Crypto-currency Bitcoin has hit a record high of $17,300 on the Bitstamp platform –
The decentralised currency has spiked since Chicago-based derivatives exchange Cboe Global Markets launched Bitcoin futures late on Sunday. This was the first time investors could get exposure to the bitcoin market via a large, regulated exchange. [BBC Business Live]

Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] – today from UK

Other News Stories –

• Unibail-Rodamco agrees to purchase shopping mall owner Westfield Corporation for $15.7 billion. (Business Insider)

• An explosion and fire at the Gas Connect Austria pipeline hub in Baumgarten an der March kills one person and injures 21. Service to Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy is suspended. Italy declares a state of emergency. (Reuters) (Deutsche Welle)

• Crime in Peru
  • A 22-year-old student is found dead inside the National University of San Marcos, of Lima, and the most important and oldest of Peru. Everything seems to indicate that he had been killed. Authorities have identified a possible suspect, who is also a student at the university. (La República) (ATV) (América Televisión)

• Regulation of chemicals
  • Reacting to a petition from more than a million EU citizens, the European Commission releases a 16-page report on glyphosate. It adopts a renewal of the approval of glyphosate for a 5-year period and plans to improve the science reviewing process. (Le Figaro and Reuters)

• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian opposition urges Russian president Vladimir Putin to put pressure on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in order to “rescue” the Geneva peace talks and begin face-to-face bilateral talks. (The Guardian)
• Foreign relations of Rwanda, Foreign relations of France
  • Rwanda steps up pressure on France to admit alleged complicity in the 1994 genocide by publishing a report by law firm Cunningham Levy Muse. (Financial Times)

• Government of San Francisco
  • Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee dies of an apparent heart attack. Supervisor London Breed becomes acting Mayor. (SFGate)
• United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017
  • Voters in Alabama go to the polls to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by current United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The race is between Roy Moore (R) and Doug Jones (D). (CNN)
  • The Associated Press declares Doug Jones the winner. (AP via New York Times)

• Climate change in the Arctic
  • This year’s Arctic Report Card reveals that the plunge in sea ice extent as well as the amount of ocean surface warming is unprecedented in at least the last 1,500 years. (Mashable)

• Weinstein effect
  • Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor, and Heath Evans are suspended from the NFL Network due to allegations of sexual harassment. (The Washington Post)
• EAFF E-1 Football Championship
  • South Korea beats North Korea 0–1 in Tokyo. The Japanese authorities gave the North Korean players a special visa to enable their participation in the event that was formerly known as the East Asian Cup. (Sporza)

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