321
2010 £31,633,091
2012 £50,447,197
2014 £51,242,186
2016 £55,444,906

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May 11, 2016

Top News Stories –

Queen filmed calling Chinese officials ‘very rude’ –
The Queen has been filmed saying Chinese officials were “very rude” during last year’s state visit by President Xi Jinping. She was discussing their treatment of Britain’s ambassador to China with a senior police officer at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday. It came after David Cameron was overheard saying Afghanistan and Nigeria were “fantastically corrupt“. The Queen’s remarks were filmed as she was introduced to Metropolitan Police Commander Lucy D’Orsi, who the monarch is told had overseen security during President Xi’s visit to the UK in October. [BBC]
Queen_Elizabeth_II_March_2015 The Queen

Video of the Day –

Nightlife from Wriggles & Robins on Vimeo.

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