Top News Stories –

Britain hit by “weather bomb” –
High winds and huge waves have affected north-western parts of the UK as bad weather hit power supplies and travel. The “weather bomb” brought hundreds of lightning strikes, temporarily cutting power across the Western Isles. Wind speeds of 144mph was recorded on the St Kilda islands, with gusts in excess of 80mph elsewhere.

Bully bashed by brilliance –
Louisa Manning (@xo_louisa_ox) whose letter to a former school bully who called her “manbeast” went received over 18,000 likes on Facebook has described the response as “crazy and overwhelming”. Miss Manning, a student at Oxford University, wrote the note after being invited on a date by her former tormentor when they met 10 years later in a restaurant.

Senate reports on CIA interrogations –
The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in the CIA interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects. President Barack Obama said it was now time to move on. The summary of a classified Senate report says that the CIA carried out “brutal” interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects after the 9/11 attacks on the US and misled other officials about what it was doing.

Boston time-capsule discovered –
A time capsule thought to have been buried by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere in 1795 has been discovered in Massachusetts, USA. The container was found during repair work at the state house in Boston. See video of the day.

Video of the Day –

Boston time-capsule

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• The settlement minister of the Palestinian Authority, Ziad Abu Ein, dies after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers during a West Bank protest. (CNN)
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
  • The Kurdish region’s military forces, the Peshmerga Ministry, states that over 700 Iraqi Kurds have died fighting ISIL forces since June. (AFP via Daily Star)

Arts and culture

• Russian billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov who bought the 1962 Nobel gold medal of scientist James Watson says that he is donating it back to Watson as a gift because the “discovery of DNA structure must belong to him”. (BBC)
• Charlene, Princess of Monaco, wife of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, gives birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella. Jacques will be heir apparent in line with male priority of Monaco‘s succession laws. (Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

• A wild storm hits Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland leaving up to 14,000 people without power in westernScotland. (Reuters via ABC News)

Health

• Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
  • Medical personnel combating the spread of the Ebola virus are named Time Person of the Year. (AP)
• Nature publishes research by the University of Toronto announcing the discovery of a new class of stem cells called F-class stem cells that have the potential to be better and safer to use in medical research. (CBC)

International relations

• Human Rights Day
  • Amnesty International notes that torture still occurs in some countries. (Amnesty International)
  • Pakistani childrens rights activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi receive their Nobel Peace Prizes in Oslo. (Daily Times Pakistan)
  • Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski says that he authorised the CIA to use a “black site” in the town of Stare Kiejkuty to interrogate Al-Qaeda members in 2002. (Los Angeles Times)

Law and crime

• A court in Langfang, China, sentences former senior Chinese politician Liu Tienan to life imprisonment after having been found guilty of corruption. (BBC)
• A South African judge rules that the prosecution can appeal the decision not to convict Oscar Pistorius for the murder ofReeva Steenkamp in 2013 to the Supreme Court of Appeal. (Press Association via Independent)

Politics and elections

• Labor and Hatnuah agree to run in a joint list for the March 2015 elections in Israel in a bid to establish a large center-left political bloc and remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power; Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, should they win the elections, will share the prime ministership on rotation. (The Times of Israel)
• Mauritian general election
  • The opposition MMM–PMSD coalition wins a majority in the National Assembly, ending the ruling MLP–MMMalliance’s plan to grant more powers to the office of the President. (Reuters)

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