March 30, 2016

Top News Stories –

Europe’s largest floating solar farm to open –
The biggest floating solar farm in Europe is being constructed on a reservoir. More than 23,000 solar photovoltaic panels are being laid on the surface of the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. The farm, which will be the size of eight football pitches, is expected to generate 5.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity in a year. The energy will be used to part power a nearby water treatment works. Thames Water said construction of the solar farm, which is about eight miles (13 km) from Heathrow airport, will be completed by the end of March. The floating pontoon will be 57,500 sq m in size. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Largest Floating Solar Farm In Europe

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Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
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Health and medicine
  • A new study by researchers at McGill University and the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that each additional month a woman has paid maternity leave is associated with decreased infant mortalityby more than 10 percent. Researchers noted that paid maternity leave reduces stress because of the guarantee of income and job security, increases the chances for breastfeeding and other infant care, and allows a mother to seek more medical attention for herself. (UPI) (PLOS Medicine)
  • The United States Food and Drug Administration announces it has relaxed its official requirements regarding the use of the abortion drug Mifeprex (RU-486). The current guidelines were based on 1990s medical evidence. Changes include reducing the number of physician visits required by abortion-seeking women, reducing drug dosage, and allowing women to take the drug for three weeks longer — now a total of 70 days. (UPI)
  • Air pollution in Mexico City
    • Mexico City, facing the capital’s worst air-quality crisis in over a decade, issues a temporary order that all cars remain idle one day a week. Today, authorities report a pollution index of 108 (bad) after low readings during Holy Week. Vehicles will also be forced from the roads one Saturday a month. The measure will begin next Tuesday, April 5, and run until Thursday, June 30, 2016. Starting July 1, improved technology will be in place at smog-check centers where all vehicles must be tested every six months. (AP via Fox News)
International relations
Law and crime
  • A Bangladesh Court issues an arrest warrant, the second one so far, for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party members over political violence, mostly petrol-bomb attacks, that occurred during anti-government protests last year that killed at least 120 people. (Al Jazeera)
  • EgyptAir Flight 181
    • A Larnaca, Cyprus, court orders that 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, who was arrested by Cypriot police yesterday, remain in local police custody for eight days to assist Cyprus’s own investigation. Mustafa faces charges of hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping, and threats to commit violence. It’s unclear if Mustafa had any explosives; the bomb belt he wore was fake, and officials are waiting for testing results on unidentified liquids found among his possessions. (AP via The Daily Courier)
    • Egypt General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek formally requests Mustafa’s extradition from Cyprus. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
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May 13, 2016

Top News Stories –

Fifa appoints Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura as its first woman secretary general –
Fifa appointed its first female and non-European secretary general on Friday night after ­announcing that United ­Nations humanitarian co-ordinator Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura would replace the disgraced Jérôme Valcke. New president Gianni Infantino confirmed that the Senegalese, a 21-year veteran of UN programmes, would become the most powerful official in world football during Fifa’s annual congress in Mexico City. Infantino had previously promised to consider both a woman and an African for the role – and he delivered on both counts. [Daily Telegraph]
Fatma_Samoura_in_2008Fatma Samoura (R) in 2008 with George Clooney (L) and Marie-Sophie Reck (C)

Video of the Day –

EYES WIDE OPEN from Vitùc on Vimeo.

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  • A massive fire breaks out at a tire dump in Seseña, near Madrid in Spain. The illegal dump contains 100,000 tons of used vehicle tires. The smoke from the fire is visible for at least 30km. (ABC News)
  • At least one person is dead as a shopping mall being built in the Nigerian city of Abeokuta collapses. Unconfirmed reports indicate that ten people may have died. (BBC)
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May 14, 2016

Top News Stories –

Barcelona pip rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title on last day –
Barcelona pipped bitter rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick at Granada. Barca’s fifth victory in a row ensured they won the league by one point from Real, who beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0. Suarez tapped in, powered home a header and slotted Neymar’s pass to give him La Liga’s golden boot with 40 goals. [BBC]
Luis_SuarezLuis_Suarez

Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine’s Jamala wins competition –
Ukraine’s Jamala has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin. Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia – which was the favourite going into the competition – was third with 491 points. Jamala is the first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest and caused controversy ahead of the show over her political song. The song references the year when Stalin deported almost all of the ethnic group from its native region of Crimea in what was then Soviet Russia (later to become part of Ukraine). [BBC]
Jamala

Video of the Day –

Recap of all the Eurovision Song Contest finalists

List of the Day –

Spanish BBVA La Liga Table 2015-16

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona 38 29 4 5 112 29 +83 91
2 Real Madrid 38 28 6 4 110 34 +76 90
3 Atlético Madrid 38 28 4 6 63 18 +45 88
4 Villarreal 37 18 10 9 44 33 +11 64
5 Athletic Bilbao 38 18 8 12 58 45 +13 62
6 Celta Vigo 38 17 9 12 50 58 −8 60
7 Sevilla 38 14 10 14 51 50 +1 52
8 Real Sociedad 38 13 9 16 45 48 −3 48
9 Málaga 37 11 12 14 34 34 0 45
10 Las Palmas 37 12 8 17 44 49 −5 44
11 Valencia 38 11 11 16 46 48 −2 44
12 Eibar 37 11 10 16 47 57 −10 43
13 Deportivo La Coruña 38 8 18 12 45 62 −17 42
14 Real Betis 37 10 12 15 31 50 −19 42
15 Espanyol 37 11 7 19 36 72 −36 40
16 Granada 38 10 9 19 46 68 −22 39
17 Getafe 37 9 9 19 36 65 −29 36
18 Sporting Gijón 37 9 9 19 38 62 −24 36
19 Rayo Vallecano 37 8 11 18 49 72 −23 35
20 Levante 37 8 8 21 36 67 −31 32

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