November 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Taylor Swift sued over Shake It Off lyrics –
Pop star Taylor Swift is being sued for $42m (£27m) for allegedly stealing the lyrics to her hit 2014 song Shake It Off. US R&B singer Jesse Braham has claimed in legal papers Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called Haters Gone Hate. As well as the monetary compensation, Mr Braham also wants his name added as a writer on the track. Representatives for Swift have yet to officially comment on the legal case. Shake It Off topped music charts around the world and reached number two in the UK. The video for the song has been watched more than 1.1 billion times on YouTube. [BBC]
Taylor Swift

Australia drops knights and dames from honours system –
Australia will no longer appoint knights and dames under the honours system, PM Malcolm Turnbull has said. Mr Turnbull said the titles were “not appropriate” in modern Australia, and that Queen Elizabeth had accepted the cabinet’s recommendation to drop them. Former PM Tony Abbott reintroduced knighthoods and damehoods in 2014. His controversial decision to grant Prince Philip a knighthood in January was widely seen as one of the factors which ended his term as leader. [BBC] Mr Turnbull became Australia PM in September 2015
Malcolm Turnbull

Four gymnasts share asymmetric bars gold –
Fan Yilin, Viktoriia Komova, Daria Spiridonova and Madison Kocian shared an unprecedented four gold medals at the gymnastics world championships on Saturday when the judges could not decide between their asymmetric bars routines. With the giant television screen confirming that there were indeed four champions from the eight-woman final, the gold medalists stood with their arms around each other in a straight line as the crowd gave them a standing ovation. The Russians were still in shock after a prolonged medals ceremony featured three national anthems being played and the master of ceremonies making four announcements starting with “Winner of the gold medal and the 2015 uneven bars champion is….” Organizers also had to abandon the flag-raising ceremony as there was no room for three flags on the same horizontal pole. While so many gold medals have never been given out in one event before, there was a five-way tie for silver at the 1922 championships on the pommel horse. [Reuters]
Daria Spiridonova

Video of the Day –

Alladin Magic Carpet Prank

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NiallTransão	#DaylightSavingTime	1st of November
2	#ProudofOneDirection	#WorldVeganDay	Lambeth
3	#oykullan	#nycmarathon	#WorldVeganDay
4	#هل_الرجل_انسا�…	#ProudofOneDirection	#ProudofOneDirection
5	#MeGustasPero	#CalumGotATonguePiercing	Sonny Bill Williams
6	#secim2015	#ContextIsImperative	#OTRASheffield3
7	#DemiNaEliana	Fred Thompson	Larry
8	ブラ外しゲーム	#IllShowYou	#MostHauntedLive
9	#OTRASheffield3	Wazzu	#6hShanghai
10	#SomosTodosTaisAraujo	#LookingForLove	Arzaylea

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Somalia (2009–present)
- Islamist al-Shabaab militants attack a hotel in Mogadishu resulting in at least 12 deaths. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Syrian Civil War
- Islamic State fighters seize control of Mahin, a town in Syria‘s central Homs province, following clashes with government forces which left about 50 dead. Fighting was also reported to be taking place on the outskirts of Sadad, a nearby town mostly populated by Christians. (Reuters)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- One Palestinian is killed and three Israeli soldiers injured in two attacks in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian was shot dead after attempting to stab soldiers at a military checkpoint near the Beit Einun village in Hebron. In a second incident in the same area, a driver rammed and injured three Israeli paramilitary border policemen with his car before fleeing the scene. None of the three were injured seriously. (The Daily Star) (Al Jazeera)
- Since the beginning of October, nine Israelis, 67 Palestinians – around half of them alleged attackers – and an Arab Israeli have been killed in this wave of violence. (AFP via Yahoo.)
- The fate of slain Palestinians is fueling a new feud with Israeli authorities. The Israeli defense minister says Israel is refusing to return the bodies of Palestinians killed during this month-old surge of violence unless the Palestinian side agrees to keep theirfunerals “modest.” (Reuters)
- An Israel Defense Forces inquiry concludes the death of a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint in Hebron last month was unnecessary, finding the teenager could have been detained and not killed. (Haaretz)

Disasters

The United States Navy sends a remotely operated underwater craft to investigate a wreck which they believe is the remains of the SS El Faro which disappeared on October 1 near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 people on board. (CNN)
Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Airlines including Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France refuse to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until the cause of the crash is known. (AP via ABC News America)
- Russian air transport chief Alexander Neradko says Flight 9268 broke apart at high altitude and scattered plane parts over a wide swath of Egyptian desert. Neradko added it was too soon to determine what caused Saturday’s horrific crash. (USA Today)
- Russia observes a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the plane crash in Egypt. (AP via Fox News)
- The bodies of more than 140 of those killed in the air crash have been flown back to St Petersburg. (BBC)
Colectiv nightclub fire
- Three other victims of the nightclub fire die at hospital, bringing the death toll to 30. (Mediafax)

International relations

China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
- The leaders of the People’s Republic of China, South Korea and Japan hold their first summit in three years. (New York Times)
- Japan and China agree to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers, to hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year, and to work toward early implementation of communication mechanisms between their military forces. (Reuters)

Law and crime

School shootings in the United States
- A campus shooting at around 1:20 AM at Lot W, near Wilson Hall and Gleason-Hairston Terrace, at the Main Campus of Winston-Salem State University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, kills at least one person and wounds at least one- the two are believed to be students; the suspected gunman, Jarrett Jerome Moore, is not believed to be a student, and is believed to be still at large. (CNN, via MSN), (University note), (Winston-Salem Journal)

Politics and elections

Turkish general election, November 2015
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wins Sunday’s snap election with more than 49 percent of the vote. AKP, projected to get 316 seats in the 550-seat parliament, regains single-party rule just five months after losing it. (Washington Post) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu calls on all of Turkey’s political parties to work together on a new constitution to replace the 1982 constitution written during the military junta of 1980-1983. The document has been amended 17 times revising 113 of the 177 articles. (Reuters) (Kuwait News Agency) (ODATV)tr
- Protesters clashed with police outside the headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the Kurds‘ main city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey as it became evident President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP were getting a solid majority and would return to power. The tumult spread to other major cities and towns in the Kurdish heartland. The HDP won 10.7 percent of the vote; the party holds 59 of its 80 seats in the parliament. Al-Ahram (Wall Street Journal)

Azerbaijani parliamentary election, 2015
- Azeri voters go to the polls for a parliamentary election, which Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party is widely expected to win since the The Müsavat (Equality) Party and other Azerbaijani mainstream opposition parties are boycotting. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is not monitoring the election because the restrictions imposed by the authorities make credible poll monitoring impossible. (TASS) (Reuters)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Teachers, writers and students lead a protest rally in Dhaka against the recent killings and attacks on secular authors and publishers in Bangladesh. (AFP via Straits Times)

Science and technology

Smart Sheriff, the most widely used child surveillance mobile app in South Korea, is pulled from the market after specialists raised serious concerns about the program’s safety. Security experts say its programming left the door wide open to hackers and put the personal information of some 380,000 users at risk. The country’s April 2015 law requires all new smartphones sold to those 18 and under have software parents can use to monitor their kids’ social media activity. (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Sport

In athletics, Stanley Biwott and Mary Jepkosgei Keitany of Kenya win the 2015 New York City Marathon. (Runners World), (ABC7 New York)
2015 World Series
- In Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals defeat the New York Mets in the 2015 World Series 4 games to 1. (Fox Sports). (Huffington Post)

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November 3, 2015

November 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Qantas crew don All Blacks jerseys after World Cup defeat –
Australian airline Qantas has settled its wager with Air New Zealand after Australia’s Rugby World Cup defeat. The crew of Monday’s Sydney to Auckland flight wore All Blacks jerseys, honouring a bet born on Twitter. The wager was inspired by some social media sparring – an earlier suggestion was for the losing airline to repaint its fleet in opposition colours. The Kiwis became the first team to defend the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, defeating the Wallabies 34-17. [BBC]
Qantas on Twitter

NASA reveals that Antarctica is actually gaining more ice than it is losing –
NASA scientists have shattered the conventional wisdom that Antarctica’s ice surface is shrinking and revealed that the amount of ice is in fact growing. Though accepting that glaciers are still shrinking because of man-made global warming, the new study published in the Journal of Glaciologysuggests that recent gains more than offset losses elsewhere. The findings challenges previous research including the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2013 study, which concluded that the sea is rising by 0.27 millimeters annually because of melting in Antarctica. [Daily Telegraph]

Guinness goes vegan: Stout agrees to stop using animal bladders in brewing process for first time in 256 years –
The famous Irish stout is to become vegan friendly for the first time in its 256-year history, as the company halts the use of fish bladders in its brewing filters. The new system is due to be installed sometime in 2016. A Guinness spokesman said: “While isinglass is a very effective means of clarification and has been used for many years, we expect to stop using it as the new filtration asset is introduced.” The news follows a longstanding campaign and several online petitions from beer-loving vegans, with many highlighting the fact Guinness and other breweries are not required to state the use of isinglass on the bottle. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

KINGKILLS from KingKIlls on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#IllShowYou	#mondaymotivation	#mondaymotivation
2	松来さん	#JebCanFixIt	PC Dave Phillips
3	#ميول_والدك_في_…	#MusicMonday	Stone Roses
4	Star Trek	Star Trek	#IllShowYou
5	Morgan	#HeadachesIn5Words	Tristram Hunt
6	George Boole	#OpKKK	#TeenageDesperate
7	#BuSeçiminSonucu	Vernon Davis	#equality4mentalhealth
8	#اشياء_تحب_ريح�…	Black Canyon City	#foggy
9	#AntesDeMorirQuisiera	#Royals	#TUBill
10	#ALDUBTheRing	Julius Randle	Remi Garde

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Nepal fuel crisis
- Nepali police shoot dead an Indian citizen at a border checkpoint as they attempt to clear protesters whose blockade has crippled Nepal’s fuel supplies and badly damaged relations between the neighboring countries. (Reuters)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- At least 15 Somalia army soldiers are killed in an Al-Shabaab ambush near the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shebelle region. (AP)

Arts and culture

New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announces knights and dames will no longer be part of the nation’s honors system. He said Queen Elizabeth signed off on the decision. (Time) (Reuters)
In the United States, the hacking group Anonymous starts releasing names and information about alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white-supremacist terrorist group originally founded after the Civil War by former Confederate soldiers. Prominent individuals listed deny the allegations. The group says they also infiltrated KKK-affiliated websites, and warned of more action culminating on November 24, the anniversary of the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict. (The Hill)(USA Today) (Anonymous)

Business and economics

China‘s government owned Comac launches the Comac C919 as part of its efforts to challenge Boeing and Airbus. (CNN)
American financial services company Visa Inc. buys European franchisee Visa Europe for $US23 billion. (AP via AL.com)
Volkswagen emissions scandal
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California’s CARB are widening the Volkswagen investigation into several more expensive VW, Porsche, and Audi automobiles with 3.0-liter diesel engines in model years 2014 through 2016. Volkswagen says it installed no defeat device software on its 3.0 litre V6 diesel cars and is cooperating with the agency to fully investigate the matter. (Reuters) (Consumer Affairs)
TransCanada Corp asks the United States Department of State to suspend its review of the Keystone XL pipeline while it negotiates with the US state of Nebraska about the route. If granted, the delay (according to Reuters) would almost certainly mean the decision on the project will be made by a future president. (The Globe and Mail) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Southeast Asian haze
- The Indonesian state of Riau extends its haze emergency by another month while four airports in Sumatra and Kalimantan remain shut. (Straits Times)
SS El Faro
- The American National Transportation Safety Board confirms that wreckage found on Saturday east of the Bahamas is the cargo ship SS El Faro that sank during Hurricane Joaquin on October 1. (NBC News)
Planes have been left stranded at airports throughout the United Kingdom as the “Great Fog” descends. Heathrow Airport said around 45 flights had been cancelled there while London City Airport was closed for several hours. Other affected airports includeManchester, Leeds Bradford, Glasgow, Belfast, Southampton and Cardiff. (BBC)
2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- At least one person is killed after Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen‘s Socotra island in the Indian Ocean with flooding reported in Hadibu, the provincial capital. The severe cyclone is expected to cause considerable damage when it makes landfall on Yemeni mainland. (BBC)
Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- U.S. intelligence analysts conclude the Russian plane was not brought down by surface-to-air missile. An American infrared satellite detected a heat flash at the same time and same place over the Sinai as the plane, but no evidence a missile was involved. Analysts believe it could have been some kind of explosion on the aircraft itself, either a fuel tank or a bomb. U.S. officials do not rule out that ISIL could have been responsible for bringing down the flight. (NBC News) (ABC News)
- The Russian Air Transportation Ministry says the flight recorders are recovered with only “minor” damage. The ministry also said charter airline Metrojet’s assertion that technical failure or human errors have been ruled out pointing to “external” reasons for the crash, is “premature and not based on any real facts.” (Voice of America) (Reuters)

International relations

A day after Sunday’s trilateral summit between China, Japan, and South Korea, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are meeting in Seoul. The two countries haven’t met in over three years. Expected topics include trade ties, North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear bombs, and long-running disputes over Japanese wartime aggression and behavior. (AP) (Nikkei Asian Review)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations
- Chinese military aircraft conduct training in the South China Sea following the cruise of a U.S. Navy ship in the vicinity of the disputed Spratly Islands. (International Business Times)
- A U.S. defense official says the U.S. Navy plans to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the South China Sea about twice a quarter to remind China and other countries of U.S. rights under international law. “That’s the right amount to make it regular but not a constant poke in the eye,” the official said. (Reuters) (Sydney Morning Herald)

Law and crime

The Vatican police arrest Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui, members of a former papal commission charged with studying financial operations of the Holy See, for allegedly leaking confidential documents to the media, a crime since 2013. (New York Times)

Science and technology

French national public television broadcaster France Télévisions fires France 2 TV channel’s weatherman Philippe Verdier, who has been suspended since mid-October. Verdier, known as “Monsieur Météo” (Mr Weather), has been promoting his recently published book, Climat Investigation (Climate Investigation), in which he throws doubt on the global warning findings of leading climate scientists and political leaders. France Télévisions said its rules, “prevent anyone using their professional status … to push forward their personal opinions.” (Irish Times) (The Guardian)

Sports

2015 Major League Baseball postseason
- The Kansas City Royals win the 2015 World Series, defeating the New York Mets 7–2 in 12 innings in Game 5 to take the best-of-seven series. (NY Times)

Politics and election

United States presidential election, 2016, Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2016
- Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig announces his decision, via a four minute YouTube video, to end his campaign for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination. (Politico) (The Atlantic) (YouTube)

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November 3, 2015

Top News Stories –

Tin Man injured in Halloween fight with Scarecrow as Cowardly Lion runs off –
A man dressed as the Scarecrow managed to escape the police after allegedly punching his friend Tin Man in a Halloween bust-up. Police officers in Canadian state of Ontario responded to a call about a fight between revellers dressed as the characters from this Wizard of Oz this Halloween weekend. A lady dressed as Dorothy and two other women dressed as witches told the officers what had happened but the Tin Man decided not to press charges, police say. “Sometimes, our officers see things that are hard to believe,” South Simcoe Police said in a statement. “When they arrived on scene, they saw a man in costume as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, being treated by paramedics. “Three ladies, dressed as Dorothy, Glinda the Good Witch, and the Wicked Witch of the East, told the officer that the Tin Man had been punched by his friend the Scarecrow. It added: “The Scarecrow didn’t have the brains to stick around, and ran away with the Cowardly Lion. “Turns out the Tin Man didn’t have the heart to lay charges against his friend, and refused to tell the officers anything. He was treated for minor injuries.” [Daily Telegraph]
The Wizard of Oz

Melbourne Cup 2015: Prince of Penzance the first 100-1 winner since World War II –
It was a historic Melbourne Cup in numerous respects. Not least was the price of the winner – Prince of Penzance – who saluted with Michelle Payne in the saddle at 100-1, making it the equal fourth biggest outsider to win Australia’s most famous horse race. No horse had won at triple-figure odds since World War II. Old Rowley in 1940 was the winner at $101, with Wotan in 1936 and The Pearl in 1871 the only other horses to have provided such value. Michelle Payne became the first ever woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. It has taken 155 years, but Payne, one of the youngest of the famous Payne racing family, has galloped into history with a stunning performance aboard the Darren Weir trained gelding. [Melbourne Age]
Michelle Payne

Google ‘smart reply’ will suggest answers for your emails –
Clearing your inbox is about to get a little faster, if you are using Google’s Inbox app. A new feature called Smart Reply will suggest short responses, based on the contents of an email. Google described how the app uses machine learning to “recognise emails that need responses” and suggest some options in natural language. The company also claims the feature will improve over time, learning from a user’s choices of response. Google made its experimental Inbox app available to all users in May 2015. It includes several features designed to make the process of using email more streamlined. [BBC Newsbeat]

Google Project Wing to introduce drone deliveries by 2017 –
Project Wing, the drone delivery service from Google’s parent company Alphabet, will launch commercially in 2017, the executive in charge of the project has announced. David Vos, the leader for Alphabet’s Project Wing, said on Monday that the company is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US about setting up an air traffic control system for unmanned aerial vehicles. The system will use mobile and internet technology to coordinate the drones at altitudes of up to 500ft (152m), with the aim of having a commercial business up and running in 2017, he told an air traffic control convention near Washington. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Italian Road Trip Honeymoon from Mike Matas on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ThingsToLeakInsteadOfTheA…	#My3WordHappiness	#RedCups
2	Andrew Luck	#NationalSandwichDay	Peter Donaldson
3	Matias Ale	#ElectionDay	#TDCMCR
4	Candy Crush	Candy Crush	His Dark Materials
5	#NuncaVoyAOlvidar	#CelebrityRestaurants	John Terry
6	#ALDUBTheVisitor	#E3Now	Colin Welland
7	#حفرالباطن_الان	Dusty Baker	#NationalSandwichDay
8	#الهلال_القادس…	The Warriors	Candy Crush
9	#CelebrityRestaurants	#ThingsToLeakInsteadOfTheA…	#My3WordHappiness
10	#انسحاب_المنتخ…	Jon Stewart	#sexontrial

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2014–15 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
- At least two Indian soldiers are killed after Pakistani forces opened fire along the de-facto border that divides Kashmir between the two countries. (BBC)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Russia conducted multiple airstrikes on ISIS-held Palmyra. (Air Force Times)
- Russia‘s Defence Ministry says the Russian Air Force has bombed 2,804 “militant targets” in Syria so far since beginning its military intervention in September. (The Daily Star)
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- ISIS claims responsibility for the deaths of two Syrian refugee activists who fled to Sanliurfa, Turkey, raising concerns about the group’s reach in countries outside of Syria and Iraq. Ibrahim Abdel Qader, a founder of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, and Fares Hammadi are said to have been killed by an acquaintance posing as a defector from ISIS. (New York Times)
- At least four people are killed and 15 injured in an ISIL attack in the Kurdish section of northern Iraq. (Al-Arabiyah)

Business and economics

British bank Standard Chartered announces that it will axe 15,000 jobs around the world as part of a restructure. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)
Takata Defective airbag recalls (2013-present)
- The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Japanese manufacturer of airbags Takata Corp. agree to a five-year consent decree where the company agrees to pay a civil penalty of $70 million dollars and faces as much as $130 million more in fines if it violates the settlement. Twelve automakers are ordered to speed up recalls that so far have only reached about a quarter of the affected cars. (Bloomberg) (USA Today)
- Honda, Takata’s biggest customer, announces it will not use airbag inflaters made by Takata Corp. for the driver or front passenger side in new Honda and Acura vehicles for any market, world-wide. (USA Today) (NASDAQ)
Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Volkswagen says it found faulty emissions readings for the first time in gasoline-powered vehicles, widening a scandal that so far had centered on diesel engines. (Bloomberg) (BizNews)

Disasters and accidents

At least seven people are dead and 35 others are injured as a bus overturns near Tula, Russia. (RT)
At least 30 people are killed and 35 injured after an overcrowded bus carrying passengers inside and on its roof veered off a mountain road in northwest Nepal. (USA Today)
2015 Southeast Asian haze
- Scientists report fires raging in Indonesia have hit Borneo’s orangutans particularly hard. Borneo is home to about 30 percent of the world’s wild orangutans, an endangered species. Smoke has already displaced many orangutans and caused health problems related to smoke inhalation, according to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). (Live Science)
2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Cyclone Chapala
  - “Ravaged by months of war, Yemen now gets battered by the first tropical storm on record to make landfall.” Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala slams into Yemen’s central coast, with maximum sustained winds of around 140 kph (85 mph) — the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. The storm floods coastal areas, brings down electricity lines and destroys houses, with severe threat of mudslides. Chapala is expected to pour over two or three years worth of rain, up to 300 millimeters (12 inches), in a single day. (CNN) (Abu Dhabi Media)

International Relations

China–United States relations
- In a Peking University speech in Beijing, US Pacific Command commander, Admiral Harry Harris, says the U.S. Navy’s freedom-of-navigation patrols in the South China Sea are routine operations intended to demonstrate respect for international law principles. Harris reiterated they should not be construed as a threat to any country while emphasizing America’s common ground with China. (South China Morning Post) (Bloomberg)
Libyan Crisis (2011–present)
- The New General National Congress (Libya Dawn) which controls the capital Tripoli, and much of western Libya, threatens to send ‘hundreds of thousands’ of refugees to Europe unless the European Union recognizes the Islamist-led government. (Daily Mail)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Japan–Vietnam relations
- Japan has delivered two more ships to Vietnam that will be refurbished into patrol boats. The ships, which arrived in the port city of Da Nang, are the second delivery of a 2014 deal in which Tokyo is to provide Vietnam with six used fishing vessels that will be converted into patrol boats for Vietnam’s coast guard in the South China Sea. (Voice of America)
European migrant crisis
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces a plan to register and distribute incoming refugees evenly throughout the European Union. Refugees would be stopped at EU borders, have their application processed, and then, if accepted, sent to one of the Union’s 28 member states. (UPI)

Law and crime

Pakistani journalist Zaman Mehsud is shot dead by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the country’s northwestern tribal region. According to a 2014 report, at least 56 journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 1992. (UPI) (Xinhua)

Politics and elections

U.S. elections:
- Gubernatorial
  - In Kentucky, Republican Matt Bevin defeats Democrat Jack Conway and independent Drew Curtis with 52 percent of the vote to succeed term-limited Democrat Steve Beshear. (Fox News) (AP)
  - In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Phil Bryant easily wins re-election over Democratic, truck driver Robert Gray. according to the Associated Press. (AP via Huffington Post)
- State, city
  - Former five-term Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim wins election to a sixth term as mayor of Connecticut’s largest city, topping the six other candidates in the poll. Ganim is, in American parlance, an “ex-con;” i.e., a Conviction on corruption charges|convicted felon. In 2003, He was convicted by a federal jury on 16 felony counts for racketeering, bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion in an operation that also led to convictions of 10 of his associates. Ganim served seven years in federal prison; he was released from a Hartford halfway house in 2010. (Hartford Courant) (AP via CBSLocal.com)
  - Newcomer, businesswoman, and clinical psychologist Karen Weaver tops incumbent Dayne Walling in the non-partisan, Flint, Michigan, Mayor’s election. Flint, which is dealing with lead in drinking water, has been under State financial managementfor close to four full years, and is in the final stage where control will be returned to city officials. (AP) (Detroit News) (MLive Media)
- Ballot initiatives, referendums
  - In Ohio, a ballot initiative that would have established a legal oligopoly for the sale of recreational and medicinal marijuana is resoundingly defeated by voters, according to AP. (Los Angeles Times)
  - In Texas, the Equal Rights Ordinance that would have established nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston fails to win approval from voters. (AP via Washington Post) (Texas Tribune)
  - Voters in Denver’s suburban Jefferson County recall, by 64 to 36 percent, three conservative school board members who worked to weaken the local teachers union while boosting funding for charter schools and pushing through other market-driven policy changes. In Fall 2014, the conservative-led majority drew national attention when they wanted the AP U.S. history course to focus on citizenship and patriotism, while condemning civil disobedience and strike actions. (Washington Post) (AP via Huffington Post)
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues a two-year investigative report finding the Palatine, Illinois, school district unfairly denied a transgender teenager — who was undergoing hormone therapy but had not undergonegender reassignment surgery — access to school facilities in violation of Title IX, that bars discrimination in federally funded education programs, causing her “isolation,” “ostracism” and at least one “tearful breakdown.” The school district has 30 days to reach an agreement with authorities or risk losing up to $6 million in federal funding and case-referral to the Department of Justice. The Washington Post report called this “The Palatine standoff”. (The Washington Post) (Chicago Tribune) (DOE report)

Sport

In Australian horse racing, Prince of Penzance wins the 2015 Melbourne Cup becoming the first 100-1 winner since World War II; Michelle Payne becomes the first female jockey to ride the winning horse. (Melbourne Age) (Huffington Post)

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November 4, 2015

Top News Stories –

Brazilian prison inmates using a mouse to courier drugs –
As prison guards in one of Brazil’s notoriously overcrowded and chaotic jails, the officers in Barra da Grota prison probably thought they had seen it all. But last week they saw something that shocked even their hardened heads: a mouse, they noticed, was being used by inmates to courier drugs. The animal was seen scurrying along the corridor with tiny bags of drugs tied to its tail, running between the cells. Gean Carlos Gomes, director of the central Brazil prison, 1,100 miles inland from Recife, said the mouse was being used as a “bridge” between cells. “They attached a hook to the mouse’s tail and then used it to carry the drugs and other goods from one cell to another,” he said. “When the animal arrived at its destination, the prisoner took the mouse and removed the hook from its tail.” [Daily Telegraph]

Vladimir Putin is Forbes magazine’s most powerful person in the world –
Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person for the second year running by Forbes magazine. Of the 73 listed, 28 are billionaires. Thirty of the individuals are Americans. And only nine are women – the same number as last year. The 63-year-old Russian president has, unsurprisingly, retained his position at the top of the Forbes ranking of the world’s most powerful people. Forbes says the decision is made on the amount of money they control; the number of people they impact; their total spheres of influence; and how actively they wield their power. And in all areas Mr Putin has triumphed; he dominates one of the world’s largest countries, and his actions in Ukraine and Syria are changing the course of history. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Vladimir Putin

WARNING: Do Not Post Your Winning Ticket On Social Media –
Chantelle from Perth won $900 [Australian] by betting on 100-to-1 shot Prince Of Penzance in the Melbourne Cup yesterday… Like many punters around the country Chantelle celebrated the win by posting a selfie with her victorious ticket on Facebook. Little did Chantelle know, the photo of the barcode could be used at an automated machine to claim the cash – which is exactly what someone did. “To the low life who is obviously my friend on Facebook and used my photo to claim our winnings. You’re a massive dick. You ruined my day,” Chantelle wrote on Facebook. Chantelle told Triple M that police were able to track where the money was claimed and are confident of finding the person responsible. [Triple M]
Chantelle winning ticket Facebook post

Video of the Day –

Emirates: #HelloJetman
Armed with unguarded ambition and the vision to push boundaries beyond the unthinkable, Jetman Dubai and Emirates A380 take to the skies of Dubai for an exceptional formation flight.

List of the Day –

Forbes Most Powerful People Top Ten 2015 [Forbes]

Rank	Name	Organization	Age
#1	Vladimir Putin	Russia	63
#2	Angela Merkel	Germany	61
#3	Barack Obama	United States	54
#4	Pope Francis	Roman Catholic Church	78
#5	Xi Jinping	China	62
#6	Bill Gates	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	60
#7	Janet Yellen	Washington, United States	69
#8	David Cameron	United Kingdom	49
#9	Narendra Modi	India	65
#10	Larry Page	Google	42

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	告白の日	#YouHadMeAt	#NationalStressAwarenessDay
2	#9DaysUntilMITAM	#NationalStressAwarenessDay	#GrantsNotDebt
3	#QueVuelvaElFav	#9DaysUntilMITAM	#cipd15
4	#احتجاج_الهلال…	#NerdyCountryMusic	Gerrard
5	Briana	#CMAawards	#PMQs
6	#NationalStressAwarenessDay	UC Merced	Dapper Laughs
7	Benzema	Hump Day	#IPBill
8	#MasterChefBR	McDavid	Ashley Young
9	#felizmiercoles	#MyStonerConfession	#TwitterHeart
10	Valbuena	Bayern	Chris Powell

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Flights between the United Kingdom and the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh are suspended due to concerns of the British government that the crash was caused by an “explosive device”. (ITV)
- CNN reports that intelligence sources suggest that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or an affiliate organisation planted explosives on the plane. (CNN)
- Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport chief Abdel-Wahab Ali is replaced; he is now an assistant to Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the country’s air transport service. (AP)
Kunduz hospital airstrike, Afghanistan War
- The United States says that last month’s airstrikes in Kunduz hit three locations, mistakenly including the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (MSF) hospital where at least 30 were killed. Afghan commanders, whose forces were actively engaged with the Taliban, requested the attacks. The Washington Post reports a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas were “pulverized” without loss of civilian lives. According to residents, earlier their neighborhoods had been conflict zones, but no militants were there the time of the attacks. “Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence,” writes the Post. (Washington Post)
- Médecins Sans Frontières held memorials around the globe Tuesday, the one month anniversary of the bombing, to reaffirm their request for an independent investigation. U.S. officials resist an independent probe, pledging that the three investigations underway, by the Pentagon, NATO, and Afghan officials, will be thorough and transparent. Thomas Nierle, head of MSF Switzerland, told AFP that he had little hope the inquiries would ultimately see any wrongdoers punished. (The Hill) (DW Akademie) (AFP via Yahoo News)

Business and economics

Keystone XL Pipeline
- The United States State Department formally denies Calgary-based TransCanada Corporation’s request, made Monday, to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Reuters states this is expected to lead to the project’s rejection by theObama administration. (Reuters) (AP via Chicago Tribune)
Whole Foods, the Texas based food retailer, announces that it will buy back $1 billion of its shares, and increases its dividend. [1]

Disasters and accidents

Ash from Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani volcano closes Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, the country’s third busiest. Nearly 700 flights are cancelled. Officials will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow. Mount Rinjani started spewing ash last weekend.(Reuters) (International Business Times)
2015 Juba plane crash
- A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan. 41 people have reportedly died. The five Armenian crew members were killed. (Reuters Africa) (RT) (Al Jazeera English) (AFP via Rappler) (Daily Mail)
2015 Lahore factory disaster
- A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 18 deaths, at least 75 injured and around 150 people still trapped. (AFP via France24) (Al Jazeera English) (BBC Online)

International relations

Cross-Strait relations, 2015 Ma–Xi Meeting
- The presidents of China and Taiwan are scheduled to meet in Singapore on November 7th, the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (New York Times) (BBC)
An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Malaysia fails to agree on a joint communique following disagreement between China and other nations over the South China Sea. (AP)
South Korea and China agree to establish an emergency navy and military hotline. (UPI)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations, Malaysia–United States relations
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and his counterpart from Malaysia will visit the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) as it cruises in the South China Sea, this in the wake of China’s dismay over a U.S. Navy ship’s sailing in the vicinity of artificial islands constructed by China in the Spratly Islands. (Stars and Stripes)
European migrant crisis
- European Union president Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén, in a joint news conference, announce Sweden will ask to transfer some migrants to other European countries under an EU relocation plan. Sweden has taken the highest number of asylum-seekers per capita in the 28-member bloc. (AP) (The Local)

Law and crime

UC Merced stabbing spree
- Police, at the University of California, Merced campus, shoot and kill a male student who went on a stabbing rampage that wounded four people. The University closed its campus, except for housing, and cancelled classes for Wednesday and Thursday. The school reported all of the wounded are expected to recover. (KGO) (UC Merced) (Los Angeles Times) (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Police have the gunman in custody and San Diego International Airport flights resume. The airport closed after police encountered a man with a high-powered gun shooting in a Bankers Hill apartment complex, east of the approach path to the airport. Also known as Lindbergh Field, the airport is frequently cited as one of the scariest because of its downtown location. (AP update) (Reuters) (Airfare Watchdog)
The Mexican Supreme Court, in a 4-1 decision, rules that people have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. The decision challenges the country’s current substance abuse laws. Fox News Latino and The New York Times point out the ruling only covers the plaintiffs in one case, a group that wants to form a “Pot Club.” A precedent will be established if the court approves five similar petitions. (Fox News Latino) (Reuters)
James Tran of Sacramento County is arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide in the October 8 stabbing of Airman Spencer Stone near a bar in Sacramento California. Stone had helped foil the 2015 Thalys train attack but officials believe it was just a drunken bar fight. (MSN)

Politics and elections

Colectiv nightclub fire
- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his government resigns after tens of thousands took to the streets to protest over the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 32 people. Mircea Dușa has been proposed to be installed as Acting Prime Minister.(Euronews) (BBC News) (The Guardian)
Canadian government
- Justin Trudeau is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Canada along with his ministry. (Toronto Star)
- Trudeau announces an ethnically diverse cabinet which for the first time is equally balanced between men and women (15 each). (The Guardian)
Belizean general election, 2015
- Voters in Belize go to the polls with the United Democratic Party led by Dean Barrow hoping for a third consecutive term. (Voice of America)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 5, 2015

Top News Stories –

Facebook launches music sharing app called Music Stories –
Facebook has announced a new post format which allows people to listen to the first 30 seconds of a song shared on the site. It will be called Music Stories and Facebook says it is aimed at “enabling better music discovery and sharing”. The previews will be streamed from Spotify and Apple Music and fans can link through to buy or save the music. [BBC Newsbeat]
Facebook Music share tweet

Facebook ‘takes on Apple’s News with news app Notify’ –
Facebook will launch its own news aggregator app featuring stories drawn from numerous media partners next week, according to reports. The standalone new app, reported to be called Notify, will act as a direct rival to Apple’s News app, which recently launched in the UK. The social network has partnered with publishers including the BBC, the New York Times and NBC, according to the Financial Times. Users can subscribe to specific news organisations and receive notifications once stories are published. Reports first emerged the social network had been testing the app over the summer. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Le Petit Chef – Bouillabaisse from Skullmapping on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#8DaysUntilMITAM	5th of November	#BonfireNight
2	5th of November	#NationalDoughnutDay	#StressIn5Words
3	H&	#YouWereSoHotUntil	#museums2015
4	#CMAawards	#StressIn5Words	H&
5	#شي_جميل_يبداا_…	#8DaysUntilMITAM	#MillionMaskMarch
6	#StressIn5Words	Faisal Mohammad	Lewes
7	Elio Rossi	Martha Ford	Sam Burgess
8	#Empire	Chris Paul	Melissa Mathison
9	#مشكله_الاسكان…	Seth Rollins	Guy Fawkes
10	Rolling Stones	#TheSuperheroWeActuallyNeed	Benzema

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013–present)
  - Canada‘s Department of Foreign Affairs says it’s aware of reports that a Canadian national, John Robert Gallagher, has died while fighting in Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, John Robert Gallagher was killed while fighting alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces against Islamic State militants in the northeast Al-Hasakah Governorate. (CBC News)
- Syrian rebels seize control of Murak, a town located north of the city of Hama on a strategic highway that is crucial to control of western Syria, following clashes with pro-government forces. Murak was the scene of heavy fighting last year when government forces took control of the town in October 2014. (Reuters)
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - Russia sends antiaircraft missile systems to Syria, where more than 50 Russian aircraft are stationed and its bombing campaign in support of the Assad regime has been in progress since late September. (Radio Free Europe)
Military intervention against ISIL
- British Prime Minister David Cameron, under pressure from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Foreign Affairs Committee, will not ask for a vote by Parliament to join the U.S. airstrikes in Syria. (Military.com)
- France announces that it will deploy its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean to boost its efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria. (Independent)

Disasters and accidents

Minas Gerais dam disaster
- An iron ore tailings dam bursts in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais flooding a valley, causing mudslides in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues and causing up to 17 deaths and 45 missing. The dam is operated by Samarco Mineração, a joint venture between BHP Billiton and Vale. (Bloomberg), (Reuters via SBS Australia), (AFP via Yahoo! News), (Al Jazeera English)

Law and crime

European migrant crisis
- Greek police say they came under fire on the country’s northeastern border with Turkey during the arrest of two suspected migrant smugglers who had just ferried 22 people across the Evros river that runs along the Greek-Turkish border. (AP via New Europe)
NetCracker and Computer Sciences Corporation agree to pay fines amounting to over $12 million, settling a Justice Department investigation into the firms’ sub-contracting of computer coding work to Russian sources. The programs were subsequently installed on secure U.S. government computer networks. (The Daily Beast)
University of California, Merced stabbing attack
- The Merced County Sheriff identifies the attacker of four students at the University of California, Merced as freshman Faisal Mohammad. (Merced Sun Star)

Politics and elections

Belizean general election, 2015
- Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow wins a record third term in Wednesday’s snap general election in the Central American nation as his United Democratic Party (UDP) gains a clear majority in parliament. The UDP won 19 constituencies and Francis Fonseca’s People’s United Party (PUP) took 10, with two constituencies yet to report. Belize is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II, the symbolic head of state. (Reuters) (Newsweek)
The President of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, declares a state of emergency suspending civil rights and giving sweeping powers to security forces. (The Guardian)
- The United States, Amnesty International, and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the country’s main opposition party, sharply criticize the state of emergency, concerned it might lead to a new crackdown on dissent. MDP had scheduled a protest rally for this Friday, demanding the release of its jailed leader, and former Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed. The government order cancels that action. (Washington Post) (AP via U.S. News & World Report)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says she would be “above the president” if her National League for Democracy party (NLD) gets the expected win in the Sunday, November 8, 2015, election. The 2008 constitution, drafted by the military without NLD participation, bars her from becoming President. (Reuters) (Time)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 6, 2015

Top News Stories –

Pope Francis releases first ‘pop-rock’ album –
His wise homilies and moving speeches already attract worshippers in their millions. Now Pope Francis will be hoping his popularity translates into record sales after his first pop-rock album was released in Italy on Friday. Wake Up!, an 11-track Vatican-approved album, features many of the most moving addresses of Pope Francis’s papacy laid over rap, pop-rock and Latin rhythms. An online extract from the record, which was released at the end of September, has already been listened to a billion times, according to distributors. Speaking at the record’s launch at the Vatican, Father Giulio Neroni, the Italian priest who produced the album, said: “Pope Francis doesn’t sing as such. But his voice does sing and play, not to the cardinals, but to the people, the faithful.” [Daily Telegraph]
Pope Francis

Mysterious billion-dollar car company takes on Tesla –
Faraday Future, the startup backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, has big dreams of taking on Tesla Motors Inc, starting with a $1 billion investment in a new US factory that will build electric cars starting in 2017. Nick Sampson, a former Tesla director who is Faraday’s senior vice president of research and development, said Faraday plans to introduce its first electric car in two years and quickly follow with several other models. Faraday is based in Gardena, California, where it has been developing its first model with 400 employees. Jia Yueting is founder and chairman of Leshi Television, a popular Chinese online video site. [Daily Telegraph]

Warcraft film trailer is shown to fans for the first time –
Finally, the new Warcraft movie trailer’s out – and it looks awesome. Fans got the chance to see it at the Blizzcon gaming convention in California on Friday. Director Duncan Jones hopes it appeals to people who don’t play MMO (massively multiplayer online) games like the one its based on, World of Warcraft. The film’s based on the blockbuster video game series, World of Warcraft, which has won millions of fans all over the world since its launch in 2004. The teaser clip shows the world of Azeroth descended into darkness, pitting sworn enemies – the humans and the orcs – against each other in an epic battle. It opens in cinemas on 3 June next year in the UK. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Warcraft – Official Trailer

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#7DaysUntilMITAM	#FridayFeeling	#FridayFeeling
2	#SorryLatinoRemix	#1DHistory	#HEgreenpaper
3	松さん診断	West Point	#ManOnTheMoon
4	面接官	#KeystoneXL	Coldplay
5	Coldplay	Greg Hardy	#GetWeird
6	West Point	Adventure of a Lifetime	#bbcqt
7	#BuenViernes	#CelebriTrees	Andrew Fisher
8	#1DHistory	#7DaysUntilMITAM	#FlavorAFilm
9	#OneWeekUntilPURPOSE	Coldplay	#1DHistory
10	Hayırlı Cumalar	Warcraft	#firstdates

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- Israeli forces shoot and kill a 72-year-old woman in Halhul, a town near Hebron. The soldiers say she attempted to wound them with her car. Her son denies this, saying his mother was on her way to lunch with her sister. Later, three Israelis are shot and wounded, one seriously, in two incidents in Hebron. (Al Jazeera English) (The Guardian) (Haaretz)
Syrian Civil War
- Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspectors conclusively identify mustard gas as the toxic agent used in the battle between Islamic State (IS) insurgents and a anti-Assad rebel group in the Syrian town of Mare’ in the northern Alleppo province on August 21, 2015. This is the first confirmation of its use by non-state actors in Syria’s four-year-old conflict. (Christian Science Monitor) (Washington Post)
- The Ajnad al-Sham and other rebel forces recapture the village of Atshan and surrounding areas in Hama province, consolidating significant advances made the day before at the expense of pro-government forces. (Fox News) (Reuters)

Art and culture

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) new policy states those in a same-sex marriage are to be considered apostates, and children living in a same-sex household may not be blessed as babies, or baptized until they are 18. (Washington Post) (AP)

Business and economics

India has cancelled Greenpeace India’s license to operate and gave the group 30 days to close down, citing financial fraud and falsification of data, the environment watchdog said on Friday. (NDTV) (Reuters)
U.S. job growth for October 2015 saw the biggest gains since December 2014, fueling hopes that the Federal Reserve Board will increase near-zero interest rates at its December meeting. (Reuters)
U.S. President Barack Obama announces that the State Department has rejected TransCanada‘s application to complete the Keystone XL pipeline. (New York Times) (NPR) (Al Jazeera English)

Disasters and accidents

Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Russia has ordered the suspension of all flights to Egypt following indications that the crash near Sharm el-Sheikh was caused by a bomb.(BBC)
Minas Gerais dam disaster
- Thursday’s flooding and devastating mudslides at the BHP-Vale mine in Minas Gerais involved two dams, not one as initially reported. Brazilian officials report the mud flow is eight kilometers (five miles) long and 2.5 meters deep. Those rescued – and emergency services – are being decontaminated; mining spoils being treated as toxic. There is no official information on the number of casualties or the cause of the incident. The company that runs the mine says it detected seismic activity right before the breach. Both BHP and Vale shares declined over five percent. Brazilian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation. (Mashable) (Bloomberg) (CCTV)

Health and medicine

Researchers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania‘s Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) successfully use a 3-D printer (specifically, a fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer) to produce hair-like strands, inspired by the use of a hot glue gun to produce gossamer strands. Also, using certain materials (like collagens, alginates, and fibrins), with a 3-D printer and special bioprinting techniques, another team at CMU produced human coronary arteries and small, embryonic-like human hearts. (MSN), (CMU), (CMU)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a new, all-in-one pill to treat HIV patients that includes a new version of the drug tenofovir, which researchers think will help reduce side effects from the multi-drug regimens used for HIV. (UPI)

International relations

Indonesia–Philippines relations
- Indonesia and the Philippines discuss their borders after the Indonesian Navy sinks four Filipino fishing vessels off the coast of the Philippines triggering a diplomatic dispute. (Business World)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations
- U.S. officials say the U.S. Navy deliberately avoided military drills or other actions that could have further inflamed tensions with Beijing during the USS Lassen’s patrol in the South China Sea last week. For instance, the Lassen turned off its fire-control radars while transiting within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef. On its part, the Chinese destroyer following the Lassen was, “very cordial the entire time … before and after the Spratly Islands transit,” said the Lassen’s commanding officer, Commander Robert Francis. (Reuters) (New York Post)
European migrant crisis
- Reuters reports the Obama Administration will be opening new screening centers for Syrian refugees in Iraq and Lebanon to speed up the process for getting vetted individuals to the United States. (Reuters)
Turkey–United States relations
- The U.S Air Force deploys six F-15C fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders. (AP)
Egypt–United States relations
- Egypt receives the final four of its order of 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 52 multi-role fighters, according to the Defense Ministry. The United States had delayed delivery following the 2013 coup d’état. (UPI)
Japan–United States relations
- Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga says he “cannot comply with the recommendation” from Tokyo’s Land Minister Keiichi Ishii, and will not retract his revocation of a U.S. military base relocation permit. (UPI)

Politics and elections

The U.S. House passes the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 370-58. In addition to funding the U.S. military, the bill contains provisions for sweeping personnel reforms. The previous version of the bill was vetoed by President Barack Obama. Some sources expect swift passage by the U.S. Senate while other sources are not so optimistic. (Defense News) (The Hill)

Science and technology

The United States Federal Communications Commission rejects privacy advocacy group Consumer Watchdog’s petition to make it illegal for Internet companies like Google, Facebook and ad providers to ignore “Do Not Track” browser settings. (NBC News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 7, 2015

Top News Stories –

Cheese burglars who are driving French farmers rind the bend –
Farmers in France are being driven crackers after thieves launched a string of raids – to steal wheels of cheese. With consumer demand high in the run-up to Christmas, criminal gangs have spotted a lucrative opportunity. More than four tons of Comté cheese, worth at least €40,000 (£28,550), were stolen last week from a renowned producer in eastern France near the Swiss border. The burglars cut through a barbed wire fence at night to enter the Napiot dairy in Goux-les-Usiers and loaded a lorry with 100 90lb “wheels” of the cheese which the family has been making since 1860. A police source said: “The newspapers are calling it a record theft, but there have been at least two other thefts of similar quantities of cheese in recent times. The cheesemakers decided not to make their misfortune public.” [Daily Telegraph]

Adele says management banned her from tweeting after she ‘drunk tweeted’ –
Adele says she’s not allowed to send her own tweets any more after “drunk tweeting” a few years ago. The singer says her posts now go through two sets of people and are signed off before being posted but she says she still writes them. The 27-year-old was answering a question from the audience in her pre-recorded BBC interview and performance. Adele said the rule was brought in after she nearly landed herself in trouble “quite a few times”. The star now has almost 24 million Twitter followers. [BBC Newsbeat] In October 2015 Adele went to the top of the Official Singles Chart with her comeback single Hello.
Adele

Video of the Day –

MASSIVE BLUE UFO OVER LOS ANGELES 11-7-15

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#RespectLouis	#RespectLouis	#RespectLouis
2	#6DaysUntilMITAM	#JustinHatesHisFansParty	#6DaysUntilMITAM
3	合計種族値	Seth Curry	#JustinHatesHisFansParty
4	オフ会0人	Clemson	#mozfest
5	#7NFeminista	Vandy	#PutrajayaePrix
6	#ALDUBPerformsTogether	#6DaysUntilMITAM	#bbc4
7	#جيشنا_عز_وفخر	#MyComedyAlbumTitle	Stoke
8	HARRY CORTOU O CABELO	#LSUvsBAMA	#MarchForIndia
9	#SoyFelizCuando	#mozfest	Clive James
10	#SabadoDeTremuraComSdv	#PrehistoricMovies	#ThankYouBob

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- The Assyrian Human Rights Network (AHRN) reports Islamic State militants released 37 Syrian Christians, mostly women, who were among more than 200 people from the Assyrian minority group abducted in February. (AP)
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the death toll from an airstrike on an IS-controlled eastern city near the border with Iraq rose from 25 to 71. (AP)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Bombs in and around Baghdad kill at least nine people, police and medical sources say. There is no immediate claim of responsibility. (Reuters)

Art and culture

The University of Sydney‘s Australian Archaeological Mission, excavating at a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the southwest coast of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, discover Cyprus’s oldest theatre. Located in the ancient city of Nea Paphos (capital of Cyprus at the time), it is a Hellenistic–Roman structure believed to have been in use for about six and a half centuries, from c. 300 B.C. until its final destruction in the earthquakes of A.D. 365. The Roman columns are made of granite from quarries in Troad,Turkey. (AFP, via MSN)
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities says infrared thermography indicates a hidden chamber in the tomb of King Tutankhamen, findings consistent with early theories his tomb included two concealed doorways and with the theory presented in archaeologist Nicholas Reeves‘ paper this summer. (UPI)

Business and economics

Takata Defective airbag recalls (2013-present)
- Nissan Motor Co. says it will not use airbag inflators made by Japanese auto parts supplier Takata Corp. in its cars, joining Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Metrojet Flight 9268
- A sudden noise immediately before the “black box” flight data recorder went dark indicates the plane was brought down by a bomb, according to unnamed sources. Officially, Ayman el-Muqadem says the Egyptian investigative team is “considering all possible scenarios for the cause of the accident” and has not yet reached any conclusions. (BBC) (USA Today) (The Mirror)
European migrant crisis
- The Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex, in six separate operations, rescue a total of 383 migrants attempting to sail from Turkey to the eastern Greek islands. (AP)
Minas Gerais dam disaster
- As rescue teams labor to reach isolated communities, state officials are taking precautions to contain the environmental fallout from the burst dams. A state public prosecutor based in Mariana says he will seek 500,000 Brazilian reais (US$130,000) in personal damages for each of about 200 families most affected by the dam burst. (Reuters)

Health and medicine

In Iraq, a cholera outbreak prompts United Nations agencies UNICEF and the World Health Organization to launch a prevention and treatment campaign. So far, around 2,200 cases have been confirmed, and some infections have occurred in neighboring countries. (Al Jazeera English)
The WHO declares Sierra Leone free from Ebola transmissions. (France 24), (BBC), (New York Times)

International relations

Cross-Strait relations, 2015 Ma–Xi Meeting
- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou meet in Singapore, the first meeting between a Chinese and Taiwanese leader since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (CNN)

Law and crime

A manhunt is underway for a gunman who shot and seriously wounded presiding Travis County, Texas State District Judge Julie Kocurek at the driveway of her home in West Austin, Texas. It was unclear whether she and/or her family members were targeted (they were arriving home) or if it was a botched robbery. She was listed in serious condition at University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin but is expected to recover. (USA Today, via MSN)
In Louisiana, United States, two law enforcement officers are arrested and charged with homicide of a six-year-old and attempted homicide of his father. (Al Jazeera English) (BBC)

Politics and elections

Portuguese legislative election, 2015
- Three leftist parties announce their ability to form a government, making it likely that Pedro Passos Coelho will no longer be Prime Minister. (BBC)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- Myanmar president Thein Sein says his government and the military, which gave up power only five years ago, will respect the results of Sunday’s historic elections that are expected to be won by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party. (AP)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Valentino Rossi accuses rivals of colluding to deny him the world title –
MotoGP’s most controversial season ended in bitter acrimony on Sunday as Valentino Rossi accused rivals of colluding to deny him the world title. The Italian legend launched his tirade after narrowly missing out on the championship despite scything through the field from the back of the grid – and no one was spared his vitriol. The 36-year-old had to start from the back of the field as punishment for his alleged kick on Márquez in the penultimate round in Malaysia. Rossi said the new champion, Jorge Lorenzo, did not deserve the title, and that fellow Spaniard Marc Márquez had acted like a “bodyguard” to prevent him from taking a seventh championship. [Daily Telegraph]
Valentino Rossi

Prime Minister’s celebrity trainer launches ‘Netflix for Fitness’ –
Celebrity personal fitness coach Matt Roberts, known for training Amanda Holden, Naomi Campbell and David Cameron, is launching his own online fitness channel. The UK Prime Minister’s personal trainer, Matt Roberts, is launching a new online workout channel, with the bold aim of becoming the “Netflix for Fitness”. Known as Body.Network, the channel will offer live and on-demand classes with Mr Roberts himself, as well as trainers from global yoga chain Yogasphere, the England Rugby team’s sports nutritionist Matt Lovell, and health and fitness gym The Third Space. Mr Roberts trains a number of high-profile personalities such as Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha, Amanda Holden, Naomi Campbell, James Corden, Michael McIntyre, Tom Ford and Mel C. [Daily Telegraph]

Astronaut plays bagpipes on International Space Station –
A US astronaut has played a set of Scottish-made bagpipes on the International Space Station to pay tribute to a colleague who died. Kjell Lindgren played Amazing Grace on the pipes after recording a message about research scientist Victor Hurst, who was involved in astronaut training. It is thought to be the first time that bagpipes have been played in space. They were made for Mr Lindgren by McCallum Bagpipes at the company’s factory in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Kenny Macleod, who works at McCallum Bagpipes, told BBC Scotland the 42-year-old astronaut had got in touch two years ago to say he was going to the space station and wanted to play the pipes while he was there. In the video, Mr Lindgren is seen to give the pipes a punch before he starts playing. Mr Macleod said it was normal for pipers to massage the bag to get the air flowing, “but not quite as vigorously as that”. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015 – #ManOnTheMoon

List of the Day –

Moto GP 2015 final standings by race [from Wikipedia]

Pos	Rider	Bike	QAT	AME	ARG	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	Pts
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	4	4	5	1	1	1	1	3	4	2	1	4	Ret	1	3	2	2	1	330
2	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1	3	1	3	2	3	2	1	3	3	3	1	5	3	2	4	3	4	325
3	Marc Márquez	Honda	5	1	Ret	2	4	Ret	Ret	2	1	1	2	Ret	1	Ret	4	1	Ret	2	242
4	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	6				16	4	3	8	2	4	5	5	9	2	1	5	1	3	206
5	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	3	5	4	6	5	2	4	4	5	5	4	8	7	4	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	188
6	Bradley Smith	Yamaha	8	6	6	8	6	5	5	7	6	6	7	7	2	8	7	10	4	6	181
7	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	2	2	2	9	3	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	9	6	3	8	5	5	13	Ret	7	162
8	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	7	7	3	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	7	8	Ret	Ret	11	7	6	7	5	9	125
9	Pol Espargaró	Yamaha	9	Ret	8	5	7	6	Ret	5	8	7	8	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	8	9	5	114
10	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	12	10	11	12	10	9	9	11	9	10	10	2	6	Ret	Ret	12	6	10	113
11	Aleix Espargaró	Suzuki	11	8	7	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	10	14	9	9	10	6	11	9	7	8	105
12	Maverick Viñales	Suzuki	14	9	10	11	9	7	6	10	11	11	Ret	11	14	11	Ret	6	8	11	97
13	Scott Redding	Honda	13	Ret	9	13	Ret	11	7	13	Ret	13	12	6	3	12	10	11	11	15	84
14	Yonny Hernández	Ducati	10	Ret	Ret	10	8	10	Ret	14	12	12	11	Ret	Ret	10	14	17	12	13	56
15	Héctor Barberá	Ducati	15	12	13	14	13	13	16	Ret	13	15	16	13	18	16	9	16	13	16	33

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BiharResults	Gunnar Hansen	#R1TeenAwards
2	#NoPlayPURPOSEandMITAM	#AliensTakingOverEarthParty	#RemembranceSunday
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4	#ComoQuisiera	Larry David	#XFactor
5	Neymar	Antonio Brown	#BiharResults
6	#5DaysTillPURPOSE	#5DaysTillPURPOSE	#MOTD
7	#お前がの後にすと�…	#RHOA	#AliensTakingOverEarthParty
8	#R1TeenAwards	#RemembranceSunday	Sophia’s Instagram
9	#MotoGPValencia	#MyCodeNameIs	Rios
10	Belfort	#1DR1livelounge	Giroud

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Houthi forces regain several positions across southern Yemen after launching a fresh offensive against loyalist and coalition forces. In Lahij province, which borders Aden, Houthi forces are now positioned on a hill overlooking the strategic Al Anad Air Base, which houses Sudanese forces. The Houthis also retook the Damt District in the Dhale province after besieging it for hours, at least 16 people were killed in the clashes. (AFP via Yahoo)
At least nine people are killed after gunmen attack a bar in Burundi‘s capital, Bujumbura. (Voice of America)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Two suicide bomb attacks in Ngouboua, a remote village near Lake Chad, kill three people, including the bombers, and injure four others, according to Chadian Communication Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari. (Shanghai Daily) (UPI)
Syrian Civil War
- Syrian state news reports clashes between Syrian regime troops and the Islamic State in eastern Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province result in the deaths of 58 militants. (UPI) (Zee News)

Arts and Culture

United States presidential election, 2016
- GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump hosts Saturday Night Live. According to NBC the show attained a 6.6 household rating, giving Saturday Night Live its best overnight ratings since January 2012 when Charles Barkley was the host. (NBC)(Entertainment Weekly) (AP)
In the United States, University of Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel tweets his support for the 30 black football players who, because of racial tensions on campus, are boycotting team activities until the president of the University of Missouri System,Tim Wolfe, is removed. Pinkel and athletics director Mack Rhoades issue a statement that the Tigers will not resume football activities until Missouri student Jonathan Butler ends his hunger strike against Wolfe. (NBC Sports) (KTIC Radio) (AFP via Global Post) (KCSTAR via Sacramento Bee)
John Lennon‘s guitar sells for over $2.5 million (BBC)
The Detroit Free Press reports, following this week’s election, Hamtramck, Michigan, will apparently be the first city in the United States to be governed by Muslims, three of Bangladeshi descent and one Yemeni. Community leader Bill Meyer, who is not Muslim, said, the influx of Muslims to Hamtramck has “helped bring stability, security and sobriety while lessening the amount of drugs and crime in the city.” (Detroit Free Press) (Christian Science Monitor) (New Civil Rights Movement)

Disasters and accidents

A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derails in Wisconsin; some of the 10 derailed cars are leaking oil. This is the second consecutive day for a freight train crash in the state. Yesterday, a BNSF Railway train wreck spilled thousands of gallons of ethanol. No injuries were reported in either accident. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (WBAY)

Health and medicine

A 1-year-old from London with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who had undergone myriads of, unsuccessful, treatments since she was 14 weeks old, is in remission thanks to gene-editing technology, used for just the second time, that allowed her to receivemodified immune cells from another person. (Chicago Tribune) (Bangkok Post) (Nature)

International relations

United States–Venezuela relations
- Venezuela says a U.S. Coast Guard intelligence plane violated its airspace on November 6. (Reuters via Yahoo)
European migrant crisis
- Spain’s interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz says the first of more than 1,400 refugees from Syria and Eritrea are being welcomed for resettlement in new homes across the country. (AP)

Law and crime

Hossam Bahgat, an investigative reporter for the independent Egyptian news website Mada Masr is detained and is interrogated on charges of publishing false news that could harm the nation. (Middle East Eye) (NPR)
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. announces over $800 million in grants available to various agencies across the country for law enforcement-related initiative such as testing of potentially expired rape kits, the funding of an international center devoted to monitoring cyber attacks, and a program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice dedicated to training prosecutors. The grants are funded from criminal penalties paid by several international banks accused of violating sanctions. (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Croatian parliamentary election, 2015
- Early official results show the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the country’s largest opposition party, has a slim lead over Prime Minister Zoran Milanović’s ruling Social Democrats (SDP) in today’s elections. With 32 percent counted, the HDZ, has 61 of parliament’s 151 seats and the SDP is second with 53. The third place Most (Bridge of Independent Lists) party is likely to have the balance of power in the parliament. (Wall Street Journal) (Bloomberg), (The Guardian)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- Voters in Myanmar head to the polls with the National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, expected to win a majority of seats in Parliament and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party conceding defeat on Monday. Early indication is an 80 percent turnout of the more than 30 million people eligible to vote. (Los Angeles Times) (Ahmedabad Mirror), [
Bihar, India, Legislative Assembly election, 2015
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP Party concedes defeat to the grand alliance of Bihar sitting chief minister Nitish Kumar in the fifth and final phase of the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. (NPR) (FirstPost.com)

Science and technology

Mysterious lights from an unidentified flying object spook people in Arizona, California, and Nevada. It was later confirmed as a test flight of a UGM-133 Trident II missile. (BBC)
According to a new World Bank report, climate change could drive more than 100 million people into poverty by 2030 largely due to difficulties producing crops. (Time) (CNBC) (World Bank Report)

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November 9, 2015

Top News Stories –

David Beckham dons Argentina shirt to play in Buenos Aires shanty-town –
David Beckham has delighted children in one of the poorest districts of Buenos Aires by pulling on an Argentine shirt and joining them for a kick around. The former England captain, who was famously given a red card during a bruising encounter with Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, was in Argentina to film a documentary about football around the world. Beneath a mural of Pope Francis, an Argentine football fanatic, Beckham darted about on the concrete with the evidently delighted children. Beckham posted a photo on Instagram of himself beaming, with the caption: “Smiles all around. The passion of these kids and people for the game in the country is truly amazing. #Love of the game.” [Daily Telegraph]
David Beckham on Instagram

Indonesia drugs: Crocodiles ‘to guard death row prisons’ –
The head of Indonesia’s anti-drugs agency has proposed building a prison island guarded by crocodiles to house death-row drug convicts. Budi Waseso said crocodiles often made better guards than humans – because they could not be bribed. He said he would visit different parts of the Indonesian archipelago in order to find the fiercest reptiles. Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013. “We will place as many crocodiles as we can there,” Mr Waseso was quoted as saying by local news website Tempo. “You can’t bribe crocodiles. You can’t convince them to let inmates escape.” The plan is still in the early stages, and neither the location nor the potential opening date of the jail have been decided, the AFP news agency reports. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Star Wars: Battlefront Live Action Trailer – Become More Powerful

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Hedy Lamarr	#mondaymotivation	#mondaymotivation
2	#4DaysUntilMITAM	Hedy Lamarr	#EqualPayDay
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4	#OhNoBriana	#LoveYourself	#LoveYourself
5	#LoveYourself	#BeBraveIn4Words	#ScotlandBill
6	#FelizLunes	#Mizzou	David Moyes
7	#السعوديه_فلسط…	Baby Hitler	The Sun
8	#TWD6naFOX	#PickUpLinesForRepublicans	#AskDemi
9	재규어	Andre Drummond	Garry Monk
10	Jack Gilinsky	Jordan Matthews	Good Charlotte

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Amman shooting attack
- A Jordanian policeman shoots dead two American instructors and a South African before being killed at a police training centre in Al-Muwaqqar, on the eastern outskirts of Amman. U.S. contractors are sent to the facility to assist Jordanian police trainers.(BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency
- The government of Chad declares a state of emergency in the Lake Chad area a day after a double suicide bombing that has killed two people. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Syrian Civil War, Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- Using social media, Russian investigative bloggers from the Conflict Intelligence Team photo-geolocate three Russian military personnel outside expected air support operations areas — evidence of what the group says may be a broader Russian military role in Syria.(Reuters)

Art and culture

In the U.S., University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe announces his resignation after mounting criticism of his handling of racial issues; the Board of Curators votes to accept his resignation. R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus, announces he will step down from his post by the end of the year. (ESPN) (USA Today) (ABC News)
Amedeo Modigliani‘s 1917 painting Nu couché sells at an auction at Christie’s for $170.4 million, the second highest price for a painting on record. (New York Times)

Business and economy

The German airline Lufthansa suspends 929 flights leaving 113,000 passengers stranded as a result of a cabin crew strike. (AFP via Yahoo! finance)

Disasters and accidents

2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Cyclone Megh
  - Cyclone Megh had sustained winds of 204 km/h (127 mph), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane, when it hit the island of Socotra. According to AFP, Megh killed six, injured dozens with three reported missing and 5,000 people forced to leave their homes. (Reuters) (USA Today) (Al Jazeera) (AFP via Yahoo)
  - Megh is expected to cross the Yemen coast Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Arabia Standard Time (6:00 a.m. UTC). In the Gulf of Aden, the storm has maximum sustained winds of 111 km/h (69 mph), gusting to 130 km/h (81 mph). Its strength will significantly erode once it makes landfall and continue to decay after it moves inland into the dry and rugged terrain of Western Yemen. It is not expected to track back over water. (United States Naval Observatory) (Regional Specialized Meteorological Center)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Slovenia tightens controls over its Schengen border with Croatia due to concerns of an influx of migrants. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Syrian Civil War
- Human Rights Watch releases a report finding, because of a language barrier, integration issues, and financial difficulties, more than 400,000 Syrian refugee children in Turkey are not able to attend school despite the Turkish government allowing them access to the Turkish schooling system. (AP)

Law and crime

Detainees at Australia‘s Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre riot, following the death of an asylum seeker. (The Australian)
Federal district court judge Richard Leon rules the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of U.S. phone records is unconstitutional. This ruling has limited impact since it applies to only one case, and the NSA is scheduled to replace this protocol with a more targeted system the end of this month. (Reuters) (Foreign Policy)
In the United States, the University of Virginia fraternity that was the subject of a Rolling Stone article about a brutal campus rape, filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine and the article’s writer. (NBC News) (The Washington Post)
The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a 2-1 decision, upholds a lower court’s injunction that blocks implementation of an Executive order to shield from deportation millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children. The White House is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

The Catalan Parliament passes a resolution calling for the Catalonian region to secede from Spain. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy says his government will seek to invalidate the motion with an appeal to the Constitutional Court in the coming days.(AP) (Reuters) (The Himalayan Times)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- Myanmar’s ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) concedes defeat in Sunday’s first free nationwide election in a quarter of a century. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which has won 49 of the first 54 declared seats for the 330-seat lower house, appears headed for a landslide victory that would ensure it forms the next government. (Reuters) (Tribble Agency)
- United to End Genocide, an American-based human rights group, in the aftermath of the country’s historic election, warns that ethnic and religious tension in Myanmar could boil over and lead to violence. (The Washington Post)
The United Kingdom House of Commons passes the Scotland Bill devolving powers to Scotland. (BBC)

Science and technology

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2014 and the relentless fueling of climate change is endangering the planet for future generations. (Scientific American) (USA Today)

Sport

A World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into a Russian doping scandal recommends the suspension of Russian athletes from international competition and lifetime bans for five athletes, four coaches and an administrator. Among the athletes are London Olympic medalists Mariya Savinova-Farnosova and Ekaterina Poistogova. (AP via ABC News America)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 10, 2015

Top News Stories –

Rowan Atkinson divorced in 65 seconds on grounds of his ‘unreasonable behaviour’ –
Actor Rowan Atkinson’s wife has been granted a divorce on the grounds of his “unreasonable behaviour” after he left her for a comedy actress half his age. The Mr Bean and Blackadder star was not present at the 65-second proceedings in central London. Estranged wife Sunetra was granted a decree nisi against the 60-year-old by a district judge at the Central Family Court. Atkinson married the make-up artist in 1990. He has been dating 32-year-old Louise Ford for 18 months. Listed as Atkinson S D v R S, the case was the fourth in a list of 26 before District Judge Stephen Alderson for decrees and orders to be made under the “quickie” procedure. The County Durham-born actor and his wife, who have two children, are reported to have split last year. [Daily Telegraph]
Rowan Atkinson

Jeb Bush says he would kill baby Hitler if he could time travel –
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he once got an email asking whether he would kill the baby Adolf Hitler if it were possible. “It said, ‘If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you? I need to know,'” Mr Bush told a Huffington Post reporter on his campaign bus in New Hampshire last week. Mr Bush’s answer, according to the video clip: “Hell, yeah, I would. Look, you gotta step up man.” [Daily Telegraph]
Jeb Bush

Pat Eddery: Former champion jockey dies aged 63 –
Eleven-time Flat racing champion jockey Pat Eddery has died at the age of 63. Eddery, who rode more than 4,600 winners and won 14 British classics in a 36-year career, is regarded as one of the greatest jockeys of all time. Among his most famous victories were the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe of 1986 on Dancing Brave. Ireland-born Eddery, who retired in 2003 and was awarded an OBE in 2005, had been suffering from ill health. Only Sir Gordon Richards has ridden more winners in Britain than Eddery. [BBC] See List of the Day

Modigliani’s Nu Couché sold for record £113 million –
Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu Couché has sold for $170.4 million (£113 million) at Christie’s, making it the second-highest auction price for any artwork. Nu Couché (Reclining Nude) was sold in New York on Monday night after a protracted bidding battle. It was bought by Liu Yiqian, a former taxi driver who has gained a reputation for breaking records in his pursuit of priceless artworks to display in his own museums in Shanghai. The highest price for any artwork was the $300 million paid for Paul Gauguin’s Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) in February 2015. [Daily Telegraph]
Modigliani -Nu couché

Video of the Day –

Skier Miraculously Survives 1,600 Foot Fall

Pro skiing veteran, Ian McIntosh, narrowly escapes with his life after what TGR Co Founder, Todd Jones, says “was the most terrifying crash I’ve ever seen.” While filming for Paradise Waits up in the Neacola range of AK, Mac dropped into a line he thought he had studied thoroughly enough, only to fall into an unseen five foot deep trench on one of his first turns. “From there, my slough took over and their was no way to stop,

List of the Day –

Pat Eddery information (from Wikipedia)

Major racing wins
Born	18 March 1952 Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland
Died	10 November 2015 (aged 63)
British Classic Race wins as jockey: 2000 Guineas (3) 1000 Guineas (1) Epsom Derby (3) Epsom Oaks (3) St Leger Stakes (4)
Racing awards
British flat racing Champion Jockey 11 times (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996)
Honours
O.B.E.
Significant horses
Polygamy, Grundy, Scintillate, Detroit, Storm Bird, Kings Lake, Golden Fleece, Assert,Lomond, El Gran Senor, Rainbow Quest),Dancing Brave, Moon Madness, Warning,Zafonic, Quest for Fame, Toulon, Moonax,Bosra Sham, Lady Carla, Silver Patriarch

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	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	冬のボーナス	Tommy Hanson	Finding Dory
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8	#LoveYouGoodbye	Allen Toussaint	#UnderwearSongs
9	#5HGroupOfTheYear	#UnderwearSongs	#ImACeleb
10	#3DaysTillPURPOSE	Shia LaBeouf	Pat Eddery

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Sinai insurgency
- Egypt‘s Interior Ministry announces the death of a senior figure in the Islamic State’s “Sinai province.” Ashraf Ali Hassanein al Gharabli, killed in a Cairo shootout with police, was also linked to other extremist groups and terrorist activities. (The Long War Journal)(ARAnews)
Syrian Civil War
- Aleppo offensive (October–November 2015)
  - Syrian Army troops break an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant siege of the Kweires airbase in the Aleppo Governorate. (Reuters via Times of Oman)
- A mortar attack on the coastal city of Latakia kills at least 23 and injures 65. (UPI)

Business and economics

Thousands of protesters take to the streets across the United States to demand a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for fast food workers. The Fight for $15 organizers said thousands of low-wage workers walked off their jobs in some 270 cities, and vowed that demonstrators would descend on tonight’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Reuters) (Huffington Post)
Technology news website Re/code reports Dell Incorporated’s $67 billion offer to buy data storage company EMC Corporation could be derailed by a tax bill of up to $9 billion if key aspects of the deal do not qualify for the sort of tax treatment the companies consider essential for the transaction. (Reuters) (Economic Times) (Re/code)

Disasters and accidents

All nine people aboard a Hawker H25 business jet are killed after the plane crashes into an apartment complex in the American city of Akron, Ohio. (Fox News) (WOIO via WNEW)

Health and medicine

Chinese state news agency Xinhua joins critics of Shenyang’s handling of serious pollution problems. “The city of Shenyang has failed to apply emergency measures that could have reduced smog, and didn’t provide advisories to residents to stay indoors,” Xinhua wrote. The BBC reported pollution readings in the northeastern Chinese city have been 50 times higher than levels considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). (UPI) (New York Times)

International relations

British Prime Minister David Cameron sets out his four-point EU re-negotiation agenda, including a demand to end Britain’s obligations to EU’s “ever closer union“. (Guardian)
Myanmar tops the 2015 Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index which measures each country’s charitable behavior. Individuals indicate whether they have donated money, volunteered, or helped a stranger in the past month. The United States, which tied with Myanmar last year, is second, followed by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and Malaysia. (Market Watch) (The Guardian) (CAF 2015 Report)
Syrian Civil War
- Reuters reports Russia’s eight-point proposal, drafted prior to this week’s international talks on Syria, wants the Syrian government and the opposition to agree on launching a constitutional reform process of up to 18 months, followed by early presidential elections. (Reuters)
Iran, P5+1 & European Union Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- Iran stops dismantling decommissioned centrifuges in two uranium enrichment plants, according to state media reports. This comes days after Iran’s conservative lawmakers complained to President Hassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed.(Reuters)

Law and crime

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sends cease and desist letters to DraftKings and FanDuel ordering them to stop operating in the state because they violate New York laws against illegal gambling. (NBC News) (New York Daily News)
The United States FBI foils an alleged plot by white supremacists in Virginia who were planning a reign of terror — shooting or bombing religious institutions, robbing jewelers and armored cars, purchasing land, stockpiling weapons, and training for the “coming race war.” (Washington Post) (WTVR)
Kenyan police arrest Daily Nation senior reporter John Ngirachu who wrote about corruption at the Interior Ministry. Reports alleging outrageous spending by civil servants has raised pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta. (Reuters)
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia suspends district court judge Richard Leon’s ruling yesterday that found the U.S. National Security Agency’s phone data collection program is unconstitutional. Leon’s decision barred the agency from further collection of data on the plaintiffs in the case — California attorney J.J. Little and his law firm — but did not have sufficient authority to outlaw the practice against all Americans. The government plea for the injunction said it will take “at least several weeks” for the NSA to implement a technical change that would prevent collection of Little’s data and therefore the entire program would have to shut down early based on Leon’s order. (Politico) (UPI)
The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to overturn yesterday’s ruling by the New Orleans, Louisiana, federal Court of Appeals that blocks the deferred deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children. (UPI)

Politics and elections

Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt (1974 to 1982) dies at the age of 96. (The Guardian)

Sport

Lamine Diack, who is provisionally suspended as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in connection with suspected involvement in the Russian doping scandal cited in yesterday’s World Anti-Doping Agency report, resigns as president of the Monaco-based International Athletics Foundation (IAF), according to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF). Diack stepped down as president of the IAAF in August. The 82-year-old native of Senegal is under investigation in France on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering. (Reuters) (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Rare pink diamond sells for £19 million –
A large diamond of a rare pink hue fetched 28.725 million Swiss francs (£19 million) setting a new record on Tuesday, the star lot of Christie’s semi-annual jewellery sale in Geneva. A Chinese client based in Hong Kong bought the cushion-shaped pink diamond weighing 16.08 carats and graded vivid fancy pink, which is set in a platinum and gold ring surrounded by a double row of pave-set white diamonds. Its pre-sale estimate was $23 million to $28 million. The seller was not identified and the buyer, who has named the pink diamond “The Sweet Josephine,” wished to remain anonymous, Christie’s said. The diamond’s origin was not disclosed. In almost 250 years of auction history, only three pure vivid pink diamonds of over 10 carats have appeared for sale, according to Christie’s. [Daily Telegraph]

Call of Duty: Black Ops III ‘is the biggest entertainment launch of 2015’ –
Activision is claiming the biggest entertainment launch of the year with Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Not just in gaming. According to the game maker, it’s bigger than any film, music or book launch in 2015. Since its release on 6 November the new Call of Duty instalment has been beating records left, right and centre. During its opening weekend the game brought in over $550m (£362m) in worldwide sales. This beats 2015’s blockbuster hits such as Jurassic World and Furious 7 and chart topper Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk. [BBC Newsbeat]

Video of the Day –

‘Finding Dory’ Trailer

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#PURPOSETOUR	#PURPOSETOUR	#PURPOSETOUR
2	#VeteransDay	#VeteransDay	John Major
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4	#2DaysUntilMITAM	#BlackOnCampus	#FOM15
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8	#ArmisticeDay	Bob Dole	Sepp Blatter
9	FELICES 21 GRAVANO	#ScienceABook	#IKWYDLS
10	Happy Diwali	iPad Pro	Stuart Lancaster

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- The Israeli Air Force reportedly conducts an airstrike near Damascus International Airport, in Syria‘s capital, the target apparently a weapons shipment reportedly intended for Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, according to Syrian opposition groups. (Times of Israel) (The Jerusalem Post)
Turkey–PKK conflict, 2015 PKK rebellion
- Turkish security forces backed up by tanks and combat helicopters launch a large-scale operation against PKK militants in the mainly Kurdish town of Silvan, which has been under a punishing curfew for nine days. At least five people are killed in the fighting, including a Turkish soldier. (AFP via Yahoo)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Carrying coffins holding the beheaded bodies of seven ethnic Hazara, thousands of demonstrators from Afghanistan’s different ethnic groups – Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara – march on the Presidential Palace in Kabul, urging the government to take action against the rising violence against Afghan civilians. The murders, which the United Nations denounced as a potential war crime, have fueled a growing sense of insecurity since the Taliban briefly seized control of Kunduz in late September. (RAWA News) (Reuters)

Business and economics

Metrojet Flight 9268
- Tourism bookings in Egypt’s main Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh plunge in the wake of the plane crash with some 80% of reservations cancelled and at least 40% of the tourists leaving the resort since the crash. (The Globe And Mail)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Slovenian border barrier
  - Slovenia’s army begins erecting a razor wire fence along parts of its southern border with Croatia in order to stop a tide of illegal migrants entering the country. Around 180,000 people, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan have streamed into Slovenia since mid-October after trekking northwards along a Balkan corridor from Greece, most of them bound ultimately for Germany. (Reuters)
- Sweden is imposing temporary border controls to stem a record inflow of refugees. The Nordic nation pleads with the rest of Europe for help. (Bloomberg) (Newsweek)

Law and crime

Anti-corruption campaign in China
- Beijing Deputy Communist Party Secretary Lü Xiwen and Shanghai vice mayor Ai Baojun are placed under investigation by the top anti-graft body of the Communist Party of China, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (New York Times)
The Constitutional Court of Spain agrees to hear an appeal by the national government against a bid for independence by Catalonia suspending legal bids for secession. (Reuters)
Three aircraft, a Southwest Airlines 737, a Virgin America A319, and a private plane, were all struck by a laser coming from the same direction as they were about to land at Dallas’s Love Field, according to the U.S. FAA. (Fox News)

Politics and elections

Myanmar general election, 2015
- With 45 percent of the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) results announced from Sunday’s election, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) moves closer to an absolute majority in the country’s parliament, winning over 90 percent (135 of 149 seats) in the country’s lower house. The NLD also has taken over 85 percent in the upper house and regional assemblies. The NLD needs to win more than two-thirds of seats that were contested in parliament to form Myanmar’s first democratically elected government since the early 1960s. (Reuters)
- Twenty-five percent (25%) of the seats in the legislature are not elected; they are reserved for military appointees, taken from Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) personnel, and officially known as “Army Representatives.” (Channel 3000)
Pro-independence Catalan leaders vowed to continue their efforts to secede from Spain, defying a ruling by the Madrid-based constitutional court that suspended a law defining a path for independence. (International Business Times) (Time)

Science and technology

Astronomers announce the discovery of V774104, the most distant object yet found in the solar system, a dwarf planet orbiting at three times the distance of Pluto. (NPR)

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November 12, 2015

Top News Stories –

Tycoon buys $48m blue diamond at auction for daughter –
A 12.03-carat blue diamond has been auctioned in Geneva for a record $48.4m (£31.7m) to a Hong Kong tycoon. Joseph Lau confirmed he bought the ring-mounted, cushion-shaped stone for his seven-year-old daughter, renaming it “Blue Moon of Josephine” after her. Auction house Sotheby’s said the sale had set “a new world auction record for any diamond of any colour”. It is not the first time Lau, a property billionaire, has bought precious stones for his daughter. The businessman – who was convicted of bribery and money laundering in 2014 – is also confirmed as the buyer of a 16.08-carat pink diamond, which Christie’s sold for $28.5m on Tuesday. It has been renamed “Sweet Josephine”, a spokeswoman for Mr Lau told BBC News. [BBC]

FBI accused of paying US university for dark net attack –
Anonymity network Tor, notorious for illegal activity, has claimed that researchers at US Carnegie Mellon university were paid by the FBI to launch an attack on them. Tor claimed that the FBI was “outsourcing police work” and paid the university “at least $1m (£675,000)”. Tor is a so-called dark net – a hidden part of the internet that cannot be reached via traditional search engines. It gained notoriety in late 2014 when a big operation carried out by the FBI took down dozens of Tor sites, including the Silk Road 2, which was one of the world’s largest online drug-selling sites. It was this attack that the Tor Project is claiming was undertaken by researchers at Carnegie Mellon, which is based in Pittsburgh. [BBC]

British Museum opens to whole world after 262 years as it invites Street View indoors –
It was founded in 1753 on the founding principles of the Enlightenment: showing off its extensive collections, free, to the whole world. It has taken a not-inconsiderable 262 years, but the British Museum has finally realised that aim after becoming the first major UK institution to open up its entire galleries and collection to Google Street View. From today, fans of the British Museum will be able to avoid the crowds to snoop through more than 4,500 objects online, peering inside glass cabinets to inspect their finest artefacts. It will be the largest indoor Street View project in the world, allowing virtual entrance into the entire London institution as well as specially-curated digital collections. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

HyperZooming through Hallstatt from geoff tompkinson on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1DayUntilMITAM	#1DayUntilMITAM	#1DayUntilMITAM
2	#1DayTillPURPOSE	#1DayTillPURPOSE	Pauline Cafferkey
3	Fernando del Paso	#ItsNotAHolidayUntil	George Clooney
4	#MiMejorAmigaSiempre	#NerdBroadway	Sandi Thom
5	#لو_ترجع_للدرا�…	#MillionStudentMarch	#1DayTillPURPOSE
6	Arcadi Espada	#MadeInTheAM	Peep Show
7	#NoPuedoDejarDe	#InBlumWeTrust	#ModiInUK
8	#ThankYouForTheLove	Amber Rose	Marton Fulop
9	#EnSuPropiaTrampa	Uncle Drew	#mshuddle
10	#FelizJueves	#AHSHotel	#Odyssey

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL
- American-led intervention
  - Kurdish forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, capture several villages in an offensive to retake the Iraqi town of Sinjar from Islamic State militants, who overran it more than a year ago. The operation aims to cordon off the town, take control of Islamic State supply routes, and establish a buffer zone to protect the town from artillery, according to the Kurdish national security council. (Reuters) (NBC News)
2015 Beirut bombings:
- Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk reports at least 43 people were killed and more than 239 wounded as two, simultaneous suicide bomb blasts hit a Shi’ite community center and a nearby bakery in the Beirut suburb of Bourj el-Barajneh, a section of the Lebanese capital controlled by Hezbollah. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attack. Machnouk said a third suicide bomber had been killed by one of the explosions before he could detonate his own bomb. The bombers struck as Lebanese lawmakers held a legislative session for the first time in over a year.(Daily Star) (Sky News) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

French-American Florent Groberg receives the Medal of Honor, becoming the first foreign-born Medal of Honor recipient of the War in Afghanistan. (CNN)

Business and economy

Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, tells the European parliament in prepared testimony that the outlook for inflation is “weakening.” The comment was taken to suggest the ECB will soon take a more stimulative stance on interest rates or money quantity. (Bloomberg)
The city of Montreal in Canada begins dumping 2 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Saint Lawrence River, an action the mayor, Denis Coderre, says is necessary to make repairs and improvements to the city’s wastewater system. The move has caused outrage among residents and environmentalists, while the hashtag “#‎flushgate‬” is being used on social media sites to voice opposition to the dumping effort. (CNN)

International relations

The Valletta Summit on Migration concludes with European leaders setting up a fund to promote development in African countries, in return for help in the European migrant crisis. (Times of Malta)

Health and medicine

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that maternal deaths will have fallen 44% between 1990 and 2015; although, this falls short of the United Nation‘s Millennium Development Goal of 75% reduction. (BBC)

Law and crime

Two nephews of Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, who were arrested in Haiti by U.S. authorities on Tuesday, are indicted in New York for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States. (USA Today) (Venezuelanalysis.com)
More than a dozen alleged ISIS-linked, terrorist members of Rawti Shax, a European offshoot of the Iraqi Kurdish jihadist network Ansar al-Islam, are arrested in a coordinated, multi-nation sweep by police across Europe. The operation dismantled an integrated cell in Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Germany. The group is accused of radicalizing fighters, planning attacks targeting Norwegian and British diplomats in the Middle East, and planning to establish a caliphate inIraq’s Kurdistan region. (NBC News) (The Local) (CNN)
Human rights in Uzbekistan
- Uzbek political prisoner Murod Juraev is finally released after being imprisoned for 21 years. (New York Times)

Sport

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says there will be no boycott of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and he is ready to own up to some of the charges leveled in the World Anti-Doping Agency commission’s massive report on doping, the Associated Press reports. (AP)

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November 13, 2015

Top News Stories –

Paris attacks –
Paris has suffered a night of deadly attacks, described by President Francois Hollande as “unprecedented”. Shootings, bomb blasts and a hostage siege have left at least 127 people dead and some 180 wounded. At least 80 are in critical condition. Six places were targeted, almost simultaneously. France has declared a state of emergency, imposed border controls and deployed 1,500 extra troops. [BBC]
Chronology –

21:20 – First explosion near Stade de France
21:25 – Shooting at Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, rue Bichat
21:29 – More shooting in same area, avenue de la Republique
21:30 – Second explosion near Stade de France
21:38 – Shooting at La Belle Equipe bar, rue de Charonne
21:43 – Explosion at boulevard Voltaire, near Bataclan concert hall
21:49 – Shooting at Bataclan, then explosions
21:53 – Third explosion at Stade de France
22:00 – Shooting at boulevard Beaumarchais, near Bataclan

In January the offices of Charlie Hebdo were attacked by gunmen in Paris and in August train passengers overcame a gunmen on a train in France.
Bataclan Theatre, Paris

Jihadi John ‘dead’: MI5 on alert amid fears of Isil revenge attack –
MI5 is on high alert amid fears that Isil fanatics are already plotting revenge attacks for the reported killing of Jihadi John in a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria. The communications of known sympathisers are being monitored closely as surveillance is stepped up to prevent a terrorist outrage in revenge for the operation which is now widely acknowledged to have resulted in the death of Mohammed Emwazi– who as Jihadi John – earned global notoriety. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends

Athletics doping: Russia provisionally suspended by IAAF –
Russia’s athletics federation has been provisionally suspended from international competition – including the Olympic Games – for its alleged involvement in widespread doping. The IAAF took action after the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that alleged “state-sponsored doping”. Its council members voted 22-1 in favour of Russia being banned. “This is a wake-up call for all of us,” said IAAF president Lord Coe. [BBC] Lord Coe became IAAF president in August 2015.
Lord Coe

Video of the Day –

Otto the skateboarding bulldog – Guinness World Records

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jihadi John	Friday the 13th	Jihadi John
2	#purpose	Jihadi John	#MadeInTheAM
3	#FR1DAY13BR	#WorldKindnessDay	#purpose
4	#MadeInTheAM	París	#childreninneed
5	Friday the 13th	#YesSheCan	Friday the 13th
6	#Viernes13	#InternetThePast	#WorldKindnessDay
7	Sexta-feira 13	#PrayForJapan	#ModiAtWembley
8	#1DonSmallzy	#RuinMyLifeIn3Words	#friday13th
9	Hayırlı Cumalar	Jeezy	Herts
10	#رفع_سعر_الدخا�…	A.M.	#bbcqt

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- The United States conducts airstrikes targeting Kuwaiti–British militant Jihadi John. Later, the U.S. says it is “reasonably certain” a drone strike in Syria killed Jihadi John, né Mohammed Emwazi. (BBC) (Reuters)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- November 2015 Sinjar offensive
  - Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by U.S. airstrikes seize control of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Sinjar has been under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant occupation since August 2014. (Reuters)
- Multiple bombings in Baghdad targeting Iraqi Shiites kills at least 26 people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility. (AP via Yahoo)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- French police report multiple blasts and gunfire in Paris with at least 26 dead in a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement and an explosion near the Stade de France. (Daily Beast) (AP) (Washington Post)
- Police report the hostage siege is over at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre in the 11th arrondissement. Approximately 100 people are dead in the Bataclan. (The Daily Beast) (Deadline)
- The President of France François Hollande declares a state of emergency across France. (The Guardian)
2015 Beirut bombings
- A day of mourning is held in Lebanon following two suicide attacks in the capital Beirut which killed at least 43 people. (Al Jazeera)
During an arrest attempt in Cairo, Egyptian security forces kill Aly Ashraf Hassanein al Gharabli, an ISIL-linked militant who masterminded the murder of Apache Corporation worker William Henderson in Egypt last year. (Fuel Fix)
At least 22 people are killed this week in a string of raids on villages in the Central African Republic. The escalation of violence threatens to derail a visit by Pope Francis and crucial elections scheduled for December 27, 2015. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, Switzerland, announces that Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, is editor and legally the co-author of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” (New York Times)
South Korean news agency Yonhap reports China’s mobile phone users are discarding 80 million devices annually, but almost none are being recycled. China’s recycling rate stands at 9-10 percent of the global recycling average. (UPI)

Disasters and accidents

The bodies of eight babies are found wrapped in towels and inside plastic bags in an apartment in the town of Wallenfels in Germany’s state of Bavaria. Authorities are looking for the apartment’s most recent occupant, Andrea G, a 45-year-old woman.(CNN) (Irish Times) (Reuters)
At least 18 people are injured, four critically, after a San Francisco (U.S.) double-decker tour bus loses control and crashes in traffic striking several vehicles and knocking over nearby construction scaffolding. (San Francisco Examiner) (Reuters)
At least four people are dead and 33 injured in a landslide in China‘s Zhejiang province. (CRI)

International Relations

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- The first major survey in five years of the attitudes of British Jews toward Israel shows deep support of Israel as the Jewish state but heavy criticism of its politics and on the issue of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: 75% see the expansion of settlements as a major obstacle to peace; 73% believe Israel’s approach to peace is damaging its standing in the world; 70% back Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a Jewish state; and, 59 percent, down from 72% in 2010, describe themselves asZionist. (The Guardian) (Haaretz)
U.S. diplomats, amid growing international concern the violence could spiral into an ethnic conflict, push for peace talks in Burundi. The European Union advises non-essential staff to evacuate the Central African nation amid rising violence and an uptick in political rhetoric. The head of the opposition UPRONA group urges the United Nations to send peacekeepers quickly. Yesterday, the UN Security Council called on the Burundi Government to protect human rights and cooperate with regional African mediators to immediately convene “an inclusive and genuine inter-Burundian dialogue” to find a peaceful resolution of the crisis. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (UN)
European migrant crisis
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel asserts she still isn’t prepared to name an upper limit to the number of refugees who can come to Germany, despite mounting domestic political pressure. (AP)
- Oxfam’s Belgrade Center for Human Rights reports migrants coming through Bulgaria have faced beatings, threats and other abuses by police, though the country’s own refugee agency said it had received no such complaints. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War peace process
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets in Vienna, Austria, with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.N. special envoy for Syria, ahead of Saturday’s next round of international summits on the Syrian Civil War. The talks, aimed toward a cease-fire in Syria’s devastating war and a political transition to a post-war government, will include senior officials from 19 nations/groups and, as in October, Iran will participate. (AP)
Metrojet Flight 9268
- As a temporary security measure, effective Saturday, Russia bans incoming flights by Egypt’s state-owned airline, EgyptAir, two weeks after an apparent terrorist bomb downed a Russian jet in the Sinai. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Police in the Dominican Republic raid a mansion owned by 30-year-old Francisco Flores de Freites, one of the two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro facing charges for allegedly trying to traffic 800 kg of cocaine into the U.S., and found more than 280 pounds of cocaine and 22 pounds of heroin hidden inside the nephew’s posh Casa de Campo property and a 135-foot yacht named “The Kingdom” docked behind it. (Fox News)

Politics and elections

Myanmar general election, 2015
- Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy (NLD) wins an absolute majority with 348 seats taken in the country’s parliament, 19 seats more than the required 329, marking Myanmar’s first democratically-elected government since the 1962 Burmese coup d’état. (The Economist) (The Guardian)
Colombia plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. A decree approving the therapeutic use of marijuana will be signed in the coming days. Growing, distributing and selling cannabis will remain illegal. (Reuters) (teleSUR)

Science and technology

WT1190F, an artificial satellite orbiting the Earth since before June 2009, impacts the Earth south of Sri Lanka. (CBC)

Sport

The International Association of Athletics Federations votes overwhelmingly to ban Russian athletes and the All-Russia Athletic Federation from international competitions following overwhelming evidence of widespread state sponsored doping in a World Anti-Doping Agency report. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)
Yelena Isinbayeva, a former Russian Olympic pole-vaulting champion calls on the IAAF not to punish honest athletes in response to doping allegations against Russia. (Reuters)

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November 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

South Africa’s ‘Blade Runner’ Pistorius starts community service –
South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius on Saturday started performing community service as part of his parole conditions after being released from prison last month, local media reported. The Paralympic gold medalist was freed on parole less than a year into a five-year sentence for the “culpable homicide” of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who he killed on Valentine’s Day in 2013. Pistorius, dubbed “Blade Runner” because of the carbon fiber prosthetic blades he uses to compete, was freed from prison in line with sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only a sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars. [Reuters] Pistorius was originally refused early release in August 2015
Oscar Pistorius competing

Video of the Day –

Kaleidoscope: See Things Differently

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#espalheamor	#MTVStars	#TerrorismHasNoReligion
2	#TodosSomosParis	#MakePeaceIn5Words	#ViveLaFrance
3	#MTVStars	#DemDebate	#MTVStars
4	#PrayForWorld	#JackAndJackUSTixOnSale	#PrayForPeace
5	우리나라	#MuslimsAreNotTerrorist	#ParisAttacks
6	David Luiz	#EveningWithJB	Muslims
7	#ParisAttacks	Act of War	ISIS
8	Muslims	#strandedinUS	#PorteOuverte
9	#PorteOuverte	Monmouth	#PrayForJapan
10	광화문	#PurposeTheMovement	Paris

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

November 2015 Paris attacks, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- The death toll from the terrorist attacks in Paris stands at 129. (Reuters)
- Michel Cadot, the head of the Paris Police Prefecture, says that all the attackers are believed to be dead. (The Guardian)
- French President François Hollande announces the cancellation of his participation at the G-20 Antalya summit in order to focus on the attacks. (Reuters via Channel News Asia)
- Thousands are turning to social media (#PorteOuverte/twitter) to check-in on loved ones in the area, many using Facebook’s “Safety Check” feature. (CBS News)
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant releases an official statement and video, claiming responsibility for the attacks. (The Jerusalem Post)
- A Syrian passport is found near the body of one of the gunmen who died in Friday’s attacks in Paris. The holder passed through the Greek island of Leros on October 3 as a refugee, according to Greek officials. A Greek police source said the passport’s owner was a young man who had arrived in Leros with a group of 69 refugees and had his fingerprints taken by authorities there. Police declined to give his name. (Reuters) (ABC News Australia)
- Poland‘s recently elected government led by Law and Justice (PiS), declares it will no longer accept EU-mandate quotas for refugees following the terrorist attacks in France. (RT)
Military intervention against ISIL, Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- A U.S. airstrike on a compound in the Libyan port city of Derna is said to have killed Wisam al Zubaidi, also known as Abu Nabil al-Anbari, who commands the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant‘s branch in Libya. A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation, said the airstrike involved F-15 aircraft and was believed to have killed Zubaidi. He said the attack had been planned for some time. (The Washington Post) (BBC)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL
- Kurdish Peshmerga forces discover a mass grave believed to contain the remains of more than 70 members of Iraq‘s Yazidi minority, mostly women, east of the recently liberated town of Sinjar. (Reuters via The Huffington Post)
Spillover of the Syrian Civil War, Turkey–ISIL conflict
- Turkish forces engage Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants along the Syrian border:
  - Turkish troops kill four Islamic State militants in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep Province when two cars with ISIS passengers advanced on a Turkish armored vehicle near a border post in Oğuzeli. (Daily Sabah)
  - During a raid on a suspected ISIL hideout in the city of Gaziantep (Antep), a suicide bomber fires on Turkish police before he explodes, wounding five police officers, one seriously. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the southwest coast of Japan. The quake occurred 119 miles (191 km) west-southwest of Kagoshima. The Pacific Tsunami Center reported no major tsunami threat. A small tsunami, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), was observed on the southern island of Nakanoshima. No reports of major damage or injuries. (Reuters) (AP via Marysville Appeal-Democrat)(AFP via Channel News Asia)
Eckwersheim derailment
- Ten people are dead and eleven injured after a high-speed TGV train catches fire and derails near the northeastern French city of Strasbourg. (Independent) (BBC)
Four people are killed after a light aircraft crashes near the village of Churchstanton in Somerset. (BBC)

International relations

China–Indonesia relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- Indonesia announces that it is planning to take China to court over the Natuna Islands. (Forbes)

Law and crime

Scott N. Johansen, a Utah Juvenile Court judge, reverses his original order to remove a foster child from same sex-parents. The state Division of Child and Family Services and foster parents all filed motions asking for the reconsideration and promising an appeal. The new decision eliminates the phrase, “It is not in the best interest of children to be raised by same-sex couples” and strikes an order for the child to be placed with a non-same-sex couple. (New York Times)
Police in South Korea fire tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters in Seoul. Around 70,000 people took part in the protests, the largest in Seoul since the 2008 US beef protest in South Korea. (Christian Science Monitor).

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November 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Ronda Rousey knocked out in UFC 193 title fight by Holly Holm in Australia –
Holly Holm pulled off a stunning upset over Ronda Rousey in the mixed martial arts championship, UFC 193. She knocked the women’s bantamweight champion out in the second round with a powerful kick to the head in Melbourne, Australia. Ronda Rousey, 28, was undefeated in her first 12 mixed martial arts fights with 11 wins in the first round. Holly Holm ended that run in front of a record Ultimate Fighting Championship crowd of around 75,000 fans. The UFC brought its showcase UFC 193 to Australia, with the Ronda Rousey-Holly Holm fight overshadowing the men as the main event. The stadium in Melbourne was transformed from a 56,000-seat Australian rules football venue to an auditorium holding close to 75,000 seats for the event. A full house would easily beat the 55,724 fans who attended UFC 129 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in 2011. [BBC Newsbeat] Rousey starred in “Expendables 3” with Sylvester Stallone. See Top Twitter Trends
Ronda Rousey

Hundreds of Mormons resign in Utah same-sex policy protest –
Hundreds of Latter-day Saints mailed or handed in letters quitting the Mormon church on Saturday to protest a new policy barring children of married same-sex couples from being baptized until they are adults. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) approved the policy last week. It added same-sex marriage to acts considered to be a renunciation of the Mormon faith and thus subject to church discipline, including excommunication. The church has more than 15 million adherents and 85,000 missionaries around the world. [Reuters]

Video of the Day –

Darwin Deez- The Mess She Made from Oscar Hudson on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	5 Seconds Of Summer	5 Seconds of Summer	#UFC193
2	#UFC193	Nick Bockwinkel	#sadnessinhiseyes
3	#DemDebate	#Ask1D	Ronda Rousey
4	#Ask1D	Giants	#Ask1D
5	#زد_رصيدك2	Peyton Manning	#MTVStars
6	#WELOVELUKEBECAUSE	#WELOVELUKEBECAUSE	#DemDebate
7	#DomingoDetremuraSdv	Dana White	#AskZoella
8	Ali Koç	Lions	5 Seconds of Summer
9	Baylor	#UFC193	#BrazilGP
10	#السعوديه_دوله…	#HTTR	#PurposeTheMovement

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

November 2015 Paris attacks
- One of the Paris attackers is identified as Ismael Omar Mostefai, a 29-year-old who was born and raised in the Paris suburbs. (Fox News) (BBC)
- Paris prosecutor François Molins says three jihadist cells, apparently multinational teams with links to the Middle East, Belgium, and possibly Germany, as well as France, staged coordinated attacks at bars, a concert hall, and a soccer stadium, killing 129 people and injuring 352, including 99 who are in a serious condition. (Reuters)
- French authorities identify two of the suicide attackers; both French nationals living in Belgium, one age 20, the other 31. (AP)
Turkey–ISIL conflict
- Turkish police detain seven ISIS-linked suspects in simultaneous operations in Ankara. (Daily Sabah)
2015 Beirut bombings, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- Lebanon arrests nine people including seven Syrians over the recent Beirut bombings that killed at least 44 people. (Al Jazeera)
Egyptian security forces allegedly shoot dead at least 15 Sudanese asylum seekers in the Sinai Peninsula near the Israeli border. (Al-Jazeera)
Syrian Civil War
- France-led coalition intervention against ISIL
  - France launches a series of airstrikes on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump. (AP)
- American-led intervention in Syria
  - A government official says the United States made a fresh delivery of ammunition to Syrian Arab Coalition fighters battling Islamic State in northern Syria, pushing ahead with a strategy that initially unnerved ally Turkey. (Reuters)

Business and economics

Daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel, who are fighting New York’s cease-and-desist order that their industry is gambling in the U.S. state, apparently are OK with that label in the United Kingdom. DraftKings obtained a British gambling license in August and FanDuel applied for one earlier this month. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll from a landslide on Friday in China‘s Zhejiang province rises to 16 with 21 still missing. (New York Times)
Heavy rain leads to warnings of floods in mid and north Wales. (BBC)

International relations

2015 G-20 Antalya summit
- The leaders of nations with the top 20 economies vow to use all their policy resources to bolster a sagging global economic environment. While the European migrant crisis and terrorism were high on the agenda of this economic summit the terror attacks in Paris dominate conversations and meetings. In the wake of the attacks and during ongoing investigation, French President François Hollande remains in Paris. (Reuters) (CNN Money) (New York Times)
- United States President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a G20 working lunch meeting, traded views on Syria’s civil war: where they agreed, i.e. UN negotiations, cease-fire, and Syrian-led political transition; and where they disagreed, i.e. President Bashar al-Assad’s future role. Obama reiterated his support for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements on Ukraine, including Ukraine’s control of its borders. (AP) (RT) (Reuters) (NBC News)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- The top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, is lit up in the red, white and blue of the French flag, in tribute to France and those killed in the attacks in Paris. Other landmark buildings in the United Arab Emirates, including the sail-shapedBurj Al Arab building, also paid tribute. (AP)
European migrant crisis
- Swedish police increase checks of asylum facilities in the country’s southwest amid reports refugees are leaving to avoid being registered by immigration officials. (AP)
Reuters reports Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Philippine President Benigno Aquino are set to agree on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to directly supply Manila with used military equipment. An announcement is expected this week during theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Myanmar general election, 2015
- Aung San Suu Kyi holds talks with parliament’s outgoing chairman, Shwe Mann, seeking his help in the transition to the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Mann, who was ousted as head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party in August, lost his house seat in the November 8 vote. The current parliament will have at least one more session. (Reuters)
- Myanmar’s President Thein Sein promises a smooth transfer of power following the National League for Democracy winning a majority of parliamentary seats in last week’s elections. (UPI)

Sport

UFC 193
- Holly Holm defeats Ronda Rousey in a women’s bantamweight title match at Etihad Stadium in the Australian city of Melbourne, Victoria. (News Limited) (Los Angeles Times)
In a suit filed by two former American professional football (NFL) players, the Ohio Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling that Cleveland’s formula for taxing visiting professional athletes, the so-called “jock tax,” violates players’ due process rights. A spokesman says the city will begin issuing refunds to players. (AP)
2015 Fed Cup
- In tennis, the Czech Republic retains the Fed Cup defeating Russia 3-2 in the final played at the O2 Arena in Prague. This is the Czech Republic’s fourth title in five years. (Yahoo News)

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November 16, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Pastafarian’ wins right to wear colander on head in driving licence photo –
A woman in the US has won the right to wear a colander on her head in her driving licence photo. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles had previously forbidden Lindsay Miller from sporting the unconventional headgear, worn by followers of the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or ‘Pastafarians’. However, the decision was overturned after Miller launched an appeal with the assistance of the Secular Legal Society. Lawyer Patty DeJuneas told the Boston Globe: “I’m not a Pastafarian. But my understanding, and my view of it, is that it’s a secular religion that uses parody to make certain points about a belief system.” The Pastafarian ‘religion’ was founded a decade ago after the Kansas school board came under pressure to teach the theory of intelligent design in biology class as an alternative to evolution. [Daily Telegraph]

Town pays people to cycle to work –
An Italian town will pay people hundreds of euros per year if they cycle to work instead of using their cars. The council in Massarosa, just north of Pisa, says the pilot scheme will see cyclists paid 25 cents per kilometre travelled, up to a monthly cap of 50 euros (£35), the regional Il Tirreno news website reports. That means commuters who switch to two wheels could pocket up to 600 euros (£424) in a year. It’s said to be the first such scheme in Italy. Fifty workers will be included in the 12-month pilot, which will use a smartphone app to record the distance travelled each day. The scheme is being funded from fines collected from traffic tickets in the town, which by law has to be reinvested in road safety, the site points out. [BBC]

Budget private jet firm launched by French rugby legend –
Philippe Saint-André, the coach who took France to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, aims to democratise private jet travel. He and ex-player Christophe Ducluzeau have founded Le Jet, offering London to Paris flights for £363 one-way. The 45-minute service will launch on November 23 and will initially run on Mondays and Fridays, ferrying passengers between the private jet terminal of Stansted Airport and Le Bourget airport near Paris. Further London-Paris services and routes to other European destinations are also being planned. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Moto Experiment: Truth or Drop: How far will people go to protect their phones

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#PrayForSyria	#justiceforbrokeliebers	#mondaymotivation
2	次の漢字の読み	#SyrianRefugees	#PrayForSyria
3	#justiceforbrokeliebers	Charlie Sheen	Cynthia Payne
4	Jessica	#mondaymotivation	#AntiBullyingWeek
5	장동민	Dixie Chicks	#justiceforbrokeliebers
6	Daryl	Starwood	John Oliver
7	#ArgentinaDebate	#IWillNeverBeTooOldTo	Northern Powerhouse
8	#زد_رصيدك3	#1DUS	Disneyland
9	Carlos Herrera	Rob Ryan	Charlie Sheen
10	Giants	#playpurpose	#StormBarney

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

November 2015 Paris attacks
- Authorities search for Belgium-born French national Salah Abdeslam, one of three brothers suspected of involvement in the attacks. Raids are reported to have taken place in Grenoble, Toulouse, Jeumont and the Paris suburb of Bobigny. This contradicts previously published official information that all the perpetrators of the attacks were dead. (CNN) (The Guardian)
- Mohamed Abdeslam, brother of suspect fugitive Salah Abdeslam, and Ibrahim Abdeslam, a suicide bomber in the attacks, is released by authorities after questioning this weekend. His attorney told reporters, her client “hadn’t made the same life choices.”(The Independent) (Fox News)
- Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a leading Belgian jihadist who is one of the most active ISIS operators in Syria, is the suspected head organizer behind the Paris massacre. He is also linked to thwarted attacks on a Paris-bound high-speed train and a church near the French capital, earlier this year. (NBC News)
- Hactivist group Anonymous declares war on ISIS taking down 2,000 related Twitter accounts as well as some donation groups for the terrorists on the Dark Web. The group also criticized the lack of similar actions by Western governments. (MSN)
- A U.S. official states that intelligence sources detect increased chatter encouraging terrorist attacks on the U.S. but lacks credible or actionable information. This, following reports that Iraqi intelligence sources warned anti-ISIS coalition members of attacks one day before the attacks. The information from Iraq also lacked specific information. (Associated Press via Military.com) (Associate Press via Military Times)
- The governors of the U.S. states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin say they will not accept Syrian refugees in response to the Islamic terror attacks in Paris. Twenty-three of the 24 governors are Republican with the other being Democrat (New Hampshire). (USA Today)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Yemeni security officials, who are neutral in the conflict, say Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes have killed over 40 Houthi militants and 4 civilians over the past 24 hours, with most of the airstrikes taking place in the southwestern Ibb Governorate. (The Washington Post)
Sinai insurgency
- Egypt‘s security forces shoot dead at least 24 ISIS militants as they hid inside a cave in a mountainous area in central Sinai, not far from the crash site of Metrojet Flight 9268, a Russian airliner the group says it brought down. (Reuters) (Independent)

Business and economy

Economy of Japan
- The Japanese economy goes into recession for the second time since the election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Sky News Australia)
Marriott International announces it has agreed to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts in a $12.2 billion deal that would create the world’s largest hotel company. (Washington Post)
In the United States, federal and state authorities announce Education Management Corp., a company that enrolls more than 100,000 students at North American for-profit trade schools and colleges, agrees to pay $95.5 million to settle claims it illegally paidrecruiters and exaggerated the career-placement abilities of its schools. EDMC also agreed to forgive $102.8 million in loans made to more than 80,000 former students. (AP Via Washington Post) (Los Angeles Times)
American, British-based telecommunications and television company Liberty Global announces a £3.5bn (US$5.3bn) deal to buy British multinational telecommunications company Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC). (The Telegraph)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll from a landslide in a village in China‘s Zhejiang province rises to 25 with 12 people still missing. (AP)
2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Floods in Sri Lanka and the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu cause over 70 deaths with the city of Chennai worst affected. (Thomson Reuters)
2015 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Joaquin
- The United States National Transportation Safety Board announces it has completed its search of the sunken El Faro, but did not find the voyage data recorder, i.e., the black box. (Time)

International relations

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations
- The USS Stethem visits Shanghai, signaling that relations between the two countries continue despite tensions over the recent USS Lassen cruise near artificial islands constructed by China. The navies of the two nations plan combined maritime exercise as well. (Associated Press via ABC News)
Nicaragua deploys its military to help close its southern border in a dispute with Costa Rica over the passage of Cuban migrants on their way to the United States. Nicaragua’s government said Costa Rica’s decision to grant seven-day transit visas to 1,200 Cuban migrants who entered the country through Panama, “violated national sovereignty”. Nicaraguan troops and riot police fired tear gas at people attempting to enter in what Costa Rica called a “humanitarian crisis”. (Bloomberg)

Law and crime

Six people, including a child, have been found dead on private property in Anderson County, southeast of Dallas, Texas, USA. The victims are members of two different families. One person, unrelated to the victims, is charged with one count of murder. More charges are expected. (CBS DFW)

Politics and elections

United States President Barack Obama, in Antalya, Turkey, says America will continue to accept refugees from Syria and elsewhere, though, “Only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks.” Responding to calls to admit Christians but not Muslims into the country, he said, “We don’t have religious tests to our compassion.” (The Washington Post)
Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy delays his return home from South Korea as tension comes to a head between his supporters and those of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Friday, a Cambodian court issued an arrest warrant related to an old defamationcase for which Sam had already received a royal pardon. Today, Parliament stripped him of immunity protection. (Reuters)

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November 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Charlie Sheen confirms he is HIV positive –
Hollywood star Charlie Sheen has confirmed he is living with HIV in a US television interview. “I am here to admit that I am HIV positive,” he said. The former star of sitcom Two And A Half Men appeared on NBC’s Today show, ending days of intense media speculation. Sheen revealed to Matt Lauer he had paid “enough to take it into the millions” to keep people from going public about his illness. “I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths,” he said, adding he was diagnosed four years ago. [BBC] In March 2015 Sheen launched a racist Twitter attack on Barack Obama.
Charlie Sheen

Bangkok sets record for longest half-marathon after route blunder –
The 6,000 runners who just completed the Bangkok half-marathon will have a special mention in sporting trivia quizzes for years to come, after they were forced to run an extra four miles to reach the finish line. Mark Kent, the British ambassador to Thailand, was among those who finished the longest half-marathon in history after a route blunder by organisers. The mishap occurred as the wrong gate was opened on a main road for the runners to complete a U-turn, some two miles further on than planned. The organisers have apologised profusely for the mistake and offered all competitors a free commemorative T-shirt bearing the message: “Finisher of 27.6 km”. An actual half-marathon should last 21.1 kms, or about 13 miles. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

ACROSS THE SKY – a world record slackline in the utah desert from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1DMX	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight	#1DUK
2	#جده_الان	#BEFOUR	#CharityTuesday
3	#1DPL	#PrisonBooks	Oxford Dictionaries
4	#ReinadoColombia	#1DonGMA	Charlie Sheen
5	#FelizMartes	Bobby Jindal	Mitchell Johnson
6	Pampita	#BadFirstDateActivities	FHM and Zoo
7	#السعوديه_تيمور	#6YearsOfMyWorld	#WorldPrematurityDay
8	Leyla Zana	Charlie Sheen	#EngvFra
9	上原亜衣	#Our4WordFuture	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight
10	#6YearsOfMyWorld	JJ Watt	#Barney

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Metrojet Flight 9268
- Russia’s Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
- In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia’s Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant‘s de-facto capital in Syria, as well as Aleppo and Idlib. A U.S. official confirmed that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought downMetrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt‘s Sinai Peninsula. (RT) (Independent)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A blast at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, kills at least 32 people and wounds 80 others. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

American actor Charlie Sheen confirms he has HIV. (CBS) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Ioannina in Greece, at a depth of 10 kilometers. At least two people are killed, the main road in the southwestern part of Lefkada has also been damaged. (RT)
In the United States, the National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning for northeastern Colorado and western Kansas with an expected snowfall by midday of 12 inches in Denver, Colorado. As of 6:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 143 arriving and departing flights are cancelled for busy Denver International Airport. Several tornadoes were spotted overnight in northern Texas, western Kansas, and southern Nebraska. (Reuters) (USA Today)
2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- There are fears that up to four people have died during bushfires burning near Esperance on the coast of Western Australia. (ABC)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015
- The Human Rights Watch reports that the Philippine government is detaining street children and homeless people as part of preparations for an international summit. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

The Israeli government outlaws the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, declaring it “an illegal organization”. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is led by Raed Salah, who has been convicted in court of numerous activities, including funding Hamas, contacting an Iranian agent, assaulting a police officer, and leading a violent protest. (The Jerusalem Post)
The Japanese government officially sues the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, over his denial of permits to allow work to begin on the Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- More than half of the state governors in the United States reject accepting asylum seekers from Syria after the attacks in Paris. All except one of them are Republicans. (CNN)
- Obama administration officials hold a conference call with 34 governors to assure them, “refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States.” A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he asked federal officials for “more robust data” and an “enhanced flow of information.” (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)
The president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, marks the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution by attending an anti-Islam rally in Prague with the “Bloc against Islam” group which supports the president. The rally was also attended by observers from the German protest movement, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) and Tommy Robinson, a prominent British anti-Islam activist. Zeman told the crowd of several thousand that they aren’t extremists for advocating closing the Republic’s borders to Muslim migrants. (AP via ABC News) (Breitbart)
United States presidential election, 2016
- The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The Guardian) (Fox News)

Sport

Cancellation of football matches
- Belgium‘s football association calls off today’s friendly (non-competitive) football game with Spain due to concerns over security following the November 2015 Paris attacks. (AP)
- A friendly match between Germany and the The Netherlands is cancelled after a suspicious object is found in the Niedersachsenstadion in the German city of Hanover. (The Guardian)

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November 18, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jonah Lomu: New Zealand rugby union great dies aged 40 –
New Zealand rugby union great Jonah Lomu has died aged 40. Lomu, who scored 37 tries in 63 matches for New Zealand between 1994 and 2002, had been diagnosed with a rare and serious kidney condition by 1996. It forced him to quit the game and he had a kidney transplant in 2004, but the organ stopped functioning in 2011. Despite never winning the World Cup, he is the joint top try-scorer in its history – alongside South Africa wing Bryan Habana, scoring 15 tries in 11 games. He was at his best at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, terrifying defensive lines with his speed and size – 192 cm tall (6 feet 4 inches) and weighing about 119 kilograms (18 stone 10 pounds). [BBC]
Jonah Lomu in 2014

Australian police search for men on park-bench vehicles –
Australian police are looking to identify a group of men filmed riding motorised park benches on public roads in Perth. Footage of the nine men casually rolling through an intersection in Scarborough on Sunday has gone viral. While witnesses said they were amused by the spectacle, police said there were real dangers involved. They said the men could face several charges, including driving an unlicensed and unroadworthy vehicle. “Police are concerned for the safety of those riding on the tables with no protective clothing, especially when on roads alongside motor vehicles,” Western Australian police said in a Facebook post. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Can You Survive Only Eating Bacon?

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jonah Lomu	#LoveTheatreDay	Jonah Lomu
2	Mega Filmes HD	#IStillFacebookBecause	#OurDay
3	#SaintDenis	#IWouldSleepMoreBut	#LoveTheatreDay
4	#LaMateriaQueMasOdioEs	#SaintDenis	Ken Livingstone
5	#1DonGMA	David Beckham	#housingday
6	#SeVieneElVeranoY	#HungryGames	#BieberOnCapital
7	Kevin McHale	Kevin McHale	#PMQs
8	Hamza Hamzaoğlu	Taye Diggs	#GeordieShore
9	Carmen Lomana	#refugeeswelcome	Red Button
10	#السعاده_في_كل�…	#IKWYDLSoniTunes	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Moro conflict
- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak condemns the Phillipine-based Abu Sayyaf’s beheading of a Malaysian man. Businessman Bernard Then and a woman were kidnapped in May from the Malaysia-island Sabah; the woman was released last week. Philippine Colonel Restituto Padilla said the killing followed a “failure of the negotiations about money.” (ABC) (BBC) (AFP via Yahoo) (International Business Times)
November 2015 Paris attacks, Islamic terrorism crisis in France
- At least two suspects die, including a female suicide bomber, and eight are arrested in a raid by French police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. (CNN) (France 24) (AP) (NNC News)
- Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks, is killed during the Saint-Denis police raid, officials confirm. (Independent) (CNN)
- French prosecutor Bruce Robin says three Islamic State supporters stabbed a 56-year-old French Jew and history teacher in Marseille, France. The attackers were interrupted by a car and fled. The teacher’s wounds are not life-threatening. (International Business Times) (Time)
Boko Haram insurgency
- At least fifteen people are killed in a twin-suicide bombing of a mobile phone market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. (BBC)
- Associated Press reports that Boko Haram was the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation in 2014 responsible for 6,664 deaths as compared to 6,073 for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - The Russian Air Force has destroyed around 500 fuel tanker vehicles used by ISIS and other extremist groups for transporting illegal oil from Syria to Iraq, according to Russian General Staff spokesman Andrey Kartapolov. (RT)
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a local 15-day ceasefire between Syrian rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus will be announced shortly. (Reuters)
Two Bosnian Army soldiers are shot dead by a gunman inside a betting shop near their army barracks in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. The gunman committed suicide after police surrounded his house. (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant says that it has killed a Chinese hostage and a Norwegian hostage. (AP via ABC News)
- Both the FBI and New York City police say they are aware of a newly released Islamic State video suggesting America’s most populous city is a potential target of attacks. The agencies said there were no specific threats, they will investigate, and will remain at a heightened state of vigilance. (Reuters)
- The United States warns travelers in Italy that St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the La Scala opera house in Milan, and the Milan Cathedral, as well as “general venues” like churches, synagogues, restaurants, theaters and hotels, have been identified as “potential targets” for terrorist attacks. The message added the Italian authorities are aware of these threats. (AP)

Art and culture

Ta-Nehisi Coates wins the National Book Award’s top prize for nonfiction for his bestselling depiction of America’s race problem, Between the World and Me. Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles took home the National Book Award for fiction. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

An auction for the acquisition of chipmaker PMC-Sierra continues, with a new bid by Microsemi Corp., topping the previous bid from Skyworks Solutions. The latest bid values PMC at $2.3 billion. (Reuters)
Reuters reports the U.S. Treasury Department will clamp down further on corporate income tax-avoiding inversion deals by U.S. companies with foreign rivals. A major inversion deal is in the works between U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. and smaller Irishcompetitor Allergan, Plc. (Reuters)
Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. hubs plan to strike tonight and Thursday over bad wages and threats against unionizing. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) says some 2,000 plane cleaners, baggage handlers and other workers will strike at New York City’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as Newark Liberty, Chicago O’Hare, Boston, Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale. (Reuters) (Philly Voice)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season
- Some 25,000 households in Ireland lose power as a result of Storm Barney. (Independent Ireland)
2015–16 Australian bushfire season
- Four people, including three German backpackers, are confirmed dead in southern Western Australia near the town of Esperance as a result of bushfires burning out of control. (ABC News Australia)
An explosion at a steelworks plant in Cardiff, South Wales leaves two people dead and five injured. (BBC)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- U.S. President Barack Obama calls on China to stop constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea. Obama’s comments to reporters came after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III. The U.S. president is in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit where the Trans-Pacific Partnership is the central topic of conversation. China attempts to keep the topic of the islands off the agenda. (New York Times)(The Diplomat)
U.S. and Cuban officials sign an environmental accord in Havana, the first such agreement since the countries renewed diplomatic relations this summer. (UPI)

Law and crime

Sweden‘s terror threat level is raised to ‘high’ for the first time in history, as national security service Säpo says that police are hunting a suspected terrorist. (Local)
Washington College, on the U.S. Delmarva Peninsula, closes until Sunday, November 30, as police search for an upset, potentially armed student who just returned to campus. His Pennsylvania high school is on alert. (WBAL) (Washington Post) (NBC 10)

Politics and elections

Police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fire teargas at students protesting increases in school fees in the capital Kinshasa, The students had started throwing stones. (ENCA)
Glen Casada, a top Republican Tennessee lawmaker who is the chair of the state’s House Republican Caucus suggests activating the Tennessee National Guard to ’round up’ Syrian refugees and remove them from the southeastern state, saying “Tennessee is a sovereign state, if the federal government is forsaking the obligation to protect our citizens, we need to act”. (The Tennessean)

Sport

2015 FIFA corruption case
- Sergio Jadue resigns as the head of the Football Federation of Chile and travels to the United States to speak with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about corruption at FIFA. (AAP via Yahoo! News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 19, 2015

Top News Stories –

World’s second-largest diamond ‘found in Botswana’ –
The world’s second-largest gem quality diamond has been discovered in Botswana, the Lucara Diamond firm says. The 1,111-carat stone was recovered from its Karowe mine, about 500km (300 miles) north of the capital, Gaborone. It is the biggest diamond to be discovered in Botswana and the largest find in more than a century. The 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond was found in South Africa in 1905 and cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels. [BBC]
copyright Lucara Diamond Corp.

Scientists have trained pigeons to diagnose breast cancer –
Doctors train for years in order to be able to correctly diagnose cancer – but could they soon be replaced by pigeons? Well, no. Obviously not. However, scientists have now discovered that pigeons are surprisingly adept when it comes to spotting cancerous cells. In a study led by Professor Richard Levenson of the University of California, pigeons were shown microscope images of breast tissue, and then rewarded with food if if they correctly pecked a coloured button that corresponded to either cancerous or healthy tissue. [Daily Telegraph]

Bangladesh: Government ‘mistakenly’ cuts off internet –
An internet shutdown in Bangladesh which lasted for more than an hour was a “mistake”, according to the authorities. Officials announced on Wednesday that access to Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp had all been blocked in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling upholding death sentences for two men convicted of war crimes. But the country’s Telecommunication Regulatory Commission says it accidentally cut off access to the internet across the whole country. The web blackout started at around 13:00 local time and lasted at least 75 minutes, according to the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star. “We restored the internet as soon as we realised the mistake,” says Shahjahan Mahmood, the commission’s chairman. The messaging services were blocked as originally planned in order to maintain security, he says. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Zoolander 2 Trailer – Paramount Pictures

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#TemporaryFixProject	#InternationalMensDay	#InternationalMensDay
2	#InternationalMensDay	#JaredFogle	#WorldToiletDay
3	치인트	#WhatINeedToHearRightNow	#IWouldSleepMoreBut
4	#Empire	#SexyHolidays	Richie McCaw
5	#PrayForMegaFilmes	#WorldToiletDay	#ChampagneCampaign
6	#ALDUB18thWeeksary	Blac Chyna	#IStillFacebookBecause
7	Marta Domínguez	#TemporaryFixProject	#SixWordSciFi
8	Luis Miguel	#LatinGRAMMY	#juniordoctors
9	#CosasQueTerminanMal	Abdelhamid Abaaoud	Peter Robinson
10	#DiaInternacionalDelHombre	Jimmy Butler	Birms

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Killing of captives by ISIL
- China vows to “bring to justice” those responsible for executing one of its citizens after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant said it had killed a Chinese hostage. China’s Foreign Ministry also confirms the hostage’s identity for the first time, naming him as Fan Jinghui. (Channel News Asia)
Metrojet Flight 9268
- According to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant‘s official propaganda magazine, a “Schweppes bomb” was used to destroy the Russian airliner. (Reuters)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- The French National Assembly approves President François Hollande‘s request to extend the current state of emergency for three months. The Senate must still approve the measure. (NPR)
- U.S. officials say at least four of the Paris attackers were listed in a central counter-terrorism database maintained by the United States Intelligence Community. (Reuters) (UPI)
- United States authorities report dozens of suspected radicals in the U.S. are under “tight surveillance” to preclude a Paris copycat. Federal officials are aware of a possible second ISIL video threatening Washington, D.C. Again, no credible plot has been identified. The U.S. beieves this is a part of a propaganda campaign to scare the American public. (ABC News)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- A Palestinian kills three people, including an American student and another Palestinian, and injures four others, after opening fire at Israeli cars and then ramming his vehicle into a group of pedestrians, injuring several more near Alon Shvut in the West Bank. (The Times of Israel)
- A Palestinian kills two men and wounds another outside an office building synagogue in southern Tel Aviv. (Ynet), (The Times of Israel)
A gunman shoots dead two Saudi Arabian policemen while they are on patrol in their vehicle in Saihat, located in Saudi Arabia’s restive Eastern Province, which is predominantly Shia. (BBC)
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehend five Pakistani nationals and one Afghan national trying to sneak into Arizona through the Mexico-U.S. border. (Fox 10 Phoenix)

Arts and culture

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports more than 500,000 people – a quarter of them children – were homeless this year amid scarce affordable housing across much of the nation. Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, andHawaii all recently declared emergencies over the rise of homelessness. (Reuters)
16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards
- The Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences members present the Latin Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. (newser)
  - “Hasta la Raíz” wins Song of the Year and Record of the Year. (ABC News)
  - Todo Tiene Su Hora performed by Juan Luis Guerra wins Album of the Year. (Miami Herald)

Business and economy

The World Economic Forum in its annual Global Gender Gap Report says that it would take 118 years before women and men have equal pay for similar occupations, such as white collar jobs. (BBC), (The Huffington Post), (The Guardian)
The New York State Department of Financial Services fines Barclays $150m (£98.2m) for the way it treated its foreign exchange customers. (The Guardian)

Health and medicine

In connection with World Toilet Day, the United Nations reports that 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation, and nearly one billion have no toilet facilities and are forced to relieve themselves in areas without facilities. (AP)
The U.S. clears genetically-modified salmon for human consumption. (Reuters)
The American Medical Association urges Congress and/or the FDA to ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs and medical devices. The AMA says that the ads increase demand for inappropriate, expensive treatments even if cheaper ones have the same potentials. (The Washington Post), (The Science Times)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015
- Asia-Pacific leaders, in the Philippines for the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, which has been overshadowed by the concurrent Paris attacks, call on governments to urgently increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism.(AP)
- Local labor and farmer groups protest in Manila over talks on inclusive growth during the APEC meeting. (The Economic Times)
A Pew Research Center report finds, from 2009 to 2014, more Mexicans, including unauthorized immigrants, are leaving the United States than entering it. An increasing share of Mexicans says life north of the border is neither better nor worse than life in Mexico. (Reuters)
The United Nations General Assembly humanitarian committee adopts, by a 112-19 vote with 50 abstentions, a resolution that condemns North Korea for gross violations of human rights and supports referring the country and its leaders to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The resolution will be sent to the full General Assembly, where it is expected to pass, given the committee vote. (Reuters via CBS News) (UPI)
The United States State Department expresses deep frustration over the lack of democratic progress in Thailand after last year’s military coup, saying a new constitution there won’t pass the “smell test” unless civil society helps to draft it. (AP) (US Dept of State)

Law and crime

A court sentences former restaurant spokesperson Jared Fogle to over 15 years imprisonment for sex with minors and the possession of child pornography. (NPR)
Convictions for sex offenses against minors accounts for the largest group of military inmates in U.S. military prisons. (AP via The Star Tribune)
Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst convicted to a life sentence for providing top secret classified information to Israel, will be released on parole Friday after serving 30 years in U.S. federal prison. He will be given an ankle monitor while he completes five years of parole in America. (CNN) (AP) (Jerusalem Post)

Politics and elections

2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
- A mass rally due to be held on November 29, 2015 in Paris on the eve of climate change talks is called off due to the threat of terrorism. (ABC News)
Peter Robinson announces he will step down as Northern Ireland‘s First Minister and as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, corresponding with recent tensions in the area and a murder linked with the Irish Republican Army. (ITV News)
The U.S. House of Representatives, defying a veto-threat by President Barack Obama, overwhelmingly passes legislation to suspend the Obama administration’s program to admit 10,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the country. The bill will now face a vote in the U.S. Senate. (Reuters)

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November 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

Indian Railways holds disabled recruitment drive on top floor – with no lifts –
A bid to recruit more disabled employees to work on India’s railways has ended in farce after test centres were set up on the top floors of buildings with no lifts or ramps. Many candidates who arrived at recruitment offices across India on Thursday either had to be carried or drag themselves up the stairs to their designated computers. Some were forced to abandon their applications entirely. [Daily Telegraph]

Vengeful surfer vows to eat the shark that bit him –
Don’t get on the wrong side of Allen Engelman – he has exacted the ultimate revenge on a shark that bit him. The Florida surfer was bitten by a shark, so the next day went out on a vengeful hunt. He killed a shark which he believes to be the same one that bit him. Not only did he kill it, but he now vows to eat it in order to punish the animal for the bite inflicted upon him. The surfer received 15 stitches, and from then on he was hell-bent on revenge. Him and his five-year-old son went back to the beach the following day and caught a shark with the same markings as the one which bit him. [Daily Telegraph]

New York follows UK in banning ‘hoverboards’ in public places –
New York has become the latest city to ban self-balancing scooters, known as “hoverboards”, warning that anyone caught riding them in public places could face a fine of up to $500. The two-wheeled electric vehicles, which use gyroscope technology to keep the rider upright, have exploded in popularity over the last few months – with celebrities including Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Lily Allen and Jamie Foxx all spotted riding them. However, according to the the New York City Police Department, hoverboards are prohibited by New York state law since they are considered “motor vehicles that cannot be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles”. [Daily Telegraph] October 21 2015 was the Back to the Future Day that featured real hoverboards

Video of the Day –

Blue Hue
Blue Hue

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#LatinGrammys2015	#Adele25	#HappyBirthdayMichael
2	#BuenViernes	Mali	#FridayFeeling
3	#HTGAWM	Phuc Dat Bich	#Adele25
4	Corinthians	#PerfectMomentIn4Words	#Mali
5	基本給	#ThanksgivingIn5Words	Blac Chyna
6	1 in the UK	#JessicaJones	#bbcqt
7	#HappyBirthdayJaxonBieber	Woodrow Wilson	1 in the UK
8	#Mali	#HappyBirthdayMichael	Eddie Jones
9	Hayırlı Cumalar	#TDOR	Katie Hopkins
10	#DosPalabras	Tyga	Baker Street

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Military intervention against ISIL
- Cyprus offers France the use of its airbase facilities to bomb the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. Cypriot airbases are being used by British and Canadian air forces. (The Guardian)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- Russian warships launch cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant positions in Syria‘s eastern Deir ez-Zor. Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, reported over 600 terrorists were killed in the strikes. Video footage also emerged of Russian ground crew servicemen writing the words “For Paris” on bombs to be dropped on ISIL targets in a show of solidarity with France in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris. (RT)(Sky News)
2015 Bamako hotel attack
- Ten gunmen storm the five-star Radisson Blu Hotel in the Malian capital Bamako, taking 170 hostages with at least 27 people killed. The grenade-toting assailants free captives who are able to recite the Quran. The hotel is “often used” by Air Francestaff. (France 24), (NBC News), (The New York Daily News), (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
- Mali security forces launch an assault on the gunmen and all surviving hostages are freed. (UPI) (BBC)
- Mali declares a 10-day state of emergency following the attack. (i24 News)
- African militant jihadist organization Al-Murabitoun and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claim responsibility. (CNN) (Reuters).
Xinjiang conflict
- Chinese security forces have killed 28 members of a supposed terrorist group in the mainly ethnic Uyghur Xinjiang region. (BBC)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- Officials report three people died in the Saint-Denis raid. The body of a second woman is found at the apartment where a woman and Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud were killed. (Sky News)
- The French Senate approves President François Hollande’s request to extend the state of emergency until the end of February 2016. The National Assembly passed the three-month extension yesterday. (AP) (Radio France Internationale)
- Fugitive ISIS gunman Salah Abdeslam called three friends saying he is hiding in the Brussels area and is desperately trying to get to ISIS territory in Syria. He said local ISIS members are unhappy with him since he failed to detonate his suicide vest. His brother Mohamed Abdeslam has publicly pleaded with Salah to turn himself in. (ABC News)
A newly released ISIS video threatens attacks on the White House in the U.S., monuments in France, U.S. President Obama, French President François Hollande, and targets in Italy. (Reuters) (CNN)
Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Two attacks on security checkpoints by ISIS militants in Yemen‘s historic Shibam town and Al Qatn District in the central Hadhramaut Governorate leave at least 15 pro-Hadi government soldiers dead. (The National)

Art and culture

A New York City businesswoman, who wanted to bring a “grander scale” to her yearly charitable giving, bought a toy store’s entire inventory to donate to homeless kids. (UPI)
The world’s second-largest diamond of gem quality, Karowe AK6, is found in the Karowe mine located north of the Botswanan capital Gaborone by the Lucara Diamond Corp. The 1,111-carat diamond is second only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond (Star of Africa) found in South Africa in 1905. (Forbes)

Business and economy

Britain’s National Union of Journalists announces a strike against the Financial Times, protesting the changes in pension arrangements since the acquisition of the FT by a Japanese media group, Nikkei. (BBC)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia shut their borders to so-called economic migrants, those not coming from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq, leaving thousands stranded at Balkan border crossings. Around 500 migrants fromIran, Morocco, and Algeria gather on the border between Greece and Macedonia to protest the closure. (The Irish Independent)
- European Union ministers, in light of the attacks in Paris last week, gather in Brussels for an emergency security summit on the need to strengthen border checks on travelers. (AFP via NDTV)
- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said some of the Paris attackers exploited Europe’s refugee crisis to “slip in” to France unnoticed. Valls warns the passport-free Schengen zone is at risk if Europe fails to “take responsibility” over border controls. (Sky News)
North Korea–South Korea relations
- North Korea and South Korea agree to hold talks next week. (Yonhap)

Law and crime

Sweden‘s national security service Säpo are questioning terrorist suspect Moder Mothama Magid, a 22-year-old Iraqi, who is accused of planning to launch a terror attack on the Swedish capital Stockholm. (Local)
The family of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust only to languish in a Russian prison, have asked authorities to officially declare him dead. (Times of Israel)
The United States releases on parole convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst, who served 30 years in federal prison. His parole, approved on July 28, 2015, is for five years during which time he has to remain in the United States. A supporter said Pollard will have a curfew and will wear a GPS unit. (The Globe and Mail) (The Globe and Mail-2)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pollard’s lawyers, two Democratic members of Congress from New York, Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, and others have requested Pollard be able to travel immediately to Israel so he can live with his family. The White House has said it has no intention of altering the conditions of Pollard’s parole. (The Globe and Mail)
The U.S. Justice Department files criminal charges against three individuals and three companies–Black Elk, Grand Isle Shipyard and oil field services company Wood Group–in connection with a 2012 oil platform incident in the Gulf of Mexico that left three workers dead. The charges range from manslaughter to violations of the federal Clean Water Act. (UPI)
USPlabs and S.K. Laboratory are indicted following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation finds synthetic ingredients manufactured in China were added to workout boosters and weight-loss products the firms claimed to be natural. Supplements from these companies were previously implicated in consumer illnesses and death. Several other defendants from the companies face additional charges. (Military Times)

Politics and elections

New Zealand flag referendum
- The first stage of the voting process to potentially select a new flag of New Zealand starts. (BBC)

Science and technology

NASA orders its first commercial crew mission from private company SpaceX. (The Verge)
A jury in a Texas federal court finds for Apple Inc., in a lawsuit brought against Apple by a subsidiary of Pendrell Corporation. Pendrell has charged that Apple infringed patents on techniques that help restrict the use of web content to authorized persons, i.e.anti-piracy software. (Reuters)

Sport

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who has two Olympic gold medals and 30 world records, told Sky News she is going to fight for what she believes to be her right to compete at the 2016 Olympics. She calls on the IAAF, at the world governing track and field organization’s annual meeting on 26 November, to rescind their ban on clean Russian athletes. (Sky News)
In association football, Corinthians win their sixth Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title with four games remaining of the season. (Yahoo! via AFP)

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November 22, 2015

Top News Stories –

Yahoo stops some users accessing emails in ad-blockers row –
Yahoo has confirmed that it is preventing some people from accessing their email if they are using ad-blocking software in their browser. Some users in the US reported that Yahoo Mail was displaying a message asking them to disable their ad-blocker before they could access their inbox. Yahoo said it was testing a “new product experience” in the US. Members of one ad-blocking forum said they had already managed to circumvent the restriction. [BBC]

Moroccan solar plant to bring energy to a million people –
A giant plant using energy from the Sun to power a Moroccan city at night will open next month. The solar thermal plant at Ouarzazate will harness the Sun’s warmth to melt salt, which will hold its heat to power a steam turbine in the evening. The first phase will generate for three hours after dark; the last stage aims to supply power 20 hours a day. It is part of Morocco’s pledge to get 42% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. The UN has praised Morocco for the level of its ambition. The UK, a much richer country, is aiming for 30% by the same date. The Saudi-built Ouarzazate solar thermal plant will be one of the world’s biggest when it is complete. The mirrors will cover the same area as the country’s capital, Rabat. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Action Cam | Tony Hawk Skates First-Ever Horizontal Loop | Sony

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#Elecciones2015	#AMAs	Lord’s Prayer
2	Celal Şengör	#ThatsWhyHeGotWhacked	#marr
3	夫婦の日	#SurvivorSeries	#UFCMonterrey
4	Ohio State	Canelo	Jonathan Ross
5	R.I.Paramore	Turkish Airlines	#CottoCanelo
6	#زد_رصيدك9	#AskRicky	Liverpool
7	#الاتحاد_الاهلي	#UFCMonterrey	#MOTD
8	#FelizDiaDeLaMusica	#ICouldGoForSome	Will Hutton
9	#جني_يراسل_راق�…	Ariana	#COYS
10	#SeTermina2015YYo	Eagles	#XFactor

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Nepal fuel crisis
- Nepalese police open fire on groups, who were protesting the new constitution proposals by blockading a highway. Two protesters were killed and at least 28 were hurt, including 15 police officers. A third protester was killed in Rajbiraj, the headquarters of the Saptari District. (AP via WTOP) (Singapore Today Online)
Insurgency in the North Caucasus
- Russian special forces kill 10 ISIS-linked militants in a counter-terrorist operation in a mountainous region near the city of Nalchik in Russia’s North Caucasus. (RT)
2015 Brussels lockdown
- Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announces Brussels remains on the highest state of alert; concern a new, Paris-style mass attack may be imminent. (EuroNews)
- Belgian authorities announce 16 more arrests in anti-terror raids. Neither weapons nor explosives were discovered during the raids. Tomorrow, a judge will decide whether these people will continue to be detained. (Fox News) (Reuters via Yahoo News)
- The Canadian government announces its embassy in Brussels will be closed “until further notice” and will only be providing emergency consular services. (CBC)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Salahuddin campaign
  - Daesh (Islamic State) militants counter-attack in Iraq’s Saladin province and seize locations west, north and south of Baiji, home to Iraq’s largest oil refinery. In addition, the militants attack oilfields west of Tikrit, capture parts of the town of Seiniyah, portions of Mak’houl Mountain, and an abandoned fertilizer plant. (UPI)

Business and economy

United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- The UK may not face a credit rating downgrade if it votes to leave the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017, according to the lead UK analyst at Moody’s. (Irish Examiner)

Disasters and accidents

Hpakant jade mine disaster
- The death toll in a landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar rises to about 100 people, with up to 200 others missing. Most of the victims were villagers digging for jade in a mountain of displaced earth. (Reuters) (AP via Boston Globe)
A Turkish Airlines plane flying from New York City (U.S.) to Istanbul, Turkey, is diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, after authorities received information of a bomb threat. All 256 passengers and crew are safe. The flight (Turkish Airlines TYH2/TK2) leftJFK International Airport at 9 p.m. Saturday and landed just before 1 a.m. Sunday at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating. (NBC News) (International Business Times)
- No explosives were found. The plane is cleared to continue its journey. (Reuters)
Sixteen (16) people are wounded in a gunfight between two groups that erupted in a New Orleans park’s Bunny Friend playground where hundreds of people gathered for a block party and filming of a music video. No fatalities were reported. The fighters ran from the park immediately after the shooting. (Reuters) (NOLA.com)

International relations

The ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agree to set up an economic community to commence on January 1, 2016. (AP)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin says the United States was making political provocations with its patrols in the disputed South China Sea. He also says China is building military facilities on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of its national defense policy. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama said, for the sake of regional stability, countries should stop building artificial islands and militarizing their claims in this sea. (The Nation Multimedia) (Reuters) (Oracle Herald)

Law and crime

Bangladesh executes two former members of parliament, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, who were convicted in 2013 of war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence. (BBC) (Washington Post)
Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei says an Iranian court sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to a prison term, length unspecified, for espionage. Mohseni Eje said, “I cannot give details.” Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said this might move the case closer to a final resolution in the judiciary, so it can then go to Iranian leaders who can make things right. (Reuters) (Washington Post)

Politics and elections

Argentine general election, 2015
- Voters in Argentina go to the polls for a presidential runoff between Daniel Scioli of the ruling Justicialist Party and Mauricio Macri of the opposition PRO. Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, was elected with 53% of the vote. (AP via theWashington Post) (BBC). (BBC)
Former President Kim Young-sam, who formally ended decades of military rule in South Korea, dies in a Seoul hospital from a severe blood infection. He was 87. (AP via NBC News)
Egyptian parliamentary election, 2015
- Voters in many parts of Egypt including Cairo go to the polls for a parliamentary election. (AP)

Science and technology

Nola, a 41-year-old female northern white rhino, dies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. She was euthanized after her health took a turn for the worse. Nola was rescued from violent poaching in the southern savanna woodlands of Sudan and came to the park in 1989. Only three animals of this endangered species are known left in the world. (ABC News) (San Diego Union Tribune) (F&F Photography-2014)

Sports

In motorsport, Kyle Busch wins the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to become the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. He missed the first 11 races of the season with a broken leg and foot, becoming the first champion not to start the complete season since 1971. 4-time champion Jeff Gordon, who has scored the third-most NASCAR Cup wins of all-time, finishes in 6th position in his final race before retirement. (USA TODAY)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

Belgians tweet cat pictures during #BrusselsLockdown –
On Sunday night, as a major anti-terror police operation was under way in Brussels, authorities asked the public to not report officers’ movements online. The Belgian capital has been on lockdown since Saturday amid a search for suspected Paris attacks gunman Salah Abdeslam. On Twitter, the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown had been the term of choice for people discussing the raids. But on Sunday night, the term was overtaken by Twitter users posting pictures and videos of cats, to make sure that any leaking of operational details were drowned out. After the raids, and the arrest of 16 people across the country, authorities thanked Belgians for their co-operation:”To all the cats who helped us last night: help yourselves! #BrusselsLockdown” [BBC]
Jayce le Satirique tweet

Sepp Blatter says he was close to death after being taken to hospital earlier this month –
Sepp Blatter has said he was “close to dying” upon being hospitalised this month following a health scare. The Fifa president, who is facing a multi-year ban from football and is currently serving a 90-day provisional suspension, spent several days being treated for stress before being discharged from hospital a week and a half ago. In his first interview since his release, the 79-year-old told Swiss broadcaster RTS: “I was close to dying. I was between the angels who were singing and the devil who was lighting the fire, but it was the angels who sang. [Daily Telegraph]

Genetically modified mosquito no longer infects humans with malaria –
A mosquito has been genetically modified so that it can no longer pass on malaria to humans in a breakthrough which could save millions of lives. The insect was biologically engineered by scientists to produce antibodies that interfere with the malaria parasite’s life cycle and prevent it being transmitted. Importantly, the heritable trait was passed on to 99.5 per cent of the mosquito’s offspring, a result described as ‘astonishing’ by the scientists. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Wizard Cops

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	La Nación	#BlackFridayIn3Words	#mondaymotivation
2	#FelizLunes	#mondaymotivation	#AMAs
3	#قبيله_تحبها_و�…	Anti-Muslim Is Anti-American	#LoveSUs
4	#زد_رصيدك10	#OddThingsToFindInBed	#SurvivorSeries
5	Jon Snow	Jon Snow	Prince Charles
6	#AMAs	Prince Charles	#OddThingsToFindInBed
7	#SurvivorSeries	Amanda Blackburn	Jon Snow
8	The Weeknd	Bill Walton	The Sun
9	LACRE DO ANO EU FUI	Les Miles	#BrusselsLockdown
10	Camren e Larry	#MarathonsICouldFinish	#AskBoris

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Maguindanao massacre
- Human rights activists and families of the victims decry the lack of justice six years after the murder of around 58 people, including journalists and politicians, in Maguindanao, Mindanao. They criticize the regime of Philippines President Benigno Aquino IIIfor the lack of convictions in the trial. (ABC News), (Voice of America), (Fox News)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- A Palestinian kills a 20 year-old Israeli and wounds two women in a stabbing attack at a gas station near the town of Modi’in; the Palestinian assailant is shot and killed by an officer at the scene. (Ynet News) (Times of Israel)
- Two Palestinian teenage girls, ages 14 and 16, use scissors to stab a 70-year-old Palestinian man whom they misidentified as an Israeli, and other Israeli civilians, near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market; one of the attackers is killed and the other wounded while being subdued, and an Israeli civilian is wounded by police gunfire. (Times of Israel)

Business and economy

American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan, Plc announce plans to merge to form a $220 billion company, the world’s largest drug company. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

An explosion at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead in Tokyo damages the ceiling and a wall of a public bathroom near the shrine’s southern entrance. No one was injured. (Japan Times) (AP via ABC News)
Seven people are feared dead after a helicopter crashes in the Indian town of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, near the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi. (NDTV)
A U.S. Apache helicopter crashes in South Korea‘s Gangwon Province, killing the pilot and one crew member. (Reuters)
A highway traffic accident due west of Mexico City kills 20 people and injures at least 15 others. (Reuters)
All four crew members aboard a United States military helicopter (UH-60) are killed when their chopper crashes at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. (NBC News)

International relations

The United States issues a worldwide travel alert due to heightened activity by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (aka Da’esh/ISIS), Boko Haram, al-Qa’ida and other terrorist groups through February 24, 2016. (US State Department)

Politics and elections

Hong Kong local elections, 2015
- Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement gets a boost with Umbrella Soldiers winning at least four seats in Sunday’s election although the distribution of political power over the district council seats remains broadly the same vis-a-vis the Hong Kong local elections, 2011. (Reuters) (AFP via Yahoo)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 24, 2015

Top News Stories –

Angry Cheryl Fernandez-Versini takes legal action over ‘white powder’ bathroom picture –
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has taken legal action to prevent the publication of a photograph in which she is seen next to a white powdery substance in a public lavatory. The X Factor judge was photographed by a fashion journalist who posted the picture on Instagram after the 2015 British Fashion Awards at the London Coliseum on Monday night. The image was later deleted, but lawyers for the Girls Aloud singer have sent a warning letter to media companies not to use the picture. Taken in the reflection of a mirror, the picture shows Mrs Fernandez-Versini washing her hands with other women either side of her, with three lines of a white powder on a glass shelf in front and slightly to the side of her. [Daily Telegraph]
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

Jeff Bezos’ space company does world first in landing reusable rocket –
[As promised in September 2015] Jeff Bezos’ privately-funded space company Blue Origin announced a historic first today – it successfully landed a fired rocket back on Earth after an unmanned flight to space. Bezos announced the compelling test flight video on Twitter – the first time he has ever tweeted – calling the achievement the “rarest of beasts.” In this test flight, the rocket separated itself from the New Shepard vehicle, which flew to an altitude of 93km on Monday, at almost 4 times the speed of sound. Usually, the rocket would have fallen back to Earth and been unable to complete any more flights. “Rockets have always been expendable,” Bezos wrote in blog post about the landing. “Not anymore.” In this case, it was guided towards a launchpad on Earth where it slowed down and landed, intact. This means the rocket can be re-used for subsequent flights, which companies like Blue Origin claim will make spaceflight far less expensive. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Jeff Bezos

Video of the Day –

Historic Rocket Landing

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#MentirasMasUsadas	#ThanksgivingWithBlackFami…	#CharityTuesday
2	#ThanksgivingWithBlackFami…	#RuinAnOldSaying	World War III
3	#NadaMejorQue	Johnny Manziel	Alan Johnson
4	#GRAMMYs	#4thPrecinctShutDown	#1in5Muslims
5	#شي_جميل_يبداا_…	#LaquanMcDonald	Christmas Eve
6	Zayn e Gigi	#GRAMMYs	#6YearsOfOneTime
7	Turquía	David Canary	#Trident
8	#24KasımÖğretmenlerGünü	#6YearsOfOneTime	Rusev
9	Su-24	#ThanksgivingClapBack	#TravelTuesday
10	#VideoMTV2015	Russian	#GRAMMYs

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Sinai insurgency
- November 2015 Sinai attack
  - A day after the second round of parliamentary elections closes, militants attack a hotel housing election judges in the provincial capital of al-Arish in Egypt’s North Sinai. At least seven people are killed and 12 others injured, including two judges. The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai branch claims responsibility. (Reuters) (Eyewitness News)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- Turkish F-16 fighter jets shoot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft that had allegedly infringed its airspace near the Syrian border. Russia’s Ministry of Defence denies the Su-24 entered Turkish airspace and initially said it was shot down by ground fire over Syria’s Latakia Governorate. A video emerged of one pilot killed as local rebel Turkmen fighters shot at him while he was parachuting and a video of his body, while the fate of the other pilot is unknown but is presumed dead. A combat search and rescue mission by Russian forces failed to reach them. It is the first time a NATO member has shot down a Russian plane since the 1950s. (Irish Independent) (BBC) (The Telegraph)
- A Russian military helicopter is destroyed on the ground by a U.S. TOW missile used by Syrian rebels after it was forced to make an emergency landing in northern Latakia. (Reuters)
- A Russian marine is killed by rebel gunfire while on a mission to rescue the crew of the downed Su-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russia’s Defence Ministry confirms. (BBC)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says there will be “serious consequences” for Russia–Turkey relations following Turkey‘s actions, and describes the incident as a “stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists”. Russian government agencies began limiting Russian tourists from traveling to Turkey. (Independent)
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns everyone to “respect the right of Turkey to defend its borders,” says that the reason why worse incidents have not taken place in the past regarding Syria is because of the “cool-headedness of Turkey” and stresses that Turkey’s actions are fully in line with the new rules of engagement that the country adopted after Syria shot down a Turkish jet in 2012. (BBC)
- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu defends the action saying Turkey has the right “to take all kinds of measures” against border violations as a “national duty,” but that it did not amount to an aggression against any foreign territory and the country called for NATO to hold an extraordinary meeting later in the day.(AFP via The Express Tribune)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- A car-bomb kills five guards at a checkpoint east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (Channel News Asia)
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- An explosion on a bus carrying Tunisian Presidential Guard personnel in Tunisia‘s capital Tunis leaves at least 15 people dead, as the country’s government declares a state of emergency. (Independent)

Arts and culture

Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people including Willie Mays, Barbra Streisand, Itzhak Perlman, James Taylor, Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. (New York Times)

International relations

United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- According to an opinion poll, a majority of British citizens now want the United Kingdom to leave the European Union as voter anxiety rises over the bloc’s handling of a crisis provoked by an influx of migrants into Europe. A referendum on the United Kingdom’s EU membership is scheduled to take place before the end of 2017. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- Sweden will introduce tighter border controls and asylum rules in a bid to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering the country. Sweden expects up to 190,000 asylum seekers to reach its borders this year and says its reception system cannot cope. “The situation is untenable”, according to Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven who told reporters, “to put it bluntly, more people will have to seek asylum and get protection in other European countries”. (Reuters)
- Germany starts deporting unsuccessful asylum seekers to the Balkans. (Reuters via Thomson Reuters Foundation)

Law and crime

A military court in Bangkok charges two men Adem Karadag and Yusufu Miefaili with offences related to the 2015 Bangkok bombing. (Al-Jazeera)
A bomb blast at the Hellenic Business Federation offices in central Athens, Greece, damages the Cypriot Embassy across the street. While there is yet no claim for responsibility the authorities suspect a domestic guerrilla group set off the blast. (Reuters)
Shooting of Laquan McDonald
- Chicago, Illinois police officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder for the October shooting death of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. The charge comes one day before the release of the police video showing the shooting. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel meets with community leaders to discuss the video’s release and the potential ramifications for the city. (CNN)
2015 Roubaix shootings
- At least one person is killed after a group of armed men took people hostage in the northern French town of Roubaix near the Belgian border. The hostages are thought to be a bank director and his family. French police say the incident may be related to a robbery and not to the November 2015 attacks in Paris. (Irish Independent)

Politics and elections

U.S. reactions to November 2015 Paris attacks
- The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sues Indiana Governor Mike Pence over his decision to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state. The ACLU, on behalf of Indianapolis-based nonprofit Exodus Refugee Immigration, accuses Pence of violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution by accepting refugees from other countries but not those from Syria. The decision also caused some financial harm to Exodus when a family of Syrian refugees, scheduled to arrive in Indianapolis on December 10 after a three-year wait, had to be diverted to Connecticut. (AP via Miami Herald) (Indianapolis Star) (USA Today)
Antonio Costa, the leader of the Socialist Party, is named as the Prime Minister of Portugal. (Reuters)
Echoing criticisms of the U.S. intelligence community in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Derek Harvey, a former U.S. intelligence official, says that the U.S. intelligence community is failing in its assessments of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Another unnamed source says the U.S. intelligence community is “playing catch up“ regarding efforts to monitor ISIL activities in the U.S. These, following reports that U.S. Central Command intelligence analysts were instructed to give favorable spin on anti-ISIL efforts. (The Telegraph) (Fox News)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

Adele’s album 25 breaks US record previously held by *NSYNC –
It’s not that much of a surprise, it was widely predicted, but Adele’s new album is doing quite well (understatement.) It’s broken the record for first week album sales in the US, selling 2.4 million copies since Friday.
The record was previously held by boy band *NSYNC and their second album, No Strings Attached, from 2000. Adele won’t be making the album available on music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music for now.
It takes a powerful artist to still do well despite not being on the big streaming services. Taylor Swift did it last year, withdrawing her material from Spotify. [BBC Newsbeat]
Adele

The condom challenge is the latest bizarre trend sweeping the internet –
It’s been at least a few weeks since the last ridiculous internet trend, so let us introduce the condom challenge. In apparent homage to the long-forgotten Ice Bucket Challenge, the new trend involves people filling up condoms with water and dropping it on the head of a friend, significant other or loved one. Videos of people dropping condoms full of water have been flooding social media feeds in recent weeks. [Daily Telegraph]
Condom Challenge

Queen asks judges to decide if DNA evidence can ‘uncover affair’ in Scottish hereditary title dispute –
Accountant Murray Pringle, 74, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Simon Pringle, 56, a businessman who lives near Hastings, East Sussex, both lay claim to the baronetcy of Pringle of Stichill. The Queen has asked senior judges to make a decision on the dispute under a piece of legislation dating back more than 150 years. The men are both members of a Scottish family fighting over the rights to the baronetcy. Seven judges are now analysing evidence at a hearing of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The hearing was expected to finish on Wednesday but judges, who are all Supreme Court justices, are not expected to publish a ruling until next year. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Happy Place from sharp & jenkins on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NoalaViolenciadeGenero	Stedman Bailey	Civil War
2	#LaquanMcDonald	Civil War	#spendingreview
3	#ThanksgivingClapBack	#TerribleStockingStuffers	#LaquanMcDonald
4	Delcídio	Kobe	#WhiteRibbonDay
5	당신의 결과	#ICarvedTheTurkeyAndOutPopped	ONE MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS
6	Selamat Hari Guru	#2015WasTheYearThatIFinally	#IDEVAW
7	Kobe	Frank Gifford	George Best
8	#كذبه_كنت_مصدق�…	#jacobsaletonight	#GeordieShore
9	#WelcomeToMexico1D	Happy Thanksgiving Eve	Roma
10	Civil War	#8MonthsWithoutZayn	#ThanksgivingClapBack

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- Insurgents attack an Indian Army base in northern Kashmir. At least three attackers are killed. (NDTV) (Reuters)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, says Russia will deploy its S-400 defense missile system at the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria‘s Latakia Governorate. (RT)
- Several trucks are left burning at a rebel-run border crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border after a Russian airstrike hit what was reported to be an aid convoy in the town of Azaz. At least seven people are reportedly killed. (Reuters) (Daily Sabah)
Balochistan conflict
- Unidentified gunmen abduct 22 passengers from a coach in Kandasool near the city of Pasni. (Daily Times)
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claim responsibility for yesterday’s attack on Tunisia‘s presidential guard in Tunis that killed 14 people. (AP)
Germany will deploy up to 650 troops to Mali as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA). (The Daily Star)
Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- The United Arab Emirates has recruited several hundred Central and South American mercenaries to fight the Houthis in Yemen. (New York Times)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- The French Senate votes 325-0 to extend the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AP)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Several American personnel are suspended after an official report finds that human error was to blame for an airstrike on a Doctors without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz in October that killed 30 people. No criminal charges were filed.(CNN)

Arts and culture

An 18th-century pink Indian diamond worth at least $5 million and a Cartier diamond tiara are discovered in the jewelry recovered from Imelda Marcos. (The Guardian)
The Gambia bans female genital mutilation with President Yahya Jammeh saying it is not required in Islam. (BBC)

Business and economics

The new 20 euro note, the third in the Europa series, enters into circulation today. The European Central Bank says the banknote has a “refreshed look and more vibrant colours,” and includes a new kind of security feature: a “portrait window” near the top of the hologram stripe which becomes transparent when seen against the light. (Sofia Globe)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 Australian bushfire season
- A bushfire burns out of control near the South Australian town of Wasleys with authorities warning of significant risk to lives and property. Two deaths have been confirmed with another person feared dead, (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)

Health and medicine

Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to North America
- A one-year old baby girl with an apparently incurable illness, who was kissed by Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in September, gets MRI results showing her brain tumor has shrunk significantly. Some friends and family call it the “Miracle onMarket Street.” (NBC News) (Philadephia Daily News

International relations

Russia–Ukraine gas disputes
- Russia‘s Gazprom halts gas supplies to Ukraine until the Ukrainian government pays in advance for future supplies to replenish the current supplies of gas that it has used up; Ukraine says it has stopped buying from Gazprom because it can get cheaper gas from Europe. Roughly 15% of the gas used in Europe travels through Ukraine, and a previous cut-off of gas supplies in 2009 caused serious disruptions in shipments to EU countries at the height of winter. (Sky News) (BBC)
Ukraine bans all Russian planes from using its airspace. (BBC)
Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis makes his first official visit to Africa. (Reuters)
- Francis encourages Kenyans to work for peace and forgiveness amid a wave of extremist violence on the continent which has threatened to disrupt his trip. His six-day pilgrimage will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic. (AP via The Salt Lake Tribune)
The Associated Press reports that Russia’s crackdown on Muslims is fueling their exodus to ISIS. For example, Russia’s southernmost republic of Dagestan keeps devout Muslims under surveillance, routinely raids their homes, and hauls them to police stations to give DNA samples and fingerprints. Regional police say nearly a third of the estimated 3,000 Russians who are believed to have gone to fight alongside IS militants in Syria are from Dagestan. The AP added, “Few efforts are made by Russian authorities to stop young men from leaving.” (AP)
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctions Syrian businessman George Haswani who “serves as a middleman” for oil purchases by the Syrian government from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. His company, an engineering and construction firm, is also sanctioned. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Former world cruiserweight boxing champion O’Neil Bell is shot to death in a robbery in the American city of Atlanta, Georgia. (Daily Mail)
Sergey Mironov, leader of the Russian opposition party, A Just Russia, submits a bill to the State Duma on holding to account anyone who denies that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces was a “genocide”. (Reuters)
General Motors ignition switch scandal
- U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rules General Motors Co., and its outside law firm King & Spalding, do not have to turn over lawyer-client documents from previously settled ignition switch lawsuits to plaintiffs’ lawyers in pending cases. (The Detriot News)

Sports

Ukrainian marathon runner Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko is given a four-year ban for a doping offence. (AP)
Former U.S National Football League star, Frank Gifford, who died last August at age 84, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to head injuries commonly found in football, Gifford’s family announced. (CNN)(New York Times)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Pirate needs 200,000 video views to avoid being sued –
A convicted software pirate has been handed an unusual punishment. The man, named only as Jakub F, will be spared having to pay hefty damages – as long as a film denouncing piracy he was made to produce gets 200,000 views.
He came to the out-of-court settlement with a host of firms whose software he pirated after being convicted by a Czech court. In return, they agreed not to sue him. The 30-year-old was also given a three-year suspended sentence. The criminal court decided that any financial penalty would have to be decided either in civil proceedings or out of court. The firms, which included Microsoft, HBO Europe, Sony Music and Twentieth Century Fox, estimated that the financial damage amounted to thousands of pounds, with Microsoft alone valuing its losses at 5.7m Czech Crowns (£148,000). [BBC] The video had received over 212,000 views by today. See Video of the Day

Asteroid mining made legal after passing of ‘historic’ space bill in US –
Business opportunities in space could soon be about to open up for adventurous entrepreneurs after US Congress signed off on a bill to legalise space mining. While some websites are already offering investors the chance to step onto the intergalactic property ladder with a plot on the moon from £16.75, asteroid mining is predicted to become a trillion-dollar industry over the next few decades. Private companies in the US can now legally extract materials from the moon, asteroids and other celestial bodies after a commercial space act was approved by Congress. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

SDÍLENÍM TO ZAČALO, SDÍLENÍM TO MŮŽE SKONČIT

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ImThankfulFor	#ImThankfulFor	Happy Thanksgiving
2	Can Dündar	Happy Thanksgiving	#ImThankfulFor
3	あなたのツイッタ��…	#MacysParade	#NationalCakeDay
4	#NoMeCabeEsoDe	#ImNotGoingToBedBecause	Eagles of Death Metal
5	#اوصف_مجتمعك_ب�…	#BringBackMST3K	#pizero
6	#ALDUB19thWeeksary	#ARIAs	BBC Three
7	#Empire	#TurkeyTrot	#PAKvENG
8	Nilson	Eagles	#WWENXT
9	Niall Holland	Jason Kidd	#INDvSA
10	#MeReSobranLasGanasDe	Chip Kelly	#VampsAlbumOutTomorrow

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- The Turkish military releases what it says are a series of audio recordings of warnings issued to a Russian jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. (ABC Australia)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 21 year-old man has died in clashes with Israeli Army soldiers. (AP)
Military intervention against ISIL
- British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a speech to the House of Commons says that Islamic extremists have already threatened citizens of the United Kingdom and UK military airstrikes against ISIL in Syria will serve only to make the UK safer. Cameron also says that the UK cannot outsource its security and must stand by France in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks. (BBC)
- Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defence, calls on the United Kingdom to join France in bombing ISIL. (The Guardian)
2015 Brussels lockdown, Paris attack aftermath
- Belgian authorities reduce the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three. The escalation to level four came after suspects in the ISIL attacks in Paris were linked to the city. Suspected Paris gunman, Salah Abdeslam, who lived in Brussels for several years, remains at large. (BBC)
- A suspicious powder feared to be anthrax found at a Brussels mosque, close to the European Union headquarters, is a false alarm. Testing determines it is flour. (Reuters) (Intenational Business Times)
Boko Haram
- At least 18 people are killed and over 100 homes torched after Boko Haram militants attacked a village near the commune of Bosso in Niger‘s southern Diffa Region. (AFP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

At least 15 people are killed after a Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter carrying oil workers crashes in eastern Siberia near the Yenisei River. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters)
A sinkhole the size of a football field swallows a large section of beach on Australia‘s North Stradbroke Island. Local authorities have warned beach-goers to stay away from Jumpinpin beach due to fears the sinkhole could grow even larger. (The Guardian)
2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- A New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter dies while fighting an out of control bushfire near Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. (Daily Telegraph)
At least eleven people have died and 70 injured after two buses carrying tourism workers collide in the eastern Dominican Republic. (AP)

International relations

Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis condemns the way young people have been “radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear,” during a talk in Nairobi, Kenya. (Washington Post)
- Pope Francis celebrates a historic Mass in Kenya before delivering a stern environmental warning to the world. “It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects,” the Pope said, urging nations to reach agreement over curbing fossil fuel emissions. (CNN)
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21)
- France is deploying more than 10,000 personnel to provide security for the two-week UN Climate Change Conference that opens in Le Bourget in Paris on Monday, November 30, 2015. Around 150 heads of state or government are expected to attend COP21’s opening day. (Xinhua News Agency)
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015
- Queen Elizabeth II (U.K.) arrives in Malta for the Commonwealth summit what begins tomorrow. The then-future Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh lived on the island from 1949-51. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 nations; most member states were once part of the British Empire, 16 remain Commonwealth realms. (Telegraph)
Song Tao is named head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, a key post responsible for relations with other communist parties, replacing Wang Jiarui. (SCMP)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 27, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Li-fi 100 times faster than wi-fi’ –
A new method of delivering data, which uses the visible spectrum rather than radio waves, has been tested in a working office. Li-fi can deliver internet access 100 times faster than traditional wi-fi, offering speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second). It requires a light source, such as a standard LED bulb, an internet connection and a photo detector. It was tested this week by Estonian start-up Velmenni, in Tallinn. Velmenni used a li-fi-enabled light bulb to transmit data at speeds of 1Gbps. Laboratory tests have shown theoretical speeds of up to 224Gbps. It was tested in an office, to allow workers to access the internet and in an industrial space, where it provided a smart lighting solution. [BBC]

US space rocket debris found in sea off Scilly –
A large chunk of an American space rocket has been found in the sea off the Isles of Scilly. The section of the spacecraft, measuring about 10m (32ft) by 4m (13ft), was spotted on the surface between Bryher and Tresco. Coastguards believe it is from the unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 which exploded after take-off in Florida in June. However many astronomers believe it is from a different mission due to the size and markings. Local boatmen towed the section to Tresco where it has now been removed from the beach. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Wild Scotland from John Duncan on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#PremiosTelehit	#WhyINeedYouIn5Words	#LancashireDay
2	Kant	#BlackFriday	#tshirtday
3	#زد_رصيدك14	#In2016IWannaSee	#DavisCupFinal
4	#الهلال_الشباب	Sean Taylor	#VampsAlbumOutToday
5	Mステ	#PlannedParenthood	#WhyINeedYouIn5Words
6	#ALDUBDontGiveUpOnUs	#AppleCup	#BlackFriday
7	River	Jared Brownridge	Gary Speed
8	Brett Favre	Tyshawn Lee	#FridayFeeling
9	VOT 3 A LO MANIJA	#IOWAvsNEB	David Icke
10	#hommagenational	Kendrick	#AUSvNZ

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

One person is killed and several injured in clashes between police and Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers. (ABC News Australia)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- France holds a memorial service for the 130 victims of the attacks two weeks ago. (BBC)
2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- Turkey‘s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns Russia not to “play with fire” and says Russia is supporting the “state terrorism” of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria that has “killed 380,000 people”. Relations between the former Cold War antagonists have been severely damaged after Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 near the Syria–Turkey border on November 24, 2015. (Sky News)
2015 Bamako hotel attack
- Malian forces arrest two men in their early 30s linked to a cell phone found at the scene of last week’s deadly hotel attack. No details are provided on what their exact role was. (CNN)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- Two Palestinian drivers drive their vehicles into groups of Israeli soldiers in two separate attacks in the occupied West bank. Both drivers are shot dead. In this current wave of violence that began in October, 19 Israelis, one U.S. citizen, and 93 Palestinians have died. (Reuters)
- The Israeli cabinet authorizes the Israeli Army to close the village of Beir Ummar near Hebron to search for suspects. (Haaretz)
Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- Pirates attack a Polish-owned cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, kidnapping its captain and four crew. Polish Foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowski, said the as yet unidentified kidnappers have made no demands so far and Poland was currently liaising with Nigerian authorities. (Reuters)
Islamist insurgency in West Africa
- A suicide-bomb attack on a Shia Muslim procession in Nigeria‘s northern Kano state leaves at least 21 people dead. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Archaeologists discover four prehistoric Ichma culture tombs in the centre of the Peruvian capital Lima. (AFP via ABC News Australia)

Business and economics

China’s Shanghai index closed down 5.5%, a drop of almost 200 points in what was its largest single-day decline in three months. (New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 Australian bushfire season
- At least 87 homes have been lost in the fires that started in Pinery, South Australia which also claimed two lives and hospitalised 90 with five people in a critical condition. (ABC News Australia)
Floodwaters in the North Texas area in the North Texas region of the United States claim at least three lives on Thursday and today with another person missing. (Dallas Morning News)

International relations

Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis, speaking in the Kenyan shantytown Kangemi, a sprawling slum filled with tin-roofed homes, lashes out at the elite in a neighborhood that feels largely disenfranchised. He describes injustices against the poor, such as unfair distribution of land, and lack of access to infrastructures and basic services, as “new forms of colonialism.” (CNN)
- Francis, at a Nairobi sports center, says education and jobs will prevent young people from being radicalized and heading off to join militant groups. At the Kasarani Stadium, the Pope urges attendees to resist the temptation of corruption. “It’s in all the institutions, including in the Vatican …” (USA Today)
Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is appointed as the sixth Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. She will become the first woman to hold the position from April 2016. (NYSE Post)

Law and crime

Former Saenuri Party member of the South Korean National Assembly Cho Hyun-ryong is jailed for five years for accepting bribes. (Yonhap)
The appellate prosecutors office in the Polish city of Krakow decides not to appeal a decision against extraditing filmmaker Roman Polanski to the United States to face prosecution for historic child sex offences. (Reuters)
2015 Colorado Springs shootings
- An active shooter in a Planned Parenthood facility in the American city of Colorado Springs shoots at least four members of the Colorado Springs Police Department with one officer later dying. Two civilians were also killed, and six were injured. The shooter later surrendered. (Denver Post) (Reuters) (NBC News) (CNN)

Politics

Detroit, a city in which neighborhoods are disappearing, banks aren’t lending, and property values are among the lowest in the nation, is looking to reverse these trends. The Detroit Land Bank Authority is moving aggressively to demolish structures that are beyond repair and auction (bids start at $1,000) ones that are salvageable. Some community banks are helping new buyers. (Washington Post)
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a major overhaul of China’s military to make the world’s largest army more combat ready and better equipped to project force beyond the country’s borders. Under the reorganization, all branches of the armed forces would come under a joint military command, Xi told a meeting of military officials in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Bloomberg in September reported details of the plan, which may also seek to consolidate the country’s seven military regions to as few as four. The Chinese president said the reform aimed to “build an elite combat force” and called on the officials to make “breakthroughs” on establishing the joint command by 2020, Xinhua said. (Bloomberg)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 28, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jamie Vardy breaks record for goals in consecutive games –
Jamie Vardy broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record as he became the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches. The Leicester striker netted in the first half of his side’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United. Dutchman Van Nistelrooy achieved his feat for Manchester United across two seasons in 2003. Vardy’s run has included 13 goals, making him the league’s top scorer with 14 goals in total. [BBC] See List of the Day
Jamie Vardy

Video of the Day –

Je Suis Paris – Paris Saint-Germain

List of the Day –

Jamie Vardy’s record breaking goals run

Date	Match			Goals
29-Aug-15	Bournemouth	1 – 1	Leicester	1
13-Sep-15	Leicester	3 – 2	Aston Villa	1
19-Sep-15	Stoke	2 – 2	Leicester	1
26-Sep-15	Leicester	2 – 5	Arsenal	2
03-Oct-15	Norwich	1 – 2	Leicester	1
17-Oct-15	Southampton	2 – 2	Leicester	2
24-Oct-15	Leicester	1 – 0	C Palace	1
31-Oct-15	West Brom	2 – 3	Leicester	1
07-Nov-15	Leicester	2 – 1	Watford	1
21-Nov-15	Newcastle	0 – 3	Leicester	1
28-Nov-15	Leicester	1 – 1	Man Utd	1

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#LiamLaryLovesYou	#SmallBizSaturday	#BleepASongToMakeItSoundDirty
2	#TeletonChile	Robert Lewis Dear	#PlannedParenthood
3	#ALDUBStaySTRONG	#UFCSeoul	Britain to the Tories
4	#PlannedParenthood	#AndImDarnProudOfIt	J Cole
5	#TahirElçi	Auburn	#UnpopularPartyGames
6	CONFIDENT BY DEMI	ADIDASTM	#DontBombSyria
7	SEM MARA SEM AUDIENCIA	Kris Dunn	Burt Bacharach
8	파쿠리	Penn State	#VampsAlbumOutNow
9	CONFIDENT BY DEMI LOVATO	#BleepASongToMakeItSoundDirty	Grant Shapps
10	#WelcomeToBrazilJUSTINBIEBER	#FSUvsUF	#NUFC

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

At least three people are killed in an attack on a United Nations peacekeeping base in Kidal, northern Mali. The jihadist group Ansar Dine claims responsibility. (Euronews), (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Terrorism in Egypt
- At least four Egyptian police officers are killed in a drive-by shooting in Saqqara, south of Cairo. An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliate claims responsibility. (BBC), (AP via Fox News)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Tahir Elçi, a pro-Kurdish lawyer, is shot dead at a press conference in the city of Diyarbakir as clashes break out between Turkish security forces and PKK militants. (Bloomberg via Washington Today)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, despite deep uncertainty over how many Labour MPs will back him, is planning to stage a parliamentary vote on British military action against ISIL in Syria this week. (The Guardian)

Arts and culture

Egyptologists announce that radar scans indicate an empty space behind King Tutankhamun’s tomb. British archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Reeves speculates if a second chamber exists, it could be Queen Nefertiti’s long-lost burial place. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty says work inside the tomb will not begin until all the data from the radar and infrared devices are carefully analyzed by Japanese experts. (Sky News) (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

A slow moving wintry storm system is responsible for more than a dozen deaths in the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. (AP)

International relations

2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown, Russia–Turkey relations
- A day after Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had harsh words for Russia, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, in an essay in the London Times, says the downing of the Russian jet, “was not — and is not — an act against a specific country. … While the measures to defend our territory will remain in place, Turkey will work with Russia and our allies to calm tensions.” (CNN) (Times of London)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree imposing economic sanctions on Turkey. The sanctions include a ban on charter flights from Russia to Turkey, that Russian tour operators should stop selling trips to Turkey, and that imports of some Turkish products are to be halted. All work visas for Turkish citizens are cancelled.(Irish Times)
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports North Korea appears to conduct a submarine-launched ballistic missile test that ended in failure with no indication that the missile successfully ejected from the vessel and took off. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis, Macedonian border crisis
- Macedonia‘s Army begins erecting a metal fence on its southern border with Greece. Around 250 migrants later clash with Macedonian police on the border. (CNBC), (AP)
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015
- The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta calls for an ambitious and legally binding outcome at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- The United Kingdom will host the next CHOGM meeting in 2018 as Vanuatu, which was to host the meeting, had its infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Pam earlier in the year. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Law and crime

2015 Colorado Springs shooting
- Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey says all nine of the injured – five police officers and four civilians – are listed in good condition at area hospitals. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

The United Kingdom‘s Minister of State for International Development, Grant Shapps, resigns amid claims he failed to act on allegations of in-party bullying of a young Conservative Party activist who committed suicide in September. (BBC)

Sport

Tyson Fury of the United Kingdom defeats Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight in Dusseldorf winning the WBA Super, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. (BBC)
2015–16 Premier League
- Leicester City‘s Jamie Vardy scores in a record eleven consecutive Premier League matches after scoring against Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium, breaking former Manchester United player Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s record.(BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Andy Murray wins the Davis Cup for Great Britain –
Great Britain have won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 after Andy Murray beat Belgium’s David Goffin to clinch the decisive point in Ghent. Murray won 6-3 7-5 6-3 to give the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie. Britain have now won the team title 10 times [the last title was in 1936], while Murray adds the Davis Cup to his other major titles at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Olympic Games. Captain Leon Smith guided Britain from the third tier to glory in five years. [BBC] See Video of the Day. Andy Murray posted the most minimal of tweets afterwards:

Andy Murray

Formula One season ends with Hamilton champion but Rosberg winning –
Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to win the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The victory was the German’s third in a row, giving him a boost ahead of 2016 after Hamilton won the title last month with three races still to go. [BBC] See List of the Day
Nico Rosberg

Video of the Day –

Andy Murray defeats David Goffin 6:3 7:5 6:3 to clinch the winning point for Great Britain in the 2015 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final

List of the Day –

Formula 1 Grand Prix 2015 results:

Pos.	Driver	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	AUT	GBR	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	RUS	USA	MEX	BRA	ABU	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	1	2	1	1	2	3	1	2	1	6	1	1	Ret	1	1	1	2	2	2	381
2	Nico Rosberg	2	3	2	3	1	1	2	1	2	8	2	17†	4	2	Ret	2	1	1	1	322
3	Sebastian Vettel	3	1	3	5	3	2	5	4	3	1	12†	2	1	3	2	3	Ret	3	4	278
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ret	4	4	2	5	6	4	Ret	8	Ret	7	5	3	4	8	Ret	Ret	4	3	150
5	Valtteri Bottas	DNS	5	6	4	4	14	3	5	5	13	9	4	5	5	12†	Ret	3	5	13	136
6	Felipe Massa	4	6	5	10	6	15	6	3	4	12	6	3	Ret	17	4	Ret	6	DSQ	8	121
7	Daniil Kvyat	DNS	9	Ret	9	10	4	9	12	6	2	4	10	6	13	5	Ret	4	7	10	95
8	Daniel Ricciardo	6	10	9	6	7	5	13	10	Ret	3	Ret	8	2	15	15†	10	5	11	6	92
9	Sergio Pérez	10	13	11	8	13	7	11	9	9	Ret	5	6	7	12	3	5	8	12	5	78
10	Nico Hülkenberg	7	14	Ret	13	15	11	8	6	7	Ret	DNS	7	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	7	6	7	58
11	Romain Grosjean	Ret	11	7	7	8	12	10	Ret	Ret	7	3	Ret	13†	7	Ret	Ret	10	8	9	51
12	Max Verstappen	Ret	7	17†	Ret	11	Ret	15	8	Ret	4	8	12	8	9	10	4	9	9	16	49
13	Felipe Nasr	5	12	8	12	12	9	16	11	DNS	11	11	13	10	20†	6	9	Ret	13	15	27
14	Pastor Maldonado	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	7	7	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	12	8	7	8	11	10	Ret	27
15	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	9	8	13	Ret	9	10	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	9	10	Ret	7	13	Ret	11	18
16	Jenson Button	11	Ret	14	DNS	16	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	14	14	Ret	16	9	6	14	14	12	16
17	Fernando Alonso		Ret	12	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	5	13	18†	Ret	11	11	11	Ret	15	17	11
18	Marcus Ericsson	8	Ret	10	14	14	13	14	13	11	10	10	9	11	14	Ret	Ret	12	16	14	9
19	Roberto Merhi	DNP	15	16	17	18	16	Ret	14	12	15	15	16			13				19	0
20	Alexander Rossi													14	18		12	15	18		0
21	Will Stevens	DNP	DNS	15	16	17	17	17	Ret	13	16†	16	15	15	19	14	Ret	16	17	18	0
—	Kevin Magnussen	DNS																			0
Pos.	Driver	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	AUT	GBR	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	RUS	USA	MEX	BRA	ABU	Points

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BrouisIsFake	#WeLoveYouCalum	#ClimateMarch
2	#EsasDescontroladasGanasDe	#XmasGiftsForAMobBoss	#WeLoveYouCalum
3	#WeLoveYouCalum	#BrouisIsFake	#klitschkofury
4	#VamosChilenos	Princess Charlotte	#MakeAMovieHungover
5	#RUNwithBTS	Mark Richt	Anthony Joshua
6	#هل_ترضين_تتزو�…	#ClimateMarch	#DavisCupFinal
7	肉の日	#SoulTrainAwards	#Marr
8	CONFIDENT ON SPOTIFY	#DeGaleBute	#DeGaleBute
9	Les Miles	Brandon Rush	Princess Charlotte
10	#FelizDomingo	Kobe	#MOTD

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attcks

Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Russian airstrikes kill at least 18 civilians and wound dozens more in the town of Ariha in Syria‘s northwestern Idlib province. Idlib is controlled by the Army of Conquest, a rebel alliance of mainly Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front. (Reuters) (The International New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

A fire in the South African city of Cape Town leaves two people dead and thousands homeless. (Times Live)

International relations

2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu says the body of the pilot from the Sukhoi Su-24 jet downed this past Tuesday will be handed over to Russia. The body is being treated in accordance with the Orthodox tradition. Russia’s military attaché is going to Hatay in southern Turkey as part of the procedures to recover the remains. Turkish officials refused to comment on how they came to be in possession of the body . (Reuters)
Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis arrives in the Central African Republic, the last stop of his six-day African tour, becoming the first modern pope to enter an active war zone as the country is in a state of civil war. (The Guardian)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls the recent Paris attacks “blind terrorism,” according to IRNA, the country’s official news agency. The Iranian government condemned the attacks immediately after they occurred. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

Conservative MP Philip Davies announces up to 100 prisoners serving life sentences in British prisons will be let out of jail at Christmas for a five-day break with their families. Last year a total of 1,347 prison inmates, including 93 lifers, were given leave. The move has caused outrage among justice campaigners. (Sunday Express)
European migration crisis
- A mass brawl breaks out in a refugee shelter in Berlin with a hundred police required to restore order. (Daily Star)

Politics and elections

Burkinabé general election, 2015
- Voters in Burkina Faso go to the polls to elect a new parliament and president after a year of turmoil. (BBC)
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson demands party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who opposes PM David Cameron’s (Conservative) proposed air strikes on Syria, to ensure MPs are given a free vote on the proposal this Tuesday. (The Independent)
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
- About 20,000 pairs of empty shoes lay around Paris, symbolizing the absent marchers who would have joined this weekend’s worldwide climate change protests pressing for a bold international agreement at the upcoming climate summit there. The capital city was planned to be the center for demonstrations but French police banned large protests following the terrorist attacks this month. (The Washington Post) (The Daily Mirror)

Sport

2015 Davis Cup
- In tennis, the Great Britain Davis Cup team wins their tenth title in the Davis Cup and their first since 1936 defeating Belgium 3-2 in the final in Ghent. Andy Murray won all of their games he played with two singles wins and teaming with his brother Jamie Murray to win the doubles. (New York Times)
2015–16 NBA season
- In basketball, American star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers announces he will retire at the end of the season. (ESPN)

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November 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

New Zealand: Auckland aims to become trilingual city –
New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, has announced plans to encourage the entire population to speak English, Maori and a third language. The initiative, launched by the council-controlled educational organisation COMET, aims to get all of Auckland’s 1.4 million residents speaking the national language of Te Reo Maori, Radio New Zealand reports. Currently, only 2.3% of Aucklanders speak the language, the lowest rate in the country, while over 1m of the city’s residents are monolingual – usually English, the radio says. Some 377,000 residents already have two languages as a result of the city’s diverse ethnic mix, where 40% of Aucklanders were born overseas, but their languages tend to be overlooked in favour of English. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Domestic Appliances from Lewis Firth Bolton on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#CyberMonday	#CyberMonday	Sam Pepper
2	#FelizLunes	#mondaymotivation	#CyberMonday
3	Kobe	#PopeBars	#mondaymotivation
4	水木先生	Tomorrow is December	#StAndrewsDay
5	#SoulTrainAwards	#RejectedReindeer	Kobe Bryant
6	Balón de Oro	#COP21	#AuthorDay
7	水木しげる先生	Sam Pepper	75% of Labour
8	#TheWalkingDead	#ISurvivedHighSchoolBy	Overweight Haters Ltd
9	#الهلال_التعاون	Clay Helton	#PAKvENG
10	Sam Pepper	Anne of Green Gables	#TWDMidSeasonFinale

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Paris attack aftermath
- French intelligence services are reportedly operating under the theory that Paris-attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has escaped to Syria despite country-wide martial law in 3 different countries. (CNN)
Iraqi Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL, American-led intervention in Iraq
- With the support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraqi Armed Forces have launched operations to retake Ramadi from ISIL. (Military Times)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that at least 50 United States military instructors have deployed to northern Syria from Turkey and Iraq to train Kurdish forces ahead of an assault on ISIL‘s de-facto capital Al-Raqqah. (Deutsche Welle)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- At least three Saudi border guards are killed following clashes with Yemeni forces in the kingdom’s southern Jizan Region near the border with Yemen. (Reuters)

Business and economics

Responding to reports, the American Tribune Publishing Co. states it is not in talks to sell the company. (Chicago Tribune) (Wall Street Journal)
Canadian BlackBerry Limited announces plans to shut down operations in Pakistan at year’s end because it cannot comply with the Pakistani government’s monitoring orders which would result in a massive invasion of user privacy. (CNET)
The International Monetary Fund modifies its benchmark currency basket to include the yuan of the People’s Republic of China. The basket also includes the U.S. dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, and the Japanese yen. (Reuters)
The United States Federal Reserve Board approves a rule prohibiting the government from extending emergency loans to “too big to fail” companies, a practice deemed essential during the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. (UPI)

Health and medicine

The capitals of the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, are blanketed in hazardous, choking smog. Beijing, on the second-highest pollution alert, is closing highways, halting or suspending construction while warning residents to stay indoors. The U.S. New Delhi embassy’s monitoring station recorded an air quality index of 372, putting air pollution levels into “hazardous” territory. No action by the New Delhi government. (Hindustan Times)
A UNICEF report finds AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African teenagers and the second most common killer for adolescents across the globe. While the Asia Pacific region has seen a 31 percent drop in new HIV infections, and 28 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths, the estimated number of adolescents dying of AIDS in the region has more than doubled since 2005. Tomorrow is World Aids Day. (AP via Huffington Post) (Reuters)

International relations

Martyrs’ Day (United Arab Emirates) is being observed in United Arab Emirates as Commemoration Day this year on November 30, 2015, recognising the sacrifices and dedication of Emirati martyrs who have given their life in the UAE and abroad in the field of civil, military and humanitarian service. (GulfNews)
South Korea’s parliament approves a free trade pact with China after opposition lawmakers, concerned that deal that would hurt agriculture and fisheries, secured a $1.4 billion relief package for farmers. (AP via Fox News)
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
- Around 150 world leaders attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, aiming for a global deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. (CNN)
Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis travels to a besieged Muslim neighborhood known as PK5 in the Central African Republic, a country wracked by sectarian violence. This visit is part of Francis’s message of peace and reconciliation. As a result of the violence over the last two years, most of the capital Bangui’s 100,000-plus Muslims have fled; now only 15,000 remain. (AP via Bastrop Daily Enterprise)
- Pope Francis tells a crowd in a mosque in Bangui that “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.” (BBC)
Israel will open a diplomatic mission to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), the headquarters of which are located near the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. Israel will be the first Irena member to open such a mission; other member nations work Irena relations from their missions to the UAE, which Israel does not have. (New York Times)
Arctic Joint Strategic Command (Russia)
- A Russian Airborne Troops spokesman says the VDV is planning to expand their military exercises into the North Pole area of the Arctic in 2016. (UPI)

Law and crime

The University of Chicago cancels classes for the day, and asks students, faculty, and non-essential staff to stay away from its main campus after being informed by the FBI of a threat of gun violence. (Reuters via The Jerusalem Post) (USA Today)
- One suspect, a student from the University of Illinois at Chicago is arrested. The University of Chicago announces classes remain canceled for the day. (Chicago Tribune)
Russian undesirable organizations law
- Russia bans two George Soros-run foundations, including the Open Society Foundations, for posing a threat to “Russian national security”. The Open Society Foundation and the Open Society Institute’s Assistance Foundation, both financed by business magnate Soros, are the latest additions to a list of “undesirable organizations”, a list the Russian government says is necessary to stop foreign governments from interfering in Russia’s internal affairs. (The Guardian)
Jury selection begins for the trial of William Porter, a Baltimore, Maryland police officer charged with manslaughter and other charges surrounding the April 19 death of Freddie Gray. Porter is the first of six officers to be tried. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2015
- Venezuela announces it will suspend the sale of alcoholic beverages, fireworks and weapons before Sunday’s parliamentary elections, starting Friday at 6 p.m. until next Monday at 6 p.m. Civilian permits for the possession and use of firearms and kniveswill be also be suspended for the same period. (UPI)
Burkinabé general election, 2015
- Former prime minister Roch Marc Kaboré appears on course for a commanding victory in Burkina Faso’s election, one large enough to eliminate the need for a run-off. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, with results from about 72 percent of the country counted, Kaboré has 54 percent of the vote with his closest challenger, former finance minister Zéphirin Diabré, getting 29 percent. (The Globe and Mail)
Saudi Arabia elections, 2015
- For the first time in the country’s history, Saudi Arabian women are allowed to vote and to stand for office in the December 12, 2015, elections. Candidacy filings opened yesterday. In two days, more than 900 women have signed up to run for various local government positions in the Arab nation. (UPI)

Science and technology

Researchers at North Carolina State University discover a new diamond-like, solid phase of carbon, called Q-carbon, that can be attained at room temperature. The result is a uniquely crystalline material, harder than a real diamond and likely boasting a variety of new properties, most unknown or unstudied. (UPI)

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