2015 - The 2010s

September 5, 2015

Top News Stories –

Russia set to set up new police unit to deal with rowdy weddings –
Police in southern Russia have set up a new unit dedicated to keeping the peace at the region’s notoriously drunken wedding parties. A squad of 40 officers will be assigned to stop “uncontrolled expressions of joy” during marriages, during which well-wishers often have a habit of firing guns in celebration. The unit will operate in the North Caucusus region of Adygea, near the Black Sea coast, where one wedding reveller was fined 50,000 roubles last month (£500) for firing his pistol outside a registry office in the capital, Maykop. “The creation of the ‘wedding police’ should put an end to uncontrolled expressions of joy by people in wedding motorcades,” said Aleksandr Rechitsky, Adygea’s Interior Minister. [Daily Telegraph]

Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour makes chart history –
In the Lonely Hour has been in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row – that’s the longest unbroken run of any debut album. It’s not left the top 10 since it was released in May 2014, when it debuted at number one with opening week sales of 101,000. The chart record was previously held by Emeli Sande, with her debut album Our Version Of Events. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day
Sam Smith

Video of the Day –

The 9 BEST Scientific Study Tips

List of the Day –

List of albums which have spent the most weeks on the UK Albums Chart [List from Wikipedia]

Title	Artist	Released	Peak	Weeks
Queen’s Greatest Hits	Queen	1981	1	895
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits	ABBA	1992	1	721
Legend	Bob Marley & The Wailers	1984	1	684
Rumours	Fleetwood Mac	1977	1	611
Bat Out of Hell	Meat Loaf	1978	9	517
The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	1973	2	457
The Sound of Music	Original Soundtrack	1965	1	374
Queen’s Greatest Hits II	Queen	1991	1	367
The Immaculate Collection	Madonna	1990	1	338
Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits	Simon & Garfunkel	1972	2	329
Bridge over Troubled Water	Simon & Garfunkel	1970	1	328
South Pacific	Original Soundtrack	1958	1	315
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds	Jeff Wayne	1978	5	313
Nevermind	Nirvana	1991	7	301
Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman	1988	1	292
Tubular Bells	Mike Oldfield	1973	1	286
Thriller	Michael Jackson	1982	1	283
Face Value	Phil Collins	1981	1	275
Brothers in Arms	Dire Straits	1985	1	268
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	1967	1	261
Appetite for Destruction	Guns n’ Roses	1987	5	261
Making Movies	Dire Straits	1980	4	252
Hot Fuss	The Killers	2004	1	247
Automatic for the People	R.E.M.	1992	1	245
My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra	Frank Sinatra	1997	7	244
Guns n’ Roses’ Greatest Hits	Guns n’ Roses	2004	1	241
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?	Oasis	1995	1	237
Queen’s Greatest Hits III	Queen	1999	2	234
Definitely Maybe	Oasis	1994	1	231
Back to Black	Amy Winehouse	2006	1	228
Off the Wall	Michael Jackson	1979	3	224
Number Ones	Michael Jackson	2003	3	223
Jagged Little Pill	Alanis Morissette	1995	1	220
Sigh No More	Mumford & Sons	2009	2	214
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac	Fleetwood Mac	2002	6	213
Out of Time	R.E.M.	1991	1	212
Never Forget	Take That	2005	2	209
The Beatles 1962 – 1966	The Beatles	1973	3	206
Under a Blood Red Sky	U2	1983	2	204
The King and I	Original Soundtrack	1956	1	203
The Bends	Radiohead	1995	4	203
Love Over Gold	Dire Straits	1982	1	200

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDUBBATTLEForACause	#WorldBeardDay	#rED15
2	#DragMeDownPromo	#DragMeDownPromo	#WorldBeardDay
3	#EMABiggestFans1D	Nadal	San Marino
4	#EuroBasket2015	#YouKnowSummersOverWhen	#EGGPLANT
5	#ماذا_تعرف_عن_ع…	Stanford	Freddie Mercury
6	#اشياء_اشتقتول…	Penn State	J Hus
7	Nadal	#EMABiggestFans1D	#savesyriaschildren
8	漢字1文字	#earthquake	#YodaSingsInTheShower
9	Bolivia	Notre Dame	Jamie Vardy
10	San Marino	#BYUvsNEB	Nadal

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghanistan War
- Gunmen killed 13 minority Hazara men, but spared the life of one woman among the traveling party, in usually tranquil Balkh Province. No group immediately claimed responsibility. (AFP via Times of Oman)
Syrian Civil War
- A battle in Mare’, Syria, in northern Aleppo Governorate near the Turkish border, killed at least 20 Syrian rebels and 27 ISIS fighters. (AFP via Lebanon Daily Star) (Reuters)

International Relations

European migrant crisis
- Following Austria’s and Germany’s decision to waive their asylum system rules, approximately 6,500 migrants – mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan – arrive in Vienna. They traveled from Hungary by bus, train or on foot. The migrants were given the opportunity to register in Austria or move on to Germany. (The Star – Malaysia) (USA Today) (Washington Post) (Budapest Business Journal)
- The first group, 450 of an expected 10,000 migrants, arrive in Munich, Germany, after traveling through Hungary and Austria. (BBC)

Law and crime

Cross-Strait relations
- Former vice president Annette Lu of Taiwan files charges of treason against former vice president Lien Chan, accusing him of breaching national security when he attended the 2015 China Victory Day Parade. (Taipei Times)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 6, 2015

Top News Stories –

Finland: City hands out ‘survival box’ to new students –
A Finnish city is handing out “survival packs” to new students, taking inspiration from the country’s famous baby starter boxes. The city of Lahti has packaged up a selection of essentials for new arrivals to its universities and colleges, helped by contributions from local businesses, national broadcaster Yle reports. More than 1,000 students have received one of the kits so far. And just like the parcels given to expectant mothers across the country, Lahti’s offering comes in a modest cardboard box. Among the items new students will find inside is a bus pass for trips around the city, some locally produced sheets and socks, and a pack of porridge, Yle says. Students can also tuck into the popular Nordic snack salmiakki – a sour, salty liquorice. The survival pack is meant to introduce students to the delights of Lahti while also serving as a marketing opportunity for businesses in the city. [BBC]

BBC plans North Korea broadcasts –
The BBC is to propose an expansion of the World Service – including its first radio broadcasts to North Korea [on short wave radio] – as it sets out plans for its own future. A children’s iPlayer and a pool of 100 local reporters who would share work with newspapers are also planned. Director general Tony Hall will say the aim is to turn the BBC into “an open platform for British creativity”. The BBC is laying out its plans as part of negotiations with the government ahead of charter renewal in 2016. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

MOVEment

MOVEment: Chalayan x AyaBambi and Ryan Heffington from Jacob Sutton on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#OTRAMontreal	#NewMagic8BallAnswers	#UFC191
2	妹の日記念・妹10連…	Purdue	#WALvISR
3	#جيش_قطر_يتجه_ل…	Sarah Palin	#railwayupamovie
4	#BeyonceMadeInAmerica	#RejectedPopTarts	#respectharry
5	#LoQueMasQuiero	#MyBumperSticker	#ItalianGP
6	#LoQueDariaPor	Colin Powell	#BoyzNTheHood
7	마시기	#BeyonceMadeInAmerica	Didier Drogba
8	#FelizDomingo	#IBelieveBlackLivesMatter	#MadeInAmerica
9	#UFC191	#HappyBirthdayDinahDime	PETER HITCHENS
10	#画像フォルダの16��…	Cheetah Girls	#marr

Other News Stories –

Disasters and accidents

At least 10 people die and 8 are missing from a South Korean fishing charter that capsized Saturday night off the country’s southern coast. Coast Guard officers said three people survived by clinging to the wreckage for 10 hours. (Sydney Morning Herald) (AFP via New Delhi Television)

International Relations

European migrant crisis
- Pope Francis asks Catholic faithful in Europe to host refugee families fleeing death from war and hunger, and announces the Vatican’s two churches will welcome two families of refugees. (CNN) (NBC4 New York)

Politics and elections

Guatemalan general election, 2015
- Voters in Guatemala go to the polls for a general election. The presidential election appears headed for a runoff election. (AP)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 7, 2015

Top News Stories –

Italian chess player ‘cheats’ using Morse code and spy pendant –
An Italian chess player has been expelled from one of Italy’s most important tournaments after he allegedly used Morse code and a spy pendant containing a hidden camera to communicate with an accomplice. Arcangelo Ricciardi entered the International Chess Festival of Imperia ranked 51,366 in the world, but astonished rivals as he breezed through the early stages of the competition to reach the eighth and penultimate round. Jean Coqueraut, who refereed the tournament in Liguria, northern Italy, said he began to suspect something was wrong early on in the competition. “In chess, performances like that are impossible,” he told La Stampa newspaper. “I didn’t think he was a genius, I knew he had to be a cheat.” Tournament organisers then asked the 37-year old to pass through a metal detector and a sophisticated pendant was found hanging around his neck underneath a shirt. The pendant contained a tiny video camera as well as a mass of wires attached to his body and a 4cm box under his armpit. Mr Ricciardi claimed they were good luck charms. It is thought the camera was used to transmit the chess game in real time to an accomplice or sophisticated computer, which then suggested moves for Mr Ricciardi through a series of signals received in the box under his arm. [Daily Telegraph] In August two Israeli men were accused by their team mates of cheating in international Bridge competitions.

SeaWorld will no longer accept stolen whales after plea from One Direction star, Harry Styles –
The SeaWorld marine park has announced it will no longer accept whales stolen from the wild after a barrage of criticism, most recently from Harry Styles of One Direction. In a concert in San Diego, which hosts one of SeaWorld’s attractions, the pop star urged fans to boycott the company. SeaWorld was heavily criticised in Blackfish, a documentary released in 2013. The company had been waiting for US government approval for the import of 18 beluga whales which were captured in Russia. Several of the whales were due to be taken to SeaWorld’s own facilities. But earlier this week, SeaWorld said it was no longer willing to receive them.
Harry Styles

Sam Smith tweets Bond theme tease featuring mysterious ‘Spectre ring’ –
Sam Smith has all but confirmed that he will sing the theme tune for the new James Bond film, Spectre. The singer tweeted a picture of a finger with a ring featuring the movie’s logo. He had been tipped for the soundtrack several times but previously denied any involvement in the project.
Sam Smith/Twitter

‘Biggest’ Stonehenge site discovered –
Archaeologists have found around 100 huge standing stones buried near Stonehenge. Experts think the discovery could be the ‘biggest’ prehistoric monument ever built in Britain. Using special equipment to scan below the Earth’s surface experts were able to find evidence of seventeen previously unknown wooden or stone structures. The results suggest Stonehenge – which is 5,000 years old – did not stand alone. Scientists think the newly discovered sites were related to Stonehenge. One big surprise the research found was traces of up to 60 huge stones or pillars – part of an ancient “super henge”, about 1.5km wide.[BBC]

Video of the Day –

No-A [Short Film]

NO-A [Short Film] from Liam Murphy on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#terörelanetolsun	#MakeAChefMadIn3Words	#MondayMotivation
2	Jimmy Morales	Dex Osama	Radio X
3	Dom Pedro	#MondayMotivation	#MakeAChefMadIn3Words
4	#GanasDe	#LaborDay	Kameda
5	#NoEsMentiraSiTeDigo	#SarahPalinMovieNight	#Carmichael
6	#اجمل_اسم_بنت	#BigLiesYouTellYourself	#DontBombSyria
7	Ruiz Mateos	#TheOneLineYouHateMost	Stonehenge
8	#DragMeDownPower	#ImHereForThe	Tony Hall
9	#LaborDay	Trump Is Right	Ghanaian
10	San Lorenzo	Stonehenge	Trainspotting 2

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkish jets strike PKK militant positions across south-east Turkey and northern Iraq and deploy special forces to the Iraqi border following a deadly PKK attack which left at least 16 Turkish soldiers dead. (Reuters)

Business and economy

The patent office in India rejects Pfizer’s petition for a patent on an arthritis drug, tofacitinib, re-affirming their rejection of the same drug in 2011. The drug is a chemical reformulation of the active compound in the medicine and thus the Indian Patent Office says that the company would have to establish that the compound for which it is seeking a patent is therapeutically more effective than the active compound. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Five people are killed as a small plane crashes in the western part of the American state of Colorado. (USA Today)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The President of France François Hollande agrees to take 24,000 refugees out of the estimated 100,000 per month expected to arrive. (AP via ABC News)
- Hundreds of people, tired of waiting for promised transportation, broke out from Hungary’s first migrant holding center near the Serbian border, past police overwhelmed by their numbers, to start the march north toward Budapest. The asylum seekers / migrants, now accompanied by groups of police, advanced along the edge of the main highway to the capital. (AP via Global News)
The United Kingdom House of Commons passes a planned referendum in the United Kingdom‘s continued membership in the European Union. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Politics and elections

Trinidad and Tobago general election, 2015
- Voters in Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls for a House of Representatives election with the result too close to call. (Reuters)
During U.S. Labor Day holiday activities in Boston, President Barack Obama announces a new executive order requiring federal government contractors to offer workers seven days of paid sick leave per year. On July 1st, Massachusetts became the third state, Connecticut and California being the others, with similar requirements. (Washington Post) (Huffington Post)
In an education scandal in Egypt, a top student, Mariam Malak, says she’s a victim of corruption and fraud with the school or the examination board swapping her final exam papers with another pupil, thus assigning her a “Zero”-grade for each of the seven subjects. 40,000 online rally for her via a Facebook support page while another top student reporting the same complaint. (BBC)
Hungary’s Defense Minister Csaba Hende resigns amid the refugee crisis. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán immediately replaced Hende with a member of his Fidesz party, Istvan Simicsko. (UPI)

Science and technology

A bolide or meteor fireball explodes over the Thai city of Bangkok. (The Telegraph)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Wayne Rooney breaks England goals record –
Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley. England captain Rooney equalled Charlton’s tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer. And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday’s match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years. [BBC] See List of the Day 2
Wayne Rooney

British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas –
A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides. Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off. The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out. Flight 2276 was bound for London’s Gatwick airport. There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board. [BBC]

Sam Smith blows his cover: Spectre theme song singer confirmed –
Sam Smith would make an excellent secret agent. After months of speculation, the singer has confirmed that he has recorded the theme song for the next James Bond film, Spectre. Smith has co-written the title song, Writing’s On The Wall, with Jimmy Napes. It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965. Smith confirmed the news on Twitter, calling the opportunity “one of the highlights of my career”. The identity of the theme song’s singer had been an impressively well-kept secret. Smith, whose 2012 collaboration with Disclosure brought him to fame, gave particularly mixed messages: when pushed on the subject by Radio 2 last week, he flatly denied involvement with the film’s soundtrack. But yesterday he dropped a heavy hint to the contrary, tweeting a teaser picture of a ring imprinted with the Spectre logo.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day 1

Earlier this week Smith’s album In the Lonely Hour stayed in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row – a new record.
Sam Smith

Video of the Day –

Justin Bieber – What do you mean? (acoustic)

List of the Day 1 –

James Bond Movie title themes [Wikipedia]

Film	Year	Score composer	Title song	Composed by	Performed by	U.K. peak position	U.S. peak position
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“James Bond Theme“	Monty Norman	John Barry & Orchestra; Monty Norman	—	—
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“Kingston Calypso”	Monty Norman	Byron Lee and the Dragonaires	—	—
From Russia with Love (soundtrack)	1963	John Barry	“Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme”	John Barry, Lionel Bart, Monty Norman	Matt Monro	—	—
Goldfinger (soundtrack)	1964		“Goldfinger“	Leslie Bricusse Anthony Newley John Barry	Shirley Bassey	21	8
Thunderball (soundtrack)	1965		“Thunderball”	John Barry Don Black	Tom Jones	35	25
You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)	1967		“You Only Live Twice“	Leslie Bricusse John Barry	Nancy Sinatra	11	44
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”	John Barry Hal David	The John Barry Orchestra	—	—
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“We Have All the Time in the World” – Secondary Theme	John Barry Hal David	Louis Armstrong	—	—
Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)	1971		“Diamonds Are Forever”	John Barry Don Black	Shirley Bassey	38	57
Live and Let Die (soundtrack)	1973	George Martin	“Live and Let Die“	Paul McCartney Linda McCartney	Paul McCartney & Wings	7	2
The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)	1974	John Barry	“The Man with the Golden Gun”	John Barry Don Black	Lulu	—	—
The Spy Who Loved Me (soundtrack)	1977	Marvin Hamlisch	“Nobody Does It Better“	Marvin Hamlisch Carole Bayer Sager	Carly Simon	7	2
Moonraker (soundtrack)	1979	John Barry	“Moonraker”	John Barry Hal David	Shirley Bassey	—	—
For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)	1981	Bill Conti	“For Your Eyes Only“	Bill Conti Michael Leeson	Sheena Easton	8	4
Octopussy (soundtrack)	1983	John Barry	“All Time High“	John Barry Tim Rice Stephen Short	Rita Coolidge	75	36
A View to a Kill (soundtrack)	1985		“A View to a Kill“	John Barry Duran Duran	Duran Duran	2	1
The Living Daylights (soundtrack)	1987		“The Living Daylights“	John Barry Pål Waaktaar	A-ha	5	—
Licence to Kill (soundtrack)	1989	Michael Kamen	“Licence to Kill”	Narada Michael Walden Jeffrey Cohen Walter Afanasieff	Gladys Knight	6	—
GoldenEye (soundtrack)	1995	Éric Serra	“GoldenEye“	Bono The Edge	Tina Turner	10	102
Tomorrow Never Dies (soundtrack)	1997	David Arnold	“Tomorrow Never Dies“	Sheryl Crow Mitchell Froom	Sheryl Crow	12	—
The World Is Not Enough (soundtrack)	1999		“The World Is Not Enough“	David Arnold Don Black	Garbage	11	—
Die Another Day (soundtrack)	2002		“Die Another Day“	Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzaï	Madonna	3	8
Casino Royale (soundtrack)	2006		“You Know My Name“	David Arnold Chris Cornell	Chris Cornell	7	79
Quantum of Solace (soundtrack)	2008		“Another Way to Die“	Jack White	Jack White Alicia Keys	9	81
Skyfall (soundtrack)	2012	Thomas Newman	“Skyfall“	Adele Paul Epworth	Adele	2	8
Spectre (soundtrack)	2015	Thomas Newman	“Writing’s On The Wall”	Sam Smith Jimmy Napes	Sam Smith	–	–

List of the Day 2 –

Wayne Rooney International appearances for England by year [from Wikipedia]

England national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	9	3
2004	11	6
2005	8	2
2006	8	1
2007	4	2
2008	8	5
2009	9	6
2010	11	1
2011	5	2
2012	5	4
2013	10	6
2014	13	8
2015	6	4
Total	107	50

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1YearSinceFireproof	#InternationalLiteracyDay	#InternationalLiteracyDay
2	Braxton Miller	#21YearsOfDallas	#1YearSinceFireproof
3	Ohio State	#AnnoyMeIn5Words	Rollins
4	#السعوديه_مالي…	Eye of the Tiger	#AskTroyeWILD
5	#OdioEternoAEsosQue	Slim Jesus	#charitytuesday
6	#NoEsMentiraSiTeDigo	#1YearSinceFireproof	Paula Radcliffe
7	UNIDOS PELO GURIZINHO	#My5WordConfession	Murray
8	Virgen del Valle	Mike Huckabee	#EngvsAus
9	#MTVEMA	#SerenavsVenus	#Panorama
10	RCTV	#DontTellMomBut	UK Startup

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkey bombs PKK sites in northern Iraq after a bombing yesterday in Hakkâri Province that killed at least 16 soldiers. (BBC)
- A PKK bombing attack on a minibus in the eastern Iğdır Province near the Armenian border kills 14 Turkish police officers. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron confirms that two ISIS militants, UK citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, were killed in Syria when a British drone attack hit their car on August 21, 2015. Both Khan and Amin had appeared in an ISIS recruitment video last year. They are alleged to have been plotting a terrorist attack on the UK. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- The Syrian government calls off airstrikes against rebel fighters in a central province due to a sandstorm affecting large parts of the Middle East. (AP)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- The UN announces that it has grave concerns for around 96,000 children in Al Hudaydah, Yemen who are starving due to the nearby fighting. (Al Jazeera English Online)
- A Saudi-led air raid on Yemen‘s Al Hudaydah port reportedly kills 20 Indian nationals involved in oil smuggling. (Times of India)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis announces reforms making it easier for people to annul their marriages. (BBC)
New Zealand temporarily bans the sale or lending of the book Into the River by Ted Dawe, pending a review which could see the book restricted long-term. This is the first time in 22 years that a book has been restricted to this extent in New Zealand. (The Guardian) (Radio New Zealand Online)

Business and economy

German airline Lufthansa cancels 84 long-haul flights as pilots go on strike over a proposed restructure plan. (Bloomberg)
Jeff Smisek resigns as CEO of United Airlines due to allegations that he tried to improperly influence officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

A massive sandstorm hits Lebanon and Syria as well as Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the storm caused the deaths of two women, and sent hundreds to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Particularly hard hit were the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many in flimsy tents in informal campsites. (Middle East Eye) (AP via CTV News) (Al Jazeera English Online)
The VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam is fully evacuated after parts of the hospital were flooded because of a burst in a major water-pipeline. (DutchNews)
A British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft suffers an uncontained engine failure and fire on take-off from McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. All on board safely evacuate.BBC News Online

International relations

North and South Korea are to hold reunions for families divided by the Korean War from October 20 to October 26. (AP via Washington Times)
European migrant crisis
- Sigmar Gabriel, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, says that Germany “can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year” while calling on other nations to take their fair share. ” (BBC)

Law and crime

During protests over a lack of mining jobs in South Africa‘s Limpopo province, demonstrators destroy 21 buses, a police station, and a municipal office as well as blocking roads from Lephalale to Marapong. (ENCA)
Death of Freddie Gray
- The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland agrees to a $6.4 million settlement with relatives over the death of Freddie Gray. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Miller v. Davis
- Kim Davis, the county clerk of Rowan County in the US state of Kentucky, is released from jail on contempt of court charges but she may not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples. (Yahoo! politics)

Politics and elections

Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, is reelected unopposed as the President of the Liberal Democratic Party. (AP via The New York Times)

Sport

In football, Wayne Rooney becomes the highest goalscorer for the England national football team with a goal against Switzerland in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. (ITV)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 9, 2015

Top News Stories –

Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest-reigning UK monarch –
The Queen has thanked well-wishers at home and overseas for their “touching messages of kindness” as she becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Speaking in the Scottish Borders, the 89-year-old monarch said the title was “not one to which I have ever aspired”. At 17:30 BST she had reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes – surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. David Cameron said the service the Queen had given was “truly humbling”. The exact moment the Queen became the longest-reigning sovereign is unknown. Her father, George VI, passed away in the early hours of 6 February 1952, but his time of death is not known. [BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Queen ELizabeth II in March 2015

iPad Pro, new Apple TV and iPhone 6S handsets unveiled –
Apple has unveiled a larger iPad tablet, a TV box with its own app store and new iPhones that can detect how firmly their screens are being pressed. The firm suggested the iPad Pro was suited to work tasks, video games and both editing and watching movies. Sales of the company’s earlier iPads had been on the decline. Apple said the “3D touch” feature of its new phones “transformed” the experience of using them by making it easier to use and switch between apps. The iPad Pro has a 12.9in (32.8cm) display, making its shortest edge the length of its earlier iPad Air 2’s height. In addition, the firm announced a stylus called the Apple Pencil, which has sensors in its tip to help mimic the effect of using a real pencil on paper. The announcement is notable since the firm’s ex-chief executive Steve Jobs said in 2010: “If you see a stylus, they blew it.” [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Brief History of the Royal Family

List of the Day –

Monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland 1603 – present day [from Wikipedia]

House of Stuart

House of Hanover

George I (1714 – 1727)
George II (1727 – 1760)
George III (1760 – 1801)
George III (1801 – 1820)
George IV (1820 – 1830) (Regent 1811-1820)
William IV (1830 – 1837)
Victoria (1837 – 1901)

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Edward VII (1901 – 1910)

House of Windsor

George V (1910 – 1921, changed name of house in 1917)
George V (1921–1936)
Edward VIII (1936), abdicated
George VI (1936 – 1952)
Elizabeth II (1952 – present)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	iPhone 6s	#AppleEvent	#longestreign
2	#AppleEvent	iPhone 6s	#NationalFitnessDay
3	#هل_ترضي_تتزوج_…	James Blake	#AnnoyMeIn5Words
4	#MasterChefBR	#StopIranDeal	#AppleEvent
5	フォロワーA	#LateShow	#RuinABoardGame
6	iOS 9	#RuinABoardGame	#SerenavsVenus
7	#longestreign	#INBOUND15	British Airways
8	Neymar	#TerribleGiftsForA4YearOld	Las Vegas
9	Messi	Hump Day	#setgoodtuesdays
10	#OTRAOttawa	#CMWorld	iPhone 6s

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Islamic Front rebels seize Abu al-Duhur military airport while taking control of Syria‘s northwestern Idlib province. (BBC), (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald), (Al Jazeera English Online)
- Russian forces reportedly begin combat operations in Syria in support of the Bashar al-Assad government. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Egypt deploys around 800 troops to Yemen to join the Saudi-led war effort against the Houthis. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch (63 years and seven months), surpassing the record set by Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother. (BBC), (The Huffington Post UK), (Al Jazeera English Online)

Business and economy

A German court issues an injunction ordering a halt to a Lufthansa airline pilots’ strike. Earlier, Germany’s biggest airline announced it had canceled 1,000 flights while about 500 would still operate. (CNBC), (AP via US News & World Report)

International relations

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- Australia announces that it will accept an additional 12,000 Syrian migrants, mostly from persecuted minorities. (ABC News), (Al Jazeera English Online)
Egypt–Israel relations
- Israel reopens its embassy in Cairo, Egypt, after closing it in 2011 after violent protests. (AP via ABC News), (Al Jazeera English Online), (CNN International)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 10, 2015

Top News Stories –

New human-like species discovered in S Africa –

Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa. The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa. The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors. The studies which have been published in the journal Elife also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour. The species, which has been named naledi, has been classified in the grouping, or genus,Homo, to which modern humans belong. [BBC] See List of the Day

Pope Francis emojis launched for US visit –
Pope Francis draws huge crowds wherever he goes and now his fans can share their admiration with papal emojis. A new keyboard app is being released to mark the Pope’s upcoming visit to America. You can have the Pope balancing a basketball or riding a taxi (although we suspect he’d prefer his Popemobile). They’re among 52 emojis and 14 GIFs in the app from Swyft Media, the company which created the first ginger emojis.
Pope emojis by Swyft Media

Giant Lenin ‘head’ unearthed 24 years after burial in Berlin –
The giant head of a statue of Russian revolutionary Lenin has been unearthed, 24 years after it was buried in a German forest. Workers dug up the granite structure from woodland outside Berlin, following a campaign by historians. The head was once part of a 19m (62ft) monument to the communist leader, which towered over the east of the city. It was dismantled in 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the pieces were buried in a secluded forest. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

iPhone 6s – The Only Thing That’s Changed Is…

List of the Day –

Comparative table of *Homo* species
Species	Temporal range Mya	Habitat	Adult height	Adult mass	Cranial capacity (cm³)	Fossil record	Discovery / publication of name
H. habilis	2.1 – 1.5^[136]	Africa	150 cm (4 ft 11 in)	33–55 kg (73–121 lb)	510–660	Many	1960/1964
H. erectus	1.9 – 0.07^[137]	Africa, Eurasia (Java, China, India, Caucasus)	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)	60 kg (130 lb)	850 (early) – 1,100 (late)	Many^[138]	1891/1892
H. rudolfensis membership in Homo uncertain	1.9	Kenya			700	2 sites	1972/1986
H. gautengensis also classified as H. habilis	1.9 – 0.6	South Africa	100 cm (3 ft 3 in)			3 individuals^[139]	2010/2010
H. ergaster also classified as H. erectus	1.8 – 1.3^[140]	Eastern and Southern Africa			700–850	Many	1975
H. antecessor also classified as H. heidelbergensis	1.2 – 0.8	Spain	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	1,000	2 sites	1997
H. cepranensis a single fossil, possibly H. erectus	0.9 – 0.35	Italy			1,000	1 skull cap	1994/2003
H. heidelbergensis	0.6 – 0.35^[141]	Europe, Africa, China	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	1,100–1,400	Many	1908
H. neanderthalensis possibly a subspecies of H. sapiens	0.35 – 0.04^[142]	Europe, Western Asia	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)	55–70 kg (121–154 lb) (heavily built)	1,200–1,900	Many	(1829)/1864
H. rhodesiensis also classified as H. heidelbergensis	0.3 – 0.12	Zambia			1,300	Very few	1921
H. tsaichangensis possibly H. erectus	0.25 – 0.2	Taiwan				1 individual	pre-2008/2015
H. sapiens (modern humans)	0.2^[143] – present	Worldwide	150 – 190 cm (4 ft 7 in – 6 ft 3 in)	50–100 kg (110–220 lb)	950–1,800	(extant)	—/1758
H. floresiensis classification uncertain	0.10 – 0.012	Indonesia	100 cm (3 ft 3 in)	25 kg (55 lb)	400	7 individuals	2003/2004
Denisova hominin possible H. sapiens subspecies or hybrid	0.04	Russia				1 site	2010
Red Deer Cave people possible H. sapiens subspecies or hybrid	0.0145–0.0115	China				Very few	2012

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#WorldSuicidePreventionDay	#WorldSuicidePreventionDay	#WorldSuicidePreventionDay
2	#SameOldLove	Pokemon Go	#RenameAFilmLiterally
3	#FelizJueves	#HumanExperienceIn4Words	#charlotteproudman
4	#ChamuyeCuandoDije	Grace Jones	Pokemon Go
5	#CizreUnderAttack	#pitmad	#RejectedAppleProducts
6	#MeCambiaLaCara	#RejectedAppleProducts	Bonang
7	#ZaynWeAreAlwaysHere	#BieberTODAY	#HomoNaledi
8	#SemiIsBack	Bobby Jindal	Jonathan King
9	Palacio de Justicia	Aladdin	iPhone 6s
10	鬼怒川	#FallonTonight	#HumanExperienceIn4Words

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL attacks a government held air base near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor with dozens of government loyalists and ISIL militants killed. (Reuters)
Operation Martyr Yalçın
- At least 30 people have been killed in the southeastern Turkish city of Cizre following clashes between Turkish security forces and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) supporters. Locals say Cizre has been “under siege” since the militaryimposed a curfew. (BBC)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Air strikes target Houthi political leaders and military bases in Sana’a, Yemen. (Al Jazeera English Online)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- In Japan, tens of thousands are forced to evacuate due to flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Etau. So far, one person is reported as missing. (Radio NZ Online), (AP via US News and World Report), (Al Jazeera English Online),(BBC)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Denmark reopens rail services to Germany after closing rail lines and a motorway in order to stem the flow of migrants on their way to Sweden. (ITV)
- President of the United States Barack Obama directs his administration to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia–United States relations
- The United States expresses concern about alleged Russian military activities in Syria. (Al Jazeera English Online)
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- The United States Senate fails to pass a resolution blocking approval of the nuclear agreement with Iran, meaning it will formally be adopted on October 19. (New York Times)

Law and crime

An indigenous Lumad child dies in an evacuation center while the Philippine Senate investigates the alleged September 1 murders of an indigenous Lumad family and the alleged rape of an indigenous Manobo girl by soldiers and militiamen of the Philippine Army. (Rappler), (Mindanao News), (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Azerbaijan jails journalist Khadija Ismayilova after a trial that many believe is politically-motivated. (Al Jazeera English Online)
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for allegedly inciting violence at anti-government rallies. (AP)
A U.S. federal jury awards nearly $17.5 million to five former migrant workers at a South Florida farm in their case of sexual harassment and abuse in their work. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Peter Robinson, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, steps aside after the Democratic Unionist Party fails to get enough support to adjourn the assembly. (BBC)

Science and technology

Homo naledi
- Elife publishes a discovery by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand announcing a new species of hominid (Homo naledi) in the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. Although the remains have yet to be properly dated, they could be three million years old. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Mecca crane collapse: Saudi inquiry into Grand Mosque disaster –
Saudi Arabia has begun an investigation after a crane collapsed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, killing at least 107 people. The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque [also known as Masjid al-Haram] – which was filled with worshippers at the time. The inquiry is taking place as criticism grows over safety standards at the holy site. It is unclear how many of the victims were killed by the collapse or the stampede that followed it. At least 230 people were injured in the incident.The collapse happened at 17:23 local time. [BBC]
Masjid al-Haram in 2014

Video of the Day –

Taser Impacts on Bare Skin at 28,000fps – The Slow Mo Guys

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#VenezuelaConLeopoldo	#NeverForget	#fridayfeeling
2	#onedirectionimsorryfor	#NeverForget911	#NeverForget911
3	ちんぽ10連ガチャ	Aldon Smith	#AssistedDying
4	#سقوط_رافعه_في_…	World Trade Center	Pete Doherty
5	#NeverForget	Rick Perry	#onedirectionimsorryfor
6	#NeverForget911	Pentagon	Sadiq Khan
7	Hayırlı Cumalar	#WhereWereYou	#afterseptember11
8	Gronk	#onedirectionimsorryfor	Gronk
9	#CONGRATSLOUIS	Joe Biden	Yorkshire
10	高校生クイズ	#NewNFLScandals	David Cassidy

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

The People’s Liberation Army of China holds three days of live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, while Taiwan holds exercises simulating Chinese submarines attacking Kinmen and being repelled by Taiwanese amphibious forces. (The Guardian) (AP via Yahoo)
Boko Haram insurgency
- An improvised explosive device in a Yola, Nigeria displacement camp kills 7 people. (AP)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- The Turkish Air Force strikes 64 PKK targets in northern Iraq reportedly killing up to 60 PKK militants. (Daily Sabah)
2015 Burundian unrest
- Burundi‘s army chief General Prime Niyongabo survives an assassination attempt after armed men attacked his motorcade on a busy road in the capital, Bujumbura. Six people are killed in the attack. (BBC) , (New York Times)

Arts and culture

Britney Spears announces a two-year extension in performing Britney: Piece of Me on the Las Vegas Strip. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- At least three people die, 27 are injured, and 26 people are missing, the majority of them in and around Jōsō city in Ibaraki Prefecture, as a result of floods and landslides in Japan after heavy rainfall caused by Tropical Storm Etau. (Reuters) (The Independent-UK)
Mecca crane collapse
- Strong winds cause a construction crane collapse at the Masjid al-Haram mosque killing 107 people and injuring 283 others. Most of the people killed were on the annual Islamic hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. (RT), (USA Today), (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Daily Mail)

International relations

The UN General Assembly votes in favor of flying the flags of non-member observer states outside the headquarters in New York City. Palestine will raise their flag on September 30, while Vatican City has made no plans yet. (CNN)
United States–Cuban Thaw
- Cuba announces it will release more than 3,500 prisoners in a goodwill gesture ahead of next week’s visit by Pope Francis. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- Foreign ministers from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia meet with officials from the European Union and Germany to discuss differences over migrant quotas. (BBC)

Law and crime

Defense lawyers say the United States continues to block the release of 116 pages of the lawyers’ notes detailing the torture that Guantanimo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah says he experienced in CIA custody. Zubaydah has yet to be charged with any crime despite being held since 2002. (Reuters via Al Jazeera English Online) (Newsweek)
Mark Karpelès, the CEO of defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, is charged with embezzlement in Japan. (AFP via France 24)
2006 Mumbai train bombings
- A Mumbai, India court convicts twelve men with one man acquitted for their roles in the bombing which killed 209 people and injured 714. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)
2014 Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center fire
- U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman sentences a Federal Aviation Administration contractor, Brian Howard, to 12 years in prison for willfully destroying a Chicago-area air navigation facility using a September 26, 2014, fire which caused $100 million in damage. (AP)
The California State Legislature approves legislation allowing for assisted suicide. (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Singaporean general election, 2015
- Singapore’s elections conclude with more than 2.46 million voters casting ballots. The governing People’s Action Party (PAP), wins 83 out of 89 seats. Sydney Morning Herald) (AP via US News and World Report), (IANS via Daijiworld), (CNBC)
Republican Party presidential debates, 2016
- CNN announces the September 16, prime time presidential debate panel. Carly Fiorina, who had sufficient poll support following the first debate, will join the top 10 leaders, such as Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Ben Carson. The remaining four candidates, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Lindsey Graham, will appear earlier that evening. Because he did not get sufficient poll numbers, Jim Gilmore is now excluded. (CNN), (Boston Herald)
- Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry suspends his campaign for the presidential race. (ABC Go), (National Journal)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 12, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership contest and vows “fightback” –
Jeremy Corbyn has promised to lead a Labour “fightback” after being elected the party’s new leader by a landslide. The veteran left-winger got almost 60% of more than 400,000 votes cast, trouncing his rivals Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. He immediately faced an exodus of shadow cabinet members – but senior figures including Ed Miliband urged the party’s MPs to get behind him. Mr Corbyn was a 200-1 outsider when the three-month contest began. But he was swept to victory on a wave of enthusiasm for his anti-austerity message and promise to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapons and renationalise the railways and major utilities. [BBC]
Jeremy Corbyn

Russian Cosmonaut Returns From Record-Breaking Space Mission –
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka’s safe return from months aboard the International Space Station has put him in the record books for spending more time in space than any other human — the equivalent of nearly two and a half years on five different flights. Padalka, whose latest 168-day stay on the ISS gives him a total of 879 days in space, has smashed the previous record, which was set by fellow Russian Sergei Krikalev in 2005, by two months. [NPR]
Gennady Padalka

Floyd Mayweather beats Andre Berto to make it 49 straight wins –
Floyd Mayweather made it 49 straight wins with a wide points victory over Andre Berto in Las Vegas. The challenger was game but his fellow American, defending his WBC and WBA welterweight titles, was simply too difficult to hit at the MGM Grand. Mayweather, 38, was awarded the verdict 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. Mayweather was adamant it was his last fight, but having equalled Rocky Marciano’s career record of 49-0, he might decide to have one more. “My career is over, that’s official,” said five-weight world champion Mayweather, widely regarded as the greatest fighter of his generation. Mayweather made $34m (£22m) for his latest outing but few expect him to fulfil his promise to retire. [BBC] In June Mayweather topped the Forbes Celebrity rich list
Floyd Mayweather

Harvard’s exclusive Spee club invites women to join after decades of resistance –
The barriers have fallen one by one at Harvard’s exclusive Spee Club. First Catholics were admitted at the start of the 20th century, then Jews in the 1930s and blacks in the 1960s. But female undergraduates were always a step too far. The Spee even moved off campus in the 1980s when the university ordered it and eight other clubs to open their doors to women. This week, things finally changed for a club that once counted John F Kennedy among its members. A number of female students reported waking on Friday to find invitations – set out in ornate calligraphy and sealed with an elaborate “S” – had been slid under their doors asking them to attend a reception next week, the first step to membership. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Bride puts a spell on her magician groom during first dance

List of the Day –

How much does the iPhone 6s cost around the world? [Daily Telegraph]

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDUBTheAbduction	#HERESTOROWYSOMEMORIES	#HERESTOROWYSOMEMORIES
2	#KathNielAt9thStarMagicBall	Auburn	#labourleadership
3	#ماذا_تقول_لمن_…	Jacksonville State	Roger Federer
4	Chelsea	#ImUpThisLateBecause	Chelsea
5	#HERESTOROWYSOMEMORIES	Zygarde	#AskNashAndHayes
6	#SosUnGilSi	#DiminutiveSciFi	Everton
7	#labourleadership	#HappyBirthdayNiall	Fellaini
8	LittleMixComeToBrazil	#OUvsTENN	#Mecca
9	#FandomAwards	Dalvin Cook	Martial
10	AK Parti 5	Notre Dame	Ivanovic

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- A drone strike kills four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in northern Yemen. (Reuters via Trust)
- Medics claim that at least 16 other people have been killed in Saudi led airstrikes. (Reuters)
- Houthi militants backed by allied Yemeni troops seize control of four Saudi military bases in Saudi Arabia’s southern ‘Asir Region according to Yemeni state TV. (Press TV)
Sino-Indian border dispute
- Chinese and Indian troops face-off in the Burtse region of northern Ladakh after Indian troops dismantled a disputed watchtower the Chinese were building close to the mutually-agreed patrolling line. (Economic Times)
Sinai insurgency
- The Egyptian Armed Forces claim that an offensive against ISIS militants in northern Sinai over the past week has killed at least 164 insurgents with the loss of eight troops. (AFP via Sky News)

Arts and culture

Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas wins a Golden Lion award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival for Desde allá. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

An Indian Railways train derailment near Gulbarga in Karnataka state kills at least two people with several others injured. (AP via Star Tribune)
Tropical Storm Etau (2015)
- Japan resumes a search for 16 missing persons after torrential rain and floods with thousands still hoping to return home. (Reuters)
Petlawad explosion
- A series of explosions involving propane triggering nearby illegally stored mining detonators in the Indian town of Petlawad in the state of Madhya Pradesh kills at least 104 people with over 150 missing. (News 18), (ABC News Australia), (AP via US News)
2015 California wildfires
- The Butte Fire has destroyed 60 homes in the rural counties of Amador and Calaveras and threatens 6000 residents. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)

Politics and elections

The outcome of the election for the next leader of the United Kingdom Labour Party is announced with Jeremy Corbyn winning the contest ahead of Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall while Tom Watson is elected as the new deputy leader. (The Telegraph), (Evening Standard)

Sport

2015 US Open (tennis)
- In tennis, Italian Flavia Pennetta defeats fellow countrywoman Roberta Vinci in two sets to win the 2015 US Open women’s singles title. During the awards ceremony, Pennetta announces her retirement from tennis. (AP) (BBC) (US Open)
Major League Baseball
- David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hits two home runs in the Sox’ 10–4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, making him the 27th player in MLB history with 500 career homers. (ESPN)
In boxing, Floyd Mayweather, in what is expected to be the final fight of his career, defeats Andre Berto by unanimous decision to extend his record to 49–0. (ESPN)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 13, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Stolen’ diamond surgically removed in Bangkok –
A Chinese woman suspected of stealing a $300,000 (£195,000) diamond in the Thai capital, Bangkok, has had the jewel surgically removed from her intestines. She is thought to have swallowed it in order to smuggle it out of the country. The woman is believed to have stolen the six-carat diamond from a jewellery fair on Thursday by swapping it for a fake gemstone. However, she was caught on security cameras at the fair and later arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. A man travelling with her was also arrested. Police said the woman initially denied involvement, but an X-ray revealed the diamond lodged inside her.
She was initially given laxatives, but when nature failed to take its course, a colonoscope was used to extract the gem. [BBC]

Elton John offers to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights –
Sir Elton John has said he wants to hold talks with Vladimir Putin over what he called the Russian president’s “ridiculous” stance on gay rights. The Rocket Man singer extended the offer of talks after speaking at a conference in neighbouring Ukraine, where he met with the country’s president Petro Poroshenko to lobby him about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. Sir Elton accused Mr Putin of saying “stupid things” in reference to his warning to gay people travelling to the Winter Olympics to “leave the children in peace”. [Daily Telegraph] In March 2015 Sir Elton called for a boycott of fashion label Dolce & Gabbana after the legendary designers criticised same-sex families
Sir Elton John

Mens Tennis: Novak Djokovic clinches second US Open crown –
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won his second US Open championship and his 10th career Grand Slam title with an electric four-set victory over 17-time major winner Roger Federer on Sunday evening. In a contest of the game’s premier heavyweights, it was the Serb who played the biggest points the best as he captured his first crown in the Big Apple since 2011 with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in a match that was delayed by approximately three hours because of rain. [US Open] Djokovic also beat Federer in four sets to win the Wimbledon title in July 2015. See List of the Day
Novak_Đoković

Womens Golf: Lydia Ko becomes youngest major winner –
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a major with a six-stroke victory at the Evian Championship in France on Sunday. The world number two is 18 years, four months and 20 days old. The previous record was held by American Morgan Pressel, who was 18 years, 10 months and nine days old when she won the Kraft Nabisco in 2007. In February, aged 17, Ko became the youngest player to reach the top of the rankings and she also holds the record as the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour after her Canadian Open victory as a 15-year-old amateur in 2012. [BBC]
Lydia Ko

Video of the Day –

Kelvin Jones: Call You Home

Kelvin Jones : Call You Home from Joe Connor on Vimeo.

Yup, that really is a TV in space, for real. I created this video by sending a vintage Sony TV into orbit on a weather balloon provided by Sent Into Space, surrounded by cameras so as to capture this spectacular footage hovering above the Big Blue Marble itself.More precisely, it took two launches – both from Snowdonia in Wales, with two identical TVs, with each launch providing the opportunity to rig the GoPros in different positions. I’m pleased to say that all TVs in this music video were harmed as they crash-landed back to earth. We sent the TV off from Snowdonia and it landed in Bury, Manchester – taking in my hometown of Warrington on the way which can be seen in the promo. I’m proud to say that the TV got 99.997% above the atmosphere, just 0.003% below the Armstrong line – surely the highest TV in history.

List of the Day –

Novak Djokovic Grand Slam Record [from Wikipedia]

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	1R	1R	4R	W	QF	QF	W	W	W	QF	W	5 / 11	50–6	89.29
French Open	2R	QF	SF	SF	3R	QF	SF	F	SF	F	F	0 / 11	48–11	81.36
Wimbledon	3R	4R	SF	2R	QF	SF	W	SF	F	W	W	3 / 11	52–8	86.67
US Open	3R	3R	F	SF	SF	F	W	F	F	SF	W	2 / 11	57–9	86.3
Win–Loss	5–4	9–4	19–4	18–3	15–4	19–4	25–1	24–3	24–3	22–3	27–1	10 / 44	207–34	85.89

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#HappyBirthdayNiall	#HappyBirthdayNiall	#HappyBirthdayNiall
2	#Happy22ndBirthdayNiall	Cal Poly	Anthony Joshua
3	#LiamYouDeserveTheWorld	#LiamYouDeserveTheWorld	Groves
4	Oregon	#ScareADateIn4Words	#GreatNorthRun
5	FlyNoDomingoLegal	#UsOpenFinal	#RoaldDahlDay
6	#MaineMendozaOnKMJS	#MayweatherBerto	#mayweatherberto
7	#MayweatherBerto	Moses Malone	#marr
8	Moses Malone	#ValleyFire	Leicester
9	Supernatural 10	Mariota	#COYS
10	#بماذا_يمتاز_ن�…	#NFLGameDay	Adebayor

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- A PKK car bombing on a checkpoint kills two Turkish police officers and injures five others in south-eastern Turkey. Also, Turkish security forces impose a curfew in the region’s largest city, Diyarbakır. (Reuters)
Egyptian security forces open fire on a Mexican tourist convoy in the Western Desert while pursuing militants with at least twelve people killed and 10 injured. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- The death toll from flooding in Japan caused by Tropical Storm Etau rises to seven. (Straits Times), (Asia One)
- Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency (消防庁) advises 2.8 million people to evacuate due to heavy flooding in the eastern region of the country. (CNN)
An explosion in the Pakistan city of Multan kills at least eleven people and injures 79. (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Pakistan Tribune)
An Islamic school in the Nigerian town of Bukuru collapses with at least four students killed and 40 injured. (Reuters)
Thirty-four refugees, including four babies and 11 children, drown in the Aegean Sea when their wooden boat sinks off the Greek island of Farmakonissi, close to Turkey’s coast. (Xinhua News Agency), (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Valley wildfire claims at least one life in Lake County, California with thousands of people forced to evacuate. (ABC News Bay Area)

International relations

Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- The government in exile says that it will no longer attend United Nations brokered talks with the rebel Houthis. (Trust)
Arab-Israeli conflict
- Israeli police clash with Palestinian protesters outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Fireworks and small explosive devices were used to attack the police. (AP via Washington Post)
- The Jordanian government condemns Israel for assaults on Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City. (Jerusalem Post)
European migrant crisis
- Germany reintroduces emergency controls on its border with Austria. (Washington Post)

Science and technology

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka’s return from the ISS on Saturday sets a new record for time in space, breaking the one fellow countryman Sergei Krikalev set in 2005. Padalka totaled 879 days in space (2.41 years) over five flights. (NPR)

Health and medicine

Doctors at Salamanca University Hospital in Salamanca, Spain implant a 3-D printing-produced artificial titanium sternum (breastbone), and a portion of the ribs (as opposed to the current standard, a non-customized, flat piece of titanium, which can loosen over time) in a patient who had numerous cancerous tumors in that area, the first use of 3D printing technology to take the place of these specific body parts. (Quartz, via MSN)

Sport

2015 US Open (tennis)
- In tennis, Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeats Roger Federer of Switzerland 3 sets to 1 in the final of the men’s singles. (International Business Times), (The Guardian)
In golf, Lydia Ko wins the final LPGA major of the year, The Evian Championship, by six shots after a final-round 63. The New Zealander becomes the youngest person of either sex to win a professional major championship, at age 18 years, 142 days. (BBC Sport)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

Switzerland holds ‘X Factor’ national anthem contest –
What does a country do if its national anthem is said to be so boring that no one can remember the words? The answer in Switzerland, it seems, is to hold a TV talent contest to find a better one. The country has just come to the end of a 20-month-long hunt for a new anthem that culminated in an X Factor style live television show over the weekend in which three finalists battled it out and viewers voted by text message. The winning entry was submitted, in French, German, Italian and Romansh, by Werner Widmer, a 62-year-old healthcare director from Zurich. The organisers say their next project is to convince the country to adopt Mr Widmar’s new version. [Daily Telegraph]

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott ousted by staunch republican Malcolm Turnbull –
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has been ousted in a stunning coup by self-made millionaire Malcolm Turnbull, continuing the nation’s five-year run of leadership swaps. Winning a 54 to 44 Liberal party-room vote in Canberra on Monday, Mr Turnbull, 60, promised to unite the party and the nation with a new style of leadership that “respects the people’s intelligence”. The deputy Liberal leader, Julie Bishop, backed Mr Turnbull and easily won back her position in a 70 to 30 vote against cabinet minister Kevin Andrews. [BBC]
Malcolm Turnbull

Taylor Swift is being sued because she accused a radio host of touching her bottom –
Taylor Swift is being sued by a former Coloradoan radio DJ who claims that he lost his job because of claims the singer made about him allegedly grabbing her bottom. In June 2013, David Mueller, who is known on the radio as “Jackson”, went to a meet-and-greet with Taylor Swift, and brought along his girlfriend. Mueller and his girlfriend had their photo taken with Ms. Swift, and this is where things got ugly. Ms. Swift allegedly claimed that at this point he “lifted up her skirt and grabbed her bottom”. After this, he was escorted from the premises by security. Then, after a series of calls between Taylor Swift’s team and his radio station, he was fired. Mueller denies the claims that he touched her inappropriately. [Daily Telegraph]
Taylor Swift

Video of the Day –

Made for Bond 2015 advert

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#WeWillMeetAgain1D	#WeWillMeetAgain1D	#mondaymotivation
2	#libspill	#MondayMotivation	Tony Abbott
3	Cowboys	OD AM	#libspill
4	#HoyEstaPara	#IfTheZombiesAttack	#TUBill
5	고척돔	#libspill	John McDonnell
6	#aşkdediğin	Celebrity Apprentice	Brian Close
7	漢字1文字	Tony Abbott	#WeWillMeetAgain1D
8	Egipto	#AllForLove4DAYS	#UsOpenFinal
9	#MissAmerica	French Montana	#corbyncabinet
10	阿蘇山	#MusicMonday	#ROWYSOCELEBRATION

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Five Saudi troops are killed following clashes with Houthi militants in the southern Najran region near the border with Yemen. (AFP via Yahoo!)
- Emirati troops advance on the Houthi controlled Yemeni capital, Sanaa after securing control of Marib, the capital of Marib province. (AP via Yahoo!)
- Ten people are killed, seven from the same family, in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a government building in a southern suburb of Sana’a, the Yemen capital. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Taliban insurgents storm a prison in the central Afghan province of Ghazni killing at least four prison officers and freeing about 350 prisoners. The deputy provincial governor of the Ghazni province says the attackers were well-organised and wearing military uniforms. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War, Russia’s role in the Syrian Civil War
- The Pentagon says that Russia has deployed its domestic use only T-90 tanks and artillery pieces to Syria along with more troops in what one defense official described as the “first clear sign of offensive weapons arriving in Syria” and “the largest deployment of Russian forces outside the former Soviet Union since the collapse of the USSR“. (Fox News)

Business and economy

Brazil announces a $17 billion austerity package after Standard and Poors further downgrades its credit rating. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
A University of Notre Dame study finds significant correlation between substantial executive stock options and future product recalls. CEOs with abundant stock options get a huge payoff when the company performs well but endure minute consequences when it doesn’t. (Fortune)

Disasters and accidents

Kyushu island’s Mount Aso, Japan‘s largest active volcano, erupts. Numerous flights serving Kumamoto Airport are canceled. (Reuters via Trust), (CNN)
2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Tropical Storm Vamco makes landfall south of Da Nang, Viet Nam, causing flooding in the region. (Accu Weather)
At least seven people are dead and six missing after a flash flood in the American town of Hildale, Utah. (KUTV)

International relations

Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
- Takeshi Onaga, the governor of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, revokes approval for work on the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (AFP via Straits Times)
European migrant crisis
- Germany reopens train services from Austria after reintroducing border controls. (Deutsche Welle)
- Slovakia announces renewed border controls with Hungary. (AP via The New York Times)
Colombia accuses Venezuela of violating its airspace for the second time in two days. (AFP via France 24)

Law and crime

Shannon Lamb, a professor at Delta State University who was suspected of two murders in the U.S. state of Mississippi—the woman he was living with in Gautier and a fellow professor at the Delta State campus in Cleveland—dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while being pursued by police. (Fox News)
Miller v. Davis
- In the U.S., Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, involved in the litigation over same-sex marriage, states she will not block her deputies from issuing marriage licenses, but will not authorize them personally (her name will not appear on them, and they will state that they were given under a federal judicial order). (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Malcolm Turnbull launches a challenge for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia against incumbent Prime Minister Tony Abbott and wins 54–44. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
Guatemalan general election, 2015
- Manuel Baldizon drops out of the presidential race leaving Jimmy Morales and Sandra Torres in the runoff. (ABC Go)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Michael Jordan earned more from trainers in 2014 than during entire basketball career –
It is no secret that Michael Jordan and Nike make a lot of money from Air Jordan trainers. But an infographic by PBS has revealed just how lucrative the line of sports shoes, which have obtained cult-like status among sneaker fans, is. In 2014 alone Jordan, 52, made $100 million from sales of trainers, more money than the $94 million he made in the entire of his stellar 15-year career as an NBA basktball player. His eye-watering income made him the highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year. [Daily Telegraph]
Michael Jordan

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe delivers wrong speech in parliament –
Zimbabwe’s 91-year-old president Robert Mugabe read the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of parliament on Tuesday, repeating an address he gave to the legislature last month. The veteran leader read the 25-minute-long speech through to the end, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month. “There has been a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where… the president delivered the wrong speech,” said George Charamba, the presidential spokesman. “The mix-up happened in his secretarial office,” Mr Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper’s online edition. “The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered.” [Daily Telegraph] In February 2015 Mugabe allegedly suspended 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps.
President Robert Mugabe

Vladimir Putin ‘reaches out’ to Sir Elton John after singer asks to discuss gay rights –
Sir Elton John was engaged in a bizarre war of words with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday night after the singer publicly thanked the Russian leader for “reaching out” to him to discuss gay rights – but the Kremlin then denied the conversation ever took place. The veteran rock star said Mr Putin, who recently appeared to equate homosexuality with paedophilia and urged gay people to “leave kids alone”, had called him and suggested they might meet. “Thank you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face to face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia,” he wrote on his Instagram account. However, in a bizarre twist last night, Mr Putin’s spokesman rejected the Rocket Man’s claim. “Putin did not have a conversation with Elton John, and most importantly, we did not receive any kind of proposal for a meeting from him,” said Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman. At the weekend, Sir Elton condemned the Russian strongman’s “ridiculous” stance on gay rights, which has seen a law passed banning homosexual “propaganda” among children in June 2013.[Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to build and launch rockets from Florida’s ‘Space Coast’
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced plans to build and launch rockets from Flordia’s “Space Coast”. At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Bezos announced that his Blue Origin space company will build rockets and launch them into orbit from Cape Canaveral. He plans to send up satellites first, then people – including space tourists and even himself. He predicts the first launch will occur by the end of the decade; he declined to be more specific, saying more details would be forthcoming next year. The as-yet-named rocket will launch and land vertically, the same method the company is testing for suborbital flights from remote West Texas. The first-stage boosters will be reusable to save money. The crew capsules will fly themselves and not require pilots. [Daily Telegraph]
Jeff Bezos

Video of the Day –

The Jungle Book Official US Teaser Trailer

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#MiMamaUnaVezMeDijo	#EMABiggestFans5SOS	#BattleofBritain
2	#TengoTalentoPara	#MarriageAdviceIn3Words	#MarriageAdviceIn3Words
3	#الهلال_لخويا	Jungle Book	#charitytuesday
4	Eagles	#HorribleWaysToStartAStory	#EMABiggestFans5SOS
5	#EMABiggestFansJustinBieber	#HispanicHeritageMonth	#WakeUpPreOrder
6	#RompesuelasVivo	#DF15	Mary Poppins
7	#ALDUBForTALKNTEXT	Carlos Hyde	New Day
8	#FelizMartes	Trent Dilfer	Jack Wilshere
9	#MarriageAdviceIn3Words	Luke Shaw	#49ers
10	#WakeUpPreOrder	#MakeAMovieConfused	Nikki

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency, 2015 West African offensive
- The Nigerian Army rescues dozens of women and children in Borno State. (AP via ABC News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Houthi militants backed by Yemeni troops reportedly seize control of al-Rabu’ah, a town in Saudi Arabia‘s southwestern Asir region near the Yemeni border, forcing Saudi forces to pull out of the area. (Press TV)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Southeast Asian haze
- The Indonesian province of Riau declares a state of emergency due to high levels of smoke haze from forest fires in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra that have led thousands of people to flee the capital Pekanbaru. (AFP via Straits Times)
- The 24 hour Pollutant Standards Index in Singapore remains in the unhealthy range due to smoke haze. (Channel News Asia)
Two students die and three others are injured after a school bus is struck by another vehicle and swerves off an Interstate 610 overpass in Houston, Texas. (Houston Chronicle), (Reuters)
The death toll from yesterday’s flash floods in the American towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, rises to 12 with one person still missing. (AP via ABC News), (NBC News)
A floatplane crashes during takeoff near Iliamna in southwest Alaska, killing three people and injuring the other seven on board. (AP via Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Seven mountain climbers die in an avalanche in the French Alps near the town of Pelvoux. (Accuweather)

Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration orders R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to stop further U.S. sale and distribution of four cigarette products because they may be more dangerous than similar older cigarettes. (Reuters)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Hungary declares a state of emergency in two of its southeastern counties as tougher laws come into effect aimed at preventing asylum-seekers and other migrants from entering the country. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Politics and elections

Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, September 2015
- Malcolm Turnbull is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Australia following his election to the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia appoints a special prosecutor into a wiretapping scandal. (AP via ABC News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 16, 2015

Top News Stories –

Blackjack-addicted Buddhist monk accused of stealing $150,000 –
A Buddhist monk with an expensive blackjack addiction has appeared in court in New York, charged with stealing around $150,000 (£97,000) in donations to fund his habit. Khang Nguyen Le, 45, was paid $1,000 a month for his role as the most senior monk at the Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Southwest Louisiana, based in the town of Lafayette. But over the past four years he had found himself with a growing gambling addiction and, according to court documents, stole from the organisation to feed his habit. He is accused of spending up to $10,000 every two or three days at the blackjack tables, and hiding in the corners of the casino so no one would spot him. [Daily Telegraph]

Naomi Campbell tries to #freethenipple, fails –
The supermodel joined the controversial campaign, then felt the wrath of Instagram’s strict nudity policy. The fashion icon posted a topless picture to her Twitter and Instagram accounts on Wednesday, both accompanied by the #freethenipple hashtag. However, despite the fact she looks amazing and really not very offensive, Instagram wasn’t having it. Within a few hours, the site had removed the image for violating its strict terms of use. In other words, there was a little too much nipple.The black and white portrait, taken from Garage magazine, is a sneak peek of her upcoming two volume TASCHEN book, and was shot by renowned photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. [Dazed Digital] The picture remained on Cambell’s Twitter feed below:
Naomi Cambell Free the Nipple Tweet

Dislike button: Why Facebook wants to know what makes you sad –
It has finally happened. “Today is a special day” declared Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a live “in-person townhall” event. Almost casually, he dropped a bombshell that has ignited technology commentators overnight: Facebook is getting a new button. Yes, alongside “like” will be something else. It almost certainly will not be a “dislike” button. The widespread news is that Facebook will twin “like” with “dislike”, long one of the most popular suggestions from Facebook users. However, if you actually listen to what Zuckerberg said, he rules this out: “we didn’t wanna just build a dislike button…[where] people were voting up or down people’s posts…what they really want is an ability to express empathy”. [Daily Telegraph]
Mark Zuckerberg

Video of the Day –

Escaping Anderson Springs during Valley Fire

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#IStandWithAhmed	#IStandWithAhmed	#IStandWithAhmed
2	カッコの中	#GOPDebate	#PMQs
3	#MasterChefBR	#TheNewBrokenScene	Luke Shaw
4	#TheNewBrokenScene	#MalikPositivity	#TheNewBrokenScene
5	#SerMexicanoEsOtroPedo	#BadMovieMashups	National Anthem
6	#ALDUB2ndMonthsary	Viva Mexico	#AskACurator
7	#iOS9	Steve Rannazzisi	#HorribleWaysToStartAStory
8	#BadMovieMashups	iOS 9	#BadMovieMashups
9	ツイッター国勢調査	Chile	#AskBritney
10	#UnPlacerDeLaVidaEs	SABMiller	William Hague

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- PKK attacks kill five Turkish police officers in the southeastern Mardin and Hakkâri provinces. The Turkish Army claims to have killed nine militants. (Daily Sabah), (Reuters via Daily Star)
2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- Soldiers detain the interim president and prime minister of Burkina Faso as well as a number of cabinet ministers sparking fear of a coup d’etat. A joint statement by the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States states that the presidential guard should immediately release the leaders of the interim government. (Al-Jazeera), (Reuters)

Business and economy

Hewlett-Packard, which has struggled for years in a declining PC market, will cut up to 33,300 jobs over the next three years, mostly in its enterprise business. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

One person is dead and fourteen missing after floods hit Huaping County in China‘s Yunnan province. (Xinhua)
Tropical cyclone effects in Europe
- The remnants of former Tropical Storm Henri combines with another storm in western Europe to cause heavy rains and possible floods in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal. (AccuWeather)
The death toll rises to 16 from this week’s “once-in-a-century” flash flood along the Utah – Arizona border in the United States as four more bodies were found in Utah’s Zion National Park with another three people still missing. (Christian Science Monitor)
An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale occurs in the Pacific Ocean near Chile sparking a tsunami warning. At least five people die. (AP via ABC News America), (USGS), (CNN)

Health

A cholera outbreak kills at least 16 people in three camps for displaced people fleeing Boko Haram in Nigeria. (France 24)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Dozens of migrants reach the border of Serbia and Croatia which has become the new route for migrants denied entry to Hungary. (BBC)
- Hungarian riot police and migrants clash at the now-closed border crossing near Horgos. (BBC)

Law and crime

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denies Kim Davis‘ request to have same-sex marriage licenses delayed, but does not toss out her appeal entirely. (AP via MSN)

Sports

The International Olympic Committee announces the bidding cities for the 2024 Summer Olympics: Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris, and Rome. (CNN)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Universal urination duration’ wins Ig Nobel prize –
A study showing that nearly all mammals take the same amount of time to urinate has been awarded one of the 2015 Ig Nobel prizes at Harvard University. These spoof Nobels for “improbable research” are in their 25th year.
The team behind the urination research, from Georgia Tech, won the physics Ig. Using high-speed video analysis, they modelled the fluid dynamics involved in urination and discovered that all mammals weighing more than 3kg empty their bladders over about 21 seconds. Run by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, this is a jubilantly irreverent affair. It has become world famous for recognising scientific achievements that “make people laugh, and then think”. This year’s Ig winners travelled from six continents to accept their trophies. The triumphant research included a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg, and the discovery that the word “huh?” occurs in every human language. [BBC] See List of the Day

Valcke’s reign at FIFA likely to be at an end –
For the second time in his career, Jerome Valcke leaves FIFA with a cloud hanging over him. Sepp Blatter’s lieutenant for the past eight years, Valcke became the highest profile figure in the corruption-plagued organization to fall during the current series of scandals when he was “released from his duties” on Thursday and it appears unlikely he will return. The Frenchman has not been formally dismissed but Blatter is standing down in February and Valcke had already suggested he would probably go at that time as well. The 54-year-old, however, is now being investigated by FIFA’s ethics committee after allegations he was involved in a plan to re-sell 2014 World Cup tickets for a lucrative profit. [Reuters]
Jérôme_Valcke

Sperm banks attract customers by offering them enough cash to buy a new iPhone –
Chinese sperm banks have been saying that there is no need to sell a kidney to afford an iPhone, just your bodily fluids. Renji Hospital in Shanghai is one among several facilities offering enough money to buy an iPhone if men donate sperm. The hospital wrote in an online posting: “No need to sell your kidneys – you can easily have a 6s,” which refers to cases where people actually sold their organs to be able to afford Apple products. The advert says that if a man passes a health test and then regularly donates his sperm, he can earn enough money to purchase an iPhone. This amounts to 6,000 yuan (£610) which is enough to buy the new iPhone 6s. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Does Your School Matter? – ASAP Science

List of the Day –

Winners of the Ig Awards 2015 [BBC]

Chemistry – Callum Ormonde (University of Western Australia) and colleagues, for inventing a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg.

Physics – Patricia Yang (Georgia Institute of Technology, US) and colleagues, for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds).

Literature – Mark Dingemanse (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands) and colleagues, for discovering that the word “huh?” (or its equivalent) seems to exist in every human language – and for not being quite sure why.

Management – Gennaro Bernile (Singapore Management University) and colleagues, for discovering that many business leaders developed in childhood a fondness for risk-taking, when they experienced natural disasters (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and wildfires) that – for them – had no dire personal consequences.

Economics – The Bangkok Metropolitan Police (Thailand) for offering to pay policemen extra cash if the policemen refuse to take bribes.

Medicine – joint award: Hajime Kimata (Kimata Hajime Clinic, Japan) and also Jaroslava Durdiaková (Comenius University, Slovakia) and her collagues, for experiments to study the biomedical benefits or biomedical consequences of intense kissing (and other intimate, interpersonal activities).

Mathematics – Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Karl Grammer (University of Vienna, Austria) for trying to use mathematical techniques to determine whether and how Moulay Ismael the Bloodthirsty, the Sharifian Emperor of Morocco, managed, during the years from 1697 through 1727, to father 888 children.

Biology – Bruno Grossi (University of Chile) and colleagues, for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked.

Diagnostic medicine – Diallah Karim (Stoke Mandeville Hospital, UK) and colleagues, for determining that acute appendicitis can be accurately diagnosed by the amount of pain evident when the patient is driven over speed bumps.

Physiology and entomology – Awarded jointly to two individuals: Justin Schmidt (Southwest Biological Institute, US) for painstakingly creating the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates the relative pain people feel when stung by various insects; and to Michael L. Smith (Cornell University, US), for carefully arranging for honey bees to sting him repeatedly on 25 different locations on his body, to learn which locations are the least painful (the skull, middle toe tip, and upper arm). and which are the most painful (the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft).

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#GOPDebate	Sauce Walka	Chile
2	#Money5SOS	#ConstitutionDay	#AddYourselfToAMovie
3	Chile	#Money5SOS	#GOPDebate
4	Happy Ganesh Chaturthi	#MashupAMovieAndMusic	#Money5SOS
5	#اين_ستقضي_اجا�…	#ShareACoke	#MashupAMovieAndMusic
6	#ALDUBMaiDenForREAL	#MyDeathWillLikelyInvolve	Margaret Thatcher
7	#WhereIsLauren	Ann Coulter	Jack Straw
8	#اسم_بنت_حلو	#ScariestHauntedHouseWould…	#ForwardBirmingham
9	#FelizJueves	Milo Hamilton	Lallana
10	#اسوء_انواع_ال�…	#SexyStarWars	#SexyStarWars

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War (2014–present)
- At least 21 people are killed in multiple attacks in Baghdad with more than 70 others injured. (BBC), (Headlines & Global News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Houthi militants parade captured Saudi soldiers on pro-Houthi Al Masirah TV. (AFP via Yahoo)
- Arab Coalition warplanes bomb Yemen‘s capital Sanaa targeting a high-profile Houthi leader’s house. At least nine civilians are killed in the attack. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that the government has used barrel bombs resulting in the deaths of 21 people in the rebel held town of Bosra in the Daraa Governorate. (AFP via France 24)

Business and economy

The United States Federal Reserve decides to leave interest rates at a record low. (Reuters)
US car maker General Motors pays $900 million fine to settle a criminal lawsuit over problems with the ignition system in its small cars. (AP via Yahoo! Autos)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Illapel earthquake
- Thousands of people in the Chilean town of Illapel sleep outside following yesterday’s 8.3 magnitude earthquake as the death toll rises to 11. (CBS News), (Reuters)
- Waves of up to 4.5 meters are recorded at Coquimbo, Chile. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, etc., issue tsunami advisories for Pacific Ocean coastlines. (The Guardian), (Westside Today)
Nearly 180 people are killed in South Sudan after an oil tanker truck veers off the road and explodes. (RT), (The Independent), (Voice of America)
2015 California wildfires
- The death toll rises to five in the Butte and Valley Fires. Most bodies have been found in mandatory evacuation areas. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office says the majority of missing persons have been located at shelters or evacuation centers.(Sacramento Bee), (Reuters)
American Airlines halts flights for 90 minutes at its major hubs in Chicago, Dallas, and Miami because of a computer glitch. The incident produces a cascading effect of delays throughout all US airlines. (UPI)

Health

Fourteen people have died of dengue fever in the Indian city of Delhi. (NDTV)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Seven thousand migrants arrive in Croatia with the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic placing the army on standby. (WA Today)
- The European Parliament approves (372–124 with 54 abstentions) a European Commission plan to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers around the EU. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), (EuroNews)

Politics and elections

2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- The provisional government of Burkina Faso is overthrown in a military coup. (The Daily Telegraph), (BBC)
- Coup leaders announce on national television and radio that General Gilbert Diendéré is now the head of state of a new transitional body, the “National Council for Democracy”. (AP via Huffington Post), (Al Jazeera America)
- At least three people were killed and more than 60 injured after members of the presidential guard acted to disperse crowds protesting the takeover. (Irish Times)
Fist-fights erupt between legislators in the National Diet of Japan over a security bill that would allow Japan Self-Defense Forces to fight abroad. Japan had previously sent only a small amount of troops to Iraq. (AFP via StraitsTimes), (BBC)
Brazil’s Supreme Court issues a decision that bans corporate money in elections. This ruling comes as a major investigation is underway in the country on a campaign financing bribery and corruption scandal. (Singapore Today Online), (AP via Fox News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 18, 2015

Top News Stories –

Rugby World Cup 2015 Opening Day celebrated with Google Doodle –
Google has marked the start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup with a special doodle. In the doodle, the “G” of Google is transformed into an animated rugby player running through the rain with a rugby ball under his arm.
According to Matt Cruickshank, who designed the doodle, it is intended to celebrate “the girth and gracefulness of the 2015 World Cup players”. “Having grown up playing rugby in England, I can still feel the muddy squelch in my boots lining up on the pitch for lessons,” he said. “After a few concepts I concentrated on the vice like grip of an arm around the ball and how this could be used as a ‘G’. I even added rain for the full effect.” [Daily Telegraph]

Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army –
President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services. Fanning, 47, has been a specialist on national security issues for more than two decades and has played a key role overseeing some of the Pentagon’s biggest shipbuilding and fighter jet programs. Fanning’s nomination, which must go to the Senate for confirmation, reflects a major shift for the Pentagon, which only four years ago prevented openly gay troops from serving in the military. The policy didn’t extend to civilian leaders, such as Fanning. [Washington Post]
Eric Fanning

Video of the Day –

1 Question That Reveals a Narcissist: “The Science of Us” Episode 9

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#RWC2015	#NationalCheeseburgerDay	#fridayfeeling
2	#SiAlgoNecesitoEsQue	Lira	#RWC2015
3	Hayırlı Cumalar	#ThingsWeAlwaysHate	#BrightonSEO
4	Meral Akşener	#IStandWithPP	#DavisCup
5	#عصير_تنصح_به	Bristol Palin	#StillYes
6	Felipe González	#fridayreads	Cardiff Castle
7	#ALDUBOneMoreDay	Obama a Muslim	#DontPanic
8	#شخصيه_تاريخيه…	Baby Doe	#Fattening90sBands
9	Coritiba	#OppositeDay	#bbcqt
10	Andy Reid	#MakeAFilmAnxious	Peyton

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel deploys an extra 800 Israeli police officers as Palestinians call for a “day of rage” protests in Jerusalem over entry restrictions to Al-Aqsa mosque. A police vehicle in Jerusalem was attacked with assault rifle fire. (Jerusalem Post), (Al Jazeera America)
2015 Camp Badaber attack
- Two security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed following a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan Air Force base on the outskirts of Peshawar. (The Express Tribune), (Reuters via SBS)
Syrian Civil War
- Russia moves its first tactical fighter jets to Syria, according to American sources. (CNN)
- The United States Secretary of State John Kerry agrees to begin military to military talks with Russia concerning Russia’s military activities in Syria. (The New York Times)
- At least 26 people are killed following Syrian Arab Air Force air-raids on the Islamic State-held central Syrian city of Palmyra according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Shells fired by Yemeni forces across the border from Yemen kill at least three people and wound 28 others in the Jizan region. (Daily Star)

Business and economy

European communications company Altice announces plans to buy US cable television company Cablevision for $17.7 billion. (NPR via KVCR)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency orders Volkswagen to fix nearly 500,000 VW and Audi diesel cars from model years 2009-2015 that include software that circumvents EPA emissions standards. (AP via Fox News), (EPA)
In India, about 2.3 million people respond to the state of Uttar Pradesh’s announcement of 368 low-level government jobs openings that pay 16,000 rupees ($240) a month. At least 255 of the applicants had a doctorate and over 200,000 had master’s degrees. (AP)

Health

A national alert is issued in the United Kingdom about a strain of gonorrhea that is highly drug resistant after 15 cases are reported in northern England. (AAP via SBS)
Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
- Ebola virus cases in the United States
  - United States authorities announce mandatory Ebola screening will end for travelers from Liberia to five U.S. airports, effective September 21, 2015. Screening of travelers from Sierra Leone and Guinea will continue. (USA Today)

International relations

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moves to enact legislation allowing the Japan Self-Defense Forces to serve overseas. Yesterday, fist-fights erupted in the parliament over this legislation. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- Croatia closes seven out of eight border crossings with Serbia. Zoran Milanović, the Prime Minister, says that his country “will move migrants on”. (BBC), (BBC)
Cuba–United States relations
- The United States departments of Commerce and Treasury announce removal of a series of restrictions on Americans traveling to and doing business with Cuba effective September 21, 2015. The U.S. economic embargo, itself, remains in place untilCongress acts. (USA Today), (Reuters)
A Venezuelan Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKK crashes near the Colombian border after an illicit aircraft, probably linked to illicit drugs, enters Venezuelan airspace. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Law and Crime

Baby Doe, a toddler who was found washed ashore Deer Island in Massachusetts in a trash bag, is identified as Bella Bond. (CNN)
Phoenix freeway shootings
- Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey states that 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. is ballistically linked to four incidents and arrested in Glendale, Arizona after a SWAT raid. Merritt was previously charged twice in 2013, the first for failing to stop at the scene of a damaged vehicle, and the second for assault and criminal damage. Police state that he is known to hold anti-government and anti-police views. He is charged with four counts each of aggravated assault, criminal damage, disorderly conduct, discharging a firearm within city limits, carrying out a drive-by shooting, and intentional acts of terrorism; and his bail is set at $1 million. (ABC15), (KOB), (HEAVY), (ABC News), (Q13FOX), (AZ Central), (CNN), (Yahoo News), (NBC News)

Politics and elections

The President of the United States nominates Eric Fanning as the first openly LGBT Secretary of the Army. (Washington Post)

Sports

In football, Jérôme Valcke steps aside as Secretary General of FIFA while his alleged involvement in a ticketing scandal is investigated. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
In rugby union, the opening ceremony of the 2015 Rugby World Cup is held at Twickenham. (The Guardian)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 19, 2015

Top News Stories –

Novelist Jackie Collins dies aged 77 –
The novelist Jackie Collins has died of breast cancer at the age of 77, her family said in a statement. “It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one-of-a-kind mother,” the statement said. The British-born writer, sister of actress Joan Collins, died in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman said. Collins’s raunchy novels of the rich and famous sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries.
In a career spanning four decades, all 32 of her novels appeared in the New York Times bestseller list. [BBC]
Jackie Collins

Japan shocks the rugby world and Twitter erupts –
80-1 outsiders to beat South Africa, Japan’s win over the two-times world champions has sent Twitter into a frenzy. Japan’s utterly well-deserved conquering of the mighty Springboks [32-34] has, unsurprisingly, made Twitter’s rugby community quite excited.The bookmakers usually know a thing or two about these things, yet more than a few people would have thought this morning that even 40-1 for the Brave Blossoms to win against the Boks was rather generous. For those who don’t understand how big a shock this was, @Burgerboxx provided an interesting, and somewhat useful, analogy. [Daily Telegraph]

Guinness World Record judicator hit in head by robot at giant Belfast Meccano bridge opening –
Engineering students have set a new world record with a 100ft footbridge made from Meccano. The temporary structure – weighing in at approximately 1,300lbs – has been built 100 feet long across Belfast’s Clarendon Dock and was unveiled at an event on Saturday. Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to confirm it had set a record for the world’s largest ever Meccano construction. However the event did not go quite as smoothly as organisers hoped, with a giant Meccano robot believed to have malfunctioned and swiped a Guinness World Record judicator round the head.Dr Danny McPolin from the school of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, who led the project, said: “If you count all the nuts and bolts and washers, there is approximately 70,000. “In terms of the longer pieces, if they’re all laid out end-to-end I think it would be about 3.8kms – approximately 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Inferno – Time Slice (Bullet Time) Camera Array from Mitch Martinez on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate	#TalkLikeAPirateDay	#WhatDidZoeySay
2	#WhatDidZoeySay	#ItDrivesMeCrazyWhen	Brian Sewell
3	#QueenNoMultishow	#THANKYOUZAYNFORCOMINGBACK	#TalkLikeAPirateDay
4	#الشيخ_راشد_بن_…	#iHeartRadio	#iHeartRadio
5	#THANKYOUZAYNFORCOMINGBACK	#GotCastInARealityShow	Japan
6	Diego Costa	#iHeartShawnMendes	#MakeAFilmConfused
7	Granada	Leonard Fournette	Costa
8	#TeGanasMiOdioSi	#2YearsOfWhereverYouAre	West Ham
9	VoteBieberOnEMA	#SGHastaSiempre	#DavisCup
10	貞ちゃん	Diego Costa	Obama is a Muslim

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Islamist rebels execute 56 Syrian Army personnel following the capture of the Abu al-Duhur airbase in the Idlib Governorate according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Telegraph), (The News Hub)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- At least 55 are killed when Turkish warplanes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in northern Iraq, according Turkey’s security sources. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi-led military coalition bombards government buildings and residential neighborhoods in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, killing about 30 people, including civilians. Rescuers continue searching for other possible victims buried under the rubble. (AP viaOrange County Register), (Xinhuanet)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis departs from Rome to begin his Apostolic Visit to Cuba, where he will visit Havana, Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba, and meet with Raul Castro. The visit is his first there, and the third to the country by a reigning Pope. Francis will then visit the US, also his first visit there as Pope. In the US, he will address a joint session of Congress (the first by an incumbent Pope), meet with President Obama, canonize Junipero Serra, tour a prison and the World Trade Center site, hold Masses in New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, and preside over the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. (Vatican), (USCCB), (The New York Times)
Sábado Gigante, the world’s longest running variety show in television history, ends after 53 years on air. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy rain triggers flash floods killing 10 people in Tehran and southern Iran with eight others missing. (AP via CP24)
Ten Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad ethanol tanker cars derail and two catch fire in southeast South Dakota between the towns of Scotland and Lesterville. No injuries are reported and no nearby structures are threatened by the fire. (AP via ABC News)

Health

2015 Dengue fever outbreaks
- Authorities in the Dominican Republic issue an alert as the number of deaths (57 this year) and cases of dengue fever continue to rise. (AP via ABC News)
- The Delhi government defers elective surgery to free up 1000 hospital beds to treat a dengue fever outbreak. (Times of India)

International relations

Japanese Self-Defense Forces
- Japan’s upper chamber of Parliament approves controversial legislation, which the lower chamber passed in July, that expands the role of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces overseas. (CNN), (Mainichi Daily News)
European migrant crisis, Croatia–Hungary relations
- Hungarian security forces confiscate a Croatian train carrying 1000 migrants and disarm 40 Croatian police officers accompanying the migrants. Hungarian authorities repatriate the officers. (Sky News)
- Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović says Croatia will ‘force’ Hungary to accept migrants by sending them to the Hungarian border. Hungary responded angrily calling Milanović “pathetic” and accused Croatia of human smuggling. (BBC)
- Croatia allows some asylum seekers to move on past its borders into Hungary and Slovenia. (Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- Italy rescues thousands of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. (Al-Jazeera)
- A five-year-old Syrian girl dies and several other refugees are missing after their boat sinks in the Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard says it rescued 11 people from the boat carrying 26 people. (AFP via Asian Age),(Reuters)
Egypt’s new Cabinet is sworn in before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a week after the previous administration resigned following a corruption scandal, and a month before parliamentary elections. The 33-member body has 16 new ministers, including two women. Sherif Ismail, petroleum minister in the last cabinet, is the new prime minister. (Egyptian Streets), (Reuters)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation launches an investigation of money laundering associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund. (Wall Street Journal)

Sports

2015 Rugby World Cup
- In what media called “the greatest shock in rugby history”, Japan defeat two-time World Cup champion South Africa 34–32 in Brighton. (ESPN (UK))
- In another result viewed as a surprise, Georgia defeat Tonga 17–10 in Gloucester. In the match, Georgia’s 18-year-old Vasil Lobzhanidze becomes the youngest player ever to appear in a Rugby World Cup match. (PA via ESPN (UK))

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

Bridge cheating scandal grows as top German players admit ‘ethical violations’ –
Three weeks after a fellow bridge professional threatened to name and shame those he believed were cheating, German bridge partners Josef Piekarek & Alex Smirnov have publicly confessed to “ethical violations”. In apparent attempt to jump before they were pushed, the pair even suggested their own punishments for their behaviour, saying in a statement: “We are aware of the “whispers” circulating about our ethical conduct, and we are sorry to say there is some truth to them. We have voluntarily agreed never again to play competitive bridge together and to take two years off from playing competitive bridge.” The German Bridge Federation and the World Bridge Federation have yet to respond to the admission by Smirnov & Piekarek, [Daily Telegraph]

Apple’s iOS App Store suffers first major attack –
The company [Apple] disclosed the effort after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps. It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple’s stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, a total of just five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.N). The hackers embedded the malicious code in these apps by convincing developers of legitimate software to use a tainted, counterfeit version of Apple’s software for creating iOS and Mac apps, which is known as Xcode, Apple said. [Reuters]

Greek elections: Alexis Tsipras emerges as clear winner in shock result –
Greece’s radical former prime minister Alexis Tsipras returned to office on Sunday night after his far-left Syriza party won a clear victory in Greece’s general election. Despite a tepid campaign that saw Mr Tsipras’s personal popularity fall sharply, preliminary results showed the 41-year-old’s far-left Syriza party had won sufficient seats to form a coalition government in the coming days. After a tight race, Syriza ran out comfortable winners, with initial projections showing them falling only five or six seats short of the 151 seats needed to govern. [Daily Telegraph] Tsipras announced he was resigning has called an early election on August 20, 2015
Alexis Tsipras winning tweet
Alexis Tsipras

Video of the Day –

Agostina Gálvez captures three Olympic gymnast hopefuls in action from NOWNESS on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Primetime Emmy Award winners [Reuters]

BEST DRAMA SERIES – “Game of Thrones”

BEST COMEDY SERIES – “Veep”

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Viola Davis, “How To Get Away With Murder”

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Uzo Aduba, “Orange is the New Black”

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Tony Hale, “Veep”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Allison Janney, “Mom”

VARIETY TALK SERIES – “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”

VARIETY SKETCH SERIES – “Inside Amy Schumer”

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM – “The Voice”

LIMITED SERIES – “Olive Kitteridge”

ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Richard Jenkins, “Olive Kitteridge”

ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE – Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jackie Collins	#Emmys	Jackie Collins
2	#AlgoQueMeVendriaReBien	#3YearsSinceLWWY	#6hCOTA
3	Ole Miss	Ole Miss	#MOTD
4	Metallica	#WATTBA	#WALvURU
5	#ALDUBLoveteamOnKMJS	#WWENOC	#NZLvARG
6	#3YearsSinceLWWY	Richard Dawkins	#XFactor
7	#DespedidaGigante	#iHeartJackandJack	Martial
8	Tevez	Bills	#SingaporeGP
9	#TerörBahaneMitingŞahane	#ATLvsNYG	#AskZoella
10	#TeröreKarşıTekSes	#WeCanOnlyGetAlongIf	Match of the Day

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- At least 14 people are killed as rebels shell a neighborhood in western Aleppo. (AP via ABC News)
Yemeni Civil War
- Houthi rebels release six foreign hostages; three Americans, two Saudis, and a Briton. (BBC)

Arts and culture

67th Primetime Emmy Awards
- The Emmy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California with Game of Thrones winning the Emmy for best drama series. (ABC News Australia)

Business and economy

Volkswagen halts sales of its 4-cylinder diesel vehicles in the United States following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency citation that their cars violated U.S. emissions standards. (Auto Guide), (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- Some 26 migrants are feared missing after a dinghy carrying them sinks off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard rescued 20 people who were spotted in the water by Frontex, EU’s border agency. (RTE), (AP via WSB-TV2)
- At least 13 migrants died when a ferry and their inflatable dinghy collided off the northwestern Turkish port of Canakkale. Twenty people were rescued while another 13 are still missing. (BBC), (i24 News)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that the United States will accept 85,000 refugees from the world in 2016, up from this year’s 70,000 refugees, and will increase to 100,000 refugees in 2017. (Washington Post)
- Austrian officials report 11,000 migrants crossed into the country from Hungary on Saturday, and another 7,000 are expected today. Seven trains are scheduled to transport 3,500 of these travelers to Germany. (CBS News)

Law and crime

Apple‘s iOS App Store suffers its first major cyber attack. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Greek legislative election, September 2015
- Voters in Greece go to the polls for the third time this year with Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) again winning a plurality in the Hellenic Parliament. (The Guardian), (The Globe and Mail via Worldwide Herald)
- Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, whose resignation last month as prime minister mandated this snap election, says a coalition government will again be formed with the right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL) party. (Sputnik Media), (The Telegraph)
Constitution of Nepal
- A new constitution comes into effect in Nepal establishing it as a modern secular state. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 21, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple ‘sets shipping date for electric car’ –
Apple has designated building an electric car as a “committed project” and has set a target shipping date for 2019, according to reports. The project has been codenamed Titan and its leaders have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the Wall Street Journal claimed. For Apple, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product’s main features. Reports in August revealed that Apple was developing a car and studying self-driving technology, but it was unclear if the iPhone maker was designing a vehicle that could drive itself. [Daily Telegraph]

Foo Fighters ‘kicked off’ performing at Emmys after disagreement with Fox –
Dave Grohl says Foo Fighters were “kicked off” performing at the Emmy’s after a disagreement with Fox. The singer said that the band had been approached to play at the ceremony. But he says their spot was pulled after they refused to play half of Sonic Highways and half of Learning To Fly. “The band and the Academy were extremely happy and excited to have Foo Fighters play as the first ever rock band on the Emmys,” the Foos said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine. “Fox then refused to allow the band to play a full song from the Emmy-winning Sonic Highways. [BBC Newsbeat]
Dave Grohl

Video of the Day –

Movie Phone Super Call from Burger Fiction on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Happy Dhanteras	#StopTheGOP	#ThingsLongerThanOscarsSen…
2	#ThingsLongerThanOscarsSen…	#PLLHalloweenSpecial	Renee Zellweger
3	#NoMeSale	Renee Zellweger	#HurricaneGonzalo
4	#ZaynMalikSexiest	#ZaynMalikSexiest	Mike Read
5	Christophe de Margerie	Monica Lewinsky	#WelcomeToNewYork
6	Gough Whitlam	Christmas	Orton
7	Renee Zellweger	#ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly	#HIAC
8	#RIPOscarDeLaRenta	#RIPOscarDeLaRenta	#RAWKansasCity
9	#KwentongJEEPNEY	#ImprovedBaseball	BMTH
10	#marry	RIP Oscar de la Renta	Halloween

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Russia’s role in the Syrian Civil War
- U.S. officials say Russia has begun flying drones on surveillance missions over Syria in what would be Russia’s first military air operations in the country since the recent military build-up at a Syrian airbase in Latakia. (Reuters)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- A car bomb in Somalia kills at least six people at the gates of the presidential palace in Mogadishu. (BBC)
Iraq War (2014–present)
- An Islamic State car bomb kills at least 12 people in Baghdad. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi-led military coalition bombardment in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, kills at least 50 people. (Reuters)
Moro conflict
- Gunmen abduct a Norwegian resort manager, two Canadians, and a Filipino from a resort in the southern Philippines. (AP)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis, on the second day of his journey in Cuba, leaves Havana for Holguin. He says a Mass at Revolution Plaza, blesses Holguin from the Loma de la Cruz area, arrives in Santiago de Cuba, flies to Santiago de Cuba, meets with the Cuban Bishops at Saint Basil the Great Seminary, and says a prayer with them at the Minor Basilica of the Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Shrine of Our Lady of del Cobre). (CNN)

Business and economy

French regulator Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) rejects Google, Inc.’s appeal of their order that the company remove ‘Right to be forgotten (RTBF)‘ search results worldwide. Failure to comply could subject Google to sanctions, from €300,000 (US$465,060) to 5 percent of global operating costs. The Guardian, (PC World)
Apple Inc announces that it will speed up work on an electric car to be ready by 2019. (Wall Street Journal), (VentureBeat)
Many Skype users are unable to access the service. The Microsoft-owned company acknowledges the problem. (Reuters), (Skype)

Disasters and accidents

The toll of homes destroyed by Northern California wildfires reaches 1,600. (AP)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Hungary‘s parliament passes a law allowing the Hungarian military to help handle the migrant crisis at its borders with Serbia and Croatia, including the right to use non-lethal force such as rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades or net guns. (Reuters)
- The United States White House announces the U.S. will give $419 million more in humanitarian aid to assist Syrian refugees and the countries that are hosting them. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

In Auckland, New Zealand, an extradition hearing for Kim Dotcom, former owner of a file sharing website, for alleged copyright infringement, racketeering, and money laundering begins, seeking to bring him to the U.S. (BBC)
At least eight people are killed and 45 wounded in shootings over the weekend across Chicago. (Fox Chicago)
A Denver, Colorado federal jury convicts Harold Henthorn of murder in the death of his wife Toni Henthorn, who fell off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate their wedding anniversary. His previous wife had died in suspicious circumstances also. (AP)
Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell is sentenced to 28 years for Salmonella typhimurium-tainted peanut butter, the most severe punishment ever handed out to a producer in a foodborne illness case. In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people in 46 states, half of them children, fell ill. Parnell and his brother were convicted in September 2014 of 71 criminal counts. His brother Michael Parnell is sentenced to 20 years, and the plant’s former quality control manager Mary Wilkerson is sentenced to five years. (LA Times), (USA Today)

Politics and elections

Political parties in Northern Ireland hold talks to save a power-sharing agreement following claims that Irish nationalist militants were involved in the murder of a former operative. (Reuters)
United States presidential election, 2016
- Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker quits his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The New York Times)
2015 Burkinabe coup d’état
- The coup leader General Gilbert Diendéré says that he is ready to hand over power to transitional authorities as the army marches on the capital Ouagadougou. (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 22, 2015

Top News Stories –

Robert Lewandowski scores fastest five goals in Budesliga history –
Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes after coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga victory against Wolfsburg. Bayern trailed 1-0 at half-time, when Lewandowski came on for Thiago. Six minutes later, the Poland international netted his first goal of the night from close range. Lewandowski added four more in quick succession to record the fastest five goals scored by one player in Bundesliga history. [BBC]
Robert Lewandowski

Volkswagen CEO: ‘We have totally screwed up’ –
The President and CEO of Volkswagen’s US group has admitted that the company “totally screwed up” in using software to rig emissions tests. Michael Horn told an audience in New York that Volkswagen had been “dishonest” and that their actions went against their own “values”. Last Friday, US regulators said VW diesel cars had much higher emissions than tests had suggested. Some other governments have announced they will also investigate. [BBC]

Heist havoc: US bank robber shot by customer –
A US bank robber has ended up in hospital after his heist went spectacularly wrong and he was shot by a customer of the bank he was trying to hold up. The drama unfolded in the Michigan city of Warren. The robber was in the middle of holding up the bank and was about to be given money by the teller when he was shot in both arms and a leg by a bank customer, according to the Local 4 news station. The robber fled the bank but was later found by police lying on the street, bleeding. The bank robber is now in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The customer, who had a concealed weapon licence, is co-operating with police. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

The Big Short Trailer

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ReContraDaPara	#IfICouldTimeTravel	#ThingsLongerThanOscarsSen…
2	#IfICouldTimeTravel	#ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly	Renee Zellweger
3	Renee Zellweger	Ben Bradlee	S Club 7
4	#OttawaShooting	Halloween	#IfICouldTimeTravel
5	Happy Deepavali	#OttawaShooting	Halloween
6	S Club 7	Renee Zellweger	London
7	Ben Bradlee	Christmas	#ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly
8	#ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly	#BryantAndNashNewVideo	#StillLoveYouNoMatterWhat
9	Parliament Hill	#WorldSeriesGame2	Christmas
10	#DahilSembreakNa	#PrayForOttawa	#artRAVEManchester

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- The army of Burkina Faso arrives in Ouagadougou to seek the surrender of the Presidential Guard that staged the coup. (BBC)
- The coup leaders free President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida after the army entered the capital, Ouagadougou. Negotiations, seeking a peaceful resolution, between the chief of the army and the leader of presidential guardcontinue. (DW Akademie)
Moro conflict
- Filipino troops stage raids to attempt to capture six overseas-born hostages held by Abu Sayyaf militants. (AP)
Syrian Civil War, Russia’s role in the Syrian Civil War
- IHS Jane’s reports satellite photos, taken in mid-September, show Russian forces developing two additional military facilities near Syria’s Mediterranean coast. (Reuters)
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the type of Russian aircraft in Syria is consistent with that needed to protect their own forces. However, it is still not clear what Russia’s long-term intentions are. (Voice of America), (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. from his last stop in Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, at Joint Base Andrews (formerly, Andrews Air Force Base), near Washington D.C., to start his first tour of the United States. He is received by U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, Marian Lois Robinson, U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden, his wife, U.S. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, two Biden granddaughters, the Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, military and base leaders, and Washington’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl. He will be received tomorrow morning in a second arrival ceremony, at the White House, and will meet with the President there. (The Guardian)
U.S. District Judge of California George H. King rules that Warner/Chappell Music does not hold the copyright to the song Happy Birthday to You. (Hollywood Reporter), (NBC News)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Volkswagen says that 11 million vehicles could have suspect emission control software and it has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.2 billion US dollars) for possible fines, repairs, and litigation. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Southeast Asian haze
- The haze from Indonesian forest fires worsens leaving Singapore and parts of Indonesia covered in smog. (Bloomberg via Business Times)
2015 California wildfires
- The President of the United States Barack Obama signs a disaster declaration for the Valley Fire which has claimed three lives in Lake County, California. (KCRA)

International relations

The President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos agree to gradually reopen their common border which had been closed following a Venezuelan crackdown on smuggling. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- European Union ministers meet in Brussels and reach agreement on a plan to distribute asylum seekers. (The New York Times), (AP via Fox News)
Two Cabinet ministers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s interim government resign over the increased violence in Kurdish areas of the country. Their exit leaves no opposition figures in the government. (Reuters), (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- The United States Justice Department launches an investigation of money laundering associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund, as well as the purchase of luxury properties in New York involving shell companies linked toMalaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s step-son Riza Aziz and businessman Jho Low. (Economic Times-India)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces a new anti-drug plan involving the substitution of legal crops for coca plantations. In July, the National Narcotics Council suspended the United States-backed aerial spraying of the crop after the World Health Organization reclassified glyphosate, the herbicide used, as a probable carcinogen. (AP via ABC News), (EFE via Fox News Latino), (COHA)

Sports

American Major League Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, manager, and coach Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, who played almost his entire 19-year baseball career (1946–65) for the New York Yankees, dies at the age of 90. (NBC News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

Facebook launches 360 video with Star Wars exclusive –
A short, exclusive Star Wars clip is among the first 360-degree videos to be posted on Facebook. The sequence, created by Lucasfilm’s special effects team ILMxLAB, allows users to look in all directions as the camera whizzes through the sci-fi scene. When watched on a normal computer, the mouse is used to move the view. On mobile devices, a user can move the device around to alter the perspective. Other 360 videos posted include content from Discovery, GoPro, NBC and Vice.[BBC]

All About That Bass writer says he got $5,679 from 178m streams –
Kevin Kadish, who wrote All About That Bass, says he made just $5,679 (£3,700) from 178 million streams of the song. “I’ve never heard a songwriter complain about radio royalties as much as streaming royalties,” Mr Kadish said. “That was the real issue for us, like one million streams equals $90 (£59).” Mr Kadish co-wrote All About That Bass with singer Meghan Trainor. She became the first act to enter the UK top 40 based purely on streams of All About That Bass. Streaming now accounts for one-third of the US music industry’s income, which remains relatively flat, with total revenue down 0.5% to $3.17bn (£2.05bn). [BBC Newsbeat]
Meghan Trainor

Video of the Day –

The Angry Birds Movie – Official Teaser Trailer

List of the Day –

List of most streamed songs in the United Kingdom – [from Wikipedia]

Song title	Artist	Released	Streams (millions)
“Radioactive“	Imagine Dragons	October 2012	19.7+
“Pompeii“	Bastille	February 2013	32.0+
“Let Her Go“	Passenger	February 2013	21.7+
“Get Lucky“	Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams	April 2013	24.5+
“Counting Stars“	OneRepublic	June 2013	19.7+
“Blurred Lines“	Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams	May 2013	20.7+
“Wake Me Up!“	Avicii	July 2013	21.4+
“All of Me“	John Legend	August 2013	38.7+
“Happy“	Pharrell Williams	November 2013	40.0+
“Timber“	Pitbull featuring Kesha	December 2013	21.0+
“Rather Be“	Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne	January 2014	41.0+
“Take Me to Church“	Hozier	January 2014	50.8
“Waves“	Mr Probz	February 2014	32.1+
“Stay with Me“	Sam Smith	April 2014	29.1+
“Thinking Out Loud“	Ed Sheeran	June 2014	60.1
“Uptown Funk“	Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars	December 2014	60.0
“Love Me like You Do“	Ellie Goulding	February 2015	30.0
“Cheerleader“	OMI	April 2015	40.0
“See You Again“	Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth	April 2015	29.5

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NoQuieroEnamorartePero	#LameApocalypses	Happy Diwali
2	#MessageToSelf	#AvengersAgeOfUltron	#MOBOAwards2014
3	#ReContraDaPara	#OttawaShooting	Lille
4	Happy Diwali	Halloween	Harry Roberts
5	Nathan Cirillo	Diwali in India	Age of Ultron
6	#NothingBeatsFIRST	#SheNeverLeft	Balotelli
7	#AngGustoKoLangNaman	Between Two Ferns	Alvin Stardust
8	#AklımdaykenSöyleyeyim	#AgeofUltron	#AgeofUltron
9	Diwali in India	#ICryAtRavesWhen	#OttawaShooting
10	Between Two Ferns	Avengers 2	MOBOs

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Colombian conflict (1964–present)
- The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of FARC Timoleón Jiménez will announce a deal on justice for crimes committed in the fifty-year-long conflict. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States
- Pope Francis makes his first ever visit to the U.S. and becomes the third Pope to visit the White House. He was received in an official welcome ceremony by President and Mrs. Obama and is scheduled to meet with a bishops’ conference of the United States and hold mass and canonize Junipero Serra at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, near the Catholic University of America. (AP via MSN), (The New York Times), (Washington Post), (CNN)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Martin Winterkorn resigns as the CEO of Volkswagen as a result of an emissions cheating scandal. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Two trains collide in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. (Tempo)

Law and crime

Egypt pardons al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been recently sentenced to three years in prison. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- Slovakia mounts a legal challenge to mandatory quotas decided in a European Union ministerial summit yesterday. (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 24, 2015

Top News Stories –

Hajj Stampede Near Mecca Leaves Over 700 Dead –
In streaming ribbons of white, great masses of Muslim pilgrims made their way between cities of air-conditioned tents toward the next stop on their holy tour of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Then something went disastrously wrong, trapping the crowds in narrow streets and touching off a mass panic and crushing stampede that left the asphalt covered with lost sandals, crumpled wheelchairs and piles of white-robed bodies. It was the deadliest accident during the hajj pilgrimage in a quarter-century, with at least 717 pilgrims from around the world killed and more than 850 injured. [NY Times]

Russian billionaire hands two ‘stolen’ Picassos to French authorities –
A Russian billionaire has handed in to French authorities two Picassos, valued at £20 million, that the artist’s stepdaughter claims were stolen from her. Dmitri Rybolovlev, who owns Monaco football club, insists he acquired the portraits of Picasso’s second wife, Jacqueline Picasso, in good faith from Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier. In a statement, Mr Rybolovlev’s family trust said it was handing over “Tête de femme. Profil” [Head of a Woman. Profile] and “Espagnole à l’éventail” [Spanish Woman with a Fan] as they “possess immeasurable aesthetic and sentimental value” for Catherine Hutin-Blay, Jacqueline’s daughter. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Lenny’s Garage from Peter Crosby on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#StealMyGirlVideoToday	#StealMyGirlVideoToday	Halloween
2	Lamela	#EbolaInNYC	Lamela
3	#OdioQue	Steve Nash	Christmas
4	#BenceMutluluk	Halloween	#StealMyGirlVideoToday
5	Salam Maal Hijrah	#JcHasAnAfro	Russell Brand
6	#MessageToSelf	#MakeAMoviePG	#artRAVELondon
7	#NoQuieroEnamorartePero	Honey Boo Boo	London
8	#YoPorVos	#RTJ2	Harry Kane
9	#HappyKrystalDay	#MarysvilleShooting	#LifeStory
10	Here Comes Honey Boo Boo	Run The Jewels 2	#AskNigelFarage

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- At least 29 people are killed in a bombing of a mosque in the Yemeni capital Sanaa during prayers for Eid al-Adha. (CNN)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- The government of Armenia claims that Azerbaijani forces shelled Tavush Province resulting in three deaths. (AFP via France 24)
Arab–Israeli conflict
- Israel’s security cabinet issues a three-year temporary order that sets a four-year minimum sentence for adult stone- and firebomb-throwers. In addition, new rules of engagement allow police to open fire when the life of a third party is under threat. (NBC News), (Haaretz), (Newsweek)
2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- The coup is reversed. Interim President Michel Kafando and interim Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida are reinstalled, and government soldiers are returned to their stations. Coup leader Gen. Gilbert Diendéré apologizes for the coup and the week-long unrest that killed at least 10 people. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suggests that elections, originally scheduled for Oct. 11, be held Nov. 22, and that candidate eligibility rules be more inclusive. (AP via Washington Post),(Reuters), (Big News Network)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States
- Pope Francis becomes the first Pope ever to address a Joint Session of the United States Congress. Afterwards, he greets onlookers at the National Mall. He addresses many issues: abortion and the sanctity of life, the importance of the family and of marriage, climate change, immigration and the refugee crises caused by global unrest, proper business conduct, and worldwide abolition of capital punishment. (AP via MSN), (CNN), (Washington Post), (Time), (Vatican)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Hajj stampede
- At least 719 people are dead and 863 people injured in a stampede near Mecca during the Hajj pilgramage in Saudi Arabia. (BBC), (The New York Times), (Washington Post)
At least four people are killed and 12 critically injured after a charter bus, a Ride the Ducks tour vehicle, and two smaller vehicles crash on the Aurora Bridge in the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington. (King 5)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Ten thousand migrants enter Hungary, mostly from Croatia, despite efforts by the Hungarian government and military to stop them. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Croatia and Serbia restrict cross-border traffic. (Reuters/AFP via ABC News Australia)
Luhansk People’s Republic officials in Donetsk told U.N. agencies and several other international NGOs to leave the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. Despite the Minsk Protocol and Minsk II peace agreements low intensity fighting and shelling continued non-stop in the region for over a year. There are fears that full-scale war will start because the breakaway regions plan on holding local elecion without approval from the Ukrainian government. (AP via ABC News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

Fifa: Sepp Blatter faces criminal investigation –
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of football’s world governing body Fifa. The attorney general’s office said he was suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a “disloyal payment” to European football chief Michel Platini. Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added. Fifa said it was co-operating with the investigation. Mr Blatter, 79, has run Fifa since 1998 and has always denied any wrongdoing. [BBC] In July FIFA turned down a request for Blatter to Attend U.S. Senate Panel hearing
Sepp Blatter

London Zoo love triangle: Meerkat keeper glassed rival over llama handler –
A meerkat keeper has been found guilty of assaulting a monkey keeper in a vicious brawl at London Zoo’s Christmas party which saw the two love rivals fight over the llama keeper. Caroline Westlake, who will be sentenced next month, hit her colleague Kate Sanders in the face with a glass leaving a wound that required stitches, a court heard on Friday. Miss Westlake claimed that it was an accident, and that Miss Sanders had already punched her, held her backwards over a 30 ft balcony and then spat at her. [Daily Telegraph]

Netflix adds gender reassignment to staff benefits list –
Netflix has added gender reassignment surgery to its list of staff benefits. The streaming entertainment service is not the only one – other technology companies including Facebook and Tesla also offer the option, along with hormone therapy, in a bid to be as diverse as possible. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11886148/Netflix-adds-gender-reassignment-to-staff-benefits-list.html [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#6MonthsWithoutZayn	#6MonthsWithoutZayn	#fridayfeeling
2	Boehner	#DonaldTrumpsGoogleHistory	#MacmillanCoffeeMorning
3	#MeMolestaMuchisimo	Boehner	#6MonthsWithoutZayn
4	#BuenViernes	#VVS15	#BUYSECRETSONITUNES
5	#SOADnoMultishow	#NewNFLTeams	Bond
6	#HTGAWM	Bryson Tiller	Sepp Blatter
7	Bond	Kevin McCarthy	#bbcqt
8	#ALDUBPreparationDay	#fridayreads	Nigel Farage
9	ゴジラ	Johns Island	#JapaneseGP
10	#ALDubEBforLOVE	#DrugTVShows	#secretsinlondon

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- Burkina Faso’s cabinet dissolves the elite presidential guard behind last week’s coup d’état, creates a commission to investigate these events, and dismisses the minister in charge of security. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- New Syrian Forces trade American supplied equipment to the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in return for safe passage. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Business and economy

The People’s Republic of China will launch a cap and trade policy creating a carbon market in 2017. (The Guardian)
Ukraine selectively bans certain Russian airlines such as Aeroflot and Transaero from flying to and through Ukraine. (Ukraine Today)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Hajj stampede
- King Salman of Saudi Arabia orders an investigation into the stampede near Mecca which has claimed over 700 lives and caused 800 injuries. (AFP/BBC via ABC News Australia)
2015 Southeast Asian haze
- Singapore closes its primary and secondary schools as smoke from the Indonesian fires raises air pollution to hazardous levels. (CNN)
Thirty-nine people are injured after an earthquake in the waters off the coast of the Indonesian province of West Papua. (New York Daily News)

Health

The BBC reports that Nigeria will be removed from the list of countries where polio is endemic. (BBC)

Law and crime

2015 FIFA corruption case
- The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland opens criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA Sepp Blatter. (CNN)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Croatia reopens its border with Serbia. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Hakubun Shimomura resigns as Japan‘s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology due to the design for the stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics being abandoned. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
John Boehner schedules his resignation from the position of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and from Congress for the end of October. (The New York Times), (Washington Post)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Michigan motorist sets car, gas pump on fire trying to kill spider with cigarette lighter –
A motorist got more than he bargained for when he stopped at a Michigan gas station earlier this week and started a fire when he tried to kill a spider with a cigarette lighter. Surveillance video from the Mobil gas station in Center Line shows flames quickly engulfing the man’s car and the gas pump, Fox 2 Detroit reported Friday, while adding that luckily no one was hurt. The dopey motorist put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. He told authorities he spotted a spider on his gas tank and pulled out his lighter to get rid of it, the station said. He claimed to be deathly afraid of spiders. Calmly, Adams hit the gas automatic stop button and quickly called the Center Line Fire Department. The fire destroyed the gas pump. The motorist’s vehicle suffered little damage. [Fox News] See Video of the Day

Mark Zuckerberg calls for universal internet access to combat poverty –
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and a host of celebrities kicked off a campaign on Saturday to make internet access universal, saying this was critical to fulfilling the United Nations’ newly adopted agenda to combat global ills. Calling for efforts to ensure internet access for everyone globally by 2020, Mr Zuckerberg said internet connections are a dynamic tool for sharing knowledge, creating opportunities, lifting communities out of poverty and promoting peace. “A ‘like’ or a post won’t stop a tank or a bullet, but when people are connected, we have a chance to build a common global community with a shared understanding,” Mr Zuckerberg told at a private lunch with business leaders at the United Nations. [Daily Telegraph]
Mark Zuckerberg

Switzerland bans sale of Volkswagen diesel cars –
Switzerland is banning sales of Volkswagen diesel engine cars which could be fitted with ‘cheating’ devices in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal. Authorities said all VW models with diesel engines suspected of being able to trick emissions tests are affected. Other makes in the VW group, including Seat and Skoda, are also being banned from sale. In all, the move is expected to affect 180,000 cars, not yet sold or registered in Switzerland. Cars sold and already on the road will not be subject to the ban. [Daily Telegraph] On September 22 the CEO of VW’s American company admitted that they had “screwed up” and subsequently resigned.

Video of the Day –

LiveLeak – Crazy Man Set Fire To Gas Station To Kill Spider

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDubEBforLOVE	#3YearsRIPAvalanna	#ENGvWAL
2	#3YearsRIPAvalanna	#BatmanDay	#PiggyFilms
3	#QueMeFalteTodoMenos	#GlobalCitizen	#Strictly
4	#ShowtimeKapamilyaDay	#MySexLifeInAMovieTitleIs	#LabWomen15
5	#1DPremiosTelehit	Meow the Jewels	#ComplainWithASong
6	Messi	#PopeInPhilly	#BatmanDay
7	#VerdadesSecretas	#ALDubEBforLOVE	#JapaneseGP
8	#BatmanDay	#ComplainWithASong	#3YearsRIPAvalanna
9	#SlipknotNoMultishow	#Popein3words	Bond
10	Newcastle	Chris Martin	#COYS

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Two Saudi border guards, including a district commander, are killed following clashes with Yemeni forces near the border with Yemen. (Reuters)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- At least four Armenian soldiers are killed following an Azeri attack near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Yesterday, Azerbaijan shelled several ethnic Armenian villages, leaving three civilians dead. (Reuters)
- Armenia‘s Defense Ministry declares that it will “use artillery and missiles” to repel attacks by Azerbaijan following the deaths of four soldiers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, raising fears of all-out war between the rival countries. (Fox News)
A prominent Libyan Zuwarah militia leader and migrant smuggler, Salah Al-Maskhout, is reportedly killed in Tripoli by Italian special forces. The EU recently approved military action against people smuggling networks operating out of Libya. (Malta Today)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Fighting in the south-eastern Şırnak Province kills thirty-four PKK militants, four civilians, and two Turkish soldiers. Also, the Turkish military conducts airstrikes on PKK camps in Iraq‘s northern Dohuk Governorate. (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Iraq says that Iran, Russia and Syria are assisting it in its fight with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Niala forms off the coast of the Hawaiian islands with the likelihood of heavy rain on the island of Hawaii (Big Island) over the weekend. (Accuweather)
A fire severely damages the Baitul Futuh Mosque, London, United Kingdom. (BBC News Online)
2015 Hajj stampede
- The death toll from the stampede near Mecca rises to 769, with 934 injuries. (ITV)

International relations

Russia-Estonia relations
- Russia and Estonia exchange two convicted spies. (BBC)

Law and crime

Ahmad Al Faqi is transferred to the International Criminal Court to face trial for the war crime of directing the destruction of cultural sites in Timbuktu, Mali when the city was under the control of Islamist groups in 2012. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

Bolivia‘s Plurinational Legislative Assembly passes legislation that would amend the constitution removing term limits for the President if passed in a referendum next year. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 27, 2015

Top News Stories –

Nicolas Sarkozy ‘insists his name must be printed larger than rivals’ on rally invitation –
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted on having invitations to a political rally reprinted to show his name twice as large as those of his rivals for the presidential nomination of his centre-Right party, The Republicans. Mr Sarkozy reportedly bristled when he saw his name on the original invitation in the same size letters as those of Alain Juppé and François Fillon. The two former prime ministers intend to run against Mr Sarkozy in a party primary next year. [Daily Telegraph]
Nicolas Sarkozy

Kanye says he’s serious about becoming president –
Kanye West says he’s totally serious about becoming US president in 2020.
In an interview with Vanity Fair he says he’s had lots of support since announcing plans to run for election. He says people are “really into the idea” because they think he’s “extremely thoughtful” and “probably the most honest celebrity we have”. One possible spanner in the works of his political ambitions, though: he “hates politics”. “I’m not a politician at all. I care about the truth and I just care about human beings. I just want everyone to win, that’s all I can say, and I think we can,” he says. [BBC Newsbeat]
[BBC Newsbeat]
Kanye West

Spieth caps season with $11.48 million double win –
Jordan Spieth capped a brilliant season in sensational style as he scored a four-stroke victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday that also won him the FedExCup playoffs title for an $11.48 million pay day. Spieth shot a closing one-under-par 69 at East Lake Golf Club for a nine-under total of 271 and his fifth win of the season, including the Masters and U.S. Open. The prize money haul included the $10 million jackpot bonus for winning the season’s FedExCup points competition, virtually clinched him Player of the Year honours and returned the 22-year-old American to the number one world ranking. [Reuters]
Jordan Spieth

Video of the Day –

ZERO-DAY from beeple on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#eleccionescatalanas	#SuperBloodMoon	#MakeAMovieYummy
2	中秋の名月	#GetFiredIn5Words	#JapaneseGP
3	Perrie	#InfinityDay	Perrie
4	#SuperBloodMoon	Arizona State	#Lab15
5	#特撮三昧	#UFCJapan	#SuperBloodMoon
6	#InfinityDay	Papelbon	#SCOvUSA
7	#RihannaNoRockInRio	Zendaya	Wilder
8	Oregon	Falcons	#UFCJapan
9	FlyNoLegendarios	Big Ben	Buglioni
10	#ماذا_تقول_لمن_…	Dolphins	#makeamovienorthern

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Air-strikes by Saudi helicopter gunships on the Yemeni village of Bani Zela in Yemen‘s Red Sea border area with Saudi Arabia kill at least 25 people. (Euronews)
Central African Republic Civil War (2012-present)
- Clashes between Christians and Muslims in the capital Bangui leaves at least 21 people dead and over 100 injured. (The Telegraph)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Militants reportedly allied to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launch coordinated attacks on government positions in the eastern Nangarhar Province close to the border with Pakistan. Two police officers are reportedly killed. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- Opération Chammal
  - France says it has carried out its first air-strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant within Syria, destroying a training camp in the east of the country. Previously, France had only carried out air-strikes in Iraq with consent of the Iraqi government. (Reuters)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Ten people are dead in Benghazi as a result of fighting between Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Libyan government forces over the weekend. (Al-Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

European migration crisis
- A boat carrying Syrian migrants sinks in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece with seventeen people on board. (Today’s Zaman)

Law and crime

The government of Australia refuses entry to American singer Chris Brown because of his 2009 conviction for domestic violence against his then girlfriend Rihanna. (ABC News Australia)

International relations

Guyana–Venezuela relations
- Guyana‘s President David Granger accuses Venezuela of massing troops, armored vehicles, and rockets along its disputed border. (VICE News)

Politics and elections

Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015
- Voters in the Spanish province of Catalonia go to the polls for regional elections with nationalist parties to gain a majority which they claim will allow them to declare independence. (BBC), (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Euronews)

Science and technology

September 2015 lunar eclipse
- The night of September 27–28 will see a supermoon combined with a lunar eclipse described by some as a “blood moon”. (CNN)

Sports

In athletics, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya wins the men’s race in the Berlin Marathon while his compatriot Gladys Cherono wins the women’s race. (Reuters via Yahoo! Australia), (Reuters via Daily Nail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 28, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Supermoon’ coincides with lunar eclipse –
People around the world have observed a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincided with a so-called “supermoon”. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky. The eclipse – which made the Moon appear red – has been visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe. This phenomenon was last observed in 1982 and will not be back before 2033. [BBC]
The supermoon on September 28, 2015

Record number of guns found in U.S. airport searches –
U.S. airport security agents discovered a record 67 firearms in luggage passengers intended to carry on to airplanes during one week in September, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Of the 67 firearms found during the week ended Sept. 17, 56 were loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms found during a week in May 2013, TSA said. Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year. [Reuters]

Martian salt streaks ‘painted by liquid water’ –
Scientists think they can now tie dark streaks seen on the surface of Mars to periodic flows of liquid water. Data from a Nasa satellite shows the features, which appear on slopes, to be associated with salt deposits. Crucially, such salts could alter the freezing and vaporisation points of water in Mars’s sparse air, keeping it in a fluid state long enough to move. Luju Ojha and colleagues report the findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. There are implications for the existence of life on the planet today, because any liquid water raises the possibility that microbes could also be present. And for future astronauts on Mars, the identification of water supplies near the surface would make it easier for them to “live off the land”. [BBC]
Kaiser Gullies

Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal –
Nepalese officials say they will introduce regulations banning inexperienced climbers from attempting Mount Everest in an attempt to improve safety and maintain the “glory” of the summit. Permits to climb Everest will only be given to those who can prove they have already scaled mountains that are higher than 6,500 metres, officials said. Disabled, old and very young people also face bans. The permits cost thousands of dollars and are a key source of revenue for Nepal. It is unclear how the demand for “proof of competence” might be enforced. [Guardian] An earthquake hit the region on May 12, 2015 killing 18 climbers and guides on the mountain.

Video of the Day –

PilotPriest | The Last Goodbye from FatCat Films on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#FelizLunes	August Alsina	#mondaymotivation
2	#2YearsOfLarryMarried	#mondaymotivation	#SuperBloodMoon
3	#SuperBloodMoon	George Zimmerman	Ronnie Pickering
4	Marte	#MarsAnnouncement	Ben Arfa
5	スーパームーン	Arctic	#AddBirdsToASong
6	#KatyPerryNoRockInRio	#2YearsOfLarryMarried	Redcar
7	#وش_بتقول_لزوج�…	#facebookdown	Jack Grealish
8	아육대	#DuragHistoryWeek	#wakeupjames
9	#ALDUBThisMustBeLove	#Ask5SOSVevo	#labconf15
10	#QuieroUnMundoDonde	Grace Jones	Arctic

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The Taliban seize control of the provincial capital of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Locals say militants have raised their flag above the city’s main square. (Sky News), (The News Hub)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An Arab Coalition air-strike on a wedding party in Wahijah, a village near the Red Sea port city of Mocha in southern Yemen, reportedly leaves at least 38 people dead. (BBC)
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL claims responsibility for the killing of an Italian man in Dhaka. If verified, it would be Islamic State’s first attack in Bangladesh. (AP)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States
- Pope Francis returns to Rome after finishing his trip to Cuba and the United States. (CNN)

Business and economy

Royal Dutch Shell halts its drilling program for oil and gas off the coast of Alaska citing high costs and a challenging regulatory environment. (Bloomberg)
Sahaviriya Steel Industries closes the Teesside Steelworks in the Redcar and Cleveland borough in northern England resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Taiwan prepares for the impact of Typhoon Dujuan tonight, with thousands of people evacuated from outlying islands ahead of this. (AFP via France 24)

Politics and elections

Pro-Serbian opposition from the Democratic Front holds a mass protest rally in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. (The News Hub)
Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015
- Separatists won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia’s parliament (72 out of 135) in this weekend’s election that saw a record turnout of 78 percent. The winners will seek to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months. Spain’s constitution does not allow any region to break away. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vows to fight the separatist plan. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Science and technology

NASA states that it has found the best evidence yet of the existence of liquid water on Mars. The water is not pure but highly poisonous containing various dissolved salts that on Earth only an extremophile microbe might survive within. (News Limited viaDaily Telegraph), (NASA), (CNBC)
The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launches its first dedicated-astronomical research satellite, Astrosat. (Times of India)

Sports

The Government of Nepal bans inexperienced mountaineers, as well as people with disabilities, from attempting to climb Mount Everest. (The Guardian)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Barack Obama ‘flouted secret service rules’ for Bear Grylls challenge –
Bear Grylls has spoken of how President Obama flouted the protocol of his secret service to take up every challenge thrown at him, when he appeared on the survival guru’s television show last month. The British ex-SAS soldier and television host said Mr Obama’s security team were on tenterhooks, as he and the president spent the day trekking through the Alaskan wilderness filming a special episode of “Running Wild”. “We ended up doing everything and he loved it. Afterwards, I thought I was going to get a special telling off from the secret service guys, but they all laughed and had a good time.” Grylls said he was warned by Mr Obama’s protocol staff that he could not give the president any gifts. But at the end of the filming he gave him his knife and said that the president should keep it “as a last line of defence if anybody ever got through the secret service”. “I had a great email a few days later from his team saying that he absolutely loves the knife and he keeps playing with it! Boys love their toys,” he said. [Daily Telegraph]
Bear Grylls

Australia: Council seeks cash for kangaroo-proofing –
A drought-affected district in eastern Australia is asking for government help to protect its villages against a “plague” of thirsty kangaroos, it’s reported. The mayor of sparsely populated Barcoo Shire, in the state of Queensland, says hordes of kangaroos are causing concern among local people because they’re coming into residential areas looking for food and water, the Brisbane Times reports. “The sheer numbers, you can drive around and you’ll see a mob of kangaroos and you lose count after 120 or 130, they are in plague proportions,” says Mayor Julie Groves. The council has now applied for federal government funding to pay for about 55km (34 miles) of fencing to keep the animals out of villages, sports parks, cemeteries, and off the local air strip used by the flying doctor. [BBC]

Edward Snowden (@Snowden) joins Twitter –
American whistleblower Edward Snowden has joined Twitter, asking in his first tweet, “Can you hear me now?”. The 32-year-old immediately began following the National Security Agency’s (NSA) official account, the only organisation he has followed so far. Snowden, who is currently living at an undisclosed location in Russia after being granted asylum, links to Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Twitter account in his bio. The bio adds: “I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public.” He gained 100,000 followers within an hour of joining Twitter and has also been given a ‘verified’ blue tick. The former CIA contractor leaked tens of thousands of files from systems at the NSA in 2013 from which the techniques and methods of it and GCHQ were then exposed. He faces charges in the U.S. for leaking details of the once-secret surveillance programs. [Daily Telegraph]
Edward Snowden’s first tweet

Video of the Day –

Do It For Mom (Do it for Denmark)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NationalCoffeeDay	#NationalCoffeeDay	Log Lady
2	#FelizMartes	MacArthur	#InternationalCoffeeDay
3	Aaron Rodgers	#HappyBirthdayHalsey	#AutumnIn3Words
4	#NoTeOdioPero	#AutumnIn3Words	#WorldHeartDay
5	Ronaldinho	#StandWithPP	#LondonUpAFilm
6	#الهلال_الاهلي	#BLIK	#nb2015
7	#MePoneDeMalHumor	Ralph Lauren	#LeadersSpeech
8	#AutumnIn3Words	Derrick Rose	Aaron Rodgers
9	#ALDUBTheVoiceWithin	Larry Brown	#charitytuesday
10	Jim Carrey	#BeatLA	Callum Wilson

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- At least four people are killed in a bombing attack on Baghdad. (Euronews)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present), Battle of Kunduz
- Afghan National Security Forces start efforts to recapture the city of Kunduz. (CNN), (The News Hub)
- The U.S. Air Force launches air-strikes on Taliban forces within Kunduz. (The Washington Post)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Two police officers are gunned down by suspected PKK militants on the streets of Adana, southern Turkey. (Middle East Eye)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- At least one rocket is intercepted over Ashdod by Israel‘s Iron Dome missile defense system, and is believed to have come from the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- After a tense standoff, Burkina Faso’s military crushed the elite presidential guard and seized the coup’s abandoned headquarters. The former head of the guard, Gen. Gilbert Diendéré, had called on his men to lay down their weapons to avoid a bloodbath. Diendéré told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he feared “many deaths and injuries” in the operation. It is unclear whether there are casualties. (The New York Times) (BBC) (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Dujuan hits mainland China in Fujian province after hitting Taiwan, where it caused two deaths and injured 300. (AP via ABC News)

International relations

Amnesty International designates Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado as a prisoner of conscience. (Reuters)

Law and crime

All 500 of the prisoners escape from the Ngaraba jail in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. (Reuters), (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Researchers discover a biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle, glowing bright red and green, near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. This is the first time scientists have found biofluorescence in a reptile in the wild. It is an critically endangeredspecies. (Live Science) (CNN)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

Eight of Iran’s women’s football team ‘are men’ –
Eight of Iran’s women’s football team are actually men awaiting sex change operations, it has been claimed. The country’s football association was accused of being “unethical” for knowingly fielding eight men in its women’s team. Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, told an Iranian news website: “[Eight players] have been playing with Iran’s female team without completing sex change operations.” On Wednesday, authorities reportedly ordered gender testing of the entire national squad and leading league players. The names of the players thought to be male were not revealed. [Daily Telegraph]

Electricity from the air – Drayson’s big idea –
Free energy from the air. It sounds like a fantasy but that is what the entrepreneur and former science minister Lord Drayson has just unveiled at London’s Royal Institution. He claims that a technology called Freevolt can be the power source for the “internet of things”, allowing low energy devices from wearables to sensors to operate without being plugged in. The technology involves harvesting radio frequency energy from existing wireless and broadcast networks, from 4G to digital television. Lord Drayson says it’s a world first: “It doesn’t require any extra infrastructure, it doesn’t require us to transmit any extra energy, it’s recycling the energy which isn’t being used at the moment.” The technology was demonstrated in the lecture theatre at the Royal Institution, where Michael Faraday worked on electromagnetism in the 19th Century. Lord Drayson first showed how much radio frequency energy was in the room, and then used his Freevolt system to power a loudspeaker. [BBC]
Lord Drayson

Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in fatal car crash: prosecutors –
Former Olympic champion and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in connection with a crash in Malibu earlier this year that killed a 69-year-old woman, Los Angeles prosecutors said on Wednesday. Based on the facts in the case, prosecutors lacked evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Jenner’s conduct was unreasonable, according to documents provided by Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Jenner, 65, was driving a Cadillac Escalade along Pacific Coast Highway and towing a trailer carrying a dune buggy when she slammed into two other cars, according to authorities. During the crash, a white Lexus being driven by 69-year-old Kim Howe was shoved by Jenner’s sport-utility vehicle across a center divider and into oncoming traffic, where it was struck head-on by a Hummer. [Reuters]

Video of the Day –

Why Is There a Magnet Inside My Dog?

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ماذا_تقول_للش�…	#PodcastDay	Jamaica
2	#felizmiercoles	#OddWaysToStartAEulogy	Eamonn Holmes
3	Stenio Garcia	Donna Shalala	#OddWaysToStartAEulogy
4	Derrick Rose	#Joaquin	#dstrkt
5	James Dean	#HipHopCartoons	#WakeUpTris
6	#ALDUBTheConfession	Kim Davis	#Thunderbirds
7	#TresTirosSi	#ModelX	#ExOnTheBeach
8	#خامنيي_يهدد_س�…	#Dodgers	#moboawards
9	Bino	#RuinAnAnimatedMovie	#RaceRiotsUSA
10	iOS 9.0.2	Hump Day	Tom Watson

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- The upper chamber of the Russian parliament approves a law allowing the use of the Russian Armed Forces outside its borders, following a request by Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The News Hub)
- Russia begins airstrikes against ISIL positions in Syria following a request from President Bashar al-Assad. A U.S. official said the air attack struck near the Syrian city of Homs, where the official said ISIS currently does not have a major presence.(NPR), (ABC News), (Washington Post)
- The Western-backed Syrian rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, says one of its ‘leading officers’ has been killed in a Russian airstrike in the central Homs Governorate. (AP)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present), Battle of Kunduz
- The U.S.-led coalition dispatches American troops to Kunduz to help Afghan forces combat Taliban militants. (The Washington Post)
2006 Mumbai train bombings
- An Indian court sentences five suspected Islamic militants to death and seven others to life imprisonment for bombing attacks nine years ago on seven Mumbai commuter trains that killed 188 people and wounded more than 800. (AP via ABC News),(Reuters), (BBC)
At least six people are killed and dozens injured in explosions at 15 locations in Liucheng County in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The explosives were reportedly concealed inside express delivery packages. Chinese officials have identified a suspect, but the motive is not yet known. (South China Morning Post), (UPI)
2015 Hajj stampede
- Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns Saudi Arabia of “harsh” measures if the Kingdom fails to promptly repatriate the bodies of more than 200 Iranian pilgrims killed in last week’s Hajj stampede. (AP via Denver Post), (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons, including rockets and anti-tank shells, is intercepted and seized in the Arabian Sea, 150 miles southeast of the Omani Port of Salalah, by Arab coalition forces. Saudi Arabia has previously accused Iran of supplying weapons to Houthi militants in Yemen. (BBC)

Arts and culture

The Dalai Lama, following his routine check-up at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic, cancels his U.S. speaking engagements in October after doctors advised him to rest. The 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader is scheduled to return home to Dharamsala, India, Saturday. (The Times of India), (Radio Free Asia)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Atlantic hurricane season, Effects of global warming on oceans
- A hurricane warning is in place in The Bahamas as Tropical Storm Joaquin approaches the islands. Joaquin (max. winds 70 mph) will pass over ocean with temperatures near 86°F (30°C) – the warmest since record keeping began in 1880, and is forecast to become a hurricane today. Joaquin is expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches possible over San Salvador and Rum Cay. The storm is predicted to accelerate and be several hundred miles off the North Carolina coast Sunday morning. (National Hurricane Center), (UPI), (Reuters)
- Tropical Storm Joaquin strengthens to a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph winds) as it nears The Bahamas. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says additional strengthening is expected over the next two days. (USA Today), (NHC)
- With maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, Joaquin is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane. It is expected to pass The Bahamas Thursday, bringing tropical-storm-force winds, storm surges, coastal flooding and 5-10 inches of rain. While the European forecast model suggests Joaquin will avoid the U.S. East Coast, the American model predicts it will ram into Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina this weekend. (NBC News), (NHC)
- Governor Terry McAuliffe declares a state of emergency as Virginia prepares for potentially dangerous flooding from a separate Nor’easter storm system and the possible landfall of Hurricane Joaquin. (Virginia), (Inside Northern Va.)
- Hurricane Joaquin reaches maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and becomes a Category 3 hurricane. The storm, with additional strengthening expected, should linger over the The Bahamas through October 2 before heading toward the U.S. (ABC News), (NHC)
An earthquake strikes the Dutch province of Groningen, damaging some buildings. (NL Times)

International relations

Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, states that Palestine will no longer abide by the Oslo accords and claims that Israel has not been complying with them. (CNN)
The black, white, red, and green flag of the State of Palestine is raised above the grounds of the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the first time. (Newsweek), (The Guardian)

Law and crime

The American state of Georgia executes Kelly Gissendaner for her role in the murder of her husband despite several appeals and a plea for clemency by Pope Francis. (AP via News 12), (Daily Mail)
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin issues a 37-day stay of Richard Glossip’s execution that was scheduled for today to allow the American state time to address questions about chemicals and protocol. Pope Francis, who spent last week in the U.S., askedArchbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, to intercede with the governor and request she commute Glossip’s sentence. (CNN), (Reuters)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Gunman kills nine at Oregon college, dies in shootout with police –
A gunman stalked onto a college campus in southwestern Oregon on Thursday and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven before police shot him to death, authorities said, in yet another burst of U.S. gun violence that ranked as the deadliest this year. The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was slain in an exchange of gunfire with two police officers in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the morning rampage. He was not publicly identified by local authorities – the county sheriff vowed never to utter his name. But CBS, CNN, NBC and the New York Times named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. [Reuters]

Native American tribe to open first marijuana resort in US –
A Native American tribe in the US state of South Dakota has said it plans to open what would be the first marijuana resort in the US. The 400-member Santee Sioux tribe already runs a casino, hotel and ranch and hopes the resort will be a new revenue generator. Marijuana is not legal in South Dakota but the tribe has been permitted to grow and sell pot since June. It will open on New Year’s Eve and only be sold on the reservation. Sioux leaders would grow the marijuana to be offered in a smoking lounge. [BBC]

Peeple app for rating human beings causes uproar –
A new app that promises to let users review individuals has caused controversy before it has even launched. Peeple will allow members to give star ratings to people they know via the app, much as restaurants and hotels are rated on sites such as Yelp. The app has caused uproar online, with web users descrying it as “creepy” and “terrifying”. Peeple’s founders say they will pre-screen for negative abuse. However, users will not be able to delete comments made about them. Nor will they be able to remove themselves from the site once on it. [BBC] See Video of the Day

Study supports cancer link with height –
A Swedish study of five million people appears to support the theory that height and cancer risk are linked. The study found that taller people had a higher risk of breast cancer and skin cancer, among other cancers.
Its results suggested that for every 10cm (4in) of height, when fully grown, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18% in women and 11% in men. But experts said the study did not take into account many risk factors – and that tall people should not be worried. Previous studies have shown a link, although why it exists is not known. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Rate Me

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Ahmet Hakan	#Peeple	#Peeple
2	#FelizJueves	ITS OCTOBER	1st of October
3	#GHFinal	#WorldVegetarianDay	#WorldVegetarianDay
4	samfreeさん	#BreastCancerAwarenessMonth	Happy Independence
5	#RetoTelehit	#UCCShooting	#olderpeoplesday
6	FRAUDE EN GRAN HERMANO	Julie Andrews	St Albans
7	Bienvenido Octubre	#BadTrampStamps	#WALvFJI
8	#Empire	Sandy Hook	#WentworthPrison
9	Lucifer	Rick Owens	Nigerians
10	#ALDUB11thWeeksary	#MarsSurvivalTips	Dele Alli

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Gaza–Israel conflict
- In retaliation for the rocket fired on the Israeli city of Ashdod, the Israeli Air Force carries out airstrikes on suspected Hamas positions in Gaza. No casualties are reported. (The News Hub)
Afghan War, Battle of Kunduz
- The government of Afghanistan claims to have recaptured the city of Kunduz. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- Taliban forces take over the Warduj District of the Badakhshan Province as government forces retreat. (WVTM)
- A C-130J transport aircraft crashes in eastern Afghanistan as it approaches the airport in Jalalabad killing at least 11 people on board. A U.S. military spokesman says there were no reports of enemy fire at the time. (Al Jazeera), (ABC News),(Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - Russian air-strikes reportedly kill U.S.-backed Syrian rebels as Russian jets bomb rebel positions in rural areas of northern Syria, including the town of Jisr al-Shughour, which is currently held by Islamist militant groups including Al-Qaeda‘s branch in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front. (The Telegraph)
  - Hezbollah fighters and newly arriving Iranian troops are reportedly preparing for a ‘major ground offensive’ in northern Syria, backed by Russian air-strikes. (Reuters)
  - Iraq‘s prime minister Haider al-Abadi endorses Russian air-strikes against ISIS forces in Iraq while expressing ‘disappointment’ with the U.S.-led coalition. (Times Live)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- 2015 PKK rebellion
  - Four Turkish soldiers are killed in PKK attacks across southeastern Turkey. Turkish authorities impose a curfew in the city of Mardin due to escalating violence. (Today’s Zaman)
Chinese authorities arrest a suspect in yesterday’s 17 Liucheng County mail bomb explosions that killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50. The suspect is identified as 33-year-old quarry-worker, Wei Yinyong, from Dapu township also inGuangxi Province. There is another explosion this morning. While it’s not clear if it is connected, authorities reportedly located 60 packages yesterday which were being examined by a bomb squad. (The New York Times), (Asia One), (Voice of America), (Al Arabiya)
Umpqua Community College shooting
- A mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon kills ten people and leaves seven wounded. in The shooter kills nine people before police shot him to death. The man’s motives are unknown. (Reuters), (CNN), (BBC News),(Reuters)
- The shooter is 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. (CBS News), (Palm Beach Post)
Palestinian militants kill an Israeli couple in a shooting attack on their car in the northern West Bank; four of the couple’s children are in the vehicle at the time but are not hit by the gunfire. Hamas praises the “heroic attack” and calls for “more high-quality attacks.” (The Times of Israel) (Israel National News) (Breaking Israel News)
Yemeni Civil War
- Government forces and the Southern Resistance backed by coalition forces wrest control of the strategic strait of Bab Al Mandab and a small Mayoun Island in the Red Sea from Al Houthi militants. (AP via Fox News) (Gulf News) (Al Jazeera‎)

Business and economy

The UAW at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reject a four-year contract, setting the stage for at least localized strikes against the automaker.(Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Joaquin
  - Hurricane Joaquin becomes a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Some additional strengthening is possible tomorrow. The storm, moving at just 6 mph, is predicted to drop 10 to 15 inches of rain in the central Bahamaswith up to five inches expected for the rest of the archipelago. (Nassau Tribune), (NHC)
  - Joaquin, expected to pick up forward speed when it turns north tomorrow, could hit the East Coast this weekend. While forecasts of the storm’s trajectory are still uncertain, nearly every state from North Carolina to Connecticut is in the so-called “cone of uncertainty.” North Carolina and New Jersey join Virginia in declaring states of emergency. (UPI), (Reuters)

Health and medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends everyone diagnosed with HIV immediately receive antiretroviral therapy and recommends preventative treatment for all at “substantial risk” of infection. Previously, the UN health agency had recommended to physicians that the threshold for patient intervention was the presentation of symptoms. (The Verge), (Time), (WHO)

International relations

Bahrain recalls its ambassador to Iran and asks the Iranian acting chargé d’affaires to leave the kingdom within 72 hours after the Iranian is declared persona non-grata, a day after Bahraini security forces discovered a large bomb-making factory inNuwaidrat and arrested a number of suspects linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Bahrain’s decision to recall its ambassador comes “in light of continued Iranian meddling in the affairs of the kingdom of Bahrain in order to create sectarian strife and impose hegemony and control.” (The Daily Star), (Gulf News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Sam Smith’s James Bond theme makes UK chart history –
Sam Smith’s Writing’s On The Wall has made history by becoming the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK. The track achieved combined chart sales and streams of 70,000 copies – 13,000 ahead of its closest competitor, Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? The previous highest-charting Bond themes were Adele’s Skyfall and Duran Duran’s View To A Kill, which both reached number two. Smith said he was “so proud” of the song and being number one was “crazy”. He told BBC Radio 1: “Out of all the songs I’ve brought out in my life, I was not expecting this to even chart in the top 10, let alone number one. It’s unbelievable.” [BBC] See List of the Day
Sam Smith

Janet Jackson puts the breaks on her Unbreakable world tour –
Janet Jackson has postponed her upcoming concert in Las Vegas and this isn’t the first time the pop icon has hit a road block along the way on her Unbreakable World Tour. The 49-year-old singer and performer announced her comeback this past June but it has been a series of highs and lows for the pop icon since. She has planned to reschedule this stop for next May 2016 when the venue will move to a new arena that can accommodate 20,000 fans. [Daily Mail] Today also saw the release of her new album “Unbreakable”, the first studio album from Jackson in seven years. See Video of the Day
Janet Jackson

Switzerland ‘could house 50,000 refugees in Cold War bunkers’ –
Switzerland can accommodate up to 50,000 refugees in nuclear bunkers, the country’s defence minister has said. During the Cold War, Switzerland began a policy of building enough fallout shelters that the entire country could safely retreat underground if there was a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the West. Today, while theoretically still available in a doomsday scenario, many of the bunkers are put to other uses. One in the small town of Sevelen was run as a “zero-star hotel” for some years, while the city of Geneva has used its bunkers as homeless shelters. Mr Maurer said around one-third of Switzerland’s public bunkers were currently in a position to take in refugees, with space for 50,000. [Daily Telegraph]

American wingsuit flier Johnny Strange dies in Switzerland accident –
Johnny Strange, an American adventurer who was the youngest person to climb the world’s seven tallest summits, has died in a wing suit accident in the Alps, Swiss police confirmed on Friday. The 23-year-old, who crashed shortly after jumping from Mount Gitschen in central Switzerland, is the latest casualty in what is regarded as one of the world’s most deadly extreme sports. He died on impact with the ground, likely after losing control mid-jump, according to authorities in the Swiss canton of Uri. Mr Strange, from Malibu, California, became the youngest person to scale the tallest peaks on each of the world’s seven continents in 2009, when he was 17. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Janet Jackson – BURNITUP! Feat. Missy Elliott (Lyric Video)

List of the Day –

James Bond Movie title themes [Wikipedia]

Film	Year	Score composer	Title song	Composed by	Performed by	U.K. peak position	U.S. peak position
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“James Bond Theme“	Monty Norman	John Barry & Orchestra; Monty Norman	—	—
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“Kingston Calypso”	Monty Norman	Byron Lee and the Dragonaires	—	—
From Russia with Love (soundtrack)	1963	John Barry	“Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme”	John Barry, Lionel Bart, Monty Norman	Matt Monro	—	—
Goldfinger (soundtrack)	1964		“Goldfinger“	Leslie Bricusse Anthony Newley John Barry	Shirley Bassey	21	8
Thunderball (soundtrack)	1965		“Thunderball”	John Barry Don Black	Tom Jones	35	25
You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)	1967		“You Only Live Twice“	Leslie Bricusse John Barry	Nancy Sinatra	11	44
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”	John Barry Hal David	The John Barry Orchestra	—	—
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“We Have All the Time in the World” – Secondary Theme	John Barry Hal David	Louis Armstrong	—	—
Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)	1971		“Diamonds Are Forever”	John Barry Don Black	Shirley Bassey	38	57
Live and Let Die (soundtrack)	1973	George Martin	“Live and Let Die“	Paul McCartney Linda McCartney	Paul McCartney & Wings	7	2
The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)	1974	John Barry	“The Man with the Golden Gun”	John Barry Don Black	Lulu	—	—
The Spy Who Loved Me (soundtrack)	1977	Marvin Hamlisch	“Nobody Does It Better“	Marvin Hamlisch Carole Bayer Sager	Carly Simon	7	2
Moonraker (soundtrack)	1979	John Barry	“Moonraker”	John Barry Hal David	Shirley Bassey	—	—
For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)	1981	Bill Conti	“For Your Eyes Only“	Bill Conti Michael Leeson	Sheena Easton	8	4
Octopussy (soundtrack)	1983	John Barry	“All Time High“	John Barry Tim Rice Stephen Short	Rita Coolidge	75	36
A View to a Kill (soundtrack)	1985		“A View to a Kill“	John Barry Duran Duran	Duran Duran	2	1
The Living Daylights (soundtrack)	1987		“The Living Daylights“	John Barry Pål Waaktaar	A-ha	5	—
Licence to Kill (soundtrack)	1989	Michael Kamen	“Licence to Kill”	Narada Michael Walden Jeffrey Cohen Walter Afanasieff	Gladys Knight	6	—
GoldenEye (soundtrack)	1995	Éric Serra	“GoldenEye“	Bono The Edge	Tina Turner	10	102
Tomorrow Never Dies (soundtrack)	1997	David Arnold	“Tomorrow Never Dies“	Sheryl Crow Mitchell Froom	Sheryl Crow	12	—
The World Is Not Enough (soundtrack)	1999		“The World Is Not Enough“	David Arnold Don Black	Garbage	11	—
Die Another Day (soundtrack)	2002		“Die Another Day“	Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzaï	Madonna	3	8
Casino Royale (soundtrack)	2006		“You Know My Name“	David Arnold Chris Cornell	Chris Cornell	7	79
Quantum of Solace (soundtrack)	2008		“Another Way to Die“	Jack White	Jack White Alicia Keys	9	81
Skyfall (soundtrack)	2012	Thomas Newman	“Skyfall“	Adele Paul Epworth	Adele	2	8
Spectre (soundtrack)	2015	Thomas Newman	“Writing’s on the Wall“	[[Sam Smith (singer)\|Jade Thurbon] Jimmy Napes	Sam Smith	1	–

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	YAS BOOBOO	#WorldSmileDay	#FridayFeeling
2	Selamat Hari Batik Nasional	Chris Mintz	#WorldSmileDay
3	ハウル	#stuffhappens	Brian Friel
4	#DiaMundialdelaSonrisa	#Pizzalebrities	Zac Goldsmith
5	#AlgoQueMeHaceFelizEs	#Fridayreads	Cassper
6	#YaEsOctubreY	#4YearsOfAlwaysInMyHeart	#Dust2Dust
7	#TheVoiceBrasil	Will Smith	Ballon D’Or
8	#LoveMeLikeYouVideo	Arne Duncan	#UCCShooting
9	Hayırlı Cumalar	#Unbreakable	#SteamyClassicNovels
10	#BuenViernes	#LoveMeLikeYouVideo	#bbcqt

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - The Russian Government says Russian jets bombed Syria for the third consecutive day, hitting 12 Islamic State (ISIS) targets. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that ISIS has no presence in the western and northern areas struck though Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front does. Russian planes also bombed Raqqah, the unofficial capital of ISIL. (Daily Mail)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- At least 17 PKK militants are reportedly killed following a Turkish military operation in the Kurdish-majority city of Silvan. (RT)
War in Donbass, 2014-15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine
- OSCE observers who are monitoring a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels, reported the presence of a new Russian weapons system in rebel-held territory this week, the ‘TOS-1 Buratino‘ is a thermobaricmultiple rocket launcher system which can destroy several city blocks in one strike and cause indiscriminate damage. Only Russia produces the system and it was not exported to Ukraine before the conflict broke out. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Air France KLM will cut 2,900 jobs after talks with pilots unions are unsuccessful. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Indonesia‘s Aviastar airline loses contact with an aircraft between Masamba–Makassar carrying 10 people. (DailyMail)
Hurricane Joaquin
- The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 735-foot (224-meter) cargo ship named ‘El Faro,’ with 33 people on board, that went missing near Crooked Island in the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. Five Poles and 28 Americans make up the crew. (The Telegraph) (Reuters)
- Hurricane Joaquin attacked The Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane and destroyed houses, cut communications and electric power, uprooted trees, and unleashed heavy flooding. So far, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries. The storm, which weakened to Category 3 status with 125 mph sustained winds, is expected to dump up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain in some location before it moves away from the islands. (AP via Sacramento Bee) (AFP via Yahoo News)
El Cambray tragedy
- A Guatemalan hillside, loosened by heavy rains, collapses and sends tons of dirt and trees onto Santa Catarina Pinula on the edge of Guatemala City, killing at least 26 with as many as 600 people missing. (Reuters) (BBC)

Law and crime

A 15-year old boy shoots and kills a civilian NSW Police employee outside the NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta, Sydney. The incident is labelled as a terrorist attack. (Daily Telegraph)
Hackers steal the personal information of about 15 million T-Mobile US customers and applicants. The breach is at a unit of the credit agency Experian. (BBC)
2015 FIFA corruption case
- Longtime FIFA corporate sponsors — Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s, Visa Inc., and Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev — demand FIFA President Sepp Blatter step down immediately following last week’s announcement of his criminal investigation by the Swiss attorney general. Blatter refused. (Reuters) (Irish Independent)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 3, 2015

Top News Stories –

JK Rowling dismisses Harry Potter fan theories about time travel and werewolves –
JK Rowling has shut-down a theory that one of the Harry Potter characters was a time traveller. The author responded to fans who claimed they had put together evidence about Ronald Weasley being a time travelling Dumbledore. On Twitter, she said that this theory is “false.” Also, referring to the idea that Draco Malfoy could be a werewolf, she tweeted: “I’ve never seen that one before. Draco definitely isn’t a werewolf (and Snape’s not a vampire).” [BBC Newsbeat]
J. K. Rowling

Denis Healey dies aged 98 –
Denis Healey, a towering figure in the Labour Party and perhaps the most recognisable politician for a generation, has died. His family said the 98-year-old died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning at his home in Sussex after a short illness. The retired Labour politician, often described as “the best prime minister the party never had”, served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 under the premierships of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. [Daily Telegraph]
Denis Healey in 1974

England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13 –
England are out of the World Cup after being torn apart by a superb Australia display at a stunned Twickenham. Two converted first-half tries and four penalties from Wallaby fly-half Bernard Foley in a virtuoso display brought a richly deserved win on a black night for England’s men in white. The result means both Australia and Wales are into the quarter-finals. It is the first time that a host nation has gone out at the group stage of the tournament. And to complete their humiliation, it is also the first time England have failed to make the knockout stages. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

SPECTRE – Final Trailer (Official)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#UAAPCDC2015	#SaySomethingNiceAboutATweep	#ENGvAUS
2	#ALDUBmeetsTVJ	#MeanGirls	#ENG
3	#MeSacaUnaSonrisa	Doctors Without Borders	#MeanGirls
4	#LoMejorQueMePaso	#ldsconf	#WomenEd
5	#كلمه_اخيره_لل�…	Ohio State	Denis Healey
6	#NoSoporto	Amber Rose	#grahamnorton
7	#شي_طول_عمرك_ما…	#UFC192	Aguero
8	MATIAS GANADOR EN EL DEBATE	#AFLGF	#MSF
9	Aguero	Wedding Tux	#WBA
10	#AFLGF	#UAAPCDC2015	#BuyBritishDay

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- The Pentagon is reportedly weighing the option of using military force to protect the U.S.-backed rebels fighting the Assad regime. The Pentagon’s own reports show that most of the rebels sympathize, hand over weapons and money or even outright join extremist groups such as ISIL or the Al-Nusra Front (Fox News)
- British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says only 5 percent of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have targeted Islamic State extremists. Instead other Syrian rebel groups, including the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, have been attacked. “Our evidence indicates they are dropping unguided munitions in civilian areas, killing civilians,” Fallon added. (Voice of America) (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A prolonged series of American military airstrikes hit a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in Kunduz, killing twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, with 37 seriously injured and many more people still missing. (MSF) (Washington Post) (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIS claims responsibility for the killing of a 65-year old Japanese citizen in Bangladesh. This comes after the recent murder of an Italian, Cesare Tavella, in Bangladesh which was also claimed by ISIS. (Al Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

Hurricane Joaquin
- As Hurricane Joaquin, still a Category 3 storm, heads northeast, a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch are in effect for Bermuda. Winds will begin to strengthen early Saturday with thunderstorms and more significant showers around midnight. Joaquin should turn toward the north-northeast Sunday and pass around 125 nautical miles (232 kilometres; 144 miles) west of Bermuda that evening. (WCVB5 Boston) (NHC) (Bermuda Royal Gazette)
- Joaquin’s eastward turn away from the United States could send the storm across the Atlantic Ocean toward the United Kingdom. Current weather models predict Joaquin, powered by the jet stream, will reach the British Isles on the October 10 weekend.(Daily Mail) (Daily Express)
Two people are killed, including an eight-year-old boy, after a double-decker bus crashed into a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Coventry city centre; six others were also seriously hurt including the bus driver according to West Midlands Police. (BBC)

Sport

2015 Rugby World Cup
- England become the first host nation and first former finalist to be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup during the group stages following their defeat to Australia. (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 4, 2015

Top News Stories –

Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool boss sacked after Merseyside derby –
Liverpool have sacked manager Brendan Rodgers after three and a half years in charge. He was dismissed after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Everton, which left the Reds 10th in the Premier League, but the decision was made before the game. “Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch,” read a club statement. Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp are the favourites to replace Rodgers. [BBC]
Brendan Rodgers

Dick Advocaat: Sunderland boss quits Premier League strugglers –
Dick Advocaat has resigned as Sunderland boss, with the team yet to win in the Premier League this season. The 68-year-old Dutchman was appointed in March, when the Black Cats were one point above the relegation zone.
He guided them to safety and was due to leave the club in the summer, only to sign a new one-year contract. [BBC]
Dick Advocaat

Woolly mammoth skeleton unearthed by Michigan farmers –
Two farmers in Michigan made an astonishing discovery when they unearthed the remains of a woolly mammoth while digging in a soybean field. Experts say it is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state. University of Michigan researchers say there is evidence the mammoth lived 11,700-15,000 years ago. [BBC]

How rugby star daughter’s doll captivated Australia –
North Queensland swept to victory in Australia’s National Rugby League final on Sunday, but it was a little girl’s doll which stole the limelight. Cameras captured the moment a crying Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston celebrated his team’s win with his daughter who was clutching a dark-skinned doll. For the first time in NRL history, both teams in the final had been skippered by an Indigenous Australian, and the moment was seen by many as a moment of inclusion and diversity. [BBC]
Johnathan Thurston

Video of the Day –

What Do You Mean / Epic Segway Dance Cover @justinbieber

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jack Gilinsky	#SNL	#No2Austerity
2	#LoQueQuieroEsQue	#BreakUpWithThemIf	Jack Gilinsky
3	#UFC192	Jack Gilinsky	#WWEMSG
4	Notre Dame	#IHadToWalkOutWhen	#UFC192
5	Arsenal	Texans	#CPC15
6	#NRLGF	Broner	#wakeuponitunes
7	#wakeuponitunes	#WorldAnimalDay	#LFC
8	#AKBeyanname	Dolphins	#MOTD
9	#SNL	#NRLGF	Amber Rose
10	#DiaMundialRBD	Eagles	£2bn NHS

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Two Israeli civilians are killed and three injured by stabbing attacks carried out by Palestinians in Jerusalem‘s Old City. As a result Palestinians are banned from entering the Old City for two days unless they live there. (BBC News) (Yahoo News)(CNN)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkey’s air force launches a new wave of air-raids bombing PKK positions in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish warplanes destroyed PKK fuel and ammunition depots in the Hakkari province on the border with Iraq as well as in the easternKars province according to a military statement. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Syrian Civil War
- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says reforms in Syria are unlikely until terrorism (“a word typically used to describe all of the government’s armed opponents”) is vanquished. The country will continue to send representatives to peace negotiations sponsored by Moscow, but ruled out negotiations with the Western-backed groups opposing his government. (Washington Post)
Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant destroys a 2,000-year-old Roman era Triumphal arch in Palmyra according to Syria‘s antiquities chief. (The Independent) , (AP)

Disasters and accidents

At least 17 people have been killed with four more missing following heavy flooding along the French Riviera in the southeast of France. Rail, road and air traffic were all suspended and 27,000 homes were without electricity. A major stretch of the French Riviera has been declared a natural disaster zone. According to local radio station France Bleu-Azur, more than 17cm of rain fell on the Alpes-Maritimes region in two hours, the same amount the region would usually expect over two months. (AFP via Yahoo News) (Sky News) (Euro News)
October 2015 nor’easter
- U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina, hit by a once-in-a-millennium downpour that dumped over two feet of rain in some areas and turned South Carolina roads into rivers and parking lots into lakes. More than 250 roads across the state closed. A low pressure area is funneling heavy tropical moisture into the region as well as pulling in Hurricane Joaquin-related precipitation. “Catastrophic flash flooding” is expected overnight. (CNN) (NBC News)
- Downpours and catastrophic flooding are expected to persist along the east coast tonight. Two deaths have been reported in North Carolina. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia are under coastal flood warnings. (Sydney Tenplay)
2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Joaquin
  - U.S. Coast Guard searchers, looking for the 790-foot El Faro cargo ship missing since Thursday, located multiple objects including life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen in the waters off The Bahamas. Connection to El Faro is not immediately confirmed. (USA Today) (ABC News)
  - Bermuda, which suffered a glancing hit by then-Category 2 Hurricane Joaquin, reports scattered power outages with heavy rain, high wind, and waves. The center of Joaquin, now Category 1 (max winds 85 mph), is moving north-northeast and will clear Bermuda sometime Monday. (Palm Beach Post) (AP via Orlando 6) (NHC)

Politics and elections

Portuguese legislative election, 2015
- Exit polls show Portugal’s centre-right government, in its first contest since tough austerity measures were launched to combat a debt crisis, is headed for victory but could lose its majority in parliament. (The Guardian) (Reuters) (The Telegraph)
In Minsk, about 1,000 opposition activists protest Russia’s plans to establish a military air base in Belarus, saying it would turn the former Soviet republic into a Kremlin “vassal” and add to regional tensions. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has refrained from commenting on the initiative to establish the base. (Fox News)

Sports

In horseracing, Golden Horn wins the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Two-time winner Treve finished fourth. (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 5, 2015

Top News Stories –

Thousands of NASA Apollo mission photos uploaded online –
Thousands of photos taken by Apollo astronauts on moon missions are now online. Around 13,000 scans of images from NASA’s archives, taken across ALL manned Apollo missions between 1961 and 1972 have been given to founder of the Project Apollo Archive Kipp Teague. He told Newsbeat “serious budget cuts” mean the organisation doesn’t have the resourses to publish them. Kipp launched the gallery in 1999, but following questioning about decisions to edit some images in the past, he was prompted to post unedited, high resolution images this time around. [BBC Newsbeat]
Apollo 11 Magazine 40/S – (Color) / EVA; NASA photographs; unprocessed 1800 dpi Hasselblad film scans by Johnson Space Center, circa 2005

Extreme phone pinching is the strangest trend of 2015 –
Back in 2013 there was the Harlem Shake. In 2014, we had the Ice Bucket Challenge. Since then, social media trends have taken a bizarre turn, via some goats. Extreme phone pinching is the latest trend sweeping social media networks, and it involves holding your expensive phone over perilous locations. The only rule appears to be that you can only hold onto your gadget using only your thumb and forefinger. Photos and videos have been flooding the internet of phone users dangling their precious handsets over cliffs, toilets and drains. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Box Clever – Simon’s Cat

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#FelizLunes	#WorldTeachersDay	#WorldTeachersDay
2	#ArgentinaDebate	#mondaymotivation	#mondaymotivation
3	わたしの心	American Apparel	#plasticbags
4	Air France	Grace Lee Boggs	Lord Adonis
5	#MTVFANWARSDirectioners	CC Sabathia	Jeremy Hunt
6	#سعوديه_تفضح_ز�…	#StopGunViolence	Henning Mankell
7	#شي_جميل_بحرف_ا…	#TPP	Ched Evans
8	Henning Mankell	#MyGenitaliaIn4Words	American Apparel
9	#ALDUBSwitch	#WhatYouDontTellCustomers	AstraZeneca
10	Independiente	#MTVFANWARSDirectioners	#ThisIsEngland90

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- Turkey says a Russian warplane violated its airspace near the Syrian border, prompting the Turkish Air Force to scramble two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it. The Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest the violation and urged Russia to avoid repeating such a violation, or it would be held “responsible for any undesired incident that may occur”. (Reuters)
- Unconfirmed reports claim that Russia is mobilizing 150,000 troops to attack the Islamic State (Express)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- At least 57 people are killed following car-bombings across Iraq, including a rare bombing in the southern Basra province leaving 10 people dead. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are suspected of being behind the attacks. (Reuters)
Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Fighting rages between Houthi militants and Hadi loyalists backed-by Saudi-led coalition forces along Yemen’s Red Sea coast for control over the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Houthi officials said their forces had destroyed six opposing tanks and killed multiple pro-Hadi fighters. Also, the UAE announced another of its soldiers had died during fighting in Ma’rib. (Business Insider)

Business and economy

Clothing manufacturer and retailer American Apparel files for bankruptcy. The company said its 200+ retail stores will continue to operate without any interruptions. (New York Times) (Forbes)
The World Bank estimates that 9.6 percent of the world’s population is living in extreme poverty this year, down from 12.8% in 2012. The bank also updated its global poverty line from $1.25 per day to $1.90 per day to reflect inflation and changes in purchasing power around the world; it was last adjusted in 2008. (Time) (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

October 2015 nor’easter
- Additional search and rescue efforts take place in the American city of Columbia, South Carolina. (AccuWeather) (USA Today)
- In South Carolina, nine people are now reported dead in weather-related incidents and millions remain homebound. Rain is forecast to continue with parts of the state dealing with flooding for some time. (CNN) (AP via ACBS News)
Hurricane Joaquin
- The El Faro, missing since Thursday, is announced to have sunk on Thursday with 33 people on board during Hurricane Joaquin after a debris field is found. (NBC News)
2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Mujigae
  - At least nine people are dead as Typhoon Mujigae hits southern China in the midst of the country’s weeklong National Day holiday. Mujigae also generated several strong tornadoes and left dozens of fishermen missing. Nearly 200,000 people had been evacuated before the storm made landfall. Neighboring Guangxi Zhuang region orders 12,700 fishing boats and 35,400 offshore workers to return to port. (AP) (International Business Times)
  - Tropical Storm Kabayan (local name for then-Tropical Storm Mujigae) left at least two dead in the Philippines with two injured and 63 persons missing. The system intensified as it left the Philippine Area of Responsibility heading toward China. (Manila Sun Star) (Philippine Star)

International relations

The government of Nauru announces that the Nauru Detention Centre will become an “open facility” where people seeking asylum in Australia will be able to move freely around the island. (ABC News Australia)
North Korea repatriates a South Korean student held in detention since April. (Yonhap News)

Law and crime

Former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang is charged with corruption by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. (Hong Kong Free Press)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and 11 Pacific Rim countries is finalized in the American city of Atlanta, Georgia. According to wikileaks, The main point of the deal will be that trans-national corporations will not be subjected to laws of individual countries. Instead an international system will be formed with the right to overrule national laws and legal decisions. (The Australian)

Politics and elections

Governor Jerry Brown signs legislation which would go into effect late 2016, legalizing euthanasia statewide in California.(CNN)

Science

William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Tu Youyou win the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on parasitic diseases. (AP) (Washington Post)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

The 2010s

The story of a decade

Yearly Archives: 2015

September 5, 2015

September 6, 2015

September 7, 2015

September 8, 2015

September 9, 2015

House of Stuart

House of Hanover

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

House of Windsor

September 10, 2015

September 11, 2015

September 12, 2015

September 13, 2015

September 14, 2015

September 15, 2015

September 16, 2015

September 17, 2015

September 18, 2015

September 19, 2015

September 20, 2015

September 21, 2015

September 22, 2015

September 23, 2015

September 24, 2015

September 25, 2015

September 26, 2015

September 27, 2015

September 28, 2015

September 29, 2015

September 30, 2015

October 1, 2015

October 2, 2015

October 3, 2015

October 5, 2015