Jan 2010“Start of the new decade. Avatar takes over $1bn - Britain is snowed under - Haiti is hit by an earthquake - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are set to split”
Happy New Year, no Happy New Decade - but what decade are we in? -
A decade with no name - The Twenty-tens? The Deccies? The Tennies? The Onesies?
- The world's financial markets are in the middle of the worse recession since the Twenties.
- Barack Obama is President of the US and Gordon Brown is Prime Minister of the UK.
Barack Obama
- Pamela Anderson suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" in Hollywood and David Tennant hands over Doctor Who's screwdriver to Matt Smith. Stephen Fry (temporarily) quits Twitter.
Pamela Anderson
- Scientists at Kings College, London reveal that the G-spot doesn't actually exist.
It's not a great start to the decade but, as D:Ream sang 6 years earlier, things can only get better... can't they? Read on...
Video of the Day -
Robbie Maddison New Years Eve jump 2009 in Las Vegas
List of the day -
Top Google searches in 2009:
Entertainment - Michael Jackson
People - Jade Goody
Sports - Real Madrid
Looking to buy - Windows 7
News - Ted Kennedy
Top Story -
Two Belgian bankrobbers are named the Darwin Award winners of the year after killing themselves while trying to crack open a cash machine. The pair used so much dynamite that they managed to destroy the entire bank building - and themselves with it. Wendy Northcutt, the founder of the annual awards, declared them the 2009 winners of the Darwin Awards, given to those doing the most to improve the human gene pool by removing themselves from it.
Top Video -Red RabbitRed Rabbit from Egmont Mayer on Vimeo.
Top News -
An Antarctic expedition finds remains of the first aeroplane brought to the continent, a single-propeller Vickers plane of explorer Douglas Mawson. (Reuters)
Top Story -Ultimate Lock-in -
About 30 guests celebrating new year at the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire, the highest pub in England, finally left today after heavy snow left them stranded for three days.
The Tan Hill Inn
Top Video -Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.
Top List -Twitter’s top Trending Topics in 2009News Events
1. #iranelection
2. Swine Flu
3. Gaza
4. Iran
5. Tehran
6. #swineflu
7. AIG
8. #uksnow
9. Earth Hour
10. #inaug09
People
1. Michael Jackson
2. Susan Boyle
3. Adam Lambert
4. Kobe (Bryant)
5. Chris Brown
6. Chuck Norris
7. Joe Wilson
8. Tiger Woods
9. Christian Bale
10. A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez)
Movies
1. Harry Potter
2. New Moon
3. District 9
4. Paranormal Activity
5. Star Trek
6. True Blood
7. Transformers 2
8. Watchmen
9. Slumdog Millionaire
10. G.I. Joe
TV Shows
1. American Idol
2. Glee
3. Teen Choice Awards
4. SNL (Saturday Night Live)
5. Dollhouse
6. Grey’s Anatomy
7. VMAS (Video Music Awards)
8. #bsg (Battlestar Galatica)
9. BET Awards
10. Lost
Sports (Teams, Events, Leagues)
1. Super Bowl
2. Lakers
3. Wimbledon
4. Cavs (Cleveland Cavaliers)
5. Superbowl
6. Chelsea
7. NFL
8. UFC 100
9. Yankees
10. Liverpool
Technology
1. Google Wave
2. Snow Leopard
3. Tweetdeck
4. Windows 7
5. CES
6. Palm Pre
7. Google Latitude
8. #E3
9. #amazonfail
10. Macworld
Top News -
Armed conflicts and attacks
The death toll as a result of recent mudslides which have hit Brazil rises to more than 85, including at least 29 in a hotel collapse, and two nuclear power stations are intended to be shut down as a precaution. (ABC News)(BBC)
Top Story -
Avatar becomes the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world according to 20th Century Fox and it's done it in just 17 days. Apparently it is the most expensive film ever made. The film Lord of the Rings - The Return of The King was the highest grossing film in the last decade only making $1.12bn in total.
Avatar Poster (copyright 20th Century Fox)
Top Video -Monogrenade: Ce soir from Monogrenade on Vimeo.
Top List -
Highest-grossing films of 2009 in the United States
52 unmarried couples in Malaysia face charges of sexual misconduct and possible imprisonment after being caught alone in hotel rooms by the country's Islamic morality police. (BBC)(Las Vegas Sun)
Top Stories -
The whole of the United Kingdom is covered in snow causing the usual chaos and even more "weather's turned a bit nippy" conversations.
British Isles under snow
Google launches its own smart phone, the Nexus One in a bid to widen the popularity of its Android operating system.
The Nexus One
Top Video -
Warren Buffett who through Berkshire Hathaway controls a significant block of the shares of Kraft came out in opposition to Kraft's proposal to float 370 million shares in order to fund its bid for the UK based confectioner Cadbury. (Washington Post)
Iran bans its citizens from contact with 60 international organisations and media outlets over claims they conspired against the country. (Press TV)(Global Times)(The Times)
Top Stories -Talk to your TV -
Web-based phone company Skype agrees a deal with LG and Panasonic for them to embed the Skype technology in television models with Internet connections, and will sell separate Web cameras that have built-in microphones for TV viewers who want to use Skype.
Time to join the gym (again) -
About 5,000 members of website BeautifulPeople.com - the networking site for attractive individuals - have been placed back in the "rating" section for putting on weight over Christmas. The United States has the most members who got kicked out (1,520), followed by the U.K. (832) and Canada (533).
Top Video -
Extreme weather across Europe leads to dozens of deaths, including at least 122 in Poland and at least 7 as a result of an avalanche in Switzerland. (BBC)
Algerian US ambassador Abdellah Baali and Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili are upset at the decision of theUnited States to subject Algerians and Nigerians to tougher than usual security tests at airports, saying it is "discrimination" and "risks ties". Both have officially complained. (BBC)
The U.S. government lowers the threshold for information deemed important enough to put suspicious individuals on a watch list or no-fly list, or have their visa revoked. (CNN)
Top Stories -Not like clockwork -
A Swiss millionaire is given a record speeding fine of $290,000 (£180,000) after he caught driving a red Ferrari at 137km/h (85mph) through a village. The penalty based on the unnamed motorist's wealth - assessed by the court as $22.7m (£14.1m) - and because he was a repeat offender.
New Brand for Perry -
It's revealed that Russell Brand and Katy Perry got engaged when on holiday in India.
Katy Perry and Russell Brand
Top Video -
Making a designer font using a car
iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from Tom Galle on Vimeo.
Top News -
A Burmese court sentences two officials to death and one to imprisonment for leaking details of secret government visits to North Korea and Russia. (BBC)
Top Stories -Make it faster -
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in partnership with the Luxembourg-based private investment company, Genii Capital is making a bid to take over Sweden's Saab motor company.
Bernie Ecclestone
Our multi-dimensional savior -
On the first day of CES in Las Vegas, TV manufacturers state that 3D could be the savior of the industry estimating around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year.
Top Video -
555 KUBIK | facade projection
555 KUBIK | facade projection from URBANSCREEN on Vimeo.
Top News -
Riots break out amongst immigrants and local inhabitants in the town of Rosarno in southern Italy in a protest against an attack on African workers by white youths. (TVNZ)(AFP)
Top Stories -I'll be back... with the bill -
The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, reveals deep spending cuts to contain the state's $20bn (£12.5bn) budget deficit. Spending on health, welfare, transport and the environment is to be reduced.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Forget eating an apple, wear eye-shadow -
A French study, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, suggests the heavy eye make-up worn by ancient Egyptians such as Cleopatra may have had medical as well as aesthetic benefits.
Top VideoRush Hour London from Chris Searson on Vimeo.
Top List -Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 1 - 100-91
100 Avatar
James Cameron, 2009: On the basis of a sneak 15-minute show reel, it’s not premature to predict that this ground-breaking 3D sci-fi epic will change the way we look at movies.
99 Together
Lukas Moodysson, 2000: Astutely observed and delightfully delicate comic drama about a Swedish hippie commune in the Seventies.
98 Crash
Paul Haggis, 2005: Oscar voters loved this multi-stranded depiction of contemporary LA’s combustible race politics.
97 Tropical Malady
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004: Thrill-seeking audiences rejoiced (while scratching their heads) at this mesmerising gay love story featuring soldiers adrift in Thai forests.
96 Shrek
Andrew Adamson, 2001: Charming, witty computer-generated animation fairy tale about a princess and an ogre. Hugely promising, but its sequels have fallen far short.
95 Michael Clayton
Tony Gilroy, 2007: In this intelligent, literate thriller, George Clooney, as a disillusioned fixer at a New York law firm, did his best acting work to date, proving that he’s a movie star for the ages.
94 The Brown Bunny
Vincent Gallo, 2003: Heckled at Cannes, the decade’s most reviled film is now destined to become a future lost classic.
93 Grizzly Man
Werner Herzog, 2005: Still fierce, still idiosyncratic, the German director’s superb documentary about two slain bear enthusiasts was riveting from first to last.
92 The Wrestler
Darren Aronofsky, 2008: Comeback of the decade from Mickey Rourke, in a lacerating saga of steroid overkill and trailer-trash redemption.
91 Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner
Zacharias Kunuk, 2001: This Inuit epic with extraordinary snow chases, based on a tale 2,000 years old, was a unique achievement that lingers.
Top News -
Top Stories -Rod the Mod becomes a pensioner -
Rocker Rod Stewart celebrates his 65th birthday after being in the music industry for over 40 years and selling over 100 million records worldwide.
RodStewart
Get your skates on -
Parts of Amsterdam's historic canal system freeze over for the first time in over a decade, with skaters taking to the ice.
Top Video -
Fixed
"Fixed" 2010 from Jeffrey M. Thompson on Vimeo.
Top List -Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 2 – 90-81
90 Bend It Like Beckham
Gurinder Chadha, 2002: A surprise British global hit, blending football with teen-girl comedy and cultural diversity issues. The launch pad for Keira Knightley, one of the decade’s biggest stars.
89 Munich
Steven Spielberg, 2005: Dark, pensive thriller about Mossad agents bent on killing Palestinian terrorists who massacred Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. A complex, unsentimental one-off.
88 The Pianist
Roman Polanski, 2002: Polanski won an Oscar for this comeback of unexpected acuity, with Adrien Brody bringing haunted charisma to the lead role.
87 The Child
Dardenne brothers, 2005: Europe’s finest purveyors of social humanist cinema outdid themselves with this Bresson-like portrait of a feckless young father who sells his infant son.
86 Let the Right One In
Tomas Alfredson, 2008, £12.72: Vampire movies have been 10-a-penny this decade. None was remotely as affecting as this snow-capped charmer about alienated Swedish teenagers.
85 Erin Brockovich
Steven Soderbergh, 2000: Julia Roberts got the role of her life – and a slam-dunk Oscar – in Soderbergh’s legal?crusader drama.
84 Sin City
Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, 2005: Fanboys salivated over the noir fidelity of this super-stylised comic book transfer, with 300 and Watchmen to come.
83 Good Bye Lenin!
Wolfgang Becker, 2003: A young man tries to shield his frail mother from the news that Communism is over in this charming exercise in “Ostalgia”.
82 Monsoon Wedding
Mira Nair, 2001: The changing face of middle-class, urban India was brought to warts-and-all life in this freewheeling, thought-provoking drama.
81 Milk
Gus Van Sant, 2008: Sean Penn wasn’t an obvious choice to play gay rights activist, Harvey Milk. His funny and seething Oscar-winning performance proved sceptics wrong.
Top News -
More than 160 people are trapped in vehicles overnight in Germany, dozens of flights are cancelled, Berlin andLeipzig are buried under 30cm of snow, parts of Schleswig-Holstein remain unreachable. The electricity of 80,000 people is cut off by snow in Poland. Eurostar services are affected in Belgium, Britain and France. (BBC)
Britain is set to ban a Muslim group, Al-Muhajiroun, also known as Islam4UK, that recently caused outrage by proposing a demonstration in the town that receives the bodies of British war dead killed abroad, the Home Office says. (CNN)
Top Stories -Tragedy in Haiti -
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hits Haiti in the north Atlantic sea. Early estimates are that the death doll is between 45,000 - 50,000 [Note: final Haiti government estimates were a death toll of 316,000]
Fallen idol -
Simon Cowell dramatically announces he is quitting American Idol the day before the series starts to air. The big question seems to be who will replace him? [Answer Aerosmith's Steven Tyler]
Palin to significance -
Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin signs up to be a contributor on the Fox News Channel, 2 years after she gained fame as the presidential running mate of Republican John McCain.
Sarah Palin
Top Video -
Top List -Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 3 – 80-71
80 The Return
Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2003: This emotionally subtle drama about two brothers dealing with the return of their missing father signalled a new dawn in Russian cinema.
79 Spider-Man
Sam Raimi, 2002: The first hit for an amiable comic-book franchise set the tone with humour, a warm romance and Tobey Maguire’s likeable hero.
78 The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow, 2008: The one Iraq drama that mattered, shaking us with the street-level view of America’s perilous occupation.
77 Children of Men
Alfonso Cuar”n, 2006: This apocalyptic vision of a world in which man can no longer procreate gnawed at the imagination.
76 Antichrist
Lars von Trier, 2009: Instant notoriety was the name of the game in von Trier’s lavish, rusty-scissored attack on bourgeois sensibilities.
75 The School of Rock
Richard Linklater, 2003: The chameleonic Linklater teamed up with Jack Black to create a hugely endearing take on the rags-to-riches rock movie template.
74 Los Angeles Plays Itself
Thom Anderson, 2003: Copyright issues mean it will likely never be commercially released, but this archive-essay
exploring cinematic depictions of LA was an underground smash.
73 Master and Commander
Peter Weir, 2003: A magisterial seafaring epic from Weir, serenely adapting Patrick O’Brian and putting a brave focus on the quotidian.
72 Uzak
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2002: One of the great revelations of the decade was this Turkish auteur whose portraits of broody masculinity seduced art house audiences.
71 A History of Violence
David Cronenberg, 2005: Cronenberg switched tack with a bruising study of dormant criminality, anchored by the ever-improving Viggo Mortensen.
Top News -
Top Story -Bootiful -
Researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University announces that carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems but fat around the tummy is bad.
Top Video -Toronto Lightning Storm from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.
Top List -Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 4 – 70-61
70 Mulholland Drive
David Lynch, 2001: From the wreckage of an abandoned television pilot, Lynch crafted a seductive dreamscape of fractured identity in Tinseltown.
69 The Class
Laurent Cantet, 2008: A rare great Best Foreign Film, this pedagogical docudrama bristled with teacher-student brinkmanship.
68 Waltz with Bashir
Ari Folman, 2008: Few animation features were as bold as this graphic and surreal account from Israel about the (true) mass slaughter of Palestinian refugees.
67 Little Miss Sunshine
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, 2006: This light, offbeat, uplifting comedy about a dysfunctional family en route to a gruesome children’s beauty contest pointed the way for American independent cinema.
66 United 93
Paul Greengrass, 2006: Could the events of 9/11 be filmed? More to the point, should they? This extraordinarily powerful film answered only the first question.
65 The Departed
Martin Scorsese, 2006: An all-star cast – DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholson, Wahlberg – pulled together to make this twisty, underworld drama a total knockout.
64 Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki, 2001: The film that finally made Japan’s master of animation familiar in the West. A moving story, exquisitely drawn.
63 The Piano Teacher
Michael Haneke, 2001: Isabelle Huppert delivered the decade’s boldest performance in this portrait of the self-mutilating repression of the Austrian bourgeoisie.
62 The Devil Wears Prada
David Frankel, 2006: Spearheading Meryl Streep’s reascent to mega-stardom, this bitchy fashion face-off was a female-targeted blockbuster like no other.
61 In This World
Michael Winterbottom, 2002: This magnificent drama about two Pakistani asylum seekers confirmed migration as one of the key themes of cinema this decade.
Top News -
U.S. talk show host Conan O'Brien announces his intention to quit The Tonight Show if NBC goes forward with their plan to move the show from its long standing 11:35pm timeslot to 12:05am in favor of The Jay Leno Show. (AP)
Five Thai policemen are charged with murder over the disappearance of a Saudi businessman 20 years ago that was linked to the theft of Saudi royal jewellery. (Bangkok Post)(AFP)(BBC)
Police in Kent, UK, admit the unlawful searching of two 11-year-old children who were left "crying and shaking" after being targeted at a demonstration near Hoo[disambiguation needed]. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua gives his first interview since going into hospital in Saudi Arabia to the BBC, saying he hopes to return home soon as protests in the capital Abuja demand an end to the political situation. (BBC)(Vanguard)
Science and technology
The "bizarre behaviour" of a nocturnal raspy cricketpollinating a flower is caught on camera on the island of Réunion, contradicting the image of crickets destroying flowers. (BBC)(New Scientist)
Top Stories -First cyber attack of the decade -
Internet giant Google says it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country.
Billion dollar game -
Video game Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 has taken more than $1bn (£625m)in revenue. It went on sale in November and made an estimated $550m in its first five days. The sales put it alongside other $1bn titles such as Guitar Hero III and World of Warcraft.
Top Video -
Modern Warfare 2 Trailer
Top List -Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 5 – 60-51
60 Kill Bill
Quentin Tarantino, 2003: Tarantino split the film in two and his critics down the middle, serving up a delirious martial arts revenge saga.
59 Wall-E
Andrew Stanton, 2008: Pixar trawled the debris of a disused Earth in this brave, breath-taking robot romance.
58 Donnie Darko
Richard kelly, 2001: This darkly beautiful suburban fable was the cult sensation of the decade.
57 Sideways
Alexander Payne, 2004: No Merlot! Everyone’s favourite wine-trip comedy, this was a rare buddy movie with serious wit, integrity and great performances.
56 Atonement
Joe Wright, 2007: This flamboyant, visually ravishing adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Second World War novel put its British director on the map and confirmed Keira Knightley’s star quality.
55 Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore, 2002: Passionate, wildly funny condemnation of America’s gun culture. It inspired a wave of politically-minded young people to become documentary film-makers.
54 Talk to Her
Pedro Almod”var, 2002: Beguiling top pick from the Almodóvar offerings, as the Spanish director went from strength to strength in his ongoing “mature” phase.
53 No Country for Old Men
Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007: Fine adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s dark vision of evil in Texas, blending savage humour and genuine dread with stunning photography.
52 Hunger
Steve McQueen, 2008: Recent history – and Bobby Sands’s starvation campaign – was brought to intense, visceral life by the Turner prize-winner’s feature debut.
51 Lagaan
Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001: A stirring fusion of masala music and anti-colonial cricketing epic that opened many eyes to Bollywood.
Top News -
Top Stories -Reassuring news? -
The Doomsday Clock has been moved one minute further away from the "midnight hour". The concept timepiece, a measure of nuclear danger for the past 55 years was devised by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) and now stands at six minutes to the hour.
But can they afford the nanny? -
Forbes magazine reveals the highest earning celebrity couple for 2009 are Beyoncé Knowles and husband Jay-Z in the Top-Earning Couples list. The duo earned £75 million between them, with Beyoncé earning £54million.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Top Video -
Beyoncé - Halo
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 6 – 50-41
50 Russian Ark
Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002: Technically spellbinding, the film comprised one tracking shot through Russia’s State Hemitage Museum. The result is an extraordinary meditation on history and identity.
49 Far from Heaven
Todd Haynes, 2002: Todd Haynes’s homage to Douglas Sirk’s melodramas, starring Julianne Moore, was both succulent and devastating.
48 Gladiator
Ridley Scott, 2000: Russell Crowe’s grave, imprisoned Roman general wreaks vengeance. Implausibly, it revived the sword-and-sandals epic.
47 Gosford Park
Robert Altman, 2001: Altman returned to peak form in his glittering country-house murder mystery.
46 Y Tu Mamá También
Alfonso CUar”n, 2001: Sand and hormones eddied in Cuarón’s three-way road trip, which made a superstar of Gael García Bernal.
45 District 9
Neill Blomkamp, 2009: Sci-fi was reinvented for the developing nations with this thrillingly inventive apartheid allegory set in South Africa.
44 Hidden
Michael Haneke, 2005: Big themes – historical amnesia, surveillance society, postcolonial terror – were brought to terrifyingly thrilling life care of Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche.
43 The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan, 2008, £10.76: The jet-black, immersive Batman movie everyone was hoping Nolan would deliver, was a blistering swansong for its late Joker, Heath Ledger.
42 Ratatouille
Brad Bird, 2007: Who could have imagined that rats preparing food in a Parisian kitchen could have been so adorable? Pixar strikes again.
41 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Chris Columbus, 2001: Not the best, but the first: JK Rowling’s boy-wizard adventure introduced with terrific exemplary production design and fruity cameos by British acting veterans.
Top News -
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez partially reverses a decision to ration electricity in the country a day after it was announced, saying it was having "undesirable effects" on the population. Thus, Caracas residents won't have power cuts anymore. (El Universal)(AFP)
A man is held in custody in Ireland after threatening that there was a bomb on board a transatlantic flight which had to land in an emergency at Shannon Airport. (RTÉ)
Top Stories -Anybody bring a torch? -
A solar eclipse plunges parts of Africa and Asia into semi-darkness. According to NASA this was the longest annular eclipse of the third Millennium.
Swooner -
Author Jackie Collins has revealed that screen legend Marlon Brando had sex with her at a party when she was only 15, days after she had been expelled from a school in England.
Jackie Collins
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 7 – 40-31
40 Moulin Rouge!
Baz Luhrmann, 2001: Wildly ambitious attempt to reinvigorate movie musicals. Nicole Kidman’s singing dis-appoints, the plot falters, but its visual flair set the bar high.
39 Casino Royale
Martin Campbell, 2006: Daniel Craig sizzled opposite Eva Green and proved the sceptics wrong in this muscular and intense reworking of the first Bond novel.
38 Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro, 2006: The Spanish Civil War re-imagined as a child’s supernatural dream. Del Toro became the third Mexican director of the decade to receive global plaudits.
37 Billy Elliot
Stephen Daldry, 2000: A Durham miner’s young son dreams of dancing ballet. This hit feel-good tear-jerker launched Jamie Bell and his debutant director.
36 An Inconvenient Truth
Davis Guggenheim, 2006: Essentially a well-delivered PowerPoint lecture, Al Gore’s wake-up call to Americans about impending eco-catastrophe helped win him a Nobel prize.
35 Knocked Up
Judd Apatow, 2007: Foul-mouthed frat-boy humour retooled for the sensitive Noughties is Apatow’s forte; this made Seth Rogen an unlikely star.
34 Moolaadé
Ousmane Sembene, 2004: The Senegalese director, a giant of African cinema, capped a glorious career with this stirring drama about a woman who revolts against ritualised brutality.
33 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee, 2000 Lee married his trademark fascination for the complexities of family life with classic Chinese swordplay to visually bewitching,emotionally penetrating effect.
32 Oldboy
Park Chan-wook, 2003 Korean cinema exploded after Park Chan-Wook’s visceral vendetta flick, like Titus Andronicus with octopus-chomping.
31 Pirates of the Caribbean
Gore Verbinski, 2003: Relentless high-seas action-adventure that made Johnny Depp big box-office. So successful that its sequels essentially repeated its incoherent plot.
Top News -
Top Stories -Gale force wins -
BBC weather man Tomasz Schafernaker poses in shorts on the front cover of Attitude magazine showing of his warm front.
I've Bin Photoshopped -
The US government withdraws an age-enhanced image of Osama Bin Laden after admitting it was partly based on a photo of a Spanish politician found on Google.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 8 – 30-21
30 Downfall
Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004: Bruno Ganz gives the best ever portrayal of Hitler on film in this intense account of the desperate madness of the Führer’s final days.
29 In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar Wai, 2000: Exquisitely gorgeous romance set in Sixties Hong Kong confirmed Tony Leung’s film-idol status and made its director internationally famous.
28 The Queen
Stephen Frears, 2006: Helen Mirren’s astonishing portrayal of Elizabeth II in the week after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales helped make screenwriter Peter Morgan a name to reckon with.
27 Star Trek
JJ Abrams, 2009: Who would have guessed that this wheezy old franchise could be freshened up by a cast of unknowns?
26 Être et Avoir
Nicolas Philibert, 2002: A documentary about a devoted schoolteacher in rural France was heart-warming in both its subject matter and its word-of-mouth success.
25 Up
Pete docter, 2009: This wondrous animated Pixar fable about an old man who ties balloons to his house and drifts off to South America had more emotional truth and depth than almost any film this year.
24 The Gleaners and I
AgnÈs Varda, 2000: Funny, melancholic and deeply political, Varda’s digital cine-essay about social outsiders scouring the French countryside for food has been quietly influencing young filmmakers all decade.
23 Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright, 2004: There were lots of zombie films this decade, but only this super-smart, suburban updating of a once-tired genre featured gags about Eighties electro.
22 City of God
Fernando Meirelles, 2002: Flashy Guy Ritchie visuals meshed with Ken Loach-style politics in this kinetic and stylised dispatch from the favelas of Rio.
21 The Bourne Supremacy
Paul Greengrass, 2004: Greengrass took the wheel and the influential amnesiac-assassin franchise leapt into hyperdrive in this barnstorming sequel.
Top News -
Top Stories -That's a lot of chocolate -
Despite a campaign by the Daily Mail to "Keep Cadbury British", the confectionery company finally accepted a takeover bid from Craft food in a deal worth $19 billion.
More than a wee dram, then -
Adults in Scotland are drinking the equivalent of 46 bottles of vodka each in a year, a study has suggested. The research based on industry sales data and analysed by NHS Health Scotland showed an average of 12.2 litres of pure alcohol per person over the age of 18.
Top Video -
New York City Portrait
New York city portrait, HD time lapse, April 2006, music by Moby from Max Moos on Vimeo.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 9 – 20-11
20 Lost in Translation
Sofia Coppola, 2003: Dreamy not-quite romance, about a young American girl wandering through Tokyo with a faded actor, made Scarlett Johansson a star.
19 Capote
Bennett Miller, 2005: Genuine biopic gold, thanks to its sober elegance and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s masterclass in falsetto self-love.
18 Mamma Mia!
Phyllida Lloyd, 2008: This cheerful version of Abba’s greatest hits became the highest-grossing British movie of all time. Indifferently sung, clumsily directed – but for millions of people, it was a grand night out.
17 4 Months, 3 weeks, and 2 days
Cristian Mungiu, 2007: Romanian cinema was a powerhouse in the second half of the decade; this gripping drama about abortion and female friendship was a standout.
16 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Michel Gondry, 2004: The dream team of writer Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry broke our hearts with this ineffable, wildly clever valentine to sundered romance.
15 Before Sunset
Richard Linklater, 2004: Before Sunrise’s Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reunited for a dream-parade through Parisian boulevards in the decade’s most gorgeous and affectingly romantic film.
14 Saw
James Wan, 2004, £9.78: The decade of Abu Ghraib found its cinematic equivalent in the torture porn aesthetics of this and the Hostel series.
13 West of the Tracks
Wang Bing, 2003, DVD: Nine hours long with not a minute wasted, this portrait of a dying industrial district in China is a towering, epoch-defining masterpiece.
12 Amelie
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001: France’s biggest-ever global hit – an idealised view of Paris, and a star vehicle for Audrey Tautou as a young do-gooder. Its droll tone and tricksy style almost mask its heroine’s solitude and tristesse.
11 The Lives of Others
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006: Emotional, intellectual and immeasurably compelling drama about a Cold War surveillance operator who warms to the radical theatre director on whom he’s spying.
Top News -
Iran suspends pilgrimages to holy sites in Saudi Arabia after it called on the Saudi religious police to stop their "appalling behaviour" towards Iranian Shiite pilgrims. (Times of India)(Ennahar)
Top Stories -Baa-urp - pardon me -
Scientists in Australia trying to create a new way to tackle greenhouse gases - the burp-free sheep. The Australian Sheep Co-operative Research Centre is conducting experiments with 700 sheep from 20 different genetic lines.
Pretty tough woman -
The University of California interviewed 156 female students to gauge their temperament and how they handled conflict and found women who rated themselves as pretty displayed a "war-like" streak when fighting battles to get their own way.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 10 – 10-1
10 Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle, 2008: Frenetic, savage but sentimental account of a young Mumbai man’s surprising success in a TV quiz show. A worldwide hit, its generosity of spirit and insistence on telling its story through Indian, not Western eyes, seemed to chime with new, tolerant attitudes to otherness, coinciding with the ascent of Barack Obama.
9 The Passion of the Christ
Mel Gibson, 2004: Mel Gibson’s reputation has been tarred by anti-Jewish outbursts. Nothing, though, should take away from this phenomenal work of outsider art, a neo-avant-garde exercise in bodyshock violence that features an unknown cast and dialogue in Latin and Aramaic.Self-financed, and distributed to demographics normally beyond Hollywood’s reach, this reinvented the Bible for a torture-porn generation.
8 Amores Perros
Alejandro GonzÁlez I—Árritu, 2000: Visceral, thrilling, operatic story set in Mexico City, with three colliding plots – all of which feature dogs. It made influential screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga a name to conjure with, and kick-started a series of audacious films by Mexican directors that dominated non-Anglophone films throughout the decade.
7 Borat
Larry Charles, 2006: Is nice! Perturbing the world in a green Lycra thong, and parlaying this into unbeatable word-of-mouth, Sacha Baron Cohen’s mock-doc sensation overcame minimal pre-existing brand recognition to gross more than $250 million worldwide, and might just have defined US-Kazakhstan relations for all time.
6 Memento
Christopher Nolan, 2000: Christopher Nolan could write the rulebook for how to emerge, in no time, as a world-class director. The model indie breakthrough, a fractured thriller, had all the ingredients to wow. Its time-splicing script, in particular, has proven more influential than any other for a new generation of screenwriters.
5 Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Peter Jackson, 2001: If there was one franchise to rule them all, it was surely this. A hugely risky commitment for its studio, the outlay paid off more than anyone could have dreamed. It’s the enduring quality of the first instalment, leading us by the hand into Tolkien’s richly imagined world, that made our collective Hobbit-love possible.
4 There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas anderson, 2007: It kick-started a catchphrase: “I drink your milkshake!” It featured the greatest performance of Daniel Day-Lewis’s already illustrious career. Its score – by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood – was hugely distinctive. P?? T Anderson’s epic about the birth of America’s obsession with oil was as ruggedly individual, frontier-pushing and darkly magnificent, as its subject matter.
3 The Incredibles
Brad Bird, 2004:The revolution in digital cartoons had the same clear leader this decade that it did in the Nineties. No one, not even a smelly green ogre, could touch Pixar, who hit the peak of their miraculous creative streak with this dazzling caper about a superficially ordinary American family… with secret superpowers.
2 Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee, 2005: Director Ang Lee insists on calling this simply “a love story” but it broke new ground as a gay cowboy movie. Achingly moving, with career-high performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as the strong, silent, repressed lead characters. A stunning achievement, brilliantly executed, with an acute sense of time and location.
1 Fahrenheit 9/11
Michael Moore, 2004: It may not have been the best film of the decade. It may not have been the best film Moore has made (that honour still belongs to 1989’s Roger and Me). Nevertheless, it’s hard to overstate the importance of this film, a modestly funded political documentary that was shunned by its Disney backers but went on to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes, coin more than $220 million around the world, and boost the emergence of politically liberal, agenda-driven multiplex fare such as Supersize Me and An Inconvenient Truth.
A speculation: might the accessible and populist fashion in which it marshalled its denunciation of George Bush’s 2000 “electoral theft”, to say nothing of the scorn it poured on American neo-conservative support for the “War on Terror”, have helped create or at least re-identify a large chunk of the non-traditional constituencies who were later tapped successfully by the Obama campaign team?
Criticism that Moore played fast and loose with his facts misses the point. He’s an old-fashioned circus barker. He trades in passion not science. But these days, when Tony Blair gets dubbed a “war criminal” and when the US economy is still ailing after the trillions squandered in the Middle East, the questions he asks look like patriotism rather than treachery.
Top News -
Two dozen AfghanTaliban insurgents launch coordinated attacks against the presidential palace and other buildings in central Kabul on the day a new government is to be sworn in. (Washington Post)
Top Stories -Virginia shootings -
Eight adults have been shot and killed by a lone gunman in the US state of Virginia. Police say seven bodies were found at one home, while an eighth shooting victim was found at the side of the road and died on the way to hospital. Officers say they have surrounded a suspect in woodland just outside the central town of Appomattox.
Take your tablets -
"Tens of millions" of tablet computers will be sold in 2010, according to technology analysts at Deloitte. A report says keyboard and mouse-free devices are likely to be a top trend among consumers and describes tablets as "the Goldilocks of devices (not too big, not too small)".
HP Tablet PC
Top Video -
Baby by Justin Bieber
Released today - the rest is history.
Top News -
The United StatesSupreme Court refuses to hear an appeal from the QSI Holdings decision on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, limiting bankruptcy trustee avoidance actions against certain owners of (equity). The denial of certiorari lets that opinion stand. (Law360)
Top Stories -Democrat, see? -
Scott Brown, a little-known Republican state senator, defeated the Democrat, Martha Coakley, in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy
Scott Brown
Snug as a bug -
Orlando Bloom's model girlfriend Miranda Kerr appears naked in the US edition of GQ magazine. Not news but a great picture.
Miranda Kerr
My password is "PleaseHackMe" -
According to a new analysis by Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.
Top Video -Acceleration from Odwick on Vimeo.
Top List -
Top ten most popular computer passwords based on a leak from RockYou.com
Top News -
Top Stories -Not a bad gardening leave payoff -
NBC reaches a $45m (£28m) agreement with Conan O'Brien over his late-night US talk show, so his predecessor Jay Leno can make a return. O'Brien will be allowed to return to TV in eight months.
Conan O'Brien
Wolf in wolf's clothing -
The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model". The 2009 winning image, dubbed the storybook wolf, was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez.
The car in front... won't slow down -
Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars in the US to correct sticking accelerator pedals. In August of last year, Toyota recalled 690,000 cars in China due to faulty electrical window switches.
Top Video -Videotape - A Pixilation Sci-Fi Short Film about an old man's haunted VCR.
Videotape from The Old Mill on Vimeo.
Top News -
The internet forum boards.ie is attacked by hackers, forcing it to go offline and change the passwords of thousands of its users. (RTÉ)(BBC)(The Irish Times)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Top Stories -Entente non-concordial -
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reacted to criticism of China in a speech on Internet censorship made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling on the United States government “to respect the truth and to stop using the so-called Internet freedom question to level baseless accusations.”
One very big step for a man -
50 years since the American Joe Kittinger made the highest skydive by leaping from a balloon at 102,800ft, Austrian Felix Baumgartner, who is famous for stunts such as jumping off the Petronas Towers, plans to jump from a balloon sent up to 120,000 ft (37km) later this year. Red Bull will sponsor the attempt.
Felix Baumgartner
Top Video -
Joe Kittinger's record breaking skydive
Top News -
Top Story -Bad lip syncing -
Two Chinese pop singers face fines of up to $12,000 (£7,400) for allegedly miming at a concert. Miming was banned in China after a girl was revealed to have lip-synced at the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
Top Video -Birds on the WiresBirds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Top List -
Locations of the Summer Olympic Games
1896 - Athens, Greece
1900 - Paris, France
1904 - St. Louis, United States
1908 - London, United Kingdom
1912 - Stockholm, Sweden
1916 - Scheduled for Berlin, Germany*
1920 - Antwerp, Belgium
1924 - Paris, France
1928 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
1932 - Los Angeles, United States
1936 - Berlin, Germany
1940 - Scheduled for Tokyo, Japan*
1944 - Scheduled for London, United Kingdom*
1948 - London, United Kingdom
1952 - Helsinki, Finland
1956 - Melbourne, Australia
1960 - Rome, Italy
1964 - Tokyo, Japan
1968 - Mexico City, Mexico
1972 - Munich, West Germany (now Germany)
1976 - Montreal, Canada
1980 - Moscow, U.S.S.R. (now Russia)
1984 - Los Angeles, United States
1988 - Seoul, South Korea
1992 - Barcelona, Spain
1996 - Atlanta, United States
2000 - Sydney, Australia
2004 - Athens, Greece
2008 - Beijing, China
* Due to World War I and II, Summer Olympic Games were not held in 1916, 1940, and 1944.
Top News -
Top Stories -Hope for Haiti raises $57 million -
Organisers of last nights "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon say it has raised more than $57m (£35m) for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The event set a new record for disaster relief telethons, according to Lisa Paulsen, head of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Many stars donated including Madonna who gave $250,000 (£155,000), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave $1m (£620,000) and supermodel Giselle Bundchen gave $1.5m (£0.93m). George Clooney who organised the event donated $1m during the telethon.
Giselle Bundchen
Itchy and scratchy -
Research carried out by the University of Worcester has discovered that Britons are likely to be sleeping under duvets which are full dust mites and dead skin. Tests carried out on 10 duvets at the University of Worcester found they held up to 20,000 live house dust mites.
House dust mite - dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
One in the eye -
The Black Eyed Peas were the victims of an error when they were mistakenly named best international group at France's top music awards, the NRJ Awards in Cannes. The stars were originally declared winners but it was later revealed that an error had been made and German band Tokio Hotel were announced as the real victors.
The Black Eyed Peas
Tokio Hotel
Top Video -Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta FeelingTop List -
Winners List of 2010 NRJ Music Awards:
Top Stories -Brangelina rumour -
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are set to separate according to reports. The unmarried couple are said to have been in talks with lawyers to agree a £205 million split deal.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Pirate's plunder blunder -
Single-mum Jammie Thomas-Rasset found guilty of sharing 24 songs over the internet has had her fine slashed from $2m (£1.23m) to $54,000 (£33,420) following an appeal. The American was accused of pirating almost 2,000 tracks but the record companies sought damages for only 24 of them.
X-files factor -
Lord Rees, the president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, says the chance of discovering life on other worlds is greater than ever. He says "Were we to find life, even the simplest life, elsewhere that would clearly be one of the great discoveries of the 21st Century."
Top Video -
Mr and Mrs Smith Trailer
Top News -
The United States will reportedly "reconsider" Algeria's placement on its terror watch list, which requires Algerian citizens to undergo extra security screening. (Xinhua)
Top Stories -Haiti man alive after being buried for 14 days -
14 days after the devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands in Haiti, Rico Dibrivell, has been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building the capital. U.S. troops rescued the 35-year-old from the ruins in Port-au-Prince.
Avatar mountain in China -
A Chinese mountain has been renamed in honour of the film Avatar, after it apparently inspired scenery in the movie. The Southern Sky Column in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, will now be known as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain. Avatar has become the most popular film ever in China, making $80m (£50m) at the box office so far.
Top Video -
Avatar movie trailer
Top List -
10 biggest movies in China
"AVATAR" (JAMES CAMERON, 2010), $221.9 MILLION
"LOST IN THAILAND" (XU ZHENG, 2012), $202.1 MILLION
"TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON" (MICHAEL BAY, 2011), $173.6 MILLION
"JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS" (STEPHEN CHOW, 2013), $166.8 MILLION
"TITANIC 3D" (JAMES CAMERON, 2012), $152.4 MILLION
"CZ12" (JACKIE CHAN, 2012), $141 MILLION
"PAINTED SKIN: RESURRECTION" (WUERSHAN, 2012), $113.3 MILLION
"LET THE BULLETS FLY" (JIANG WEN, 2010), $108.8 MILLION
"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL" (BRAD BIRD, 2012), $108.5 MILLION
"AFTERSHOCK" (FENG XIAOGANG, 2010), $108.2 MILLION
[list updated February 28 2013]
Top News -
Authorities in Peru begin evacuating over 2,000 tourists stranded by heavy rains on Machu Picchu. (BBC)
Top Stories -Apple introduce the "iPad" -
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs introduces the "iPad" a new tablet with no keyboard or mouse. Designed for browsing the internet, it is 0.5 inches (13mm) thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680g). The iPad, which will launch in March for $499 (16Gb version), includes 12 new apps and will run most of the 140,000 apps in the App Store. Jobs described the iPad as "a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."
Steve Jobs with the iPad
Throw out the running shoes -
Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University reveals that running barefoot is better than wearing running shoes. The researchers found that people who run barefoot tend to land on the ball or the middle of the foot, moving smoothly, but those who run in shoes tend to land on the heels, sending shockwaves through the body.
Bubble Wrap hits middle age -
Bubble Wrap is 50 years old. It was first invented by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding as textured wallpaper and there are more than 250 dedicated Facebook pages. Sealed Air who owns the patent and manufactures Bubble Wrap makes more than $4bn a year.
Top Video -
The first Mackintosh commercial (1984)
Top List -
Ten best things Apple have invented
Top Stories -Chinese football bribe allegations -
According to the Oriental Morning Post, a bribe of 200,000 yuan (£18,000) could get a Chinese footballer a call-up to play for his country in an international match. The allegations come weeks after the head of the Chinese Football Association and two other officials were sacked and questioned by police over match-fixing.
Google gets social -
Google launches ‘Social Search’, which allows those users who are logged into a Google account to call up photos or other information from their friends on their social networks which are relevant to their search query.
Most expensive racetrack opens -
The Meydan racehorse track in Dubai today hosts its first race today a Group Three event worth £74,000 to the winner as its feature event. The biggest and most expensive track in history has taken 34 months and at least $1.25bn to build and was paid for by the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed.
Top Video -Another Cloud ReelAnother Cloud Reel ... from Delrious on Vimeo.
Top News -
French medics report that American medics' risky "guillotine-amputations" were made too fast, patients now riskingnecrosis, septicemia, and requesting later a 2nd amputation to better protect the patients. (LeMonde)
The death toll from yesterday's apartment collapse in Liège reaches nine as the search for bodies is temporarily suspended due to the danger caused by other falling buildings. (Reuters India)(RTÉ)(TVNZ)
Top Stories -John Terry affair gagging order released -
The British High Court has lifted a press silencing order preventing the public from learning details about England Captain John Terry's alleged affair with a team-mate’s girlfriend. The 'super-injunction' was originally granted by a High Court judge under human rights laws but was lifted today. Chelsea captain Terry claimed that exposing his alleged infidelity would be a breach of his right to a ‘private and family life’.
John Terry
The car in front… still won’t slow down -
Toyota is now recalling up to 1.8 million cars across Europe following an accelerator problem. The car maker will recall eight models including the Yaris, the Corolla (the biggest selling car ever - see list below) and the RAV4 sports utility vehicle. Last week it recalled 2.3 million cars in the US with faulty pedals.
Mais oui - the G-spot does exist -
French researchers have disagreed with English researchers at King's College London who announced on New Years Day that the G-spot is a fallacy and does not exist. But French doctors the "G-Day" conference in Paris insist the G spot - supposedly a cluster of internal nerve endings - is far from a myth. "The English study is barking up the wrong tree," said Sylvain Mimoun, France's best-known gynaecologist.
Dog survives 24km trip on ice -
A dog stranded on an ice floe that had drifted 24km out to sea was rescued by the crew of a research boat off the coast of Gdynia in Poland. He is being called Baltic after the ship while a search is launched for his owners.
Top Video -
Tome Lowe - Mountain Light
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe on Vimeo.
Top List -
Best selling car models in history
1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford F-Series
3. Volkswagen Golf
4. Volkswagen Beetle
5. Ford Escort
6. Honda Civic
7. Honda Accord
8. Ford Model T
9. Volkswagen Passat
10. Chevrolet Impala
Top News -
Top Story -
New figures show an 80 per cent rise in breast reduction operations carried out on men. The annual audit by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) reveals its members carried out 581 male breast reductions last year, up from 323 in 2008. Five years ago just 22 such procedures were performed on men. The procedure is now the third most popular cosmetic operation for men behind nose jobs and eyelid operations to remove fat. [Daily Telegraph]
Top Video -
Authorities in China arrest two people after an incident on board a flight from Xinjiang bound for Wuhan in which a passenger set fire to some toilet paper which forced the plane to turn around. (Reuters)
Top Story -Lost in paradise -
The season premiere of Lost draws more than 10,000 fans greeted to Waikiki beach. Fans started queuing up 12 hours before the event hoping to get a glimpse of actors Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim and Michael Emerson. Sitting on beach towels and lawn chairs, they watched the episode that kicks off the sixth and final season of the castaway drama. See trailer below.
Brangelina back as a single ?
They were rumoured to have consulted lawyers over custody of their six children and dividing their £205million fortune. But last night, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie proved they were still very much an item as they attended the Directors Guild of America Awards in Los Angeles. While declining to pose together on the red carpet at the star-studded bash, the couple were seen being 'extremely affectionate' as they mingled with their peers. [Daily Mail]
Top Video -
Lost series 6 trailer
Top List -
Most appearances in Lost
Rip Torn in US court on burglary charges -
Rip Torn appeared in a Connecticut court on Monday, facing burglary and firearms charges after police allegedly found the actor intoxicated and armed inside a local bank. Police said the 78-year-old actor was arrested on Friday night after authorities allegedly found him inside the Litchfield Bancorp in Salisbury with a loaded revolver. The "Men in Black" actor was held in lieu of $100,000 (£63,000) bond. [Daily Telegraph]
Rip Torn
AC/DC win first Grammy of career -
The band won the best hard rock performance statuette for the song War Machine, beating the previous winners Metallica and Linkin Park as well as Nickelback and Alice in Chains. Beyoncé took an early lead in the Grammys, winning four trophies during a non-televised ceremony in Los Angeles.
The Black Eyed Peas were right behind her with three awards, including best pop vocal album in the pre-telecast announcement of 100 of the 109 Grammy categories. Taylor Swift, the runner-up for the most Grammy nominations with eight, won her first trophy of the night, best female country vocal for White Horse. She also won best country song for White Horse with the songwriter Liz Rose. Lady Gaga was also among the double-winners, along with the rock group Kings of Leon, the rappers Jay-Z and Eminem, and Maxwell. See List of the Day [Daily Telegraph]
AC/DC
Cat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home
A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book. Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death. When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days. [Daily Telegraph]
Song of the Year: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it)," Beyonce Knowles
New Artist: Zac Brown Band
Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D.", The Black Eyed Peas
Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Halo," Beyonce Knowles
Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Make It Mine," Jason Mraz
Rock Album: "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day
Rock Song: "Use Somebody," Kings of Leon
R&B Album: "BLACKsummers'night, "Maxwell
R&B Song: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," Beyonce Knowles
Rap Album: "Relapse," Eminem
Rap Song: "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West
Country Album: "Fearless," Taylor Swift
Female Country Vocal Performance: "White Horse," Taylor Swift
Male Country Vocal Performance: "Sweet Thing," Keith Urban,
Latin Pop Album: "Sin Frenos," La Quinta Estacion
Contemporary Jazz Album: "75," Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate
Classical Album: "Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio from Symphony No. 10"
Traditional Gospel Album: "Oh Happy Day," various artists
Dance Recording: "Poker Face," Lady Gaga
Electronic Dance Album: "The Fame," Lady Gaga
Alternative Music Album: "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix," Phoenix
Best Rock Instrumental Performance: "A Day In The Life," Jeff Beck
Best Metal Performance: "Dissident Aggressor," Judas Priest
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: "Ellipse," Imogen Heap
Spoken Word Album: "Always Looking Up," Michael J. Fox
Comedy Album: "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!" Stephen Colbert
Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media: "Slumdog Millionaire," Various Artists, A.R. Rahman, producer.
Traditional World Music Album: "Douga Mansa," Mamadou Diabate.
Contemporary World Music Album: "Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 - Africa Sessions," Bela Fleck.
Reggae Album: "Mind Control - Acoustic," Stephen Marley.
Tropical Latin Album: "Ciclos," Luis Enrique.
Latin Pop Album: "Sin Frenos," La Quinta Estacion.
Latin Rock, Alternative Or Urban Album: "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo," Calle 13.
Regional Mexican Album: "Necesito De Ti," Vicente Fernandez.
Tejano Album: "Borders Y Bailes," Los Texmaniacs.
Norteno Album: "Tu Noche Con...Los Tigres Del Norte," Los Tigres Del Norte.
Banda Album: "Tu Esclavo Y Amo," Lupillo Rivera.
Other News Stories -
US President Barack Obama will propose a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 that foresees the deficit hitting a record$1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year but falling to about $700 billion by 2013. (WSJ)
Banker viewing topless women caught out on Australian TV -
A banker was caught logging on to look at pictures of topless women in his office - not realising a television news reporter was speaking live to camera just a few feet away. The worker was sat at his desk at Australia's Macquarie Bank with his back to the camera as he looked at the images, apparently totally oblivious to the business analyst breaking news about interest rates in front of him. One of the pictures has been identified as actor Orlando Bloom's model girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. (See Video of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
CIA allows agents to moonlight -
The CIA is allowing operatives to moonlight by selling their espionage expertise to financial firms, according to a new book. In one instance, agents worked at a New York hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to draw on their skills in "deception detection" - the art of picking up clues in body language and conversation to ascertain when executives might be lying. Officials said that the out-of-hours work did not compromise national security and was only allowed once CIA officers had submitted full details of the work and been granted permission. [Daily Telegraph]
Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter -
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged on Groundhog Day to see his shadow – meaning winter will last another six weeks. German tradition holds that if the hibernating animal sees its shadow in Pennsylvania on Feb 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas – winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early. The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Pittsburgh. Phil's announcement came before hundreds of onlookers who huddled as temperatures hovered around 15 degrees (-9 Celsius). The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Macquarie Bank Employee busted looking at nude photos of Miranda Kerr live on TV
List of the Day -
Punxsutawney Phil's predictions -
Year
Prediction
1887–1888
"Long winter"
1889
No record
1890
"Early spring"
1891–1897
No record
1898
"Long winter"
1899
No record
1900–1901
"Long winter"
1902
"Early spring"
1903–1933
"Long winter"
1934
"Early spring"
1935–1941
"Long winter"
1942
"War clouds have blacked out parts of the shadow."[13]
Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards are announced. Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the way with nine nominations each, and are both among ten nominees for Best Picture, the first time more than five films have been up for consideration since 1943. (CNN)
Mel Gibson swears at television reporter -
Mel Gibson swore at a television reporter who questioned him about his controversial past, referring to him as an --------. The actor and director snapped while being interviewed on Chicago-based station WGN about his alcohol addiction and anti-Semitic rant towards a police officers four years ago. Gibson, 54, aimed his comment at entertainment reporter Dean Richards, thinking that his microphone had been switched off. [Daily Telegraph]
Mel Gibson
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle to cross Australia on foot -
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle are to embark on their latest risky adventure, retracing a Victorian expedition to cross Australia which ended in death. After rowing the Atlantic and walking to the South Pole, this time they are planning on walking 4,000 miles across the heart of Australia in the height of summer. They will be following in the footsteps of Irishman Robert Burke and Englishman William Wills, who set out in August 1860 to cross from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. The pair made the 2,000 mile south-north leg across what was called the "ghastly blank" without too much trouble, heading an entourage that comprised 19 men, 23 horses, 26 camels and 12 tons of equipment, which included four enema kits and 12 dandruff brushes. But on the way back they perished as their support team deserted them. [Daily Telegraph]
Ben Fogle and James Cracknell just before the start of the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005
John Terry in Wembley trouble -
The Daily Mail reveal that Chelsea player and former England football captain rents out his private box at Wembley stadium for £4,000 , despite the rules prohibiting it. This follows the revelation of Terry's affair with his team-mate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend on January 29th 2015.
John Terry
Tom Watson expects Tiger to show humility -
Tom Watson has called on Tiger Woods to "show some humility" and apologise for his behaviour before returning to golf. Woods has taken an indefinite break from golf after major speculation surrounding his private life at the end of November 2009 forced him to stop playing.
Tom Watson
Trial off, football on -
A New Orleans judge, Michael Bagneris, postpones a trial because he is believes that everybody in the city will be too distracted by New Orleans Saints forthcoming performance in the Super Bowl. It will be the Saints's first ever Super Bowl appearance on Sunday, when they play the Indianapolis Colts.
Australian banker caught ogling pictures of semi-naked model on TV keeps job -
Macquarie Group broker David Kiely, who was seen live on television opening an email carrying pictures of model Miranda Kerr, will remain at the investment bank. After initial speculation that he had been sacked, it emerged that he had been holed up in his Sydney home on suspension while Macquarie Bank, known locally as the "millionaire's factory', undertook an investigation into the embarrassing incident. The subject of the semi-naked photos - model Miranda Kerr - backed a campaign to save Mr Kiely's job. [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
Honda recalls thousands of cars amid fire fears
Honda has become the latest car manufacturer to recall thousands of vehicles amid fears that one of its models could catch fire. The Japanese motor company has recalled 171,372 of its Jazz models in Britain, as part of a larger worldwide recall, after several accidents including one in which a South African child died. Honda's recall comes after Toyota called in at least 180,000 cars amid concerns over faulty accelerator pedals and means that more than 350,000 cars have now been recalled in Britain due to safety fears in less than a week. [Daily Telegraph]
Scientists invent wafer-thin plastic that can store electricity -
The battery, which has powered our lives for generations, may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. British scientists say they have created a plastic that can store and release electricity, revolutionising the way we use phones, drive cars - and even wear clothes. It means the cases of mobiles and iPods could soon double up as their power source - leading to gadgets as thin as credit cards. Dr Emile Greenhalgh, from Imperial College London's Department of Aeronautics, said the material is not really a battery, but a supercapacitor - similar to those found in typical electrical circuits. His team's prototype - which is around five inches square and wafer-thin - takes five seconds to charge from a normal power supply and can light an LED for 20 minutes. [Daily Mail]
UN to discuss Air Traffic Control for outer space -
An international air traffic control for outer space should be set up to prevent damage to satellites and spacecraft orbiting the Earth, according to proposal to be discussed at the United Nations next week. There are thought to be more than 19,000 pieces of debris larger than 4 inches across racing around the Earth at high speeds, while there are more than 500,000 bigger than a postage stamp. The number of particles smaller than this are thought to exceed tens of millions. Despite their relatively small size, most are travelling faster than 15,600mph and at these speeds a fleck of paint could do as much damage as a .22-calibre rifle bullet. [Daily Telegraph]
Treo the dog awarded animal VC -
A heroic military dog is to be honoured with the animal version of the Victoria Cross. Treo, an eight-year-old black Labrador, saved countless lives in Afghanistan last year by locating hidden roadside bombs. The search dog twice saved soldiers and civilians from catastrophe while out on patrol in Helmand province by sniffing out explosives which had been wired together in a daisy chain and hidden in the path. The medal was created by leading veterinary charity the PDSA and is recognised as the highest award an animal can receive for conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving in military conflict. (See List of the Day for human honours) [Daily Telegraph]
Cat owners 'more educated than dog owners' -
Cats have long been thought to be cleverer than dogs - and now it seems the same is true of their owners. People with cats are more likely to have university degrees than those with dogs, according to a scientific survey of pet ownership. The study also revealed that the combined cat and dog population of Britain is more than 20.8 million - 50 per cent higher than previously thought. Researchers at the University of Bristol say that the superior intelligence of cat owners is unlikely to be caused by their exposure to the famously cunning and selfish pets. Rather, more educated people tend to work longer hours and choose a pet to fit their lifestyles. Unlike dogs, cats require no walking and can manage with little human company.[Daily Telegraph]
On 30 November 1995, the Government of Pakistan initiated the gazette notification to declare its Hilal-e-Kashmir equivalent to Nishan-e-Haider.All awards have been made posthumously.
Saints beat Colts in Super Bowl -
New Orleans Saints made the most of their first Super Bowl appearance in the 42-year history of the franchise by defeating Indianapolis Colts 31-17 at Miami's SunLife Stadium. The NFC-champion Saints came from 10-0 down at the end of the first quarter - equalling the largest deficit overturned to win a Super Bowl - and still trailed by a point at 16-17 heading into the fourth before dominating the final period to deny Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning and his side a second Super Bowl victory in four years. It was an emotional occasion for the city of New Orleans, less than five years after it bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina, as a series of bold calls from head coach Sean Payton helped them claim the title. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was named MVP (See List of the Day). [Daily Mail]
Italians spend £5 billion a year on fortune tellers and astrology -
Italy's worst recession since the Second World War has prompted Italians to spend a staggering £5 billion a year seeking financial advice not from banks and brokers but fortune tellers and astrologers. Tarot card readers and pavement fortune tellers are doing a roaring trade, with about 30,000 Italians paying between 20 and 600 euros a day looking for advice to help them out of their financial woes. [Daily Telegraph]
Jazz star Johnny Dankworth dies aged 82 -
Tributes have been paid to British jazz legend Sir John Dankworth after his death at the age of 82. The saxophonist, whose career spanned more more than half a century, died on Saturday in King Edward VII hospital, London. He had been ill for several months. His death was announced last night by his jazz singer wife, Dame Cleo Laine, during a star-studded concert marking the 40th anniversary of the entertainment venue they set up together at their Buckinghamshire home. Dame Cleo broke the news to the artists before the concert began, but did not tell the 400-strong audience until just before the finale. [Daily Telegraph]
Johnny Dankworth
A Pakistani lawyers' group in Lahore threatens to "burn alive" anyone who prosecutes lawyer accused of murdering a 12-year-old servant girl.(Asia News)
Britain is to tighten the rules on immigrants entering the country on a student visa in a clampdown on a system which some security experts say has been exploited by Islamist militants. (Reuters)
Calvin Klein says Kate Moss was 'difficult’ -
Klein, recalling the time he cast Moss and Mark Wahlberg in a series of advertisements in the Eighties, says she was, while “a great model,” a “difficult” person to work with. “It didn’t go too well. She didn’t like him at all. I have worked with so many women, great ones, and Kate was always difficult.” (See Video of the Day and List of The Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Kate Moss with photographer Mario Testino
Sarah Palin caught with crib notes on her hand -
Sarah Palin mocked President Barack Obama as 'a charismatic guy with a Teleprompter' during a speech only to be photographed with crib notes written on the palm of her hand. A close examination of the former vice-presidential candidate speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville at the weekend revealed she had the words "Energy", "Tax," and "Lift Americans Spirits" scrawled in ink on the inside of her left hand.
"Budget cuts" was written and then crossed out. She surreptitiously glanced at the words during a question and answer session afterwards when she was asked what should be the top three things a Republican majority in Congress would focus on. [Daily Telegraph]
Sarah Palin
Consumers 'unconvinced' by Apple iPad, study shows -
The number of people who are not interested in buying an Apple iPad has increased after the tablet's unveiling, according to shopping website Retrevo. Just over a quarter of those questioned ahead of the Apple event last month said they had heard that Apple might launch a tablet-style computer, but were not interested in buying one. That figure increased from 26 per cent to 52 per cent in the days following the unveiling last month. And the number of people saying they would definitely buy an Apple iPad increased by just two per cent, from three per cent before the announcement to five per cent after the tablet computer had been unveiled. The number of shoppers who were undecided remained almost the same before and after the announcement, up from 18 per cent who said they might buy one, to 19 per cent. [Daily Telegraph]
Steve Jobs with the iPad
Video of the Day -
Kate Moss YSL commercial 2009
List of the day -
Top earning models in 2009 - [List from Forbes.com]
1. Gisele Bündchen
$25 Million
2. Heidi Klum
$16 Million
3. Kate Moss
$8.5 Million
4. Adriana Lima
$8 Million
5=. Doutzen Kroes
$6 Million
5=. Alessandra Ambrosio
$6 Million
7. Natalia Vodianova
$5.5 Million
8. Daria Werbowy
$4.5 Million
9. Miranda Kerr
$3 Million
10. Carolyn Murphy
$3 Million
11. Emanuela De Paula
$2.5 Million
Chubby hedgehogs sent to 'fat club' to diet -
A group of overweight hedgehogs are to be given a helping hand in losing their winter weight thanks to a special ‘fat club’. The hedgehogs started piling on the pounds because they spent longer than usual in the care of the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fife. They were kept in their warm enclosures during the severe weather conditions which hit the country in December and January, because the cold could have killed them. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
A European Hedgehog
Chinese police admit enormous number of spies -
A Chinese police chief has said he uses more than 12,000 spies to inform on a remote county of just 400,000 people, an admission that lays bare the enormous scale of China's surveillance network. Liu Xingchen, the 56-year-old assistant to the head of Kailu County, a farming region in Inner Mongolia, said his vast network of informants meant he could be "very sensitive" to any signs of dissent and protest. In an interview with Xinhua, the government-run news agency, Mr Liu described how he was able to "quickly and accurately discover all sorts of information that might destabilise society". "Every policeman and auxiliary policeman, no matter their division or particular police station, has to establish at least 20 informants in their community, village, work unit and so on. Altogether, these add up to 10,000 spies. "Then the actual criminal units, the economic crimes unit, the Domestic Security Department, the Public Information Security Supervision and so on will establish a further five 'eyes and ears'.
"At the latest count, our bureau has established 12,093 informants," he said. [Daily Telegraph]
Google Buzz takes on Facebook and Twitter -
Google has launched a new tool that will allow users of its email service to share their feelings with other users, in an effort to take on social networking giants Facebook and Twitter head-on. Google Buzz, as the new application is called, essentially allows Gmail users to write status updates which other users can see, but goes further by allowing them to aggregate other services in an attempt to make it easier to operate in the increasingly frustrating information-heavy online environment. Buzz goes a number of steps further, however, by allowing users to create a Google profile page, which can be seen not just by friends but by the entire web if so desired, and will guide users to follow the people they email and chat with the most. It will also allows posts to include links, YouTube videos, pictures from Google's Picasa hosting service. (See Video of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Google Buzz for mobile
List of the day -
Types of hedgehog (from Wikipedia)
Subfamily Erinaceinae (Hedgehogs)[1]
The Italian Embassy in Iran is attacked by protesters unhappy with Italy's decision to scale back economic dealings and push for tighter sanctionsand protests are also held outside French and Dutch embassies. (The Jerusalem Post)
Cashmere loo roll, the ultimate bathroom indulgence -
Quilted, embossed, ultra soft aloe vera – the humble loo roll has gone steadily more upmarket in recent years. But surely it has now hit the apogee of indulgence: a cashmere version has gone on sale. Cashmere, one of the softest and most prized materials, has been used to add an extra layer of extravagance to the sheets of paper, ensuring consumers enjoy the bottom line in comfort. The loo rolls have gone on sale in Waitrose, the supermarket with a legion of loyal and discerning middle-class customers. The supermarket won't reveal quite how much cashmere goes into each roll, but insists it is a "significant" amount. No cashmere fibres themselves are included in the manufacturing process. Rather, the paper is covered in oil extracted from the hairs of the cashmere goat. [Daily Telegraph]
Sleeping Beauty condition means teenager sleeps for two weeks -
Louisa Ball, 15, has earned the nickname 'Sleeping Beauty' thanks to a rare condition that causes her to sleep for up to two weeks at a time. Miss Ball, from Worthing, has slept through school exams, dance competitions and entire family holidays thanks to her unusual condition. Her prolonged sleeps, which began in 2008 as she recovered from flu, were initially thought to be hormonal until she was diagnosed with Kleine-Levin Syndrome last year. People who develop the condition, also known as Sleeping Beauty Disease, are prone to falling into extended periods of deep sleep that can stretch to weeks. [Daily Telegraph]
Beyonce and Alicia Keys film music video in Rio slum -
The Grammy Award winning singers performed at the Morro da Conceicao shantytown.
They were shooting a video for a duet "Put It In a Love Song" which appears on Keys' album "The Element of Freedom."
Beyonce is on tour in Brazil and is expected to have a special role in the video.
Keys had already filmed part of her video at the Dona Marta slum, which became renowned worldwide after Michael Jackson was there in 1996 to film a video for "They Don't Care About Us." [Daily Telegraph]
Alicia Keys
Hundreds of Somali citizens flee the capital Mogadishu as hundreds of insurgents enter the city ahead of a government announcement of an offensive against them. (BBC)(News24.com)
Nationwide strikes led by Communist and Socialist parties take place in Greece to protest the government's handing of the country's debt. Most of the country was brought to a standstill as factories, schools, airports and hospitals closed down or reduced capacity (BBC)(Deutsche Welle)(Al Jazeera)
Prominent Uzbek photographer Umida Akhmedova is found guilty on charges of "slandering the nation" in her work, but is immediately pardoned under an amnesty. (BBC)(The Moscow Times)
Afghan officials report that at least 150 bodies were pulled from vehicles buried by avalanches in the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains earlier this week. (UPI.com)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
British fashion icon Alexander McQueen commits suicide -
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was discovered dead today after taking his own life. The industry was left reeling after the 40-year-old's suicide this morning, which comes just days after the death of his beloved mother, Joyce. Police were called to the designer's £640,000 flat at 10.20am this morning after he was found dead. A private ambulance arrived to take away his body at 4.30pm. [Daily Mail]
Alexander McQueen
Dark matter 'seen for first time' -
Scientists may have caught their first glimpse of dark matter, the mysterious hidden substance believed to give structure to the universe. After nine years of searching, detectors buried 2,000ft underground in an old US iron mine registered two "hits" by what could turn out to be dark matter particles. Both bear the hallmarks of "weakly interacting massive particles" or "Wimps", one of the most likely dark matter candidates.
But frustratingly, two detections are not quite enough to clinch the discovery. There is still a one in four chance that the results, published by the journal Science, are due to accidental background "noise". The scientists say five detections would be sufficient to confirm the presence of Wimps. [Daily Telegraph]
Dutch police find Valentine's Day roses stuffed with cocaine -
Dutch police found more than £1 million worth of cocaine in a shipment of 20,000 Valentine's Day roses that arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Colombia. Prosecutors said eight kilogrammes of cocaine was hidden in cardboard boxes containing the roses. It was packaged into 20-gramme cellophane parcels hidden in false panels in 200 flower boxes on a plane from Bogota. Three alleged smugglers were arrested in the Netherlands after the discovery, including the importer. [Daily Telegraph]
Sergey Aleynikov, a former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs, is indicted for three counts by a U.S. federal court in Manhattan for theft oftrade secrets, transportation of stolen property in interstate and foreign commerce, and unauthorized computer access. (Wall Street Journal)
Australians puzzled as Queen reclaims 'head of state' title -
Buckingham Palace has raised eyebrows in Australia by referring to the Queen as the country's "head of state" in an apparent break in convention. The title is usually given to the Australian Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, while the Queen is considered the country's sovereign.
The difference is significant as the emerging role of the Governor-General has often been cited by pro-monarchists as evidence Australia does not need to become a republic. The trigger for the confusion was an announcement by Buckingham Palace that the Queen would be addressing the UN General Assembly in July. It arrived in a cable written by Gary Quinlan, Australia's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, headed: "United Nations: General Assembly – Address by Australian Head of State." [Daily Telegraph]
Her Majesty the Queen
Camera dropped in the ocean is returned by fisherman 18 months later -
A woman is to be reunited with a camera her husband dropped off the edge of the QM2 cruise ship after a fisherman caught it in his net and put the photographs online. Barbara and Dennis Gregory, 65, from Johannesburg, South Africa, thought they would never see the Nikon P90 again after it fell into the ocean en-route from New York to Southampton in 2008. But 16 months later Benito Estevez, a fisherman from Spain, found the camera in his nets with the photos still intact on the memory card. He decided to trace the owners and posted five pictures online which showed Mrs Gregory posing on the deck of the ship and her husband wearing a woolly tourist hat from Oxford. The story was picked up by the British media and Laura De Klein, a friend of the couple who lives in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, recognised them and got in touch. [Daily Telegraph]
Chilean mint spells country's name wrong on coins -
The general manager of the Chilean mint has been fired after thousands of coins were issued bearing a howling error. On the 2008 batch of 50 peso coins, which are worth about 6p, the country's name was misspelt. Instead of C-H-I-L-E, the coins had C-H-I-I-E stamped on them, the BBC reports.
If that wasn't bad enough, no one noticed the spelling mistake until late 2009. The coins have since become collectors' items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation. Locals have even been hoarding the coins in the hope they will rise in value. However, the mistake has cost the mint's general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs. [Daily Telegraph]
1982 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Antigua and Barbuda and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
The Bahamas
1973 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Barbados
1966 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Barbados and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Belize
1981 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth The Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Belize and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Canada
6 February 1952 – 29 May 1953: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith
29 May 1953 – :
In English: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith[11][N 1]
In French: Sa Majesté Elizabeth Deux, par la grâce de Dieu Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres royaumes et territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi[13][N 2]
Grenada
1974 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Grenada and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Jamaica
1962 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Jamaica and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Saint Kitts and Nevis
1983 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Saint Christopher and Nevis and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Saint Lucia
1979 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1979 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Europe
United Kingdom
6 February 1952 – 26 March 1953
In English: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith
In Latin: Elizabeth II, Dei Gratia Magnae Britanniae, Hiberniae et terrarum transmarinarum quae in ditione sunt Britannica Regina, Fidei Defensor
26 March 1953 – :
In English: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith[14][2]
In Latin: Elizabeth II, Dei Gratia Britanniarum Regnorumque Suorum Ceterorum Regina, Consortionis Populorum Princeps, Fidei Defensor[15]
Oceania
Australia
6 February 1952 – 1953: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith
1953 – 1973: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Australia and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith[N 3][17]
1973 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
New Zealand
6 February 1952 – 1953: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith
1953 – 1974: Her Majesty Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
1974 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
Papua New Guinea
1975 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Papua New Guinea and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Solomon Islands
1978 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Solomon Islands and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Tuvalu
1978 – : Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Tuvalu and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth
Britain's sexiest female farmer crowned -
Blonde Anna Simpson has been voted Britain's sexiest female farmer. Miss Simpson, 25, beat hundreds of rivals to be crowned the most attractive female farmer in the country. Miss Simpson, of Hutton Rudby, Yorkshire, spends her working life on Windy Hill Farm training sheep dogs, driving tractors and encouraging animals to mate. But she has now been crowned Britain's sexiest female farmer in a poll by Farmer's Weekly magazine. Pete Mortimore, 25, has been voted Britain's sexiest male farmer and the pair win £250 each - and a pair of wellies. [Daily Telegraph]
Geri Halliwell makes boyfriend Henry Beckwith feel like Duke of Edinburgh -
Living with the former Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell can be a challenge, finds her boyfriend Henry Beckwith. The Spice Girls provoked adulation from their fans and inspired a forthcoming musical from the producer of Mamma Mia!, but living with a former member of the pop group can be challenging. Henry Beckwith, 31, an Old Harrovian, has been courting Geri Halliwell for almost a year, but his father informs Mandrake that being with Ginger Spice does have its drawbacks. "It's very hard being with someone who gets the red-carpet treatment all around the world," Sir John Beckwith, 62, a property developer, told Mandrake at a fundraising party for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, at the shop Few & Far, in South Kensington, London. "It's like being Prince Philip." [Daily Telegraph]
Geri Halliwell
What on Earth was that? Mystery space object whizzes past our planet -
It made its closest pass at 12.46pm (GMT) streaking past just 76,000 miles away, which is a third of the distance to the Moon. Amateur astronomers were able to track it in the United States. The object was discovered by MIT's Linear survey on January 10 and astronomers are divided about what it is. A spokesman from Nasa said: 'The object's orbit reaches the orbit of Venus at its closest point to the Sun and nearly out to the orbit of Mars at its furthest point. 'It crosses the Earth's orbit at a very steep angle and this means it is unlikely to be a rocket stage.' The space agency spokesman added that the trajectory would not fit with any recent rocket launch. 'It seems more likely that this is a near-Earth asteroid about 10-15 metres across,' he concluded. The rock has now been labelled 2010 AL30. There are two million such objects streaking around near-Earth space, with one passing near our world about once a week. [Daily Mail]
The men's downhill skiing is postponed due to "slushy conditions", with the women's super-combined event having already been postponed.(BBC)(Sky Sports)
Hollywood director Kevin Smith kicked off plane for being 'too fat' -
The Hollywood film director Kevin Smith has launched a blistering attack on an airline which kicked him off a plane for being "too fat". Smith, 39, the director of films including Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Clerks, had purchased two tickets to comply with Southwest Airlines policy that requires larger passengers to buy two seats. He then decided to go standby for an earlier flight and was seated on a plane on which there was only one seat left. He was then ejected from the plane. Southwest's "Customer of Size" policy requires that travellers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat. [Daily Telegraph]
Kevin Smith
Tiger Woods is 'being treated for sex addiction' in U.S. clinic, new reports claim -
Tiger Woods is being treated for sex addiction at a clinic in Mississippi, according to US reports. The shamed golfer has checked into the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic in the town of Hattiesburg, according to RadarOnline.com. Woods, who admitted cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren last year, has not been seen since his infamous November car crash outside his home in Florida. [Daily Mail]
Tiger Woods
BBC apologise as Scotsman bares all on live TV -
Police have launched an investigation after a Scottish rugby fan exposed himself on a live BBC show. The Scot dropped his kilt on Friday's evening news programme BBC Wales Today, ahead of Scotland's clash with Wales yesterday afternoon. The clip has become a YouTube hit and had received more than 40,000 views by Sunday morning. Scotland were defeated 31-24 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. [Daily Telegraph]
Katherine Jenkins turned down £1 million Playboy shoot to keep mum happy -
Katherine Jenkins has revealed she turned down £1 million to strip naked for Playboy because she did not want to upset her mum. The Welsh mezzo-soprano is revered for her curvy figure almost as much as for her classical singing talent. She has become the darling of red carpet photographers with her large bust and slim waist squeezed into figure-hugging dresses. The 29-year-old blonde once posed in a revealing basque for upmarket men's magazine GQ in November 2008. But she has never completely flashed the flesh despite doing some modelling work when she was in her late teens to help pay for her musical studies. [Daily Telegraph]
Katherine Jenkins
Tahrir square battles intensify in Egypt -
At least 7 anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo died after night of violence as they fought to hold Tahrir square against pro-government fighters. Separately Vodafone claims the Egyptian authorities forced it to send pro-government text messages during this week's protests.
Fry avoids Japan after joke -
Stephen Fry pulls out of going to film a documentary in Japan after comments he made about a survivor of the two atomic bombs during the second world war in the programme QI caused upset. Fry told the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi who was on business in Hiroshima when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. After surviving and spending a night in Hiroshima, Yamaguchi travelled by train back to his home town, Nagasaki. That city was bombed on 9 August as Yamaguchi was explaining his earlier near death experience to his manager. Fry had commented: "Well, this man is either the unluckiest or the luckiest, it depends which way you look at it."
Stephen Fry
Pub landlady takes on Sky -
The landlady of a pub in Portsmouth has won a legal battle to show Premier League football in her pub without a Sky TV subscription. Karen Murphy's imported a Greek decoder to show the games rather than paying Sky TV, which holds the rights in the UK. She has fought the case all the way to the highest European court.
Times Square to become smoker free -
New York city councillors voted 36 to 12 to stop smokers lighting up on municipal beaches and pedestrian areas of Manhattan such as Times Square. The city council banned smokers from restaurants and bars in 2002. Offenders will be fined $50 when the rules come in later this year.
Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east -
Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure has exceeded normal levels. Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much higher. In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found. The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists. Thousands of people living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Libya's ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.
The circumstances of his death are not yet clear. Video has emerged purporting to show Col Gaddafi being captured alive and bundled on to a truck.
Fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) said they found him hiding in a hole, and shot him when he tried to escape.
Col Gaddafi was toppled in August after 42 years in power.
Acting Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi told the AP news agency Saif al-Islam had been captured and taken to hospital with a leg wound.
A corpse that officials identified as that of Mutassim has been laid out in a house in the city of Misrata, where locals have been queuing to take pictures.
The body of Col Gaddafi has also reportedly been taken to Misrata.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it had carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday.
French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte.
He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel.
Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among fighters, and then broadcast by international news channels.
The first images showed a bloodied figure presumed to be Col Gaddafi.
Later, video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive.
Muammar al-Gaddafi at the 12th AU summit, February 2, 2009, in Addis Abeba. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
Syria says it will execute anyone who participates in "terrorist acts", under a new law. (CNN)
Villagers rebelling in village of Wukan in southern China, say they will hold talks with the government and demand concessions in return for calling off a march. (Reuters)
Worldwide controversy erupts over a plan by Dutch scientists to publish findings relating to the development of a mutated strain of H5N1, that could potentially cause a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions. Bioterrorism watchdogs also express immense concern over the development of the virus (which is presently stored in Erasmus MC, Rotterdam). (Russia Today)(FOX News)
Cruise ship runs aground and capsizes -
A 290m (950ft) long cruise ship, the Costa Concordia with about 4,000 passengers and crew on board runs aground and capsizes near the island of Giglio off the coast of Italy. Passengers were enjoying their first dinner on board after leaving Civitavecchia port near Rome for a Mediterranean cruise. Early reports are of 8 people being lost but helicopters are still evacuating people.
The Costa Concordia
Warner hits 5th fastest test century -
Australian left-hander batsman David Warner hits the 5th fastest test century in the first day of the test against India. He reached his second test century in just 69 balls. Faster test centuries are:
Viv Richards, West Indies v England, St John's 1986 - 56 balls
Adam Gilchrist, Australia v England, Perth 2006 - 57 balls
Jack Gregory, Australia v South Africa, Johannesburg 1921 -67 balls
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies v Australia, Georgetown 2003 - 69 balls
David Warner, Australia v India, Perth 2012 - 69 balls
David Warner
IBM get a "bit" better -
Researchers from IBM successfully store a single data bit in only 12 atoms - currently it takes about a million atoms to store a bit on a modern hard-disk, so they believe this is the world's smallest magnetic memory bit. The groups of atoms were arranged using a scanning tunnelling microscope which means the density of data on hard drives can be increased but below 12 atoms the researchers found that the bits randomly lost information, owing to quantum effects.
Facebook launch music sharing button -
Facebook launch a new 'listen with' button which appears when a person is listening to Spotify, Rdio or another music streaming service below the update in the news feed, allowing others to listen to the same thing at the same time. The catch is that your friend needs to have an account with the same service to ‘tune in’ simultaneously.
Rolling stone gathers no moon dust -
NASA release an image of a rock that rolled down a slope in the Schiller crater on the moon between 50 and 100 million years ago leaving behind a clear track. It is likely the boulder was dislodged by a meteorite strike or a nearby impact.
Don't hit the return key too hard -
Dutch computer experts Erik de Nijs and Tim Smit create a prototype pair of jeans with a built-in keyboard, mouse and speakers, allowing the wearer to remain connected to their computer through a wireless USB dongle. The designers call the trousers "beauty and the geek" and will cost around £250 if they go into production.
Keeper killed by lion in SA -
A zoo keeper who had worked at Johannesburg Zoo for nearly 40 years is killed by one of the lions he looked after. Joe Ramonetha, 63, had recently come out of retirement to continue working at the zoo was killed by a 10-year-old female white lion named Nyanga, meaning "witch doctor", after it appears a gate was left open as he prepared the animals' food.
Higgs boson: scientists 99.999% sure 'God Particle' has been found -
The historic announcement came in a progress report from the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator. Professor John Womersley, chief executive of the Science and technology Facilities Council, told reporters at a briefing in London: "They have discovered a particle consistent with the Higgs boson. "Discovery is the important word. That is confirmed. It's a momentous day for science." Scientists say it is a 5 sigma result which means they are 99.999% sure they have found a new particle. Finding the Higgs plugs a gaping hole in the Standard Model, the theory that describes all the particles, forces and interactions that make up the universe. [Daily Telegraph]
Prof Stephen Hawking said Prof Higgs deserved a Nobel Prize for his work, but admitted the discovery of the new particle had come at a cost. He said: “I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn’t be found. It seems I have just lost $100.” [Daily Telegraph]
The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider
Tom Cruise to file rival divorce case against Katie Holmes -
Tom Cruise will file a rival divorce case against Katie Holmes, his lawyer has said, adding that they were letting the "other side play the media until they wear everyone out". Bret Fields told BBC Radio 1 that for the moment Cruise's camp is content to let Holmes have the spotlight. "We are letting 'the other side' (Katie and her team), play the media until they wear everyone out and then we'll have something to say," he said.
"Tactically we can't say where Tom will file a divorce case and if he'll be seeking joint custody of [daughter] Suri."
Tom Cruise with Katie Holmes in 2009
A gunman, who was facing eviction from his apartment, is believed to have seized and killed four hostages in the German city of Karlsruhebefore turning the gun on himself. (BBC)
Eleven people are killed in further unrest in Iraq, including eight people in a bombing of a Baghdad marketplace. (The Times of India)
Spain's national court opens a criminal investigation into last year's listing of Bankia SA on the stock market, with former chairman Rodrigo Ratoand 32 others listed as suspects. (Wall Street Journal)
Politics and elections
Hundreds of protesters clash with police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the parliament speaker offers to resign over moves to boost the status of the Russian language in the country. (Al Jazeera)
The Chinese city of Shifang cancels the planned development of a copper plant after thousands of people demonstrated. (CBC)
12 people shot dead at Batman premiere in Denver, Colorado -
A masked gunman, 24, has shot dead 12 people and wounded more than 50 others at a Batman film premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in the US, police said. Eyewitnesses reported that a baby was shot at point blank range and some of the victims were children as a single masked gunman went on a rampage. It was not clear whether the baby, who local reports said was three-months-old, was killed in the attack. Police said the gunman is from Aurora but gave further no details. They were searching his home after he suggested there my be incendiary devices there. The gunman, who was quickly arrested, was reportedly wearing body armour and a gas mask and used tear gas in the assault inside the cinema. [Daily Telegraph]
Sacha Baron Cohen settles slander suit over grocer portrayed as terrorist in film -
A Palestinian grocer portrayed as a terrorist in the movie Bruno has settled his slander suit against film star Sacha Baron Cohen and David Letterman, his lawyer said. In the 2009 comedy, Baron Cohen plays an Austrian fashion journalist aiming to make peace in the Middle East. He interviews Abu Aita, who's labelled in a caption as a member of the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. Baron Cohen discussed Bruno's encounter with a "terrorist" on Letterman's show on CBS. [Daily Telegraph]
Sacha Baron Cohen
Major General Hisham Ikhtiyar, the head of Syrian national security, dies of wounds he received from a bombing in the capital Damascus on July 18. (BBC)
David Burgess, already serving life imprisonment on two counts of murder, is given a fresh life sentence after being convicted of the 1966 murder of Yolande Waddington, a nanny from Berkshire, England. (BBC)
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Lance Armstrong stripped of all seven Tour de France wins by UCI
Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by cycling's governing body.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has accepted the findings of the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (Usada) investigation into systematic doping.
UCI president Pat McQuaid said: "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten."
McQuaid added that Armstrong had been stripped of all results since 1 August, 1998 and banned for life.
Armstrong, 41, received a life ban from Usada for what the organisation called "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Riot police in Kuwait attack demonstrators with teargas, stun grenades and batons. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian civil war: A Jordanian soldier dies during a gunfight between Jordanian troops and Islamic militants attempting to cross the border into Syria. (CTV News)
A Kindle user from Norway has her account wiped and all her paid-for books deleted by the American multinational electronic commerce company Amazon.com. (The Guardian)
Business and economics
A former Goldman Sachs employee blows the whistle on the investment bank having routinely taken advantage of charities and pension funds to increase its profits. (The Guardian)
The chairman of the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, likely will not stand for re-election to that post. Ben Bernanke has reportedly told friends he will leave when his term ends in January 2014 regardless of who wins the Presidential election campaign. (New York Times)
International relations
The UK doubles its number of RAF armed "drones" operating in Afghanistan and, in a new development, drones are to be controlled from terminals and screens on British soil. (The Guardian)
Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official are convicted of multiple manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake after prosecutors accuse them of being "falsely reassuring" before the event. (BBC)(The Guardian)(Al Jazeera)
Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are exiled to remote prison camps located in Perm and Mordovia, home to parts of the Soviet-era gulag system. Their exact locations are unknown, even to their lawyers and family members. They had petitioned to be held in Moscow which would have allowed them to watch their young children grow. (The Guardian)
The body of a female found late Monday in a recycling container in Clayton, New Jersey is preliminarily determined to be that of missing 12-year-old girl Autumn Pasquale according to police (NBC)
Politics and elections
Okinawa's legislative assembly passes a resolution expressing "overwhelming indignation" at the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. soldiers, the latest of 5,747 crimes on record allegedly involving U.S. personnel over the past 40 years, and condemns the worsening criminal activity of foreign troops on the island. (Al Jazeera)
A football fan is jailed after an attack on former England international goalkeeper Chris Kirkland during a match last week. Twenty-one-year-old Aaron Cawley was filmed on live television jumping from the stand and striking Kirkland with both arms on the head following a goal during the league match at Hillsborough. Kirkland, who described the assault as like being "hit by a ton of bricks", was thrown off balance, crashed to the ground against his goal area and required treatment for his injuries. (The Guardian)(The Daily Telegraph)
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Marijuana legalization passes in Colorado, Washington
Voters in Washington and Colorado passed ballot initiatives Tuesday to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the biggest victory ever for the legalization movement.
"The significance of these events cannot be overstated," said NORML, a pro-legalization organization, in a news release. "Tonight, for the first time in history, two states have legalized and regulated the adult use and sale of cannabis."
But in many ways, it's just the beginning of the battle. Marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which overrules states' rights.
"The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in a statement. "This is a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or goldfish too quickly."
The Drug Enforcement Administration reiterated its stance that marijuana is an illegal drug and that possessing, using or selling it is a crime.
"The Drug Enforcement Administration's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said the DEA in a press statement. "In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I control[ed] substance. The Department of Justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives and we have no additional comment at this time."
The Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office released an identical statement, saying that its position on marijuana as an illegal drug is "unchanged."
Two days ahead of the Irish children's referendum, the Supreme Court—ruling against the government's distribution of information on the referendum—finds the government has breached the 1995 McKenna judgement requiring that referendums be explained to the public in an unbiased manner. The referendum's website is immediately taken down. (Irish Independent)
U.S. PresidentBarack Obama announces his intention to visit Burma later this month, which would make him the first U.S. President to visit the country. (BBC)
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Royal pregnancy: Hoax call fools Duchess of Cambridge hospital -
The hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge says it "deeply regrets" giving information about her to hoax callers from a radio station. Australian DJs posing as the Queen and Prince Charles got details from a nurse at King Edward VII hospital in central London. The hospital said confidentiality was taken seriously and telephone protocols are under review. 2Day FM said it was surprised to be put through but "sincerely apologises". [BBC]
Duchess of Cambridge
Frankie Dettori banned for six months after failing drugs test -
Jockey Frankie Dettori has been given a six-month ban from racing after failing a drugs test in France. The 41-year-old, who has more than 3,000 career wins, tested positive for a banned substance on 16 September 2012. The suspension imposed by French racing authority France Galop will run until 19 May 2013, and will apply worldwide for the three-time champion jockey. [BBC]
Frankie Dettori
American businessman John McAfee is arrested in Guatemala following an alleged illegal entry after leaving Belize where he is wanted for questioning over the death of fellow American Gregory Faull. (Reuters)
Connecticut school shooting: Children among 27 killed
A gunman has killed 20 children and six adults at a primary school in the US state of Connecticut, police say.
The gunman, who also died, has not been formally identified by police.
But officials told US media that the killer at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, was a 20-year-old son of a teacher. He is thought to have killed her before the attack.
It is one of the worst-ever US school shootings, with a toll close to the 32 who died at Virginia Tech in 2007.
Early reports named 24-year-old Ryan Lanza as the gunman, but anonymous officials later said his brother Adam, 20, was the suspect.
He is believed to have killed their mother, Nancy Lanza, at her home before heading to Sandy Hook school. Investigators say it is unclear whether she worked there.
Ryan Lanza of Hoboken, New Jersey, was being questioned by police, US media reported, but has not been named as a suspect.
A 36-year-old man identified as Min Yingjun attacks an elderly woman with her own knife at her home, then stabs 22 children outside the nearby Chenpeng Village Primary School in Xinyang, Guangshan County, Henan, China. The attack on the children occurred as they were arriving for classes, and most of the victims are thought to be 6–11 years old. (Xinhua)(CBC News)(Sky News)(The Indian Express)
Oscar Pistorius charged with murder -
Oscar Pistorius the South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete is arrested and charged with the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his apartment in Pretoria, South Africa. Police said Steenkamp had been shot 4 times and died at the scene. A 9mm pistol has been recovered.
Oscar Pistorius competing
Apple gives cider shop a bad name -
A family run shop In Norfolk, England that sells cider is forced to change its name after 20 years because it is called The Apple Shop. Geoff Fisher, who runs the Wroxham Barns shop said it received up to 24 calls a week from people wanting them to fix broken Apple devices. From Easter The Apple Shop will be known as The Norfolk Cider Shop instead.
Sesame Street hits 1 billion YouTube views -
The Sesame Street channel should today pass 1 billion views on YouTube, the first time a a non-profit channel has achieved this on YouTube. The channel is posting a new video featuring the character Telly Monster, urging viewers to click the show past the final 20 million views and unlock a "top secret video."
Trending -
Oscar Pistorius
#CandyHeartRejects - alternative candy sweet messages
Huge meteor strikes Russia -
A meteor crashes near Chelabinsk a city in the Urals, Russia injuring around 1,000 people. The meteoroid – estimated to be about 20 metres in diameter – entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least a speed of 19 kilometres per second or 42,900 mph, producing a sonic boom. It shattered above the ground, showering Chelyabinsk with debris. It is the largest known natural object to have entered Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 and the only meteor known to have resulted in casualties.
iMac, iPad and now a Blue Peter Badge -
Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, is given a special gold Blue Peter badge in a special edition of the children's programme that has been running on the BBC since 1958.
The original Blue Peter Badge
Sir Jonathan Ive
Burglar spooked by giant rabbit -
A burglar fled a family home in the middle of the night in Plymouth, Devon after encountering their giant pet rabbit. The 4.5kg, two-feet long pet called Toby began stamping loudly on the floor apparently panicking the thief who still managed to keep hold of a laptop and iPad.
Samsung look like entering the smart watch battle -
Leaked images appear to show Samsung is working on a smart watch called the 'Galaxy Altius' in a bid to compete with Apple who are expected to release an "iWatch" soon. The pictures suggest that the Altius runs a modified version of the Google Android operating system.
Trending -
#RussianMeteor
#метеорит - Rare that Russian text trends on Twitter. This means meteorite.
Buddha's not for sale in Iran -
Iran bans Buddha statues from being sold in Tehran to stop religion being promoted in the country calling the Buddha statues symbols of 'cultural invasion.' In the past Barbie dolls and characters from The Simpsons have been banned in Iran. An interpretation of Islamic law bans the depiction of the human form in art.
Sandhurst renames hall after Bahrain King -
The British army officers training facility Sandhurst controversially renames Mons Hall to the King Hamad Hall after the King of Bahrain gave £3 million towards its refurbishment. Mons Hall was named in memory of a 1914 battle when 1,600 British soldiers were killed. An accommodation block at the Royal Military Academy has also been named after the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a £15 million donation from the country.
Sandhurst
Boko Haram takes foreign hostages in Nigeria -
Terrorist group Boko Haram attack a construction company at Jama'are in north Nigeria killing a security guard and abducting 7 foreign workers. The site is run by Setraco who is building a major road in the area. Boko Haram wants to impose Sharia (Islamic law) across Nigeria.
Trending -
#WaysToMakeMeMad
#HappyBirthdayBillieJoeArmstrong - Green Day's guitarist's birthday
Billy Joe Armstrong
World's highest base jump from Mount Everest -
We normally hear about people climbing it but a Russian extreme sport star has completed the world's highest base jump by leaping off Mount Everest.
Valery Rozov made the jump from the north face of Everest at more than 7,000m high. The stunt took more than two years to plan and marks the 60th anniversary of the first climb to the top of the world's highest mountain. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Roberto Mancini: Manchester City sack manager -
Roberto Mancini has been sacked as Manchester City manager a year to the day since winning the Premier League. The club said he "had failed to achieve any of the club's targets, with the exception of qualification for next season's Champions League". Malaga's Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini has been strongly tipped to replace Mancini.
Roberto Mancini
Video of the Day -
Flying from Mt. Everest - The Mission - World Record BASE Jump
Kevyn Orr, a state-appointed emergency manager of the finances of the city of Detroit, Michigan, issues a report describing the city as "clearly insolvent on a cash flow basis." (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
A military aircraft crashes in residential area in Yemen's capital of Sana'a. (Xinhua)
Andy Murray claims Wimbledon crown, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets
ANDY Murray ended Britain's agonising 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men's singles champion on Sunday when he destroyed world number one Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the blistering heat of the All England Club.
The 26-year-old became the country's first male winner since Fred Perry in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War started, Jesse Owens defied Hitler at the Berlin Olympics and Gone With The Wind was published.
It was Murray's second Grand Slam title to follow his breakthrough triumph at the US Open in 2012 which followed his Olympic gold medal as well as a heartbreaking, tearful loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.
However, Sunday's title showdown, between two men who have now contested three of the last four Grand Slam finals, rarely lived up to expectations.
South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg
South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95.
Mr Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities.
He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital.
Announcing the news on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela was at peace.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.
Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela - who is known affectionately by his clan name, Madiba - had died shortly before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). He said he would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast.
Crowds have gathered outside the house where Mr Mandela died, some flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Mr Mandela once led.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
Unidentified militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 52 people and injuring 167 others. Most of the victims appear to be doctors and nurses, working at a hospital within the property. (Al Jazeera)(CNN)
Pope Francis, in his first major action on the still very pressing issue, gives his assent during meetings on reform of the Roman Curia to the creation of a permanent expert-member Pontifical Commission which would advise the Catholic Church on how to deal with cases of the sin and crime of sex abuse of minors by those in Church ministries (as of now, it would not be able to take corrective action against lax Bishops; dioceses and then the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are in charge of laicizing abusive clerics). (Catholic News Service)
Mars doughnut rock mystery solved -
Pictures from Mars taken by the Mars Rover last month showing a piece of white-rimmed and red-centred rock that appeared seemingly from nowhere, is explained by NASA. It turns out the Mars Rover, Opportunity drove over a larger rock, a doughnut shaped piece broke off and appeared in the later picture. The rock (called Pinnacle Island) contains high levels of manganese and sulphur, providing further reason to believe there could be water on Mars.
Before and after images of the area.
Are you Gender Questioning? No problem -
Facebook users can now choose up to 50 gender options when they sign up to an account in the US from "agender" and "two-spirit". The fifty options are shown below.
Indonesian volcano erupts -
The Kelud volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia starts to erupt spewing ash over an area of 500 km in diameter forcing 76,000 inhabitants to evacuate their homes. In 1919 an eruption killed around 5,000 people but no casualties were reported this time.
Ash falling in Yogyakarta
Order it, eat it but don't photograph it -
Two Michelin-starred chefs are trying to stop customers taking photographs of their food in France. Gilles Goujon, who runs the three-starred L'Auberge du vieux puits restaurant in Fontjoncouse believes it is poor etiquette to take photos of food and every time his creations appear on social networks and says it "takes away a little bit of my intellectual property". Alexandre Gauthier of the Grenouillere restaurant in the town of La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil in north France has added a no-camera logo on his menus.
Trending -
Happy Valentines Day - of course
#PrayForKelud - see volcano story above
Facebook gender options -
Agender
Androgyne
Androgynes
Androgynous
Bigender
Cis
Cis Female
Cis Male
Cis Man
Cis Woman
Cisgender
Cisgender Female
Cisgender Male
Cisgender Man
Cisgender Woman
Female to Male
FTM
Gender Fluid
Gender Nonconforming
Gender Questioning
Gender Variant
Genderqueer
Intersex
Male to Female
MTF
Neither
Neutrois
Non-binary
Other
Pangender
Trans
Trans Female
Trans Male
Trans Man
Trans Person
Trans*Female
Trans*Male
Trans*Man
Trans*Person
Trans*Woman
Transexual
Transexual Female
Transexual Male
Transexual Man
Transexual Person
Transexual Woman
Transgender Female
Transgender Person
Transmasculine
Two-spirit
US gets D-minus for science -
A study by the National Science Foundation in the US finds that over a quarter of Americans do not know the Earth circles the Sun. 2,200 people were asked nine factual questions about physical and biological science, with the average score being just 5.8 correct answers. Only 48 per cent of those interviewed are aware that humans evolved from earlier species of animals.
21-year-old pole-vault record beaten -
Renaud Lavillenie the French pole-vaulter sets a new world record with a height of 6.16 metres (20 ft 2 1⁄2 in) Donetsk, Ukraine finally breaking the record set by Russia's Sergey Bubka 21 years previously set on 21 February 1993 also in Donetsk.
Renaud Lavillenie
Tom Perkins new voting system idea -
Outspoken Tom Perkins says the rich should be given more votes than the less well off and those who pay no tax should not have a vote at all. He went further at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to say “What I really think is it should be like a corporation, if you pay a million dollars in taxes you get a million votes.”
Tom Perkins
Skier breaks her back at Olympics -
Maria Komissarova, one of Russia's ski cross competitor breaks her spine during training at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She sustained a fractured vertebrae with a dislocation and was transported to a hospital close to Rosa Khutor Extreme Park where she underwent an emergency six-and-a-half hour operation.
Trending -
Ellen Page - The Inception actress reveals she is a lesbian
Ellen Page
Jailed for bad choice of film -
A South Carolina woman is held overnight in jail after the Sheriff’s office in Pickens County discovered there was a warrant for her arrest for not returning a video she had rented nine-years previously. Kayla Finley had rented the 2005 film Monster in Law starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez and the video store owner had filed a complaint when she failed to return it. Finley was bailed for $2,000.
Jennifer Lopez in 2004
Self-hijacking to Switzerland -
Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn the co-pilot of a plane flying from Addis Ababa to Rome hijacks his own plane and flies it to Geneva, Switzerland. He shut the pilot out of the cockpit, told air traffic control that he had a problem and needed to fill up with jet-fuel in Switzerland. He set off a distress signal indicating the plane was hijacked, before saying he had engine trouble. A few minutes after landing at the Swiss airport, he climbed down a rope he had thrown out of the cockpit window and gave himself up to authorities.
Jimmy Fallon takes over from Jay Leno in the Tonight Show. Leno has been in the interviewers chair since May 1992.
Jimmy Fallon
Flappy Bird impersonators blocked -
Despite Flappy Birds no longer being available on the iStore or Google Play Apple and Google are apparently rejecting new apps with the word 'Flappy' in the title, following a glut of copycat Flappy Bird games. Flappy Bird was developed by Vietnam-based developer Nguyễn Hà Đông but he removed it because he felt guilty about its addictive nature and overuse.
Earthquake stirs the west country -
An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale strikes the Bristol Channel off the west coast of England the strongest to hit Britain in six years. The last significant earthquake was on February 27, 2008 at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, measuring 5.2.
Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion -
Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook buys messaging service WhatsApp for around $19 billion. The deal consists of Facebook shares worth $12billion for the purchase and another $3billion of restricted stocks as a windfall for WhatsApp’s co-founders and their 50 employees. About 450m people around the world use the instant messaging service each month.
Mark Zuckerberg
Kiev protesters shot by snipers -
Protesters against the Russian backed government in Ukraine have been killed by police snipers in Maidan Square in Kiev in the deadliest day of the protest so far. At least 77 people have been killed in the last three days, and another 577 were injured.
Ice hazard from above -
Daggers of ice have been falling from the new 1,776 feet high 1 World Trade Center in New York, the USA's tallest building at 1,776 feet high. Several streets around the nation's tallest building were closedwhen wind-blown sheets of ice hit the pavement near the building.
1 World Trade Center
Trending -
#NotersTimelineParty
#WhatsApp
Dodgy ice maiden -
Over 1.7 million people have signed a Change.org petition to get an investigation into the judges decision in the women's figure skating competition in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russian 17 year-old Adelina Sotnikova won the medal to the surprise of commentators and another Russian, Yulia Lipnitskaya, fell several times but beat American Ashley Wagner, who did not fall.
Chris Moyles claims to be a car dealer for tax reasons -
Former BBC radio DJ Chris Moyles claimed to be a second-hand car dealer in a failed attempt to avoid paying £400,000 tax on £1 million by using a scheme that attracted other high earners.
Chris Moyles
Stockbroker sues film-makers for making him look bad -
Former Wall Street stockbroker Andrew Greene is sueing the producers of The Wolf of Wall Street for $25m (£15m) claiming he has been depicted as a "depraved" drug-fuelled criminal by the character Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff in the film.
Trending -
#ColombiaUsaHuaweiAscendP6
#forevernoters
Air Malaysia flight goes missing -
An Air Malaysia aircraft flight MH370 with 239 people on board has gone missing after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing. No distress messages were received and no sign of the plane has been found.
Brian O'Driscoll almost bows out -
Rugby Union's Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll makes his final match in Ireland's 46-7 win over Italy. It was his 140th cap making him the most capped international rugby player of all time.
Brian O'Driscoll
Bitcoin "inventor" denies it -
Dorian S Nakamoto, the Japanese-American man named as Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, has denied any link to the digital currency despite being named as such by Newsweek earlier this week.
Boko Haam on the rise in Nigeria -
Boko Haram has killed over 130 people in Nigeria in the last week and is believed to be responsible for killing at least 1,300 people in the past two months. The sect claims ties to al-Qaida and has ambitions to impose sharia law on Nigeria's 170 million people.
Actor Jimmy Ellis dies -
The actor Jimmy Ellis who played the role of Bert Lynch in the popular police drama Z-cars died early yesterday at the age of 82 following a stroke.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announce separation
Gwyneth Paltrow has announced her split from husband Chris Martin this morning in a statement posted to her Goop website (which has since crashed).
It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate. We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate. We are, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been. We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time. We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.
The U.S. District Court in Manhattan finds that the trustee of MF Global may proceed with a lawsuit against former executives thereof, including former CEO Jon Corzine. (Reuters)
As Callinan goes, details emerge that the national police have been involved in phone tapping since the 1980s: the Irish Government establishes an inquiry into the matter. (BBC)
A former Garda is found to have perverted the course of justice on two occasions and admits having cocaine for sale or supply. (RTÉ News)
A letter titled “Recordings of Telephone Conversations made and retained in Garda Stations” is leaked revealing that Callinan mentioned the telephone tapping to the Department of Justice more than two weeks ago and that the Attorney General knew on 11 November 2013. (The Journal)
Voters in the European Union go to the polls for a multi-day European Parliamentary election. Voters in Latvia, Malta, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic vote today. (Sofia Globe)
Rachel Stevens is officially the sexiest woman of all time
Twenty years. Over 2,000 entrants. Millions of votes. But there could only ever be one winner. One woman who would rise above the rest like a glorious, sexy phoenix to be crowned the hottest woman in FHM 100 Sexiest's 20-year history.
The former S Club 7 starlet and pin-up legend has fought off the likes of 100 Sexiest double-winners Jennifer Lopez and Cheryl Cole for the number one spot, without even topping the list before.
That being said, she's been in the list 11 times, appeared on 8 FHM covers and has been the 100 Sexiest runner-up not once, not twice but thrice! And having a legitimate excuse to use the word 'thrice' in a sentence is already exciting enough...
So how do we celebrate such an outstanding achievement? Why, we put her on the cover of this very mag, of course!
And what did Rachel have to say about her big win?
"To win this award feels absolutely amazing. I've worked with FHM for the past decade and a half. I feel such a strong bond to the magazine and it's so flattering to think that people think of me that way. It's brilliant."
Petra Kvitova wins Wimbledon Ladies title -
Czech Petra Kvitova beats Canadian Eugenie Bouchard to win the Wimbledon Ladies singles title in just 55 minutes 6-3 6-0.
>Petra Kvitova
Eugenie Bouchard
Sexy tennis dress sold for £15,000 -
Items featured in the 1970s Tennis Girl poster that sold over 2 million copies have been auctioned for £15,000. The tennis racquet from the photo, the dress, a 1979 poster and a 1980s limited edition canvas print had a guide price of just £2,000. The picture of Fiona Butler lifting her tennis dress to reveal her bare bottom was taken by her then boyfriend Martin Elliot at Birmingham University in 1976 and sold by Athena.
[caption id="attachment_696" align="alignnone" width="263"] The original Tennis Girl image. Copyright is owned by Martin Elliott [/caption]
Alfredo Di Stefano dies -
Alfredo Di Stefano, regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, dies aged 88. The Real Madrid legend was honorary president of the club and with them the forward won five straight European Cups (the predecessor to the Champions League), scoring in every final between 1956 and 1960. He played international football for Spain and Argentina, twice managed Real Madrid and had the nickname "Saeta rubia" ("blonde arrow").
Alfredo Di Stefano
Trending -
#NEDvsCRC - Netherlands defeat Costa Rica on penalties in World Cup quarter finals (Final score 0-0)
Le Shuttle est terminée -
A Channel tunnel "Le Shuttle" train carrying cars with 382 passengers on board stopped in the tunnel while travelling from the Ashford Terminal in Kent to Calais, France. The evacuated passengers had to enter central pedestrian tunnel before boarding a train that had come from Calais in the other main tunnel. A fault in the overhead power cables was to blame.
Sony question FIFA Qatar decision -
One of FIFA's main sponsors, Sony, have asked football's governing body to carry out an "appropriate investigation" into the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The announcement that Qatar was to hold the tournament was made in 2007.
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Announcement in 2007
BA requires battery backup -
British Airways has stepped up boarding security measures by issuing a notice that mobile phones and other electrical devices that cannot be switched on to prove they are not carry explosives will be confiscated. Passengers whose devices run out of power during a stopover may be bumped from their flight.
Kidnapped Nigerian women escape -
Over 60 Nigerian women and girls from a group of over 250 abducted by Boko Haram extremists in Chibok, Nigeria have escaped their captors. The women were kidnapped on April 15th 2015 and Boko Haram is demanding the release of some of their imprisoned fighters for the Chibok women but Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to consider a prisoner exchange.
Goodluck Jonathan
Trending -
#HarryDontLickAnything
#5YearsOfOneTime
#HappyBirthdayAshtonIrwin
More than 100 celebrities hacked, nude photos leaked
Celebrities including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence were the target of what appears to be one of the biggest celebrity hackings.
Dozens of private, nude photographs were said to be accessed from phones and leaked online, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason. The pictures were allegedly taken from a cloud-based Internet data storage system.
Posts on the websites 4chan and Reddit said the celebrities were exposed when a hacker broke into their cloud-based storage.
Online posts claim more than 100 celebrities are part of the illicit cache and that more photos will be released.
Explicit images of the "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence appeared online, showing the 24-year-old in various stages of undress.
A spokesperson for Lawrence told CBS News the posts are "a flagrant violation of privacy" and said "the authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead was also exposed online.
The 29-year-old tweeted about the hack Sunday and said she took the photos with her husband years ago in the privacy of her home and shamed the hackers saying, "Hope you feel great about yourselves."
Nickelodeon actress and singer Victoria Justice, 21, took to Twitter and wrote, "These so called nudes of me are FAKE people," reports CBS Los Angeles.
CBS Los Angeles also reported singer Ariana Grande's rep said nude photos of Grande are also fakes.
Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton was also hacked and confirmed through a rep that the photos of her were legitimate.
A gunman shoots dead two people and injures a third at the Work and Income office in Ashburton, New Zealand, before fleeing on a bicycle. The town is locked down for seven hours while police search for and apprehend the suspected gunman. (NZ Herald)
Scottish referendum takes place -
Scotland independence referendum takes place with the result looking very uncertain. Tennis player Andy Murray used Twitter to back the Yes vote along with actor Sean Connery. Those backing the No vote and wanting Scotland to remain part of the UK include Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Mick Jagger, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, comedian Eddie Izzard, actresses Helena Bonham-Carter and Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell, and Stephen Hawking all of whom signed a letter urging Scotland to stay in the union. The result will be known tomorrow.
Andy Murray tweet.
Ig Nobel prizes announced -
The annual Ig Nobel prizes awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research have picked out some classic scientific investigations again. Researchers who measured the slipperiness of banana peels, why pork strips appear to stop nosebleeds, and how reindeer react to humans in polar bear suits were among the winners.
Brazil's Ronaldo challenges Spain's Nadal to poker match -
Brazilian football World Cup winner Ronaldo challenges Rafael Nadal to a live head-to-head poker match and the Spanish tennis champion has accepted the duel with the game scheduled to take place on November 6 in London. The last time the two met in a poker tournament £79,000 was raised for charity at the European Poker Tour Prague Charity Challenge.
R&A Golf Club to accept women members -
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in Scotland votes to allow female members to the club for the first time in 260 years. Women have been allowed to play the courses at St Andrews but not be members. The first members will be announced next year.
Trending -
#WhenIHearAmnesia
iOS 8 [or] iOS 8.0
Bell baits Bieber again -
The Justin Bieber vs Drake Bell fans battle moved up a gear today with Bell baiting one of Justin's fans on Instagram with 'You [sic] idol doesn't even do anything but cause trouble anymore. No music no movies he's just an idiot'. This one will run.
Drake Bell
And the coolest brand is... -
Apple has been named the coolest brand in the UK for the third year running while Netflix broke into the Top 20 for the first time securing 10th place. The results are from a poll of over 2,000 British consumers and opinion including musicians Ella Eyre and models Jodie Kidd and Sophie Dahl.
Ella Eyre
iPhone 6 sells fast -
Just to emphasise their official cool status Apple sold more than 10m of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones in the first three days of their release, surpassing its own forecasts and setting a new record for the American technology.
Burberry's big following -
Fashion house Burberry is the leading FTSE 100 company in the Twitter follower lists with over 3 million followers ahead of Coca Cola (2.6m) and Marks and Spencers (0.5m). Some of the less well known companies have a single Twitter follower.
Trending -
#ThoseThreeWords
#TagMyCRUSH
Max Verstappen: Teenager to drive in practice at Japanese Grand Prix -
Max Verstappen will become the youngest driver ever to take part in a grand prix weekend when he drives in first practice in Japan on Friday. The Dutchman, who is 17 on Tuesday, is making his debut for the Toro Rosso team, for whom he will race in 2015. He will drive Jean-Eric Vergne's car in preparation for next season when he replaces the French driver. "To be already participating in a practice session is a dream come true," Verstappen said. [BBC]
Max Verstappen
CIA Starbucks is the weirdest Starbucks -
Nestled in the heart of CIA's high security Langley, Virginia headquarters is a branch of Starbucks. Its day-to-day operation runs a little different to that of a mall-based coffee shop however, for starters, baristas aren't allowed to write customers' names on their cups. Such is the level of secrecy at the agency that receipts for the café simply say "Store Number 1", with staff affectionately calling it "Stealthy Starbucks". There are no frequent customer reward cards – officials fear the data they contain could be mined by marketers and compromise undercover agents' identity – and baristas have to go through thorough background checks before starting and be escorted on and off the work area by "minders". [The Independent]
Video of the Day -
Why Starbucks Spells Your Name Wrong [Contains strong language]
Renewed clashes around the Donetsk International Airport between the pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government troops kill at least 12 people in the worst flareup of violence since the ceasefire accord earlier in September. (CBC)
International Relations
Argentina's central bank announces that it will pay the holders of its restructured debt Tuesday. Implicitly this indicates that it is ready to defy a U.S. federal court which has blocked such payments until the holders of hold-out bonds are included. (Reuters)
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin's wedding cost £8m -
George Clooney’s four-day wedding celebrations in Venice, which involved pool-side cocktail parties, dinners in five-star hotels and a lavish wedding reception on the Grand Canal, cost an estimated 10 million euros (£8 million). More than 100 guests, including Hollywood stars such as Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock and Cindy Crawford, converged on the lagoon city for the extravaganza, which began last Friday and culminated on Monday with a civil ceremony in which Mr Clooney and Amal Alamuddin were formally married. The final bill for the spectacle included the cost of Ms Alamuddin’s wedding dress, the first pictures of which emerged on Monday on the covers of People and Hello magazines. [Daily Telegraph]
Amal Clooney
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 system with Start Menu -
Microsoft has disclosed the first details of Windows 10 - its next operating system (OS). The name is a surprise, bearing in mind it represents a jump from the last version - Windows 8. The software will run on a wide range of devices, from phones and tablets to PCs and Xbox games consoles, with applications sold from a single store. It also marks the return of the Start Menu, which had been removed from Windows 8. [BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day below.
Fine-free week for Belgian road hogs -
Speeding motorists and road hogs will get off scot free in Belgium this week as the country’s police refuse to levy roadside fines in a protest against increases to their retirement age. Instead of asking drivers to pay up with an on-the-spot fine if they have broken the law, police officers will instead “educate” them about traffic rules and road safety. The protest, by officers opposed to plans to raise the police retirement age to 62, is expected to cost the Belgian government over £5million (€7m) over the next week. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Microsoft unveils Windows 10
List of the Day -
Windows Operating Systems history [from Wikipedia]
Malala and Kailash Satyarthi win Nobel Peace Prize -
Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights campaigner, have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. At the age of just 17, Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the prize. The teenager was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in October 2012 for campaigning for girls' education. She now lives in Birmingham in the UK. Malala said she was "honoured" to receive the award, saying it made her feel "more powerful and courageous". She revealed she found out the news after being called out of her chemistry class at her school in Birmingham. [BBC]
Malala Yousafzai
Barack Obama gets a job offer at Paltrow fundraiser -
A technology entrepreneur has offered President Barack Obama a job for after he leaves the White House. With speculation mounting abut what Mr Obama will do when he exits the presidency Ariel Jalali became the first employer to make an offer of a new post. The offer was made during a fundraising event at actress Gwyneth Paltrow's house in Los Angeles. Paltrow told the crowd she was one of the president's "biggest fans, if not the biggest" and gushed: "You're so handsome that I can't speak properly." [Daily Telegraph]
Gwyneth Paltrow
Three people in Mali, which has had no cases, are injected with an experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus, the first such trial in Africa. (Haaretz)
The local KGB in Minsk arrests about 100 Ukrainian and 30 Belarusian soccer fans at a qualifying match between Ukraine and Belarus for the 2016 European Championship after they a sang the song, Putin-Huilo! (which roughly translates as "Putin is a dickhead!"). (FP)
Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, fails to show at an event marking the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, increasing speculation about his prolonged absence from public view. (BBC)
Bulldog puppy thief -
Police are hunting thieves who stole one of Britain's rarest and most valuable puppies worth a whopping £16,000 - because it's purple. The cute eight-week old British bulldog puppy called Lila is so valuable because of her lilac colouring. Officers say it was snatched from his breeder by a man who was pretending to buy the puppy. The black man with short afro hair grabbed the pup when the specialist breeder's back was turned and ran out of the home - knocking a female relative to the ground. [Daily Mail]
Volkswagen to recall over 580,000 cars in China: government -
Volkswagen AG told China's quality watchdog that it planned to recall more than 580,000 cars in the country, after the agency launched an investigation in August. Volkswagen AG's joint venture in China, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co Ltd, will recall 563,605 New Sagitar models produced between May 2011 and May 2014 due to a problem with the rear axle arm of the cars, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website. Volkswagen is also recalling 17,485 imported Beetles due to the same axle problem. [Reuters]
Parisian vandals destroy 24ft art sculpture that resembled a 'giant sex toy' after claims it 'humiliated' the city -
Vandals today destroyed an art sculpture in central Paris ‘because it looked like a giant sex toy’. Looming above the city's Place Vendome, the 24ft tall piece, created by American artist Paul McCarthy, was meant to look like a green inflatable Christmas tree. But the artwork, simple entitled 'Tree', raised eyebrows in the French capital because of its uncanny resemblance to a certain type of sex toy. Today it was left as a giant pile of deflated plastic after vandals apparently took a number of sharp objects to it overnight. The incident came after claims that it 'humiliated' the French capital. [Daily Mail] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
US artist Paul McCarthy brings giant inflatable 'Tree' to Paris
Gunman kills soldier in Ottawa -
In Ottawa, Canada a gunman kills a soldier at the tomb honouring Canada’s fallen soldiers. The gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, shot corporal Nathan Cirillo before storming into the nearby parliament building on Parliament Hill and exchanging fire with police and security guards. The gunman was shot dead. Two days previously in Quebec two soldiers had been run down by a man in car who was also shot dead. One of the soldiers died the other was injured.
Parliament Hill
U2 album lacklustre launch -
U2's new album "Songs of Innocence" comes in at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was automatically downloaded by everyone who has an Apple iTunes account for free (whether they want it or not) leading to complaints over storage use and an apology from lead singer Bono.
Bono from U2
I can kill a lion but I can't eat one
A study by academics from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and the University of Bern in Switzerland hypotheses that Roman gladiators had a diet that was mostly vegetarian, according to an analysis of bones from a cemetery where the arena fighters were buried.
Trending -
#IfICouldTimeTravel
#OttawaShooting
Bob Geldof to record Band Aid 30 -
Plans are under way to pull together a host of music stars to create the fourth incarnation of the Band Aid charity single. The men behind Do They Know It's Christmas are expected to announce the line-up on Monday for Band Aid 30. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure first gathered a group of musicians together in 1984, raising £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia. Do They Know It's Christmas was recorded again in 1989 and 2004. Geldof and Ure will be hoping to gather some of today's most popular music acts including One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. It is thought the money raised will go towards the fight against Ebola in West Africa. [BBC]
Bob Geldof
Bubbles the chimp delayed Jacko and Freddie's duet by nearly 30 years... as he drove the Queen frontman ape -
It has been billed as a rare moment in music history – the release of the only song ever recorded by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson together. The unfinished track, which is going on sale tomorrow, was discovered only by chance after languishing for nearly 30 years at the bottom of a vault – and has been reworked by the surviving members of Mercury’s band Queen. There Must Be More To Life Than This, was never completed back in the 1980s due to the increasingly erratic behaviour of Jackson and the antics of his pet chimp Bubbles. Mercury, then at the height of his powers as a performing artist, complained that Bubbles was a bizarre distraction because Jackson insisted on bringing the animal into the studio and asking for its views on their singing. The Queen frontman, who was famed for his tempestuous nature, finally stormed out of the recording after telling friends: ‘I’m not performing with a f****** chimp sitting next to me each night.’ [Daily Mail]
Ecstatic reaction as Rosetta spacecraft mission lands on comet -
The Rosetta spaceship, which was launched in 2004, has landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a mission which could reveal the origins of life on Earth. The spacecraft's thrusters failed to work during the mission prompting fears that the lander could simply bounce off the comet and back into space. But the Philae landing craft managed to land safely. The small probe took pictures as it descended as well as monitored chemical levels. The European Space Agency's ground-breaking £1 billion mission to chase, orbit, and execute a soft landing on a moving comet has been called one of the most extraordinary achievements in space history. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Artist's impression of the Philae lander
Video of the Day -
Philae Lands On Comet! - Mission Control Celebrates | Video
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu says that the country will resume long-distance military flights for the first time since the Cold War to the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. (BBC)
Gunmen attack an Egyptian Navy ship on the Mediterranean Sea with eight sailors missing and four injured after the attack. Thirty-two of the gunmen have been captured with four reported as dead. (Voice of America)
Comet probe Philae shuts down, but not before transmitting valuable secrets -
Controllers have powered down the comet probe Philae after its batteries fell to dangeously-low levels - though the craft still managed to transmit reams of crucial data. The comet probe Philae appears to have reached the end of its historic mission after its batteries ran out of power, but only after it managed to transmit a treasure-trove of scientific data back to Earth. Mission controllers put the European Space Agency (ESA) lander to sleep after the power in its solar-powered batteries fell to dangerously low levels following its landing at a spot in the shadow of a crater wall, shrouded in darkness. An ESA blog post said: “Philae has fallen into ‘idle mode’ – a possibly long silence. In this mode, all instruments and most systems on board are shut down.” [Daily Telegraph]
Rik Mayall 'Bottom' bench unveiled in Hammersmith -
A street bench like one that featured in the BBC sitcom Bottom has been officially unveiled in memory of comedy legend Rik Mayall. It followed an online campaign by more than 7,000 of his fans. Mayall, who starred in a string of TV comedies, said before his death, aged 56, in June that he had been saddened by the removal of the bench. It had appeared in the opening credits of Bottom, in which he starred with Adrian Edmondson. [Daily Telegraph]
Rik Mayall
Sweden releases a sonar image it says is proof that a foreign submarine entered its waters in October. The grainy image shows underwater tracks allegedly left by the vessel. (BBC)
Sony hit by "Guardians of Peace" hack -
Sony Pictures Entertainment is targeted by computer hackers in an attack when a skull appeared on computer screens with the hashtag #GOP (Guardians of Peace - a hackers group) along with a message threatening to release data "secrets" if undisclosed demands were not met. Sony have shut down it's corporate network to resolve the issue.
Russian caught defacing Colosseum -
A Russian man has been fined €20,000 (£15,800) for carving his initial into the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The tourist used a stone to carve a 25cm “K” into a wall inside the amphitheatre and was caught in the act by a guard and arrested by police, before being fined and given a four-month suspended prison sentence.
The Colosseum
First £1 million Lucozade bottle? -
Tommy Rose who has already made £14,000 in a black-market tuck-shop business is about to sell a single bottle of Lucozade for more than £1 million on eBay despite criticism from his head teacher. The 15 year old from Buile Hill High School in Salford faces suspension for his black market enterprise but he is now offering a soft drinks bottle bearing his signature for sale on eBay and the current top bid is £1,000,100 with bidding due to end in less than 24 hours.
Trending -
#MTVStars
#AMAs2014
Angelina Jolie: Ed Miliband's mansion tax 'could put me off' buying home in UK -
Angelina Jolie said she would like to move to England but Labour's proposed mansion tax could put her off. The actress addressed rumours that she was looking at properties around London and had recently viewed a £25 million Marylebone penthouse close to the Chiltern Firehouse restaurant. But Jolie hinted that Ed Miliband’s plan to levy a tax on people who own houses worth more than two million pounds could discourage her from buying a British home. The actress told Channel 4 News: “I’m quite responsible about money" and that the tax "could put me off" moving to the UK. [Daily Telegraph]
Angelina Jolie
Peruvian man gets married to tree for second time on ‘green tour’ -
A Peruvian man has married a tree for the second time in a bid to raise awareness about man-made environmental problems around the world. Serial tree-hugger Richard Torres tied the knot in front of a small crowd at a national park in Bogota, Colombia. After the symbolic ceremony, involving the placing of fruit offerings at the base of the tree, the environmental activist called for rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces to plant trees instead of starting war. The actor also called for Colombians to care more their green surroundings and promised to keep spreading the message in other Latin America countries. Mr Torres married his first tree bride in Argentina in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
A heavy storm in the eastern United States causes poor road conditions, and delays and cancellations of airline flights ahead of the Thanksgivingholidays with up to 30 million people affected. (CNN)
Law and crime
Vietnamese lawmakers approve a law allowing broad foreign ownership of property, as the government seeks to boost an ailing real-estate market and accelerate growth. (Financial Review)
Cricketer Phillip Hughes dies -
Australian batsman Phillip Hughes has died 2 days after being struck by a ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Hughes was making a fine case for his Test recall, unbeaten on his old home ground at the SCG on 63 when he missed an attempted hook at Sean Abbott and was hit on an area of his lower head and neck which was unprotected by his helmet as he swivelled. He fell to the ground, and was rushed to hospital where he never regained consciousness. [Daily Telegraph]
Phillip Hughes in 2010
Twitter misrepresents the real world, computer scientists warn -
Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook should not be used to gauge human behaviour or trends because they are too biased, scientists have warned. Increasingly, social researchers and media organisations use sites to glean information about public views and interests. But computer scientists at McGill University in Montreal and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh warn that the data omits the opinion of large portions of the population who are either under-represented, or who choose not to engage in social media. [Daily Telegraph]
Sheep flock to Eiffel Tower as French farmers cry wolf -
French farmers flocked to the Eiffel Tower on Thursday, sheep in tow, to express their frustration over increasing attacks by wolves which some say have been "overprotected" by the government. Sheep lazily grazed at the foot of the French capital's most famous monument as the farmers gathered under grey skies to demand an effective plan to stop the wolf attacks. "Today farmers, tomorrow unemployed," read one banner, while one of the protesters dressed as a wolf carried around a lamb. [Daily Telegraph]
The Eiffel Tower
At least 133 people were killed and 100 wounded, in the aftermath of clashes between Awlad Omran and Al-Ziyoud groups of the Mesiria tribe. The clashes occurred in the Kwak area of the West Kurdufan state, Sudan. (Euronews)
Greek labor unions begin a general strike to protest ongoing government austerity measures shuting down public medical, educational, and transportational services. (AP via Business Standard)
The Hong Kong Police Force arrests eleven more people in a second night of violence after removal of a camp in Mong Kok and seven police officers are arrested for alleged assault of a protester on October 15. (AP)
Canberra Christmas lights set world record -
A Christmas lights display in the Australian capital, Canberra, has set a new world record. Almost 1.2 million LED lights on 120km (75 miles) of cables have been strung in the shape of three interconnected giant, wrapped Christmas presents. Guinness World Records confirmed it was the largest-ever LED image display. The display in the Petrie Plaza mall was the result of months of planning by Canberra lawyer David Richards and a team of volunteers. [BBC] See Video of the day
Sony's latest wearable is a watch made of electronic paper -
The Wall Street Journal has uncovered Sony's clandestine involvement in a smartwatch project. Under the name Fashion Entertainment (FES), the company has thrown an electronic paper watch into the wearable product scrum. All credit to Sony, the watch itself is very slick looking. It overcomes many of the problems existing smartwatches on the market present - namely that they are overly bulky and have naff battery lives. Electronic paper, which is famously used in ebook readers to provide them with long-lasting battery, should ensure that this device can keep running for weeks on a single charge, rather than just a day or two. Sony secretly put the watch on a crowdfunding site in September, not taking ownership of the product until this week. The device surpassed its 2 million yen goal (£108,000), raising 3.5 million yen (£188,000) in total. [Wired.com]
Frantic trading in energy company stocks, especially the suppliers of oil-services, shaves billions off the market capitalization of publically traded businesses within this sector. (Reuters)
The death toll from a mass overdose in a Venezuelan prison after prisoners storm a prison infirmary during a prison uprising rises to 35. A hundred other prisoners are receiving treatment. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Tuğçe Albayrak, an advocate for harassed women, succumbs to her injury from a November 15 attack. German police have already arrested a suspected man. (The Independent)
Politics and elections
The Parliament of Finland votes to allow same-sex marriage, marking the first time that a citizens' initiative has received lawmakers' blessing to be written into the legislation. (YLE)
Three army officers and two protesters are killed and more than one hundred protesters are arrested during anti-government protests acrossEgypt. (ABC News)
An independent arbitrator between the NFL and the NFL Players Association overturns the indefinite suspension levied upon free-agentrunning backRay Rice by the NFL for assaulting his fiancee. (Bloomberg)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Did North Korea order hack on Sony Pictures computers? -
Sony Pictures Entertainment is said to be investigating whether North Korea was behind a hack of its computer network, over a Hollywood film depicting a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un. The hermit state’s anger over the comedy about CIA plans to kill its leader may have been behind the attack on the company’s system, according to tech news website Re/code. A group calling itself #GOP (Guardians of Peace) posted a warning on employees computers on Monday saying “If you don`t obey us, we'll release the data shown below to the world”, giving a deadline of 11:00 the same day and listing five data links. #GOP said Sony Pictures had been warned before but did not detail its demands. North Korea had threatened “a strong and merciless countermeasure” against the US if it released the Sony Pictures’ film The Interview.
Angelina Jolie 'set to become a peer' -
The dusty old House of Lords has been considerably enlivened in the past few weeks when a number of half-famous people have been officially sworn in as members of Parliament’s second chamber. But the most excitement came last week when Arminka Helic – best known as a highly-regarded special adviser to former foreign secretary William Hague – was formally welcomed into the House of Lords as Baroness Helic of Millbank. Elderly Parliamentarians dozing off a good lunch were startled to glance up to the public gallery and spot actress Angelina Jolie, an old friend of Lady Helic, gazing down benignly. Now tongues are wagging in Westminster that Miss Jolie is being lined up herself set on a seat in the House of Lords. The idea is not so far-fetched. Last month Miss Jolie was made an honorary dame by the Queen for her campaign work fighting sexual violence and for services to UK foreign policy. And last week it emerged that Miss Jolie has decided to retire from acting and focus her energies on her humanitarian work.[Daily Telegraph]
Angelina Jolie
US boy missing for four years found alive hidden behind fake wall -
A 13-year-old boy reported missing by his mother four years ago was found hidden behind a false wall in his father's home. After a tip-off police raided a detached suburban house with an immaculately kept garden in Jonesboro near Atlanta, Georgia. They discovered the fake wall behind some towels and it disguised a passage to a space above the garage. The boy's father Gregory Jean, 37, and stepmother Samantha Joy Davis, 42, and three other people in the house, were charged with obstruction, false imprisonment and cruelty to children. [Daily Telegraph]
'Hot Selfie' competition dubbed Facebook's most narcissistic challenge CANCELLED after one hopeful is 'intimidated' after posting their photo -
A 'hot selfie' competition where posers paid to enter in the hope of winning $10,000 has been shut down before a winner could be chosen.
The narcissistic photography challenge was abandoned after ‘entrant tampering’, according to the competition’s website.Brisbane-based company Serious Selfie set up the competition which offered a cash prize for the best pout. A statement on the Hot Selfie website said: ‘It was with regret that Serious Selfies PTY. LTD. terminated the Hot Selfie Competition, ahead of its end date, as a result of entrant tampering. ‘Unfortunately, one of our entrants had been contacted and intimidated outside of the Facebook platform.’ [Daily Mail]
Entrant in the Hot Selfie Competition
Henry leaves NY Bulls -
Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry leaves New York Red Bulls after four-and-a-half years with the MLS club. He is still Arsenal's all-time top goal scorer with 228 in all competitions. He is to move into television, initially as a pundit on Sky TV in the UK. (See List of the Day and Video of the Day below)
Thierry Henry
Prince Harry confession for charity -
Prince Harry has revealed that he gets extremely nervous before making any public speech. He made the revelation as part of a campaign run by his Sentebale charity to help reduce the stigma associated with HIV on World Aids Day. The prince co-founded the charity in 2006 in Lesotho after travelling around the southern African country which has the third highest HIV/Aids prevalence in the world.
Prince Harry
Brand protest -
Russell Brand joins around 400 residents of Hackney’s New Era estate to protest against US property owner Westbrook, which is threatening 93 families with eviction before marching to 10 Downing street where a petition signed by 294,000 was handed in.
Russell Brand
Cyber Monday breaks records -
Today is Cyber Monday and in the US $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion) is expected to be spent. In the IMRG Experian predicts that UK consumers will spend £649.6 million today or £451,000 a minute showing a 26 per cent increase on last year.
A search continues for 52 people missing from a South Korean fishing vessel, the Oriong-501, that sank early in the morning in bad weather in theBering Sea off Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Eight people have been rescued including one person who subsequently died. (Voice of America)
Russia launches a new national defense facility in Moscow meant to monitor threats to national security in peacetime but take control of the country in wartime. (RT)
(Nasty) Thought for the day -
Professor Stephen Hawking, the British scientist who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence. The BBC quotes him as saying "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate but humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."
Stephen Hawling
Scarlett gets secretly married -
Scarlett Johansson has revealed that she and her partner Romain Dauriac got married in secret on October 1st 2015 in Philipsburg, western Montana.
Scarlett Johansson
Strike that off the list -
The UK Government has introduced legislation banning sex acts like spanking and caning from online porn videos filmed in the UK. A list of sex acts are now on a list of 'harmful' content that has been prohibited and paid-for online porn videos must now stick to the same rules as content produced for sex shop-type videos. (See List of the Day)
Video of the Day -
Scarlett Johansson banned commercial
List of the day -
Sex acts now banned from being depicted by British pornography producers -
SpankingCaningAggressive whippingPenetration by any object "associated with violence"Physical or verbal abuse (regardless of if consensual)Urolagnia (known as "water sports")Role-playing as non-adultsPhysical restraintHumiliationFemale ejaculationStrangulationFacesittingFisting
A major Switzerland based commodities firm, Trafigura, played a "pivotal" role in the ability of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq to export oil, exports that the central government in Baghdad has prohibited. (Reuters)
Sierra Leone quarantines the Tonkolili district with more than half the country under lockdown and the official death toll in the country reaching 1,530 and roughly 7,109 infected. (Daily Mail)
Google gets down with the kids -
Google reveals it is developing child-friendly versions of some of its products and is likely to include the Chrome browser and YouTube (which it bought for $1.65bn (£883m) in October 2006). The intention is to make the internet safer for under-12s.
Boris plays peacemaker -
London mayor Boris Johnson attempted to calm down an abusive passenger on a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Heathrow but the crew had to handcuff the man and strap him to his seat. The man was arrested when the plane landed.
Boris Johnson
Pope dismissing head guard -
Colonel Daniel Anrig, the commander of the 110 Swiss Guards that protect the pontiff is losing his job when his commission ends at the end of January 2015. Although no official reason has been given, Pope Francis is apparently unhappy at the officer's strict authoritarian style.
Italian police arrest a mix of mafia gangsters, corrupt politicians, and one former terrorist in a corruption scandal exploiting migrants and gipsies.(Telegraph)
The Obama's light up -
President Barack Obama, wife Michelle and their daughters, Malia and Sasha switch on the lights of the Christmas Tree at the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington DC.
2014 National Christmas Tree
Psy'ched out -
Psy's Gangnam Style video has been watched so many times that the YouTube's counter is being upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit. The old 32-bit system only counted up to 2,147,483,647 views with Gangnam Style hitting 8,000 more than that. The mew 64-bit system will count up to 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 views (around 9 quadrillion). (See Video of the Day and List of the Day below)
Apple accused of wiping competitors tunes -
A US district court has heard lawyers accuse Apple of "deleting" songs from rival services from some iPods in 2007-09. Users with non-iTunes music received a message telling them to restore devices to their factory settings when they tried to sync them. Apple said that the move was a legitimate security measure. The case has been going on for more than a decade and could result in Apple paying out $1bn in damages.
Nobel Prize medal sells for $4.75m -
The Nobel Prize medal of American geneticist James Watson sold for $4.75 million at auction in New York today. It is the first time a Nobel Prize of a living laureate has been sold and almost doubled the estimate price. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Dr Watson in 1962 for his discovery of DNA's double helix structure in 1953.
Dr James D Watson
Video of the Day -
Gangnam Style - Psy
List of the day -
List of most viewed YouTube videos (as of 26 April 2015) [Wikipedia]
Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed. (RT)
Five Diana dresses sell for half a million dollars -
Five dresses designed for and worn by Britain's late Princess Diana have been auctioned off by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles for a total of nearly half a million dollars. British dressmaker Catherine Walker had made three of the gowns and all fetched within or just above their estimated price of between $60,000 and $80,000. The other two dresses were made by Caroline Charles and Zandra Rhodes.
Diana, Princess of Wales
Two-headed cat lives to be 15 years-old -
A cat that was born with two faces has died at the age of 15 in North Grafton, Massachusetts. Called Frank and Louie - 'Frankenlouie' the birth defect is known as a Janus cat, named for a Roman god with two faces and expected to die very young due to congenital defects. While blind in his center eye, both his outer eyes worked fine, and while he had two noses and mouths, Frankenlouie had only one brain.
Orion capsule successful first mission -
The US space agency's new Orion crew capsule has completed its maiden, unmanned voyage with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Orion is designed to take humans to destinations such as the Moon and Mars. The flight was intended to test its critical technologies and took four and a half hours.
Orion capsule
An attack on a military camp leaves 11 Indian soldiers and police dead near Uri. Eight militants and two civilians are killed in that and concurrent attacks in the state capital, Srinagar, and a part of southern Kashmir. (Reuters)
A judge in the Netherlands declares Dutch clothing company Mexxbankrupt. The bankruptcy ruling affects over 300 stores worldwide, including 95 locations in Canada. (CBC News)
Disasters and accidents
Italian rescue crews discover 17 bodies in the hull of a migrant ship off Libya. (FOX News)
Typhoon Hagupit hits the Philippines -
Typhoon Hagupit is sweeping across the eastern Philippines, threatening coastal areas with a powerful sea-surge. Roofs have been blown off in the city of Tacloban, where thousands were killed by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago and more than half a million people have fled coastal villages.
Slice of Prince William and Kate's wedding cake sells for $6,000 at auction -
A wedding cake slice from the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been sold at an auction in Beverly Hills for $6,000 (£4,000).
The buyer of this romantic slice of history was bought by Gee Chuang, the CEO of online marketplace Listia.com, who plans to give away the piece of wedding cake on the company's website in April of next year to celebrate the royal couple's fourth wedding anniversary. The eight-tiered wedding cake, made by pastry chef Fiona Cairns and her team, was adorned with icing flowers, petals and leaves. [Daily Telegraph]
iPhone crash landing protection -
Apple Inc was granted a patent last week on an innovation that can detect when a handset is falling – and rotates it to avoid the screen hitting the ground. If sensors calculate the screen or camera will hit the ground, a motor is instantly activated within the phone which moves an internal weight fast enough to affect the ‘rotational velocity’ of the device and spin it around so that it lands on a reinforced area. The idea could also work with iPads and other devices.
Al-Qaeda hostage killed during rescue mission -
Luke Somers, a US journalist who was being held captive in Yemen since 2013, has been shot by his captors during a a military operation to rescue him and later died. A video was released earlier this week showing a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) threatening to kill Mr Somers unless unspecified demands are met.
Video of the Day -
I've fallen and I can't get up - Crowd dynamics test using Miarmy for Maya
Foggy wins down under -
Former motorbike rider Carl Fogarty, four time winner of the World Superbike Championship, has won the British "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" in Australia. The 49-year-old known as Foggy beat former X Factor contestant Jake Quickenden and TV presenter Melanie Sykes in the final of the ITV show.
Carl Fogarty
LA Galaxy win MLS again -
Californian soccer team LA Galaxy have won a fifth Major League Soccer (MLS) title with a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution in the championship-deciding MLS Cup. LA have won three of the last four league titles and Irish striker Robbie Keane grabbed an extra-time winner to give the Galaxy the victory after New England's Chris Tierney had cancelled out Gyasi Zardes' opener for LA. (See List of The Day)
Robbie Keane
Royal US visit starts -
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in New York for a tour of the east coast of the United States during which Prince William will meet President Barack Obama. The Royal couple previously met the Obama's after their wedding in 2011.
The Royals meeting the President and Mrs Obama in London in 2011
Not out of the woods yet -
Tiger Woods return to competition golf ends badly as he finishes last in the 18 player Hero World Challenge tournament in Florida and is physically sick on the fairway. He has not played competitively for four months due to back pain.
Tiger Woods
Korean Air boss nut allergy -
Cho Hyun-ah, a Korean Air executive, is under investigation over claims she delayed a plane over the way she was served nuts. Ms Cho, a vice-president of the firm and daughter of the Korean Air president demanded the removal of a crew member from a flight for failing to serve nuts on a plate, forcing the Incheon-bound flight to taxi back to the terminal in New York.
London mayor asked to pay tax in US -
The new American ambassador in London, Matthew Barzun, says London Mayor Boris Johnson should settle a six-figure tax bill in the US on profits on the sale of his home in London in 2009. The London Mayor, who was born in New York and has dual citizenship, revealed last month that he is being pursued by the US tax authorities.
Boris Johnson
London mayor asks US embassy to pay charges in London -
Previously Boris Johnson has praised the new ambassador for his diplomatic abilities but wants him get the US to pay the £6 million outstanding in congestion charges run up by diplomats which the embassy refuses to pay.
Two raging fires in Los Angeles destroy a massive residential complex under construction, heavily damage a building undergoing renovations, and snarl rush hour traffic. (The Hollywood Reporter)
United States President Barack Obama unveils new limits on racial profiling. These new limits outlaw profiling based on race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. (NPR)
Glitch grounds UK flights -
A major glitch in the UK air-traffic controllers system has affected flights in and out of nearly all of Britain's airports including 89 flights cancelled at Heathrow. National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said a technical fault in the flight data system at its Swanwick centre caused the problem.
Heathrow Terminal 5
Amazon beefs up Prime
Amazon Prime launches 4K (UHD) streaming for its Amazon Prime service following Netflix into the 4K market.
Oz helping out Global Warming issues
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia will contribute A$200 million over four years into a U.N. fund to help poor nations cope with global warming.
Tony Abbott with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi
In the club (sandwich)
The British Sandwich Association has named chicken and bacon has been named the nation's favourite sandwich filling - overtaking the BLT. (See List of the day)
A chicken and bacon sandwich aka a club sandwich
Facts and Figures Concerning the UK Sandwich Industry
The information below is from the British Sandwich Association, and you can visit their website by clicking here
The British sandwich market bought ‘on the go’ is currently worth £2.8 billion
In the last year 1.69 billion sandwiches were sold ‘on the go’, at an average price of £1.66
Over 62% of the population buy a sandwich at least once a year
Over 19.7% of sandwiches are bought in work (work canteens and staff shops etc)
People in Yorkshire spend the most on sandwiches – an average of over £114 a year
People in the South West spend the least – an average of £55 a year. This means they spend under half that of their northern counterparts
The most expensive place to buy a sandwich is London - £1.83 versus a national average of £1.66
Wraps account for 4% of total sandwich sales, baguettes for 10%
One third of the market in value is accounted for by 25-34 year olds
Over 30% of all sandwiches sold have chicken as a filling
70% of all sandwiches are eaten at home, totalling 6.2 billion occasions (down 3% on 2004)
An average of 4.2 sandwiches are eaten at home, per person, every week in Britain
55% of sandwiches eaten at home are consumed at lunchtime. A further 13% are eaten at Tea, 11% at the Evening Meal and & 7% as part of a snack. Surprisingly 14% are eaten at Breakfast.
With a further 2.67 billion sandwiches made for lunch boxes, this means UK consumers are currently consuming nearly 11 billion sandwiches per year.
Three Turkish Army soldiers die by gunfire in the town of Ceylanpinar. The local Turkish governor begins an investigation of whether the gunfire came from the Syrian side of the border. (BBC)
Another bomb explodes (the previous was November 6, 2014) on a passenger bus, killing at least 11 people and injuring 21 in the southern Philippines province of Bukidnon. (Xinhua)
The US Supreme Court rules 9–0 (Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk) in favor of Amazon.com Inc. that employees are not entitled to be paid for the time they spend undergoing security checks after their shifts. (Reuters)
Britain hit by "weather bomb" -
High winds and huge waves have affected north-western parts of the UK as bad weather hit power supplies and travel. The "weather bomb" brought hundreds of lightning strikes, temporarily cutting power across the Western Isles. Wind speeds of 144mph was recorded on the St Kilda islands, with gusts in excess of 80mph elsewhere.
Bully bashed by brilliance -
Louisa Manning (@xo_louisa_ox) whose letter to a former school bully who called her "manbeast" went received over 18,000 likes on Facebook has described the response as "crazy and overwhelming". Miss Manning, a student at Oxford University, wrote the note after being invited on a date by her former tormentor when they met 10 years later in a restaurant.
Senate reports on CIA interrogations -
The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in the CIA interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects. President Barack Obama said it was now time to move on. The summary of a classified Senate report says that the CIA carried out "brutal" interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects after the 9/11 attacks on the US and misled other officials about what it was doing.
Boston time-capsule discovered -
A time capsule thought to have been buried by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere in 1795 has been discovered in Massachusetts, USA. The container was found during repair work at the state house in Boston. See video of the day.
The Kurdish region’s military forces, the Peshmerga Ministry, states that over 700 IraqiKurds have died fighting ISIL forces since June. (AFP via Daily Star)
Arts and culture
Russian billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov who bought the 1962 Nobel gold medal of scientist James Watson says that he is donating it back to Watson as a gift because the "discovery of DNA structure must belong to him". (BBC)
Nature publishes research by the University of Toronto announcing the discovery of a new class of stem cells called F-class stem cells that have the potential to be better and safer to use in medical research. (CBC)
Christiano times it right for Christmas -
Christiano Ronaldo has given each of his Real Madrid team-mates a Bulgari watch worth £6,500. Each watch is engraved with the recipient's name, the motif CR7 (he wears shirt number 7) and the words 'La Decima', to celebrate Real Madrid winning their 10th European Cup last season.
Christiano Ronaldo
New female boss of Santander -
Baroness Shriti Vadera is appointed chair of Santander UK, making her the first woman to chair a major British bank. Vadera, a former Labour minister, will receive £650,000 a year for a three-day week. She will also continue her roles as a non-executive of drugs group AstraZeneca and mining company BHP, two of the largest companies in the FTSE 100.
Baroness Shriti Vadera
No returns accepted -
US firm Astobiotic launches the first postal service to send items to the moon - with prices ranging from $460 to $26,000.
The firm, which calls the service MoonMail, says it can give over entire missions for larger items that need more shipping space and hopes to fund the development of its lunar landing by offering to take items. (See video of the day)
Video of the Day -
Astrobotic: Lunar Delivery Service
List of the day -
Distances from sun to planets and earth to moon. [List from nineplanets.org]
Distance O_Period
Name # Orbits (000 km) (days) Incl Eccen Discoverer Date A.K.A.
--------- ---- ------- -------- -------- ----- ----- ---------- ---- -------
Sun - - - - - - - - Sol (0)
Mercury I Sun 57910 87.97 7.00 0.21 - - (0)
Venus II Sun 108200 224.70 3.39 0.01 - - (0)
Earth III Sun 149600 365.26 0.00 0.02 - - (0)
Mars IV Sun 227940 686.98 1.85 0.09 - - (0)
Jupiter V Sun 778330 4332.71 1.31 0.05 - - (0)
Saturn VI Sun 1429400 10759.50 2.49 0.06 - - (0)
Uranus VII Sun 2870990 30685.00 0.77 0.05 Herschel 1781 (0)
Neptune VIII Sun 4504300 60190.00 1.77 0.01 Adams(9) 1846 (0)
Pluto IX Sun 5913520 90550 17.15 0.25 Tombaugh 1930 (0)
Moon I Earth 384 27.32 5.14 0.05 - - Luna (0)
A suicide bomber attacks a cultural center putting on a play critical of terrorist attacks, killing a German national and wounding 16 others. (Reuters/AFP via ABC News Australia)
Former British radio DJ Ray Teret is jailed for 25 years for a series of sexual assaults on 11 girls in the 1960s and 1970s conducted in association with Jimmy Saville. (Billboard)
Authorities start clearing the main protest site in Hong Kong following a recent court order for protesters to vacate the site in Admiralty area. (Wall Street Journal)
Star Wars character names posted by director -
The names of characters in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to be released in December 2015 have been revealed in a mocked-up set of trading cards. John Boyega will be Finn, Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron and Daisy Ridley's character is called Rey. Director JJ Abrams confirmed the names via some old school trading cards, in reference to when the Star Wars films were first released in the 1970s.
Oscar Issac
World's longest ship launched -
Shanghai-based marine-shipping company China Shipping Container Lines has launched the world's largest container ship, the "CSCL Globe". The ship is more than 400m (1,312ft or a quarter of a mile) long, 56.8m (186ft) wide, 73m (240ft) high and 186,000 tonnes gross. The ship, which is longer than four football pitches, is making its maiden voyage from Shanghai to Europe.
The CSCL Globe
Marriage proposal fail -
A Dutchman's attempt at a romantic wedding proposal using a mobile crane has resulted in the crane falling over and smashing into a neighbour's roof. The man had rented a crane in the central town of Ijsselstein to descend in front of his girlfriend's bedroom window, play her a song and ask her to marry him. Despite the disaster in which no-one was hurt, his girlfriend agreed to marry him.
Pope avoids Dalai Lama meeting -
Pope Francis will not meet the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China, according to the Vatican. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet and China describes him as a separatist. The Vatican does not want to jeopardise improving relations between itself and China.
Pope Francis
An unknown person shoots four people outside of Rosemary Anderson High School, an alternative high school inPortland, Oregon. Police later question a 22-year-old man. (CNN)(MSN), (AP)
Prosecutors at Sary-Arqa District Court in Astana charge 30-year old Yevgeny Vdovenko, a Kazakh citizen, of intentional and illegal participation in a military conflict abroad because he had fought alongside pro-Russian separatists in easternUkraine. (Radio Free Europe)
A Palestinian man throws a chemical substance believed to be acid at an Israeli family that stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. No terrorist groups claim credit for the attack. (Reuters)
Science and technology
Torrent site isoHunt appears to have unofficially resurrected The Pirate Bay at a site which turns out serving new content. (VB News)
Ben Haenow wins X Factor 2014 -
Ben Haenow has been named this year's UK X Factor winner after going head-to-head with Fleur East in the 2014 final at Wembley Arena. The singer from Croydon, south London, was chosen by a public vote with over 10 million votes cast. Mel B the former Spice Girl and one of the four judges, missed the final due to illness. Tulisa Contostavlos stood in as her replacement.
Mel B
FIFA dismiss complaints over report -
A complaint by US lawyer Michael Garcia who spent two years investigating World Cup corruption claims for Fifa has been dismissed by football's governing body. Garcia's findings were released as a 42-page summary by FIFA-appointed independent judge Hans-Joachim Eckert. Garcia said his summary was "incomplete and erroneous". There have been calls to release the full report in the wake of Garcia's complaint, but FIFA president Sepp Blater has said it cannot do so for legal reasons.
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Tournament Announcement in 2007
Indecent proposal -
A Dutchman's attempt at a romantic wedding proposal using a mobile crane has resulted in the crane falling over and smashing into a neighbour's roof. The man had rented a crane in the central town of Ijsselstein to descend in front of his girlfriend's bedroom window, play her a song and ask her to marry him. Despite the disaster, in which no-one was hurt, his girlfriend accepted his offer.
Hamilton is Sports Personality of the year -
Lewis Hamilton, winner of the 2014 Formula One world championship is voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the British public. Cyclist Sir Chris Hoy is given a Lifetime Achievement award and Christiano Ronaldo wins the overseas award at the ceremony held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Lewis Hamilton
Petsmart sells for $8.7bn -
The pet supply company PetSmart has signed a deal to sell itself to an investment group led by BC Partners for about $8.7 billion in the largest buyout of a US company in 2014.
Penultimate climate ultimatum -
United Nations members have reached an agreement on how countries should tackle climate change by setting national pledges for a summit due to be held in Paris in 2015. The document was signed after a two week meeting took place in Lima, Peru, hosted by Peru's environment minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal. Environmental groups criticised the document, saying the proposals were nowhere near drastic enough.
Archaeologists reconstruct two giant statues of Amenhotep III, toppled by an earthquake at the Nile River in 1200 BC. The team's restoration project re-erected surviving fragments at the northern gate of the king's funerary temple. (AFP via Daily Mail)
The United Nationsadopts a format for national pledges to tackle climate change after meetings extend into the weekend at the conference held in Lima, Peru. (BBC)
Laurent Lamothe resigns as Prime Minister of Haiti along with several ministers following violent protests and a commission's call for him to step down. The protesters have been demanding the holding of early elections. (TownHall)
Sydney hostage situation -
A gunman takes hostages in the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney's Martin Place. The hostage taker is identified as a 50-year-old cleric from Iran, Man Haron Monis who gained asylum in Australia. Passers by are criticised for taking "selfies" in front of the cafe.
Crowds outside the sieged building
Ultimate fare-dodger -
A commuter in London who avoided paying for his train fares has been banned for life from working in any regulated financial industries. Jonathan Paul Burrows has paid back the £42,550 he is estimated to have avoided paying, plus £450 in legal costs. He was a director with financial services company BlackRock.
Denmark claims north pole -
Denmark makes a claim to the UN that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory. Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard says it is a "historic and important milestone" for Denmark. In 2008, a US Geological Survey report estimated that as much as 22% of the world's undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle, but the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters. Canada and Russia have already tried to assert their sovereignty over Arctic territory.
Nuclear icebreaker Arktika
Sydney siege ends -
The siege in the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney is ended by Australian troops storming the building. The gunman, Man Haron Monis, and two of his hostages are killed.
Christmas back on in Delhi -
Delhi University has reversed the decision to rename Christmas Day ‘Good Governance Day’ by organising seminars and competitions on oratory.
But now, after a mass of complaints, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has asked colleges to organise the function without disturbing Christmas Day celebrations.
Unethical appeal -
FIFA ethics investigator Michael Garcia has lost his appeal against a statement by ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert on his report into bidding for the World Cups had contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions". The appeal has been declared inadmissible by FIFA's appeals committee, who said Eckert's statement was not a legally-binding decision and therefore could not be appealed against.
Israeli military troops kill one Palestinian man in a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli sources claim the man threw an explosive device at an army patrol. (Reuters)
The Bank of Russia announces an increase of its key interest rate, the Russian weeklyrepo rate, from 10.5 to 17 percent as an emergency move to halt the collapse of the ruble's value and, thereby, stabilize the Russian economy.(Channel News Asia)
Despite rate hike, the ruble falls to PP 65+ per US dollar and PP 80+ per Euro. (Reuters)
A tunnel collapse traps twelve Vietnamese workers, including one woman, at a construction site of a hydropower plant located in the Central Highlands. (Thanh Nien)
Israel Police arrest ten members of Lehava, a right-wing organisation that opposes integration of Arabs and Jews, for last month's arson on an Arab–Jewish school. (Times of Israel)
India declares a ban on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after an engineer was detained for campaigning on behalf of the group on Twitter. Officials worry that such ban will endanger thirty-nine men, believed to be held hostage by the group. (Reuters)
The Montgomery County District Attorney reports that Bradley Stone, suspected in the killing of his ex-wife and five of her family members Monday, has been found dead in the woods near his home in Pennsburg, Pa.. (NBC),(Venturebeat)
US and Cuba talking again -
After 53 years of diplomatic estrangement, diplomatic relationships between the US and Cuba have been re-established. The deal was aided by a personal appeal from Pope Francis, who persuaded Cuba’s president, Raúl Castro, to agree to the freeing of the American aid worker Alan P. Gross. The pope, officials said, acted as a “guarantor” that both sides would live up to the terms of a deal reached in secret.
Alan P. Gross
Smelling the money -
Fragrances from stars such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Jay Z are outselling established fragrance brands such as Hugo Boss and Gucci in some UK stores. Britney's perfumes outsell DKNY by three to one at UK store Superdrug, and Hugo Boss by two to one. Jay Z's Gold is the best selling celebrity fragrance.
Britney Spears
Interview cancelled -
"The Interview" the film that is possibly the catalyst in the Sony Pictures hacking scandal has had its Christmas Day release cancelled after major cinema chains decided not to screen it in the US.
Michael Garcia resigns from FIFA -
Fifa's independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia has quit in protest over the handling of his report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Garcia said he lost confidence in the independence of judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, an ethics committee colleague after his report was summarised.
The 5 Most Popular Perfumes Of All Time [therichest.com]
1. Chanel No. 5 by Chanel
2. Joy by Jean Patou
3. Shalimar by Guerlain
4. Opium by Yves Saint Laurent
5. L’Air Du Temps by Nina Ricci
Putin's point -
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a message of defiance and ire towards the West at an annual news conference in Moscow in the face of the financial turmoil that has gripped the country. Mr. Putin put the blame on “external factors,” including Western sanctions and falling oil prices, for the collapse of the ruble.
Vladimir Putin
Closed lot -
Sony have cancelled tours of their Los Angeles studios after it was found pass codes were part of the hack recently discovered and blamed on North Korea.
Republican dig heels in on Cuba -
Republicans in Congress are trying to find a way to stop or at least slow President Barack Obama's plan to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba. The biggest obstacle to normal ties with Cuba is the 1996 embargo and with Republicans due to take control of both houses of Congress in January, the chances of changing this look unlikely.
Mandy Rice-Davies dies
Mandy Rice-Davies the woman who was at the centre of the so-called Profumo spy/sex scandal (along with her friend Christine Keeler) that threatened to topple Harold Macmillan's government has died at the age of 70. Rice-Davies lived with Keeler, whose affair with war minister John Profumo prompted his resignation in 1963. She also claimed to have an affair with Lord Astor, but he denied it in court to which Rice-Davies famously replied "Well he would, wouldn't he."
News emerges, after survivors reach the city of Maiduguri, that suspected Boko Haram militants stormed the remote village of Gumsuri in north-eastern Nigeria on December 14, killing at least 33 people and kidnapping about 200.(BBC)
Business and economy
The price of Brent Crude oil rises to $61+ per barrel as companies cut upstream investments. (Reuters)
US clothing company Gap Inc. agrees to distribute their apparels to Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. (Reuters)
International relations
A former US intelligence officer identifies Rolando "Rollie" Sarraff Trujillo as the Cuban Interior Ministry spy for the USCentral Intelligence Agency, who was swapped in exchange for members of the Cuban Five. (NBC News)
The European Union imposes sanctions on Russia-occupied Crimea by banning investments and tourism in the region and halting oil explorations. (Reuters)
Half a million going to university in UK -
In 2014, for the first time, the number of UK university entrants passed 500,000. Among 18-year-olds, 34% of women were allocated university places, compared with 26% of men, the widest ever gap, making women a third more likely to enter higher education than men, Ucas admissions service figures show.
Extreme deep sea fishing -
The Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor, on an international expedition to the Mariana Trench has discovered a strange-looking creature, new to science, 8,145m beneath the waves, beating the previous depth record by nearly 500m.
Rotten to the core -
Senior Apple executive Jeff Williams says the company is "deeply offended" by a BBC Panorama investigation into conditions for workers involved in manufacturing its devices. Rules on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were routinely breached, the programme witnessed.
Staples reports that 1.16 million customer payment cards may have been affected in a data breach under investigation since October. (Fortune)
Disasters and accidents
A Vietnam offical states that twelve Vietnamese workers have been rescued three days after being trapped in a collapsed tunnel at a construction site of a hydropower plant located in Central Highlands. (AP via Salon)(Reuters)
US President Barack Obama imposes additional sanctions on Russian-controlled Crimea by an executive order forbidding exports of US goods and services to the region. (Channel NewsAsia)
Scientists withdraw the January 29, 2014 claim that there is a simple way to convert normal cells into stem cells, which can be used for any part of the body. Nature had in July retracted its two previous articles after the disgraced lead researcher, Japanese Haruko Obokata, was found to have plagiarized and fabricated parts of the papers. (Reuters via FOX News)
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New York police shot -
A gunman has shot dead two police officers sitting inside a patrol car in New York before killing himself. Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot by a Ismaaiyl Brinsley who apparently made online statements suggesting that he planned to kill police officers.
Sony hack: Is Idris Elba the next James Bond? -
The latest leaked memo from Sony Entertainment has revealed that Idris Elba, the British-born star of cult TV series The Wire and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, is a Sony executive's favourite to replace Daniel Craig as 007. According to the Daily Beast, Amy Pascal, the co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in an email that Elba, 42, "should be the next Bond". [Daily Telegraph]
Ticking the boxes -
Real Madrid have beaten San Lorenzo 2-0 to win the Club World Cup which means that Cristiano Ronaldo has now won the same eight trophies with two different teams Real and Manchester United. He became the first player to achieve the feat and his manager Carlo Ancelotti equalled the record for the most European and international club competitions won by a manager.
Christiano Ronaldo
Future arrests -
A former trader at Royal Bank of Scotland becomes the first UK banker to be arrested on suspicion of rigging the £3.5 trillion a day foreign exchange market. Six banks, including RBS and HSBC, were fined a total of £2.6 billion by UK and US regulators last month for the role they played in fixing the futures market.
Sir Elton John and David Furnish marry -
Sir Elton John and David Furnish have married at a ceremony, 9 years to the day after they had a civil partnership ceremony in Windsor's Guildhall. David and Victoria Beckham, musician Ed Sheeran and actor David Walliams were among the guests at the wedding at the couple's house, also in Windsor.
Elton John
Billie Whitelaw dies -
Actress Billie Whitelaw has died aged 82. Her film career started in 1954 in The Sleeping Tiger and last appeared in 2007 in the iconic Hot Fuzz alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Sony hack an act of terrorism? -
President Barack Obama says the US is considering putting North Korea back on its list of terrorism sponsors after the hacking of Sony Pictures.
Sunny smile -
Kent student Jess Smith reveals that she was the baby who played the sun on the Teletubbies, a BBC TV show in the 80s & 90s.
Joe Cocker dies -
Joe Cocker, famous for his version of the Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends" which reached number one in 1968, has died from cancer.
Joe Cocker
Total indulgence -
Costa Coffee in the UK is selling 100,000 sticky toffee latte a week during the festive season. The largest ‘massimo’ size has around 598 calories, contains up to 75g of sugar – nearly 19 teaspoons, or twice the amount in a can of Coke.
Beep-beep -
Google launch the second version of their self-driving car which has been described a toy police car.
Tit-for-tat attack? -
North Korea internet shut down for 9 hours and just days after the state was accused of a major hack on Sony Pictures in the state. Speculation is that the US government caused the outage in retribution.
Following the December 17 announcement that it would lift its moratorium on terror-related death penalty cases,Pakistan announces that it will execute 500 militants in the coming weeks. (AFP)
Tough to chew -
Netflix is to release a documentary film in 2015 which affirms that Michael Rockefeller, the youngest son of former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, was eaten by cannibals in New Guinea in 1961.
Tornado chaos in south USA -
At least five tornadoes were reported in the southern United States, leading to four deaths and fifty people injured. The twisters also caused massive damage to homes, commercial buildings and vehicles. Mississippi was among the worst hit. If the tornadoes are confirmed, it will be the deadliest December tornado outbreak since 1953. [The Weather Channel]
The FDA says that in regards to the 31-year-old policy against gay men making blood donations it will recommend lifting the lifetime ban early next year, replacing it with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man in the previous 12 months. (AP)
International relations
The Parliament of Ukraine removes the country’s legislative block on forming military alliances, allowing the government to push forward with plans to accede to NATO. (BBC)
Smithy OBE -
It's announced that James Corden known for his role as Smithy in Gavin and Stacey, presenting Sky TV's In A League of Their Own and now taking on hosting The Late Late Show in the US is to receive an OBE (Order of the British Empire) gong for his charitable work.
Ruth Jones & James Corden
Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton separate -
Helena Bonham Carter has announces that she has split from the film director Tim Burton after 13 years together and having 2 children.
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter
Gloves off -
In the US Amazon and Walmart sell out of DVDs of Team America which parodied the former North Korea leader Kim Jong-il. The reason? Another film - The Interview - is about to get its cinema release after a major hacking situation at Sony. President Obama apparently approves of the delayed Christmas Day premiere. Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, called the movie an 'unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader.'
Cash grab -
In Hong Kong a van carrying HK$35m - about $4.5m or £3m - in used notes crashed on a motorway - cue dozens leaving their cars and grabbing a bundle. About HK$15 disappeared.
You'd let him win wouldn't you? -
Prince Harry led his Sandringham workers team to a 7-2 victory in a football (soccer) match against local villagers in Scotland sponsored by the Black Horse Inn. Top royal endorsement.
Prince Harry
Shaken and stirred -
In Russia vodka prices have been rising so much that President Vladimir Putin calls on his government to curb price rises on the spirit. Half a litre costs 220 roubles (about $4.10)
Feel good moment -
A homeless man is given $100 and hidden cameras follow him into a liquor store where he buys food which he shares with other homeless people. 12 million hits on YouTube (see Video of the Day)
Pub crawl goes viral -
And a fancy dress pub crawl in Old Conwyn, North Wales featuring made up props from the classic BBC comedy show Only Fools and Horses went viral(ish) on YouTube
Xinhua reports that on December 21 Chinese police in Guangxi shot dead one person and detained 21 others. China considers the group to be "religious extremists" who were trying to cross the border into Vietnam. (Reuters)
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Christmas Truce remembered -
100 years since the famous Christmas truce when soldiers from England and Germany fighting in France laid down their weapons and played games of football. The English Football Association has held a number of events to commemorate the event.
This is going to go well -
In the US, 300 independent cinemas screen "The Interview", a film depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, turned up to a screening of the movie at a theater in Los Angeles.
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Sony hit again -
Hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad take down Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox servers following threats to do so if the film was released.
Putin cancels Christmas -
Russian President Vladimir Putin cancels Christmas, at least for his government, but setting a meeting on Christmas day.
Vladimir Putin
Video of the Day -
UEFA marks 100th anniversary of World War One truce
Al-Shabab militants attack AMISOM's headquarters in Mogadishu, leaving three peacekeeping soldiers and a civilian contractor dead. Five of the attackers are also killed. (Al Jazeera)
10 years since the tsunami -
Memorial services are being held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Bieber Bell battle continues -
The Justin Bieber v Drake Bell fans battle continued today with a Belieber hacking into Drake's Instagram account. Retaliation for Bell baiting one of Justin's fansJustin Bieber and Drake Bell
Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman Alexander Lukashevich says that "the mere idea of the film is aggressively scandalous and that the reaction of the North Korean side is very understandable." (TASS)
A report says that even before the American Christmas Eve release of The Interview, thousands of Chinese citizens were downloading pirated versions of the movie on domestic video-sharing websites. By midday on December 26, more than 300,000 people had seen the film. (The New York Times)
The Interview grosses US$1 million on Christmas Day at the box office despite being released only to small theaters.(CNN)
It's snow fun -
After the worse start to the Europe ski season for over ten years due to very little snow, a large drop in temperature and a snowfall of over 12 inches (30 cm) in 12 hours causes chaos in the French Alps.
Fallen Fernando -
Once the world's top striker Chelsea's Fernando Torres is expected to be bought by Italy's AC Milan in January but then loaned out to Atletico Madrid so ending up back in his native Spain.
Fernando Torres
Taxing issue -
The UK overtakes France as the fifth largest economy in the world after the money made from prostitution and drugs was counted in the GDP figure for the first time.
Britain's economy is expected to be worth a total £1.86 trillion in 2014 - up from £1.63 trillion the previous year.
First manager sacked in EPL -
Neil Warnock is the first English Premier League manager to be sacked this season after Crystal Palace dispensed with his services for a second time. It is the latest a manager has been fired in the season since 1996 (January 2nd)
Another tragedy in the skies? -
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 from Indonesia to Singapore has gone missing with 162 people on board. It was later found to have crashed into the sea in bad weather.
And at sea -
An Italian ferry catches fire on route to Italy with 478 people on board and is being evacuated amid choppy seas and high winds. At least ten people lost their lives.
Bad idea debate -
Three rival hacking groups call a ceasefire after admitting their Christmas attack on Xbox and Playstation gamers 'took it too far'. Lizard Squad, rival hackers from the Anonymous group, Finest Squad group, and internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom discussed the attack in a YouTube video.
February 16 – Nepal Airlines Flight 183, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6, crashes near Khidim about 74 kilometres southwest of Pokhara, Nepal, killing all 18 people on board.
March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappears from radar over the Gulf of Thailand. Has still not been found.
July 17 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, is shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board in the deadliest civilian airliner shootdown incident.
July 23 – TransAsia Airways Flight 222, an ATR-72 en route from Kaohsiung to Penghu, Taiwan, crashes during go-around, killing 48 of the 58 people on board.
July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017, a chartered Swiftair McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating for Air Algérie en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers, crashes in the northern Mali desert after disappearing from radar approximately 50 minutes after takeoff, killing all 110 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
August 10 – Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915, a HESA IrAn-140 (an Antonov An-140 built under license) crashes shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport, Iran, killing 39 of the 48 people on board.
December 28 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320 en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, crashes into waters off Borneo, killing all 155 passengers and 7 crew on board.
Traveling through thunderstorms over the Java Sea, Flight 8501 loses contact with air traffic control after the plane departed from the Indonesian city of Surabaya en route to Singapore with 162 people on board. (BBC)
The Italian-owned MS Norman Atlantic catches fire on a ferry run from Greece to Italy 44 nautical miles northwest ofCorfu, with 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 5 crew on board. Greek and Italian officials report at least one person is dead. (The Independent),(BBC)
NYPD arrest go-slow -
Police in the New York Police Department (NYPD) have dramatically reduced the amount of arrests and other actions since the shooting of two of their officers on December 20th 2015. Citations for traffic violations have fallen by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587; summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination are down by 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300; parking violations drop 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241 and drug arrests by cops dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.
I "emoji" you -
The most popular word of 2014 is not actually a word at all but a symbol meaning love - the 'emoji' heart symbol was the most widely used character in blogs, Twitter and Facebook and in 250,000 global news outlets in the last 12 months, according to a list compiled by the Global Language Monitor in Austin, Texas.
3 wheels on my airliner -
A Virgin Atlantic passenger plane landed safely at London's Gatwick Airport after discovering a problem with part of its main landing gear. Virgin flight VS43 was travelling from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it had to return and land on slightly less than the full number of wheels.
No such thing as bad publicity -
The Interview, the film about the spoof assassination of the North Korea Leader becomes Sony's biggest download film ever. It's been downloaded more than two million times since its release on 27 December, making back a third of its $44m (£28m) budget.
Cameroon launches its first airstrikes against Boko Haram in a successful operation to reclaim several villages and a military base briefly seized by the militant group in the Far North Region. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
The MS Norman Atlantic ferry fire death toll rises to at least ten as the evacuation ends. (BBC)
Royal wedding - well close -
Celebrity couple Marian Rivera and Dingdong Yantes get married at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral of Cubao in Quezon City, Philippines.
Dingdong Yantes and Marian Rivera
WBA knock out -
Alan Irvine becomes the second managerial casualty of the English Premier League season as West Bromwich Albion fire him after 7 months in charge.
Alan Irvine
Bad pirates -
Figures from TorrentFreak.com show that Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV in 2014 with over 8.1 million illegal downloads. See list of the day.
Peter Dinklage
Nut incident exec arrested -
Cho Hyun-ah, a former Korean Air executive who delayed a plane over how nuts were served has been detained shortly after a court in South Korea granted a warrant for her arrest. [see original story December 8th 2014]
Cheapskate footballers conned -
Players at an English Premier League football club have apparently lost £30,000 to fraudsters in a scam. West Ham United footballer Andy Carroll and manager Sam Allardyce paid £11,000 for cut-price Fortnum & Mason hampers and Harrods champagne last month - and the pair but never saw the goods delivered.
Andy Carroll
Coding error? -
Silicon Valley security firm Norse has said the massive hack on Sony earlier this year may not have been made by North Korea but by a disgruntled group of former employees headed by a person called Lena who was laid off last May.
More thumb action for 2015 -
New fashion app Grabble works like Tinder but with fashion items instead of potential dates being "thrown" or grabbed".
Video of the Day -
Google Search 2014
List of the day -
2014 Google Trends -Top Google searches in 2014:
Searches - Robin Williams
People - Jennifer Lawrence
Athletes - James Rodriguez
Consumer Electronics - iPhone 6
Global News - Ebola
YouTube videos - Mutant Giant Spider Dog (SA Wardega)
Happy New Year! -
5 years done, 5 to go in the decade that still hasn't earn't a name. Onesies, Deccies, Tennies - what will it be?
2014 was The Year Of... -
The Selfie. The ultimate one was, of course, by Ellen DeGeneres at the Oscars [see March 13th 2014]
2015 will be...? -
2015 was year in which the film Back to the Future was set, so expect hoverboards and DeLorean cars to be big this year. October 21st is the magical day.
Very fast wedding -
Formula 1 driver Jenson Benson, who has retained his seat for McLaren in 2015 tweeted that he has married his partner of 7 years, lingerie model, Jessica Michibata in Hawaii.
Captain Fantastic -
Steven Gerrard captain of Liverpool FC announces he is leaving the club to play overseas at the end of the English Premier League season. Gerrard who is 34 made his debut for the club in 1998 is likely to go to MLS club LA Galaxy.
Rouble to Euro -
Lithuania becomes the nineteenth state to join the Euro and in doing so gets its fourth currency in 25 years - after the Soviet rouble, the talonas and the litas.
Broken Bono -
U2 lead singer Bono says that a crash on his bicycle last November resulted in multiple left arm fractures, a broken should and hand and a fractured eye socket. He now has a titanium elbow and fears that he may never play guitar but his band-mates have reminded him "that neither they nor western civilization are depending on this."
Cancer due to bad luck -
A new piece of research by a team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US has found that most types of cancer can be put down to bad luck rather than risk factors such as smoking. The research printed in the journal "Science", showed 66% of the cancer types analysed were caused just by chance mutations rather than lifestyle.
Taking a bite out of Apple -
Miami residents Paul Orshan and Christopher Endara are suing Apple over the amount of storage space the Apple iOS 8 uses on mobile devices.They claim it uses up such a large amount that it forces owners to pay for iCloud storage. They are suing in California for millions of dollars.
Prince Andrew named in court papers -
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been named in Florida court papers by a woman who says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by his fried Jeffrey Epstein when she was a minor. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue".
Girl survives plane crash -
A seven year-old girl who survived the plane crash that killed her parents in Kentucky, US, managed to walk a mile through dense woodland to raise the alarm. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Piper PA-34 aircraft after the pilot reported engine problems.
Fancy a quick test drive? -
Former Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell now runs a Mitsubishi dealership on the British island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The 1992 world champion raced for Renault Williams, Ferrari and Lotus as well as winning the CART title in the US in a Lola-Ford. He is running the franchise with his son.
Worth its weight in gold -
A fish owner in Norfolk, England paid £300 in vets' fees when his pet goldfish became constipated. He took his fish to Toll Barn Veterinary Centre in North Walsham where vet Faye Bethell used anaesthetised water to knock out the goldfish before removing the blockages.
Elvis' planes under the hammer -
A pair of jets that Elvis Presley called "Lisa Marie" and "Hound Dog II" are being auctioned off in Beverley Hills, California. The Convair 880 and Lockheed Jetstar were owned by Presley from 1975 just two years before he died. Neither can fly but the successful bidder has an option to buy a few acres of land by Graceland to display them.
UK Charts Number one record holders since 1952
List from everyhit.comNov 1952
First number 1: Al Martino:
Here In My Heart (Nov 1952)June 1953
First artist to have two number 1s - Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra & Chorus
Outside Of Heaven (Jan 1953)
I'm Walking Behind You (Jun 1953)
[record equalled by Guy Mitchell in Sept 1953 / Frankie Laine in Oct 1953]
Nov 1953
First artist to have three number 1s - Frankie Laine
I Believe (Apr 1953)
Hey Joe (Oct 1953)
Answer Me (Nov 1953)Oct 1956
First artist to have four number 1s - Frankie Laine
See above plus...
A Woman In Love
[record equalled by Guy Mitchell in May 1957 / Elvis Presley in May 1959]
Nov 1960
First act to have five number ones - Elvis Presley
All Shook Up (July 1957)
Jailhouse Rock (Jan 1958)
I Got Stung / One Night (Jan 1959)
A Fool Such As I (May 1959)
It's Now Or Never (Nov 1960)Jan 1961
First act to have six number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Are You Lonesome TonightMar 1961
First act to have seven number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Wooden HeartJun 1961
First act to have eight number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
SurrenderNov 1961
First act to have nine number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
His Latest FlameFeb 1962
First act to have ten number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Can't Help Falling In Love / Rock-A-Hula BabyMay 1962
First act to have eleven number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Good Luck CharmSep 1962
First act to have twelve number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
She's Not YouDec 1962
First act to have thirteen number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Return To SenderAug 1963
First act to have fourteen number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Devil In DisguiseJun 1965
First act to have fifteen number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Crying In The Chapel
[equalled by The Beatles in Sep 1968]
Apr 1969
First act to have sixteen number ones - The Beatles
From Me To You (May 1963)
She Loves You (Sep 1963)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (Dec 1963)
Can't Buy Me Love (Apr 1964)
A Hard Day's Night (Jul 1964)
I Feel Fine (Dec 1964)
Ticket To Ride (Apr 1965)
Help! (Aug 1965)
Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out (Dec 1965)
Paperback Writer (Jun 1966)
Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (Aug 1966)
All You Need Is Love (Jul 1967)
Hello Goodbye (Dec 1967)
Lady Madonna (Mar 1968)
Hey Jude (Sep 1968)
Get Back (Apr 1969) with Billy PrestonJun 1969
First act to have seventeen number ones - The Beatles
The above plus...
The Ballad Of John & Yoko
[equalled by Elvis Presley in Sep 1977; The Wonder Of You (Aug 1970) / Way Down (Sep 1977)]
Jun 2002
First act to have eighteen number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
A Little Less Conversation [as Elvis vs JXL]Jan 2005
First act to have nineteen number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
Jailhouse Rock (re-issue); therefore, eighteen different songs.Jan 2005
First act to have twenty number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
One Night / I Got Stung (re-issue); therefore, still eighteen different songs.Feb 2005
First act to have twenty-one number ones - Elvis Presley
The above plus...
It's Now Or Never (re-issue); therefore, still eighteen different songs.
51,000-tonne ship deliberately grounded -
A car transporter ship, the Hoegh Osaka, was deliberately grounded by its captain and the pilot in the Solent after it began to list, its owners have said. The ship developed problems after it left Southampton dock and to avoid it capsizing in the shipping lane and risk the lives of the crew, it was steered onto the Bramble sand bank. The ship is now listing at more than 50 degrees and a salvage operation is expected to take several days.
Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor loses power in darts final -
Gary Anderson beats 16 time world champion Phil "The Power" Taylor in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship 7 sets to 6 at Alexandra Palace in London. Nicknamed The Flying Scotsman it is Anderson's first World Championship.
Breaking Bad not so fictional -
Seizures of methamphetamine has risen at the US-Mexico border with a 300 percent increase in meth seizures at California ports of entry from 2009 to 2014. Meth seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's San Diego field office accounted for nearly 63 percent of all the meth seized at all ports of entry nationwide in the year ending September 30 2014.
Hanging around -
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (@GovChristie) was left hanging after a Dallas Cowboys win on Sunday, when his high-5 appeal was ignored. Political commentators have decided that it will damage his chances of becoming a Republican presidential candidate.
Google extends Chromecast to audio -
The Chromecast dongle is now able to plug into amplifiers and powered speakers to "cast" music from any music app. Similar to the video service, users use their phone to control the music, which is then played directly through the speaker from a wi-fi router. Apps already compatible include Deezer, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, NPR One, Pandora, Rdio and TuneIn. Spotify is currently included.
Ghost in the Shell -
Scarlett Johansson to play Motoko Kusanagi in the film version of Ghost in the Shell
Scarlett Johansson
A Libyan warplane bombs a Greek-operated oil tanker anchored offshore the city of Derna, killing two sailors, oneGreek and one Romanian. The Greek government condemned what it called an "unprovoked and cowardly" attack and demanded an investigation and punishment for those responsible. (Reuters)
News emerges that two days prior hundreds of Boko Haram militants had overrun several towns in northeast Nigeriaand captured the military base in Baga. (Wall Street Journal)
Two militants, one wearing a suicide vest, kill two Saudi Arabian border guards and a general near the border with Iraq.(Businessweek)
The site where Jesus may have been tried, prior to his crucifixion, opens to the public for the first time located under an abandoned prison building, called Kishle, that is part of the Tower of David Museum ground in the Old City of Jerusalem,Israel. (Huffpost)
For the second day in a row a multi-story residential building in Nairobi, Kenya, collapses, this time an 8-story building, killing one person with eight people still missing. (AP via ABC)
Prince Ali challenges for FIFA presidency -
Fifa vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein will challenge incumbent Sepp Blatter for the leadership of world football's governing body on 29th May 2105. The Jordanian Prince, son of the late King Hussein and the late Queen Alia will stand as a candidate at Fifa's presidential election where Blatter, 78, will seek a fifth term of office. Prince Ali said: "It is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport. "The headlines should be about football, not about Fifa." Former diplomat Jerome Champagne, who joined Fifa in 1999, is the only other challenger to run for the presidency.
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein
This is Quite Interesting -
QI presenter Stephen Fry is to marry his partner, Elliott Spencer. The 57 year-old has given formal notice to wed Mr Spencer, 27, at a registry office in Dereham, Norfolk, near where he grew up. He confirmed it to his 8 million plus followers on Twitter (@StephenFry) after The Sun newspaper revealed the marriage plans. Fry said: "Oh. It looks as though a certain cat is out of a certain bag. I’m very very happy of course but had hoped for a private wedding. Fat chance!"
Footballing giant -
His football (soccer) team lost 2-1 to Liverpool in yesterday's FA Cup but Adebayo Akinfenwa (@daRealAAkinfenwa), Wimbledon FC centre forward not only scored but set Twitter alight with over 39,000 related tweets. The 5'11", 16 stone (224lb) striker known as the Beast is the world's strongest player according to the FIFA 15 game. Before the match, the man who can bench press 180kg (392lb) warned team-mates "I want Steven Gerrard's shirt," he said before the match. "I've told the boys that if anyone gets his shirt before me we are going to have a problem." He got Gerrard's shirt.
Lance Percival dies -
Actor Lance Percival, who starred in British hit comedy in Up Pompeii, has died at the age of 81.
Nike shoes accepted as bail -
A man in the US state of Massachusetts has avoided jail for failing to pay court fees by leaving a pair of $85 (£55.94) Nike trainers as a bail bond. Judge Douglas Stoddart offered Jason Duval, who is charged with drug offences, the chance to "be creative". He can get the shoes back by paying $100 or doing 10 hours of community service.
The Combined Joint Task Force combating ISIL conducts ten airstrikes in Syria, eight of them targeting the contested city of Kobani, with the airstrikes destroying fourteen ISIL fighting positions and a building. (Reuters)
Various California state district attorneys fine Safeway a total of $10 million for the illegal dumping of electronics and pharmaceuticals into landfills. (KPIX)
Shootings at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris -
Gunmen have attacked the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo killing 12 and wounding 4. Witnesses report the gunmen shouted "we have avenged the Prophet. Editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier is among the dead.
Stephane Charbonnier
Second shooting in Paris -
Possibly connected with the Charlie Hebdo attack, a gunmen has killed a policewoman and seriously injured a civilian in the south of Paris.
LA Galaxy get their man -
Los Angeles Galaxy have confirmed that Liverpool FC captain Steven Gerrard will the club in July 2015. The former England midfielder, 34, will play for the Major League Soccer club after his contract at Anfield expires. Gerrard, is the second England captain to join LA Galaxy, after David Beckham played for them between 2007 and 2012.
Fast charger -
A new kind of battery charger has been revealed by Israeli start-up Storedot CEO Doron Myersdorf at the CES exhibition in Las Vegas that can recharge a modern smartphone in less time than it takes to boil a kettle. However the phone needs to have a completely new type of battery, which contains specially synthesised organic molecules so existing phones cannot be used.
Video of the Day -
Charlie Hebdo Shootings
List of the day -
Steven Gerrard
Birthdate: 30 May 1980
Birthplace: Whiston, Liverpool, England
Other clubs: None
Bought from: Local
Signed for LFC: Joined 1988
International debut: 31.05.2000 vs. Ukraine
International caps: 114/21 (24.06.2014)
Liverpool debut:29.11.1998Last appearance:10.02.2015Debut goal:05.12.1999Last goal:10.02.2015Contract expiry: 2015
Win ratio: 52.71% W: 370 D: 165 L: 167
Games/goals ratio: 3.84
Honours: FA Cup 2001, 2006; League Cup 2001, 2003, 2012; Champions League 2005; UEFA Cup 2001; PFA Young Player of the Year 2001, PFA Player of the Year 2006, FWA Footballer of the Year 2009, PFA Fans' Player of the Year 2001, 2009
LFC league games/goals: 497 / 117
Total LFC games/goals: 702 / 183
Gunmen attack the Paris office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing twelve people and injuring ten. Some witnesses report that the gunmen identified themselves as belonging to al-Qaeda in Yemen. A 2011 issue haddepicted a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammed. (BBC)
Who's the daddy? -
A Cuban man convicted of spying in the US and committed to a double life sentence in 1998 has become a father a month after his release. Gerardo Hernandez, who was released last month by the US as part of a diplomatic thaw with Cuba, requested to have his wife artificially inseminated with his sperm while he was still in jail.
Imran bowled over -
Sportsman-turned-politician Imran Khan has married his fiance, Reham, at a small wedding ceremony at his home in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan was Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and leading them to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Team Wiggo launched -
Former Tour de France champion and Sky Team member Sir Bradley Wiggins launches his own cycling team to help preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The four-time Olympic champion will try to break the individual world hour record as part of his build-up to Rio2016. Team Wiggins will operate independently of British Cycling but the governing body has given its backing to the team.
Bradley Wiggins
App designers golden year -
Apple revealed today that app developers earned more than $10 billion in revenue in 2014, partly due to a 50 percent rise in billings. The App Store has grown to 1.4 million apps since launching in 2008, with 725,000 designed for the iPad.
Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders' -
The Russian government is tightening medical controls for drivers because the country "has too many road accidents". Transsexual and transgender people are among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences and fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving.
Job for life but don't turn up -
A.K. Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, India, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990. Even after an inquiry found him guilty of "wilful absence from duty" in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.
One of the suspects in the killings, Hamyd Mourad, voluntarily surrenders to police in Charleville-Mézières while the other two suspects are still at large. (The New York Times)(CNN)
On the night of January 7 and morning of January 8, assailants throw grenades and fire guns at three mosquesthroughout France. (ForeignPolicy.com)
Boko Haram militants raze the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria. Bodies lay strewn on Baga's streets with as many as 2,000 people having been killed. Boko Haram now controls 70% of Borno State, which is the worst-affected by the insurgency. (BBC)
Paris gunmen killed after 2 sieges -
The 2 gunmen who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre on January 7th 2015 have been killed by French police after a brief siege at a warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi were shot dead as they came out of a warehouse building firing at police. Two officers were injured. Simultaneously, Amedy Coulibaly, the man who killed a policewoman on 7th January, was shot dead at a kosher supermarket in Paris after he had killed 4 hostages - 15 hostages were rescued. Coulibaly knew one of the brothers and their respective partners had spoken on the phone more than 500 times. A total of 17 people plus the 3 gunmen have died in the 3 days.
Brand and Rascal to be studied -
The exam board Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts (OCR) plan to include evidence given by Russell Brand to a Commons select committee inquiring into drugs and an interview between Dizzee Rascal and Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman as part of the English A-level syllabus as from this September. The plans have been approved by exams regulator Ofqual amongst 37 new specifications for GCSEs and A-levels put forward by the exam board.
Dizzee Rascal
AirAsia tail section recovered -
The tail section of AirAsia flight QZ8501 that crashed while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore has been recovered from the seabed using inflatable devices. Although the flight recorders are positioned in the tail it appears that the "black boxes" have been separated from it and the search continues.
The Indonesian navy has retrieved from the seabed the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed two weeks ago.
Lucky he was a Dolphin -
Former Miami Dolphins running back Rob Konrad swam nine miles to shore after falling off his boat while fishing and his boat, which was on auto pilot, drifted away from him off the South Florida coast. Konrad, who played 82 games for the Dolphins between 1999-2004, was treated for hypothermia after it took 12 hours to swim to shore.
Saturn centre pinpointed -
Scientists have located the centre of the planet Saturn to within just 2 miles using ten antennae, known as the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), spread over an area from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. The antenna assembly uses signals sent by the Cassini probe to monitor the position of the gas giant. Previously estimates of the positions of Saturn and its satellites used data received by tracking Cassini's radio signal during its communications with Earth but the new calculations are about 20 times more accurate.
The two suspect brothers take a hostage at a sign printing company, Création Tendance Découverte, in the Frenchtown of Dammartin-en-Goële. (AAP via SBS)
The standoff ends with the two brothers dead and the hostage released. (CNBC)(BBC)(CNN)
The concurrent standoff ends with Coulibaly dead as well as four hostages. Four additional hostages and two police officers require hospitalization. Boumeddiene remains at large. (MSNBC)
Refugees flee Nigeria's Borno State following the Boko Haram massacre in the town of Baga. 7,300 flee to neighbouring Chad while over 1,000 are trapped on the island of Kangala in Lake Chad. Nigeria's army vows to recapture the town, while Niger and Chad withdraw their forces from a transnational force tasked with combating militants. (UNHCR)(NPR via BBC)
A 193-vehicle pileup along a snowy Interstate 94 highway in Kalamazoo County, Michigan leaves one motorist dead and 20 injured. A fire among the vehicles which includes a chemical tanker and a truck loaded with fireworks further compounds the disaster. The debris and fire closes the expressway for over 14 hours. Exploding fireworks hit rescue workers injuring an additional three. (ABC News)(CNN)
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, blogger Raif Badawi receives 50 lashes for "insulting Islam". This first punishment is part of a sentence of ten years' imprisonment and 1,000 lashes. He will receive 50 lashes a week for 19 more weeks. (Gulf News)(Guardian)
France remembers gunmens' victims -
Nearly a quarter of a million people held marches in France on Saturday to condemn the attacks by extremist gunmen on France that took place on Wednesday 7th January 2015 killing 17 people including 12 at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo. Large crowds gathered in Paris, Orleans, Nice, Pau, Toulouse and Nantes, with people holding banners that read "I am against racism", "unity", or "Je suis Charlie" - the latter a reference to the magazine.
#JeSuisCharlie top hashtag -
#JeSuisCharlie has become one of the most popular hashtags ever used on Twitter with between 4 and 5 millions tweets containing the phrase in 4 days.
Dart attack -
Rioting fans in fancy dress brawled and threw chairs and tables, stopping play at an Australian darts competition. Dutchman Michael 'Mighty Mike' van Gerwen was playing Australia's Simon 'The Wizard' Whitlock in an invitational tournament at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne when chaos broke out. Images show a man dressed as Batman's sidekick Robin wrestling with an English knight, while security guards try to calm the situation down.
A shooting spree in Moscow, Idaho, U.S., leaves three dead and one injured. After a high-speed chase on Highway 195 ten miles away in the neighboring state of Washington, Pullman police arrest the suspect, John Lee. (AP)
A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involves beer that was deliberately contaminated with crocodile bileleaving at least 56 dead and 146 hospitailized. (FOX8LIVE)
The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District temporarily closes the Golden Gate Bridge until Monday to install a $30 million moveable barrier between opposite traffic flows. (SF Gate)
More than three million take part in French unity rallies -
Huge crowds have taken part in a rally in Paris to commemorate the 17 people who died in gun attacks in the city in 3 days of attacks earlier in the week. More than 40 world leaders joined the start of the unity march, linking arms in an act of solidarity and an estimated 1.6 million marched in the capital. The rally was led by relatives of the victims of last week's attacks and began at the Place de la Republique. The French government said the rally turnout was the highest on record.
Boyhood wins Golden Globe Awards -
At the Golden Globe ceremony "Boyhood" won best drama movie with Patricia Arquette getting best supporting actress in the film.
Winners of all categories at the bottom of the post.
Patricia Arquette
Actress Anita Ekberg dies -
The actress Anita Ekberg,has died aged 83. A former Miss Sweden, she was branded a "sex goddess" for her performance in Federico Fellini's 1960 movie La Dolce Vita. The scene where Ekberg walks through the waters of Rome's Trevi Fountain in a black strapless dress is considered one of cinema's most iconic scenes. A quote attibuted to her in her later years is: "I don't know if paradise or hell exist, but I'm sure hell is more groovy."
First woman president in Croatia -
In elections in Croatia, opposition challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has become the first female president of the country. The voting was extremely close with Grabar-Kitarovic receiving more than 50% of the vote for her Croatian Democratic Union party, with more than 49% for Ivo Josipovic who had been president since 2010.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
Video of the Day -
Boyhood Trailer
List of the day -
Golden Globe Awards 2015 winners -Film Awards-
Best motion picture - drama
Winner: Boyhood
Best motion picture - musical or comedy
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best director
Winner: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best actor - drama
Winner: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best actor - musical or comedy
Winner: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best actress - drama
Winner: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best actress - musical or comedy
Winner: Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Best supporting actor
Winner: JK Simmons, Whiplash
Best supporting actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best screenplay
Winner: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Best original score
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Best original song
Winner: Glory, Selma - John Legend, Common
Best foreign language film
Winner: Leviathan (Russia)
Best animated feature
Winner: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Television Awards -
Best TV series - drama
Winner: The Affair
Best TV series - comedy or musical
Winner: Transparent
Best mini-series or motion picture made for TV
Winner: Fargo
Best actor - drama
Winner: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Best actress - drama
Winner: Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Best actor - comedy or musical
Winner: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Best actress - comedy or musical
Winner: Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Best actor - mini-series or motion picture made for TV
Winner: Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
Best actress - mini-series or motion picture made for TV
Winner: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honourable Woman
Best supporting actor - series, mini-series or motion picture made for TV
Winner: Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Best supporting actress - series, mini-series or motion picture made for TV
Winner: Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
More female suicide bombers, this time two, and again each believed to be around 10 years old, kill themselves and three others at a market in the northeastern city of Potiskum, Nigeria. (Reuters via News24)
US Central Command twitter account hacked -
The Twitter and YouTube accounts of US Central Command (US Centcom)have been hacked by a group claiming to back Islamic State. A message signed by Isis said: "American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back." and military documents appeared on the feed. The Twitter account was later taken down.
Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or -
Real Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo has been awarded football's Ballon d'Or or World Player of the Year Award. Votes are cast by the coaches and captains of all international teams and some selected journalists. The top three players were: Cristiano Ronaldo: 37.66%; Lionel Messi: 15.76%; Manuel Neuer: 15.72%. The winner of the women's title was Nadine Kessler, the Wolfsburg and Germany midfielder. The Puskas award for goal of the year was awarded to Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez for his volley against Uruguay in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Joachim Low the manager of World Cup winners Germany won coach of the year.
Christiano Ronaldo
Branson rescues sailor -
Four-time Olympic sailing champion Sir Ben Ainslie and his new wife Georgie Thompson have been rescued by Sir Richard Branson. The couple, who were sailing around Branson's Necker Island, got into trouble when their boat developed a problem with the sail.
Ballon d'Or Team of the Year (country, club) -
Goalkeeper:
Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Defence:
Phillip Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich)
David Luiz (Brazil, Paris St-Germain)
Thiago Silva (Brazil, Paris St-Germain)
Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid)
Midfield:
Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina, Manchester United, Argentina
Attack:
Arjen Robben (Netherlands, Bayern Munich)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid)
Beer with balls -
The Stedji brewery in Iceland has announced its new beer will be flavoured with smoked fin whale testicles. The Hvalur 2 beer is being sold for a limited period to mark the Icelandic midwinter month of Thorri. The fin whale is the second-largest living mammal after the blue whale and can grow up to 27m (88ft).
Trevor "Dozy" Ward-Davies dies -
Trevor Ward-Davies, best known as Dozy from the 60s pop group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, died today at the age of 70 after a short illness. The bass guitarist was a founder member of the band that had hits in the 60s with "Hold Tight!", "Bend It!" and the legendary UK number one "The Legend of Xanadu" complete with whip-crack sound effects. Between 1965 and 1969, the group spent more weeks in the UK singles charts than the Beatles.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich in 1967
Model restaurant -
A restaurant in Zhengzhou, central Henan province, China, can get their meal for free if they are selected by staff from a cosmetic surgery as one of the best-looking within a group of diners. People have their photos taken on arrival and the five diners judged most attractive get a free meal.
A passenger bus comes under heavy fire near a check point in eastern Ukraine leading to at least ten civilians killed and many others injured. (ABC News Australia)
Divers recover the cockpit voice recorder from the crashed jet. The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee states that by using the now collected recorders a preliminary report on the accident will be produced within a month and a final report after a year. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Egypt's highest court overturns and initiates a retrial on the only remaining conviction against former PresidentHosni Mubarak (a May 2014 sentencing of three years in prison for embezzlement). (Reuters)
The U.S. Supreme Court rules 9–0 in favor of homeowners that the Truth in Lending Act clearly states that a simple notice by the homeowner to the bank within three years seeking to rescind their mortgage suffices over an actual court-filed lawsuit. (Reuters)
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Space Panic Stations -
Crew members were evacuated from a US segment of the International Space Station when an ammonia leak was detected in the USA section of the craft forcing all the crew to evacuate the area. The six crew members put on breathing equipment and moved into the Russian segment after the alert at around 0900 GMT, closing the hatch to the US side behind them. NASA officials believe a computer problem is likely to have caused the false impression of leaking coolant.
Pub Landlord takes on Nigel Farage -
British comedian Al Murray will stand against UKIP leader Nigel Farage at the general election in May using his character the Pub Landlord as a front. Murray, who has formed the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP), will stand for election in Thanet South in Kent but said "Let it be known that like many of the parliamentary hopefuls in the forthcoming election, I have no idea where South Thanet is. But did that stop Margaret Thatcher from saving the Falkland Islands? No."Samsung launches Tizen -
Samsung's first smartphones powered by its Tizen operating system have gone on sale. The Z1 handsets are only available in India and cost 5,700 rupees ($92 or £60) and have faster boot times and longer-lasting battery life than many budget-priced rivals. All other Samsung phones use the Android operating system.
Yosemite's Dawn Wall finally scaled -
Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, become the first climbers to successfully scale Yosemite National Park's El Capitan mountain's without bolts or climbing tools. The men have been 'free-climbing' the Dawn Wall to the 3,000-foot summit for 17 days, using only ropes only to prevent falling.
On the second day of his papal visit to Sri Lanka, Pope Francis canonizes Saint Joseph Vaz at a beachfront park at the Indian Ocean, and later visits the northern portion of the island for a prayer service at the Sri Lankan Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, which was a prominent area landmark damaged in the Sri Lankan Civil War. (Catholic News Service)
The U.S. Secret Service removes four of its highest-ranking leaders while a fifth one retires. The continuing restructuring and fallout stem from a string of public security lapses beginning with the misconduct at the 6th Summit of the Americas. The most recent stage of the restructuring began in October 2014 with the resignation of then-Director Julia Pierson.(The Washington Post via MSN)
Frantic Swiss franc trading -
The Swiss franc has increased in value over the Euro by 30% from 1.20 to the euro to 0.80 in just 30 minutes before settling back at 1.03 Swiss francs to 1 euro. The frantic trading that caused this was a result of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoning the cap linking the two currencies together that had been in place since September 2011. At the same time SNB reduced a key interest rate from -0.25% to -0.75%, effectively increasing the amount investors have to pay to hold Swiss deposits with no return on investment.
Google glaze over -
Google announce that they are to stop making the $1500 Google Glass smart glasses and start developing "future versions of Glass". Google Glass was originally launched in the US in 2013.
Ginola for President? -
Former French football international and hair product model David Ginola announces he will run for the presidency of FIFA against Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein but he will need the support of 5 football associations to enter the race. Ginola is being paid £250,000 by betting firm Paddy Power, who deny the campaign was a publicity stunt.
David Ginola
Date a Neanderthal -
A science centre in Bristol, England is to host a "Neanderthal speed dating" event and is looking for two actors to improvise "early hominids" and will supply "suitable wigs and fur". The adult-only Valentine's evening would give visitors a chance to think about whether they would date "homo neanderthalensis".
Video of the Day -
Google Glass as it was meant to be.
List of the day -
Top ten Google inventions
10. Driverless cars
The cars have already been able to master driving on American freeways, but Google has since announced that its test cars can handle city streets with pedestrians also.
9. Google Glass
Google Glass is bringing humans closer to technology than ever before. This year, Virgin Atlantic began testing the use of Glass as a means of checking in passengers at the airport.
8. Google Lens
Google is also working on a pair of smart contact lenses. The idea here is to help diabetics track their glucose levels.
7. Home Automation
Google has plans to make a multitude of home items controllable with a smartphone. From light bulbs to stereos to appliances, everything would now be remotely access from the palm of users' hands.
6. Hoverboard
Google X's researchers looked hard and long at the potential of making a skateboard that hovers above the ground.
5. Smartwatch
Google is working on a slew of smart wearable technology. Google has announced its plans to bring Android to smartwatches through a new project called Android Wear.
4. Google Fiber
Google Fiber aims to provide Gigabit Internet speeds. This ultra-high speed Internet service will allow us to consume information at a never before seen rate.
3. Test Tube Food
Right now, Google-funded researchers are hard at work trying to grow tasty hamburgers from stem cells. That means we are getting closed to solving the world's food crisis.
2. Project Loon
Project Loon is Google's attempt to bring Internet access to the entire world. The goal is to use hot-air balloons to provide Internet access to the two-thirds of the world living without it.
1. Space Elevator
Of all the Google X projects, there is perhaps none more ambitious than an elevator to space.
The Swiss franc to euro exchange rate jumps by 30% immediately following a Swiss National Bank announcement. The bank will abandon its three-year-old cap on the swiss franc's value against the euro as well as lower the interest rate on sight deposits (instant access accounts) to -0.75% (the negative number meaning that the depositor has to pay the bank 0.75% per year to hold the depositor's money). (BBC)(Bloomberg)
Clashes in Gyumri, Armenia between police and protesters demanding the handover of a Russian soldier accused of killing six members of a local family leaves at least twelve people wounded. (BBC)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Beagle 2 probe found on Mars -
Pictures taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have spotted the missing Mars robot Beagle2, identified its landing location and it looks to be in one piece. The probe designed an promoted by the late Professor Colin Pillinger landed on Mars on 25th December 2003, but no radio contact was ever made with the probe. It was assumed to have crashed but it now seems that for some reason two of the solar panels did not deploy and the radio signal was consequently blocked.
Replica of Beagle 2 at the London Science Museum
Britain's oldest person dies age 114 -
Ethel Lang has died at the age of 114. She was believed to be the last person living in the UK who was born in the reign of Queen Victoria. The oldest person in the world is thought to be Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman who celebrated her 116th birthday in March 2014.
Elon Musk proposes 700 mph test track in Texas -
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) the billionaire founder of PayPal tweets that he will build a test track for his "Hyperloop" transport system that could theoretically travel at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour. He tweets the most likely location for the test track that works in a partial vacuum using magnets is in Texas, USA.
Elon Musk in 2013
A hostage crisis at a post office in Colombes, Paris, ends with the attacker releasing the hostages and surrendering himself to the police. (Daily Mail)(CNN)
Chinese officials impose an emergency ban on tourists approaching pandas subsequent to the death of two pandas from a canine distemper virus. (USA Today)
Pittsburgh police arrest Ryan Williams for the October 18, 2014 McKeesport, Pennsylvania arson attack and charge him with arson, burglary, and six counts of criminal homicide. The victims include four children ages 2 through 7. (AP),(WTAE)
Fake US tweets of start of World War 3 -
The New York Post and United Press International (UPI) have had their Twitter accounts hacked and fake tweets on economic and military news posted. On UPI's Twitter feed the Pope was quoted as saying that "World War III has begun" and the NY Post had a tweet that hostilities had broken out between the United States and China. The attacks follow the ones on US Central Command on 12th January 2015.
Stephen Fry gets married -
Comedian, actor and QI presenter Stephen Fry (57) marries his 27-year-old partner Elliot Spencer and announced it in a tweet:
His "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" comedy partner and star of House M.D. Hugh Laurie responded with his own tweet:
Plans for the wedding at Dereham Registration Office in Norfolk were revealed on January 6th 2015New running on water record -
Shi Liliang, a monk from Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian province, has broken his own record for running on plywood sheets floating on water. He managed a distance of 120 meters in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province breaking his previous best of 118 meters that he had kept.
Quite Interesting: 50 amazing facts from the QI book (collated by the Daily Mirror)
1 When customers visited the UK’s first supermarkets they were afraid to pick up goods in case they were told off.
2 Women buy 80% of everything that is for sale.
3 Nelson Mandela was not removed from the US terror watch list until 2008.
4 The founder of match.com, Gary Kremen, lost his girlfriend to a man she met onmatch.com.
5 The proud owner of the first silicone breast implant was a dog called Esmeralda.
6 In 1915, the lock millionaire Cecil Chubb bought his wife Stonehenge. She didn’t like it, so in 1918 he gave it to the nation.
7 Thomas Edison’s last breath is held in a vial at the Henry Ford museum in Detroit.
8 A pumping human heart can squirt blood 30ft.
9 In ancient Greek the word “idiot” meant anyone who wasn’t a politician.
10 Jimmy Carter once sent a jacket to the cleaner’s with the nuclear detonation codes still in the pocket.
11 The second man to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, Bobby Leach, survived the fall but later died as a result of slipping on a piece of orange peel.
12 Just like humans, British cows moo in regional accents.
13 Every year, 4 million cats are eaten in Asia.
14 Under Chairman Mao, every Chinese family was obliged to kill a sparrow a week to stop them eating all the rice. The project was ineffective because sparrows don’t eat rice.
15 John Cleese’s father’s surname was Cheese. Cleese grew up 10miles from Cheddar and his best friend at school was called Barney Butter.
16 The last private resident of 10 Downing Street was a Mr Chicken.
17 The shortest war ever fought was between Britain and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
18 The sun’s core is so hot that a piece of it the size of a pinhead would give off enough heat to kill a person 160 kilometres away.
19 Liechtenstein, the world’s sixth smallest country, is the largest exporter of false teeth.
20 Michael J Fox’s middle name is Andrew.
21 In 1811, nearly a quarter of all the women in Britain were named Mary.
22 In 1881, there were only six men in Britain called Derek.
23 Only 4 Clives and 13 Trevors were born in the UK in 2011.
24 It’s unsafe for travellers to rely on St Christopher any more: he lost his sainthood in 1969.
25 Until 1913, children in America could legally be sent by parcel post.
26 China is the world’s largest supplier of Bibles: one factory in Nanjing prints a million a month.
27 Ants can survive in a microwave: they are small enough to dodge the rays.
28 Heroin was originally marketed as cough medicine.
29 The Nazis made it illegal on pain of death for apes to give the Heil Hitler salute.
30 When the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, one of the suspects was Picasso.
31 The Dyslexia Research Centre is in Reading.
32 The United States of America maintains a military presence in 148 of the 192 United Nations countries.
33 If you drilled a tunnel straight through the Earth and jumped in, it would take you exactly 42 minutes and 12 seconds to get to the other side.
34 Beyonce Knowles is an 8th cousin, four times removed, of Gustav Mahler.
35 All but one of the ravens at the Tower of London died from stress during the Blitz.
36 George W Bush and Saddam Hussein had their shoes hand-made by the same Italian cobbler.
37 In his first year at Harrow, Winston Churchill was bottom of the whole school.
38 The Irish poet Brendan Behan became an alcoholic at the age of eight.
39 In Afghanistan and Iraq it takes 250,000 bullets (three tons of ammunition) to kill each insurgent.
40 Baseball legend Babe Ruth always wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep his head cool. In South Korea, this is considered unsporting, unless the player has a doctor’s note.
41 Under extreme high pressure, diamonds can be made from peanut butter.
42 The citizens of Kuwait celebrated the end of the first Gulf War by firing weapons into the air. 20 Kuwaitis died as a result of bullets falling from the sky.
43 The Sami people of northern Finland use a measure called Poronkusema: the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to urinate.
44 In 2009, a retired policeman called Geraint Woolford was admitted to Abergale Hospital in north Wales and ended up next to another retired policeman called Geraint Woolford. The men weren’t related, had never met and were the only two people in the UK called Geraint Woolford.
45 In 1999, Darlington FC acquired 50,000 worms to irrigate their waterlogged pitch. They all drowned.
46 Edmund Hillary, right, the first man to climb Everest, was a professional beekeeper. When filling in forms, he always gave his occupation as “apiarist”.
47 Tintin is called Tantan in Japanese because TinTinis pronounced ‘Chin chin’ and means penis.
48 The water in the mouth of ablue whale weighs more thanits body.
49 Saddam’s bunker was designed by the grandson of the woman who built Hitler’s bunker.
50 The first-ever edition of the Daily Mirror came with a free mirror.
Gunmen abduct the chief of staff to Yemen's president in the center of the capital, Sana'a. It is uncertain if Shiite Houthi rebels or al-Qaeda militants kidnapped Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak. (AP)
Following the January 16 Chad authorities decision to send troops to Nigeria and Cameroon to fight Boko Harammilitants, the Russian ambassador to the country pledges to supply Cameroon with more modern weapons to combat the Islamist insurgents. (AFP via The Economic Times)
The rescue and recovery efforts at the wreckage of the January 15 capsized tugboat on China's Yangtze River near the city of Jingjiang finds that twenty-one people are dead while three are rescued. (Straits Times)
An entourage plane accompanying the Pope and carrying government officials experiences high winds and blows off the runway minutes after the pontiff's aircraft takes off safely in the Philippines. (The Independent)
Pemberton Township, New Jersey police arrest a woman and charge her with the murder of her newborn baby girl which she set on fire. Officers extinguish the fire, but the child later dies. (AP via MSN)
Pope takes Mass with 6 million people -
Pope Francis finishes his tour of the Philippines giving Mass in front of an estimated 6 million people in Rizal Park in the capital Manila. This appears to be a record attendance for a papal event eclipsing the 5 million who saw Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1995.
AB de Villers gets fastest ODI ton -
A new record for the fastest 100 in a one-day international (ODI) by South Africa batsman AB de Villiers who hit a century off 31 balls during an innings of 149 against the West Indies in Johannesburg. Including 8 fours and 10 sixes to beat the previous ODI record of 36 balls by New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson against West Indies on January 1st 2015 but doesn't match Chris Gayle's 100 from 30 balls in the Indian Premier League on April 23rd 2013. See List of the Day below.
Vonn's record causes Tiger to lose a tooth -
American skier Lindsey Vonn (@lindseyvonn) has won her 63rd World Cup downhill title with a win in the super-G race in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy overtaking the record set by Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell over 35 years ago. Vonn's boyfriend is golfer Tiger Woods who surprised her by being at the podium after the event. In the media scrum to get pictures of the skier a hand-held camera knocked out one of Wood's front teeth. She celebrated with this tweet:
Lindsey Vonn
Chinese police shoot dead two ethnic Uighurs in Pingxiang, Guangxi while they attempt to cross into Vietnam after members of their group resisted arrest with knives. The public security ministry accuses a separatist group of orchestrating hundreds of cases of human smuggling. (The New York Times)
Lennar Urban cancels their demolition plans to implode Candlestick Park due to concerns over public health issues from the concrete dust and pollution. (KTVU)
US Cop gets 14 million hits singing to Taylor Swift in car -
A policeman with Dover Force in Delaware has received over 17 million views of a YouTube video showing him singing along to the Taylor Swift song "Shake It Off". The video (see below) has gained mix reactions but Taylor Swift gave it her seal of approval through her Twitter account to her 51 million followers:
Actress Anne Kirkbride dies -
She played Deidre Barlow in the British soap Coronation Street since November 20th 1972 and died at the age of 60.
Takes a hack to spot a hack -
Two newspapers, The New York Times and Germany's De Spiegel report that the US knew North Korea was behind the Sony Pictures hack because it had secretly infiltrated the country's computer networks in 2010. The NY Times believe that software planted by the US intelligence in North Korea's computers alerted them to hacking activity on Sony.
Sun drops Page 3 topless images -
For 44 years the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun has by synonymous with a large topless picture of a model but that has come to an end today when a picture of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wearing lingerie appeared. The paper is reported to be planning to reinstate the topless feature if sales drop. Among those who found fame were Linda Lusardi, Jilly Johnson and Samantha Fox.
Samantha Fox
Video of the Day -
Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off)
List of the day -
10 most popular Sun Page 3 girls (from Richest.com)
10. Jo Guest: DOB 22 February 1972
Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants in the town of Kobanî, Syria on the Syria-Turkey border capture the strategic Mishtenur hill killing eleven fighters. (BBC)
London's Southwark Crown Court hears evidence in the first trial on female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom, where this practice is illegal. (BBC)(Sky News)
A six-month-old boy dies in hospital of his wounds, becoming the seventh member of an Armenian family dead after a killing spree by a Russian soldier. (Fox News)
Flight QZ8501 crash possibly caused by climbing too fast -
Initial investigations believe the reason for the AirAsia QZ8501 airline crash on December 28th 2014 was because it climbed too quickly to avoid bad weather. Data collected from the "black boxes" show that the plane climbed at over 4,000 feet per minute which might have cause it to stall.
Powerful waves -
The 64-meter wide Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia has picked up a "short, sharp flash" of radio waves from a mysterious source up to 5.5 billion light years from Earth which places the source outside the galaxy. Astronomers have yet to come up with an explanation for the radio waves.
Flagging civil rights -
The Chinese version of WhatsApp called WeChat accidently sent US flag icons over the screen if the key words "civil rights" were entered. The company behind the app, Tencent, blamed the effect on a technical glitch.
Rapper AK Canserbero murder/suicide -
Venezuelan singer songwriter Tirone González known as rapper AK Canserbero has been found dead after jumping from the 10th floor of a building in Maracay he was 26. It appears he had stabbed to death Carlos Monar, the bass player of another band before committing suicide.
Houthi rebels take over the residence of the President amidst calls by the rebel leader for negotiations to adjust the country's power structure. (The Washington Post)
A fire in a bowling alley causes a roof collapse in Taoyuan City, Taiwan killing six firefighters. (AP)
An overpass of I-75 in Cincinnati, Ohio collapses while undergoing demolition, killing one worker and injuring a trucker whose vehicle was struck by debris. (Cincinnati.com)
Microsoft launch Windows 10 and the HoloLens-
Microsoft reveals the HoloLens holographic headset that will project the new Windows 10 OS over views of the real world. Windows 10 will also introduce its voice-controlled assistant Cortana to PCs. The OS upgrade will be offered free of charge for devices running Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Phone in its first year of release. The Internet Explorer web browser will be replaced by a new program codenamed Project Spartan.
The HoloLens
Most dangerous sexual position -
Researchers in Brazil report that the woman-on-top position during intercourse is responsible for half of all penile fractures sustained during sex in cases recorded at three hospitals. Positions involving the woman on all fours was involved in 29 per cent of fractures and the safest position in the bedroom is the man-on-top ‘missionary position’. See List of the Day below.
No s**t Sherlock -
Australia's National Rugby League has apologised after publishing players' favourite swear words on its website. Shaun Johnson, Kurt Gidley and Sam Thaiday were among those asked to reveal their chosen profanities as part of their player profiles, but they were quickly removed.
Shaun Johnson
Liam Neeson criticised by gun company -
PARA USA the firearms company that provided the guns for Liam Neeson's movie Taken 3 has said they have "regrets" about working with him after he said that there are "too many... guns out there, especially in America." The company will cut ties with the Taken franchise and recommended other companies to do the same. Leeson also said the gun problem was not connected to Hollywood's action movies.
Liam Neeson
Madonna hacking arrest -
An Israeli man who appeared on one of the country's talent shows has been arrested on suspicion of hacking into singer Madonna's computers and selling unreleased songs online. Madonna had to release some new songs early in December 2014 after demos from her new album Rebel Heart were discovered online.
Shazam worth $1 billion-
Shazam, the mobile music recognition service, has raised $30m in a funding round that pushes its valuation to $1bn. The $30m investment takes equity raised to $125m over the past eight years, during which its revenue has risen from £2.5m in 2007 to £31m in 2013. But the company has not made a profit in that period and in 2013 it lost £2m.
Video of the Day -
Shazam Top 20
X Factor Winner Marlisa Sings Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud
A Palestinian man from the West Bank, Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, illegally crosses into Israel for the express purpose to stab people attacking over a dozen Israelis on a bus in central Tel Aviv. Security forces capture the assailant as he continued to indiscriminately stab people in the street. (The New York Times)
The government-installed pollution gauges that were set up along roadside stations to monitor Hong Kong reach the maximum level of their ranges. (Bloomberg)
Italian police seize 5,361 ancient artifacts worth $64 million from a Swiss-Italian trafficking ring. The discoveries come after various raids on warehouses against Italian art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, who owns an art gallery in Switzerland.(AFP via ABC.Net.AU)
Solo hopes for better time -
Hope Solo, The US women's team goalkeeper is suspended for 30 days by US Soccer following an "incident" during a training camp. The teams head coach Jill Ellis said "Hope made a poor decision that has resulted in a negative impact on US Soccer and her team-mates." Solo's husband, former Seattle Seahawks NFL player Jerramy Stevens, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Los Angeles in the early hours of January 19th 2015. Solo who appeared in the 2011 Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine tweeted:
Rick puts dicks on the runway -
Rick Owens the American designer sent four of his models down the catwalk at his Paris fashion show wearing clothes with peepholes that showed full-frontal male nudity underneath. His possibly unique idea earned him the Instagram hashtag: #dickowens.
Rick Owens
Rihanna wins court case over t-shirt-
Rihanna wins her long running legal challenge against Topshop over selling a t-Shirt with a picture from her Talk That Talk album promotional work.
Singer Rihanna has won a legal battle against high street store Topshop over a t-shirt bearing her image. Rihanna sued Topshop's parent company Arcadia for $5m (£3.3m) back in 2013 and the Court of Appeal in London upheld a ban on the store selling the t-shirt.
A man's right to pee stands up in court -
A German court has ruled in favour of a man's right to urinate while standing up after his landlord demanded €1,900 (£1400; $2,200) for damage to the marble bathroom floor caused by urine. But the Duesseldorf judge ruled that the man's method was within cultural norms, saying "urinating standing up is still common practice" even though some public toilets in Germany have signs forbidding the standing position - but those who choose to sit are often referred to as a "Sitzpinkler", implying it is not masculine behaviour.
Stars out against Tescos in Haverstock Hill -
Damian Lewis, Old Etonian star of Homeland has joined up with Emma Thompson, James Corden and Tom Conti and other residents of Belsize Park in London to attempt to stop Tesco building an Express branch in Haverstock Hill. This follows Russell Brand campaigning to stop building work in Hackney, London on December 1st 2014.
An explosion near a civilian trolleybus in the city of Donetsk kills at least thirteen people. Separatists and pro-government forces blame each other for the incident. (BBC)
Edgewater Police Chief William Skidmore says that workers doing plumbing work accidentally started the January 21 fire in The Avalon at Edgewater apartments in Edgewater, New Jersey that caused the destruction of 240 units and displaced 1,000 residents. (AP)
King Abdulla dies -
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died today and his brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became king. King Salman has named his half-brother Muqrin as his crown prince and heir in a move designed to reduce fears of a succession crisis.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The new King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman
Tennis player asked to do the twirl -
Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen has asked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard "to give it a twirl" to show off her outfit after her second-round win over Kiki Bertens in the Australian Open causing upset. Bouchard who lost in the final at Wimbledon in 2014 said "... I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles and stuff."
It's teleporting Jim, but not as we know it -
Scientists from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany have invented a real-life teleporter system that can scan in an object and “beam it” to another location. Not quite the level of sophistication seen in Star Trek, the system uses destructive scanning, digital transmission and 3D printing.
List of the day -
Captains of Star Trek's USS Enterprise (and variants)
Thailand's military-appointed legislature votes to impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars. (AP)
Islamic State terrorists execute Japanese hostage -
Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe has called the footage of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto apparently holding a photograph showing the body of fellow captive Haruna Yukawa "outrageous and unacceptable". On January 20th 2015 Islamic State said it would kill the two men unless Japan paid a ransom of $200m (£130m) within 72 hours.
Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe
Where are the richest 1% in the world? -
According to Credit Suisse anyone who has assets worth over $798,000 (£530,000) is one of 1% of the richest people in the world. 18 million of the top 47 million richest people are in the US, 3.5m in France, 2.9m in the UK and 2.8m in Germany. Ten percent of Swiss residents, a total of 800,000, are in the top 1%.
50 years since the death of Winston Churchill -
Sir Winston Churchill, prime minister of England through World War II died 50 years ago today. He was Conservative prime minister from 10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945 and again in 26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955.
Winston Churchill
FA Cup upsets return -
In England and Wales the fourth round of the FA Cup sees some of the most surprising results for many years. Premier League leaders Chelsea are beaten on their own ground 4-2 by Bradford City after leading the League One team 2-0. Manchester City who are second in the Premier League also lose at home to Championship side Middlesborough. This followed Cambridge United holding on for a 0-0 draw against Manchester United yesterday.
Jose Mourinho
List of the day -
Increase in wealth of richest 10 billionaires (ranked 2013)
The Islamic State kills eight Lebanese soldiers in the northeastern Lebanese village of Ras Baalbek. (AP)
Japan states that it is seeking to verify a video that claims the killing of Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa by Islamic State militants. (BBC)
Business and economy
Subsequent to the January 15 announcement that Target Canada would close all 133 stores, they announce the layoff of 17,000 employees. (CBC)
Health
The measles outbreak at Disneyland (Anaheim), which originated on December 28, 2014 (patient zero being an unvaccinated California woman who apparently transmitted the virus through airports and the theme park), but was unreported until January 7, spreads from California to six other states, including Nebraska, and Mexico. It now involves at least eighty-five cases. (AJC)(CBS)
Syriza party wins Greek election -
In the Greece general election Alexis Tsipras' party wins a clear victory with a projected 149 seats. The Syriza party ran on an anti-austerity ticket and has vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010. The party first came to prominence following the 2008 Greek riots.
Alexis Tsipras
Prime Minister, call on line hoax -
A hoax caller pretending to be GCHQ director Robert Hannigan today managed to get through to the British Minister on the phone; David Cameron quickly realised it was not the GCHQ head and ended the call.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan
Proposal racquet down under -
At the Australian Open tennis tournament a man in the crowd proposed to his girlfriend during Novak Djokovic's third round match against Fernando Verdasco. When the woman accepted the proposal the crowd and players burst into applause.
Rihanna new single rocks Twitter with #FourFiveSeconds -
Rihanna releases her new single Four Five Seconds, the first release from her new album and it features Kanye West and someone called Paul McCartney who has worked with a few stars before (see List of the day).
Rihanna
The record is credited to "Heather Mills featuring Paul McCartney." McCartney co-wrote the song with Mills, and he provided the backing vocals and guitar. The CD single contains the following three tracks:
A massive blackout strikes Pakistan, leaving as much as 80 percent of the country without electricity at its height as officials rush to restore power. (AP)
Greek parties form anti-austerity coalition -
The winner of yesterday's election in Greece, the far-left Syriza party won 149 seats, just two short of an absolute majority. It has formed an anti-austerity coalition right-wing party, the Greek Independents led by Panos Kammenos.
Panos Kammenos, leader of the Greek Independents
Greek F-16 crashes at Spanish airbase -
A Greek F-16 jet "lost power" during take-off at the Los Llanos airbase in Albacete in central Spain and crashed into a number of parked planes and ground crew. Ten people have died including the two pilots of the plane.
Demis Roussos dies -
Demis Roussos, a Greek singer who sold more than 60 million albums worldwide most during the 1970s and 1980s has died aged 68 in Athens. He was best known for solo hits including Forever and Ever, Goodbye and Quand je t'aime as well as writing the soundtrack to the film Abigail's party.
Hit and miss snow fun -
New York "dodged a bullet" according to Mayor Bill de Blasio after the huge expected snowfall skirted the city. All vehicle movement apart from emergency vehicles had been banned and the subway was shut down. However in Massachusetts the Emergency Management Agency (Mema) shut down the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth “due to loss of offsite power”.
Auschwitz remembered -
70 years since the day that the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland was liberated in 1945 sees ceremonies performed at the camp and around the world.
Birkenau Gate, Auschwitz
Twitter gets video and group DM -
Twitter launch a video function so 30 second mobile video uploads can be played directly in timelines. The platform is also adding a group direct messages function. The video function uses the devices build in camera to produce Vine style clips but longer.
And Snapchat become a "news" outlet -
Snapchat is making content from the news sevices of Vice Media and CNN available to its users and DailyMail.com will offer Snapchat users 10 to 15 of its “highly addictive stories” news, showbiz and lifestyle stories selected by a special editorial team. Each edition will be available for 24 hours.
Five gunmen at the LibyanCorinthia Hotel in Tripoli attack with at least ten dead. The hotel was previously the location in 2013 where a former prime minister was abducted. (AP)
Luis Figo enters FIFA presidential race -
Luís Figo the former Portuguese football who famously played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona has entered himself to stand for the FIFA presidential election and claims to have the required five nominations from among FIFA’s 209 members. He joins Prince Ali of Jordan, the Dutch FA president Michael van Praag, Jérôme Champagne and David Ginola facing up to current president Sepp Blatter.Luis Figo
Apple now have enough money to own the largest navy in the world -
Apple the tech company reports the biggest quarterly profit of any company in the world ever with revenues of $74.6bn and a net profit of $18bn. It's cash holdings are now $178bn which according to The Guardian newspaper "is enough to commission 40 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, giving Apple more force capability than every other navy in the world – combined".USS Nimitz (planes not included in price)
Cat survives car crash and burial -
A cat in Florida that was buried in a shallow grave after being apparently killed by a car has managed not only to survive but to dig its way out of the grave. Bart the zombie cat as he is now known was found by a neighbour and is now recovering after surgery on a broken jaw and damaged eye.
Video of the Day -
Sommersby Cider - The Somersby Store
List of the day -
List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel (from Wikipedia)
Russian planes buzz UK airspace -
Britain's Foreign office have said that two Russian Tu-95 Bear H aircraft came within 25 miles of UK airspace in the last 24 hours. They travelled from the north, past the west coast of Ireland and to the English Channel before turning and going back the way they had come. British typhoon fighters were scrambled after the the bombers did not file a flight plan, did not have their transponders switched on and "weren't talking to air traffic control".
Taylor Swift trademarks lyrics -
Taylor Swift has trademarked phrases from her current album, 1989 in the United States. The phrases include "this sick beat" and "we never go out of style", and the trademark ruling stops the use of the lyrics on merchandise. Rihanna successfully sued Topshop earlier this month for using her image on a t-shirt.
Murray's girlfriend tells it like it is -
Tennis player Andy Murray's fiancé Kim Sears is caught on camera apparently swearing about Murray's semi-final opponent Tomas Berdych's. Lip readers allege she said "Take that you flash Czech fucker", when Murray won a crucial point. Murray later defended Sears, saying: "In the heat of the moment, you can say stuff that you regret."
Video of the Day -
Taylor Swift - Shake it off
List of the day -
Taylor Swift album data
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications
A coronial inquest into the siege at the Lindt Cafe in the center of Sydney begins. The inquest hears that one hostage was killed by gunman Man Haron Monis while another was killed by fragments of a bullet or bullets fired byNew South Wales Police Force officers. (The Australian), (BBC)
ShiiteHouthi rebels seize a Yemeni military base south of the capital, Sana'a, where U.S. military advisers once trained Yemeni counterterrorism forces to fight Al-Qaeda in the south of the country. Forces loyal to former PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh had manned the captured base. (Wall Street Journal)
The Philippine economy grew by more than 6% in 2014 making it the second fastest growing economy in Asia afterChina. This is the longest sustained growth period in the country since the 1950s. (Economic Times)
Disasters and accidents
A Nieto Express propane gas tanker truck explodes near the loading dock of a maternity and children's hospital (Hospital Materno Infantil Cuajimalpa) in Mexico City, collapsing much of the hospital with at least three deaths and 70 people injured, 22 of whom are children. (AP), (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia), (New York Daily News)
Without recovering any physical evidence, including the data recorders, Malaysia officially declares the loss of Flight 370 over the Indian Ocean an accident meaning that victims families can seek compensation. (USA Today)
Suge Knight arrested after fatal car incident -
Marion “Suge” Knight who founded Death Row Records with Dr Dre in 1991, gives himself up for arrest after a fatal hit-and-run incident in Compton, Los Angeles. Police and witnesses said Knight drove his truck over two men in the car park of a restaurant killing one (his friend Terry Carter, a record label owner in Compton) and injuring the other (Cle “Bone” Sloan). Bail is set at $2m. In 1996 Knight was driving a BMW in Las Vegas in 1996 when gunmen in another vehicle shot his passenger, the rapper Tupac Shakur who later died.
Suge Knight
Jay Z takes on Dr Dre in world of streaming -
Rapper and entrepreneur Jay Z who earned over $60 million in 2014 places a $56m bid for Scandinavian company Aspiro, the company behind streaming services WiMP a direct rival to Spotify in Scandinavia. Aspiro also have a higher-resolution version called WiMP HiFi that was rebranded as Tidal when it launched in the UK and US in October 2014. If Jay Z succeeds in the bid he will be competing with Dr Dre's Beats Music, the streaming service bought by Apple as part of a $3bn acquisition of its parent company Beats Electronics in 2014.
Jay Z
Out of the woods but into a cactus -
Tiger Woods records the worst round of his professional career with an 11-over-par 82 in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Woods carded six bogeys, two double bogeys, a triple bogey and two birdies and left the ball in the middle of a cactus.
Tiger Woods
David Ginola pulls out of the Fifa presidential election -
David Ginola fails to secure the backing of five football associations, a requirement for standing in the FIFA presidential election and hpulls out of the challenge. Ginola was paid £250,000 by betting firm Paddy Power, which denied the campaign was a publicity stunt.
David Ginola
The new Greek government, represented by finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, meets with Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup, and declares that Greece now rejects any further cooperation with its main international lenders known as the troika (the Eurogroup, the IMF, and the ECB); instead, it wants to negotiate directly with other European countries. (Deutsche Welle)
Health
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that this season's influenza hospitalizations of 65-year-old and older Americans hit a record high since the 2005-2006 season. (AP)
Two balloonists, Troy Bradley of the United States and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia, are crossing the Pacific Ocean in the Two Eaglesgas balloon and have surpassed the distance and duration records for straight gas balloons. They are set to land in Mexico on Saturday. (BBC)
Whitney Houston's daughter accident -
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of late American singer Whitney Houston is found unconscious in a bath in a house in Roswell, Georgia. She was taken to a hospital in Roswell where she was said to be breathing. Her mother was found dead in a bath on February 11th 2012 of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009
Cumberbatch and Fry sign petition to pardon gays -
Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry sign an open letter requesting the government to pardon 49,000 men who were prosecuted for being gay. Family members of the World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 (and later committed suicide in 1954) also signed the petition. Cumberbatch played Turing in the film "The Imitation Game".
Benedict Cumberbatch
Balloon flight record broken -
Balloon pilots American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev complete their crossing of the Pacific in a helium filled balloon with a sea landing off Mexico after 6 days flying from Japan. They claim to have beaten the world distance and duration records by flying for more than 137 hours and travelling more than 5,209 miles (8,383km).
Serena Williams wins 19th grand slam title -
Serena Williams beats fellow American Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open tennis title. Williams' 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory gives here a 19th grand slam crown out of 23 finals - the best percentage performance in either the men’s or women’s game.
Serena Williams
France orders an official investigation into the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 which had a French copilot flying the aircraft at the time of its crash. (AFP via France 24)
In golf, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who does not turn 18 until 24 April, becomes the youngest golfer of either sex to be ranked number 1 in the world, surpassing the previous record of Tiger Woods by nearly four years. (New Zealand Herald)
Patriots win the Super Bowl -
The New England Patriots become the first team in Super Bowl history to trail by double digits in the second half and win Super Bowl XLIX at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona. The Patriots took the lead from the Seattle Seahawks with two minutes left and held on for a 28-24 victory. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed a Super Bowl record 37 of 50 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions, was named Super Bowl MVP. The half-time show was fronted by Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot.
Tom Brady
Djokovic defeats Murray to win Aussie Open again -
Novak Djokovic wins his fifth Australian Open, beating Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. Andy Murray's fiancee Kim Sears laughed off the controversy over her colourful language caught on camera during Murray's semi-final against Tomas Berdych on January 29th 2015 in Melbourne by wearing a 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content' t-shirt at the Australian Open final.
Adding insult to injury -
Democratic Republic of Congo footballer Gabriel Zakuani is run into by the stretcher buggy during his team's semi final against Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations. The defender was already injured when the buggy hit him. DR Congo went on to win 4-2 without Zakuani who also plays for Peterborough United in the UK, but he was not badly hurt.
List of the day -
20 bizarre football injuries
20) David Batty - Kids Tricycle (1990s)
A hardman in the 90s, Batty's tough guy reputation took a knock when his three-year-old daughter ran over his foot with a tricycle when he was recovering from an ankle ligament injury.
19) Oliver Kahn - Michael Rensing (2006)
During the warm-up for Bayern Munich's game against Arminia Bielefeld, Rensing hit a strike so hard it gave number one Kahn a black eye. The Bayern shot stopper was forced to give up his place to his deputy but it didn't make much difference as the Bavarians ran out winners.
18) Robbie Keane/Carlo Cudicini/David James/David Seaman - Remote Control
All four players suffered injuries stretching for the 'zapper'. Keane and Cudicini hurt their knees while Calamity James pulled a muscle in his back as he jostled with the remote. Seaman pulled a muscle as he tried to record British soap Coronation Street. He also put his shoulder out trying to reel in a giant fish.
17) Rafael Van Der Vaart - Lifting Son (2007)
The Dutchman was desperate to leave Hamburg for Valencia in 2007 and pulled out of a European game so he wouldn't be cup-tied. His lame excuse? Lifting his one-year-old son. Nobody bought it and the saga was dubbed 'Van der Farce' by the German media.
16) Darius Vassell - DIY surgery (2003)
Former England striker Vassell picked up an infection and had to have a portion of his nail removed after attempting to drain a blood blister on his foot with a power drill. He finally saw sense and sought proper medical attention after realising he wasn't a surgeon.
15) Julio Arca - Jellyfish (2004)
Tough Argentinian Arca was stung by an exotic jellyfish when he went swimming in England's north east during a Sunderland team training session. He broke out in a severe rash and was rushed to hospital. Rumours that the jellyfish was a Newcastle fan remain unconfirmed.
14) Norbert Nigbur - Standing up (1980)
All set to be West Germany's number one for the European Championships, the shot stopper went out to celebrate with his fiancee. After the meal he tried to stand up and shrieked in pain after tearing his meniscus and locked his knee. Harold Schumacher took over and just to rub it in West Germany went and won the tournament.
13) Kevin Kyle - Boiling Water (2006)
Forget Golden Balls, Scottish player Kevin Kyle was christened 'Scaldin Balls' after injuring his private parts with a jug of boiling water. The proud dad was warming up a bottle of milk for his new son when the toddler slipped and hit the jug in Kyle's direction, inflicting burns to his testicles and inner thigh. The then Premier League player missed his club's next game and a Sunderland spokesperson said he was walking like John Wayne for a few days!
12) Chic Brodie - Sheepdog (1970)
Brentford goalkeeper Brodie collided with a sheepdog which raced onto the pitch. The dog got the ball while Brodie shattered his knee cap and never played again. "The dog might have been a small one, but it just happened to be a solid one," he said years later.
11) Juan Carlos Silva - Shot in 'left gluteus' (2010)Silva was the second Club America star to be shot in a week after team-mate Salvador Cabanas amazingly survived a gunshot wound to the head. The Mexican was a victim of gunfire after being shot during a carjacking.
"He was shot in the gluteus, but the bullet went in and came out, which did not cause major damage," said Edwin Victoria, Club America's press officer.
10) Ivano Bonetti - Chicken Wings (1996)
Talented Italian Ivano Bonetti fell 'fowl' of coach Brian Laws after Grimsby Town lost 3-2 to Luton. During a demonstrative team talk Laws aimed a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, who was left with a fractured cheekbone.
9) Emerson - Playing in goal (2002)
Had he not being playing the clown, Emerson - and not Cafu - would have lifted the World Cup in 2002. Instead the midfielder missed the tournament after dislocating his shoulder after volunteering to play in goal and strained himself trying to save a Rivaldo shot.
8) Svein Grondalen - Moose (1970s)
Norwegian international Grondalen was forced to miss a game for his country after being the victim of a hit and run with a stray moose when he was out on his morning run.
7) Ramalho - Swallowing Suppository
Brazilian player Ramalho was laid up in bed for three days after swallowing a giant pill he had been prescribed for a dental infection. Unfortunately for the player it was supposed to be administered anally.
6) Milan Rapaic - Boarding Pass (1990s)
Modern footballers are used to the jet-set lifestyle. Erm... not quite, as former Hajduk Split stalwart Milan Rapaic missed the start of the Croatian season after sticking his boarding pass into his eye at the airport.
5) David Beckham - Football Boot (2003)
Becks was given the boot out of Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson after the Reds limped out of the FA Cup against Arsenal in 2003. Fergie flipped after the game and kicked a stray boot which caused a cut just above the then England captain's eye. Refusing to apologise, the Manchester United boss quipped: "If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could, I would have carried on playing!" Becks was booted out for good a few months later to Real Madrid.
4) Ronaldo - Microphone (2009)
Brazilian legend Ronaldo expected some rough treatment when he returned home. Trouble was it happened off the pitch too as he was left with a black eye after being struck by a microphone during a media scrum following his debut for Corinthians.
3) Santiago Canizares - Aftershave Bottle (2002)
Along with Emerson, World Cup 2002 was a vintage year for freak injuries. Spain's number one shot stopper Canizares was forced to watch Iker Casillas take his place after accidentally smashing a bottle of aftershave and a shard of glass severed a tendon in his big toe.
2) Diego Maradona - Dog Bite (2010)
If you're wondering why Diego Maradona was sporting a Fidel Castro-style beard this summer you can blame his dog. The former Argentina coach was attacked by his beloved Shar Pei pet, who bit the great No. 10 on the face. El Diego had to undergo surgery and receive tetanus and rabies vaccines.
1) Paulo Diogo - Wedding Ring (2004)
Newly wedded bliss and celebrating a goal is the ultimate combination surely. Not so for ex-Servette player Paulo Diogo, who ran into the joyous crowd to lap up a goal against Schaffhausen only to catch his wedding ring on a fence and rip off the top half of his finger. With Diogo writhing in agony, the match had to be temporarily stopped as stewards looked frantically for the remaining part of his finger. The unsympathetic referee promptly booked Diogo for celebrating too wildly!
Things didn't get any better back at the hospital when surgeons were unable to re-attach the finger and advised the player to amputate the rest of it. Ouch!
The United Steelworkers union strikes against Royal Dutch Shell Plc at nine U.S. oil and chemical plants. Up until recently oil prices had undergone steep drops since June, but the union's action as part of the supply chain caused the market price to soar more than eight percent. (Reuters)
Four-hundred African migrants charge past Moroccan border forces by throwing rocks, trying to storm border fences separating Spain's North African enclave Melilla, but Spanish guards repel them. (AP via Fox News)
Super Bowl gets super viewing figures -
Yesterday's Super Bowl saw America's highest-ever overnight ratings with New England Patriots late win over Seattle. The Nielsen ratings company said that 49.7 percent of the homes in the nation's largest media markets were watching the game, up four percent over last year's game which was seen by 111.5 million. Later information revealed viewing figures of 114.4 million on NBC, the largest audience for a U.S. television program in history.
Apple feeling a bit broke -
Apple is issuing bonds today which are expected to raise at least $5bn (£3.3bn) mainly to be used to help the company return more than $130bn to shareholders by the end of this year. Despite the company sitting on a cash pile of $142bn almost 90% of the cash is held outside the US, and it would have to pay a corporate tax rate of 35% if it returned the money from abroad, so it is borrowing the money instead.
The there's muck there's... gold -
Staff cleaning unused dirty lockers at a school in the city of Ahmedabad, western India, uncover 2kg in gold bars and 10m rupees in cash ($160,000; £108,000). The clean up was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Clean India" campaign. Two unused lockers in the staff room had no keys, so staff broke into them and made the discovery. According to police, the solid gold is worth nearly 6m rupees. No-one has claimed ownership.
My BMW has a virus -
BMW patches a security flaw that meant 2.2 million cars fitted with BMW's ConnectedDrive software, including Rolls Royces and Minis, were open to hackers. The software operated door locks, air conditioning and traffic updates and although no cars have actually been hacked, the flaw was identified by German motorist association ADAC.
A female suicide bomber attacks minutes after the President of Nigeria leaves an election rally in the city of Gomberesulting in at least one death and eighteen people injured. (BBC)
Zoella leaves dressing room for kitchen -
Zoe Sugg the YouTube vblogger with 7 million subscribers is to appear on the celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off. Zoella as she is known online (@ZozeeBo with 2.6m followers on Twitter) recently featured on Debrett's list of the 500 most influential people in Britain.
Zoe Sugg A.K.A. Zoella
AKB48 proposed to open Olympic ceremony in 2020 -
The big debate in Japan today is whether to allow J-pop group AKB48 to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Their creator, Yasushi Akimoto, proposed choosing the best of the 48 girls (who rotate according to social media popularity) to appear but the idea was ridiculed by Japanese TV celebrity and columnist Matsuko Deluxe, who said the group (named after the Akihabara district of Tokyo) would be “an embarrassment”. The group have sold more than 30m records and had sales exceeding $128m (£85m) in 2013.
Big United beat little United -
Despite the support of 6,000 away fans Cambridge United are finally beaten by Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Man Uniteds starting 11 cost £231m in transfer fees, Cambridge's cost £0. By forcing a repeat two weeks ago the small club will get around £1 million for their share of the attendance fee which the chairman intends to spend on upgrading the toilets at their ground.
Cut down on your jog life -
A report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that people who jog at a steady pace for less than two and a half hours a week were least likely to die over a 12-year period that was studied. Those who ran more than four hours a week or did no exercise had the highest death rates.
In the town of Chuddogram in eastern Bangladesh, anti-government protesters firebomb a bus full of sleeping passengers, leaving seven people dead. (AFP via ABC News)
Egyptian Army soldiers fire warning shots at the Gaza Strip after an explosion occurs on the Gaza side of the border near a convoy. (Reuters)
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant posts pictures of Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath Al-Kasasbeh being burnt alive which Jordan believes are a month old. (BBC)
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services orders the evacuation of residents of the Western Australia town ofNorthcliffe as a bushfire approaches. (Perth Now)
Plane crashes into Taipei river -
Dramatic video footage has been captured on a car dashboard camera of a TransAsia turboprop plane crashing into a river in Taiwan shortly after taking off from Taipei airport. The plane was carrying 58 people, mostly Chinese tourists, and initial figures show that 31 died, 15 survivors were pulled from the wreckage and 12 people remain missing.
Kim Kardashian tries to break the internet again -
A new picture of Kim Kardashian apparently leaked from a future edition of Love magazine, shows the reality star standing in a doorway, totally naked and glistening with baby oil. Her previous attempt on total internet meltdown was a naked shot on the cover of New York's Paper magazine in November 2014.
Kim Kardashian
Scherzinger and Hamilton split for fourth time -
The on-off romance between Pussycat Doll's lead singer Nicole Scherzinger and Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton is officially over... again. The have been together for about 7 years and this is the fourth time they have split up, this time apparently over Hamilton's refusal to settle down with her and start a family.
Nicole Scherzinger
I don't want a guinea pig, I want a Josephoartigasia monesi -
Researchers from York in the UK and Montevideo in Uruguay reveal that a 1000kg bull-sized cousin to the guinea pig known as Josephoartigasia monesi had huge front teeth like tusks and its bite was as strong as a tiger. Named Josephoartigasia monesi it died out around two million years ago, so you can't have one as a pet.
Josephoartigasia monesi
Google starts to search tweets -
Twitter has done a deal with Google to make tweets part of the results from a web search. Tweets will immediately be included in searches as Google will have access to Twitter's firehose the datastream of tweets created by Twitter's 284 million users.
Moving to the BEET? -
UK communications giant Telecoms group BT buys the mobile operator EE for £12.5bn, with the deal covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV. Deutsche Telecom will hold 12% in the new combined business and have a seat on the board. Orange will receive a 4% stake, as well as about £3.4bn in cash. BT says it plans to raise £1bn through a placing of new shares to fund the deal.
Argentine President Chinese faux pas -
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has tweeted an old joke during her visit to China, making fun at how the Chinese speak. She made reference to how some Chinese struggle to pronounce the letter "r". Tweeting in Spanish, she wondered whether those at an event about trade were there for "lice" and "petloleum" which refers to critics accusing her supporters of attending party events only so they can get a free sandwich and a soft drink.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
The United Arab Emirates suspends air strikes against the Islamic State after a video of a Jordanian air force pilot being burned alive is published online. The suspension involves concerns over a lack of coalition search and rescue capabilities in Syria to recover downed pilots. (NBC News)
One underscores the other doesn't score -
Father Michael Duffy a New York priest has been receiving Twitter messages congratulating him on signing for Celtic Football Club. In fact another Michael Duffy who was transferred to the Scottish football champions from Derry City club has the same twitter handle as the priest, but the footballer has an underscore at the end. Father Duffy has gained many new followers and today tweeted:
Painting sells for $300m, a world record -
One of French artist Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings showing to Tahitian ladies is sold for $300m (£197m), making it the most expensive work of art ever sold. Entitled Nafea Faa Ipoipo, or When Will You Marry?, was painted in 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist and has apparently been sold to a museum in Qatar.
Phantom of the Opera apprehended -
Austrian police arrest a 63-year-old man who has become known as the Phantom of the Opera at the Vienna State Opera House. Security guards have been trying to catch the man, who buys a cheap ticket and then sits in expensive seats, for months. When he was seen in the best seat in the house, the police were called, but he made a run for it and then punched one of the police officers after he was cornered in the Gustav Mahler Hall. He was arrested and given a ban from all future performances at the State Opera.
Left shark designer hit with cease and desist order -
Fernando Sosa who is selling the design for a 3D-printer model of the "Left Shark" dancer from Katy Perry's Super Bowl half-time show has received a letter from Perry's lawyers saying, "Your unauthorised display and sale of this product infringes our client's exclusive rights." Left Shark became a viral hit after forgetting its steps during the performance of Teenage Dream and California Gurls.
List of the day -
Top ten most expensive paintings ever sold
[The Guardian]
Miss Universe asked to negotiate with rebels -
Newly crowned Miss Universe Paulina Vega is invited by the Colombian rebel group Farc militia to help their peace negotiations with the government in a statement on their website. During interviews prior to winning the title on January 25th 2015, Ms Vega, who is also Miss Columbia, had said she wanted to see peace in Colombia. So far she has not responded to the offer.
Paulina Vega
NBC Nightly News anchor embarrassment -
Brian Williams, "the most-watched" news presenter in the US temporarily steps down from his NBC Nightly News anchor role after he admitted his story about being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq was false. He revealed that he was actually in an aircraft following the one shot down after veterans who were in the helicopter recalled he wasn't on the flight. Williams blamed a "fog of memory" for the lapse.
Brian Williams
Price gets it right -
Katie Price formerly known as the model Jordan wins UK TV Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother despite only being in the "house" for 10 days when other contestants had been in for a month. She beat ex-Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins into second place; Calum Best came third.
Katie Price
Classic Ferrari sells for $16 million -
A classic California Spyder Ferrari found in a French farmhouse under a load of magazines is sold at a Paris auction for €14.2m (£10.5m; $16.2m). Only 37 of the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB were made and this dark blue one had been owned by French actor Alain Delon but was hidden for over 50 years. In May 2008 British DJ Chris Evans paid a reported £5.6 million for a 1961 250GT short-wheelbase California Spyder that once belonged to Hollywood actor James Coburn.
A 1961 250 GT California Spyder
Alain Delon in 2013
Video of the Day -
Miss Columbia Paulina Vega's Miss Universe interview
The management of Twentieth Century Fox considers granting permission to a group of investors, including some hedge funds, seeking to amend the company's charter and turn their type of voting shares of stock into non-voting shares, a conversion that might raise that type of shares' market price and that also would further concentrate control in the hands of Rupert Murdoch and his family. (Reuters)
A gunman shoots six people, killing four, including several children, in Douglasville, Georgia, ending with the gunman committing suicide. (AP via FOX News)
Although greater than 90% vote in favor of the referendum, Slovak election officials deem the result invalid due to a low 21% voter turnout, far short of the 50% or greater turnout required for the results to be legally binding. (The Slovak Spectator)
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BAFTA film awards -
The BAFTA Film Awards are held at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. Sponsored by communications company EE who have just been bought by BT, the awards are seen as a guide to the Oscars. Eddie Redmayne wins the best actor prize for his role as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Boyhood which was filmed over 12 years won best film and Julianne Moore won the leading actress prize for Still Alice. Full winners list below.
Eddie Redmayne
Ivory Coast win AFCON (eventually) -
The final of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament ends in a 0-0 draw after extra time between Ghana and Ivory Coast (or Cote d'Ivoire). It got more exciting in the penalty shoot-out with the Elephants (Ivory Coast) missing their first two penalties but then scoring their next 9 in a row to beat Ghana 9-8. Ivory Coast's goalkeeper Boubacar Barry scored the winner.
Boubacar Barry
Video of the Day -
Trailer for BAFTA winner "Boyhood"
List of the day -
BAFTA results in full -Best film
Winner: Boyhood
Outstanding British film
Winner: The Theory of Everything
Actor
Winner: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Actress
Winner: Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Supporting actor
Winner: JK Simmons - Whiplash
Supporting actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Director
Winner: Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Adapted screenplay
Winner: The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten
Original screenplay
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson
Animated film
Winner: The Lego Movie
Documentary
Winner: Citizenfour
Foreign film
Winner: Ida
Cinematography
Winners: Birdman - Emmanuel Lubezki
Costume design
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Editing
Winner: Whiplash - Tom Cross
Make-up and hair
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon
Music
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat
Production design
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
Sound
Winner: Whiplash - Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann
Visual effects
Winner: Interstellar - Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley
British short animation
Winner: The Bigger Picture - Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
British short film
Winner: Boogaloo and Graham - Brian J Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Winner: Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone (writer and producer Pride)
Rising Star award
Winner: Jack O'Connell
In Cairo, Egypt, clashes between police and fans of Zamalek SC kill 22 people. Egyptian authorities indefinitely suspend football league matches. (BBC), (AP)
Sam Smith grabs a Grammy (or four) -
Hours after the BAFTAs in London saw favourite Eddie Redmayne pick up the top actor award, Grammy's favourite Sam Smith wins four trophies at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Smith won record of the year and song of the year for "Stay with Me", artist of year and best new artist. Beck won album if the year for "Morning Phase". Sam Smith posted this photo in Instagram with the words "The best night of my entire life". List of awards below
He later tweeted:
Dr Who is expert on exiting when being chased by a bear -
British actor David Tennant makes a successful debut as a contestant on BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute making it through a full 60 seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. The former Doctor Who and Broadchurch star talked for one minute on the subject of “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” without once being interrupted on his very first appearance on the show and it is thought to be the first time in nearly 50 years of the show that a debutant has made it through the 60 second challenge.
David Tennant
DIY store prepares for Fifty Shades of Grey specialist advice -
With the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey about to open, Britain's biggest DIY store B&Q have told their staff to prepare for a big rise in demand for rope, cable ties and tape. It is also providing copies of the book to all 359 stores which can be lent out to staff so they can be ready for "sensitive" questions about the products.
Samsung TVs are listening in -
Samsung warns that it's smart TV voice activation feature could be recorded by Samsung or the developers of the software. Because the TV is always "listening" for instructions in voice mode and is likely to be connected to the internet any conversations could in theory be recorded.
Video of the Day -
Sam Smith - Stay With me
List of the day -
Grammy 2015 award winnersAlbum of the year
Winner: Morning Phase - Beck
Best new artist
Winner: Sam Smith
Best rock album
Winner: Morning Phase - Beck
Record of the year
Winner: Stay With Me - Sam Smith
Song of the year
Winner: Stay With Me - Jimmy Napes, William Phillips and Sam Smith
Best pop vocal album
Winner: In the Lonely Hour - Sam Smith
Best pop solo performance
Winner: Happy (live) - Pharrell Williams
Best traditional pop vocal album
Winner: Cheek To Cheek - Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Best music video
Winner: Happy - Pharrell Williams
Best dance recording
Winner: Rather Be - Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne
Best R&B performance
Winner: Drunk in Love - Beyonce feat Jay-Z
Best R&B album
Winner: Love, Marriage & Divorce - Toni Braxton & Babyface
Best urban contemporary album
Winner: Girl - Pharrell Williams
Best country album
Winner: Platinum - Miranda Lambert
Best country song
Winner: I'm Not Gonna Miss You - Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)
Best metal performance
Winner: The Last In Line - Tenacious D
Best rap album
Winner: The Marshall Mathers LP2 - Eminem
Best spoken word album
Winner: Diary Of A Mad Diva - Joan Rivers
The U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, sets all-time records for amount of snow on the ground and amount of snow over 30-day and 40-day periods in 17 days. (WCVB)(NBC News)
Homocide of young muslims in US ignored by press -
Three young American muslims are shot and killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US by a lone gunman but there is very little coverage in the local or national press, causing a reaction on social media with #ChapelHillShooting trending worldwide. The dead are Deah Barakat (aged 23), his wife Yusor Abu-Salha (21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (19). A man suspected of the shooting is arrested.
Premier League TV rights go for £5.136 BILLION!!!
The right to show live English Premier League (EPL) matches in the UK for three years starting in 2016 is shared between Sky TV and BT Sport. Sky have bid £4.176bn to keep the maximum possible number of matches – 126 – almost double the £2.28bn it paid two-and-a-half years ago. BT Sport bid £960 million for 42 games (after paying £897m for Champions League rights in 2014). The average cost of a televised game is £10.2 million. Sky have satellite boxes in over 10 million UK homes.
Manuel Pellegrini with the Barclay's Premier League trophy
R&A reveals first women members -
The first seven female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club are announced. Princess Anne receives an honorary membership despite her well known dislike of the game, while former golfing champions Laura Davies, Swede Annika Sörenstam, Americans Louise Suggs and Renee Powell, France's Lally Segard and Scotland's Belle Robertson make up the exclusive club. For 260 years the Royal and Ancient golf club also known as St Andrews has not accepted female members, but this was overturned on September 18th 2014.
Annika Sörenstam
Mugabe punishes bodyguards for his slip-up -
The Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe allegedly suspends 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps at the country's Harare airport last week. The 90-year-old was apparently unhurt physically but upset by the media humiliation.
President Robert Mugabe
Video of the Day -
Pharrell Williams performing "Happy" at yesterday's Grammy Awards show
Costa Concordia captain convicted of manslaughter -
The captain of the Costa Cordordia cruise ship that ran aground and capsized on January 13th 2012 off the island of Giglio has been convicted of manslaughter and given a 16-year jail sentance. Francesco Schettino was accused of taking the ship too close to the shore to impress his lover, Domnica Cemortan, who was with him at the helm. He then abandoned the ship with passengers and crew still on board. 32 people died in the accident but Costa Crociere, the company that owned the ship, avoided possible criminal charges by agreeing to pay a $1.3m (€1.1m; £860,000) fine in 2013.
The Costa Concordia after the accident
Korean Air nut rage ends with jail sentence -
A South Korean court finds Cho Hyun-ah (aka Heather Cho) a former executive of Korean Air guilty of breaking aviation law. She forced her Seoul-bound plane to turn back to the gate at JFK airport in New York and offload a steward because she did not like the way she had been served nuts. Cho, the daughter of Korean Air president, was found guilty of obstructing aviation safety and jailed for one year, much less than the possible maximum sentence of 10-years.
Smoking in private cars with child passengers banned in England -
The British government votes 342 to 74 to ban smoking in cars when there are children in the vehicle in England and Wales, but doesn't apply to convertibles with the roof down. Anyone stopped for breaking the law can be fined £50 on the spot when it becomes law in October 2015 but Scotland is not included. Bans on smoking in cars when children are present already exist in some US states as well as in parts of Canada and Australia.
Iraqi clashes and attacks kill at least 31 people. (AP)
Business and economy
Rite Aid, one of the largest chains of pharmacies in the United States, announces that it is purchasing EnvisionRx, a pharmacy benefits manager, from TPG Capital, for $2 billion. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
The Greek Coast Guard rescues all 22 crewmen from a Cyprus-flagged vessel Good Faith that ran aground on theGreek island of Andros during a storm in the Aegean Sea. (AP)
A court in the city of Grosseto convicts the former captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, of manslaughter for his part in the ship's January 2012 sinking, and sentences him to 16 years in jail. (BBC)
Little League Baseball strips Chicago's Little League championship team Jackie Robinson West of their 2014 Little League World Series US title after an investigation revealed the team had falsified boundaries to field ineligible players. The league names Mountain Ridge Little League of Las Vegas, Nevada, the US champion due to the vacating of Jackie Robinson West's wins. (AP)(Little League.org)
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Fifty Shades of Grey tying firemen up in knots -
The film version of the erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson premières in London and the London Fire Brigade are expecting a "spike" in people being stuck or trapped in handcuffs or rings. In November, firefighters were called by doctors at King's College Hospital to cut two steel rings from a man's genitals, which he had been unable to remove for three days and the brigade was called by a woman whose husband had become locked in a chastity belt.
Jamie Dornan at the world première of "Fifty Shades of Grey"
Double decker bus saves naked man from fire -
A man trapped in a house fire in Braintree, Essex UK may have had his life saved after a bus driver managed to manoeuvre his double decker bus close enough for the man to jump onto the roof. The man had been taking a shower and jumped from the third-floor window naked onto the bus. After throwing him some clothes the man managed to climb down with minor injuries.
Bonham Carter strips for fish -
Helena Bonham Carter has also got naked and hugged a 27kg tuna between her legs despite claiming to have a fish phobia. The photoshoot was in aid of a Blue Marine Foundation campaign against over-fishing. Bonham Carter separated from her partner Tim Burton on December 24th 2014.Helena Bonham Carter
Video of the Day -
Fifty Shades of Grey Trailer
List of the day -
Fifty questions the Huffington Post had about the film Fifty Shades of Grey
Why does Jamie Dornan look so bored the whole time?
Are pencils always phallic?
Is it really appropriate for a journalism student to make her roommate do an interview for her?
Couldn’t Ana's roommate have just done a phone interview? Or Skyped?
Why do people keep taking Ana’s food?
Why do Ana and Christian leave the beautiful sushi that was served to them untouched?
What is on the “pre-approved list of foods” mentioned in Ana and Christian’s contract?
But, seriously, does anyone in this movie actually eat?
Can Ana name a Black Keys song, or does she just wear a Black Keys T-shirt for the street cred?
How many graphic tees can one college girl own?
What was her thesis about?
Why does Ana have a flip phone?
Why won’t Christian buy Ana a better phone, but he’ll buy her a Macbook? (Like, seriously, girl needs some apps and some iMessage.)
Should we start using “Do you sell cable ties” as a pickup line?
Do you really need to tell someone “you’re not the woman for me” after having one cup of coffee?
How do Ana and her roommate afford such a nice apartment?
Do they have jobs?
Has anyone else in the history of the world been that excited to go to Seattle?
Is the Seattle tourism bureau celebrating the sexy rep this movie has brought to their rainy city?
Why is Ana’s inbox completely empty except for three emails from Christian?
What actually comes up when you Google “submissive”? *Immediately googles "submissive."*
Is saying “No escaping now,” supposed to be murdery or sexy?
Where is the line between “making love” and “f**king hard”?
Why would anyone have a business meeting in the dark? Editing contracts under mood lighting might seem sexier, but it would also make it impossible to read words.
How does Christian know what bar Ana is at with her friends -- and which restaurant she’s at with her mom?
Is he telepathic?
Does Christian break into Ana’s apartment after she breaks up with him? (Because… creepy.)
Isn’t losing your virginity generally an awkward experience -- especially when a man is ramming into you with disturbingly little foreplay?
Why aren't there more movies that show female pubic hair, leg hair and arm hair? (Spoiler alert: It exists! And we actually see a bit of it in "Fifty Shades.")
Since when is it acceptable (or romantic) to surprise sell someone’s car?
Why are we allowed to see so much boob and so little dick in R-rated movies? Huh, MPAA? We’re lookin’ at you.
Is riding in a glider super fun... Or is it exactly how you die?
Can Marcia Gay Harden be our mom?
How much wine can one really baby-bird feed to another person? (Seems wasteful… and sticky.)
Should we insist on being carried out of the bedroom like a wounded animal and/or Ariana Grande after having sex?
Did Jamie Dornan have a butt double?
If so, can we have his number? If not… well done, sir.
Does anyone even drink Cosmos anymore? They’re oh-so “Sex and the City.”
Is “Laters, baby” the world’s least sexy sign-off?
Has any real person ever said "Laters, baby"? (If so... never do it again.)
How exactly does one become “50 shades of f**ked up”?
Where did Christian learn to fishtail braid?
Which is a better arm workout: Blowdrying your hair or being cuffed to the ceiling?
Can being stroked with a riding crop really make someone cum?
Are we really supposed to believe that BDSM is only for people who have tragic backstories? Because that’s bullsh*t.
Can Beyoncé sing in the background every time we have sex from now on?
But, actually, where can we purchase the "Fifty Shades" soundtrack?
Just how awkward was it to film this movie?
And most importantly... Will Ana actually eat solid FOOD in the sequel?
Six Taiwanese prisoners commit suicide after releasing hostages captured yesterday in Kaohsiung. The prisoners were protesting their sentences and alleged poor conditions of the Taiwanese prison system. (BBC)
North Korean issues wide-ranging advice-
North Korea leader Kim Jong-un issues a new set of 310 patriotic slogans including battling rhetoric "Long live the great victory in the war against Japan!" to practical advice "Grow vegetables extensively in greenhouses!". Some make it sound as if the leader has been watching episodes of Star Trek "Let us model the entire army on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism!"
Can you change the oil, a nappy and a light bulb?
Betting company William Hill release a list of 50 things every man should be able to do. They range from the date of his wedding anniversary to how to fix a toilet (easy call a plumber) and what exactly is the offside rule (in soccer). It was produced from a survey of 2,000 adults. Full list below.
Voulez-vous tweet?
An investigation by the Canada's commissioner of official languages finds that tweets by former Foreign Minister John Baird and Public Security Minister Steven Blaney fell foul of the law because they were mainly in English. Now Canada's most senior politicians must now tweet in both French and English. Over the course of two months, 181 out of 202 of Mr Baird's tweets were only in English but about 30% of the Canadian population can speak French, with more than seven million describing it as their mother tongue.
Video of the Day -
How to (not) change a lightbulb -
List of the day -
Top 50 things you should know to be a real man
1. His wedding anniversary date
2. Basic DIY
3. How to change a light bulb
4. How to tie up a tie
5. How to read a map
6. His partner's favourite drink
7. How to iron a shirt
8. How to change a tyre
9. How to wet shave correctly
10. The right amount of aftershave to use
11. How to change a fuse
12. When a woman says "I'm fine" she is not fine
13. How to put up a shelf
14. How to polish his shoes
15. How to give a confident handshake
16. How many inches are in a foot
17. When to accept defeat and apologise
18. Know the offside rule
19. The year England won the World Cup
20. How to do his own laundry
21. How to fix a bike puncture
22. How to jumpstart a car
23. How to parallel park
24. The difference between ale and lager
25. The best way to carve meat
26. His own height
27. How to drive in snow
28. What wires represent earth, live and neutral
29. How to introduce himself
30. His parents' address
31. What the football scores were at the weekend
32. How to light a BBQ
33. When a woman says "Do what you want" do not do what you want
34. How to change oil
35. What the biggest recent football transfers are
36. How to build a fire
37. Which way is North
38. How to use the contents of the toolbox
39. How to tune in a telly
40. How many miles are left after the petrol light appears
41. How to fix a toilet
42. How to put someone in a recovery position
43. His personal alcohol limits
44. Change a battery on a car
45. How to get a car unstuck
46. The words to the national anthem
47. How to change a nappy
48. How to perform CPR
49. How to put up a tent
50. Who are favourites to win the Premier League
Boko Haram militants attack Chad for the first time after 30 fighters crossed Lake Chad in four motorboats and attacked the village of Ngouboua. Chad recently joined Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon in a military coalition against Boko Haram. (BBC)
Voters elect Wang Rong Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of Guangdong province, in China, replacing Zhu Mingguo, who was dismissed for corruption. (SCMP)
Cumberbatch upsets Cumberbitches by getting married -
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has married his fiancé Sophie Hunter at a private ceremony at the 12th century St Peter & St Paul Church, near Brighstone on the Isle of Wight.
No post today?
Demonstrators in Tokyo have marched against capitalism, chocolates and St Valentine's Day in a demonstration against the commercialisation of February 14 by men who are unable to find a partner. The protest was organised by a group called Kakuhido, which translates roughly as the Revolutionary Alliance of Men that Women Find Unattractive.
Michele Ferrero dies -
Michele Ferrero, whose chocolate product company made him Italy's wealthiest man, dies aged 89. His company makes Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder eggs, Tic Tac sweets and hazelnut Nutella spread. Mr Ferrero's father, a pastry manufacturer, developed the forerunner to Nutella in 1946, called Giandujot, combining cocoa and hazelnuts to make a spreadable paste.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warns of a threat to a planned ceasefire tonight from heavy fighting today and accuses Russia of "significantly increasing" its offensive. In a live interview he ordered all Ukrainian forces to cease fire after midnight. (BBC)
Myanmar launches air strikes against rebels in the Kokang area as dozens of soldiers have been killed and dozens more wounded in fightings in recent weeks. (AFP via France 24)
The United Arab Emirates suspends its embassy operations in Yemen due to security concerns surrounding the recent Shiite Houthi rebel take over of the country. (AFP via France 24)
A motorcycle gunman shoots and kills a journalist in the Philippines who had been critical of local officials' alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade. The murder of the journalist is the 34th since the regime of Benigno Aquino IIIbegan in 2010. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Politician admits trampolining naked with a dog -
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president in Northern Ireland, claims that he trampolines naked along with his dog. Mr Adams explained that his house is "ring-fenced", so he wasn't affecting the neighbours, or can be snapped by the papparazzi.
Gerry Adams
Russian hackers steal £650 million -
Investigators from Kaspersky Lab uncovers what is thought to be the biggest ever cybercrime with more than £650 million ($1 billion) going missing from banks around the world. A group of Russian hackers spent two years infiltrating the internal computer systems of over 100 financial institutions world-wide using malware.
Ski jump 250m barrier broken twice in two days-
The world ski jump record has been broken by Slovenian jumper Peter Prevc by travelling 250m (274 yards) at a World Cup event in Vikersund, Norway. But this is beaten by Anders Fannemel who travels 251.5m (276.14 yards). See Video below.
A house under construction collapses in the Indian city of Mughalsarai in the state of Uttar Pradesh killing twelve people and injuring two. (NDTV)
Law and crime
A Turkish court remands seventeen police officers into custody for allegedly being part of an illegal wiretapping program targeting politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen. (LBC)
Lance Armstrong made to pay -
Lance Armstrong is forced to refund $10 million (£6.5m) to SCA Promotions a Dallas-based company that paid him around $12 million in bonuses during his career which included 7 Tour de France titles that were consequently revoked. When Armstrong's drug doping cheating was exposed, SCA sued to get its money back and an arbitration panel has found in the company's favour.
Snowman building world record set -
A new world record has been set in the city of Iiyama, north-west of Tokyo, Japan for the most snowmen built in one hour. Over 600 people helped to break the old record by making 1,585 snowmen to beat the previous record of 1,279 snowmen, set by more than 350 participants in the United States in 2011. The competition was part of the Iiyama Snow Festival and the Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort is near to city.
Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort
Amazon drones off -
The Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) sets draft rules for the use of drones in US airspace which state that pilots must remain within eyesight of their unmanned crafts. This would not allow Amazon to launch its Amazon Air delivery service which the firm said last year it had the technology in place to launch as soon as regulations were in place.
A heavy snow storm hits Turkey causing disruption to travel for several days. (Accuweather)
A bus carrying at least 60 passengers plunges into a gorge in India's Madhya Pradesh resulting in at least ten deaths and 33 people injured. (Times of India)
EBioMedicine publishes research by University of Leuven scientists describing their findings of a so-called Cuban variant of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (the virus that causes A.I.D.S.) which is an aggressive strain that can rapidly progress to AIDS. (FOX News)
Haitian carnival accident kills 16 -
At least 16 people are killed when a power-line connected with a carnival float in Haiti's capital Port au Prince. Some died through electrocution, others in the panic that ensued. Around 78 others were injured.
Where there's make-up, there's brass -
YouTube beauty blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, buys a five-bedroom £1 million home in Hove, East Sussex, England, with her boyfriend Alfie Deyes. Zoella has seven million subscribers on her beauty blogs and charges advertisers £20,000 a month to place ads on her vlogs. She also features in the celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off.
Zoe Sugg A.K.A. Zoella
Sony start taking orders for SmartEyeglass -
Sony announce that their "augmented reality" smart glasses will go on sale in ten countries in March 2015 and pre-orders for the SmartEyeglass, costing $840 (£620), are now being taken in the UK and Germany. The glasses work with recent Android operating systems but also come with a software kit so developers can design apps for it. It includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, brightness sensor and two microphones.
Sony SmartEyeglass
Apple Watch not that exclusive -
Apple orders between 5 and 6 million Apple Watches to be produced in time for their release in April 2015. The Apple Watch is the first unique product Apple has launched since the iPad in 2010. There are 3 versions - Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.
F1 drivers banned from changing helmets -
Former Formula One drivers take to Twitter to criticise a new rule banning Formula 1 drivers from changing their helmet design during the season. Alex Wurz who chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, tweeted -
And Australian former Red Bull driver Mark Weber added -
The Boston Blizzard Challenge -
The mayor of Boston Martin Walsh has asked the public to stop jumping out of first floor windows into piles of snow left by the record levels of snow that has fallen in February. Bostonians are stripping down to their underwear and leaping into the snowdrifts in a trend called the Boston Blizzard Challenge, all for social media's delight - a perfect Vine.
Eastenders is 30 -
Eastenders the UK soap set in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End of London is 30 years old today. Based around the pub The Queen Vic the character with the most appearances is Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) with 2,525 episodes out of the 5,018 transmitted followed by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) who has been in it since the first episode.
The Queen Victoria pub
Niagara falls freezes -
Parts of the Niagara Falls freeze over after a fourth winter storm in a month blew through the area. One of the coldest winters on the US eastern seaboard has seen people in Boston jumping into snowdrifts in their underwear.
Niagara Falls
Video of the Day -
NBC’s Amazing Drone Video Above the Majestic, Frozen Niagara Falls | NBC Nightly News
List of the day -
Most appearances in Eastenders up to February 19th 2015 -
Greece requests its partners in the eurozone for a six month loan program extension in an apparent compromise attempt; Germany has rejected the request. (BBC News)
Israel is hit by the heaviest snow storm in a century causing the closure of schools and highways in high places throughout the country. (Jerusalem Post)
Canadian MP suffers from reduced smalls -
A Canadian MP Pat Martin had to leave parliament urgently due to ill fitting underpants. The opposition MP found it impossible to sit through the voting process while wearing knickers bought in a half-price sale. After a swift re-adjustment he made it back in time to cast his ballot. True commando.
Pat Martin MP
Rihanna hits 27 -
Robyn Rihanna Fenty hits late thirties. She has sold over 30 million albums and 120 million singles worldwide,making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time
Rihanna
Rihanna's biggest US sellers
1 We Found Love
2 Live Your Life
3 Love The Way You Lie
4 Umbrella
5 Disturbia
6 Take A Bow
7 Rude Boy
8 Only Girl (In The World)
9 What's My Name?
10 S&M
Ukraine accuses Russia of sending more troops to eastern Ukraine with claims that additional troops and tanks were headed to the rebel held town of Novoazovsk. No video or photographic evidence was provided. (Reuters)
Razzies 2015 Winners: Cameron Diaz and Kirk Cameron Get Bashed at the 35th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards
Cameron Diaz
Video of the Day -
The Torch Tower, Dubai on fire -
List of the day -
The Razzies nominations -
WORST PICTURE
• Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
• Left Behind
• The Legend of Hercules
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
WORST ACTOR
• Kirk Cameron, Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
• Nicholas Cage, Left Behind
• Kellan Lutz, The Legend of Hercules
• Seth MacFarlane, A Million Ways to Die in the West
• Adam Sandler, Blended
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
• Mel Gibson, Expendables 3
• Kelsey Grammer, Expendables 3, Legends of Oz, Think Like a Man Too, Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Shaquille O'Neal, Blended
• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Expendables 3
• Kiefer Sutherland, Pompeii
WORST ACTRESS
• Drew Barrymore, Blended
• Cameron Diaz, The Other Woman and Sex Tape
• Melissa McCarthy, Tammy
• Charlize Theron, A Million Ways to Die in the West
• Gaia Weiss, The Legend of Hercules
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
• Cameron Diaz, Annie
• Megan Fox, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Nicola Peltz, Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Susan Sarandon, Tammy
• Brigitte Ridenour (née Cameron), Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
WORST DIRECTOR
• Michael Bay, Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Darren Doane, Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
• Renny Harlin, The Legend of Hercules
• Jonathan Liebesman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Seth MacFarlane, A Million Ways to Die in the West
WORST SCREEN COMBO
• Any Two Robots, Actors (Robotic Actors), Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Kirk Cameron & His Ego, Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
• Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel, Sex Tape
• Kellan Lutz & Either His Abs, His Pecs or His Glutes
• Seth MacFarlane & Charlize Theron, A Million Ways to Die in the West
WORST SCREENPLAY
• Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas
• Left Behind
• Sex Tape
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
REDEEMER AWARD
• Ben Affleck, from Gigli to Argo and Gone Girl
• Jennifer Aniston, from four-time Razzie nominee to Cake
• Mike Myers, from The Love Guru to directing Supermensch
• Keanu Reeves, from six-time Razzie nominee to John Wick
• Kristen Stewart, from six-time Razzie winner for Twilight to Camp X-Ray
The United Steelworkers union notifies the owner of the largest refinery in the United States that its members are on strike. The notification to Motiva constitutes a major escalation of ongoing labor-management confrontation in that industry. (Reuters)
NASA astronauts perform one of three ISS spacewalks to reroute cables needed in preparation for the 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts. (AP)
The top winners at the Oscars are Eddie Redmayne (Best Actor in The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Best Actress in Still Alice) and Birdman (Best Picture, Best original screenplay, Best cinematography and Best director).
Eddie Redmayne
Video of the Day -
Birdman Spoof - Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell | 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards
List of the day -
The Oscar WinnersBest picture
Winner: Birdman
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best director
Winner: Alejandro G Inarritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Best actor
Winner: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best actress
Winner: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Best supporting actor
Winner: JK Simmons, Whiplash
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Best supporting actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Best adapted screenplay
Winner: The Imitation Game
American Sniper
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best original screenplay
Winner: Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Best animated feature
Winner: Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Best animated short
Winner: Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Best cinematography
Winner: Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr Turner
Unbroken
Best costume design
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr Turner
Best documentary feature
Winner: CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
Best documentary short
Winner: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth
Best film editing
Winner: Whiplash
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Best foreign language film
Winner: Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Best live action short
Winner: The Phone Call
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
Parvaneh
Best make-up & hairstyling
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best original score
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr Turner
The Theory of Everything
Best production design
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr Turner
Best song
Winner: Glory, Selma
Everything is Awesome, The Lego Movie
Grateful, Beyond the Lights
I'm Not Gonna Miss You, Glen Campbell… I'll Be Me
Lost Stars, Begin Again
Best sound editing
Winner: American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
Best sound mixing
Winner: Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Best visual effects
Winner: Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Pro-Russian rebels start a two-week process of removing heavy weapons from the front lines in eastern Ukraine in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. (Reuters via Haaretz)
These things only happen in movies... or maybe in movie theatres -
A projectionist at MetroLux 14 theater in Loveland, Colorado mixed up the films at an 11:45am screening of the latest SpongeBob Squarepants and instead put on Fifty Shades of Grey. Instead of seeing SpongeBob and his pals try to save a secret hamburger recipe, they had the opening scenes of the erotic R-rated film. After the mix-up was noticed, the screen went blank and kids' movie trailers started showing until the right film was found.
The Ukrainian Army says it cannot withdraw its heavy weapons from the front, as it is still under attack from rebel forces despite the ceasefire. (Reuters)
Egyptian political activist Alaa Abdel Fatah is sentenced to five years in jail for violating a rule against organising political protests without permission. (Al-Arabiyah)
Perks of the job -
The Brazilian judge presiding over criminal proceedings against charismatic entrepreneur Eike Batista, once Brazil's richest man, has been spotted driving a Porsche belonging to the fallen tycoon that had been seized by the court. Flavio Roberto de Souza, who is overseeing Batista's trial for insider trading, was seen driving the white Porsche Cayenne by reporters for Estado de S.Paulo's news agency after a tip-off from Batista's lawyer. [Daily Telegraph]
Eike Batista
Video of the Day -
The best table tennis shot ever made?
List of the day -
The 10 best jobs in the UK - 1 - Marketing Manager – Score: 4.5
Number of Job Openings: 2,965
Average Base Salary: £46,561
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.6
2- Finance Manager – Score: 4.4
Number of Job Openings: 4,357
Average Base Salary: £52,081
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.2
3 - Mechanical Engineer – Score: 4.4
Number of Job Openings: 5,964
Average Base Salary: £34,799
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.5
4 - Sales Manager – Score: 4.3
Number of Job Openings: 3,869
Average Base Salary: £45,613
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
5 - Business Analyst – Score: 4.3
Number of Job Openings: 3,437
Average Base Salary: £46,047
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
6 - IT Manager – Score: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 3,708
Average Base Salary: £57,818
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.0
7 - Civil Engineer – Score: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 4,137
Average Base Salary: £36,142
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
8 - Product Manager – Score: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 1,415
Average Base Salary: £52,478
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
9 - Lawyer – Score: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 925
Average Base Salary: £55,020
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.5
10 - Software Engineer – Score: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 14,846
Average Base Salary: £40,400
Career Opportunities Rating: 3.0
List by jobs website Glassdoor, and was drawn up using three factors – average annual base salary, the number of job openings and career opportunities, which takes into account chances of promotion. All of the jobs listed were given a ranking out of 5.
Chadian soldiers kill over 200 Boko Haram fighters in a clash near the town of Garambu, close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon. One Chad Army soldier was killed and nine wounded. (Reuters)
Suicide bombers target two crowded bus stations in Potiskum and Kano in northern Nigeria, killing at least 27 people in nearly daily violence in the embattled region. There is no claim of responsibility for either blast, but both bore the hallmarks of militant group Boko Haram. (Voice of America)
Business and economy
Greece submits a list of eleven reforms it will proceed with to secure a loan extension. (BBC)
The British Parliament's House of Lords gives final approval to a bill that earlier in February had been approved in theHouse of Commons, refusing to block the plan by a majority of 232, that would allow, through a modified form of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the creation of three-person babies, to treat certain mitochondrial disorders (mitochondria are parts of cells that convert nutrients into useful cellular energy to fuel vital processes), by using a very small segment of mitochondrial DNA from another woman to replace the mother's defective DNA; the U.K. is the first to authorize the still ethically controversial procedure. (MSN)
Former U.K. Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind steps down as chair of a parliamentary intelligence committee and said he won’t run for re-election as a Conservative member of parliament after becoming embroiled in an embarrassing cash-for-access sting. (Guardian)
The Brit Awards sees Madonna wardrobe malfunction
The Brit Awards sees Ed Sheeran take the awards for Best Male Solo Artist and Best British Album for "X". Palomo Faith is Best Female Solo Artist and Mark Ronson (ft Bruno Mars) wins best British Song with Uptown Funk. But the biggest memory of the night was Madonna being dragged down a flight of steps by one of her dancers when the neck cord of her cape didn't release. See video below.
Video of the Day -
Madonna pulled down steps at Brits
List of the day -
The Brit Awards 2015 Winners List
British male solo artist
Winner: Ed Sheeran
Damon Albarn
George Ezra
Paolo Nutini
Sam Smith
British female solo artist
Winner: Paloma Faith
Ella Henderson
FKA Twigs
Jessie Ware
Lily Allen
British group
Winner: Royal Blood
Clean Bandit
Coldplay
One Direction
British breakthrough act
Winner: Sam Smith
Chvrches
FKA Twigs
George Ezra
Royal Blood
Critics' Choice
Winner: James Bay
George the Poet
Years & Years
British single
Winner: Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Calvin Harris - Summer
Clean Bandit ft Jess Glynne - Rather Be
Duke Dumont ft Jax Jones - I Got U
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Ella Henderson - Ghost
George Ezra - Budapest
Route 94 ft Jess Glynne - My Love
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Sigma - Nobody to Love
British album of the year
Winner: Ed Sheeran - X
Alt-J - This Is All Yours
George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour
British artist video of the year
Winner: One Direction - You and I
Calvin Harris - Summer
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Global success award
Winner: Sam Smith
International male solo artist
Winner: Pharrell Williams
Beck
Hozier
Jack White
John Legend
International female solo artist
Winner: Taylor Swift
Beyonce
Lana Del Rey
Sia
St Vincent
International group
Winner: Foo Fighters
5 Seconds of Summer
The Black Keys
First Aid Kit
The War On Drugs
British producer of the year
Winner: Paul Epworth
Alison Goldfrapp & Will Gregory
Flood
Jake Gosling
The Austrian Parliament passes a bill, partly aimed at tackling Islamist radicalism, that gives Muslims more legal security but bans foreign funding for mosques and imams. (BBC)
Owl attacks in Nederlands -
Residents in the northern Dutch town of Purmerend have been advised to take umbrellas out at night after a spate of attacks by an owl. Dozens of residents have suffered head injuries over the past three weeks at the claws of the rogue European eagle owl. Two runners were attacked on Tuesday, with one requiring stitches for five separate head wounds. The European eagle owl's usual prey are small mammals and birds. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Pilot successfully crash lands historic fighter plane
ISIL posts a video showing the destruction of Mosul Museum, the second largest in Iraq and rich in artifacts from thousands of years of Iraqi history. (National Post)
Norwegian police raid the offices of the Catholic Church’s diocese in Oslo, charging the church administration with serious fraud under the suspicion of wrongfully claiming as much as NOK 50 million in state support by presenting fraudulent membership statistics. (NewsInEnglish.no)
Leonard Nimroy dies aged 83 -
US actor Leonard Nimoy, who played the half-human, half-Vulcan character Mr Spock in the cult sci-fi series Star Trek, dies at the age of 83 in Los Angeles. He had been taken to hospital on 19 February after suffering from chest pains and later tweeted: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory." He signed off with "LLAP" - a reference to his character's famous catchphrase, "Live long and prosper". It was to be his final tweet. [BBC]
Internet brought to it's knees by a dress and it's not worn by Kim Kardashian-
Social media has been sent into spasms over the colour of a dress - is it black and blue or white and gold? Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill posed the question on Tumblr. What followed was an internet storm. Thousands took to Twitter to fight aggressively in either camp and even some celebrities stepped in on the debate. See Video of the Day.
Dr Spock's best quotes
#10
Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Ultimate Computer"
#9
Without followers, evil cannot spread.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "And The Children Shall Lead"
#8
Change is the essential process of all existence.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
#7
Insufficient facts always invite danger.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "Space Seed"
#6
I have never understood the female capacity to avoid a direct answer to any question.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "This Side of Paradise"
#5
I realize that command does have its fascination, even under circumstances such as these, but I neither enjoy the idea of command nor am I frightened of it. It simply exists, and I will do whatever logically needs to be done.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Galileo Seven"
#4
Vulcans never bluff.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Doomsday Machine"
#3
It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.
--SPOCK, Star Trek: The Original Series, "Errand of Mercy"
#2
Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
--SPOCK, Star Trek (2009)
#1
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.
Blade Runner 2 to be made -
Harrison Ford will reprise his role as the ambiguous bounty hunter Rick Deckard in a sequel to 1982's Blade Runner. Variety reports that the Oscar-nominated director Denis Villeneuve is close to signing on as director, replacing Ridley Scott, who will produce. Hampton Fancher, who co-wrote the original screenplay, has written the sequel with The Green Lantern writer Michael Green. [Daily Telegraph]
Harrison Ford
Round hens egg sells for £480 -
A "perfectly spherical" chicken egg has sold for an "unbelievable" £480 on the internet auction site eBay. Kim Broughton found one of her hens - now renamed Ping Pong - had laid the round egg in her garden in Latchingdon, Essex, on 17 February - Pancake Day. She decided to auction the egg in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust after a friend's son died from the disease. Ms Broughton, 44, said she imagined the buyer was interested in preserving, rather than eating, the unusual egg. [BBC] The round egg
Top quotes from the original Blade Runner Movie (1982)
Roy Batty:
Not very sporting to fire on an unarmed opponent. I thought you were supposed to be good. Aren't you the "good" man? C'mon, Deckard. Show me what you're made of.
Rick Deckard:
Replicants are like any other machine, are either a benefit or a hazard. If they're a benefit it's not my problem.
Gaff:
It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does?
Roy Batty:
I've done questionable things.
Tyrell:
Also extraordinary things. Revel in your time.
Roy Batty:
Nothing the God of bio-mechanics wouldn't let you in heaven for.
Roy Batty:
Fiery the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled round their shores. Burning with the fires of Orc.
Gaff:
It's a shame that she won't live, but then again, who does?
Roy Batty:
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
Tyrell:
More human than human is our motto.
Harry Bryant:
You know the score,pal. If you're not a cop, you're little people!
The municipal intermediate people’s court for the eastern city of Dongying convicts Ni Fake, former Vice-Governor ofAnhui province in China, on charges of bribery and "amassing wealth of unclear origin", and sentences him to seventeen years in prison. (The Guardian)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Lesbian banned from Nutella label -
Customers have been enjoying creating a digital custom made jar of the famous chocolate spread - emblazoned with their own slogan to share on social media. You can create your message and share it with those you love. But the word "lesbian" has been banned by the parent company of Nutella - deemed too offensive for labels. The list of banned words is actually quite extensive. Muslim and Jewish are not allowed. So presumably the message ‘Jews and Muslims can live in peace with each other’ would fall into the net of naughtiness. ‘Christian’ on the other hand is OK.
[Daily Telegraph]
8ft coffin for Britain's tallest man -
A bespoke coffin for the funeral of a former Britain's tallest man has been made measuring 8ft-long. Christopher Greener, who grew to 7ft 6ins before surgical intervention stopped him growing, will be laid to rest in a casket carried by 10 pallbearers. Funeral directors have calculated that 30st Mr Greener's coffin will just about squeeze into the hearse before he will be buried in a double-sized plot of land on Monday. Mr Greener, who held the record for being the UK's tallest man for more than four decades, died aged 71 on February 11 and will be buried near his home in Bromley, south-east London. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Lady Gaga plunges into frozen water for charity
List of the day -
Tallest people in history
10. Brahim Takioullah – 8 ft 1 in (2 m 46 cm)
9. Don Koehler – 8 ft 2 in (2 m 49 cm)
8. Vikas Uppal – 8 ft 3 in (2 m 51 cm) (Contested)
7. Bernard Coyne – 8 ft 2 in (2 m 49 cm)
6. Sultan Kösen – 8 ft 3 in (2 m 51 cm)
5. Edouard Beaupré – 8 ft 3 in (2 m 51 cm)
4. Väinö Myllyrinne – 8 ft 3 in (2 m 51 cm)
3. John F. Carroll – 8 ft 7.5 in (2 m 63 cm)
2. John Rogan – 8 ft 9 in (2 m 67 cm)
1. Robert Wadlow – 8 ft 11 in (2 m 72 cm)
NASA astronauts perform the third of three ISS spacewalks to reroute cables needed in preparation for the 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts. (AP)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Bill Gates has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires. The Microsoft founder once again beat Mexican businessman Carlos Slim to the top spot. Mr Gates' net worth rose by just over $3bn (£1.94bn) in the year to 13 February, to $79bn. There are a record 1,826 billionaires in the world, Forbes said, an increase of 181 in the past 12 months. See list below. [BBC]
New image for Queen on coins of the realm -
A new portrait of the Queen to appear on coins has been unveiled, but it might be some time before the new money starts appearing in people's wallets. The effigy, designed by Jody Clark, is only the fifth definitive coin portrait to have been created during the Queen's reign and the first since 1998.
The new coin
The new portrait is revealed at a ceremony in London's National Portrait Gallery. Coins carrying the design will now begin being struck, the Royal Mint said. [Daily Telegraph]
New Zealanders confiscating bad drivers keys -
Police are urging motorists not to take matters into their own hands, following the latest removal of car keys from drivers allegedly driving dangerously. While police are encouraging the use of *555 calls, the growing trend of motorists confronting bad drivers and removing keys is on the rise nationally - almost one a day during the past week. [New Zealand Herald]
Video of the Day -
Science explains the colour of "that dress"
List of the day -
Forbes 2015 ranking of richest people:
1. Bill Gates $79.2bn (Microsoft)
2. Carlos Slim Helu $77.1bn (Phones and construction in Mexico)
3. Warren Buffett $72.7bn (Global investor)
4. Amancio Ortega $64.5bn (Zara and other fashion chains)
5. Larry Ellison $54.3bn (Oracle data storage technology)
6. Charles Koch $42.9bn (Industrialist)
7. David Koch $42.9bn (Industrialist)
8. Christy Walton $41.7bn (Walmart retail giant)
9. Jim Walton $40.6bn (Walmart retail giant)
10. Liliane Bettencourt $40.1bn (L'Oreal cosmetics firm)
A coalition of Iraqi Armed Forces and militia numbering around 30,000 launches an offensive against Islamic State positions in Tikrit. Troops seize control of the district of al-Tin and al-Abeid. (BBC)
Weasel riding woodpecker storms the internet -
Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, photographed this extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flew through the air. The photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in east London and rapidly gained circulation on social media and gained a number of photoshopped memes including Vladimir Putin and Gandolf hitching a ride with the woodpecker.
The original photo by Martin Le-May
Putin and stormtrooper version
Finnish man fined €54,000 for speeding -
A Finnish man has been handed a 54,000-euro fine for speeding in his car. Finland's speeding fines are linked to income, with penalties calculated on daily earnings, meaning high earners get hit with bigger penalties for breaking the law. So, when businessman Reima Kuisla was caught doing 103km/h (64mph) in an area where the speed limit is 80km/h (50mph), authorities turned to his 2013 tax return, the Iltalehti newspaper reports. He earned 6.5m euros (£4.72m) that year, so was told to hand over 54,000 euros. The scale of the fine hasn't gone down well with Mr Kuisla. "Ten years ago I wouldn't have believed that I would seriously consider moving abroad," he says on his Facebook page. "Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth." [BBC]
An archaeological expedition claims finding the legendary White City in northeastern Honduras, with artifacts that date to CE 1000 to 1400. (National Geographic)
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Blurred Lines makes $16.68m -
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams made more than $5m (£3.26m) each from Blurred Lines, according to figures revealed during a copyright trial. Total profits for the biggest track of 2013 are $16.68m (£10.87m), with rapper TI getting a $704,000 (£459,000) share according to the Hollywood Reporter. The trio are being sued for copyright infringement by Marvin Gaye's family, over similarities to Got to Give It Up. [BBC]
American footballers to donate brains to science -
Two American Football stars say they will donate their brains for medical research after their deaths. New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford and former Seattle Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice want to support studies into brain injuries. Many former players in the sport suffer degenerative brain disease. "There are a lot of issues that stem from brain injuries and it's not just professional athletes. This affects everybody," Weatherford said. Rice won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks last year before retiring - at the age of 27 - over fears for his long-term health after absorbing so many blows to the head. Both he and Weatherford said they hoped their commitment could persuade others to support research into brain injuries. [BBC]
Seattle Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice
Video of the Day -
NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D
List of the day -
Lines from the film "The Man With Two Brains" starring Steve Martin as Dr Hfuhruhurr
[A recurring scene in the operating room…]
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: Metzenbaum scissors!
Nurse: Metzenbaum scissors!
[A cat meows.]
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: Get that cat out of here!
[Dr. Brandon is arguing with Dr. Hfuhruhurr about his performing the operation on Dolores.]
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: But there's only one other person I'd trust to perform this operation — Beckerman!
Dr. Brandon: Well Dr. Beckerman was murdered in Europe! You know that!
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: Exactly! Not only is he dead, he's six thousand miles away!
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: The only time we doctors should accept death is when it's caused by our own incompetence!
Dr. Necessiter: Nonsense! If the murder of twelve innocent people can help save one human life, it will have been worth it!
[Dr. Hfuhruhurr is rowing with Anne's enjarred brain, complete with sunhat and sunglasses, along an idyllic creek.]
Anne Uumellmahaye: I don't think there's a girl floating in any jar anywhere who's as happy as I am! Oh, Michael, you do so much for me, and I do nothing for you!
Dr. Hfuhruhurr: Are you out of your head? [pauses] Sorry, I forgot.
[Dr. Hfuhruhurr removes Anne's brain from the oven Dolores tried to bake her in. He tries to cool her off in the sink.]
A chemical fire forces the closure of the Port of Vancouver (Canada's largest and North America's fourth largest port). Authorities later manage to contain the fire, and identify the chemical as trichloroisocyanuric acid. (CBC)
South of Sicily, Italy's Coast Guard saves 941 trafficked migrants aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels near southern Italian ports. Ten people are unaccounted for. (AP)
Scientists report the finding of a 2.8 million-year-old jawbone (the 'Ledi jaw') forming a potential link between the 3.2 million-year-old hominin (human-like primate) Lucy (Australopithecus) found in the same area, and the 2.35 million year old remains of Homo habilis found at Hadar. If assigned to the genus Homo, the new remains represent the oldest known human, some 400,000 years older than previously found. (BBC)
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his team of researchers find the Musashi, one of Japan's biggest and most famous battleships on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea, which was sunk by American forces in 1944. (CNN)
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Harrison Ford crashes his plane for third time -
US actor Harrison Ford has been injured in a small plane crash in Los Angeles. The 72-year-old, star of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films, reported engine failure and crash-landed his vintage plane on a Venice golf course. He was breathing and alert when medics arrived and took him to hospital in a "fair to moderate" condition, a fire department spokesman said. His son Ben, a chef in Los Angeles, later tweeted from the hospital: "Dad is OK. Battered but OK! [BBC]
Harrison Ford
Delta Aircraft slides off New York runway -
A passenger airliner has skidded off the runway at LaGuardia airport in New York City, as a major winter storm bears down on a large part of the US. Emergency officials helped 127 passengers and five crew off the plane just after 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT), but no one was seriously injured. Snow and freezing rain has been falling from Texas to New England over the past several hours. The flight, Delta 1086, was attempting to land at LaGuardia after flying from Atlanta. It veered to the left shortly after making contact with the runway, but avoided crashing into nearby Flushing Bay. [BBC]
A knife-wielding assailant injures the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, in the South Korean capital city of Seoul. Authorities report that the injuries on his face and wrist are not life-threatening. (Yonhap News)(BBC)
Dublin-based generic drugmaker, specialty drug supplier, and medical imaging agent producer Mallinckrodt Plc increases its presence in U.S. hospitals by buying privately held Ikaria Inc, a maker of a respiratory drug and its delivery system, for $2.3 billion from a group of investors led by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. The deal includes INOmax, which is the only approved product to treat hypoxic respiratory failure in infants through nitric oxide.(Reuters)
Energy-rich Kazakhstan suspends Russian fuel and gas imports to protect its domestic market from a surplus due to a weakened ruble which has sent ripples of economic uncertainty through Central Asia. (The Times of Central Asia)
Liberia's last known ebola patient is discharged from a treatment center in Monrovia. The country now needs 42 days without a subsequent diagnosed infection to be declared disease free. (The New York Times)
A Phoenix, Arizona jury deadlocks in a second trial allowing convicted murderer American Jodi Arias to be spared the death penalty. She will be sent to prison for life for killing her lover in 2008. (AP)
China blocks pollution documentary -
The authorities in China have a removed from websites a popular documentary which highlights the country's severe pollution problem. Under the Dome explains the social and health costs of pollution, and was watched by more than 100 million people online, sparking debates. It was removed just two days after Premier Li Keqiang called pollution a blight on people's lives. [BBC]
NASA probe reaches Ceres -
The US space agency's Dawn probe has gone into orbit around Ceres, the largest object in the Solar System between Mars and Jupiter. A signal from the satellite confirming its status was received by ground stations at 13:36 GMT. Ceres is the first of the dwarf planets to be visited by a spacecraft. Scientists hope to glean information from the object that can tell them about the Solar System's beginnings, four and a half billion years ago. Dawn has taken 7.5 years to reach its destination. Its arrival has seen it pass behind the dwarf to its "dark side". [BBC]
The Dawn probe (by NASA)
"25 0" licence plate sells for £518,000 -
When the auctioneer's hammer came down, classic car dealer John Collins was looking at a bill of £518,000. But it was not a rare Ferrari that he had bought. It was a number plate. The registration plate "25 O" is the most expensive ever bought at a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) auction. Even so, Mr Collins, who owns classic Ferrari dealer Talacrest, says he would have bid more at the auction for the plate which matches the 250 model. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Furious 7 trailer -
List of the day -
Most expensive number plates in the UK -
"25 O" - £518,000 in November 2014
"1 D" - £352,000 in March 2009
"51 NGH" - £254,000 in April 2006
"1 RH" - £247,000 in November 2008
"K1 NGS" - £231,000 in December 1993
A road accident along the highway between Ismaïlia and Cairo in Egypt, east of Cairo, involving a bus that collided with a microbus kills fifteen people. (AP)
Writing in the FIFA Weekly magazine, FIFA president Sepp Blatter calls Iran to end its "intolerable" ban on women attending soccer matches, describing the situation as one that "cannot continue." (CNN)
The New Taipei City district court sentences Cheng Chieh to death for the May 2014 knife attack on a Taipei Metrotrain that left four dead and 22 passengers injured. (AP)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan announces plans for a major restructuring and reorganization, including a focus on digital espionage (through the creation of the CIA Directorate of Digital Innovation). The plan will end some longstanding divisions, and create ten new centers that team analysts with operators, fostering collaboration and focus on a range of new security issues and threats, and replacing geographic division offices with hybrid mission centers modeled on the CIA Counterterrorism Center. (The Washington Post via MSN)
Customs officers at the Shahjalal International Airport catch Son Young Nam, a North Korean diplomat trying to smuggle an estimated $1.4 million worth of gold into Bangladesh. Bangladesh authorities release him but will still seek to press charges. (Reuters)
Man arrested on roof of Houses of Parliament -
A 23-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and trespassing after a man spent several hours on the roof of Parliament. Negotiators were called to the scene after police were made aware of the incident at 21:15 GMT on Saturday. Scotland Yard said at this stage it was too early to know why the man had been on the roof. A man was detained at 05:00 GMT on Sunday and has been taken to a central London police station. [BBC]
#BlackOutDay a hit on social media -
#BlackOutDay launched as a social media campaign today celebrating black beauty and fighting against negative images and stereotypes perpetuated in the media. The campaign is supported by YouTube personality Frenchesca Ramsey. She said ""We're asking black people to share pictures, videos and GIFs of themselves to celebrate our people coming from all different walks of life. It's a celebration of black beauty and our individuality." See Trending below [abc news]
Franchesca Ramsey
Parking's fine for driver -
A driver who was trying to pay to park got a surprise £32 "windfall" when the ticket machine "cascaded" coins at her like a fruit machine jackpot payout. Stephanie Corder, from Rayleigh, Essex, was in the town's Castle Road, where it costs £5 to park a car for a whole day. "I had to scoop the money up to stop it falling on the floor," Ms Corder said. She took the cash to the police and Rochford District Council has rewarded her with a day's free parking as a "little thank you" for her honesty. [BBC]
The US Secret Service locks down the White House after a loud noise is heard on the South Lawn, moments before U.S. President Barack Obama and his family were due to take off by helicopter. He and his family were not yet on the South Lawn when the noise was heard. (Reuters via MSN)
Crufts dog dies after suspected poisoning -
A dog has died after competing at Crufts, amid claims he was poisoned. Three-year-old Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, is understood to have collapsed and died after returning home to Belgium on Friday. Police in Belgium are investigating and a full toxicology report is expected next week. The husband of Jagger's co-owner said: "I can only hope it wasn't an act of jealousy by another competitor, but just a lunatic." Jagger, who came second in his class at Birmingham's NEC on Thursday, is owned by Belgian Aleksandra Lauwers and Leicester-based breeder Dee Milligan-Bott. [BBC] See List of the Day.
Solar plane takes of to fly round the world -
A record-breaking attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane has got under way from Abu Dhabi. The aircraft - called Solar Impulse-2 - took off from the Emirate, heading east to Muscat in Oman. Over the next five months, it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the process. Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater vehicle as it took off at 07:12 local time (03:12 GMT). He will share the pilot duties in due course with fellow Swiss, Bertrand Piccard. See Video of the Day.
Wheels come off epic plan -
Producers working on the remake of the Oscar-winning Ben Hur have been barred from shooting the epic chariot scene at the Circus Maximus. Filmmakers already on location in Rome and the southern city of Matera reportedly made a request to use the ancient stadium immortalised by the film in December. But it was feared the decision to bring hundreds of extras and heavy vehicles into a fragile archaeological site would lead to public outcry. [Daily Mail]
A court in Moscow charges two men of Chechen origin, Zaur Dadayev and Ansur Gubashev, who were among five arrested March 7, with the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The others also arrested, Gubashev's younger brother Shahid Gubashev and two others named only as Bakhayev and Eskerkhanov, are still only suspects. (AFP via MSN)
A sixth suspect in Nemtsov's murder, Beslan Shavanov, 30, who had been holed up in a building in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, blows himself up. (CNN)
French sports stars die in reality TV accident -
Prosecutors in France have opened a manslaughter investigation after two helicopters crashed in Argentina, killing eight French nationals. Three well-known French sports personalities were among those killed in the collision, which also claimed the lives of the two Argentine pilots. French President Francois Hollande said it was "a cause of immense sadness". Both helicopters were involved in the filming of TV survival show Dropped, which airs on French channel TF1. On the show, celebrities are flown into rough terrain and filmed while they attempt to find food and shelter. Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine were the show's celebrities on board at the time of the crash. They all died. [BBC]
Camille Muffat
Solar powered plane still on target -
Solar Impulse is back in the air on the second leg of its historic attempt to fly around the world. After the briefest of lay-overs, the prop-driven plane took off from Muscat in Oman at 06.35 (02:35 GMT). It is heading across the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad in India. Project chairman, Bertrand Piccard, is now at the controls, having taken over from Andre Borschberg, who flew the first leg on Monday from Abu Dhabi to Muscat. The second leg will cover about 1,465km (791 nautical miles), and should take about 16 hours.
American film director Randall Miller pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing and will spend two years in county jail and another eight on probation in regards to the February 20, 2014 death of camera assistantSarah Jones by a freight train on a bridge over the Altamaha River in Wayne County, Georgia (six other crew members were also injured) during filming of a biopic about singer Gregg Allman called Midnight Rider. (BBC)
Explorers of a stalactite cave in Israel's Galilee region uncover a small collection of 2,300-year-old silver coins and jewelry believed to have been hidden from the time of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. The discovery could be the first of its kind to be found from that period in this area. (Reuters via MSN)
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Top Gear Clarkson out for the count -
Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC after what it called a "fracas" with a producer. Sources said he was accused of hitting the producer in an incident last week, and the remaining three episodes of the current series might not be broadcast. The BBC confirmed one episode - due for broadcast on Sunday - would not be shown, but gave few further details. Clarkson, 54, has not commented, but has been joking on social media about films that could replace Sunday's show. [BBC] Jeremy Clarkson
Berlusconi cleared of under-age sex -
Italy's top court has confirmed the acquittal of Silvio Berlusconi on charges that he paid for sex with an under-age dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up. After nine hours of deliberations, the judges at the Court of Cassation delivered a ruling that brings to an end a lengthy legal saga centred on the billionaire media tycoon's infamous "bunga bunga" sex parties. It also leaves the 78-year-old free to resume a central role in Italian politics. Berlusconi has just finished serving a community service order for tax fraud and remains embroiled in several other legal cases. [Daily Telegraph]Silvio Berlusconi
"Blurred Lines" was plagiarised from Marvin Gaye track -
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams plagiarised their monster hit Blurred Lines from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give It Up and have been ordered by a court to pay $7.4 million to the late Motown singer's children for infringement of copyright. The ruling followed a two week case at the The US District Court in Los Angeles and some experts said the outcome could have a detrimental effect on an industry in which many artists are heavily influenced by those who went before. Thicke, who performed the song, and its producer Williams, made Blurred Lines into the biggest song of 2013 in the US, where it stayed at number one for 12 weeks, and a familiar tune across the world. A jury of five women and three men decided unanimously that they had infringed copyright and must pay damages to Gaye's children Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III, who were in court. [Daily Telegraph]
Pharrell Williams
Video of the Day -
The most popular Top Gear Clip ever
Bugatti Veyron v Euro Fighter Typhoon: Drag Race
Saudi student guilty of Drug-driving in a McLaren -
A rich Saudi playboy was caught by police driving his father's £168,500 McLaren supercar while high on cannabis through Hyde Park. Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, confessed to smoking the drug at 7.30am that morning and was unsteady on his feet with slurred speech when questioned by officers. He pleaded guilty to driving a McLaren MP4-12c 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 Velocita Wind Edition in West Carriage Drive on December 11 last year while unfit to drive through drugs. Student Al-Sharif, who lives off a family allowance, was fined £400, with £85 costs and was ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge. He was disqualified for twelve months. [Daily Telegraph]
McLaren MP4-12c
Highwaymen steal €9m jewels and art on motorway in France -
A manhunt is underway to catch a group of armed robbers who successfully trapped two armoured vans at a motorway toll booth in Burgundy, escaping with €9m (£6.3m) of jewels and art. French police said the heist was carried out by around 15 “heavily armed and battle-hardened” individuals, all masked, who arrived in four cars and surrounded the vans on the A6 motorway around 125 miles south east of Paris. “The group carried out the attack around midnight,” said Cristophe Crépin, a spokesman for the police, adding that the robbers had forced the drivers out, emptied the vans, and then set them on fire a short distance from the toll booth. A local prosecutor said no one had been hurt. The local newspaper said the men had made a getaway towards Paris, in four high-speed cars. [Daily Telegraph]
Google has opened its first-ever branded shop, choosing the Currys PC World on London’s Tottenham Court Road as the location. The store, to be called The Google shop, will sell the company’s range of Android phones and tablets, Chromebook laptops, and Chromecast TV services. The shop will hold tutorials showing consumers how to use the devices and hold demonstrations showing off key Google apps. It is the first time that Google has opened a shop under its own name and highlights how online companies are increasingly exploring ways to open physical stores. Amazon is thought to be considering opening a shop in a standalone location in New York. [Daily Telegraph]
The Kremlin's Rights Council states that they believe that Zaur Dadayev, a former Chechen police officer, who confessed to being part of the murder of Boris Nemtsov did so after being tortured. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
At least 15 armed assailants ambush two vans on a highway in Burgundy, France carrying millions of euros worth ofjewels. It was the latest in a string of big jewel heists in France. (AP)
Terry Pratchett, author of Discworld novels dies -
Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and creator of the Discworld series, has died aged 66, eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. "The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds," said Larry Finlay of his publishers Transworld.The author died at home, surrounded by his family, "with his cat sleeping on his bed", he added. Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer. His death was announced on his Twitter account with a tweet composed in capital letters - which was how the author portrayed the character of Death in his novels - read: "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER." [BBC]
Terry Pratchett
Spider that can give men four-hour erections found in Tesco bananas -
A mother was scared stiff after opening a bunch of supermarket bananas and finding rare spiders whose bite can give a man a painful four-hour erection. Maria Layton, 43, spotted the arachnids after opening the bag of yellow fruit she bought from Tesco. She found the bananas, shipped from Costa Rica, were infested with eggs from the Brazilian Wandering Spider - the most deadly in the world. [Daily Telegraph]
The Brazilian Wandering Spider
Rumours are swirling in Moscow over the health of Vladimir Putin after the Russian president disappeared from view and put off a foreign visit.
Mr Putin has not been seen in public for a week and an official in Kazakhstan told reporters that he postponed a visit to the central Asian country on Wednesday because he had fallen ill. He will also not appear at an annual meeting of high-ranking officers from the Federal Security Service on Thursday, which he has attended in past years. Reporters last saw the president when he met Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, on March 5.
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin's 'girlfriend has given birth' -
Rumours continued to swirl on Friday over the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin, with one newspaper claiming that the Russian president had fathered a child with his long-term girlfriend. Citing local residents, Switzerland's Bick tabloid said on Friday that Mr Putin flew to Switzerland to be with Alina Kabaeva, his rumoured lover, as she went into labour at the private Clinic Sant'Anna near Lugano earlier this week. Miss Kabaeva, 31, has been rumoured to be in a relationship with Mr Putin for several years, but the Kremlin has never acknowledged any link between the pair. [Daily Telegraph]
Alina Kabaeva [attribute www.kremlin.ru]
Dermot O'Leary dances for 24 hours straight -
The X-Factor UK presenter Dermot O'Leary has danced for 24 hours straight in aid of Comic Relief, and raised a staggering £643,336. The 41-year-old completed his epic challenge in aid of Red Nose Day, at 7.20pm on Friday after showing off his moves outside BBC Broadcasting House in London for his Day of Dance. The X Factor presenter fought tiredness and pain to boogie his way to the finish life with help from celebrity pals along the way.
[Daily Mail]
Dermot O'Leary
World's first successful penis transplant carried out in South Africa -
South African scientists have announced the world's first successful penis transplant, helping a 21-year-old who suffered an amputation following a botched traditional circumcision three years ago. Professor Andre van der Merwe, head of Stellenbosch University's Division of Urology, announced details of the "ground-breaking" operation at Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville, Cape Town. The nine-hour operation, which involved the attachment of a penis taken from a donor who had died, was carried out in December. The results were announced on Friday after doctors confirmed that the recipient of the donor organ has made a full recovery and is sexually active. [Daily Telegraph]
Mums offer breast milk after formula scare -
Nw Zealand mothers have offered to supply breast milk after letters were sent to a national farming body and the dairy giant Fonterra threatening to contaminate formula with a pesticide. About 30 women in the Northland region, on New Zealand's North Island, say they'd be happy to contribute, and some women have already started expressing their milk for babies who are ordinarily fed formula. [BBC]
Among the over 2,000 delegates from 112 different countries, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, delivers a speech during the investment summit held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. (AP via ABC News)
The Aung Takon passenger ferry sinks off the coast of Myanmar with 21 dead and 26 people missing. (Straits Times)
A Serbian military Russian-made MI-17 transport helicopter crashes near Belgrade's international airport in foggy weather while evacuating a sick 5-day-old baby with life-threatening respiratory problems from the south of the country, killing all seven people on board. (AP)
Health
In regard to an operation that took place on December 11, 2014, today, a Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital surgical team from Cape Town, South Africa, reports the world's first successful penis transplant, an operation requiring reconnection of tiny blood vessels and nerves. (BBC)
A malicious computer virus called Teslacrypt targets older games including World of Warcraft stopping their users from playing their favorite titles unless they pay a ransom. (BBC)
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BBC Comic Relief raises £78 million -
A record-breaking £78million was raised for Comic Relief by the end of Red Nose Day 2015. The total was revealed during the live television spectacular on BBC One. The charity also revealed that more than a billion pounds has been raised for Comic Relief since the charity was set up 30 years ago. Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis said he was "enormously proud" of the charity's achievements. Rowan Atkinson brought back Mr Bean. Dawn French starred in one-off Vicar of Dibley special. Bond stars Daniel Craig and Roger Moore teamed up for a special 007 sketch, while Professor Stephen Hawking appeared in Little Britain. Victoria Wood triumphed in the celebrity Bake-Off. Star-studded sketch saw Liam Gallagher named a national treasure. [BBC]
Putin missing mystery magnifests -
The mystery over the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin deepened on Saturday as Russian state media broadcast – then retracted – reports that he had hosted an official visit from the President of Kyrgyzstan. Mr Putin has remained hidden from public view for nine days. Levels of fear and uncertainty in Moscow have been rising as rumours fly over what could be behind Putin’s lengthy disappearance.The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that there is anything amiss with the Russian leader, batting away suggestions that he is ill, dead, victim of a palace coup or in Switzerland to be by his girlfriend’s side as she gives birth. [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin
Massive cyclone hits island of Vanuatu -
Dozens are feared dead after a ferocious tropical cyclone suddenly switched direction and smashed through the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, causing landslides, flooding and sea surges and widespread destruction. Cyclone Pam, one of the worst recorded in the southern hemisphere, is believed to have destroyed entire villages as it swept across the Pacific archipelago with winds of more than 200 miles an hour. Aid workers warned of “complete annihilation” in Port Vila, the capital, where some observers estimated 90 per cent of houses had been destroyed. “It felt like the world was going to end,” Alice Clements, from Unicef, told ABC News. [Daily Telegraph]
Guyana rejects the latest objections raised by neighboring Venezuela over the granting to ExxonMobil Corp. of an oil and gas concession in Caribbean waters claimed by both nations. (Miami Herald)
US tycoon murder suspect Durst says he 'killed them all' -
US tycoon Robert Durst has been arrested on a murder charge just before the finale of a TV show investigating the alleged crime. He was detained in New Orleans after a warrant was issued by Los Angeles police investigating the murder of mobster's daughter Susan Berman. Mr Durst has always maintained his innocence in the murder in 2000. But HBO's The Jinx catches him on tape apparently confessing to three killings, saying "[I] killed them all". The show suggested in a previous episode that Mr Durst had written a letter only Ms Berman's killer could have sent. [BBC]
Sir Elton John boycotts Dolce & Gabbana after row over same-sex families -
Sir Elton John has called for a boycott of fashion label Dolce & Gabbana after the legendary designers criticised same-sex families. In a scathing post on picture sharing site Instagram, the furious singer branded Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana "judgmental" and "archaic". It followed an interview with the designers in Italy’s Panorama magazine in which the pair said: "We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed."
In response to their latest comments, Sir Elton, who married his long-term civil partner David Furnish in December 2014, wrote: "How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. "And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children. [Daily Telegraph]
Sir Elton John
British Airways flight to Dubai forced to return to Heathrow due to 'smelly poo in toilet' -
A British Airways flight to Dubai was forced to return to Heathrow Airport when a “smelly poo in the toilet” became unbearable for passengers.
The pilot announced that the long haul flight had to be aborted, after cabin crew were unable to prevent the pungent odour emanating from an overflowing toilet. Around 30 minutes in the seven-hour flight, the plane returned to London amid health and safety concerns.
Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev, who represents Potters Bar Parkfield was on the plane and said it was “insane” that passengers had to wait 15 hours for another flight due to a “smelly poo in the toilet”.
The government of the island nation of Vanuatu declares a state of emergency for Shefa Province containing the capital Port Vila as authorities struggle to assess the full impact of the category 5 storm. Once assessments of the damage have been done in other provinces, authorities are likely to widen the declared area in a state of emergency.(The Guardian), (ABC via Weatherzone)
Ronaldo has most Facebook likes after going ahead of Shakira -
Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has overtaken Shakira to become the most followed person on Facebook. The 30-year-old star now has 107,096,356 likes compared to 107,087,100 for the Colombian singer. Ronaldo became the first sportsman to cross 100 million likes last October after joining the site in 2009. He also has 34 million followers on Twitter but is only 13th on that list with Katy Perry leading on 66.6 million followers. [BBC]
Christiano Ronaldo
Flintoff wins Australia's I'm A Celebrity -
Andrew Flintoff has been crowned Australia's king of the jungle after winning their version of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Flintoff beat Australian Football League player Barry Hall and TV personality Chrissie Swan to the title in the South African jungle. After winning, Freddie said: "As an Englishman winning something in Australia, it's unheard of." On the show he ate a rat's tail and was covered in elephant manure. He also drank fermented milk laced with cockroaches and flies and fell out of a helicopter. [BBC]
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff
Vladimir Putin reappears in public for first time in 10 days -
President Vladimir Putin has made his first public appearance for over ten days, scotching rumours of a Kremlin coup and even his own death. All eyes were on the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Monday as Mr Putin met with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, for talks as planned. Commenting on suggestions that he had been forced to lie low because of ill health, Mr Putin said that life without rumours would be boring. "It would be boring without gossip," Mr Putin, 62, said in his first public appearance since March 5. [Daily Telegraph]
Italian police arrest four people while 51 others are under investigation for corruption associated with public works including a stretch of the high-speed rail line near Florence. (Daily Mail)
Judges sacked for watching porn in office -
Three judges have been sacked for viewing pornographic material via their official IT accounts, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office has said.
The pornography was not illegal in content, a spokesman added. However the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice concluded it was an "inexcusable misuse" of their official accounts and "wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder". District Judge Timothy Bowles, Immigration Judge Warren Grant and Deputy District Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock have been removed from office. [BBC]
Swiss plan for Europe's tallest skyscraper... in ski-resort -
Plans are being drawn up to build the tallest skyscraper in Europe at a remote spa resort high in the Swiss Alps. The proposed 1,250-feet high building would tower over London's Shard, which measures a mere 1,015 feet. Developers want to build it on the outskirts of Vals, a tiny spa town of just 1,000 people, nestled 4,000 feet up in the Swiss Alps. It is a proposed luxury hotel, aimed at guests from the Middle East and Asia. The proposed tower will reportedly contain around 100 suites, with the cheapest priced at around 1,000 Swiss francs (£675) a night, and the most expensive at an eye-watering 25,000 Swiss francs (£16,000). [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party has won a surprise victory in Israel's election. Exit polls had forecast a dead heat but with almost all votes counted, results give Likud a clear lead over its main rival, the centre-left Zionist Union. The outcome gives Mr Netanyahu a strong chance of forming a right-wing coalition government. It puts the incumbent on course to clinch a fourth term and become Israel's longest-serving prime minster. [BBC]
Benjamin Netanyahu
Never slip on ice again with glass shard shoes -
Slipping on ice need never happen again after scientists invented a new type of rubber sole for shoes which allows the wearer to walk easily, even up treacherous slopes. Canadian researchers have developed a new material which contains microscopic glass fibres which act as tiny spikes, gripping the ground in even the most nerve-jangling icy weather. [Daily Telegraph]
American health insurer Premera Blue Cross announces that it was the victim of a cyberattack that exposed bank account numbers and other personal data of 11 million customers on May 5, 2014. (Reuters)
According to the U.S. Secret Service, a white substance mailed in an envelope to the White House and received March 16, 2015, at the White House Mail Screening Facility, tests a "presumptive positive" for cyanide. (Reuters via MSN)
Following a congressional and possible criminal investigation surrounding the redecoration of his office and the use of donors' private aircraft at taxpayers' expense, U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) resigns effective March 31, 2015. (Peoria Journal Star)
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On 18 March 1985, Neighbours was first broadcast in Australia. Thirty years on it's still going strong and broadcast to more than 50 countries around the world.
Kylie Minogue
Boris' Dad bets on him being next PM -
Boris Johnson’s father has bet £20 on his son becoming the next prime minister. Stanley Johnson, 74, said his son is the “best man for the job” and predicted he would beat other rivals to become the next Tory leader. Bookies would have to pay out if the London Mayor entered Number 10 after Mr Cameron steps doing - potentially as early as 2017 - following an election victory next May. “Next Prime Minster After Cameron. Boris Johnson. 5/1,” read the betting slip seen by The Sun. [Daily Telegraph]
Boris Johnson
Video of the Day -
Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite.
List of the day -
12 Megastars who started off in Neighbours [Daily Telegraph]
1. RUSSELL CROWE - That's right, you might have forgotten that long before he was an Oscar-winning gladiator or (the extremely miserable) Javert, Russell Crowe was mullet-toting youth Kenny Larkin in four episodes back in 1987.
2. MARGOT ROBBIE - Margot Robbie's career has gone from strength to strength since 2013's About Time and The Wolf of Wall Street, but before all that she was Donna Freedman for three years from 2008, where storylines explored her bisexuality, finding out the identity of her biological father and later, the devastating death of her newlywed husband Ringo in a motorcycle accident.
3. LIAM HEMSWORTH - We know him now as Gale from The Hunger Games franchise, and maybe The Expendables 2, and probably also from his teen-dream on-again-off-again relationship (and brief engagement) with Miley Cyrus... But back in Australia from 2007-2008, Hemsworth was Josh Taylor, the love interest for Bridget Parker. He was left paraplegic after a surfing accident and met her during recovery at the Erinsborough pool.
4. CHRIS HEMSWORTH - You'd definitely struggle to remember big brother Chris's brief promenade down Ramsay Street, but he was there, in 2002, for one episode, helping Steph to report a robber. He was more prominent in rival soap Home and Away, but now, obviously, he's Marvel's Thor, and has ditched the stripy shirts for a more figure-hugging shining-armour-and-chainmail number.
5. JESSE SPENCER - Now known best from starring in House, where he played Dr Robert Chase alongside Hugh Laurie from 2004-2012, Jesse Spencer started off as Billy, the youngest member of the Kennedy clan. From 1994-2000 Billy was a teenage heartthrob, lifeguard, pirate radio DJ (along with best pal Toadie) and long-term love interest of Anne Wilkinson.
6. NATALIE IMBRUGLIA - When she was 16 (in 1992), the Torn singer spent two years playing Beth Brennan, who came to Ramsay Street for a fresh start, away from her abusive stepfather. Imbruglia has since said that she felt uncomfortable during her audition for the soap, when she was asked to parade around in a bikini.
7. KYLIE MINOGUE - Here she is, Neighbours's most well-publicised export. Tomboy mechanic Charlene was actually only on the show for two years from 1986-88, but her relationship with Jason Donovan's Scott Robinson is fondly remembered.
8. JASON DONOVAN - Hubby Scott Robinson stuck it out on Ramsay Street for one year after Charlene moved to Brisbane on a mechanics apprenticeship before following her and living happily ever after (we think). In real life, he also followed Minogue - her pop career anyway - and they released the duet "Especially for You" together in 1988.
9. HOLLY VALANCE - From 1999-2002, Holly Valance was the feisty Flick Scully, whose storylines mainly focused on ill-fated romances. After she left the soap, she released the number one single "Kiss Kiss", an undeniable Noughties classic. "Down Boy" and "Naughty Girl" were next, but her music career trailed off a bit after that. "It was a really tough slog and I had a good go at it," she said. Since then she's appeared in Prison Break, Taken, and of course the obligatory Strictly Come Dancing in 2011 in the UK, where she came fourth (Jason Donovan beat her to a spot in the final and came third).
10. GUY PEARCE - He's been in Lawless, Prometheus, LA Confidential, The King's Speech, and Iron Man 3, but in 496 episodes from 1986-1989 Guy Pearce was Mike Young, the nice young boy who, along with his mother, lived in fear of his abusive father, before training to become a maths teacher and then crossing the line with one of his pupils... In the soap, he was bezzies with Charlene and Scott, but in real life he's pals with Hugh Jackman and Leonardo DiCaprio.
11. NATALIE BASSINGTHWAIGHTE - Natalie Bassingthwaighte was repeatedly nominated for the "best bitch" Inside Soap Award for her role from 2003-7 as Izzy Hoyland, who broke up Karl and Susan Kennedy's marriage. She's since had a successful pop career with her band Rogue Traders and has hosted So You Think You Can Dance Australia, judged X Factor Australia and has starred in a few Hollywood horror movies.
12. CRAIG MCLACHLAN - Craig McLachlan was the popular Henry Ramsay on the soap from 1987-89, and had an international pop career afterwards, releasing songs "I Need You Baby (Mona)", "Amanda", and "One Reason Why".
Kraft Foods Group Inc. recalls more than 6.5 million 7.25-ounce (0.2-kilogram) boxes of its macaroni and cheese after customers reported finding small pieces of metal inside. The recalled products were shipped nationwide in the U.S. as well as to some countries in South America and the Caribbean. (Bloomberg via MSN)
A study in the medical journal The Lancet states that babies who are breastfed were more likely to have higher IQs, spend more time in school, and end up in higher-paying jobs. (Quartz via MSN)(The Lancet)
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Top Gear France smashes channel ratings in first episode as critics give it the thumbs up -
Around a million viewers tuned in to Top Gear France – the best ever rating for the channel broadcasting the show, made by BBC Worldwide France reportedly for up to €400,000 per programme. The Gallic version features comic actor Philippe Lellouche, driving ace Bruce Jouanny and car expert Yann Larret-Menezo and The Stig. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day.
Philippe Lellouche
Zayn Malik leaves One Direction tour after being signed off with stress -
Zayn Malik has left One Direction's tour of Asia and has returned to the UK after being signed off with stress. A statement said: "Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. "The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta." On Wednesday the singer declared his love for his fiancee, Little Mix star Perrie Edwards, after photos emerged of him with his arm around another woman. [BBC]
Zayn Malik
Russia: Gold found in roadside socks lands man in court
A Russian man has been found guilty of illegally possessing more than a dozen pieces of gold he found in some socks by the roadside, it's been reported. Bagaudin Estermirov, from the Amur Region in Russia's Far East, found 18 ingots of gold worth 10.5 million rubles ($171,000; £116,184), wrapped in three black jersey socks in bushes in the town of Zeya last October. A Russian district court on 17 March handed down a two-year suspended sentence for "illegal possession of a precious metal" after Estermirov fully admitted his guilt. The gold, which weighed about 8kg, was handed over to the state. [BBC]
Charlie Sheen hurls racist Twitter rant at Barack Obama -
Charlie Sheen, once the highest paid actor on US television before his career unravelled because of his drug addiction, has launched an attack on Barack Obama. The son of Martin Sheen and former star of Two and a Half Men, posted a garbled attack on the US president in the early hours of the morning on Twitter. “Barry Satera Kenya u won’t attend a soldier’s funeral uhkros da street that u kild yet u hav time 4 brackets? s a d.” Sheen’s anger appeared to be a reference to the funeral of Major General Harold Greene, a two-star general killed in Afghanistan. [Daily Telegraph]
Tag Heuer teams up with Google and Intel for Android watch -
Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has announced it is to build an Android Wear-powered smartwatch. The firm - which is part of the luxury goods-maker LVMH Group - is forming a partnership with Google and the chipmaker Intel to create the device. Switzerland dominates the high-end watch sector. This marks the first of its companies to join Google's wearable tech ecosystem. [BBC]
Authorities in the Australian state of Queensland prepare for the impact of Severe Tropical Cyclone Nathan which is forecast to make landfall near Cooktown early tomorrow morning. (AAP via Wa Today)
Moldovan authorities ban two Russian journalists, Dmitry Kiselev and Andrei Kondrashov, from the country for five years because they had planned to travel to Moldova to present a documentary sympathetic to Russia annexing the Crimea.(AP via ABC)
Law and crime
A stabbing attack from March 17, leaves three dead and three wounded in New Bern, North Carolina, both the 18-year-old attacker and victims were refugees from Myanmar (Burma). (AP via MSN)
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America's longest-serving innocent prisoner receives $1m for 39 years in jail -
An Ohio man freed last year after spending 39 years in jail for a murder he did not commit will receive more than $1 million from the state for his wrongful imprisonment. Ricky Jackson, the longest-held US prisoner to be cleared of a crime, will receive just over $1 million (£680,000) following an order from an Ohio Court of Claims judge on Thursday. The 39 years Mr Jackson spent in jail was the longest time a prisoner had been held before being exonerated. [Daily Telegraph]
'Breathtaking' solar eclipse witnessed by millions -
Millions of people in the UK and northern Europe have glimpsed the best solar eclipse in years. A great swathe of the Earth's surface was plunged into darkness as the Moon came between us and the Sun. From an aeroplane above the Faroe Islands, a BBC camera crew captured startling footage of the event reaching totality at 09:41 GMT. The deep shadow formed first in the North Atlantic and then swept up into the Arctic, ending at the North Pole. See video of the day [BBC]
Martin Guptill hits highest World Cup score in New Zealand victory -
New Zealand's Martin Guptill smashed the highest score in World Cup history with 237 not out against West Indies to send his team into the semi-finals. The 28-year-old's 163-ball innings featured 11 sixes and 24 fours and beat the 215 made by West Indies' Chris Gayle earlier in the tournament. Guptill hit 137 from his last 52 balls to help his side post 393-6. Trent Boult then took four early wickets as New Zealand bowled out the Windies for 250 to seal a 143-run win. [BBC]
Martin Guptill
Islamic State releases a video showing the execution of three Kurdishpeshmerga fighters in northern Iraq with threats to execute dozens more. (Reuters)
Biogen Idec Inc. reports that it has achieved the first experimental drug that demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in amyloid plaque as well as a slowing of clinical impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The antibody drug, aducanumab, blocked beta amyloid formation, a protein that forms toxic brain-destroying plaques, and significantly slowed cognitive decline. (Reuters)
A solar eclipse, vernal (for those living in the northern hemisphere) or autumnal (for those in the southern hemisphere)equinox, and a Supermoon will all occur today. (The Independent)
Australia unveils 35-year plan to save Great Barrier Reef -
Australia has released a long-term blueprint to try to stem the decline of the Great Barrier Reef following warnings that the famous 1,500-mile stretch of delicate coral reefs could be wiped out by extreme weather and pollution. The 35-year plan is designed to improve the poor water quality and prevent the loss of coral cover in the area, which received a world heritage listing in 1981 and is regularly listed as one of the seven wonders of the natural world. But the area’s deterioration has worried scientists and led to warnings by the United Nations heritage body that it may downgrade the reef’s heritage status to “in danger”. [Daily Telegraph]
Photoshop disaster over a disappearing umbrella in Burma -
Ridicule is raining down on government spin doctors in Burma after they released a publicity shot of a top government minister in which an umbrella had been photoshopped out but a telling shadow gave away their dastardly intervention. The picture is question showed Su Su Hlaing, the country’s deputy minister, disembarking from a plane on Tuesday afternoon at Kaw Thaung airport in the country’s south. It was posted on the Ministry of Information’s official Facebook page in an apparent attempt to boost the minister’s profile. However, internet users almost immediately spotted a glaring mistake. An umbrella-shaped shadow around the minister’s toes suggested she had been standing in the shade of a parasol, yet there was no parasol to be seen in the photograph. The reason for the deletion of an apparently harmless umbrella was not immediately clear. However, the most likely explanation was that a man shielding a woman with his umbrella was something “considered embarrassing for the former in male-dominated Burmese culture,” the The Irrawaddy website speculated. [Daily Telegraph]
@JonahFisherBBC
Six Nations 2015: Ireland title glory delights coach Joe Schmidt -
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said he is "delighted and relieved" after his side retained the Six Nations title. A 40-10 win over Scotland gave Ireland the title on points difference ahead of England and Wales on a thrilling final day of the championship. Wales briefly led the Six Nations standings after hammering Italy 60-21 in Rome, resulting in Ireland needing to defeat the Scots by 21 points to go top. England required a 26-point winning margin over France to deny the Irish back-to-back titles for the first time since 1949, but they came up just short in a 55-35 victory to complete a dramatic triple-bill of action. See List of the Day. [BBC]
Residents living on the east coast of the Northern Territory prepare for the second tropical cyclone to hit the area in a month as Tropical Cyclone Nathan is likely to make landfall tomorrow morning. (ABC News Australia)
Drone carrying drugs and weapons crashes into prison in smuggling bid -
A plot to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into a prison by flying them in on a drone failed after the operator crashed the remote-controlled aircraft into a jail wall. The device was spotted by guards at HMP Bedford after it crash landed into razor wire on top of the prison walls in the first incident of its kind. Guards quickly removed the drone - a DJI Phantom 2, which costs up to £900 - and found a package attached containing class A drugs, a knife, screwdriver and mobile phones. [Daily Telegraph]
Italian Job's legendary Lamborghini discovered after almost half a century, now worth £1m -
It has a starring role in the classic movie The Italian Job – in one of the most memorable opening sequences in cinema history. A stunning orange supercar races through the Alps, before disappearing into a tunnel. Then, in a heartbreaking moment for car fans, the Lamborghini Miura crashes in a ball of flames. The smashed up wreckage is dragged out of the tunnel by the mafia and pushed into a ravine by a bulldozer – followed by a wreath for the driver. The millions who have seen the iconic film since it was made in 1969 must have assumed the car was an irrecoverable write-off, never to be driven again. The car’s new co-owner, Iain Tyrrell, received a tip-off at Christmas that the Miura had resurfaced.He said: ‘I was initially sceptical because no one had seen it for 46 years. But my source was a credible one so I started to pursue it.’ He was invited to see it – but given just three hours to verify the vehicle as the genuine article. ‘It was all very James Bond-ish – I had to go to Paris to inspect the car in a secret underground car park,’ he said. See Video of the Day. [Mail on Sunday]
Steven Gerrard sent off 38 seconds after coming on -
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was sent off 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute as Manchester United retained their grip on a top-four place with a vital win at Anfield. Gerrard was introduced for Adam Lallana at the start of the second half with United deservedly leading through Juan Mata's early goal - but was gone almost as quickly after following up a thunderous tackle on the goalscorer with a reckless reaction to a challenge with a clear stamp on Ander Herrera. See List of The Day. [BBC]
Japanallocates 820 billion yen ($6.8 billion) for creating a nearly 400-kilometer (250-mile) chain of cement seawalls, at places nearly five stories high, against future tsunami disasters such as the one that struck the country's northeastern coast four years ago. (AP)
A Venezuelan bus plunges into a lake in Aragua state, southwest of the capital Caracas, killing at least eleven people with 36 others injured. (BBC)
Taylor Swift buys .porn and .adult web domain names -
Taylor Swift has bought the web domain names TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult. The addresses are part of a public sale by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The web domain names go on sale to the public on 1 June but some stars and companies are being given the opportunity to buy them ahead of then. Microsoft Office has registered Office.porn and Office.adult. Domains can cost up to $2,500 (£1,674). However, .porn and .adult are $99 (£66). In January Taylor Swift applied to trademark five phrases from her latest album 1989 with the US government. [BBC]
Chinese state company agrees to buy Italy's Pirelli -
China's biggest state-owned chemical company said Monday it plans to buy Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli, adding to a string of high-profile Chinese corporate purchases in Europe. ChemChina said it has agreed to buy a 26.2 percent stake in Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. from its biggest shareholder, Camfin S.p.A., which is controlled by the family of Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera. The company said it would offer to buy the remaining outstanding shares. [AP] The fate of the famous Pirelli calendar is unknown.
Pirelli Calendar November 2015 - Gigi Hadid [From Vogue.com]
French businessman awarded compensation after police mistook soap for cocaine -
Spain’s Ministry of Justice has awarded a French businessman €8,400 (£6,136) in compensation for doing jail time after Spanish police mistook his van-load of soap for a cocaine shipment. Jacques Benoit Fiocconi spent more than two months in a Spanish prison waiting for forensic scientists to correctly identify the fragrant cargo and clear his name. Mr Fiocconi had asked the Spanish Ministry of Justice for €83,000 to cover financial losses and moral damages resulting from his incarceration. The Corsica-based cosmetics entrepreneur was arrested in November 2012 when driving along the AP-7 motorway in Catalonia with his father, Laurent Fiocconi, himself a former drug trafficker who was at one time associated with Pablo Escobar. [Daily Telegraph]
Vin Diesel reveals he has named his daughter after Paul Walker -
Vin Diesel has named his new daughter after Paul Walker, his co-star in The Fast and the Furious series of action films, who died in a car crash in 2013. Diesel told Natalie Morales on the US programme, The TODAY Show: "I named her Pauline. There's no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting the umbilical cord. I knew he was there." [Daily Telegraph]
Largest-ever meteorite crater found in Australian outback -
Scientists have discovered two deep scars in the earth's crust in outback Australia that are believed to mark the remains of a meteorite crater with a 250-mile diameter – the largest ever found.The scars are each more than 120 miles in diameter and are believed to mark the spot where a meteorite split into two, moments before it slammed into earth. The impact is believed to have occurred more than 300 million years ago. Scientists discovered a scar from the meteorite five years ago – it was then thought to be from the third largest crater ever found – but now say there are two sets of remains. [Daily Telegraph]
Multiple bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill at least nineteen people and wound another 36. (AP)
Business and economy
China's biggest state-owned chemical company ChemChina acquires a 26% stake in Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli with an additional offer to buy the remaining outstanding shares. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
A bus crashes into traffic in Peru leaving at least 37 people dead and dozens injured. (AFP via ABC news)
Former NFL player Darren Sharper pleads guilty in a Maricopa County courtroom to raping two women after spiking their drinks at a Tempe, Arizona apartment in November 2013, and the court sentences him to nine years in prison. Sharper has also been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting women in California, Louisiana, and Nevada. (Reuters)
The U.S. Supreme Court affirms Wisconsin's law requiring voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot.(Reuters)
Germanwings plane 4U 9525 crashes in French Alps - no survivors -
A Germanwings plane carrying 150 people has crashed in the French Alps on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. The Airbus A320 - flight 4U 9525 - went down between Digne and Barcelonnette. There are no survivors, officials say. The "black box" flight recorder has been found, the French interior minister says. The cause of the crash is not known and the plane did not send a distress signal. Among the passengers were 16 German pupils returning from an exchange trip. [BBC]
Germanwings A319 plane
Nash Grier offer ignites Twitter -
Nash Grier asks for selfies to be posted on his Twitter feed with the hashtag #BartAndNashsContest for a chance to be in his next Vine video. Result is top trending for the hashtag. (see Top Twitter Trends).
Nash Grier Twitter
Jaguar Launches the XF on a high wire -
The new lightweight Jaguar XF tackles a London water crossing via a 28mm wide high-wire suspended 18 metres above the city. Movie stuntman, Jim Dowdall was at the wheel in an attempt at the world's longest high-wire water crossing by car. (See Video of The Day)
China orders square dancers to walk the line -
Chinese officials say they will introduce guidelines to regulate square-dancing in the country. The dance is wildly popular with elderly Chinese women and is performed en masse at night in public squares. However, Chinese authorities say the "over-enthusiasm of participants has dealt it a harmful blow, with disputes over noise and venues". Fitness authorities plan to introduce 12 authorised routines and also permissible times and music volume. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
The Jaguar #NewXF performs the world's longest high-wire water crossing -
Gunmen kill at least thirteen people in an attack on three passing vehicles including a bus in Wardak province's Sayad Abad district. (Al Jazeera America)
Jeremy Clarkson dropped from Top Gear, BBC confirms -
Jeremy Clarkson's contract will not be renewed after an "unprovoked physical attack" on a Top Gear producer, the BBC's director general has confirmed. Tony Hall said he had "not taken this decision lightly" and recognised it would "divide opinion". However, he added "a line has been crossed" and he "cannot condone what has happened on this occasion". Clarkson was suspended on 10 March, following what was called a "fracas" with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon. The row, which took place in a Yorkshire hotel, was said to have occurred because no hot food was provided following a day's filming. An internal investigation found that Mr Tymon took himself to hospital after he was subject to an "unprovoked physical and verbal attack". [BBC]
Jeremy Clarkson changed his Twitter profile from "Presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear" to "I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear"
Zayn Malik is leaving One Direction and group continues as four-piece -
Zayn Malik has left One Direction, the band said in a statement today. They will continue as a four-piece for their world tour and to record their fifth album later this year. Malik said: "My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band. "I'd like to apologise to the fans if I've let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right." Malik quit the band's world tour last week after being signed off with stress. [BBC]
Zayn Malik
One Direction's workload (from the BBC)
The X Factor tour - 19 February to 9 April 2011 (33 dates)
Up All Night album recording - April to October 2011
What Makes You Beautiful is released - 11 September 2011
Up All Night is released - 18 November 2011
Up All Night tour - 18 Dec 2011 to 1 July 2012 (53 dates)
Take Me Home album recording - May to August 2012
Live While You're Young is released - 28 September 2012
Take Me Home is released - 9 November 2012
This is Us film is shot - January 2013
Take Me Home tour (when they start recording Midnight Memories as well) - 23 February to 3 November 2013 (123 dates)
Best Song Ever is released - 22 July 2013
This is Us world premiere - 20 August 2013
Midnight Memories is released - 25 November 2013
Where We Are tour - 25 April 2014 to 5 October 2014 (71 shows)
Steal My Girl is released - 29 September 2014
Four is released - 17 November 2014
On The Road Again tour - 7 February 2015 to now (19 dates so far)
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi flees Yemen in a boat after Houthi rebels besiege the government's temporary capital of Aden in the southern part of the country. (AP)
Tornadoes hit the American city of Tulsa and the surrounding region of eastern Oklahoma leaving one person dead and several others injured. (News on 6), (BBC)
Zayn Malik departure dominates Twitter -
Zayn Malik's decision to leave One Direction 20 years after Robbie Williams left Take That dominates Twitter with #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik being tweeted 884,400 times and retweeted 3,907,000 times today. (See Top Twitter Trends)
Zayn Malik
Germanwings plane crash: Co-pilot 'wanted to destroy plane' -
The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps, named as Andreas Lubitz, appeared to want to "destroy the plane", officials said. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.
He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out. Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it. He said air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail. Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash, he added. Details are emerging of the German co-pilot's past - although his apparent motives for causing the crash remain a mystery. [BBC]
Russian army TV channel invites Jeremy Clarkson to present motoring show -
Russia’s army TV channel has issued an offer to Jeremy Clarkson to present a motoring show, noting his interest in tanks, aircraft carriers and other hardware. The official military television station of the Russian Armed Forces, Zvezda (Star), said it had invited the axed BBC celebrity to visit Russia to discuss the proposal next month. “Dear Jeremy, the Russian Armed Forces Broadcasting company Zvezda expresses deep honour to you and kindly asks for cooperation,” the channel said in the text of an email it said it had sent to Clarkson, published on its website. [Daily Telegraph]
Jeremy Clarkson
King Richard III laid to rest at Leicester Cathedral -
A service to mark the reburial of King Richard III has taken place at Leicester Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev Justin Welby, presided over the service with local senior clergy and representatives of world faiths. Sophie, Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were among the guests.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Twitter launches live-streaming video app Periscope -
Twitter has launched its own live-streaming video app for iOS, on the same day that similar service Meerkat received $12m (£8m) in venture capital funding. Once you have installed Periscope you can begin live-streaming video footage from your camera to anyone who wishes to view it online.
As soon as you start a broadcast an optional alert can be sent to all of your Twitter followers. They can then watch your video live, comment on it and send “hearts”. It is also possible to "lock" a broadcast so that only certain people are able to view it.
French prosecutors give a media conference in which they claim the evidence is that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intended to crash the plane deliberately. (The Guardian)
George Clooney wants 12-seater cinema at his country estate by the Thames -
George Clooney wants to add a 12-seater home cinema and luxurious swimming pool to his 17th century country estate in Sonning-on-Thames, plans submitted on Friday revealed. A new pool house, pergola and hot tub will be built onto the back of the existing riverside boat house, allowing George and his new wife Amal to luxuriate by the estuaries of the River Thames. Plans have been submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council's planning department to extend an annexe of Clooney's countryside mansion in Sonning Eye, Berkshire. [Daily Telegraph]
George Clooney
Facebook completes first drone flight above UK, Mark Zuckerberg confirms -
Solar powered drones which provide internet access to rural and remote areas have been trialled in UK for first time by Facebook. They “have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 737 but will weigh less than a car”, according to the social network's chief Mark Zuckerberg. The drones, developed by Somerset-based company Ascenta which Facebook bought last March, will beam down laser-guided internet signals to those below. Solar panels attached to the wings of the drones mean that they will be able to keep going at altitudes of 60,000 ft for months at a time.
Mark Zuckerberg
Dermot O'Leary quits the X Factor -
After eight years, Dermot O'Leary has announced through Twitter he is stepping down as presenter of the long-running talent show, and is now joint favourite to replace Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear - bookmakers William Hill currently has O'Leary joint with Jodie Kidd as the 4/1 favourite. O'Leary recently danced continuously for 24 hours to raise money for Comic Relief.
Dermot O'Leary
Italy court clears Knox and Sollecito -
Italy's top appeals court has overturned the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher.
The decision is the final ruling in the long-running case. The pair were found guilty in 2009, then freed in 2011 after the convictions were overturned. Their convictions were reinstated by another court last year. Ms Kercher was found dead in 2007 in a flat she shared with Ms Knox.
The couple had always maintained their innocence and the decision by the Court of Cassation puts an end to their long legal battle. [BBC]
Top ten spelling mistakes jobseekers make on their CVs - (research by jobs search engine Adzuna)1) Responsibility2) Liaise3) University4) Experience5) Speciality6) Communication7) Achievement8) Management9) Environment10) Successful
Investigators, searching one of the two residences of Andreas Lubitz, find a ripped-up doctor's note granting Lubitz medical leave—deeming him unfit for work—for a period including the day of the crash. (CNN)
In imitation of current U.S. policy, Lufthansa, together with other German airlines announce plans to mandate that two people (either two pilots or a pilot and a flight attendant) must be inside the cockpit at all times. (CNN)
Zoella turns 25 and Lady Gaga hits 29 -
Zoe Sugg gets a surprise cake party for her 25th birthday and tops the UK Twitter trend chart with #HappyBirthdayZoe. She shares her birthday with Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga who is 29 today.
Zoella birthday party
Lady Gaga
Eiffel Tower goes dark in symbolic move for Earth Hour
The Eiffel Tower has gone dark briefly to mark Earth Hour, the campaign to raise awareness about climate change.The five-minute dark-out on Saturday night was a symbolic gesture in the City of Light. Cities around the world also marked the event, with other landmarks like the Kremlin and the Empire State Building going dark.France has been preparing for months to host an international climate conference in Paris at the end of the year, pressing nations to set attainable goals for reducing greenhouse gases and mobilizing international finances to fight climate change. [Daily Mail]
Andreas Lubitz planned spectacular gesture that would go down in history, claims ex-girlfriend -
Airbus crash pilot Andreas Lubitz had been planning a spectacular gesture to make everyone "remember" who he was, it has been claimed. An ex-girlfriend of the Germanwings pilot who crashed his plane in the French Alps, killing all 149 others on board, described him as "tormented" and able to hide secrets. Maria, 26 (not her real name), told Bild newspaper that when she heard about the crash she remembered that he had said he was going do something "that would change the system" and "make everyone remember" him. [Daily Telegraph]
According to an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, the former girlfriend of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was told by him that "One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember." (BBC)
A mourning religious service is held at Digne-les-Bains in the French Alps near the site of the downed passenger jet.(Guardian)
Law and crime
The Congolese bar owner whom Amanda Knox falsely accused of killing Meredith Kercher criticises a lack of justice in the surprise decision by Italy to quash her conviction yesterday, citing diplomatic pressure coupled with Knox's wealth and status as American, as opposed to his being African. (Guardian)
Voters in Nigeria go to the polls for a general election. Gunmen kill at least 15 voters including an opposition house of assembly candidate for Dukku in Gombe. (CNN), (Reuters via MSN)
Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia crush New Zealand in final -
Australia overwhelmed New Zealand to win the World Cup for a fifth time at an ecstatic Melbourne Cricket Ground. New Zealand lost influential captain Brendon McCullum to the fifth ball of the match and were bowled out for 183. Grant Elliott resisted with 83, while Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner shared eight wickets. Australia rarely looked troubled, sealing a seven-wicket win in 33.1 overs, with captain Michael Clarke scoring 74 and Steve Smith 56 not out. [BBC]
Jess Glynne scores UK number one -
Jess Glynne has topped the UK singles chart for the first time as a solo artist with her track Hold My Hand. The 25-year-old Londoner got two number ones last year as a guest vocalist on Clean Bandit's Rather Be and Route 94's My Love. "To get a number one in my own name is one of the most insane feelings," she said. The singer outsold her nearest rival, James Bay's Hold Back the River, by 40,000 copies. (See video of the day) [BBC]
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel beats Lewis Hamilton to shock Malaysia win -
Sebastian Vettel took a sensational maiden victory for Ferrari as he won a straight fight with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Vettel, who joined Ferrari this year as Fernando Alonso's replacement, won a strategic battle as Mercedes struggled with tyres in the tropical heat. Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg was third from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who fought back from an early puncture. [BBC]
Sebastian Vettel
Pakistan sends a Boeing 747 to evacuate Pakistani nationals concerned about their security. The plane will be allowed into the country despite the no-fly zone declared by Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
Air Canada Flight 624 skids off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from Toronto shortly past midnight. All 132 passengers and 5 crews on board survive, with 25 treated for minor injuries. (BBC)
Nigeria postpones voting in its general election for a second day due to delays and malfunctioning equipment. So far,Boko Haram attacks have killed 43 people. (Bloomberg)
Jay Z promotes 'artist-owned' music streaming brand -
Some of the biggest names in entertainment have re-launched the music subscription service Tidal, which they are billing as the first artist-owned platform for music and video. At an event in New York on Monday, Madonna, Beyonce, Kanye West, and 13 other performers announced they had become co-owners of Tidal. The service launched last October, but was recently bought by rapper Jay Z. It is hoping to compete with the likes of Spotify, Deezer and Google Play. Jay Z recently bought Aspiro a Scandinavian music streaming company. #TIDALforALL topped the USA and UK Twitter trends charts (see Video of the day and Top Twitter Trends below) [BBC]
Jay Z
Girl, 4, refuses to eat anything other than Petits Filous -
A four-year-old girl who has refused to eat anything other than Petits Filous fromage frais for her entire life has baffled doctors.
Emilie-Lea Hayward eats 30 pots every day and will only eat the raspberry and strawberry flavour. She refuses to eat any solid food and becomes hysterical every time mother Naomi, 32, offers her anything other than Petits Filous. The youngster won't touch chocolate, sweets or ice cream and even bursts into tears if she is offered an alternative brand. Each 47g pot of Petits Filous contains around a teaspoon of sugar, meaning Emilie-Lea is consuming 30 teaspoons a day - more than twice the recommended adult intake. [Daily Telegraph]
Are these the most beautiful faces in the world? -
Scientists have used e-fits to create portraits of the most beautiful man and woman in the world - and say David Gandy and Natalie Portman are the closest real life examples. A computer programme usually used to draw up e-fits of wanted criminals has been used to create the faces of the most beautiful man and woman in the world. The pictures are the result of a two-month-long study led by Dr Chris Solomon, a world expert in facial mapping, that asked people to put together a composite of the perfect face using the EFIT-V PhotoFit software used by UK police. [Daily Telegraph]
The idealised faces (according to those living in the UK)
Creditors offer Puerto Rico's highly leveraged power authority $2 billion in new financing, including $1.2 billion for a new natural gas operation, in exchange for assurances that it will repay its debt. (Reuters)
Zayn Malik solo track taken down after angry response from One Direction's Louis Tomlinson -
A song featuring Zayn Malik without the rest of One Direction has been taken down, less than a day after it was shared on Twitter. Producer Naughty Boy posted a link to the track early on Tuesday, with the words "let the music do the talking". It came less than a week after Zayn confirmed he was quitting 1D. Earlier on, the band's Louis Tomlinson accused Naughty Boy of being "inconsiderate" to fans after he retweeted a video about Zayn. [BBC]
Louis' tweet
Top Gear: Richard Hammond and James May no longer work for the BBC -
James May and Richard Hammond are out of contract with the BBC from midnight, after declining to sign new deals to present the next series of Top Gear. The pair are now free agents, meaning rival broadcasters can approach them with job offers. Hammond has tweeted that he is "not ready for retirement". May does not seem in a great hurry to find new employment, he is making a shepherds pie. [Daily Telegraph]
Google Maps launches PacMan on real streets -
Google has launched an April Fool's Day version of Google Maps that allows users to play the classic arcade game Pac-Man on real streets. Google Map users can access the Pac-Man version by clicking on the icon in the bottom corner of the screen and then using their keyboard to play the game. The game is accessible on desktop computers and on the Google Maps app. It allows users to play the famous game around the world's most recognisable streets or your own neighbourhood. At some famous locations, such as the area around the Taj Mahal and the Arc de Triomphe, Google has added a Pac-Man marker that also launches the game because the areas appear perfectly matched to the original Pac-Man layout. [Daily Telegraph]
Elon Musk's $1bn tweet: news of secret product line sees Tesla shares soar -
Elon Musk, the billionaire technology entrepreneur, has announced a "major" new Tesla product line that is "not a car", in a cryptic tweet which has left millions guessing. The CEO's news sparked the hashtag #TeslaNewProductGuesses, with guesses ranging from a time machine to a real-life Iron Man suit. Shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters. The tweet went out to his 1.9 million followers and had thousands of retweets within an hour. [Daily Telegraph]
Elon Musk
Video of the Day -
David Beckham and James Corden's New Underwear Line
Landslides in India's Jammu and Kashmir state kill at least six people and leave sixteen others missing. (BBC)
Large parts of Turkey experience a power outage affecting public services and infrastructure including air traffic control, trams, and subways in Istanbul. As much as 65% of the country is without power. (CNN)
German newspaper Bild and French news magazine Paris Match say they have a passenger's cell phone video showing the plane's last moments before the crash. (BBC)
In a courthouse in Istanbul, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front of Turkey takes hostage the prosecutor handling the case of a 15-year-old who died in a police gas attack. The situation ends with police killing the gunmen. The prosecutor later dies at a hospital. (BBC)
Italian parking: £300,000 Ferrari destroyed by attendant -
A garage attendant in Italy accidentally rammed a £300,000 Ferrari 599 GTO into a shop front after mistaking the accelerator for the brake. The attendant was supposed to be delivering the rare supercar, which can accelerate from a standing start to 60mph in three seconds, to its owners, a Dutch couple who had taken part in a meeting of Ferrari enthusiasts in Anzio, south of Rome. The owners were staying just a few streets away from where the car was being stored. [Daily Telegraph]
Ferrari 599 GTO
Justin Bieber’s New Album Leaked? Fans Freak Out Over New Music -
Justin Bieber lovers woke up to a very exciting surprise on April 1 — the pop star had released his first new album in nearly three years! #JustinYourAlbumLeaked immediately began trending on social media, but it didn’t take long for fans to figure out what was really going on.(See Top Twitter Trends) [HollywoodLife.com]
Justin Bieber
India police seek cow ‘mugshots’ to enforce beef ban -
Police in a west Indian township have asked cattle owners to supply photographs of their animals to help enforce the state’s tough new ban on beef, an officer said yesterday. Nearly 100 farmers and other owners in Malegaon have so far complied with the request for mugshots along with a dossier on the cows, said Sunil Kadasne, additional superintendent of the city. “After the new law, commercial slaughter has largely stopped but this programme will help us to stop all killing by helping trace any animal thefts faster,” Mr Kadasne told AFP. The Maharashtra state government introduced a tough ban in March on killing and selling cows, while even possession of beef could land you in jail for five years. [AFP/Daily Telegraph]
CERN discovers Star Wars "The Force" but it is April 1st -
The Force - the mysterious energy field used by the Jedi in Star Wars - has been discovered by researchers at the Cern laboratory. The European research centre announced its spoof discovery with pictures showing its scientists using The Force in everyday life. It was one of many April Fools jokes seen on websites around the world. Smartphone maker Samsung produced a spoof page for a Blade edge version of its Galaxy smartphone that, it claimed, was designed for cooks. The limited edition handset incorporates a diamond-edged blade so the phone can also be used to chop food when it is not being used for calls, texts, or browsing the web.
HTC joined in with fake product pages for the Re-Sok - the "world's first truly smart sock". The technology-enhanced footwear is engineered with GPS so pairs of socks can easily find each other and have an automatic hole warning system to alert owners when their intelligent footwear is running thin. For its April Fools parody, Motorola went to the trouble of making a lavish video showing two craftsmen producing selfie-sticks out of wood and leather. New York-based footwear maker Miz Mooz joined in and produced a pair of shoes that have smartphone docking ports in each toe so each one can be used to take selfies.
Other parodies included cab-calling firm Hailo introducing piggy-back rides around cities; Domino's pizza introducing a driverless pizza delivery systemusing autonomous scooters; BMW making the ultimate rugby mouth guard and Sony making a wearable add-on for the PlayStation so players can take part in games when they are swimming. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Ken Block's Gymkhana Seven: Wild in the streets of Los Angeles
Turkish police shoot two attackers outside Istanbul’s central police headquarters, killing one of them. The exchange of fire wounds two officers. (The Guardian)
An apparent murder and suicide leaves four dead in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP)
Al-Shabab Islamist militants attack on Kenya university -
The death toll in the attack by al-Shabab Islamist militants on a university in north-eastern Kenya has risen to 147, Kenyan government officials say. They added that the operation to secure the the Garissa University College campus was now over, with all four attackers killed.
The evacuation of surviving students is now under way. An overnight curfew is being implemented in parts of the country. [BBC]
Oxford v Cambridge: RNLI rescue Oxford women's boat crew -
Oxford University's women's boat crew have been rescued by an RNLI lifeboat in choppy waters in the Thames during training for the Boat Race.
The eight rowers and cox were discovered by the Chiswick RNLI crew while it was out on exercise. RNLI helmsman Ian Owen said: "We've rescued quite a number of rowers, but it is the first time I've been involved in helping such a prestigious team." [BBC]
US sailor rescued after 66 days lost at sea -
The U.S. Coast Guard says a man missing in the Atlantic Ocean for the past two months survived by drinking rain water and eating raw fish. He was found off Cape Hatteras this afternoon. The Coast Guard says a German tanker ship spotted Louis Jordan and his 35-foot sailboat approximately 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras around 1:30 p.m. The 37-year-old Jordan was reported missing by his father on January 29th. Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss from the Coast Guard in Miami tells WITN that Jordan had been surviving off of raw fish and rain water. [WITN]
Video of the Day -
The stunts on Fast and Furious 7 -
List of the day -
Oxford v Cambridge women's boat race winners:
RACE
YEAR
WINNER
WINNING
DISTANCE
WINNING TIME
69
2014
Oxford
4 lengths
05:50
68
2013
Oxford
1 3/4 lengths
07:21
67
2012
Cambridge
1/4 length
06:38
66
2011
Oxford
1 length
06:24
65
2010
Oxford
4 lengths
05:56
64
2009
Oxford
1 1/4 lengths
06:24
63
2008
Oxford
1/2 length
06:38
62
2007
Cambridge
1/2 length
04:03
61
2006
Oxford
1/2 length
05:54
60
2005
Cambridge
2 1/3 lengths
06:27
59
2004
Oxford
4 lengths
06:06
58
2003
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
06:35
57
2002
Oxford
2 1/2 lengths
06:02
56
2001
Cambridge
3 feet
07:27
55
2000
Oxford
2 1/4 lengths
06:18
54
1999
Cambridge
1 length
06:01
53
1998
Cambridge
1 1/4 lengths
06:25
52
1997
Cambridge
1 1/4 lengths
06:26
51
1996
Cambridge
4 lengths
06:12
50
1995
Cambridge
1 1/3 lengths
06:02
49
1994
Cambridge
1 length
06:11
48
1993
Cambridge
4 1/2 lengths
06:10
47
1992
Cambridge
1/3 length
06:20
46
1991
Oxford
3 lengths
07:29
45
1990
Cambridge
3 1/4 lengths
07:17
44
1989
Cambridge
1 length
06:20
43
1988
Oxford
NTT
42
1987
Cambridge
NTT
41
1986
Oxford
NTT
40
1985
Oxford
NTT
39
1984
Cambridge
NTT
38
1983
Cambridge
NTT
37
1982
Cambridge
NTT
36
1981
Oxford
NTT
35
1980
Oxford
NTT
34
1979
Cambridge
NTT
33
1978
Cambridge
NTT
32
1977
Cambridge
NTT
31
1976
Oxford
NTT
30
1975
Cambridge
NTT
29
1974
Cambridge
NTT
28
1973
Cambridge
NTT
27
1972
Cambridge
NTT
26
1971
Cambridge
NTT
25
1970
Cambridge
NTT
24
1969
Cambridge
NTT
23
1968
Cambridge
NTT
22
1967
Cambridge
NTT
21
1966
Cambridge
NTT
20
1965
Cambridge
NTT
19
1964
Cambridge
NTT
18
1952
Cambridge
NTT
17
1951
Oxford
NTT
16
1950
Oxford
NTT
15
1949
Oxford
NTT
14
1948
Cambridge
NTT
13
1946
Cambridge
NTT
12
1945
Cambridge
NTT
11
1944
Cambridge
NTT
10
1942
Cambridge
NTT
9
1941
Oxford
NTT
8
1939
Oxford
NTT
7
1937
Oxford
NTT
6
1936
Oxford
NTT
5
1935
Oxford
NTT
4
1934
Oxford
NTT
3
1930 *
Cambridge
NTT
2
1929 *
Cambridge
NTT
1
1927
Oxford
03:36
NOTES:
The Course is Putney to Mortlake except 1829 (Henley); Westminster to Putney 1839-42; Mortlake to Putney 1846, 1856, 1862 and 1863
The first Boat Race was in 1829 but did not become an annual event until 1856. There were also interruptions during the two world wars. This table shows all the races since 1829.
A Christian-owned Indiana pizza shop closes its doors after receiving death and arson threats in response to the restaurant saying they would not cater a same sex wedding; the owners are afraid they may close permanently or leave town. (The Washington Times)
Chelsea Manning begins tweeting from prison -
Former army intelligence analyst, serving a 35-year sentence for leaking US secrets, says she will be dictating tweets by telephone. Chelsea Manning, the US soldier serving a 35-year prison sentence for passing a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks, started posting on Twitter on Friday, with help from supporters. Within minutes of her first tweets, Ms Manning had recruited more than 5,000 followers under the handle @xychelsea. In her initial tweets, Ms Manning acknowledged she had no Internet access behind bars and that she was dictating comments to a communications company by telephone. [Daily Telegraph]
Gadget which turns all traffic lights green trialled in UK -
The pioneering technology is being tested ahead of trials of driverless vehicles. A device which switches all red traffic lights to green has been launched in Newcastle to prevent cars from ever needing to stop. The pioneering technology is being tested ahead of trials of driverless vehicles, which would be linked to traffic lights so that fully-automated convoys could pass quickly through urban areas. The new gadget, which attaches to the windscreen like a Sat Nav, detects traffic lights from around 100 metres away and requests priority so that they switch to green as soon as the car arrives. It also tells drivers of the speed they should be driving to make sure they always hit a green light in the event of traffic. [Daily Telegraph]
Paris aims to become 'world bike capital' -
Paris's mayor has announced plans to double the number of cycle lanes. Paris is to double the number of cycling lanes by 2020 as part of its Socialist mayor's push to turn the city into “the world’s bike capital". The 150 million-euro project will increase the number of safe bike lanes from the current 700 kilometres (435 miles) to 1,400 kilometres within five years. Paris town hall hopes the new lanes will help triple the number of journeys made on a bike from five per cent to 15 per cent in that time.
Plaintiffs withdraw a lawsuit against Google that had asserted that it was illegally tying its licensing of the Androidoperating system to the favorable treatment of Google apps. (Reuters)
Miscellaneous news
An American sailor who was lost for 66 days in the Atlantic Ocean is found by a German tanker. He survived on a diet of solely raw fish and rainwater. (BBC)(CTV news)(Yahoo news)
New York's two billion dollar bunny battle -
Brooklyn woman accused of cruelty by keeping more than 170 rabbits in empty lot hits back with law suit against accusers. A New York woman has appeared in court over Easter charged with keeping 176 rabbits in filthy conditions. Dorota Trec, 35, has become known as the Rabbit Woman of Gowanus, after the Brooklyn neighbourhood where she lives with a rapidly proliferating collections of bunnies. She faces up to a year in jail if found guilty of two animal cruelty charges. Prosecutors allege her pets are suffering from diseases such as syphilis and have bite wounds from frequent fights. Trec, who is a piano teacher, is now accusing an animal welfare campaigner, Natalie Reeves, and others of a smear campaign and is seeking $2 billion in damages after the rabbits were taken away. [Daily Telegraph]
Ranulph Fiennes risks his life in 156 mile Sahara race -
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the explorer, has told how he is "putting his life on the line" by attempting to complete the Marathon des Sables.
Should the 71-year-old succeed, he will become the oldest Briton to complete the six-day ultra-marathon in the Moroccan desert. The explorer will face temperatures of 50C. "People say I must be mad, especially as I don't like the heat," he said. "I am putting my life on the line." The Marathon des Sables covers 251km, including the distance of a marathon a day and a double marathon another day. Runners carry everything they need on their backs. Sir Ranulph will be raising money for Marie Curie. [Daily Telegraph]
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
The 11 greatest children’s books (according to the BBC)
1. EB White, Charlotte’s Web (1952)
2. CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
3. Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
4. Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
5. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)
6. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (1943)
7. AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
8. Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
9. Ursula K Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
10. Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle In Time (1962)
11. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie (1935)
Egypt kills over 100 people around Sheikh Zuweid in retaliation for the 15 Egyptian soldiers that were killed by ISIL-affiliated groups in the past week. (PressTV)
ISIL affiliated groups have claimed responsibility for killing the 15 soldiers. (ABC)(CTV)
A crowdfunding effort to support a Christian-owned Indiana pizza shop that closed its doors after receiving death and arson threats in response to the shop's owner saying it would not cater a same-sex wedding ends with over $840,000 being raised. (NBC News)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Large Hadron Collider restarts after two-year rebuild -
The Large Hadron Collider has restarted, with protons circling the machine's 27km tunnel for the first time since 2013. Particle beams have now travelled in both directions, inside parallel pipes, at a whisker below the speed of light. Actual collisions will not begin for at least another month, but they will take place with nearly double the energy the LHC reached during its first run. Scientists hope to glimpse a "new physics" beyond the Standard Model. [BBC]
Cristiano Ronaldo scores five as Real Madrid thrash Granada 9-1 in Easter morning La Liga clash -
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo struck the quickest hat-trick of his career on his way to netting five goals in a 9-1 drubbing of second-from-bottom Granada on Sunday, lifting Real to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona. Portugal forward Ronaldo struck three times in eight minutes in the first half and added two headers after the break on a festive, sun-drenched afternoon at the Bernabeu to help fire Real to their biggest victory in almost half a century. [Daily Telegraph]
Christiano Ronaldo
Devastating floods in northern Chile leave at least 25 dead and more than 100 missing. (CNN)
International relations
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven says that neither he nor any other of his cabinet-level ministers will be attending the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Moscow due to "Russia’s actions in Ukraine". In this Sweden joins a large group of European countries unofficially boycotting the May-day parade. (The Local)
Mieko Nagaoka: 100-year-old Japanese swimmer sets 1,500m record -
A Japanese woman has become the first 100-year-old to complete a 1,500m freestyle swim in a 25m pool. Mieko Nagaoka, who only took up swimming at the age of 82, already holds the record in her age category for the same distance in a 50m pool. She completed the latest feat in just over one hour and 15 minutes, using backstroke all the way. She was the only person taking part in her age range - 100 to 104 - at the competition in Matsuyama on Saturday. Nagaoka already dominates the world record board for her age group, as awarded by the international swimming federation (Fina), holding 24 titles over both short and long distances. [BBC]
Smartphones could be charged in 60 seconds with new battery -
An iPhone 6 takes around two hours to charge but could be full of power in a minute if fitted with a new aluminium battery. Smartphones could be charged in less than one minute after scientists at Stanford University invented an aluminium battery so powerful it could revolutionise the industry. The new rechargeable battery can go from flat to full in a fraction of the time it currently takes to pull in enough electricity to fully charge a phone, laptop or tablet. While an iPhone 6 takes around two hours to fully charge its in-built battery, if it was fitted with the aluminium power source it would be completely topped up in around 60 seconds. And it will keep going for more than seven times as long as a lithium-ion battery. A traditional battery can be recharged around 1,000 times, while the new one can withstand 7,500 cycles. [Daily Telegraph]
Biggest American Indian tribe in US introduces country’s first junk food tax -
As diabetes and obesity spiral out of control on their vast reservation, Navajo Nation harks back to a healthier time and starts taxing Spam and crisps. In times gone by, Navajo Indians ate whatever mother nature was generous enough to bestow, their existence intimately and spiritually bound up with the land on which they lived. Their food would have been the envy of any modern dietitian as they foraged for pinyon nuts and wild potato, and nibbled on sumac berries, yucca fruit, prickly pears and beeweed greens. Today, life is very different in the Navajo Nation, the largest American Indian reservation in America, which covers an area of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah that is the size of Scotland and has a tribal population of 300,000. The modern Navajo, who prefer to be called the Diné, are facing an intensifying health crisis fuelled by a complete transition to a diet based largely on fried potatoes, tortillas, cookies, crisps, sugary drinks and Spam. [Daily Telegraph]
[Daily Telegraph]
Gul Ahmad Saeed is suspected in the killing of his fiancee and nine of her relatives in Pakistan, apparently because of opposition to his marriage. He also is a suspect in the murders, earlier this year, of his mother, father, brother, and sister-in-law. (NBC)
American Pie lyrics sell for $1.2m -
The original manuscript of Don McLean's American Pie has sold for $1.2m (£806,000) at a New York auction. The 16-page draft had been expected to fetch as much as $1.5m (£1m) at the Christie's sale. McLean had hinted in February the original manuscript would reveal the song's lyrical meaning - which had always been kept a mystery. "The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge," he said. The 69-year-old previously acknowledged the beginning of the song is about the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper - Jiles P Richardson - in a plane crash, but has remained elusive about the rest of the track. (See List of the Day) [BBC]
Lindsay Lohan Attempts to "Break the Internet" With Her Clothes On in Racy Jumpsuit -
Step aside, Kim Kardashian, there’s another former Hollywood party girl looking to effectively “break the Internet.” On Saturday, March 7, Lindsay Lohan posted a shot of herself in Paris on Twitter, wearing a revealing black lace jumpsuit and hat. [US Magazine]
Lindsay Lohan Tweet - copyright @LindsayLohan Twitter
US judge strikes out Prince Andrew sex claims -
Claims that a woman was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are to be struck from the record of a civil case in the US, a judge has said. The Duke of York was named in court papers in Florida by a woman alleging financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times. But Judge Kenneth Marra said the "lurid" claims were "unnecessary" to decide the civil case. Buckingham Palace has previously "emphatically" denied the allegations. [BBC]
Rand Paul announces 2016 White House bid -
Senator Rand Paul has announced he is launching a 2016 presidential election campaign on the Republican ticket. "Today begins the journey to take America back," he said in a campaign event in Kentucky. Mr Paul, a Kentucky senator, stands out from the Republican pack because of his comparatively libertarian views. He becomes the second Republican to enter the contest that concludes in November 2016.
Apple wants to stop fans queuing outside stores for its watch -
Internal memo urges staff to tell customers to order Apple Watch online instead of waiting outside stores. Apple wants to stop hundreds of people queuing outside stores when its smartwatch goes on sale later this month. The technology giant has adopted a “significant change in mindset” and urged staff to tell customers to order the Apple Watch online, an internal memo stated. [Daily Telegraph]
The World Health Organisation estimates that 560 people have died, more than 1,700 people have been injured and more than 100,000 people have fled their homes following the intensification of fighting three weeks ago. (AP via Virginia Gazette)
Disasters and accidents
Following the deployment of 350 police, over 600 firefighters and over 400 soldiers, the fire at the Dragon Aromatics chemical plant in Zhangzhou(southeast China) restarts, forcing the evacuation of residents within a radius of 18km from the plant. (South China Morning Post)
Raiders using specialist cutting equipment break into an underground vault in the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company in the London diamond district and empty 300 safety deposit boxes. (Daily Mail)
A South Carolinianpoliceman is charged with murder after video footage emerges of him shooting 8 times an unarmed man in the back who was attempting to flee on foot following a traffic stop. (Post and Courier)
South Carolina policeman charged after black man shot dead -
A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting a black man, running away from him. State investigators arrested North Charleston police officer Michael Slager on Tuesday after viewing the mobile phone video of the shooting. Authorities say victim Walter Lamer Scott was shot after the officer had already targeted him with a stun gun. #WalterScott is top trending hashtag Worldwide and UK (See Top Twitter Trends) [BBC]
The Interview: Activist 'sends DVDs into N Korea by balloon' -
A South Korean activist says he has flown thousands of copies of controversial Sony film The Interview over the North Korean border. Sony initially pulled the film after a hacking attack and threats to attack cinemas which were screening it.Lee Min-bok said he had carried out the launches at night four times since January, most recently on Saturday. Mr Lee, a defector from the North, said he had tied the DVDs to balloons along with bundles of US dollars and leaflets criticising Mr Kim's regime. He told AFP news agency: "I launched thousands of copies and about a million leaflets on Saturday, near the western part of the border." [BBC]
Narendra Modi: Bus tours to India PM's Vadnagar tea stall -
A private tour operator in India plans to lay on daily bus trips to the town where PM Narendra Modi was born and worked at his father's tea stall.
The day-long tour of Vadnagar in western Gujarat state has run once a week since starting in February and has proved a big draw with visitors.
The operator expects tens of thousands to sign up for the tour this summer. Mr Modi was Gujarat chief minister for more than a decade before his landslide general election win last year. The tour of the BJP leader's birthplace includes visits to the street where he once lived, his former school, the railway station where he sold tea and a local lake where, according to reports, he once "caught a baby crocodile" [BBC]
Hatton Garden raiders plunder jewels worth up to £200m from safety deposit boxes -
Jewels worth tens of millions of pounds were stolen during a raid on hundreds of safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden, London's most exclusive jewellery district. Burglars are believed to have used heavy cutting equipment to cut through the roof before abeiling down a lift shaft to access the vault over the Easter weekend. They disabled the alarm system, leaving them four days to plunder around 300 boxes in the vault over the Bank Holiday. Former Flying Squad chief Roy Ramm said he "would not be surprised" if the stolen gems were worth £200 million, although he said the figure would probably never be declared in full. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud -
Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online. The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage. Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device. But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple's storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.
The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device. It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out - starting with the oldest images first - while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
List of the day -
Eight of the world's biggest heists during last 50 years -
List from International Business TimesAntwerp Diamond Heist
The Antwerp Diamond Centre raid is one of the largest diamond heists in history. More than $100 million worth of gold, diamonds and jewellery were stolen. Leonardo Notarbartolo was the leader of the gang, known as 'La Scuola di Torino,' who orchestrated the heist on 15 and 16 February, 2003. Notarbartolo posed as an Italian diamond merchant when he rented an office in the diamond centre two years before the robbery. He had 24-hour access to the building and his own safe deposit box located within the vault. Thieves plundered 123 out of the 160 security boxes.The diamonds were never recovered. Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years in jail and has since been released on parole. In an interview with Wired magazine he said a diamond merchant hired them for the heist as part of an insurance fraud and claimed they stole approximately €18 million ($20 million) worth of loot.
Knightsbridge Security Deposit
The Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery was one of the largest bank robberies in history. It was led by Valerio Viccei to fund his playboy lifestyle. Him and his accomplice entered the centre pretending to want to rent one of the safety deposit boxes then threatened the manager and security guards with handguns. They then broke open the safe deposit boxes and made up off with loot worth £60m. Viccei was later arrested when he returned to the UK to pick up his favourite Ferrari. He was sentenced to 22 years on the Isle of Wight before being deported to Italy to serve the rest of his sentence. He was shot dead in 2000 during a day release from prison when gunfire broke out between him and police. Two autobiographies were published on his life entitled Too Fast to Live (1992) and Live by the Gun, Die by the Gun, (2004).
Millennium Dome Raid
The Millennium Dome raid was foiled on 7 November 2000 by police who had the gang members under surveillance for previous armoured robberies. The six men were caught trying to ram-raid the De Beers diamond exhibition and make off with the Millennium Star - a 203 carat diamond worth £200m and the rest of the diamond collection. They even had a speed boat at the ready. If the heist had succeeded it would have been the biggest robbery in history at the time. All the suspects except Terry Milman who died of cancer before the trial were jailed between four and 18 years on charges of conspiracy to steal and conspiring to rob. The suspects were Lee Wenham, Raymond Beston, William Cockram, Aldo Ciarrocchi, Robert Adams and Kevin Meredith.
Tonbridge Securitas Raid
The Tonbridge securitas depot raid was the largest cash robbery in Britain that happened in 2006. Colin Dixon, the manager of depot and his wife were kidnapped at gunpoint and locked in money cages while the robbers made off with £53m. The six gang members were sentenced to a total of 156 years of imprisonment. Around 100 police officers assisted the inquirty and within two weeks recovered equipment and £21m in cash.
French Bank Vault Tunnelers
In 2010 Paris robbers, 'The Termites', tunnelled underground to reach a Credit Lyonnais branch on the city's Avenue de L'Opera, near The Louvre, and plundered 200 vaults - known as France's 'crime of the century'. A security guard was tied up and was warned he would be shot if he moved. By the time he managed to break free the thieves had gone and made off with an estimated £22m in cash and jewellery. The bank had been closed for construction work. The thieves had also used pickaxes and a flame thrower to break through the thick walls to the vaults.
Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum
Two thieves dressed as Boston police officers entered the museum in Boston and stole 13 pieces of art while the rest of the city celebrated St Patrick's Day. The $500m stolen artworks included a Rembrandt, Manet and Degas. Interestingly empty frames still hang in the place where the paintings were once located to pay homage to the missing artworks in the hope they will be returned one day.
Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery in 1963 involved British criminal Ronnie Biggs who died last December. Him and 14 other members of the gang stole £2.3m (equivalent to £40m today), from a post office train from Glasgow to London on 8 August, 1963. The bulk of the money was never recovered but they left evidence leading to their arrests after they hid at Leatherslade Farm. The train driver Jack Mills was struck over the head during the robbery, which ultimately ended his career. The ringleaders were jailed for 30 years. Biggs managed to escape from Wandsworth Prison in 1965 and spent time abroad. In 2001 he returned to the UK due to ill health and was sent back to prison. He was released on compassionate ground in 2009 after catching pneumonia.
Brazil's Banco Central - 2005
Brazilian robbers tunnelled into Banco Central in 2005 and stole £36m ($65m) that became known as the country's biggest bank heist. The thieves dug a 656ft tunnel into the bank from a nearby farmhouse in Fortaleza despite neighbours noticing van loads of building materials being hauled away on a daily basis. The robbery took place over the weekend but it was not until Monday the theft was discovered because the bank was closed.
A gunfight erupts between Afghan solders and U.S. soldiers working for NATO's Resolute Support Mission leaving 1 Afghan and 1 U.S. soldier dead, and 3 Afghan and 2 U.S. soldiers wounded. (Reuters)
At the Dragon Aromatics chemical plant in Fujian in southeast China, a fourth tank of about 1,500 tonnes of liquid hydrocarbon catches fire and explodes. More than 14,000 residents have been evacuated. (BBC)
Milan court shooting: Man kills lawyer, judge and co-defendant -
A gunman has killed three people in a shooting spree at the Palace of Justice in Milan in northern Italy. The suspect, Claudio Giardiello, was arrested in a suburb after fleeing the scene on a motorbike. He was reportedly a defendant in a bankruptcy case. He is believed to have shot dead a co-defendant, his former lawyer and a bankruptcy court judge. The newspaper La Repubblica, quoting officials and witnesses, said that the gunman had been attending a bankruptcy hearing when a fight broke out inside the third floor courtroom. He pulled out a weapon and shot the lawyer, named as Lorenzo Alberto Claris Appiani, as well as one of his co-defendants, named as Giorgio Erba. According to La Repubblica, Mr Appiani was a former lawyer for Mr Giardiello who was acting as a witness in the case. The gunman then left the courtroom and headed to the office of appeals court judge, Fernando Ciampi, shooting him dead. It is not known if the gunman had any links to the judge. [BBC]
Taylor Swift's mum has cancer -
Taylor Swift has told her fans news about her mother no daughter ever wants to hear. "The results came in, and I'm saddened to tell you that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer," she posted on her Tumblr page. The music industry's best-selling star said she asked her mother, Andrea Finlay, to get screened for potential health issues as a Christmas present last year, "just to ease some worries of mine." "There were no red flags and she felt perfectly fine, but she did it just to get me and my brother off her case about it," Swift wrote. While the 25-year-old intends to keep her mother's exact diagnosis and condition private, she said Finlay wanted to talk publicly to encourage others to get tested. [Daily Mail] #PrayForMamaSwift becomes one of the top trending hashtags of the day. (See Top Twitter Trends)
Richie Benaud: Australia cricket legend & commentator dies at 84 -
Former Australia captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84. A pioneering leg-spin bowler, Benaud played in 63 Tests, 28 as captain, before retiring in 1964 to pursue a career in journalism and broadcasting. His final commentary in England came during the 2005 Ashes series but he continued to work for Channel Nine in Australia until 2013. [BBC]
Google 'looking at buying Twitter' -
More than $1.5bn (£1bn) was added to the value of Twitter following reports Google could launch a bid for the social network. Shares in Twitter jumped 4.8pc on reports the US company had hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser to fend off approaches. Two companies are believed to have contacted Twitter with “serious” interest, according to Briefing.com, with Google identified as one of those firms. Twitter, which allows its users to post short messages online, has a market capitalisation of more than $34bn. Despite being less than 10 years old, the company has 288m monthly active users. Google launched its own social network, Google+, in 2011, but despite racking up around 300m monthly active users, it has struggled against rivals such as Twitter and Facebook. [Daily Telegraph]
At least 24 people are killed and 22 injured in a bus accident in southwestern Bangladesh. (AP via TVNZ)
A ship spills toxic bunker fuel into English Bay, Vancouver. The fuel has washed up on Vancouver's beaches, prompting a warning from city officials. (CBC)
A violent storm system spawns at least one tornado killing one person and injuring seven others in the American state of Illinois and causing widespread damage especially in the small towns of Rochelle and Fairdale. (Chicago Tribune)
Law and crime
A gunman attacks the Palace of Justice in Milan, killing up to three people, including a judge. (AP)(The Telegraph)
A fire on April 1 that disrupted power and internet access throughout London is now suspected to have been part of a robbery at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company. (The Register)
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Alex Jones accidentally flashes her nipples in see-through top as she Hosts the One Show -
BBC TV's The One Show host Alex Jones left viewers with more than they bargained for on Friday night, when she accidentally showed her nipples live on air. The gorgeous brunette telly presenter suffered the awkward wardrobe malfunction in a sheer white blouse which turned see-through under the BBC studio lights. Alex, who wore her hair in a chic French plait seemed completely oblivious to her wardrobe malfunction. [Daily Mirror] The presenter quickly found herself trending on Twitter.
Alex Jones
Sandra Bullock's 911 call from inside closet as she hid from stalker -
The emergency call made by Sandra Bullock as she hid in a wardrobe from a stalker, has emerged after it was played in court. Joshua Corbett, the man accused of breaking into the Oscar-winning-actress' Los Angeles home, appeared in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing on felony charges of burglary, stalking and possession of a machine gun, and 19 additional felony weapons charges. The audio played in court was taken from her June 8, 2014, call to police. In it, a frantic and fearful Bullock is heard describing the events. "Someone has broken into my house. I'm hiding in the closet," says Bullock, in the recording. "I'm locked in my closet. I have a safe door in my bedroom, and I've locked it, and I'm locked in the closet right now," she adds.
Sandra Bullock
Chinese GP: Man arrested after running on to track -
A man who ran across the track during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix has been arrested. He crossed the main straight shortly before a car, climbed the fence and ran into the pits before trying to enter Ferrari's garage. He is reported to have said he wanted to try a car, before being apprehended by security and handed to police. Formula 1 bosses will investigate how the tight security measures, which are imposed at all races, were breached. A Ferrari spokesperson said the man headed straight for the team's garage, but did not make it inside after he was stopped on the threshold by two mechanics. He was then handed over to security and then the police. [BBC]
Hatton Gardens heist: Metropolitan Police could have to pay millions in compensation -
Scotland Yard could face compensation claims running into millions of pounds after admitting that officers failed to respond to a burglar alarm during the Hatton Garden heist, insurance experts warned. Angry jewellers who fear they may have lost a fortune when 70 safe deposit boxes were looted during a daring raid last weekend have warned they may sue the Metropolitan Police over alleged incompetence. [Daily Telegraph]
Ronald Anderson is arrested in connection with a kidnapping his girlfriend, the fatal shooting of a guard at US Census Bureau headquarters and police chase into H Street night life district on April 9. FBI immediately ruled out terrorism as a motive. (abcnews)(Fox News)
Andy Murray and Kim Sears wedding: Hundreds of wellwishers flood Dunblane -
Hundreds of people turned out to see Andy Murray wed Kim Sears in Dunblane Cathedral this afternoon. The couple, who turned down all offers from celebrity magazines to cover their wedding, made sure that their wedding remained a private affair – with Sears' careful arrival granting onlookers the barest of glimpses of her dress. Murray and Sears, an artist, married in Dunblane’s 12th century cathedral at 4pm before attending a small reception with family and friends. The pair met in 2005 when they were introduced by Sear's father Nigel, a tennis coach. [The Independent]
Kim Sears and Andy Murray (Photo by Stirling Council)
Grand National 2015: Many Clouds wins as McCoy finishes fifth -
Many Clouds won the 2015 Grand National to give jockey Leighton Aspell his second consecutive victory in the race. Champion jockey AP McCoy was denied a fairytale Aintree farewell, finishing fifth on favourite Shutthefrontdoor. The Northern Irishman had said he would retire immediately if he had won, but the 40-year-old could now race on until the Sandown meeting at the end of April. [BBC]
A P McCoy
Boat Races 2015: Oxford women and men beat Cambridge -
Heavy favourites Oxford beat Cambridge to win the historic first staging of the Women's Boat Race on the same course and same day as the men. They finished six-and-a-half lengths ahead over the four-mile, 374-yard stretch from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge in London on Saturday. The Dark Blues were half a length up after the first minute and pulled away ruthlessly to finish 19 seconds clear. Oxford also won the men's race for the sixth time in eight years. In doing so, president Constantine Louloudis became just the 15th man to triumph for a fourth time. [BBC]
Capitol Building on lockdown after shots fired -
Shots were fired near the front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, according to police. The seat of Congress was immediately put on lockdown.
It later emerged that a man had committed suicide by shooting himself, sparking the alert. "The suspected shooter has been neutralised but the US Capitol Building has been locked down as a precautionary measure," said Lt Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Police, adding that no-one was being allowed to enter or exit. Police said they were also investigating a suspicious package on the lower West Terrace of the building, believed to be the man's suitcase. [Daily Telegraph]
Heavy Saudi Arabian air strikes hit southern Yemen resulting in at least 20 deaths of Houthis soldiers and two members of rival militias. Saudi Arabia claims to have killed 500 rebels since the start of military operations in March. (Reuters), (CNN)
India evacuated 5600 people including 960 foreign nationals from Yemen under Operation Raahat. Several flights were allowed to take off and land in Yemen despite the no-fly zone declared on the country. (NYT)
Hillary Clinton declares 2016 Democratic presidential bid -
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a bid to become the first woman US president.
She launched her campaign website on Sunday, telling Americans she wanted to be their "champion". Mrs Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama. The overwhelming Democratic favourite, she had been expected to declare her candidacy for months. In a video on her website, Mrs Clinton declared: "I am running for president". [BBC]
Hilary Clinton
Game Of Thrones season five leaked online -
The first four episodes of Game of Thrones season five have been leaked online a day before its official release. The copies were spotted on IPTorrents, The Pirate Bay, RARBG and KickassTorrents. The US TV network has yet to comment on the pirated episodes. [BBC]
Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones)
Masters 2015: Jordan Spieth wins first major with dominant display -
Jordan Spieth equalled the lowest winning score in Masters history to cap a record-breaking display at Augusta and win his first major. The 21-year-old American, second on his debut last year, shot a two-under 70 to triumph on 18 under. England's Justin Rose hit 70 to finish 14 under, joint second with three-time champion Phil Mickelson (69) who ended runner-up in a major for the 10th time. World number one Rory McIlroy tied for fourth on 12 under after a 66. Spieth, the new world number two, dominated the headlines on each day, equalling Tiger Woods's winning score of 18 under in 1997, when the former world number one won his first Green Jacket. Spieth also became the second-youngest Masters champion, winning the tournament at the age of 21 years and 259 days, 155 days older than Woods when he recorded his 1997 win. He also became the first player in 39 years to lead a Masters from start to finish, and the first to shoot 28 birdies at the tournament. [BBC]
Jordan Spieth
Bad move: Grandmaster caught cheating at chess in a lavatory -
A disgraced chess Grandmaster faces a 15-year ban from the game after being caught pretending to be desperate for the loo so he could use a mobile phone to cheat. Georgian champion Gaioz Nigalidze was expelled from the Dubai Open on Saturday after his opponent Tigran Petrosian, became suspicious about the amount of times he nipped to the lavatory. A complaint followed and Nigalidze was challenged. Tournament organisers then found Nigalidze had stored a mobile phone in a cubicle, behind the pan and covered in toilet paper. The device was found to be logged into Nigalidze's social networking account and had one of his games being analysed by a smartphone chess app.
Gaioz Nigalidze
Video of the Day -
Game of Thrones Season 5 Trailer
List of the day -
Main character appearances in Game of Thrones [Wikipedia]
In golf, the final round of the Masters Tournament is held at the Augusta National Golf Club with American Jordan Spieth winning his first championship at the age of 21. Spieth is the second youngest player to win the Masters after Tiger Woods, he ties Woods's record for the lowest winning total, and becomes the fifth man to lead from start to finish. (Sydney Morning Herald), (CNN)
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Madonna 'snogs' Drake during his set at Coachella 2015 -
This year's event was headlined by AC/DC, Jack White and Drake. It was some of the unannounced acts that got people talking though. Madonna made an appearance during Drake's headline set after he performed his track called Madonna, which was released on his If You're Reading This mixtape. She then sang Human Nature and Hung Up. And, not being one to make an appearance without attracting headlines, she then kissed Drake, A LOT, said the words "I'm Madonna" and walked off the stage. [BBC]
Madonna
Robbie Williams abandons basement plans to appease Jimmy Page -
Robbie Williams has scaled back plans to revamp his multi-million pound home following a public spat with neighbour Jimmy Page. The 41-year-old star has ditched the proposal for a two-storey basement extension under the garden and glass studio at the top of his house. The Take That singer angered the veteran rocker with ambitious proposals for the 46-room mansion, which was previously owned by the late film director Michael Winner. [Daily Telegraph]
Robbie Williams
Marco Rubio 'announces US presidential bid' -
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has told donors that he will run for the Republican nomination for US president in 2016, US media report. Mr Rubio, 43, said on a conference call he was "uniquely qualified" to bring the party into the future. He is the third Republican to officially announce a candidacy after Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. Mr Rubio is expected to make a formal announcement at a political rally in Miami later on Monday.
It comes a day after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would stand for the Democratic nomination. [BBC]
Marco Rubio
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, win University Challenge -
255-105: The Cambridge college beat Magdalen College, Oxford, in the BBC's quick fire quiz's grand final. Ted Loveday wearing a cream cable-nit jumper proved the star resulting in tweets like this-
Video of the Day -
Terminator Genisys Moovie - Official Trailer
List of the day -
Winners of University Challenge (since revival in 1995 - Wikipedia)
* In 2009, Sam Kay, part of the team from Corpus Christi College, Oxford was accused of not being a student when the show was filmed. Kay, who had completed a chemistry degree the previous summer, had been planning to go on to study for a Doctor of Philosophy, but he did not have sufficient funding so dropped out. He then became an accountant. The team, whose captain Gail Trimble was dubbed the "human Google", won the competition but were subsequently disqualified and the trophy was awarded to the runners-up, the University of Manchester.
The first of four Blackwater security guards to be sentenced is given a life sentence in the United States for his role in killing 14 Iraqi civilians inBaghdad in 2007. (Washington Post)
A volunteer police officer is charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of Eric Harris, an unarmed man who was shot while laying on his back in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (CNN)
When carp attack: Watch fish jump at rowers -
As the Washington University in St. Louis men's rowing teams practiced Friday morning, a school of Asian carp showed their apparent displeasure with the activity by leaping frantically from the waters of Missouri's Creve Coeur Lake. Junior Benjamin Rosenbaum, a captain of the varsity team, captured the aquatic onslaught on video. Rosenbaum says practices on the lake aren't normally so eventful, but recent heavy rains and flooding may have brought more of the fish to this particular area. He had seen this activity once before, in 2013, when he was in a boat rather than on the banks. (See Video of the day) [USA Today]
Soul singer Percy Sledge dies aged 73 -
US soul singer Percy Sledge, famed for his song When a Man Loves a Woman, has died aged 73. Steve Green from talent agency Artists International Management Inc confirmed to the BBC that he died at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday. Sledge's debut single When a Man Loves a Woman reached the top 10 twice in the UK and topped the US Billboard chart for two weeks in 1966, when it also got to number four in the UK chart (See List of the day). During an interview for the the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals, he recalled his first recording of it. "When I came into the studio, I was shaking like a leaf. I was scared," he said, adding that it was the "same melody that I sang when I was out in the fields. I just wailed out in the woods and let the echo come back to me".
Gisele Bundchen Shares Throwback Photo in Honor of Last Runway Show -
The 34-year-old model will hang up her catwalking shoes after she struts her stuff during São Paulo Fashion Week tonight, walking for Brazilian street label Colcci, a brand she has represented since 2005. Before she takes the runway for the last time, Bündchen shared a sweet throwback photo to her Instagram account from her very first show. [Celebuzz.com]
Gisele Bunchen (Instagram - giseleofficial)
Unpaid spaceport workers appeal to Vladimir Putin with giant graffiti -
Construction workers at a £9 billion cosmodrome in eastern Russian have resorted to extreme measures to appeal to Vladimir Putin after going four months without pay. Employees of TMK at the Vostochny spaceport were so exasperated at failing to receive their money that they painted a message to the Russian president in huge white letters on top of their construction huts. The giant letters read, "Dear Putin, V.V.", "Save the workers", "Four months without pay" and "We want to work". [Daily Telegraph]
Record dive rescues $50m wartime silver from ocean floor -
A British-led team has recovered a $50m (£34m; €47m) trove of silver coins that has lain on the seabed since the steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942. The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km (480 miles) south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m. The 100 tonnes of coins, recovered in the deepest salvage operation in history, belonged to HM Treasury. The coins have now been melted down in the UK and sold, with the undisclosed sum divided between the treasury - which technically owns the coins - and the salvagers, who take a percentage of the sale. The salvage was completed in September 2013, but DOS has only now been given permission by the Ministry of Transport to announce it. [BBC]
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HDD and Floppy Music: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit -
List of the day -
MArine disasters with over 1,000 lives lost [Wikipedia]
Doña Paz – On 20 December 1987, the ferry bound for Manila with more than its capacity of unlisted passengers collided with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait, near Marinduque. The resulting fire and sinking left an estimated 4,386 dead which included all but 24 of Doña Paz's passengers, and all but two of Vector's 13-man crew.[1][2]
Kiangya – The passenger steamship blew up and sank in the mouth of the Huangpu River 50 mi (80 km) south ofShanghai on 4 December 1948. The suspected cause of the explosion was Kiangya hitting a mine left behind by theImperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The exact death toll is unknown, however, it is thought that between 2,750 and 3,920 died with 700–1,000 survivors being picked up by other vessels.
Mont-Blanc and the Halifax Explosion – On 6 December 1917, Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, was devastated by the huge explosion of the fully laden French munitions ship Mont-Blanc. She collided with the Norwegian ship Imo in The Narrows part of Halifax Harbour. The Mont-Blanc 's 40-man crew all escaped but minutes later she exploded. About 2,000 people on the shore and in Halifax were killed by the explosion, falling debris, fires or collapsing buildings, and over 9,000 were injured, particularly by flying glass.[3] It is still the largest accidental explosion of conventional weaponsto date.[4]
Sultana – On 26 April 1865 this Mississippi riverboat, steaming north with an excessive number of passengers on board, suffered a series of boiler explosions. An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers died in the ensuing fire or of drowning in the freezing river.
Tek Sing – The Chinese ship, called a junk, was bound for Batavia, Dutch East Indies. On 6 February 1822 she tried a shortcut through the Gaspar Strait between Belitung and Bangka Islands and grounded on a reef. The junk sank in about 30 metres (100 ft) of water, killing about 1,600 people.[6]
RMS Titanic – A passenger ocean liner and, at the time, the world's largest ship. On 14 April 1912, on her maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg, buckling part of her hull and causing her to sink in the early hours of 15 April. 706 of her 2,223 passengers and crew survived.[7] Her loss was the catalyst for major reforms in shipping safety and is arguably the most famous maritime disaster, being the subject of countless media portrayals.[8] '
The Channel Storm - In November 1703 a great storm swept the English Channel, causing the loss of thirteen men-of-war and the deaths of an estimated 1500 seamen.
Salem Express – On 17 December 1991, while on a voyage from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt, with more than 1600 passengers, the ship struck a reef about 0130 hrs and sank within 10 minutes. Official toll is 470 lives lost, but local lore[citation needed] says many more and that the ship was overcrowded with unlisted passengers returning from pilgrimage to Mecca. The ship is a popular scuba dive site. Details
The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 – On 22 October 1707, a Royal Navy fleet en route from Gibraltar to Portsmouth sailed through dangerous reefs west of the Isles of Scilly. Four ships (HMS Association, HMS Eagle, HMS Romney andHMS Firebrand) sank. The exact number of crew lost is unknown. Statements vary between 1,400[9] and over 2,000.[10]It was later determined that the main cause was the navigators' inability to calculate their longitude accurately.
Toya Maru – A Japanese passenger ferry that sank in Typhoon Marie in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu on 26 September 1954. It is said[by whom?] that 1,153 people aboard were lost but the exact number of fatalities remains unknown because some victims managed to board without tickets and others cancelled their passage just before sailing.
HMS Victory – The 100-gun first-rate sank in a storm in the English Channel while returning to England on the night of 4 October 1744. With her were lost Admiral Sir John Balchen and her entire complement of around 1,150 men.
Al Salam Boccaccio 98 – On 3 February 2006, the Roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry Al Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in theRed Sea en route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga in southern Egypt. The ship was carrying 1,312 passengers and 96 crew. 388 people survived.[11]
RMS Empress of Ireland – On 29 May 1914 the passenger liner sank after colliding with the cargo ship Storstad on theSaint Lawrence River, killing 1,012 people. About 465 survived.[12]
General Slocum – The paddle steamer caught fire and sank in New York's East River on 15 June 1904. More than 1,000 people were lost, making it New York City's highest loss of life until the September 11 attacks.[13]
Hong Moh – On 3 March 1921, the ship struck the White Rocks on Lamock Island near Swatow (Shantou) on the southern coast of China. She broke in two and sank killing about 1,000 of the 1,100 people aboard.
Bukoba – The overloaded ferry sank on 21 May 1996 on Lake Victoria. While the ship's manifest showed 443 aboard, it is estimated that about 800 people died in the sinking.
In Arizona, dashcam video showed a police officer intentionally running over an armed suspect. The suspect had stolen a rifle from a nearby Walmart, and had discharged the weapon in a neighborhood. (CNN)
A mailman from Florida made an unauthorized landing of a small gyrocopter with postal service markings on the Capitol West Front Lawn. He had told a newspaper that he planned a non-violent protest flight for campaign finance reform. (Washington Post)
More than 40 people have drowned as a migrant boat sinks travelling between Libya and Italy. In a separate incident, 15 Muslim migrants from another Italy-bound boat have been arrested, after allegedly throwing 12 Christian migrants overboard. (BBC)
Lorry full of honey bees overturns in Washington State -
A lorry carrying honeybees has overturned in the US state of Washington, spewing bees across a motorway. The accident scattered boxes "containing millions of live bees across the highway", KIRO 7 News reported. Each of the boxes contains about 5,000 live bees, some were crushed in the accident while others were freed. Beekeepers used smoke to try and calm the bees before the sun rose, which would raise temperatures and agitate the bees. At daybreak many of the boxes remained on the road and the bees became more active. The fire brigade was called to spray the bees with foam, which resulted in their death. [BBC]
All Nippon Airways Announces 'Star Wars' Project With R2-D2 Painted Jet -
In honor of the iconic movie series, the airline will paint one of its brand-new Boeing 787s with an R2-D2 motif. An apparent video rendering of the R2-D2 plane, released on YouTube Thursday, shows the nose of the plane decorated with R2-D2's signature blue and white stripes, along with graphics depicting the robot's various ports. A massive "Star Wars" logo dominates the rear of the plane. The R2-D2 jet marks the start of five-year All Nippon Airways "Star Wars" project, which will include "a range of novel initiatives," the airline announced on its website. (also see Video of the Day) [The Huffington Post]
Japan's magnetically levitated vehicle train sets new speed record -
Japan’s magnetically levitated (maglev) train has set a new speed record, hitting 366.61mph on a test track. Central Japan Railway Co., which is developing a vehicle that it sees as the long-distance, mass transportation system of the future, is aiming to break the 600km per hour (372.82mph) in more tests scheduled for next week. The seven-car maglev surpassed the previous record, which it sent in December 2003, for a period of 19 seconds on JR Central’s test track in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, on Thursday. The company is pushing ahead in its development of the maglev, which uses magnetic pulses to propel the carriages, doing away with the need for wheels, axles and bearings, after being granted approval to construct a track between Tokyo and Nagoya. [Daily Telegraph]
The SCMaglev test track in the Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
James Anderson breaks Sir Ian Botham's England wicket record -
English cricketer James Anderson surpassed Sir Ian Botham as England's highest Test wicket-taker with his 384th dismissal in his 100th match. Anderson, 32, had West Indies' Denesh Ramdin caught at first slip on the final day of the first Test in Antigua. The seamer, who began the Test on 380 wickets, was mobbed by his team-mates as his family celebrated in the crowd. [BBC]
Iraqi officials claim that militia leader Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has been killed in fighting in Salahuddin province. Al-Douri was the highest ranking member of Saddam Hussein's government not to be captured.(BBC)
Gunfire and roadblocks are reported in the city of Reynosa on the border with the US after local leader "El Gate" of the Gulf Cartel is arrested.(Reuters via Daily Mail)
Arts and culture
Univisión announce that Sábado Gigante, the longest-running television variety series in history, will end after 53 years on September 19, 2015.(THR)
Bouvier's red colobus, a species of monkey last seen in the 1970s and thought to possibly be extinct, is rediscovered in the Republic of Congo.(Discovery News)
Tony Abbott filmed downing a beer in only seven seconds -
Some may say it is behaviour unbecoming of a prime minister. Others have applauded it. Footage has emerged of the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, knocking back a large glass of beer in only seven seconds. But the incident is not a first in Australian politics - and is not all that unusual for Mr Abbott. The prime minister was at a bar in east Sydney on Saturday along with players from the UTS Bats Australian Rules football team. [BBC]
Tony Abbott
Kate Middleton's friend holds orgies in sharia hotel -
Emma Sayle, owner of Killing Kittens, a members-only sex-club, said the Bermondsey Square hotel in London is one of her preferred destinations for the self-styled ‘sexual elite’. The Duchess of Cambridge's friend has been staging sex parties in the country's first sharia hotel. A friend of Kate Middleton's, Miss Sayle, 36, who attended Downe House boarding school with Prince Michael's daughter, Lady Gabriella Windsor, has used the four loft suites on the seventh floor of the hotel for her parties. According to Miss Sayle, who is a member of Kate's rowing crew, The Sisterhood, the rules at Killing Kitten events state men can’t approach women at parties unless they know them, everyone wears a mask and single men aren't allowed. [Daily Telegraph]
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Zayn Malik collects Asian Award and thanks bandmates -
Zayn Malik has taken a step in a new direction, showing off a new look for his first public appearance since quitting One Direction. He was in London for the fifth annual Asian Awards, where he picked a gong for his contribution to music and paid tribute to his former bandmates. Malik also thanked God and his parents, "for making me Asian". [BBC] He also had a radical change of look with an almost shaved head compared to the long hair he used to sport.
Zayn Malik (image - thecount.com)
Video of the Day -
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Official Teaser Trailer
Indian Army soldiers fire on separatist protesters following unruly behaviour resulting in the death of a teenage protester. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
The Prime Minister of ItalyMatteo Renzi warns that thousands of Libyans will continue to risk their lives travelling to Europe unless the civil war ends. More than 2000 people have been rescued in the past week. (BBC)
Hundreds of people are feared dead after a boat carrying people from Libya to Italy capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea. Twenty-eight people have been rescued. (Times of Malta)
Health
A mystery disease that kills patients within 24 hours has killed at least 18 people within the past week in the Nigerian town of Ode-Irele in Ondo State. (AFP via ABC Australia)
Ben Affleck asked broadcaster to hide slave-owning ancestor -
Ben Affleck asked television producers not to reveal one of his ancestors was a slave-owner, leaked emails suggest. The actor was taking part in a US series called Finding Your Roots, where experts research a celebrity's family history, when the discovery was made. The broadcaster, PBS, says in a statement that they didn't censor the slave-owner details. It is "very common" to find slave-owning ancestors during research, the show's host says. "For any guest, we always find far more stories about ancestors on their family trees than we ever possibly could use," Prof Henry Louis Gates says in a statement sent to The Associated Press. The details of Affleck's slave-owning family member were not included when his episode of Finding Your Roots was broadcast. [BBC]
Ben Affleck
Miley Cyrus Recounts Wanting to Have Sex with Joan Jett, Inducts Her Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -
Miley Cyrus isn’t one to shy away from shock factor, not even if she’s on stage to induct her idol Joan Jett at the 30th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Last night in Cleveland, Cyrus started off her speech to induct Jett and the Blackhearts into the Hall of Fame by going back in time and reminiscing: "Thank you guys so much. I’m going to start off this induction with the first time I wanted to have sex with Joan Jett. We were doing Oprah together, and I went up to Joan’s hotel room. Joan opens the door, and I come in, and Kenny Laguna is laying in bed. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. There’s towels shoved underneath all the door cracks, shower caps around all the smoke detectors. Joan is running around spraying orange-smelling cleaner to mask the smell of the pot (that’s what you guys call it)".
Miley Cyrus
25 pregnant Navy sailors airlifted from ships -
More than two dozen female sailors have been airlifted home from Royal Navy warships after becoming pregnant in the past nine years, official figures show. A total of 25 expectant women were forced to leave on emergency flights, though the actual number who have gone home because of pregnancy is thought to be higher. The figures reported in The Sun were released under the Freedom of Information Act and follow the disclosure last year that 200 women were flown home from the Iraq and Afghan conflicts after commanders were told they were pregnant. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said the Navy operates a strict "no touching" rule at sea, even for those already in a relationship and sources said most of the women are likely to have conceived before setting sail, or while on leave. [Daily Telegraph]
Benedict Cumberbatch commissions Kick Ass 2 replica sculpture -
Benedict Cumberbatch has commissioned the celebrity artist Schoony to reproduce a sculpture that appeared in Kick Ass 2. The Imitation Game star paid £7,000 for a gold rendering of Boy Soldier by his friend, the Hertfordshire-born artist Schoony. The original artwork appeared in Hollywood blockbuster Kick Ass 2, starring Jim Carrey and Chloe Moretz, and was located in the villain's lair. [Daily Telegraph]
Benedict Cumberbatch
Demi Lovato Wishes Joe Jonas 'Happy #420' -
To honor 4/20 (See Top Twitter Trends), the day famously celebrated by weed connoisseurs, Demi Lovato decided to post a little message for her friend Joe Jonas. She took to Instagram to share a photoshopped image of herself with Jonas and Miley Cyrus. "In honor of our former escapades, I thought you'd like this to remember your first blaze.. Happy #420 @joejonas. #disneyhighclassof09," she captioned the eye-popping image. [Billboard.com]
Russia: Police stage mayor's disappearance to thwart killing -
Police in Russia have staged the disappearance of a city mayor to prevent his contract killing, it's reported. Pavel Plotnikov, the mayor of Yoshkar Ola in central Russia, was reported missing on Saturday, after apparently failing to meet his wife as planned a day earlier. "All police patrols, criminal investigators - practically all police in Yoshkar Ola" were looking for the mayor, the city's police spokeswoman Olga Plotnikova told the media at the time. But early on Monday, the mayor's own website issued a statement saying that his disappearance had actually been staged. "The mayor's 'disappearance' was necessitated by operational activities of Russia's Interior Ministry staff," the statement says. "They implemented measures to prevent a planned killing of the mayor and his family." Later in the day, Mr Plotnikov gave a news conference to shed more light on what had happened. Because of his "principled position", the mayor said, he was supposed to have been killed in a forest some time between Friday night and Saturday morning. Thanks to swift action by the security services, the would-be killers and those who took out a contract on the mayor have been arrested, Mr Plotnikov told the news conference, adding: "Many thanks to the police for saving my life." The police have simply said that the mayor "has been found" and that "he's alive and well, and is currently with his family". [BBC]
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal over Arizona 'fish pedicures' -
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by the owner a Phoenix-area spa that ran afoul of Arizona state regulations that barred her from providing pedicures in which clients have their feet nibbled by small fish to remove dead skin. The high court's action, made without comment by the justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, which have become a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers in recent years but are banned in some U.S. states for health and safety reasons. In 2009, Vong was told by the Arizona Board of Cosmetology that the treatment violated the agency's safety standards, and that she could face criminal charges. The board said any tool or equipment used in a pedicure must be stored and disinfected in a specific way, and that she could not disinfect the fish coming in contact with clients' skin. [Reuters]
Garra Rufa - the pedicure fish species
Flawless 100-carat diamond sells for $22.1 million at NY auction -
An eye-popping, 100-carat diamond, the highlight of a magnificent jewels sale in New York on Tuesday, sold for $22.1 million, Sotheby's auction house said. The perfect classic emerald-cut D color diamond, which is about the size of a walnut and was mined by De Beers in southern Africa, was purchased by an anonymous buyer via a telephone bid. It had a pre-sale estimate of $19 million to $25 million. Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby's jewelry department in New York, said the gem is the definition of perfection. The $22.1 million price, which includes the buyer's premium, fell short of the $30.6 million world record price paid for a 118.28 carat white diamond in Hong Kong in 2013. Sotheby's said only six perfect diamonds weighing more than 100 carats have been sold at auction in the last 25 years. [Reuters]
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd pleads guilty to threat to kill -
Phil Rudd, drummer of Australian rock band AC/DC, has changed his plea to guilty on a charge of a threat to kill, at a court in Tauranga, New Zealand. The court heard he was unhappy about his album's launch party and asked for a former employee to be "taken out". He had previously denied the charge. He also pleaded guilty to cannabis and methamphetamine possession. Prosecutors dropped a second threat to kill charge, relating to the former employee's daughter. [BBC] On April 1 2015 AC/DC won their first Grammy.
[Daily Telegraph]
AC/DC
Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again -
A Japanese magnetic levitation train has broken its own world speed record, hitting 603km/h (374mph) in a test run near Mount Fuji. The train beat the 590km/h speed it had set last week in another test. Maglev trains use electrically charged magnets to lift and move carriages above the rail tracks. Central Japan Railway (JR Central), which owns the trains, wants to introduce the service between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya by 2027. The 280km journey would take only about 40 minutes, less than half the current time. However, passengers will not get to experience the maglev's record-breaking speeds because the company said its trains will operate at a maximum of 505km/h. In comparison, the fastest operating speed of a Japanese shinkansen, or "bullet train" is is 320km/h. (See Video of the day). [BBC]
The SCMaglev test track in the Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Video of the Day -
Yasukazu Endo, the head of the research centre run by Central Japan Railways, discusses the new maglev train. [Guardian]
List of the day -
Vehicle Speed records (as of April 21, 2015 - source Wikipedia)
Forty armed men in camouflaged uniforms and speaking Albanian take several police officers hostage in northern Macedonia, the armed men are apparently calling for the creation of "an Albanian state". The incident was reminiscent of an insurgency in Macedonia in 2001 when Skopje's security forces battled rebels demanding greater rights for the former Yugoslav republic's large ethnic Albanian minority. (Reuters)
Three people have died in floods in the Australian town of Dungog, New South Wales as heavy rains and cyclonic winds hits the state of New South Wales causing widespread flooding, loss of power to over 100,000 homes and disruption of transport services. (ABC News Australia)
Italian police arrest the captain and crew member of a vessel that sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday drowning as many as 900 people. (AP)
An American man Tommy Schaefer is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment in Bali for the murder of his mother-in-law Sheila von Wiese Mack last year. (Sky News Australia)
An Egyptian court sentences former PresidentMohammed Morsi to twenty years imprisonment for involvement in the killing of protesters when he was in power. (BBC)
The U.S. Justice Department has charged Navinder Singh Sarao with commodities fraud and related offenses, alleging that he played a part in theflash crash of May 2010. (Reuters)
Michele Leonhart announces her retirement as the Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration with concerns raised about her leadership following a prostitution scandal involving Agency officers having sex with prostitutes provided by drug cartels. (CNN)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Traffic chaos on M74 'due to a dog taking control of a tractor' -
A busy stretch of motorway was left in chaos on Wednesday "due to a dog taking control of a tractor". The bizarre incident was reported by Traffic Scotland at J13 of the M74 near Abington in South Lanarkshire. The transport body tweeted it was "not joking" and a farmer and police were at the scene with the vehicle after it crashed into the central reservation. The dog - believed to be a sheepdog - was unhurt after reportedly leaning on the controls of the tractor, taking it from a field on to the road. [Daily Telegraph]
Traffic Scotland later tweeted that the dog was OK.
@Traffic Scotland on Twitter
Man shoots computer in Colorado Springs alley, gets revenge he wanted - and a citation -
When ctrl + alt + delete doesn't work, just shoot the darn thing. That's what one man did on Monday night, according to Colorado Springs police. Lucas Hinch, 37, was cited for discharging a weapon within city limits after he took the fight with his computer outside and got the revenge most of us only dream about. "He got tired of fighting with his computer for the last several months," Lt. Jeff Strossner said. "He was having technology problems, so he took it out in the back alley and shot it." Strossner tweeted Hinch "executed" his computer in an alley on the 2200 block of West Colorado Avenue. The penalty for the citation will be up to a judge, police said, adding that Hinch was good-natured about the citation and hadn't realized he was breaking the law when he went Wild West on that useless piece of technology. Hinch shot it eight times, Strossner said, "effectively disabling it." The computer is not expected to recover. [The Gazette]
The shot computer - Image from the Colorado Gazette
Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network -
Google has detailed its plan to run a mobile phone network in the US. The firm will rent voice and data capacity from two existing operators - Sprint and T-Mobile - and use existing wi-fi hotspots, rather than build new infrastructure from scratch. Initially, Project Fi will only be offered to Nexus 6 handset owners. Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's Android platform, first mentioned the company's plan to create a phone network in February, but provided little detail at the time. The company has now revealed that its subscribers will be automatically switched between 4G signals provided by Sprint and T-Mobile, depending on whichever is stronger at the time. They will also be able to make calls over wi-fi without having to use a special app, similar in nature to the Wi-fi Calling facility recently introduced by EE in the UK. [BBC]
Sundar Pichai
Video of the Day -
The first video posted on YouTube - 10 years ago today -
The Taliban announces the start of its annual spring offensive warning it would attack foreign embassies as well as military targets. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
Hatton Garden heist: £20,000 reward offered by police -
A £20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gang responsible for the Hatton Garden heist. On BBC One's Crimewatch, Det Supt Craig Turner, head of the Flying Squad, appealed for witnesses to the burglary, which took place over Easter. New CCTV images of the thieves entering and leaving Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd have been released. The contents of 56 safe deposit boxes were taken in the raid. Items were removed from the premises in wheelie bins and bags during the raid in Central London. No arrests have yet been made. [BBC]
Hatton Garden road sign
Student continues Sahara marathon on broken leg but still beats Sir Ranulph Fiennes -
A student broke his leg while competing in the 'toughest race on earth' - but still kept going for another 100 miles to overtake the explorer Ranulph Fiennes. James Tuffnell, 20, stumbled down a sand dune on the fourth day of the six-day Marathon Des Sables, a 155 mile ‘ultramarathon’ across the Sahara desert, shattering his ankle and fracturing his tibia. Despite his injuries he carried all his own supplies including food, water and sleeping materials for the length of the race in 50 degree heat. [Daily Telegraph]
James Tuffnell [@JamesTuffnell - Twitter]
Japan: Low-level radiation in drone found on PM's roof -
A drone carrying a tiny amount of radioactive material has been found on the roof of the Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo. The four-propeller device was found on top of the building on Wednesday morning [22 April], and was carrying a container of liquid which was marked with a radiation warning symbol, the public broadcaster NHK reports. The 50cm (20in) wide drone was also equipped with a small camera. Police say "minute" levels of radiation were detected on the drone, which they think is likely to be radioactive caesium, but that the amount is too low to be harmful to human health. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wasn't in the building at the time, as he's currently in Indonesia. [BBC] In January 2015 the prime minister called the footage of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto apparently holding a photograph showing the body of fellow captive Haruna Yukawa “outrageous and unacceptable”.
Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe
Video of the Day -
6 Craziest Extinctions ever - from ASAP Science -
List of the day -
30 Funniest Opening Lines in Books 1-10 (From Shortlist.com)
Title
Author
Opening Line
1
Breaking Up
Bill Manville
"I don’t know how other men feel about their wives walking out on them, but I helped mine pack."
2
Thank You For Smoking
Christopher Buckley
"Nick Naylor had been called many things since becoming the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, but until now no one had actually compared him to Satan."
3
The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
Douglas Adams
"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
4
I, Partridge:We Need To Talk About Alan
Alan Partridge
"When I was 8 years old, I suffered a nosebleed so profuse and generous I bolted from the schoolyard and sought solace in the first class countryside of Norfolk."
5
The Lost Continent
Bill Bryson
"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."
6
The Crow Road
Iain Banks
"It was the day my grandmother exploded."
7
Pride & Predudice & Zombies
Seth Grahame-Smith
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
8
Wake in Fright
Kenneth Cook
"He sat at his desk, wearily watching the children file out of the room, reflecting that, this term at least, it was reasonable to assume that none of the girls was pregnant."
9
Clown Girl
Monica Drake
”Balloon Tying For Christ was the cheapest balloon manual I could find."
10
Wild Wood
Colin Meloy
“How five crows managed to lift a twenty-pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries.”
The United States advises that a counterterrorism operation on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan has killed American and Italian al-Qaeda hostages Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto. (AP via ABC News)
Two other American citizens working with al-Qaeda, Adam Yahiye Gadahn and Ahmed Farouq, are also killed in special operations in the same area. (CNBC)
Deutsche Bank pays $2.5 billion to settle an investigation by the United States and the United Kingdom related to manipulation of the Libor or London Interbank Offered Rate. It will also plead guilty in a US court case. (Wall Street Journal)
Android peeing on Apple logo spotted on Google Maps -
Rivalry between Google and Apple has always been fierce, but now Google Maps appears to have been emblazoned with the image of the Android mascot urinating on an Apple logo. The image, discovered by a Hacker News user, appears on a patch of land just south of the city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan, at coordinates 33°30'52.5"N 73°03'33.2"E. The origin of the image is unclear. Some have suggested it could be Google’s idea of an Easter Egg (hidden joke), while others claim it was added by a user. The image is most likely a result of a user abusing Map Maker, the tool that allows users to contribute to Google Maps. One Hacker News user claims to have tracked down the culprit – a user called nitricboy. [Daily Telegraph]
Native American actors walk off Adam Sandler film set over 'insults' -
Nearly a dozen Native American actors have walked off the set of a Hollywood film starring Adam Sandler complaining that the script was offensive to their culture. The actors had been hired to take part in filming of The Ridiculous Six, a satirical Western based on The Magnificent Seven. They said the script, which was co-written by Sandler, included offensive names for female Native American characters such as “No Bra”. [Daily Telegraph]
Adam Sandler
Drop Dead Sexy -
During this year's Spring Festival holidays, a man surnamed Zhang watched a strip show somewhere he didn't expect, at a funeral in his hometown in Cheng'an county, Hebei Province. "Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15. They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece. Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side."Behind the stripper, an electronic screen hung from a backdrop showed a picture of the deceased. Text at the bottom of the screen read, "we offer profound condolences for the death of Mr Chang." Zhang said that the show cost 3,000 yuan ($480) as it was held during the Spring Festival holidays, saying that the shows are cheaper at other times of the year. During the performance, the host also announced to the public that the show was sponsored by Chang's daughter, "as a way to show off his large family," said Zhang. [Global Times]
'Embryologic twin' tumour discovered in student's brain -
Doctors in California have removed a tumour they have described as an "embryologic twin" deep inside the brain of a young woman. Yamini Karanam, 26, a PhD student in Indiana, had been experiencing difficulties with drowsiness, reading and concentration. The discovery was made when doctors performed a newly-developed form of surgery to remove the tumour. The growth, known as a teratoma, had bone and hair. Ms Karanam, a student at Indiana University, jokingly described the tumour to KNBC, a California TV station, as her "evil twin sister who's been torturing me for the past 26 years". [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Five Stages of Watching A Marvel Movie - HISHE Features: OnlyLeigh
List of the day -
30 Funniest Opening Lines in Books 11-20 (From Shortlist.com)
Title
Author
Opening Line
11
Machine Man
Max Barry
“As a boy, I wanted to be a train.”
12
Seven Up
Janet Evanovich
"For the better part of my childhood, my professional aspirations were simple–I wanted to be an intergalactic princess."
13
The Fifth Elephany
Terry Pratchett
"They say the world is flat and supported on the back of four elephants who themselves stand on the back of a giant turtle."
14
Still Life With A Woodpecker
Tim Robbins
“If this typewriter can’t do it, then f*** it, it can’t be done.”
15
Into Your Tent I'll Creep
Peter De Vries
“It wasn’t until I had become engaged to Miss Piano that I began avoiding her.”
16
Sacred Games
Vikram Chandra
“A white Pomeranian named Fluffy flew out of the a fifth-floor window in Panna, which was a grand-new building with the painter’s scaffolding still around it. Fluffy screamed.”
17
I Capture The Castle
Dodie Smith
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
18
A River Runs Through It
Norman Maclean
"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."
19
An Abundance Of Katherines
John Green
"The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the 19th time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath. Colin had always preferred baths."
20
Waiting
Ha Jin
"Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu."
Chilean authorities urge further evacuations near the Calbuco volcano after mudflows of volcanic debris are located in a nearby river after this week's eruption. (AP)
Nepal hit by 7.9 magnitude earthquake -
More than 718 people across a swath of four countries were killed on Saturday - the majority in Nepal - following the worst earthquake in the country’s recent history. The quake, which was measured at 7.9 on the Richter Scale, destroyed historic buildings in the capital Kathmandu, including the capital’s 19th Century Dharahara Tower landmark, where more than 50 people are missing in the rubble. Many of them were scaling the 200 feet structure for the best view of the city when the earthquake struck. The city’s historic Darbar Square and many temples were also damaged. Officials said 688 people were confirmed dead in Nepal. Another 20 were killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border. Given the scale of the destruction, the death toll is almost certain to rise, said Laxmi Dhakal, Home Ministry official. [Daily Telegraph]
Nepal
3-Olympian Bruce Jenner makes transgender history by identifying as a woman -
Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said on Friday that he identifies as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender. The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, nearly 40 years after his record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that gave him the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete." At the outset of the taped interview, Sawyer asked "Are you a woman?" and Jenner responded, "Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman." [Reuters]
Bruce Jenner
Couple plan to be oldest newlyweds -
Two elderly lovebirds from East Sussex, England are set to become the world's oldest newlyweds when they tie the knot in June.
George Kirby, who is 102, finally proposed to 91-year-old Doreen Luckie after they had lived together for 25 years. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
How to Turn Your Apple Watch Gold
List of the day -
30 Funniest Opening Lines in Books 11-20 (From Shortlist.com)
Title
Author
Opening Line
21
Paint Zero
Jonathan Maberry
"When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there’s either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world. And there’s nothing wrong with my skills."
22
Sideways Stories From A Wayside School
Louis Sachar
"We’re going to tell you about three of the children in Mrs. Jewls’s class, on the thirtieth story of Wayside School. But before we get to them, there is something you ought to know. Wayside School was accidentally built sideways. It was supposed to be only one story high, with thirty classrooms all in a row. Instead, it is thirty stories high, with one classroom on each story. The builder said he was very sorry."
23
The Day Of The Triffids
John Wyndham
"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere."
24
Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974."
25
The Long Dark Tea-time Of The Soul
Douglas Adams
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression ‘As pretty as an airport.'"
26
Choke
Chuck Palahniuk
"If you're going to read this, don't bother."
27
The Princess Bride
William Goldman
“This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”
28
Matilda
Roald Dahl
"It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful."
29
The Metamorphosis And Other Stories
Franz Kafka
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."
30
Charlotte's Web
E.B. White
"'Where's Papa going with that axe?' said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast."
Twelve people are arrested in the American city of Baltimore as protests against the death of Freddie Gray in police custody turn violent.(Baltimore Sun)
Nepal earthquake: International aid effort increased -
The international aid effort for Nepal is gathering pace, with Saturday's massive earthquake now known to have killed 3,726 people and injured 6,500. China, India, Pakistan and Britain are among the countries contributing to the effort, alongside major aid agencies. Nepal has asked for more help, saying it needs everything from helicopters and blankets to paramedics and drivers. At least 200 climbers have now been rescued around Mount Everest, after the quake triggered avalanches. Foreign climbers on Everest and their Nepalese guides were caught by the tremors and a huge avalanche that buried part of the camp (See Video of the Day). At least 18 were killed by avalanches. China has meanwhile announced a halt to all spring expeditions to Mount Everest from the north face of the mountain on its side of the border, state media reports.
Rich List 2015: Super rich's wealth soars as new money floods in from abroad -
he combined wealth of the 1,000 richest men and women in Britain has more than doubled in the last ten years, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. (See List of the Day) The wealthiest 1,000 individuals and families now have a combined fortune of £547.126 billion, up from £249.615 billion in 2005, despite the world economy being gripped by a punishing recession over much of the last decade. Plain old millionaires increasingly struggle to count themselves among the mega-rich, with a fortune of £100 million now required to make it into the top 1,000. That is £15 million higher than last year's minimum, while in 1997 it took a personal wealth of 'just' £15 million to make the grade. The list includes 117 billionaires, up from 104 last year. They account for a total wealth of £325.131 billion and 80 of them are based in London. It means the capital has more sterling billionaires than any other city in the world. [Daily Telegraph]
Roman Abramovich - Owner of Chelsea FC and 10th richest man in Britain
Paula Radcliffe runs the London Marathon for the last time -
Briton Radcliffe, 41, ran the 26.2-mile course in two hours 36 minutes 55 seconds, less than three years after surgery on a serious foot injury.
"It was just amazing the whole way round," the world-record holder said. "I wore the sunglasses to keep a lid on my emotions and they definitely hid some tears along the way," she added. Radcliffe won the London Marathon in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and her 2003 winning time of 2:15:25 remains the world record.
Paula Radcliffe
American for profit education company Corinthian Colleges announces that it will close its remaining more than two dozen colleges in the western United States due to state and federal investigations into its job-placement practices. (Los Angeles Times)
Rescue and recovery attempts continue in Nepal after Saturday's earthquake with the death toll more than 2200 and expected to rise further.(CNN), (CBC), (New York Times)
Rescue helicopters airlift badly injured climbers off Mount Everest a day after avalanches triggered by the earthquake kill seventeen people.(NBC News)
Jay Z says Tidal is 'doing just fine' with 770k subscribers -
Jay Z is not one for writing a lot of tweets - but he's just put out a "stream of consciousness" defending his music streaming service, Tidal. Launched last month with some very high profile backers, critics have said that the company has been a bit of a flop, with low subscriber numbers. But Jay Z says: "Tidal is doing just fine. We have over 770,000 subs. We have been in business less than one month. "We are here for the long haul." Jay Z bought Tidal from a Swedish company, Aspiro, earlier this year, for $56m (£37m). There was a spike in interest when he re-launched it on 30 March but then dropped out of the top 50 for downloaded music apps on the US iTunes store. The company also got rid of its CEO and announced redundancies earlier this month but also said it was looking for new staff. [BBC]
Jay Z
Catch of the day: Fisherman reels in 76lb cod in biggest-ever catch by British angler -
A fisherman is celebrating after catching what is believed to be the largest cod ever caught by a British angler using rod and line. Matthew Lowery, a pharmacist from Newcastle, was on a fishing trip to Norway when the cod weighing 76lb 1oz went for his bait. The 39-year-old spent 10 minutes reeling it up through 40 metres of water before hauling it on board his boat half a mile off the island of Soroya. It was still 27lbs off the world record for a cod caught two years ago by German angler Michael Eisele. [Daily Telegraph]
George Clooney set to run London Marathon 2016 after losing bet -
George Clooney, the Hollywood actor, is poised to run next year's London Marathon after losing a bet with a celebrity friend. The heart-throb reportedly promised Christy Turlington he would take part in the 2016 race if she finished in under four hours. Miss Turlington, a Calvin Klein model, completed the 26.2-mile course on Sunday for her charity Every Mother Counts in three hours and 45 minutes. Clooney is said to have claimed he will run next year while wearing one of her organisation's T-shirts. [Daily Telegraph] In March Clooney applied for permission to build a 12-seater home cinema and luxurious swimming pool to his 17th century country estate in Sonning-on-Thames, England.
George Clooney
The death toll from the earthquakes in Nepal rises to more than 3,700 with reports that tens of thousands of people are homeless. There are fears that the death toll could rise to over 5,000. (AP), (Reuters via Daily Mail)
Opposition activists protest for a second day over President of BurundiPierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office. At least two people were killed yesterday in protests. (BBC)
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reports that the voters in the presidential elections in Kazakhstan had a limited choice due to the lack of opposition and restrictions on free political expression. Kazakhstan's freshly re-elected president has been ruling the country since the time of the Soviet Union. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
Sudan's Electoral Commission declares that incumbent President of SudanOmar al-Bashir won re-election with 94.4 per cent of the vote extending his 25 year rule. He has been indicted multiple times by the International Criminal Court for being personally responsible for war crimes committed in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. (AP)
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Clinton logo goes rainbow for same-sex marriage arguments -
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday changed the colors of her presidential campaign logo Tuesday on social media to the rainbow colors symbolizing the gay rights movement, less than an hour before the Supreme Court on Tuesday was set to hear oral arguments on same-sex marriage. Clinton, who is now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, announced in 2013 her support for the right of same-sex couples to get married after leaving her post as Secretary of State. Clinton's logo changed on her Facebook and Twitter pages Tuesday morning shortly before 9 a.m. Facebook pages for individual state branches of the Clinton campaign also changed their logos, though the main logo on HillaryClinton.com, remained the usual red and blue logo. [CNN] The hashtag #SCOTUS relating to the court case trended on Twitter.
Hilary Clinton Twitter (April 28 2015)
Baltimore police enforce curfew -
Police fired gas to enforce a curfew on the streets of Baltimore, a night after violence and arson rocked the city. After an evening of largely peaceful protests, a few hundred people defied the (local time)deadline of 22:00. But in the face of thousands of troops on the city streets, the remaining crowds later dispersed and police said the curfew was working. The protests have gone on daily since the death of Freddie Gray in police custody on 19 April. [BBC] (See Top Twitter Trends)
Sam Smith cancels Australian tour and Logie Awards show -
Sam Smith has been forced to pull out of his Australian tour due to bleeding on his vocal cords. The singer is just half way through an eight-date tour. He was also due to perform at the TV Week Logies, the annual Australian television industry awards. Writing on the tour website, Sam said having to cancel the tour "killed" him, but that he was on doctor's orders to rest.
Sam Smith
Victoria's Secret unveils 10 new models -
Victoria’s Secret added 10 new models to its roster, which had recently been whittled down to five (Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, and Lily Aldridge). The lingerie company provided a 15-second clip introducing their new employees, and handy dandy summary of each new model's bona fides, which include, variously, racket sports, salsa dancing, and trying new meals. [Fox News] (See Video of the day and List of the day)
Video of the Day -
And the 10 Newest Victoria’s Secret Angels Are…
List of the day -
The Ten New Victoria's Secret models -KATE GRIGORIEVA is an accomplished ballroom dancer. She graduated from art school and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing before starting her modeling career.
TAYLOR HILL was scouted at a horse ranch in Colorado. She likes new music, reading, snowboarding and practicing yoga.
ELSA HOSK began modeling after her father submitted photographs to a local agency. Elsa balanced modeling with a professional basketball career, eventually leaving the court to pursue modeling full time.
MARTHA HUNT was discovered in her home state of North Carolina at a modeling competition. She likes to cook and stays active with surfing and dancing.
JAC JAGACIAK was discovered during a casting at a shopping mall in her hometown of Puszczykowo. She comes from an athletic family, and trained in track and field since childhood. She enjoys playing sports and cooking.
STELLA MAXWELL has lived all over the world. She was discovered by a New Zealand agent, loves racket sports, hiking and travel.
LAIS RIBEIRO stays active with boxing, volleyball and soccer. She also has a passion for salsa dancing.
SARA SAMPAIO has won the Portuguese “Best Female Model” Golden Globe multiple times. She is a brown belt in karate, plays the violin, and loves to surf.
ROMEE STRIJD has a passion for interior design and cooking. She stays fit with running and boxing.
JASMINE TOOKES practiced gymnastics for 14 years and played high school volleyball. She is a self-described “foodie” who loves trying new and exotic meals.
Niger states that it lost 46 soldiers in clashes with Boko Haram while 156 Boko Haram fighters lost their lives in a battle for Karamga Island onLake Chad. At least 28 civilians were killed. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Apple says tattoos can cause watch problems -
Apple has said some of the functions on its new smartwatch may not work properly when its worn over tattoos. Darker-coloured artwork and even changes in darker coloured skin types can fool the light sensors on the back of the watch. The problem is not exclusive to the Apple Watch, which performed well in independent tests. But it does show the manufacturer has not solved the sensor problem. "Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can... impact heart rate sensor performance," Apple said on a support page on its website. "The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings." [BBC]
The Apple Watch range
Tesla’s $3,000 Powerwall Will Let Households Run Entirely On Solar Energy -
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk unveiled ‘Tesla Energy’ — a new business arm that is focused on ending our dependence on grid power and switching instead to solar energy. The first Tesla Energy product is ‘Powerwall Home Battery,’ a stationary battery that can power a household without requiring the grid. The battery is rechargeable lithium-ion — it uses Tesla’s existing battery tech — and can be fixed to a wall, removing much of the existing complexity around using a local power source. For one thing, the company’s batteries cost $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh. They are open for pre-orders in the U.S. now; the first orders will be dispatched “in late summer.” [Techcrunch.com] On March 31 2015, Musk tweeted about a new product and shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters.
Elon Musk
Messenger's Mercury trip ends with a bang, and silence -
Nasa's Messenger mission to Mercury has reached its explosive conclusion, after 10 years in space and four in orbit. Now fully out of fuel, the spacecraft smashed into a region near Mercury's north pole, out of sight from Earth, at about 20:00 GMT on Thursday. Mission scientists confirmed the impact minutes later, when the craft's next possible communication pass was silent. Messenger reached Mercury in 2011 and far exceeded its primary mission plan of one year in orbit. That mission ended with an inevitable collision: Messenger slammed into our Solar System's smallest planet at 8,750mph (14,000km/h) - 12 times quicker than the speed of sound. The impact will have completely obliterated this history-making craft. And it only happened because Mercury has no thick atmosphere to burn up incoming objects - the same reason its surface is so pock-marked by impact craters. [BBC]
Artist's rendering of the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury Date Source
Video of the Day -
Biggest Trick In Action Sports History - Triple Backflip - Nitro Circus - Josh Sheehan
Two state police officers and six other people are dead following a gunfight in the southern state of Guerrero between police and suspected kidnappers. (AP via ABC News America)
The Chinese city of Helong reports three recent deaths along the border with North Korea with North Korean border guards accused of recent murders and thefts. (AP)
Uptown Funk credits Oops Up Side Your Head writers -
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have given The Gap Band a writing credit on their huge hit Uptown Funk, due to its similarities with their 1979 track Oops Up Side Your Head. Uptown Funk, which topped the UK chart for seven weeks and the US chart for 14, originally had six songwriters. The five writers of The Gap Band's hit were added earlier this week, according to RCA documents seen by Billboard. It's said to have followed a claim from publisher Minder Music on their behalf. The much-publicised Blurred Lines court case in March saw a jury order the track's writers, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, to pay Marvin Gaye's estate $7.4m (£4.8m) in damages because of its similarities with Gaye's 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. [BBC] See Videos of the Day
Bruno Mars
TV star Sofia Vergara in battle over frozen embryos -
Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara is in a legal battle with her former fiance, who wants to have children from the couple's frozen embryos.
Nick Loeb said he wants a surrogate to carry and give birth to two embryos he and Vergara created through in vitro fertilisation before they split up. He said the actress, who plays Gloria in the ABC comedy, has refused. Vergara, who has been named the highest-earning actress on TV for the last three years, declined to comment. [BBC]
Sofia Vergara
Ben E King: R&B legend dies at 76 -
Ben E King, the soul and R&B singer best known for the classic song Stand By Me, has died aged 76. His publicist confirmed to The Telegraph that he died of natural causes on Thursday. The singer, loved around the world for the 1961 hit, rose to fame in the late 1950 with The Drifters, with songs including There Goes My Baby and Save The Last Dance For Me. The R&B singer went on to further success with Spanish Harlem, I (Who Have Nothing), and Don't Play That Song (You Lied). [Daily Telegraph] (See List of The Day)
Videos of the Day -
Uptown Funk compared with Oops Upside Your Head -
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
The Gap Band - Oops Upside Your Head
Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to daughter -
The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a girl, Kensington Palace has announced. The princess - who is fourth in line to the throne - was "safely delivered" at 08:34 BST, the palace statement said. The Duke of Cambridge, who was present for the birth of the 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg) baby girl, brought his 21-month-old son Prince George to visit his sister at St Mary's Hospital, west London. The couple and their daughter will leave hospital on Saturday evening. They will travel home to Kensington Palace, where Prince George has now returned. Both Catherine and her daughter are "doing well", Kensington Palace said. The name of the baby will be announced in due course. [BBC]
Floyd Mayweather beats Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas -
Floyd Mayweather emerged victorious from the most lucrative fight in history, beating Manny Pacquiao via a wide unanimous decision in Las Vegas. American Mayweather, 38, delivered a defensive masterclass against his Philippine rival, making the necessary adjustments after only a few rounds before disappearing out of sight. Mayweather, who added the WBO welterweight title to the WBC and WBA titles he already owned, was awarded the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 by the three judges. With his victory, Mayweather also cemented his status as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of his generation. The five-weight world champion is now undefeated in 48 professional fights, stretching back 19 years. Pacquiao's pride will no doubt be salved when he next checks his bank account - it is estimated the fight will generate $400m (£265m) in total, with Mayweather and Pacquiao set to split in the region of $230m (£150m). [BBC]
Floyd Mayweather
Best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell dies -
The best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell [pen name Barbara Vine] has died aged 85, her publisher has said. The celebrated British author was best known for her series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Wexford. Her publishers announced that Rendell passed away in London at 8am today. Paying tribute, they said they were "devastated by the loss" of one of their best-loved authors. The Labour peer was admitted to hospital in January in a critical but stable condition after suffering a serious stroke. Her crime novels gained her committed fans for decades and covered a range of issues from racism to domestic violence. [Daily Telegraph]
Ruth Rendell in 2007
Two policemen and a civilian are killed and three others injured after a grenade attack in Burundi's capital Bujumbura. The attack takes place a day after a similar incident injured three officers, and comes in the midst of intensifying protests against current president Pierre Nkurunziza. (Al Jazeera)
Fifteen people have had to be rescued from flood waters as the town of Bellingen likely to be cut off. (Weatherzone)
The death toll from the storms has risen to six with five people dead in Queensland and a six year old boy dying after being pulled from rough seas in the New South Wales town of Ballina. (9 News)
2015 Nepal earthquake: The death toll from last month's earthquake rises to 7,040 people and a total of 14,025 injured with thousands missing. Authorities in Nepal have given up hope of finding more survivors in the rubble. (Xinhua), (BBC), (CNN)
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn split up -
Former world number one golfer Tiger Woods and his girlfriend, US Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn, say they have ended their relationship.
Both blamed the pressure of their busy schedules for the split. Ms Vonn said on Facebook that the decision was mutual. In a statement on his website, Mr Woods said he would "always cherish our time together". The sports stars first publicly announced they were an item in March 2013 following weeks of speculation. "After nearly three years together, Tiger and I have mutually decided to end our relationship," Ms Vonn, 30, said on her Facebook page. [BBC]
In January Vonn won her 63rd World Cup downhill title and Woods lost a tooth in the media scrum.
Lindsey Vonn
Chelsea win Premier League: Jose Mourinho attacks critics after capturing league title at Stamford Bridge -
Eden Hazard’s goal confirmed Chelsea as champions for this first time in five years and manager Mourinho rejected any suggestions his side are not worthy winners or that they have been helped by the failure of others. “The people who have a big face to say we don't deserve it are the ones who, in my country, say the dogs bark and the caravan goes by,” said Mourinho. This is the first title Mourinho has won with Chelsea since returning to the club since 2013 and his third with the club in total. (See List of the Day)
Jose Mourinho
Video of the Day -
"Fight of the Century" considered a disappointment so...
FLOYD MAYWEATHER PUNCH-OUT!!!
List of the day -
Jose Mourinho Managerial Record - (as of 3 May 2015)
Curtis Culwell Center attack: Two gunman attacked the Curtis Caldwell Center in the US city of Garland, Texas, which is holding an exhibition of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. Both gunman were shot dead by police. Their car bomb was detonated by explosive ordnance personnel. One security guard was hospitalized and is expected to recover. The attacks were reminiscent of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris in January 2015. (CBS Dallas Fort Worth)
May the Fourth (be with you) - see Video of the Day
Top News Stories -
Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Daughter’s Name Revealed - Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Windsor -
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced the name of their new bundle of joy. Just two days after the birth of the fourth in line to the British royal throne, Kate Middleton and Prince William revealed the following piece of adorable baby news:
And how should you officially great [sic] the new princess, should you ever be so lucky to meet her in person? [Celebuzz]
World Snooker Championship: Bingham beats Murphy 18-15 -
Stuart Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a gripping final at the Crucible to win his first World Championship. Bingham began the final session with a 14-11 lead and won an epic 64-minute frame at 15-15 to close in on victory. The 38-year-old made a break of 65 to go 17-15 in front and clinched the title with a brilliant 88. Bingham, from Basildon, becomes the oldest snooker world champion since Welshman Ray Reardon won the title aged 45 in 1978. [BBC] (See List of the Day)
Stuart Bingham
Video of the Day -
Giant Star Wars LEGO Super Star Destroyer Shattered at 1000 fps | Battle Damage
List of the day -
World Snooker Championship - Top performers of the modern era (1969 - present) [List from Wikipedia]
One of the two attackers, Elton Simpson, had linked himself to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant on Twitter before his attack on the exhibition of drawings of the prophet Mohammed at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. He had been a member of a since-closed Phoenix mosque; he and his partner, 34-year-old Nadir Hamid Soofi, who had gone to college in Utah, had been known to and were investigated by law enforcement, but nevertheless, officers did not know that they were planning an imminent attack of this type, and they were not thought to be an imminent threat, despite having admired the late Anwar al-Awlaki, and swearing loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, prominent figures in al-Qaeda in Iraq and in ISIS, respectively. (CNN)
Italy reports that ten people have died and 5,800 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea as people smugglers attempt to take advantage of calmer waters. (Reuters)
Salman Khan: Bollywood star guilty in hit-and-run case -
An Indian court has found Bollywood star Salman Khan guilty of killing a homeless man in a 2002 hit-and-run driving incident in Mumbai. The man was among five people who were run over in the incident. The actor was charged with culpable homicide. Khan had said his driver was behind the wheel, but the judge said the actor was driving the car and was under the influence of alcohol at the time. His sentence is still to be announced. Khan faces up to 10 years in jail. Legal experts say the actor is bound to appeal against the verdict and the case is likely to go on for many more years. [BBC] [Later in the year Khan was cleared of the charges]
Salman Khan
Django Unchained actress to apologise to police -
An actress investigated by police after a report she had sex in a car in public must apologise to officers, after admitting disturbing the peace.
Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts had initially claimed police actions last September were racially motivated. Watts was handcuffed and briefly detained during the incident, after LA Police responded to a call about "indecent exposure". Prosecutors made a deal to drop charges of committing a lewd act in public. The pair had been facing up to six months in jail and a $1,000 (£659) fine if convicted of committing a lewd act in public. [BBC]
Kitchen microwaves baffle Australian space scientists -
After 17 years of fruitlessly searching the galaxy, Australian scientists have discovered the source of mysterious radio signals hitting a telescope. It turns out the source was their own kitchen microwaves. PhD student Emily Petroff made the discovery at the Parkes telescope, after noticing that the signals were only received during business hours. The rays, known as "perytons", were emitted when impatient staff opened the microwave door prematurely. [BBC]
50 Shades of Subterfuge: Rape charges as 'male model' offering sex in dark turns out to be balding 68-year-old -
A Frenchman masquerading as a 37-year old "male model" offering women 50 Shades of Grey-type sex dates in the dark is facing rape charges after they belatedly discovered he was a short, fat and balding 68-year old. A man calling himself Anthony Laroche attracted much female interest on several dating websites after depicting himself as a young, mysterious prince charming with a photo highlighting his smouldering gaze, square jaw and designer stubble. Adding spice to the proceedings, "Anthony" proposed a "blind" date in which the two total strangers had sex in the dark on their first encounter at his flat in Nice, southern France. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Arnold Acts Out His Films In 6 Minutes - The Late Late Show with James Corden
ISIS claims responsibility for the attack on an exhibition of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in the American city of Garland, Texas. One of the suspects was previously interrogated and surveilled by the FBI having visited Somalia, and both suspects praised ISIL in social media.(Washington Post)
A combination of three HIV drugs shows some promise fighting at least a lab-modified version (which could not infect humans) of Ebola, though its use fighting Ebola, let alone the strains responsible for the current epidemic, in the field, is less certain. Depending on the area and the degree of assistance, some HIV drugs are relatively inexpensive and more available in West Africa. University of Toronto researchers Dr. Donald Branch and Stephen McCarthy tried lamivudine, AZT, and tenofovir. Tests against the relevant live Ebola strains must now be done in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory. (CNN)
A French investigation finds that Andreas Lubitz, perpetrator copilot of the murder-suicide disaster of Germanwings Flight 9525 had practised rapid descent on a previous flight. (BBC)
Bollywood star Salman Khan is convicted of culpable homicide for running over five men in Bombay in 2002 causing the death of one and is sentenced to five years imprisonment. (BBC)
British Election 2015: Exit poll puts Tories close to majority -
The Conservatives are set to be the largest party in the Commons but just short of a majority, according to the general election exit poll. The survey taken at polling stations across the UK suggests the Tories will get 316 MPs to Labour's 239 when all the results have been counted. It suggests the Lib Dems will get 10 MPs, the SNP 58, Plaid Cymru 4, UKIP 2 and the Greens two. The exit poll was conducted by NOP/MORI for the BBC, ITV and Sky. [BBC] See List of the Day for previous election actual results
BBC Exit Polls
Putin's new tank designed to 'outclass the West’ breaks down -
A new Russian tank announced with much fanfare as superior to Western machines stalled during a dress rehearsal for Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on Thursday. The T-14 Armata, making only its second public appearance, ground to a halt on Red Square, opposite Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minster, was reportedly forced to approach the tank to find out what had happened; servicemen then tried to hook it up to another military vehicle and tow it away. [Daily Telegraph]
Sam Smith to have surgery on vocal cords -
Singer Sam Smith has told his fans he needs "surgery" on his vocal cords. The 22-year-old singer pulled out of the rest of his Australian tour last week, after doctors discovered a haemorrhage on the vocal cords. Smith has since flown to the United States to see a specialist. In a post on Twitter, he said: "I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better [over] the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven't recovered and I'm going to need surgery." [Daily Telegraph]
Sam Smith
Scores of flights are cancelled after a fire devastates part of terminal three at Rome'sFiumicino Airport. The fire was triggered by an electrical fault.(AFP via News24)
The wreck of the migrant boat which sank in April 2015 with 700 people on board is located by the Italian Navy 136km off the Libyan coast at a depth of 375m. (AFP via News24)
The Royal Navy's HMS Bulwark rescues 110 migrants from a dinghy off the coast of Libya, the first for a British ship during 2015. (BBC)
British General Election results in a surprise Conservative majority and the resignation of three opposition leaders -
Summary of the major stories [BBC]:
UKIP's Nigel Farage resigned after failing to win Thanet South - the party has just one MP
The Greens held their one seat of Brighton Pavillion
[BBC]
Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions -
Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the "last version" of the dominant desktop software. His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an "ongoing manner". Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Rain's Dirty Little Secret
List of the day -
Full election results for parties that won a seat in Parliament -
Russia and China agree to a $2 billion fund for agricultural investments in both countries. (CNBC)
Burkina Faso and Niger agree to exchange 18 towns in order to resolve a long-running border dispute with Burkina Faso receiving 14 and Niger 4. (AFP via The Guardian)
Ant and Dec repeat Bafta success -
Ant and Dec have picked up two prizes at the Bafta Television Awards for the second year in a row. The duo won best entertainment show and best entertainment performance for their ITV show Saturday Night Takeaway. ITV's Coronation Street also won best soap in the year it celebrated its 60th anniversary. [BBC] For full winners list see List of the Day below.
Scotland tops gay equality league -
Scotland has been rated the best country in Europe in terms of legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Scotland came top of the Rainbow Index after meeting 92% of ILGA-Europe's criteria for equality and human rights, ahead of the UK as a whole. Equality campaigners said the ranking recognised the country's progressive measures. But they said more needed to be done to achieve full equality. [BBC]
Jason Watkins - The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies - winner
Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock
Toby Jones - Marvellous
James Nesbitt - The Missing
Leading actress
Georgina Campbell - Murdered by My Boyfriend - winner
Keeley Hawes - Line of Duty
Sarah Lancashire - Happy Valley
Sheridan Smith - Cilla
Supporting actor
Stephen Rea - The Honourable Woman - winner
Adeel Akhtar - Utopia
James Norton - Happy Valley
Ken Stott - The Missing
Supporting actress
Gemma Jones - Marvellous - winner
Vicky McClure - Line of Duty
Amanda Redman - Tommy Cooper: Not like That, Like This
Charlotte Spencer - Glue
Entertainment performance
Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - winner
Graham Norton - The Graham Norton Show
Leigh Francis - Celebrity Juice
Claudia Winkleman - Strictly Come Dancing
Matt Berry - Toast of London - winner
Hugh Bonneville - W1A
Tom Hollander - Rev
Brendan O'Carroll - Mrs Brown's Boys - Christmas Special
Single drama
Marvellous - winner
A Poet In New York
Common
Murdered By My Boyfriend
Mini-series
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies - winner
Cilla
Our World War
Prey
Drama series
Happy Valley - winner
Line of Duty
The Missing
Peaky Blinders
Soap and continuing drama
Coronation Street - winner
Casualty
EastEnders
Hollyoaks
International
True Detective - winner
The Good Wife
House of Cards
Orange Is The New Black
Factual series
Life And Death Row - winner
15,000 Kids and Counting
Educating The East End
Protecting Our Parents
Specialist factual
Grayson Perry: Who Are You? - winner
David Attenborough's Conquest Of The Skies 3D
The Great War: The People's Story
Our Gay Wedding: The Musical
Single documentary
The Paedophile Hunter - winner
Baby P: The Untold Story
Children Of Syria
The Miners Strike And Me
Features
Grand Designs - winner
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
The Great British Bake Off
Long Lost Family
Reality and constructed factual
The Island With Bear Grylls - winner
The Apprentice
I'm A Celebrity… GET ME OUT OF HERE!
The Undateables
Current affairs
Children On The Frontline (Dispatches) - winner
Ebola Frontline (Panorama)
Inside Kenya's Death Squads (Al Jazeera Investigates)
Terror At The Mall (This World)
News coverage
Sky News Live At Five: Ebola - winner
BBC News At Ten
Channel 4 News - Inside Gaza: Children Under Fire
ITV News At Ten: Iraq Crisis
Sport and live event
WW1 Remembered: From The Battlefield and Westminster Abbey - winner
2014 FA Cup Semi-final Hull vs. Sheffield United
Monty Python (Mostly) Live: One Down, Five To Go
Tour De France 2014, Stage 1
Entertainment programme
Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - winner
Dynamo: Magician Impossible
Strictly Come Dancing
The Voice
Comedy and comedy entertainment programme
The Graham Norton Show - winner
Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
Would I Lie To You
Situation comedy
Detectorists - winner
Harry & Paul's Story Of The Twos
Moone Boy
The Wrong Mans
Radio Times Audience Award (voted for by members of the public)
Sherlock - winner
Cilla
Eastenders
Game of Thrones
The Great British Bake Off
The Missing
Strictly Come Dancing
The death toll from earthquake reaches 8000 as three earth tremors hit Nepal. Avalanches disrupt rescue efforts higher in the mountains.(Times of India)
Picasso's Women of Algiers smashes auction record -
Picasso's Women of Algiers has become the most expensive painting to sell at auction, going for $179.3m (£115m) at Christie's in New York. Eleven minutes of prolonged bidding from telephone buyers preceded the final sale - for much more than its pre-sale estimate of $140m. The evening sale also featured Alberto Giacometti's life-size sculpture Pointing Man, which set a record as the most expensive sculpture, at $141.3m. The buyers chose to remain anonymous. The Picasso oil painting is a vibrant, cubist depiction of nude courtesans, and is part of a 15-work series the Spanish artist created in 1954-55 designated with the letters A to O. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Picasso's Women of Algiers
Ukip rejects Nigel Farage's resignation as party leader -
Nigel Farage is to stay on as leader of the UK Independence Party after the party’s ruling board rejected his resignation. Mr Farage quit as Ukip leader last Friday, delivering on a pledge to resign if he failed to be elected as leader of South Thanet. The news risks making Ukip into a laughing stock because Mr Farage had raised the stakes about his future by insisting he would resign. Mr Farage's decision to stay on also raises questions over whether Douglas Carswell, Ukip's only MP, will quit the party to become an independent MP after he suggested Mr Farage should not lead Ukip again. Mr Carswell later repeatedly refused to endorse Mr Farage's return to the Ukip leadership after speaking at an event in central London. [Daily Telegraph]
Nigel Farage
James Corden can't believe the Late Late Show is still on the air -
James Corden's appearance at the Bafta TV awards was just a flying visit. In fact, his time on home soil (19 hours) was less than the time he spent in the sky travelling to and from Los Angeles for it (23 hours). "I've genuinely had some of the best nights of my life at this event," he told us on the red carpet. Since he took over the Late Late Show in March, America's latest chat show host has been grabbing headlines with his big name guests and viral videos. But he admitted to Newsbeat that it's "mostly mystifying" as to why the show is still on the air. "No-one could have predicted the show would be received in such a manner. It's beyond all of our wildest dreams." [BBC]
James-Corden
David Cameron unveils 'blue collar' Cabinet -
David Cameron has unveiled his “blue collar Cabinet” as he promoted the son of a milkman, the daughter of a garage-owner and the Tory Party’s “champion of the people” to senior Government roles. In a bid to put making the Conservatives “the real party for working people” at the centre of the next five years of Government, Mr Cameron promoted Robert Halfon, Sajid Javid, Greg Clark and Priti Patel to senior ministerial roles. It means that 43 per cent of Cabinet ministers were educated in comprehensive schools – a rise from 21 per cent in Mr Cameron’s first Coalition Cabinet in 2010. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day for the complete Conservative cabinet.
Video of the Day -
The bidding for the most expensive painting in the world -
List of the day -
The United Kingdom Cabinet in full (as of 11 May 2015) - [List from Wikipedia]
Investigators find the remains of at least seven people buried beneath a shopping centre in New Britain, Connecticut with the suspected killer serving time for unrelated charges. (NBC Connecticut)
Nepal earthquake: Dozens die in new tremor near Everest -
A major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest, two weeks after more than 8,000 people died in a devastating quake. At least 48 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured, officials say. At least 17 have also died in India. The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazaar and sent thousands of panicked residents on to the streets of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. It had a magnitude of 7.3, compared with the 7.8 of the 25 April quake. [BBC]
Tom Brady: 'Deflate-gate' player banned for four matches -
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been suspended for four games by the National Football League after an inquiry into under-inflated balls. Brady, 37, will not receive any pay during his ban, while the team were fined $1m (£642,000) for a scandal that has become known as 'Deflate-gate'. The NFL said on Monday the club were sanctioned after "failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation". According to reports, 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for the rain-affected match were under-inflated by about two pounds per square inch, giving Brady more grip in the cold and wet conditions. [BBC] The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in April.
Tom Brady
Vienna brings in gay pedestrian crossing lights -
Dozens of traffic lights in the Austrian capital have been changed to show gay couples crossing the road instead of the traditional lone figure. Vienna has changed the signal images at 120 pedestrian crossings - also showing heterosexual couples - in preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest. Officials said the signals were a sign of Vienna's open-mindedness. Toni Mahdalik of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria called the initiative gender politics "gone mad". He said the money would have been better spent on reducing poverty and improving unemployment figures. [BBC]
Verizon to buy AOL for $4.4bn -
US telecommunications giant Verizon has agreed to buy AOL in a deal worth $4.4bn (£2.8bn). Buying AOL will broaden the amount of advertising Verizon can sell and will increase video production. AOL owns websites such as the Huffington Post, Techcrunch, Engadget, Makers and AOL.com. Verizon is offering $50 a share for AOL, compared with AOL's closing price of $42.59 on Monday. [BBC]
Arianna Huffington co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post
Bus drivers in the Indian city of Delhi call off a strike to protest the murder of a driver after the state government invokes the Essential Service Maintenance Act. (NDTV)
The reported death toll from this earthquake is at least 66 people, including 17 in neighboring India and one in Tibet. Many more have been injured. (NBC News)(Reuters)
An Amtrak train derails in the Frankford neighborhood of the American city of Philadelphia causing cars to roll over. At least 5 people have been killed, 50 people are injured in the derailment, and 100 people total have been taken to hospitals.(USA Today)(Huffington Post),(CNN)
Bangladeshi secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das is cut to pieces by a masked gang wielding machetes in the city of Sylhet. He is the third secular blogger to be killed in Bangladesh this year. (BBC)
Officer Matt Kenny of the Madison Police Department will not face charges in relation to the shooting of Tony Robinson in March 2015 in the American city of Madison. (CNN)
Prince Harry does the Haka in New Zealand -
Prince Harry has taken part in a traditional Maori Haka during his tour of New Zealand. It was part of a day of activities at Linton Military Camp, the largest army base in the country. [BBC] In December 2013 Prince Harry led his Sandringham workers team to a 7-2 victory in a football (soccer) match against local villagers in Scotland.
Prince Harry
China imposes smartwatch and wearable tech army ban -
China has forbidden its armed forces from wearing internet-connected wearable tech, according to reports. The People's Liberation Army Daily, the Chinese military's official newspaper, said security concerns had been raised after one recruit had received a smartwatch as a birthday gift. News site NBC said its sources had confirmed a ban was now in place. [BBC]
Prince Charles's private letters published -
Private letters sent by the Prince of Wales to Labour ministers a decade ago have been published after a lengthy legal battle. Clarence House said the move would "only inhibit" the prince's ability to express concerns. In one letter to the prime minister, the prince said the armed forces were being asked to do a challenging job "without the necessary resources". Release of the letters follows a decade-long campaign by the Guardian. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
Prince Charles
International conglomerate Danaher announces plans to acquire water filtration company Pall for US$13.8 billion and to split off its industrial businesses into a new company. (Bloomberg)
Disasters and accidents
Rescue efforts resume in Nepal after yesterday's earthquake which killed at least 63 in Nepal and 17 in northern India. (BBC), (CNN)
Report that train believed to have been traveling in excess of 100 mph, about twice the speed limit for the curve.(CNN)
Thirty-one people die and dozens of people are missing and feared dead after a fire engulfs a rubber sandal factory in Manila, capital of the Philippines. (Al-Jazeera)(Reuters via News24)
Major General Godefroid Niyombare has declared a coup in Burundi and the establishment of a "national salvation committee". PresidentPierre Nkurunziza is attempting to return home from Tanzania. (BBC)
Supergirl's trailer reaction split between joy and 'walking nightmare' -
Saints be praised: a six-minute trailer for the new CBS TV series Supergirl is here, and it is extremely good.
Gone are the memories of the cult (and largely dreadful) 1984 film version starring a rather wet Helen Slater alongside Faye Dunaway chewing every piece of scenery in sight: the new Supergirl is kooky, charming and funny. Inevitably, Twitter was divided. A DC superhero show that was fun, frothy and where nobody looked anxious? What is this! Kara Jor-El fled the planet Krypton as a girl, and, like her cousin Superman, has grown up into a sweet, geeky character (played by Glee's Melissa Benoist) who believes that wearing a pair of black plastic glassics is a cunning disguise. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of The Day
Calista Flockhart who plays Supergirl's boss
Swiss freediver breaks world record for holding breath underwater -
Peter Colat, a Swiss freediver, has held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, smashing the world record. Colat, 38, performed the feat in a water tank in St Gallen, Switzerland. The previous Guinness World Record for oxygen-assisted static apnea was 19 seconds shorter and was set by an Italian, Nicola Putignano, last May. Colat, an experienced diver from Zurich, said the first 12 minutes was no problem. He said: "I felt the first need to breathe very late, but because of this it was even stronger." Under the Guinness rules he was allowed to inhale pure oxygen 10 minutes prior to his attempt. See List of the day
BB King: Tributes pour in after blues legend dies aged 89 -
His lawyer Brent Bryson said that King, who suffered from diabetes, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas on May 14, where he had been receiving hospice care. King's style of singing and guitar playing was an inspiration to scores of musicians, and he mentored stars including Eric Clapton as well as collaborating with U2 on the 1989 track When Love Comes To Town. [Daily Telegraph] See List of The Day
B.B. King in 2009
Geri Halliwell marries Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner -
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has married Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner in a wedding attended by a string of celebrities from showbiz and motor racing worlds. The 42-year-old singer wed in St Mary's Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire. She arrived at the parish church, just off the High Street, in a vintage Rolls Royce ahead of the wedding to Horner, who she first met in 2009. She was accompanied by her daughter Bluebell, who was her bridesmaid. [BBC] In February 2010 Geri Halliwell apparently made then boyfriend Henry Beckwith feel like Duke of Edinburgh according to his father
Geri Halliwell
Janet Jackson Announces New Album, Tour -
Janet Jackson delivered a surprise for fans on her birthday, announcing a new album and world tour. The singer made the big reveal at midnight eastern time on May 16 by tweeting a link to a video in which, in her unmistakable voice, she coos: "I promised you'd hear it from my lips and now you will. This year: new music; new world tour; a new movement. I've been listening. Let's keep the conversation going." [Billboard.com]
Janet Jackson
Boston bombing trial: Death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -
A US jury has sentenced Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by lethal injection. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women came to its decision. Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Tsarnaev, now 21, and his brother placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Victims and their family members sobbed as the sentence was read. Tsarnaev bowed his head but showed no emotion. [BBC]
Barcelona win La Liga title -
Lionel Messi's strike gave Barcelona their 23rd Spanish title as they beat Atletico Madrid to regain La Liga. Messi's 41st league goal of the season ensured that Real Madrid will finish second - despite Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick against Espanyol. With one game left Barca hold a four-point lead ahead of rivals Real. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his seventh hat-trick of the season to give Real Madrid victory at Espanyol. Ronaldo's treble took his tally for the season to 45 in La Liga - four ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who hit the winner for his club. [BBC] See List of The Day
Lionel Messi
Texas bikers in deadly shootout at Waco restaurant -
Police in the US state of Texas say nine people have been killed and at least 100 arrested after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco. The incident happened at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place. Police said eight had died at the scene and a ninth in hospital - all were bikers. At least 18 others were hurt. Waco police said the shooting happened shortly after midday when rival gangs got into a fight, apparently over parking space near the restaurant. Up to five gangs were involved. Police spokesman Sgt W Patrick Swanton said the fight started with punches and then escalated to chains, clubs, knives and finally firearms.
Blizzard tackles World of Warcraft 'cheats' -
Thousands of World of Warcraft accounts have been shut down by Blizzard as it moves to stop people using "bots" to play the game Blizzard announced it had banned a "large number" of accounts in a message posted to the game's online forums. The accounts had been discovered using programs, called "bots", that automate gameplay, said Blizzard. Blizzard did not reveal how many accounts had been shut down. However, a widely-shared screengrab of a conversation between a player and a customer service rep suggested that about 100,000 accounts had been closed. The ban will be in force for six months, said Blizzard.
At least 9 people are killed and 18 injured, some by law enforcement and others in gunfire exchanges, in a shootout between rival biker gangsin Waco, Texas at the Twin Peaks Restaurant. (KWTX), (The Guardian)
A 'groundbreaking' combination of drugs which could improve the quality of life and life expectancy of cystic fibrosis sufferers is trialed. (BBC News)
Obama launches personal Twitter account -
President Barack Obama reintroduced himself to the world, albeit in 140 characters or less. "Hello, Twitter!" he wrote. "It's Barack. Really!" Mr Obama joked that "six years in" to his presidency, "they're finally giving me my own account". The name of the new account is @POTUS, short for President of the United States. It immediately attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.While there has been an @BarackObama account active since 2007, it is managed by the president's staff. The new account is meant to be Mr Obama's personal Twitter profile. He identifies himself on it as "dad, husband, and 44th president of the United States". [Daily Telegraph]
Simon Cowell wants trap door and fire at next leaders' debate -
Britain's Got Talent boss Simon Cowell has offered his services for future party leaders' debates, saying he would "love" to produce them. "I'd do it in a heartbeat! 100%. I'd have walk-ons, music, fire... and a trap door if people didn't like what they said," he said. "And I'd definitely have a clap-o-meter. I am deadly serious. I really would love a chance to do that!" Last month's seven-way party leaders' TV debate got seven million viewers. Cowell, whose TV talent show became the highest-rated entertainment programme on television last month, was keen to get audiences more involved in the debates. [BBC]
Simon Cowell
Four-minute mile Roger Bannister stopwatch auctioned for £20,000 -
A stopwatch used to time Roger Bannister's first sub-four-minute mile has sold for £20,000 at auction. Sir Roger, now 86, made his run at Oxford's Iffley Road track on 6 May 1954, when he was 25. Used by timekeeper WJ Burfitt, the watch was expected to attract bids between £5,000 and £8,000. Auctioneer Graham Budd did not reveal the identity of the latest successful bidder, but said the Swiss-made watch was from "one of those remarkable, historic moments in British sporting history". Sir Roger ran the mile in three minutes and fifty-nine seconds. [BBC]
Taylor Swift is big winner at 2015 Billboard music awards -
Taylor Swift was the big winner at this year’s Billboard music awards. Not only did the singer premiere her blockbuster video for Bad Blood – featuring the likes of Cindy Crawford, Kendrick Lamar and Lena Dunham – but the pop star also took home eight prizes including top artist, top female artist, top Billboard 200 Album, top Billboard 200 artist, top Hot 100 artist and top streaming song. [Guardian] See Video of the Day and List of The Day
Taylor Swift
Video of the Day -
Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar
List of the day -
Billboard Music Awards 2015 nominees and winnersTOP ARTIST
Ariana Grande
One Direction
Katy Perry
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift -- WINNERTOP COUNTRY ARTIST
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line -- WINNER
Brantley Gilbert
Blake Shelton
BILLBOARD CHART ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG GALAXY (FAN-VOTED)
Iggy Azalea
Taylor Swift -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor
TOP TOURING ARTIST
Lady Gaga
One Direction -- WINNER
Katy Perry
The Rolling Stones
Justin Timberlake
TOP FEMALE ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Katy Perry
Taylor Swift -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor
TOP RADIO SONGJohn Legend, "All of Me" -- WINNER
MAGIC!, "Rude"
Nico & Vinz, "Am I Wrong"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Pharrell Williams, "Happy
TOP MALE ARTIST
Drake
Pharrell Williams
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith -- WINNER
Justin Timberlake
TOP RAP SONGIggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy" -- WINNER
Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora, "Black Widow"
Big Sean feat. E-40, "I Don't F--- With You"
Nicki Minaj, "Anaconda"
Bobby Shmurda, "Hot Boy"
TOP BILLBOARD 200 ALBUM
Maroon 5, V
Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
Ed Sheeran, x
Sam Smith, In the Lonely HourTaylor Swift, 1989 -- WINNERTOP DUO/GROUP
5 Seconds of Summer
Florida Georgia Line
MAGIC!
Maroon 5
One Direction -- WINNERTOP NEW ARTIST
5 Seconds of Summer
Iggy Azalea
Hozier
Sam Smith -- WINNERMeghan Trainor
TOP BILLBOARD 200 ARTIST
One Direction
Pentatonix
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift -- WINNERTOP HOT 100 ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor
TOP DIGITAL SONGS ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor
TOP RADIO SONGS ARTIST
John Legend
Maroon 5
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith -- WINNER
Taylor Swift
TOP SOCIAL ARTISTJustin Bieber -- WINNER
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
TOP STREAMING ARTISTIggy Azalea -- WINNER
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
TOP R&B ARTIST
Beyoncé
Chris Brown
John Legend
Trey Songz
Pharrell Williams -- WINNERTOP RAP ARTISTIggy Azalea -- WINNER
J. Cole
Drake
Nicki Minaj
Rae Sremmurd
TOP ROCK ARTIST
Bastille
Coldplay
Fall Out Boy
Hozier -- WINNER
Lorde
TOP LATIN ARTIST
J Balvin
Juan Gabriel
Enrique Iglesias
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos -- WINNERTOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST
Avicii
Clean Bandit
Disclosure
Calvin Harris -- WINNER
Lindsey Stirling
TOP CHRISTIAN ARTIST
Casting Crowns
Hillsong United -- WINNER
Lecrae
MercyMe
Newsboys
TOP SOUNDTRACKThe Fault in Our Stars
Fifty Shades of GreyFrozen -- WINNERGuardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix: Vol. 1Into the WoodsTOP R&B ALBUM
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
Chris Brown, X
Michael Jackson, Xscape
John Legend, Love in the FuturePharrell Williams, G I R L -- WINNERTOP RAP ALBUMJ. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive -- WINNER
Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2TOP COUNTRY ALBUMJason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt -- WINNER
Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am
Miranda Lambert, PlatinumTOP ROCK ALBUM
AC/DC, Rock or Bust
The Black Keys, Turn BlueColdplay, Ghost Stories -- WINNER
Hozier, Hozier
Lorde, Pure HeroineTOP LATIN ALBUM
Juan Gabriel, Los DúoEnrique Iglesias, Sex and Love -- WINNER
Romeo Santos, Formula: Vol. 2
Santana, Corazon
Marc Anthony, 3.0TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM
Avicii, True
Disclosure, Settle
Calvin Harris, Motion
Skrillex, RecessLindsey Stirling, Shatter Me -- WINNERTOP CHRISTIAN ALBUMLecrae, Anomaly -- WINNER
Casting Crowns, Thrive
MercyMe, Welcome to the New
NEEDTOBREATHE, Rivers in the Wasteland
Chris Tomlin, Love Ran RedTOP HOT 100 SONG
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
John Legend, "All of Me"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass" -- WINNERTOP DIGITAL SONG
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk!"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass" -- WINNER
Pharrell Williams, "Happy
TOP STREAMING SONG (AUDIO)
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
Hozier, "Take Me to Church"
John Legend, "All of Me" -- WINNER
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Tove Lo, "Habits (Stay High)"
TOP STREAMING SONG (VIDEO)
Idina Menzel, "Let It Go"
Bobby Shmurda, "Hot Boy"
Taylor Swift, "Blank Space"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off" -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
TOP R&B SONG
Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne, French Montana, Too $hort & Tyga, "Loyal"
Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz, "Talk Dirty"
Jeremih feat. YG, "Don't Tell 'Em"
John Legend, "All of Me"
Pharrell Williams, "Happy" -- WINNERTOP COUNTRY SONGJason Aldean, "Burnin' It Down" -- WINNER
Luke Bryan, "Play It Again"
Sam Hunt, "Leave the Night On"
Florida Georgia Line feat. Luke Bryan, "This Is How We Roll"
Florida Georgia Line, "Dirt"
TOP ROCK SONG
Bastille, "Pompeii"
Coldplay, "A Sky Full of Stars"
Fall Out Boy, "Centuries"
Hozier, "Take Me to Church" -- WINNER
Paramore, "Ain't It Fun"
TOP LATIN SONG
J Balvin feat. Farruko, "6 AM"
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona, "Bailando" -- WINNER
Romeo Santos, "Eres Mía"
Romeo Santos feat. Drake, "Odio"
Romeo Santos, "Propuesta Indecente"
TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONG
Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne, "Rather Be"
Disclosure feat. Sam Smith, "Latch"
DJ Snake & Lil Jon, "Turn Down For What" -- WINNER
Ariana Grande feat. Zedd, "Break Free"
Calvin Harris, "Summer"
TOP CHRISTIAN SONG
Francesca Battistelli, "He Knows My Name"
Hillsong United, "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"
MercyMe, "Greater"
Newsboys, "We Believe"
Carrie Underwood, "Something in the Water" -- WINNER
The Governor of Iraq's Anbar Governorate estimates that 500 people lost their lives and 8000 people fled as ISIS captured the strategically important city of Ramadi. (Al-Arabiya)
The Philippines says that it is willing to accept 3,000 Rohingya refugees after an accusation by a newspaper was made. Last week Indonesiaturned away boats carrying over 1,000 Rohingya refugees. (Rappler)
Cannes Film Festival 'turns away women in flat shoes' -
Cannes Film Festival has come under fire after reports women were turned away from a red carpet screening for wearing flat shoes instead of heels. The women - some of whom were said to be older with medical conditions - were attending the world premiere of Cate Blanchett's new film Carol. Screen Daily said the festival had confirmed heels were obligatory for women at red carpet screenings. However the director of the festival said the "rumours" were "unfounded". [BBC]
Cate Blanchett
Prostitute pleads guilty in Google executive heroin overdose death on yacht -
A high-end prostitute who pleaded guilty to killing a Google executive with an overdose of heroin aboard his yacht has been jailed for six years. Alix Tichelman, 27, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of Forrest Hayes, 51, a father-of-five, who was found on his 50ft boat in Santa Cruz, California in November 2013. Surveillance cameras on the yacht recorded Tichelman gathering her belongings, including heroin and needles, finishing a glass of wine, and stepping over Mr Hayes as she left. Following her arrest she was dubbed the "call girl killer" and the "harbour hooker". [Daily Telegraph]
'Australian Hugh Hefner' criticised for posting photo of his wife on a leash -
A tobacco tycoon labelled "Australia’s Hugh Hefner" has been accused of creating a poisonous cult in his waterside mansion after he posted images of his wife on a leash and of his children attending raucous poolside parties. Travis Beynon, who calls himself The Candyman, lives on a £1.9 million estate in Queensland’s Gold Coast and publishes a constant stream of images of his antics on his Instagram account. But the former Australian Football league player has been criticised for his lifestyle, particularly after he posted a photo of himself leading his wife Taesha and another woman on a leash, with the caption “Candyman's interpretation of ‘Doggy Style’”. [Daily Telegraph]
French prosecutors say the passengers onboard the Germanwings flight that crashed in southern France have all been identified, and their bodies can be returned home to their families. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
At least 16 people are killed and scores are injured in a residential building fire in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Reuters UK)
Record fines for currency market fix -
Five of the world's largest banks are to pay fines totalling $5.7bn (£3.6bn) for charges including manipulating the foreign exchange market.
Four of the banks - JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup and RBS - have agreed to plead guilty to US criminal charges. The fifth, UBS, will plead guilty to rigging benchmark interest rates. Barclays was fined the most, $2.4bn, as it did not join other banks in November to settle investigations by UK, US and Swiss regulators. Barclays is also sacking eight employees involved in the scheme. [BBC]
Chinese professor accused in 'Breaking Bad' drugs plot -
Police in China have arrested a chemistry professor for his part in producing a psychoactive drug in a case that has been likened to US crime drama Breaking Bad. State agency Xinhua said 17 people were arrested including a Xian university professor alleged to have helped provide the recipe for methcathinone. Police seized 128kg (282lb) of the drug and more than 5m yuan ($806,095; £519,450). The drug lab was raided last year. [BBC]
David Letterman saluted by stars on final Late Show -
Four US presidents have joined stars including Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Jerry Seinfeld and Foo Fighters to pay tribute to TV host David Letterman on his final late night talk show. Letterman has bowed out after 33 years and 6,028 late-night broadcasts.He joked that physicist Stephen Hawking had calculated it "works out to about eight minutes of laughter".He gave emotional thanks to his family, crew and viewers, saying: "There's nothing I can ever do to repay you."The 68-year-old began his late-night career on NBC in 1982, before moving to CBS's Late Show in 1993.[BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day.
David Letterman
Video of the Day -
Celebrity Top Ten Things I've Always Wanted to Say To David Letterman
List of the day -
David Letterman's final Top Ten list - "Top 10 things I've always wanted to say to Dave:"
10. Alec Baldwin: "Of all the talk shows, yours is the most geographically convenient to my home."
9. Barbara Walters: "Did you know you wear the same cologne as Muammar Qaddafi?"
8. Steve Martin: Your extensive plastic surgery was a necessity...and a mistake."
7. Jerry Seinfeld: "I have no idea what I'll do when you go off the air. You know what, I just thought of something: I'll be fine."
6. Jim Carrey: "Honestly Dave, I've always found you to be a bit of an over-actor." (He gesticulated wildly).
5. Chris Rock: "I'm just glad your show is being given to another white guy." (Dave: "You know, I had nothing to do with that.")
4. Julia Louis-Dreyfus: "Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale." (Seinfeld smirks). (Dave: "I had nothing to do with that either.")
3. Peyton Manning: "Dave, you are to comedy what I am to comedy."
2. Tina Fey: "Thanks for finally proving men can be funny."
1. Bill Murray: "Dave, I'll never have the money I owe you."
An arrest warrant is issued for Daron Dylon Wint in the US capital Washington, D.C. in connection to the alleged murder of four people on May 14.(WJLA)
F1's Ecclestone in legal challenge over £1bn tax move -
Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone has gone to court to challenge the basis of assessments that have left him facing a UK tax claim of more than £1bn. The 84-year-old, at the F1 helm for 40 years, wants the assessments quashed, and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) held to an earlier April 2008 agreement. The new figure is believed to cover the period from the tax year ended 5 April 1996 to tax year ending 5 April 2006. The case revolves around the Ecclestone family's Bambino trust which was set up in Liechtenstein in 1997 for the benefit of Mr Ecclestone's now ex-wife, Slavica, and daughters Tamara and Petra. The UK tax authorities re-opened their investigation of Bambino after a high-profile bribery case in Germany last year, said the judge. [BBC]
Bernie Ecclestone
Black Sabbath celebrate at Ivor Novello awards -
Black Sabbath have received a lifetime achievement prize at the Ivor Novello songwriting awards. Guitarist Tony Iommi picked up the trophy, confirming the heavy metal band would embark on their "final tour" next year. Ed Sheeran was named songwriter of the year, while Boy George picked up an outstanding contribution award. Clean Bandit beat Sam Smith and George Ezra to win the prize for most performed song for Rather Be. The Ivor Novello awards are voted for by songwriters, with judges this year including Gary Barlow, Guy Chambers, Nik Kershaw, Shaznay Lewis and Kim Appleby of '80s pop group Mel & Kim.[BBC]
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
Video of the Day -
List of the day -
Ivor Novello Award winners and nominees -Best song musically and lyrically
Take Me to Church - Hozier
Above the Clouds of Pompeii - Bear's Den
I Forget Where We Were - Ben Howard
Best contemporary song
Rather Be - Clean Bandit, featuring Jess Glynne
Every Other Freckle - alt-J
Two Weeks - FKA Twigs
Best album
So Long, See You Tomorrow - Bombay Bicycle Club
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Present Tense - Wild Beasts
PRS for Music most performed work
Rather Be - Clean Bandit, featuring Jess Glynne
Stay With Me - Sam Smith
Budapest - George Ezra
Best original film score
'71 - David Holmes
Mr Turner - Gary Yershon
The Boxtrolls - Dario Marianelli
Best television soundtrack
The Honourable Woman - Natalie Holt and Martin Phipps
The Mill (Series 2) - Samuel Sim
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: Beyond the Pale - Edmund Butt
Lifetime Achievement: Black Sabbath
Outstanding Song Collection: Albert Hammond
PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music: Boy George
PRS for Music Special International Award: Paul Williams
Songwriter of the Year: Ed Sheeran
The Ivors Classical Music Award: Judith Weir
The Ivors Inspiration Award: Manic Street Preachers
The Ivors Special Anniversary Award: Midge Ure and Bob Geldof, Band Aid
BASCA Fellowship: Annie Lennox
Islamic State fighters enter the ancient ruins of Palmyra after capturing the Syrian city of Tadmur yesterday. A hundred pro-governmentfighters are believed to have died in fighting. (Reuters)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that Islamic State now controls more than half of Syria dominating 95,000 square kilometres and controls settlements in nine provinces. (News Limited)
Robert Gates, the President of the Boy Scouts of America, calls on the movement to end the ban on gay adult leaders and says the movement will no longer revoke the charters of chapters that accept gay male leaders. (Yahoo News)
Mexican police find three dismembered bodies in a search for ten missing people in Chilapa, a city occupied by vigilantes with alleged links to drug rings between May 9-14. (AP)
Sports
Amnesty International accuses Qatar of failing to meet commitments on labor market reforms for migrant workers to be introduced before the2022 FIFA World Cup. Among other charges, Qatar uses North Korean labourers who are not paid personally but instead the money goes to their government. (AFP via Google News)
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One Direction, Robert Pattinson help out in first Red Nose Day in America -
One Direction, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson were among British stars who helped raise money for the first Red Nose Day in America.
The three-hour TV show opened with a monologue from host Seth Meyers. He announced his plans to trump the UK version of the fund-raising marathon.
"I don't want the British doing anything in front of the cameras," said the late night talk show host. "They are famously terrible actors so they are all working backstage." Cameras cut to Simon Cowell in the director's chair, Orlando Bloom at the sound board, Naomi Campbell operating a camera, Sir Ian McKellen working the teleprompter, Cumberbatch struggling with cue cards and Dame Helen Mirren making tea. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne was left with the task of wishing people good luck while Pattinson struggled with valet parking and crashed the first car given to him.[BBC]
Highlight of the night was Cold Play creating a musical version of Game of Thrones with many of the cast appearing including John Snow (Kit Harrington). See Video of the Day.
Kit Harrington
Thousands of new words added to Scrabble dictionary -
Thousands of new words - including slang terms lolz, shizzle and obvs - have been added to the latest Scrabble word list, its publisher has said.
About 6,500 words have been added to the latest Collins Scrabble Word List, including a number of slang terms used on social media and in text messages. New words include twerking, emoji, bezzy and ridic - short for ridiculous. One the highest scoring new entries is quinzhee - an Inuit snow shelter - which scores 29 Scrabble points. Other new words now acceptable in the board game include onesie, devo - short for devolution - vape, and shootie, meaning a fashionable shoe that covers the ankle. [BBC]
Kim Jong-un's 'brat pack' brother jets in to London for Eric Clapton concert -
Kim Jong-chol, allegedly passed over as heir to the North Korea regime because he has a weak character, was seen entering the Royal Albert Hall with a female companion and wearing a leather jacket. Wearing a leather jacket, T-shirt and sunglasses, Kim Jong-chol was caught on film by a camera crew from Japan's TBS channel entering the venue with an unidentified woman. South Korean media reported that Kim was staying at The Chelsea Harbour Hotel and was scheduled to board a flight from London to Moscow on Friday. Rooms at the hotel cost up to £2,184 a night. Mr Kim, 33, was passed over by his father, Kim Jong-il, as heir to the North Korean regime because he has a weak character, according to South Korean intelligence reports. To compensate, he has taken on the mantle of the unofficial leader of the North's "brat pack" of children of the regime's elite.[Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Red Nose Day - Game of Thrones, Coldplay's New Musical (Episode Highlight)
Li Hejun, formerly China's richest man, loses an estimated US$14 billion when his energy shares plunge nearly 50%. (Forbes)
Disasters and accidents
Surrounding areas of Wembley Stadium, London, UK have been evacuated following the discovery by construction crews of a still-live World War II-era 50-kg (110-llb) conventional-explosive bomb, a remnant of the Blitz. (MSN)
Sweden wins Eurovision Song Contest -
Unabashed commercial dance music triumphed over kitsch and politics, as Sweden swept to its sixth victory in Eurovision, making it the most successful country in Eurovision history behind Ireland. Måns Zelmerlöw, a leather trousered hunk, with his pop anthem Heroes, beat off stiff competition from Russian (bolstered by some neighbourly votes from Eastern European nations) and Italy. Sweden won 365 points, while Russia, in second, got 303. [Daily Telegraph] Unfortunately after Eurovision went off air it was revealed that two countries had been disqualified. Montengro and Macedonia's voting results have been disqualified after it was discovered the two countries used votes from the televoting to account for 100% of the country's votes, rather than 50% with 50% coming from a jury, as is required. [Daily Mirror] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Måns_Zelmerlöw from Sweden
Ireland becomes first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote -
Ireland has voted by a huge majority to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so by popular vote in a move hailed as a social revolution and welcomed around the world. Some 62% of the Irish Republic’s electorate voted in favour of gay marriage. The result means that a republic once dominated by the Catholic church ignored the instructions of its cardinals and bishops. The huge Yes vote marks another milestone in Ireland’s journey towards a more liberal, secular society. Out of an electorate of more than 3 million, 1,201,607 backed gay marriage, while 734,300 voters said No. The result prompted a massive street party around the gay district of central Dublin close to the national count centre. [The Guardian]
Spanish La Liga ends with Barcelona on top but Cristiano Ronaldo with 61 goals -
Cristiano Ronaldo finished with a season's best goals tally of 61 as his first-half hat-trick helped Real Madrid end their season by hammering Getafe 7-1. The Portuguese forward's haul is one more than the 60 he scored in 2011-12. Barcelona had already won the title and said adios to their captain Xavi Hernández who has won eight La Liga titles with the side after joing the club aged 11 in 1991. See List of the Day 2
Xavi Hernández
Banned number plates revealed: VA61ANA banned but PEN15 allowed -
The DVLA has revealed its entire catalogue of forbidden car number plates - including some amusing selections as well as surprising omissions. It seems motorists can drive a PEN15, but not a VA61ANA, and while BL03 JOB is forbidden ORG45M is fine. The list of personalised plates the DVLA believes to be in poor taste runs to 46 pages and includes religious or homophobic words. [Daily Telegraph]
Banned number plates - how they might look
Video of the Day -
Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Sweden) - LIVE at Eurovision 2015 Grand Final
Record breaking rain causes flooding in the American states of Oklahoma and Texas with Oklahoma City recording record rainfall levels for the month of May. (CNN)
Nigerian drug agents arrest senator-elect Buruji Kashamu for extradition to the United States for his alleged involvement in a drug deal 20 years ago that is claimed to be the basis for the television show Orange is the New Black. (AP)
Peru declares a 60 day state of emergency in the Tambo Valley following violent protests against a mine project which has seen four deaths. (AP via ABC News)
English Premier League season ends with Chelsea Champions, Liverpool thrashed and Hull relegated -
Chelsea cemented their title with a 3-1 win over Sunderland, with Didier Drogba announcing this was his last game. Also leaving the Premier League (to play in the MLS for LA Galaxy) is Liverpool's Steven Gerrard whose team were beaten 6-1 by Stoke City - Liverpool's biggest league defeat since 1954. Gerrard did score Liverpool's only goal but Peter Crouch's goal for Stoke makes him the leading scorer of headed goals in Premier League history. QPR and Burnley were already relegated and Hull joined them after rivals Newcastle beat West Ham 2-0. West Ham's manager Sam Allardyce is not having his contract renewed. See List of the Day
Steven Gerrard
Indy 500: Juan Pablo Montoya wins race for second time -
Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya recovered from the back of the grid to win his second Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Montoya fell back to 30th place after his car's rear wing was damaged during a caution period, but recovered and with three laps left overtook Penske Racing team-mate Will Power to win. The 39-year-old was last victorious in the 200-lap 2.5-mile race in 2000 before spending six years in Formula 1 and eight years in Nascar.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Video of the Day -
Farthest journey by hoverboard - Guinness World Records
List of the day -
2014-2015 Barclays Premier League final standings -
A pit-road collision between the vehicles of James Davison and Pippa Mann results in the injury of two pit crew members on the team ofTristan Vautier. Greg Senerius was treated and released on-track for a foot injury, and Daniel Jang was transported to a hospital for evaluation. (ESPN)
'Dancing Man' Sean O'Brien parties in Los Angeles -
A British man who attracted global support after "fat-shaming" images of him were posted online has attended a party in his honour in Los Angeles.
Liverpudlian Sean O'Brien, who now lives in London, was trolled in March after being spotted dancing at a gig. He was dubbed "The Dancing Man" by a social media campaign to uncover his identity and offer support. During his LA trip he has been feted by stars, appeared on TV shows and thrown the first pitch at an LA Dodgers game. Campaigner Monica Lewinsky, musicians Andrew WK and Moby attended his party, while Pharrell Williams recorded a special video message of support that was played at the party. [BBC]
Sean O'Brien aka Dancing Man
Galapagos volcano erupts for first time in 30 years -
A volcano in the Galapagos Islands erupted for the first time in more than 30 years on Monday, spilling streams of bright orange lava and raising fears for the world's only colony of pink iguanas. The Galapagos National Park warned on Twitter that Isabela Island, where Wolf Volcano erupted at dawn, holds "the world's only population" of the critically endangered Conolophus marthae, also known as the Galapagos rosy iguana. [Daily Telegraph]
Wolf Volcano
Galapagos pink iguana (Conolophus marthae)
Instagram spams users with 'highlights' from their friends' feeds -
Instagram has started sending unsolicited emails to users with a selection of posts from their friends' news feeds, in an attempt to re-engage people who have drifted away from the social network. Like Twitter, Instagram presents updates in reverse-chronological order, meaning that the posts people see when they log on are simply the most recent – not necessarily the most relevant. While this is an effective way of keeping people's news feeds fresh, it also creates the risk that users miss the most interesting content, due to the constant stream of updates cascading through their news feeds. Instagram's email updates are designed to offer a more curated experience, presenting users with only the most popular content from their network of contacts, TechCrunch reports. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Dior Secret Garden IV - Versailles - Long Version
In the Palace of Versailles and surrounded by darkness, Rihanna lights up the screen in this exclusive short film from the Secret Garden IV campaign, shot by Steven Klein.
Flash floods, tornadoes and dangerous thunderstorms have so far claimed 8 lives with 12 people missing in the American states of Texas andOklahoma with more rain on the way. (NBC News)
Flash flood warnings are now in place in eight states with flood waters causing closures of roads, rail services and buses in the fourth largest city in the US Houston. (NBC News)
Best photobomb ever? Seagull steals the show from Red Arrows display team -
An image that shows the latest addition to the world famous Red Arrows is a seagull has become an Internet hit. The amazing moment was captured by first year photography student Jade Coxon,18, as she took pictures at the Llandudno Air Show on 23 May. And, since posting the stunning snap online on Sunday, Jade is over the moon to have got more than 1 million views. The crisp pic clearly shows eight of the Red Arrows in tight formation trailing their famous vapour. But then where the ninth plane should be there is an intrepid seagull holding the formation in place and, amazingly, with his own vapour trail. [Daily Telegraph]
Red-Arrows-and-seagull (Photo - SWNS Group)
Taylor Swift enters Forbes 100 most powerful women list -
The 25 year old singer and songwriter has become the youngest woman ever to be included on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
She's included at number 64 in the list released on Tuesday because, Forbes says, she 'has not only broken record sales and captivated the world with her fantastically honest lyrics, but she has proven herself as an impressive businesswoman.' [Daily Mail] See List of the Day
Taylor Swift
The Charlie Charlie Challenge - what is the spooky craze? -
A strange new game is taking over Twitter, fuelled by speculation that its players can connect with a dead Mexican spirit known as Charlie. The Charlie Charlie Challenge has been played by thousands of young people after a number of videos purported to show supernatural goings-on. The game entails placing two pencils on a piece of paper in the shape of the cross with the words 'yes' and 'no'. Participants then repeat the phrase "Charlie, Charlie can we play?" in order to connect with the demon. If Charlie is there the pencils will move to indicate his answer. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends 25 May 2015
Video of the Day -
Are You Consuming Your Coffee Correctly?
List of the day -
Forbes Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2015 [Forbes]
Flash floods, tornadoes and dangerous thunderstorms have so far claimed 8 lives with 12 people missing in the American states of Texas and Oklahoma with more rain on the way. (NBC News)
Flash flood warnings are now in place in eight states with flood waters causing closures of roads, rail services and buses in Houston, Texas, fourth-largest city in the United States. (NBC News)
Thirty people are reported missing in the Houston area as the flood water levels continue to rise. (AP via News24)
Fifa officials corrupted football - US prosecutors -
US prosecutors have accused several officials from football's governing body Fifa of racketeering, fraud and money laundering involving tens of millions of dollars over 24 years. Prosecutors said they had discovered a dozen schemes, including one awarding the 2010 World Cup to South Africa.
Fourteen people have been indicted, with seven held in Zurich on Wednesday. Those indicted in the US case are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period beginning in 1991. [BBC] President Sepp Blatter has not been implicated by the US Presecutors. In December 2014 a complaint by US lawyer Michael Garcia who spent two years investigating World Cup corruption claims for Fifa was dismissed by football’s governing body.
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Tournament Announcement in 2007
London is getting a cannabis-inspired restaurant -
Grub Club and the chefs at Grub London have teamed up to create 'Cannabistro', a two night pop-up event coming to London in June.Diners at London's first weed-themed restaurant will be treated to a four-course gourmet meal of dishes inspired by "hazy memories of teenage years combined with the clichés of getting high - 'The Way Up' - and coming down - 'The Munchies'." [Daily Telegraph]
SpaceX cleared for US military launches -
Billionaire Elon Musk's firm SpaceX has won long-waited approval from the US Air Force to launch military satellites, opening the way to a lucrative market that has been a virtual monopoly for a Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture. With the certification, California-based SpaceX can now compete against the United Launch Alliance - the giant Boeing-Lockheed joint venture - for defence contracts valued at about $9.5bn over the next five years. In January 2015 Musk announced that he will build a test track for his “Hyperloop” transport system that could theoretically travel at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour. [news24.com]
Elon Musk
Video of the Day -
A Guy's Understanding of Women's Underwear - Robbie Sherrard
At least 12 people, associated with the Kangleyuan Rest Home in the Chinese city of Pingdingshan in Henan province which was destroyed by fire with the loss of 38 lives, are detained for questioning. (AP)
'Buy button' to be added to Google search results -
Google has confirmed that it is to introduce a "buy button" to its search results imminently. The button would give Google Search users the option to purchase without needing to visit a separate website. The company's chief business officer, Omid Kordestani, said he wanted to reduce "friction" for users so they buy more things online. Google faces significant competition from Amazon, where many people now begin their search to buy products. [BBC]
Hashtag is 'children's word of year' -
Hashtag has been declared "children's word of the year" by the Oxford University Press. OUP analysed more than 120,421 short stories by children aged between five and 13 years old, submitted to the BBC's 500 Words competition. According to the OUP, new technology is increasingly at the centre of the children's lives but how they are writing about it is changing fast. Words including email, mobile and Facebook are in decline, it said.
They are being replaced by the likes of Instagram, Snapchat and emoji. And the word television has now been superseded by phone. The report also notes a sudden new arrival in children's sentences. The use of the hashtag symbol # to add an extra meaning or comment at the end of a sentence has become commonplace. #IblameTwitter #AndInstagram. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
The A-Z of YouTube: Celebrating 10 Years | #HappyBirthdayYouTube
The death toll from the recent storms in the American states of Texas and Oklahoma rises to 21 with 11 people missing. Fourteen more people have been killed in northern Mexico. (AP via ABC News)
Silk Road drug website founder Ross Ulbricht jailed -
The founder of online illegal drug marketplace the Silk Road has been sentenced to life in prison in the US. Federal prosecutors said Ross Ulbricht's website, hosted on the hidden "dark web", sold more than $200m (£131m) worth of drugs anonymously. The 31-year-old was found guilty in New York of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. The site was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht. In February he was convicted of operating the site for nearly three years from 2011. [BBC]
Sepp Blatter wins FIFA President election -
Under-fire Sepp Blatter has been voted in for four more years as Fifa president - but only after his rival inflicted a ''bloody nose'' on him.
More than a third of FIFA's 209 associations voted for Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan as significant numbers turned against Mr Blatter following the crisis that has struck the world governing body this week. The Swiss bureaucrat, 79, won the first round by 133 votes to 73, but he failed to gain a two-thirds majority, and Prince Ali, the 39-year-old Sandhurst graduate, then withdrew from the contest rather than force a second round of voting.
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Tournament Announcement in 2007
Sepp Blatter will be ousted from Fifa, declares FA Chairman Greg Dyke -
Greg Dyke declared the fight to oust Sepp Blatter as Fifa president had only just begun after watching him defy the worst crisis in the world governing body’s history to sweep to a fifth term in office on Friday. Dyke, the FA chairman, said: “This is not over by any means. To quote the Attorney General, this is the beginning of the process not the end. I’d be very surprised if Mr Blatter was still in this job in two years’ time.”
Confirming the FA would consider joining any Uefa-led World Cup walkout, he added: “There would be no point pulling England out if everyone else stays in. But if you could pull Uefa out, that might have an impact.”
Greg Dyke
Dozens of people are rescued in the US state of Texas. The death toll from floods in Texas and Oklahoma has reached 24 dead with 13 missing with another 15 people dead from tornadoes in northern Mexico and Texas. (NBC News)
Thailand will allow the United States to fly surveillance planes through their airspace, allowing the United States to identify boats carrying refugees. (ITV)
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is given a life sentence after being convicted for narcotics trafficking. (The Verge)
American television actor Dustin Diamond is convicted of two misdemeanor charges stemming from a stabbing at a Wisconsin bar last year but acquitted on felony charges. (AP)
Sepp Blatter is elected to a fifth term as president of FIFA after Prince Ali bin Hussein withdraws his candidacy before a second round of voting could take place. The first round of voting had ended with Blatter falling seven votes short of the 2/3 majority needed to win. (ESPN), (CNN)
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Prince William issues call for Fifa to 'put the sport first' -
The Duke of Cambridge has urged world football governing body Fifa to "show that it can represent the interests of fair play and put the sport first". Prince William, the president of the FA, made his comments during a speech before the cup final at Wembley. He urged sponsors and other backers to use their influence with Fifa to support reform. It comes after Fifa's president Sepp Blatter was re-elected, following the arrests of seven people linked to Fifa. [BBC]
Arsenal win the FA Cup for 12th time -
Arsenal beat fellow Premier League side Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley in London, the largest margin of victory in an FA Cup Final since 1994. The title means Arsenal manager has won 6 FA Cups equalling a record set by former Aston Villa manager George Ramsay - who previously stood alone with the record for his victories with Villa between 1887 and 1920. Arsenal's goals were scored by Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesaker and Olivier Giroud. See List of the Day 1
Arsene Wenger
Barcelona wins Copa del Rey -
Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 with goals from Lionel Messi (2) and Neymar. Along with fellow striker Luis Suarez, the trio have scored 120 goals this season, the most by three players in the history of first class football.
Lionel Messi
Wolfsburg win German Cup final -
Wolfsburg win the German Cup for the first time beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1. Luiz Gustavo, Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost scored Wolfsburg's Goals. It was Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp's final match in charge of the team.
Jurgen Klopp
Paris St Germain win French treble -
Paris St-Germain became the first French team to win a domestic treble beating Auxerre 1-0 in the French Cup final. Laurent Blanc's side also beat Bastia 4-0 to win the French League Cup and were crowned Ligue 1 champions for a third successive year. Edinson Cavani scored the only goal in the final.
Edinson Cavani
Alastair Cook: Captain becomes England's leading Test run scorer -
Alastair Cook has passed Graham Gooch to become England's leading Test run scorer. In reaching 32 on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley, he overtook Gooch's mark of 8,900, which has stood since 1995. England captain Cook, 30, is playing his 114th Test, having made his debut in 2006. [BBC] See LIst of the Day 2
Video of the Day -
Every Inspirational Video Ever
List of the day 1 -
Arsene Wenger managerial career (as of May 30, 2015)
Enrique Iglesias injured in concert drone mishap -
Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias has been receiving treatment after two of his fingers were injured by a drone camera during a concert in Mexico.
The singer had been attempting to grab the drone, used to get crowd shots during his concerts. "Something went wrong and he had an accident," a representative for the singer revealed on Instagram. Iglesias continued to perform after the accident before flying to Los Angeles to see a specialist. [BBC]
Enrique Iglesias
John Kerry breaks leg in bicycle crash in France -
The US Secretary of State John Kerry has broken his leg in a biking accident in the French Alps. Mr Kerry, 71, was in a stable condition in hospital in nearby Geneva, Switzerland, a spokesman said. He was expected to make a full recovery after breaking his right femur and was in good spirits, said John Kirby. It appeared Mr Kerry hit a kerb and there was no vehicle involved in the accident, a state department official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. [BBC]
John Kerry
Harriette Thompson, 92, sets marathon record in San Diego -
A 92-year-old cancer survivor has become the oldest woman to finish a marathon. American Harriette Thompson ran the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego in seven hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Having survived three bouts of oral cancer, Thompson crossed the line accompanied by her son Brenny, 56. Aged 92 years and 65 days, Thompson took the record of 92 years and 19 days set by Gladys Burrill in the Honolulu Marathon in 2010.
Egyptian security officials report that militants have blown up a natural gas pipeline leading to Israel outside El-Arish, the provincial capital ofNorth Sinai. That pipeline was attacked at least 20 times in the last 5 years. (AP via KFox)
Thousands of schools open in Nepal after the devastating earthquake of April 2015 which destroyed more than 25,000 classrooms and killed more than 8,000 people. (BBC)
Caitlyn Jenner breaks Twitter record, gaining more than 1m followers -
After gaining more than a million followers in four hours, Caitlyn Jenner has broken a new Twitter record, Guinness World Records has confirmed. She's beaten Barack Obama, who held the title for two weeks. The US president reached the one million mark in five hours. Caitlyn launched her Twitter account at the same time as a Vanity Fair magazine cover was released, showing her as a transgender woman and revealing the name she will now be using. See Video of the Day. [BBC]
[caption id="attachment_2527" align="alignnone" width="360"] Front cover of Vanity Fair July 2015 featuring an Annie Leibovitz photograph of Caitlyn Jenner.[/caption]
British tank crushes learner driver's car in Germany -
There's a lot to remember when you're a learner driver but a pretty good rule is: don't pull out in front of tanks. That's what happened to an 18-year-old driving this Toyota Yaris in the Lippe district of Germany today. According to local police she pulled out in front of a column of British military vehicles travelling on a ring road around the town, often used by British forces stationed nearby to transport tanks and other armoured vehicles. The driver of the tank, a 24-year-old British serviceman, wasn't able to bring his Challenger 2 tank to a stop in time.
Inevitably, in a battle between 62-tonnes of armour and a one-tonne hatchback, there was only going to be one winner. Luckily the driver of the car was completely unharmed in the incident, and the tank crew pulled her free. The car, however, suffered 12,000 euros (£8,600) worth of damage.
The tank, not entirely surprisingly - was unscathed. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Caitlyn Jenner Is Finally “Free” on Vanity Fair’s Cover
Parts of the Patriot Act expire at 12:01 a.m. due to Congressional failure to reform the USA Freedom Act, temporarily making new surveillance of telephone records by the NSA illegal. (New York Times)
Fifa's Sepp Blatter resigns Fifa presidency and is 'under investigation in US' -
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say.
The news came hours after Mr Blatter announced that he was stepping down from his role. US prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry last week, with seven Fifa officials arrested in Switzerland, part of a group of 14 people indicted. Two days after the arrests, Mr Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa. However, he said on Tuesday that it appeared the mandate he had been given "does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world". [BBC]
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Tournament Announcement in 2007
Kim Kardashian catches fire at awards dinner -
Kim Kardashian has already got enough on her plate, what with her expecting her second child and all. So it probably didn't help when her first outing since announcing her happy news ended in flames. Not actual Kim Kardashian, but her dress at the CFDA Awards. The feathers on her see-through embellished dress brushed against a candle, and she needed some A-list emergency help to put her out. Luckily Pharrell (sans big hat) and his wife Helen were nearby to "jump" on her to pat Kim out. [BBC] See List of the Day
Kim Kardashian Instagram
Four teenagers air-lifted to hospital with serious injuries on roller-coaster crash at Alton Towers -
Five people were hospitalised and a further eleven required medical attention yesterday following a crash on an Alton Towers roller-coaster that the theme park described as the worst in its 35-year history. Two men aged 27 and 18 and two women aged 19 and 17, were airlifted to hospital after suffering serious leg injuries and another man aged 20 was treated for neck and abdominal injury before being taken to hospital by land ambulance. A dozen riders were released one at a time over four hours after being stranded 25ft in the air at an angle of 45 degrees when a carriage carrying 16 people crashed into an empty carriage on The Smiler ride, which has a top speed of 50mph. [Daily Telegraph]
Womenswear Designer of the Year: Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row
Menswear Designer of the Year: Tom FordAccessories Designer of the Year: Tabitha SimmonsSwarovski Award for Womenswear: Rosie AssoulinSwarovski Award for Menswear: Shayne Oliver for Hood by Air
Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavrielfor Mansur Gavriel
Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Betsey JohnsonThe Media Award in Honor of Eugenia Sheppard: InstagramThe Founder’s Award in Honor of Eleanor Lambert: Millard “Mickey” Drexler, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of J.Crew Group, Inc.
International Award: Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Picciolifor Valentino
The official death toll from the Indian heat wave rises to 2,330 with meteorologists warning that relief from the monsoon season could still be days away. (CNN)
Rescue efforts continue for people on board the ship that sank on the Yangtze River in China's Hubei province with over 450 people on board. So far, fewer than 12 have been rescued and five bodies recovered. (New York Times), (CNN)
Dias Kadyrbayev, a college friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is sentenced to six years for obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges after Kadyrbayev removed incriminating evidence from Tsarnaev's college dorm room. (CBS Local)
Sepp Blatter announces that he will resign as President of FIFA as a result of the corruption scandals with an emergency congress to be called as soon as possible. (BBC)(RTÉ News)
Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking -
Former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer has admitted that he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host. The American said he also helped to arrange bribes over the 1998 event. The admissions come in a newly released transcript from a 2013 US hearing in which he pleads guilty to 10 charges. [BBC]
Godzilla appointed Tokyo tourism ambassador -
He's a lizard, he's 120 metres high, and he smashes cities for fun. He's also now a resident of Shinjuku, Tokyo. And a tourism ambassador for the district, following an official ceremony. The fictional monster blockbuster was issued a special certificate of residency by officials in the district, for services to tourism and bringing visitors to Japan. [BBC] See List of The Day
Video of the Day -
The Good Dinosaur Trailer UK - Official Disney Pixar
List of the day -
Godzilla's Shinjuku residency papers -Name: Godzilla
Address: Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho, 1-19-1
Date of birth: November 3, 1954 (this is the year the first Godzilla film was released)
Date of Shinjuku residency: April 9, 2015
Reason for special residency: Promoting the entertainment of and watching over the Kabuki-cho neighborhood and drawing visitors from around the globe in the form of the Godzilla head built atop the Shinjuku TOHO Building.
Previous visits to Shinjuku Ward: 3 times; Godzilla (1984), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)
The Grozny Chechnya office of the Committee Against Torture NGO is attacked by masked men who came out of a crowd of protesters. They broke down the door and trashed the office. National Leader Ramzan Kadyrov speculated the attack could have been carried out by relatives of Dzhambulat Dadayev upset that the NGO which investigates torture did not lead protests of the shooting of Dadayev by law enforcement officers from another region. Moscow Times
Pro-Russian separatists launched an offensive to take Marinka, Ukraine 5 kilometers from the separatist capitol of Donetsk. At least 19 people have died in fighting. Ukrainian sources claimed at least 10 tanks took part in the battle. (AFP via Yahoo! News), (New York Times)
The search continues for survivors of the Dong Fang Zhi Xing which sank on China's Yangtze River with 450 passengers on board. So far, 18 people have been confirmed dead with 14 people rescued. (CCTV via Twitter)
A tricky GCSE maths question stumped thousands of students - but inspired them to take to Twitter to vent their anger and frustration. The equation in Thursday's Edexcel exam was on the probability of taking two orange sweets from a bag. By the afternoon the topic was trending on Twitter and online petitions were set up calling on the board to lower the grade boundaries when marking. Edexcel's owner Pearson said it aimed to "test the full range" of abilities. But it said it would ensure students were "treated fairly" when the papers are marked. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends (UK)
Several rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel and exploded near the cities of Ashdod, Netivot and Ashkelon causing no casualties. The IDFretaliated with airstrikes against empty Hamas training camps in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
Naxalite Insurgents kill at least 10 Indian Army soldiers and injure 12 in an attack on a convoy in the state of Manipur. (BBC)
Officials of the ruling Syriza party in Greece say that they cannot accept a last-minute deal proposed by the country's creditors: default deadline looms. (AP)
Surgeons, led by Dr. Jesse Selber, working with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in a 15-hour, 12-doctor operation, perform the world's first partial-skull and scalp transplant, at Houston Methodist Hospital, on 55-year-old Jim Boysten, a software developer from Austin, Texas suffering from a large head wound from cancer treatment; immediately afterward, he was finally able to receive a new kidney and pancreas, which replaced the previous transplants that were failing. (MSN)
Southampton footballers set new world record for longest match -
A new world record for the longest football match has been set at St Mary's, the home of Southampton FC, after a 102 hour-long charity game. The 36 players, from the Testlands Support Project, a Southampton charity, played on until 00:30 BST on Friday to break the previous record, of 101 hours. The players took turns to take breaks to eat, get physiotherapy and sleep. They began the 11-a-side match at 18:30 on Sunday, scoring over 1,600 goals. The Reds went on to beat the Whites 910-725. [BBC]
Surprising pop star facts revealed by YouTube -
YouTube reveals statistics, usually only visible to those behind the scenes, showing some bizarre trends about the world's biggest stars. They show that Taylor Swift is twice as popular in Bangkok in Thailand than New York, for example. Or that One Direction are huge in Quezon City, the Philippines, as well as Mexico City. The Artist Insights service was unveiled on Wednesday. Google says it means musicians will be able to see the cities where they have the largest number of fans. The records go back to September 2014 and include original versions of the artist's videos as well as fan shares and re-uploads. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day
Taylor Swift
'Female Viagra' to boost women's libido one step closer -
The development of a pill to boost women's libido is one step closer after an American panel recommended the approval of the female equivalent of Viagra. A panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisers has voted in favour of recommending flibanserin, a daily pill nicknamed the “female Viagra”. The recommendation will be seen as a major coup for campaigners who have fought for women’s sex drives to receive the same level of medical attention as men’s. The decision will now be passed to the FDA itself, which will rule on whether the pill will be officially approved for public use later this year. [Daily Telegraph]
The death toll from the sinking of the ship on the Yangtze River rises to 82 with officials giving up hope of finding more survivors. Only 15 out of over 450 people on the boat were rescued. (Sky News Australia)
Xavi departs from Barcelona by winning the Champions League again -
After playing his last game at the Nu Camp last month Xavi Hernandez played his 397th and final game for Barcelona in the Champions League Final. Barcelona beat Juventus 3-0 to secure a treble of victories following the La Liga and Copa del Rey successes. It is the fourth time Xavi has one the Champions League Title and was celebrated by his club in a tweet. See List of the Day
Xavi Hernández
Frankie Dettori wins Epsom Derby on favourite Golden Horn -
Frankie Dettori capped his renaissance with a thrilling victory on favourite Golden Horn to win the 236th running of the Derby at Epsom. Dettori produced an ice-cool ride on the 13-8 favourite to beat his John Gosden-trained stablemate Jack Hobbs by three-and-a-half lengths, with Storm The Stars third. The 44-year-old jockey punched the air as he passed the line and did a trademark flying dismount in the winner's enclosure. "It was unbelievable. The horse was brilliant," said Dettori, riding for the first time in the race since returning from a six-month drugs ban two years ago. [BBC]
Frakie Dettori
For the second time this week, a rocket fired from Gaza lands in Israel. There were no immediate reports of injuries, or claims of responsibility.(Times of Israel)
Kate Moss escorted off flight 'for being disruptive' -
Supermodel Kate Moss has been escorted off a plane at Luton airport after reportedly being disruptive. The Easyjet flight had arrived from Bodrum in Turkey on Sunday afternoon. In a statement, Bedfordshire Police said they "were called to assist staff in escorting a passenger from a flight arriving into Luton airport this afternoon". No formal complaints were made against her and she was not arrested. [BBC] In February 2010 Calvin Klein said of Moss - while “a great model,” she was a “difficult” person to work with.
Kate Moss with photographer Mario Testino
Bradley Wiggins breaks UCI Hour Record at Lee Valley Velopark -
Sir Bradley Wiggins has broken the iconic hour record by completing a distance of 54.526km (33.88 miles). The 35-year-old smashed the record previously held by fellow Briton Alex Dowsett of 52.937km (32.89 miles), which was set in May. Roared on by a capacity crowd at Lee Valley VeloPark in London, Wiggins became the sixth rider to claim a Tour de France title and the hour record. "I'm just glad it's done. It was torturous," he said.
"That's the closest I have ever come to what it's like to a have a baby," Wiggins, who becomes the fifth person in the past nine months to break the record, joked. The multiple Olympic and world champion on track and road surpassed Dowsett's 212 laps, set in Manchester, with 1min 42secs to spare and eventually completed 219 laps.[BBC] In January 2015, Wiggins launched his own cycling team, Team Wiggins, to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Bradley Wiggins
Dame Helen Mirren reigns at Tony theatre awards -
Dame Helen Mirren has been named best actress in a play at the Tony theatre awards in New York. She took home the prize for her portrayal of the Queen in The Audience. Dame Helen, a previous Oscar-winner for The Queen, accepted the award saying: "Your Majesty, you did it again." Other wins included Alex Sharp for best actor and Marianne Elliott for best directing of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which was also named best play. [BBC] See List of the Day
Actor, Sir Christopher Lee dies, aged 93 -
See full story on June 11, 2015 when his death was announced.
Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015)
WINNER: Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
Brian d’Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Ken Watanabe, The King and I
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town
Best leading actress in a musical
WINNER: Kelli O’Hara, The King and I
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Beth Malone, Fun Home
Chita Rivera, The Visit
Best leading actor in a play
WINNER: Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Steven Boyer, Hand to God
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Bill Nighy, Skylight
Best leading actress in a play
WINNER: Helen Mirren, The Audience
Geneva Carr, Hand to God
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations
Best featured actor in a musical
WINNER: Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!
Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris
Max von Essen, An American in Paris
Best featured actress in a musical
WINNER: Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Victoria Clark, Gigi
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Emily Skeggs, Fun Home
Best featured actor in a play
WINNER: Richard McCabe, The Audience
Matthew Beard, Skylight
K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man
Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Micah Stock, It’s Only a Play
Best featured actress in a play
WINNER: Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It With You
Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Sarah Stiles, Hand to God
Julie White, Airline Highway
Best book of a musical
WINNER: Fun Home, Lisa Kron
An American in Paris, Craig Lucas
Something Rotten!, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
The Visit, Terrence McNally
Best original score (music and/or lyrics) for the theatre
WINNER: Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron
The Last Ship, Music & Lyrics: Sting
Something Rotten!, Music & Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
The Visit, Music: John Kander, Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Best director of a play
WINNER: Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Stephen Daldry, Skylight
Scott Ellis, You Can’t Take It With You
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Hand to God
Best director of a musical
WINNER: Sam Gold, Fun Home
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Bartlett Sher, The King and I
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best scenic design of a play
WINNER: Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Bob Crowley, Skylight
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Rockwell, You Can’t Take It With You
Best scenic design of a musical
WINNER: Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
David Rockwell, On the Twentieth Century
Michael Yeargan, The King and I
David Zinn, Fun Home
The death toll from the sinking of the Chinese cruise ship is now over 400 as the search area for bodies extends 1,000 km down the Yangtze River. (The Guardian)
Voters in Turkey go to the polls for a general election with the ruling AKP seeking enough votes to enable them to change the constitution. However, early projections show that they will lose their majority in the new parliament. (BBC), (New York Times)
Apple reveals new Music app to rival Spotify -
Apple has announced [at their Worldwide Developers Conference (#WWDC15 - see Top Twitter Trends)] a new app that combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and a way for artists to share unreleased tracks and other material. It includes a recommendation system that uses both human curators and computer algorithms to suggest songs. The [Apple Music] service is set to challenge Spotify, Tidal and other music apps. Apple also announced several new features that will appear in the next version of its Mac operating system, called OS X El Capitan. [BBC]
Fifa film flops at the box office -
A vanity film about the history of Fifa has flopped in the US, taking just $607 (£397) in its opening weekend. United Passions was funded by about £17m of Fifa cash, and was completed before corruption charges were made against 14 of its officials in May. Starring Tim Roth as Sepp Blatter and Gerard Depardieu as Jules Rimet, the hagiography of football's governing body has had damning reviews. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the FilmBar cinema in Phoenix reported takings of just $9, meaning only one person bought a ticket. [BBC] See List of the Day
Tim Roth
Video of the Day -
Ares 3: Farewell
List of the Day -
Biggest film losses adjusted for inflation (according to Wikipedia)
The Singaporean government declares June 8 be a national remembrance day with the Singaporean flag being flown at half-mast and a minute of silence being observed at the beginning of all 2015 SEA Games venues. This is as a mark of respect for the eight people who were killed in the earthquake, which consists of six Primary 6 students, one teacher and their adventure guide. (Straits Times)(Today)
One Direction to meet Leah Washington after Alton Towers crash -
The stars of One Direction have filmed a video message and offered to meet a teenage girl whose leg was amputated following a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers. Leah Washington, 17, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was one of five people who suffered severe injuries on the Smiler ride on 2 June. A Twitter campaign - #Get1DToLeah - called for the pop band to contact her. Friends said Ms Washington would be "elated" at the news. [BBC]
Naked rambler Stephen Gough appears nude via video link from prison -
A man known as the naked rambler made legal history after appearing nude via prison video link at the Court of Appeal. Stephen Gough lost an appeal against a conviction for the breach of an Asbo. He appeared from Winchester Prison where he is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for breaching the order banning him from being naked in public. His counsel Matthew Scott argued Gough should have been allowed to appear naked at the original trial. Lady Justice Rafferty refused Gough's appeal. Clive Coleman, the BBC's legal affairs correspondent, said Gough, 56, almost certainly made legal history by appearing in his natural state.
HSBC announces plans to cut 8,000 jobs in the United Kingdom, one-sixth of its U.K. workforce, via "natural attrition" as it restructures its banking business. A total of 25,000 jobs could be axed globally. (BBC)
At least four people have been killed (including the gunman) and five people injured following a shooting incident in China's northern Hebeiprovince. (BBC)
The genius behind ‘Headless Body in Topless Bar’ headline dies at 74 -
Vincent A. Musetto, who wrote the greatest headline in New York newspaper history, died Tuesday at 74 from cancer. “Headless Body in Topless Bar” ran on The Post’s front page on April 15, 1983. As witty as it was horrific, it expressed with unflinching precision the city’s accelerating tailspin into an abyss of atrocious crime and chaos. Post editor- in-chief Col Allan said, “V.A. Musetto was one of the legends of our business, and he became famous for a truly classic headline. But for those who worked with him and mourn him today, V.A. offered so much more: Humor. A sharp critical eye. A personal warmth with his colleagues, and deep love for The Post and its readers. All will miss him.” [Daily Post]
New York Post headline April 15, 1083
Chinese actress Zhao Wei sued for 'staring' at man through his TV set -
A Chinese actress is being sued after a man claims she "stared at him too intensely" through his TV set. The lawsuit was filed by a man in Shanghai after he watched Zhao Wei in a series called Tiger Mom, which debuted last month. A new law making it harder for courts in China to reject lawsuits has led to concerns of a rise in the number of frivolous claims being made. The rules came into force on 1 May with a 29% rise in cases reported in China. The Supreme People's Court says there were just over a million cases filed compared with same period last year. [BBC Newsbeat]
Zhao Wei
The death toll from the MERS outbreak in South Korea rises to nine, with 13 new cases reported. More than 2,200 schools have closed or cancelled classes as a result of the outbreak. (Reuters)
Sir Christopher Lee death announced -
In one of his final interviews, Sir Christopher Lee declared his intention never to retire. “When I die, I want to die with my boots on,” he said.
The actor remained true to his word. He was preparing for his latest film role - a drama called The 11th, co-starring Uma Thurman - when he died on Sunday morning [June 7, 2015] at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Sir Christopher was one of the greats of the 20th century, but his career hit new heights in the last 15 years of his life. He will be best remembered by those of a certain age for playing Count Dracula in his Hammer Horror days, but to younger film fans he was a star of two of the biggest franchises ever made: Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in Star Wars. [Daily Telegraph] He appeared in over 200 films (See List of the Day)
Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015)
Female scientists post 'distractingly sexy' photos -
Female scientists have been sharing "distractingly sexy" photos of themselves after a feminist website encouraged them to respond to comments by a Nobel laureate. Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt was roundly criticised when he detailed his thoughts about the "trouble with girls" at a conference of science journalists. "Three things happen when they are in the lab," he said, "you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry." He said his comments were meant to be "light-hearted, ironic comment", but whatever the intention, it went over like a heavy metallic dirigible in a field with some widely acknowledged gender issues. Hunt has now resigned from his position at University College London. On Thursday the hashtag #DistractinglySexy began taking off, with more than 10,000 tweets in a matter of hours. [BBC Trending] See Top Twitter Trends (UK)
Video of the Day -
Saruman the White - from Lord of the Rings [from Youtube]
List of the Day -
Sir Christopher Lee film appearances (including voiceovers) [List from Wikipedia]
Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, shoots dead at least 20 Druze villagers in Idlib in what is being described as a "massacre".(The Telegraph)
Residents of northeast Nigeria claim that Boko Haram has killed at least 43 people and burnt down three villages in recent attacks. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip towards the Ashkelon region fell short and did not land in Israel with Palestinian sources indicating it may have hit a house. There were no immediate reports of injuries, or claims of responsibility. (Times of Israel)
Arts and culture
Spain gives the late writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, a formal burial at a Madrid convent nearly 400 years after his death in 1616. (AP)
Federal Interior Ministry of Pakistan has sealed the offices of the NGO Save the Children in Pakistan and issued order for its foreign staff to leave the country within 15 days on account of the NGO’s anti-Pakistan activities. (Express Tribune).
Authorities from the Marshal's Service, the FBI, Customs, state and local police, and the Forest Police searching for 6 days in northeastern New York (about 25 miles south of the Canadian border, near Lake Champlain and Vermont, in the Adirondack Forest area, in Dannemora, New Yorkand Plattsburgh, New York) for two high-risk murderers who staged an elaborate escape from the high-security Clinton Correctional Facility- the first there- the night of Friday, June 5, 2015 (it was discovered the next morning), using bloodhounds, find a scent and leftover evidence that could be from the two, Richard Matt and David Sweat. (CNN)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Cambridge University professor of Lego proposed -
A professor of Lego could soon be in post at Cambridge University. The Lego Foundation has provided the university with £2.5m to fund a Lego Professorship of Play in Education, Development and Learning. It has also provided £1.5m to support a play research centre in the education faculty, which will be led by the Lego professor. The Lego professorship post would be "open to all those whose work falls within the general field of the title of the office", the university said. [BBC]
Texan wrestling star Dusty Rhodes dies at 69 -
One of wrestling's most colourful stars, Dusty Rhodes, the self-styled "American Dream", has died aged 69. The death of Virgil Runnels, which was his real name, was announced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His long and glittering career, which began in the late 1960s, earned him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. "Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit," said WWE. [BBC]
Dusty Rhodes
Spain Princess Cristina loses title amid fraud inquiry -
King Felipe VI of Spain has removed the title "Duchess of Palma" from his sister, Princess Cristina, who is to go on trial charged with tax evasion. She was granted the title in 1997 when she married Inaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who is also accused of tax evasion. Princess Cristina had asked the king to remove her title, her lawyer said. But the royal palace said the king made the decision before seeing her request. She denies the tax fraud charges. [BBC]
Princess Cristina
White woman 'posed as black civil right leader' in years-long deception -
The name of a local civil rights leader in the US northwest is trending worldwide after her parents told the media that she is a white woman who has been passing herself off as black for years. [BBC Trending] See Top Twitter Trends.
Rachel Dolezal, 37, has been the head of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, or NAACP, in Spokane, Washington, since January. But her parents said Ms Dolezal is of German, Czech, and Swedish descent with a smattering of Native American ancestry. Mr and Mrs Dolezal said their daughter had black siblings who were adopted and that she went to school in Mississippi, where the family were part of a mainly black community. But they said she only began to claim African descent after divorcing her husband, who was also black, in 2004. Her mother, Ruthanne, said Ms Dolezal began to “disguise herself” in 2006 or 2007. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Dave Grohl, Lead singer of the Foo Fighters breaks his leg in a fall on stage in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Israel Defense Forces Advocate General has announced criminal investigations into three more incidents from Operation Protective Edge. Of the 190 incidents reported to the IDF, investigations have been completed on 105, with seven leading to criminal investigations.(YNet)
The death toll from the South Korean MERS outbreak rises to 11 with 126 people now diagnosed with the disease but the number of people inquarantine falls slightly to 3,680. Two hospitals have closed as a result of the outbreak and the Bank of Korea has lowered interest rates due to concerns about effects of the outbreak on the economy. (Yonhap), (CNN)
Sweden royal wedding: Prince Carl Philip marries ex-reality star -
Sweden's Prince Carl Philip has married a former reality-TV star and glamour model in a lavish ceremony in the chapel at Stockholm's Royal Palace.
Sofia Hellqvist, 30, also worked as a topless model and a yoga instructor before helping to set up a charity. Her new husband, 36-year-old Carl Philip, is third in line to the throne. Thousands of well-wishers lined the streets for the event, despite polls suggesting the Swedish royal family's popularity is waning. They cheered as Miss Hellqvist, a 30-year-old commoner, became a princess. [BBC]
Sofia Hellqvist
Gunman killed by police snipers after attack on Dallas police headquarters -
A police sniper has shot and killed an armed suspect in Texas hours after the gunman opened fire on Dallas police headquarters before fleeing in an armoured van. The getaway vehicle was pursued by police to a fast food restaurant parking lot in the nearby city of Hutchin, where officers disabled the vehicle, in the incident early on Saturday morning. Some hours later, police said the suspect was killed. Two explosive devices, including one described as a pipe bomb, were found earlier on outside the Dallas police building. They have both been cleared. One detonated when a bomb disposal robot attempted to move it, but nobody was injured. [Daily Telegraph]
Queen's birthday honours list: knights outnumber dames five to one -
Men outnumber women by almost five to one in the highest honours announced for the Queen’s birthday, which sees knighthoods for comedian Lenny Henry, trade unionist Paul Kenny and singer-songwriter Van “the Man” Morrison. For only the second time in honours history, more women received awards – 51% of all recipients – but just seven are made dames, compared with 33 knighthoods for men, reflecting a gender imbalance at the highest levels of industry, business, politics and academia. [Guardian] See List of the Day
The Queen's Birthday Honours List 2015 - [For full list click here from the Metro]
KNIGHTS BACHELOR
Henry Angest. National Treasurer Conservative Party. For political service. (London)
Professor Harshad Kumar Dharamshi Bhadeshia F. R.S., Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy, University of Cambridge. For services to Science and Technology. (Cambridgeshire)
The Rt Hon Simon Hugh McGuigan Burns. Member of Parliament for Chelmsford. For parliamentary and political service. (Essex)
Dr Philip Henry Montgomery Campbell. Editor in chief Nature. For services to Science. (London)
Dr Kevan Arthur Collins. Chief executive Education Endowment Foundation. For services to Education. (London)
Naim Eliahou Dangoor, CBE. Philanthropist. For charitable services. (London)
Michael Lawrence Davis. Chair Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission. For services to Holocaust Commemoration and Education.
Ciaran Gearoid Devane. Chief executive Macmillan Cancer Support. For services to Cancer Patients. (London)
Professor Charles Peter Downes, OBE, FRSE. Principal and vice-Chancellor, University of Dundee. For services to Higher Education and Life Sciences. (Newport-on-Tay, Fife)
Gareth Owen Edwards, CBE. For services to Sport and for charitable services. (Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan)
Bernard Peter Gray. Chief of Defence Materiel Ministry of Defence. For public service, particularly to Defence. (Oxfordshire)
Patrick Head. Director Williams Hybrid Power Ltd. For services to Motorsport. (London)
Lenworth George Henry, CBE. Actor and Comedian. For services to Drama and Charity. (London)
The Rt Hon Simon Henry Ward Hughes. Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark. For public and political service. (London)
Thomas Baird Jeffery, CB. Director general, Department for Education, Children’s Services and Departmental Strategy Directorate. For services to the Department for Education. (Lewes, East Sussex)
Dr Karl William Pamp Jenkins, CBE. Composer. For services to Composing and Crossing Musical Genres. (London)
Paul Stephen Kenny. General secretary GMB Union. For services to Trade Unions. (London)
Dr James Loy Macmillan, CBE. Composer and conductor. For services to Music. (Glasgow)
Francis McLoughlin, CBE. Principal, City and Islington College and Chair, Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning. For services to Further Education. (London)
Iain Macleod McMillan, CBE. For services to the Scottish Economy. (Falkirk, Stirling and Falkirk)
George Ivan Morrison, OBE. For services to the Music Industry and to Tourism in Northern Ireland. (Down)
Professor Stephen John Nickell, CBE, FBA. Economist. For services to Economics. (Banbury, Oxfordshire)
Dr Nicholas Beaver Penny, FBA. Director general, National Gallery. For services to the Arts. (London)
Professor Hussein Munir Pirmohamed. David Weatherall Chair of Medicine University of Liverpool. For services to Medicine. (West Kirby, Merseyside)
Andreas Whittam Smith, CBE. For public service particularly to the Church of England. (London)
Gary Keith Verity. Chief executive Welcome to Yorkshire. For services to Tourism and the Tour De France Grand Depart 2014. (North Yorkshire)
Professor Ian Vincent Derrick Weller. Emeritus Professor of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Department of Infection and Population Health, University College, London.
For services to HIV Research. (Grantham, Lincolnshire)
Nicholas John Weller. Executive Principal Dixons Academies, Bradford. For services to Education. (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
Adrian Edwin White, CBE, DL. For services to International Trade and Investment. (Dorking, Surrey)
Scheduled talks of 14th June, 2015 between Yemen's Houthi rebels and the exiled government which are brokered by the UN have been postponed with a new schedule set for Monday 15 June, 2015 (The Daily Star (Lebanon) via Reuters
A man opens fire at policemen outside the police headquarters in the Texan city of Dallas, while a bag containing a pipe bomb is also found. He was later shot dead by police snipers following a car chase and standoff. (AP), (CNN)
Philae comet lander wakes up, says European Space Agency -
The European Space Agency (Esa) says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth. Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its mothership, Rosetta, last November. It worked for 60 hours before its solar-powered battery ran flat. The comet has since moved nearer to the Sun and Philae has enough power to work again, says the BBC's science correspondent Jonathan Amos. An account linked to the probe tweeted the message, "Hello Earth! Can you hear me?" On its blog, Esa said Philae had contacted Earth, via Rosetta, for 85 seconds on Saturday in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.
Artist's impression of the Philae lander
Jurassic World takes $511m in record opening weekend -
The fourth instalment in the Jurassic Park series has become the first film to take more than $500m at the box office on its opening weekend. Jurassic World was the most popular screening in all 66 countries where it was released. The film made $204.6m (£131.4m) in the US, according to the firm Exhibitor Relations. It took $100m in China and $29.6m (£19m) in the UK and Ireland as part of the record global total of $511.8m. The Universal Pictures release had the second-highest grossing opening weekend in the US. The record is held by Marvel's The Avengers, which took $207.4m in 2012. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
Jurassic World - Official Global Trailer
List of the Day -
Biggest Worldwide film openings since 2002 [from Wikipedia]
Flooding in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, destroys animal enclosures at a zoo resulting in the release of potentially dangerous animals and the death of three zookeepers and six other people. (AP), (USA Today), (Reuters, DPA via WA Today)
Magna Carta changed the world, David Cameron tells 800 year anniversary event -
Magna Carta went on to change the world, Prime Minister David Cameron has said, at an ceremony in Surrey marking the 800th anniversary of the document that heralded modern democracy. The event at Runnymede, where King John sealed the original accord in 1215, was attended by the Queen and other royals. The Duke of Cambridge unveiled a commemorative art work at the site. Princess Anne rededicated the US memorial, saying Magna Carta "provides us with one of our most basic doctrines - that no person is above the law. "In recent history and even today we see in many parts of the world that power without the rule of law can lead to human suffering of terrible proportions. But it takes all of us to stand up for these principles." [BBC]
The Magna Carta (originally known as the Charter of Liberties) of 1215
Jess Glynne to have vocal surgery after pulling out of Isle of Wight Festival -
Jess Glynne has revealed she will undergo vocal cord surgery next week. The singer was forced to pull out of the weekend's Isle of Wight Festival after consulting a doctor. She tweeted: "I am so so sad to tell you that I'm having to have vocal surgery next week" "I'm so sorry and it kills me but I have to cancel some forthcoming shows and festivals. I'm a little scared but I will be back singing better than ever very soon! Love hugs and kisses Jess." Sam Smith had to pull out half way through his Australian tour in April after suffering haemorrhages on his vocal cords. [BBC Newsbeat]
Chicago Blackhawks take Stanley Cup in front of jubilant home crowd -
The Chicago Blackhaws defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 Monday night to win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. Chicago are the only team since the National Hockey League lockout in the 2004-05 season to win three Stanley Cups, tempting the modern ‘dynasty’ label. That will be left to history to decide for certain, but there was little question Monday night where the Cup belonged. It all amounted to the first Chicago Stanley Cup win on home ice since 1938, when the Cup itself wasn’t even present for the victory, as the league at that time didn’t think the Blackhawks could win. Despite a weather delay, the Cup finally made it to the United Center this time around, and was hoisted once again by captain Jonathan Toews.
Jonathan Toews
Video of the Day -
WORLD RECORD Basketball Shot 126.5m (415 ft) - How Ridiculous
At least 23 people are killed and more than 100 injured in suicide attacks on police headquarters and training centers by suspected Boko Haram members in N'Djamena, Chad. (New York Times)
Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president on Tuesday. The field has grown increasingly crowded as candidates formally begin campaigning for the 2016 election.
Trump also released on Tuesday a series of financial documents concerning his total assets and a net worth of $8.7 billion.
In a press release he said: “Quite simply, it is time to bring real leadership to Washington. The fact is, the American Dream is dead—but if I win, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Together we will Make America Great Again!”
After the announcement, NBC released a statement saying: “We will re-evaluate Trump’s role as host of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ should it become necessary, as we are committed to this franchise.”
Rupert Murdoch confirms stepping down as the CEO of 21st Century Fox to be succeeded by his son James on July 1, 2015. Rupert will continue as its executive chairman with his eldest son, Lachlan, as a future executive co-chairman. (USA Today)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues a mandate that all artificial trans fatty acids (trans fats) must be eliminated within three years (2018) from all foods grown, imported to, or sold within the United States. It is the strictest and most final type of ruling, even more so than a black-box warning or a warning to list ingredients, that can be given from the federal agency, which has ultimate jurisdiction over the safety of all food and drug products, public or private, in the United States. The substances occur in processed meats and other foods, and have been repeatedly implicated in atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. (MSN), (Washington Post),(CNN Money), (FDA's statement)
Chris Evans to be new Top Gear presenter -
TV and radio personality Chris Evans will replace Jeremy Clarkson as the lead presenter of an all-new Top Gear line-up, the BBC has announced. Evans said he was "thrilled" to get the job, describing the motoring show as his "favourite programme of all time". "I promise I will do everything I possibly can to respect what has gone on before and take the show forward," he added. Clarkson was dropped in March after punching a producer while on location.
Chris Evans (L) with Joss Stone
Foo Fighters cancel Glastonbury gig -
Rock group Foo Fighters have cancelled their headline slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival. The announcement comes four days after frontman Dave Grohl fell off stage at a concert in Sweden, fracturing his leg. June dates in Belgium, and at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium and London's Wembley Stadium have also been cancelled. Grohl apologised to fans, saying it was "just not physically possible" for him to perform at the moment.
Rupert Murdoch confirms stepping down as the CEO of the 21st Century Fox to be succeeded by his son James on July 1, 2015. Rupert will continue as its executive chairman with his eldest son, Lachlan, as a future executive co-chairman. (USA Today)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issues a mandate that all trans fatty acids (trans fats) must be eliminated, within three years (2018) from all foods grown, imported to, or sold within the United States. It is the strictest and most final type of ruling, even more so than a black-box warning or a warning to list ingredients, that can be given from the federal agency, which has ultimate jurisdiction over the safety of all food and drug products, public or private, in the United States. The substances occur in processed meats and other foods, and have been repeatedly implicated in atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. (MSN), (Washington Post),(CNN Money), (FDA's statement)
Angolan capital remains 'most expensive city' for expats -
The Angolan capital, Luanda, remains the world's most expensive city for expatriates, according to an annual survey by consultancy Mercer. The city has held the number one spot for the past three years because of the high cost of rent, imported goods and security in the oil-rich nation. However, the rest of the cost of living rankings saw significant shifts due to exchange rate fluctuations. Asian cities now account for half of the top 10 costliest destinations. Hong Kong rose to second place and Singapore remained in fourth because of their expensive property and rental markets. Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul also made the top 10. [BBC] See List of the Day
Madonna premieres star-studded 'Bitch I'm Madonna' video on Tidal -
Madonna has unveiled her new video – complete with cameo appearances by Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry – on the new streaming service [launched in March] she runs with stars including Jay Z and Kanye West. The video for Bitch I'm Madonna, from her well-received Rebel Heart album, will be shown exclusively on the Tidal service for 24 hours before being released to the wider public. The line-up on the video, which was filmed in New York, also includes Nicki Minaj, new X Factor judge Rita Ora, Chris Rock and Madonna's sons Rocco and David. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Madonna
South Carolina church shooting: Nine die in Charleston 'hate crime' -
Nine people have died in a shooting at a historic African-American church in Charleston in the US state of South Carolina, officials say. City police chief Gregory Mullen said eight of the victims were killed inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday evening, while another person died shortly afterwards. Police are now searching for a white male suspect in his 20s. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
TIDAL | Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj | Bitch I’m Madonna Behind the scenes
The American NBC network announces that Lester Holt will continue as the host of the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams returning in an undisclosed role. (The Wrap)
In the United States, the California Labor Commission has ruled that a San Francisco Uber driver is a company employee, not a contractor. Uber is appealing this ruling, that would increase the company's costs and liabilities, to the state's court system. A hearing for a class certification of a similar lawsuit against Uber is scheduled for August 2015.(NPR)(Time Magazine)
Eton launches online lessons for China -
Eton College is going to launch online lessons for schools in China. From this autumn, the leading UK independent school is going to provide classes in leadership to Chinese students, using live online tuition. The school has formed a partnership with a technology firm to create a company called EtonX. The school, in Berkshire, says any income raised by the international project will be used for bursaries to cover pupils' fees. Percy Harrison, director of information technology at Eton College, says the school would be able to reach a wider number of pupils, without setting up an overseas campus. [BBC]
The Eton College Coat of Arms
Star Wars: The Force Awakens second trailer sets YouTube world record -
The second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is officially the most viewed film trailer on YouTube in a 24-hour period. Guinness World Records says the clip, released in April, was watched more than 30 million views in a day. The trailer sees the return of Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford again, alongside co-pilot Chewbacca. The Force Awakens, the first instalment of the franchise's new trilogy, will be set 30 years after Return of the Jedi. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones films, when confronted with the possibility of having a baby, says he'll "visit him at Eton on St Andrew's Day. The Darcy men have been going to Eton for five generations."
Suspected shooter Dylann Roof is arrested at a traffic stop. Roof is suspected of killing nine people including a South Carolinian state senator.(ABC News)(ITV News)
National Kissing Day -
It's got it's own website (kissingday.co.uk) and has been going for 10 years. Every year it storms up the Twitter and Instagram feeds. David Beckham and Holly Willoughby are woted the most kissable men and women in the UK.
Holly Willoughby
Heinz ketchup customers directed to porn website -
Heinz has apologised after a QR code on a tomato ketchup bottle directed customers to a pornography website. The error was caused because the QR code had hosted a competition that ended and expired, allowing an adult entertainment firm to buy it. The fault was spotted by Daniel Korell, from Germany, who flagged up the error to Heinz. "I happened to scan it during lunch and I was a bit surprised where I got redirected to," Mr Korell told the BBC. "I found it rather funny and thought it was worth [sharing] on Heinz's Facebook page." “We really regret the incident,” a Heinz representative said on Facebook. [Daily Telegraph]
The European Central Bank increased the cap on cash available to Greek banks through emergency liquidity assistance, as those banks continue to experience steady withdrawals. Greek citizens have withdrawn over 3 billion Euros in the last month. (Reuters)
Hawaii becomes the first U.S. state to raise smoking age from 18 to 21, effective January 1, 2016, and will also outlaw sales, purchases, or uses of electronic cigarettes for those under 21. (Reuters)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Dylann Roof: The Charleston killer's racist manifesto -
The white supremacist accused of massacring nine black people in a Charleston church is believed to have written a hate-filled manifesto shortly before the killings and posed with a gun as he spat on and burned the American flag. Describing himself as the "Last Rhodesian", 21-year-old Dylann Roof gave a chilling account of the racist anger that allegedly led him to open fire on unarmed worshippers in the Mother Emanuel church. He posted it on a website called The Last Rhodesian along with dozens of bizarre photographs of himself, posing with a handgun and a Confederate flag and, in another, spitting on the American flag. [Daily Telegraph]
Shane Warne: Women don't believe it's me on Tinder -
He has been named one of the cricketers of the century and Elizabeth Hurley was his sometime fiancée, but Shane Warne still appears to be on a sticky wicket when it comes to romance.T he 45-year-old former Australian international has downloaded Tinder, a dating app popular among twentysomethings, but most women he messages do not believe he is really the famous cricketer. He said he was not “trying to find the love of his life” through the app, but spoke of his loneliness at being “very, very single”. He has now been on two dates organised through the app, one of which was “OK”. “One was horrific,” he said. “It was just bad. Bad.” [Daily Telegraph]
Shane Warne
The Simpsons say divorce rumours are 'baseless' -
They are one of TV's longest married couples, but of late there have been rumours that it's divorce-ville for Homer and Marge Simpson. Not true, says the animated couple. In a video posted online, called Together Forever, Marge says: "Homie and I are here to address baseless rumours that we are going to split up." The rumour-mill kicked in after Al Jean, one of the original writers of the show, said that there could be a legal separation for the pair. He made the comments in an interview with Variety magazine, which discussed various future storylines. Marge and Homer have been married for 26 series of the cult TV show. See Video of the Day [BBC Newsbeat]
Video of the Day -
THE SIMPSONS | Homer And Marge, Together Forever | ANIMATION on FOX
Dozens of ISIL militants are killed following a militia attack on the eastern city of Derna. ISIL has had a significant presence in Derna since the end of 2014. (Yahoo)
India yoga: PM Narendra Modi leads thousands in celebration -
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led thousands in a mass yoga programme in the capital, Delhi, on the first ever International Yoga Day. Mr Modi did stretches, bends and breathing exercises with 35,000 school children, bureaucrats and soldiers. Security was tight in the city with thousands of police and paramilitary deployed for Sunday morning's event. Millions of others are expected to do yoga at similar events planned in hundreds of Indian cities and towns. Mr Modi, a yoga enthusiast who says he practises the ancient Indian art daily, lobbied the United Nations to declare 21 June International Yoga Day. Authorities said 35,000 people attended the 35-minute yoga session on Rajpath, aimed at setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest yoga class at a single venue.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Taylor Swift pulls 1989 album from Apple Music -
Taylor Swift has pulled her hit album 1989 from Apple's new streaming music service and criticised the company. In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers. "I'm not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months," she wrote. She said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost. "I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company," the 25-year-old said, describing Apple as one of her "best partners in selling music". "These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much," she continued. "We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period - even if it is free for the fans trying it out. "Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing." She ended her letter by calling on Apple to change its policy, suggesting she would reinstate her album on the service if the company changed its mind. "We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation." Apple has yet to comment on the issue.
Taylor Swift
A Palestinian teenager is in police custody after he stabbed in the neck and critically injured a policeman in Jerusalem and then was shot by the same policeman. (YNet)
Politics
Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras makes a new offer for reforms which could signal a late deal in the country's debt talks. (ITV News)
Apple Music changes policy after Taylor Swift stand -
Apple Music has reversed its payment policy, a day after the singer Taylor Swift said she was refusing to allow the company to stream her album 1989. In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers. Now Apple says it will pay artists for music streamed during trial periods. "We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple," tweeted executive Eddy Cue. Mr Cue said he did not know if the Shake It Off singer would now make her album available on Apple Music - but he praised her for taking a stand. "When I woke up this morning and I saw Taylor's note that she had written, it really solidified that we needed to make a change," he told Associated Press. [BBC]
Eddie Cue Tweet
Skinny jeans given health warning -
A 35-year-old woman had to be cut out of a pair after her calves ballooned in size, they described in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. She had spent hours squatting to empty cupboards for a house move in Australia. By evening, her feet were numb and she found it hard to walk. Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans. Compartment syndrome is a painful and potentially serious condition caused by bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles - in this case, the calves. The condition caused the woman to trip and fall and, unable to get up, she then spent several hours lying on the ground. [BBC]
Vine's Carter Reynolds pressures his ex for oral sex in leaked video -
An x-rated video of Vine star Carter Reynolds leaked Sunday that purportedly shows him pressuring his ex-girlfriend for oral sex, raising issues of consent and spurring Internet backlash. The video is filmed from Reynolds' point of view, with his pants pulled down and his erect penis exposed. His ex-girlfriend, Instagram celeb Maggie Lindemann, tells him "I don't think I can" and repeatedly stresses "I am really uncomfortable." Reynolds tells her to "do it," and "just pretend (the camera) isn't there." Lindemann eventually curls up and stops looking at the camera. It ends with Reynolds saying, "Oh my gosh, Maggie." Lindemann is 16 years old, and Reynolds recently turned 19, leaving issues of consent and statutory rape on the table depending when and where the clip was filmed, as well as child pornography issues depending on how old Reynolds is in the video. [Daily Dot] "Carter" tops Twitter trends Worldwide - See Top Twitter Trends below
Carter Reynolds Tweet @Carterreynolds
At least 20 people are killed after a female suicide bomber attacks a fish market in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the attack. (BBC)
The number of deaths from MERS in South Korea rises to 27 with three new cases reported. The government is taking unprecedented precautions in terms of public sanitation and quarantine.(Yonhap)
Walmart, the largest store in the United States, announces that it will withdraw all merchandise featuring the Confederate flag from sale at its stores and online. (CNN)
Tom Holland is announced as the new Marvel Spider-Man -
Tom Holland, who was in Wolf Hall and the stage musical Billy Elliot, has grabbed the lead in the franchise reboot. Marvel and Sony confirmed the news in a statement on their website. The 19-year-old takes over from Andrew Garfield for the new film which is due out July 2017. In a statement posted on their website, Marvel said: "Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are proud to announce that after a full worldwide casting search, Tom Holland will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man film." The statement also said: "The studios and producers were impressed by Holland's performances in The Impossible, Wolf Hall, and the upcoming In the Heart of the Sea, and by a series of complex screen tests." [BBC Newsbeat] He celebrated with some acrobatic videos on his Instagram accountTom Holland
Titanic composer James Horner dies in plane crash -
The composer James Horner, who won Oscars for the theme song and score for the film Titanic, has died in a plane crash in California. He was 61. His credits included numerous other high-profile films, among them Avatar, Braveheart and Aliens. He was alone in his two-seater plane when the accident happened. [BBC]
Formula 1: US-Qatari investors 'to bid for sport' -
The Miami Dolphins American football team owner Stephen Ross is reportedly working with investors from Qatar to buy a stake in Formula 1 racing. RSE Ventures and Qatar Sports Investments plan a bid for CVC Capital Partners' 35.5% stake in the holding company that owns F1. The Financial Times and Reuters said the deal could be worth up to $8bn, and help build F1's presence in the US. [BBC]
The deputy speaker of the Greek parliament, Alexis Mitropoulos, warns that the body may reject concessions the government had made to the country's creditors. (Reuters)
Canada helicopter sex chat heard by Winnipeg public -
Canadian police have apologised after an explicit conversation was inadvertently broadcast from one of its helicopters. Whilst on patrol over Winnipeg, the chopper's crew accidentally turned on its loudspeaker allowing members of the public below to hear them. Those listening say they heard pilots swearing and discussing oral sex. The officers were unaware that the loudspeaker was on due to the noise from the helicopter's engine. Winnipeg Police Service say some of the "conversation was inappropriate" and have promised an internal review. [BBC]
5 Seconds of Summer fans go wild for 'Doge Family' hashtag after band change their Twitter profiles -
5SOS have changed their Twitter names and profile and the most bizarre hashtag is now trending. Fans have been tweeting #DogeFamily after the stars put up a photograph of a dog as their main images and changed their names, leaving us all asking: "WHAT IS GOING ON?!?" Well, we did some digging and found that 'Doge' is a internet meme based upon pictures of a Shiba Inus, and a slang word for dog. [Daily Mirror] See Top Twitter Trends below.
@SOS Twitter
An end to email shame? Gmail's 'Undo Send' comes to the masses -
“Today we’re adding ‘Undo Send’ as a formal setting in Gmail on the web,”explained Google in a blog post as the change went live. The feature, which can prevent massive social embarrassment and help avoid long chats with the HR department about what you just mistakenly sent to a colleague, is to be a standard part of Google’s webmail. It can be turned on from within Gmail’s settings menu and enables people to set a “cancellation period” of five, 10, 20 or 30 seconds after sending any email, during which they can call it back. The feature has been available in Gmail’s experimental Labs settings for some time, and was recently added to the company’s Inbox mobile email app – so many of Gmail’s more tech-savvy users will have set it up already. [The Guardian]
Reddit celebrates its 10th birthday with a ton of wacky stats -
It’s been 10 years since Reddit first launched – basically an eternity in Web time – and it’s celebrating its birthday by looking back at its history, as well as some statistics on where the platform is today. In the ten years since its inception, Reddit has garnered over 16 billion upvotes, compared to ‘just’ 2.6 billion downvotes. It’s kind of nice to know that in a platform often infamous for its trolls, more feedback has been positive than negative. There have also been 190 millions posts, 64 percent of which are links. On these posts, there have been 1.7 billion comments, of which 0.36 percent have mentioned cats. That’s over 6 million cat comments. [The Next Web] See List of the Day
Video of the Day -
Lexus has created a real, rideable hoverboard
List of the Day -
Statistics from the first 10 years of Reddit [Reddit]
10 years, 0 months, 0 days
(ok, fine, technically it’s 9 years, 11 months, 30 days, 22 hours, and 16 minutes at time of posting this at 10 am PDT)
(also 5,258,776 minutes, 87,646 hours, 3651 days, or 521 weeks)
16,063,942,290 upvotes
(and 2,563,574,752 downvotes)
1,715,454,785 comments
(.36% of which mention cats)
334,626,161 monthly page views per Reddit engineer
(also 7,637,686 unique monthly visitors per engineer, at 30 engineers—we're hiring more!)
190,227,552 posts
(36% self posts vs link)
36,136,190 user accounts
(26,222 of which include some variation of “pm me” or “don’t pm me” requests)
$29,559,467.54 spent on 877,218 presents for RedditGifts exchanges
The United States House of Representatives votes 247-180 to allow states to opt out of Barack Obama's carbon emissions reduction if the state governor believes compliance would increase electricity bills too much or have an adverse effect on reliability of supply. (AP)
Avengers star Patrick Macnee dies -
Actor Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers TV series, has died in California at the age of 93. The Briton, best known for playing John Steed in the 1960s television spy series, died at home with his family at his bedside, his son Rupert said. Macnee also played roles in theatre, appearing on Broadway, and served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. A statement on the actor's website read: "Wherever he went, he left behind a trove of memories." He died peacefully at his home in California's Rancho Mirage. [BBC] See List of the Day below
Patrick Macnee in Lobster man from Mars
Clint Dempsey gets two-year US cup ban for outburst -
Clint Dempsey has been banned from the US Open Cup for two years after ripping up a referee's notebook during a game. The Seattle Sounders forward, 33, flicked the notebook out of Daniel Radford's hand, picked it up off the pitch and then tore it into pieces after a team-mate had been sent off. The ex-Fulham and Spurs man was duly sent off, as Seattle ended with seven men in a 3-1 loss to Portland Timbers. The US captain is banned for six games or two years - whichever is longer. [BBC]
Clint Dempsey
France cracks down on Uber service after protests -
France's interior minister has ordered a ban on the low-cost car-sharing service UberPOP after a day of nationwide protests by taxi drivers. Bernard Cazeneuve said the service was "illegal" and ordered police and prosecutors to enforce its closure. His announcement followed a day of sometimes violent protests by French taxi drivers, who say the US-based firm Uber is stealing their livelihoods. [BBC]
US spy chief James Clapper says China lead suspect in cyber hack -
China is the "leading suspect" in the massive hack of a US government agency holding the personnel records of millions of Americans, US intelligence chief James Clapper has said. He is the highest-ranking US official to publicly implicate Beijing since news of the data breach emerged. China always dismissed suggestions that it was behind the hacking. The statement comes after three days of high-level talks in which China and the US agreed to a "code of conduct". "China remains the leading suspects," said Mr Clapper at a conference in Washington DC, but "the US government continues to investigate" he added, according to his office.
James_R._Clapper, US intelligence Chief
Same-sex marriage is now legal across the U.S. -
Same-sex marriage is now legal in the United States. The Supreme Court handed down a historic 5-4 ruling that state-level bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional. The court agreed to hear cases filed by gay and lesbian couples from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan in January, setting the stage for the decision that has been highly anticipated by gay rights groups ever since. The Obama administration supported the cause. After the ruling came down, the White House changed its official Facebook photo to a rainbow variation. [The Daily Dot]
The White House Facebook Page official photo today
Hilary Clinton made a similar change to her logo when the Supreme Court was earlier ruling in April.
Hilary Clinton Twitter (April 28 2015)
British And Irish Tourists Die In Beach Horror -
A gunman disguised as a holidaymaker has killed at least 37 people, including five Britons, in an attack on a popular tourist resort. Terrified sunbathers ran for their lives as the attacker, dressed in shorts and hiding his Kalashnikov inside an umbrella, opened fire on the beach in Port el Kantaoui on the outskirts of Sousse, Tunisia. He then entered the Imperial Marhaba hotel through the swimming pool area, shooting people as he went and also threw an explosive, witnesses said. The gunman in Tunisia was a young student from the city of Kairouan who was reportedly unknown to authorities. He was later shot dead by police. [Sky News]
France attack: Man decapitated at factory near Lyon -
A van driver who was investigated for links to Islamist radicals has attacked a gas factory near the south-eastern city of Lyon, a French prosecutor says. Yassin Sali, 35, caused an explosion by ramming his car into an area containing flammable liquids and was arrested at the scene, Francois Molins said. Mr Sali's boss, the owner of a delivery firm, was found beheaded alongside flags containing Arabic inscriptions. The attack put France back on to its highest terror alert. An investigation has been launched by French anti-terror police. [BBC]
Bobbi Kristina Brown: Legal action filed against boyfriend -
The boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown has been accused of assault and theft, on the same day her family announced she was being moved into hospice care. Brown, the only child of Whitney Houston, was discovered face down in a bath at her Atlanta home in January. She has never regained consciousness. Her boyfriend Nick Gordon has now been accused of causing her "substantial bodily harm" in a $10m civil case. [BBC]
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009
Video of the Day -
#ProudToLove - Celebrating Marriage Equality and LGBT Pride Month [The Top YouTube video of the day]
Two hotels in Sousse, Tunisia came under attack from an unknown number of gunmen; at least 37 people have been killed and 36 injured. Libyan branch of ISIL is suspected. (Sky News), (BBC), (USA Today)
Islamic State kills 146 civilians in Kobani, the second largest massacre since the start of conflict when the extremist group executed 700 members of the al-Sheitaat tribe in eastern Syria. (IBT), (VOA NEWS)
Taiwan Water Park Blast Leaves Hundreds Injured -
Hundreds of people were injured at a water park in Taiwan on Saturday when a cloud of colored powder ignited in the air over a crowd during an event, erupting into a huge fireball. No deaths were reported, but at least 516 people were injured, 194 seriously, including eight with life-threatening injuries, the island’s official Central News Agency reported. The injured, many suffering burns, were overwhelmingly young, in their 20s or younger, according to a roster posted on the news agency’s website. Color Play Asia bills itself as Asia’s biggest color party, an event where people dance to music while spraying each other with colored powder. A promotional video for the event on its Facebook page shows employees on a stage blasting colored powder onto the crowd. [NY Times]
Thousands attend London Pride march -
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of London for the annual Pride parade. More than 250 groups took part in the parade, which started in Baker Street at 13:00 BST. Police said there was extra security on the route following terror attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on Friday. The United States flag joined Ireland and Mozambique's at the front of the march, recognising recent gay rights progress in the three countries. [BBC] See List of the Day below
2 Charged in Confederate Flag Removal at South Carolina Capitol -
A protester climbed a 30-foot flagpole and removed the Confederate battle flag from its perch outside the South Carolina State House early Saturday, before she was arrested and the flag replaced, the police said. The protester, an African-American woman, was nearly halfway up the pole when a State Capitol police officer on routine patrol ordered her to come down. The authorities said the woman, who was wearing climbing gear, had ignored the command. She continued her climb to the top of the flagpole and unhooked and removed the flag before descending. An officer from the Bureau of Protective Services arrested her and a white male who had aided her. [NY Times] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
#KeepItDown Confederate Flag Takedown
List of the Day -
Legal status of same-sex marriage [from Wikipedia]
Sam Smith best new artist at BET Awards as Nicki Minaj wins rap prize -
Sam Smith has won best new artist at this year's BET Awards in LA. He wasn't at the Black Entertainment Television ceremony, so the prize was picked up for him by actor Anthony Anderson. Nicki Minaj, who won her sixth best female hip-hop artist award in a row, brought her mum onstage. Rapping on top of a police car with a large American flag waving behind him, hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar kicked off the BET Awards. He later won best male hip-hop artist. Janet Jackson was honoured with the ultimate icon award as she made a rare public appearance. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day below
Nicki Minaj
SpaceX Rocket Falls Apart on Way to Space Station -
An unmanned cargo ship destined for the International Space Station disintegrated minutes after being launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday morning, NASA said, raising questions about how the agency and its partners will continue keeping the station supplied. It was the third loss of a cargo ship headed to the space station in the past eight months. However, NASA officials said they had prepared for such a mishap, and do not anticipate any major disruptions to the operations of the space station. The countdown had proceeded without a hitch or worries about weather, and the 208-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket, built by Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, lifted off at 10:21 a.m. But 2 minutes, 19 seconds later, just as George Diller, the commentator during a NASA television broadcast said, “Data coming back shows vehicle on course, on track,” a white cloud emerged from the rocket’s midsection. Moments later, a rain of debris started falling toward the Atlantic Ocean more than 20 miles below. [NY Times] See Video of the Day
Greek debt crisis: Banks to remain shut all week -
The Greek government has confirmed that banks will be closed all week, after a decision by the European Central Bank not to extend emergency funding. In a decree, it cited the "extremely urgent" need to protect the financial system due to the lack of liquidity. Cash withdrawals will be limited to €60 (£42; $66) a day for this period, the decree says. Talks between Greece and the eurozone countries over bailout terms ended without an agreement on Saturday, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras then called a surprise referendum on the issue to be held on 5 July. Greece risks default and moving closer to a possible exit from the 19-member eurozone. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
SpaceX Falcon 9 Explosion - June 28th 2015
List of the Day -
Black Entertainment Television Awards 2015 winnersUltimate Icon, Music Dance Visual Award: Janet Jackson
Humanitarian Award: Tom Joyner
Best New Artist: Sam Smith
Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: BeyoncéBest Male R&B/Pop Artist: Chris BrownBest International Act UK: StormzyBest International Act Africa: StonebwoyBest Group: Rae SremmurdBest Collaboration: Common & John Legend, "Glory"Best Actress: Taraji P. HensonBest Actor: Terrence Howard
Youngstars Award: Mo'ne DavisBest Movie: SelmaBest Gospel Artist: LecraeVideo of the Year: Beyoncé, "7/11"Video Director of the Year: Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Todd ToursoSportswoman of the Year: Serena WilliamsSportsman of the Year: Stephen CurryCoca-Cola Viewers' Choice Award: Nicki Minaj f/ Drake, Lil' Wayne & Chris Brown, "Only"
Centric Award: The Weeknd, "Earned It"
Fandemonium Award: Chris Brown
Lifetime Achievement Award: Smokey Robinson
Tunisia deploys an additional 1000 police in resorts and beaches following the attack on tourists on Friday. (AP)
With the number of British dead expected to exceed 30, the U.K. warns its citizens about traveling to certain parts of Tunisia, including the south and near the Libyan border. (AP), (BBC)
In Istanbul, Turkish police forces interrupt the LGBT pride parade, which was refused this year due to the holy month Ramadan, by firing water cannons and rubber pellets. (Reuters UK)
The BBC reports that the European Central Bank will cap lending to Greece's struggling banks, causing the run on the nation's banks to become even worse. Next week a referendum will be held about leaving the Euro currency. (BBC), (BBC), (Irish Times)
Lars Løkke Rasmussen forms Denmark's first single-party government in 33 years, and Rasmussen himself becomes the first prime minister in 33 years to serve in two non-consecutive terms; Kristian Jensen becomes the sixth foreign minister since 2010. (The Local)(Copenhagen Post)
Floyd Mayweather tops the 2015 Forbes Celebrity Rich List -
Since 1999 Forbes have been ranking the wealth and influence of the world's biggest stars. Factors taken into account include income, Google hits, fan base, press clips and magazine covers. But for the the first time, this year's list has ranked the world's top earning entertainers by annual income only. Mayweather's $300 million year shatters the record for athlete earnings, which was previously held by Tiger Woods who banked $115 million in 2008. Mayweather earned an estimated $180m from his fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2015. Katy Perry has been crowned the highest earning female celebrity. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day below
Floyd Mayweather
Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris top highest paid couple list -
Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris have become the highest paid celebrity couple, overtaking Beyonce and Jay Z. The relatively new romance of Swift with her superstar DJ boyfriend see them top this year's Forbes list; with a combined income of $146m (£92m). It means Queen Bey and her rapper husband slip down to second place with earnings of $100m (£70m). The power couple have been number one on the list since 2013. [BBC]
Taylor Swift
Video of the Day -
Avril Lavigne says having Lyme disease has been the 'worst time' of her life -
Avril Lavigne has opened up about her struggle with Lyme disease, calling it the "worst time" of her life. The 30-year-old singer contracted the disease, spread by infected ticks, whilst touring last year. The Canadian says she became "bedridden" in October but is now expected to make a full recovery. She told Good Morning America: "I was seeing every specialist and every doctor. They'd say 'chronic fatigue syndrome?' or 'are you depressed?' "I woke up and had night sweats and felt like I had the flu. She says it took took months for someone to finally figure out that she had Lyme Disease. [BBC Newsbeat]
Avril Lavigne
Video of the Day -
Do We Have to Get Old and Die? - Minute Earth
List of the Day -
The World's Highest-Paid Celebrities 2015 according to Forbes Magazine
The Turkish military is reportedly preparing for an imminent invasion of northern Syria following a National Security Council meeting. The aim is to establish a buffer zone for refugees and drive back Islamic State militants. The Kurdish militia group YPG have said they will oppose any Turkish intervention in Syria. (Telegraph)
Four Israelis were shot and injured in a drive-by shooting attack near Shilo, as a manhunt begins for the suspects. (YNet)
A Palestinian woman was arrested after stabbing and seriously wounding a female IDF soldier at a checkpoint near Bethlehem. (Haaretz)
Five Chadian security officials and six militants have been killed during an explosion in a raid in the capital N'Djamena. (BBC)
According to witnesses who fled fighting in Nangarhar province, fighters loyal to Islamic State seize substantial territory in Afghanistan for the first time, wresting areas in the east from rival Taliban insurgents in a new threat to stability, scorching opium poppy fields that help to fund the Taliban's campaign to overthrow the Afghan government. (Newsweek)
Chinese state-run media reports the Great Wall losing around 30% of its structure due to natural conditions and human activities. (AFP via Discovery)
International relations
The Israeli Navy intercepts and takes control of the lone ship still involved in Freedom Flotilla III and pilots it to Ashdod. The other three ships involved had already turned back after being intercepted. Israel offered all ships to unload their humanitarian aid cargo in Israeli ports and transport it into Gaza for free but the ships refused. (Israel National News)(Times Of Israel)
1 second lie-in tonight -
At 11:59:59pm today, the clock struck 11:59:60pm a ‘leap second’ to compensate for the slowing of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. The last time the world added a leap second, in 2012, major websites including Reddit, Foursquare, Yelp and LinkedIn were not being programmed to deal with an unexpected extra second and crashed. To avoid this Google have added fractions of a second to programmes over the last year, a technique known as a “leap smear”. Scientists at the the International Earth Rotation Service and Paris Observatory say this allows “Earth time” to catch up to “atomic time” and will be the 26th leap second since 1972. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
Hollywood couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner to divorce -
Hollywood couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner say they have made "the difficult decision to divorce". The couple have been married since 2005 and have three children between the ages of three and nine. In a statement they said: "We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children". [BBC]
Ben Affleck
Apple Music Makes Debut With D.J. Carrying the Flag -
“Into the unknown we go,” the D. J. Zane Lowe said just after noon on Tuesday, as he began his first show on Beats 1, the Internet radio station that is a big feature of Apple’s new music service. As Apple Music opened on Tuesday — most listeners found it as part of an update of Apple’s mobile operating system — much of the attention turned to Beats 1, a live radio feed that in some ways functions as marketing for the entire service. Led by Mr. Lowe, who was born in New Zealand and became a top announcer on the BBC station Radio 1, Beats 1 is in some ways an old-fashioned radio station, with D. J.s, promotional recordings — “carts,” as they are in industry parlance, after the tape cartridges they used to fit on — and teases about new songs.
Zane Lowe tweet [@zanelowe]
Donna Karan Steps Down as Head of Iconic Brand -
In a major shift for American fashion, Donna Karan, the 66-year-old founder and chief designer of Donna Karan International, a brand that defined the way American working women dressed for decades, announced on Tuesday that she was leaving the helm of the house that bears her name. Ms. Karan will remain as an adviser to Donna Karan International, but devote more time to her Urban Zen line, which centers on wellness and artisanal goods, and its foundation. [NY Times]
Video of the Day -
Asking Siri 0 divided by 0 [See Top Twitter Trends - "Siri"]
Katy Perry plans to buy former convent scuppered by nuns -
Katy Perry's plans to buy a former convent in Los Angeles are being held up by a group of nuns. The sisters, who used to live on the site in the San Gabriel Mountains, say they've already sold it to a local restaurateur, Dana Hollister. But the local archbishop says the convent isn't theirs to sell and has started legal action to stop it. Perry, the daughter of two Pentecostal preachers, reportedly met with the nuns in May to plead her case. "I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and... if it's all right to say, I wasn't happy with any of it," Sister Rita Callanan told the Los Angeles Times. [BBC Newsbeat]
Katy Perry
Hottest July day ever recorded in UK -
The UK has seen the hottest July day on record, with temperatures hitting 36.7C (98F). The Met Office said the reading had been registered at Heathrow - breaking the previous record set in 2006. 38.5C (101.3F) is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK in Faversham, Kent in August 2003. A level 3 "heatwave action" heat-health alert has been declared for all parts of England. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
Billy Joel Bests Elton John, Sets New Record at MSG -
Billy Joel set a record for most performances by a single artist at Madison Square Garden with his 65th show Wednesday night, besting Elton John. "I didn't know I'd be here 65 times, amazing," Joel said. "I want to thank you very much for making this possible." A banner rose to the top of the stage in honor of Joel's 65th show. Actor-comedian Kevin James came onstage to help the veteran musician celebrate. [Elton] John, 68, previously had the MSG record with 64 performances. Joel sang John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" as yellow lights beamed from the stage.
Billy Joel
Shells fired by Houthi forces have killed at least 18 people near the southern port city of Aden, meanwhile United Nations officials have warned that a deadly dengue fever outbreak is rapidly gaining pace in the war-torn country. (Reuters)
Egypt's security forces kill nine 'terrorists' during a raid in a Western Cairo suburb. The group were among "the most dangerous terrorists" wanted in Egypt according to Giza deputy security director Magdy Abd El-Aal. It has also been reported that Nasser El-Hafi, a former MP and a leading lawyer for the Muslim Brotherhood was among those killed. (Ahram)
Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund in the 71-year history of the IMF, unwinding decades of precedent and affecting consequences for the fund's future rescues. (Financial Times)(IMF)
Moody's Investors Service downgrades Greek bonds further to caa3 saying that it expects the country to default further without further support from official creditors. (Reuters)
The black hole in the Milky Way galaxy's V404 Cygni system wakes up (becomes energized, with a flow of gamma rays and very brief intense flashes of light) after 26 years, as determined by a telescope and other instruments. (MSN)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Robot kills man at Volkswagen plant in Germany -
A robot has killed a man at a Volkswagen car factory in Germany. The 22-year-old worker died from injuries he sustained when he was trapped by a robotic arm and crushed against a metal plate. The man, who has not been named, was part of a team that was setting up the automated machinery at the factory in Kassel, north of Frankfurt, according to Volkswagen. The robot in question is a mechanical arm that moves car parts into place, said Heiko Hillwig, a spokesman for the company. [Daily Telegraph]
Wimbledon 2015: Rafael Nadal dumped out of tournament by inspired Dustin Brown -
Wimbledon has a new cult hero. Dustin Brown, in a blur of flying dreadlocks and pure inspiration, on Thursday night produced one of the most thrilling upsets ever witnessed on these lawns by defeating the great Rafael Nadal in four breathlessly brilliant sets. With a combination of Sampras-esque serving and improvised groundstrokes that would not have looked out of place on the local park courts, the Jamaican-born German, who enraptured Centre Court by his Rastafarian cool, found an abundance of raw adrenalin to close out his astonishing 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends
Dustin Brown
Selfies to replace passwords in Mastercard online payments trial -
Mastercard is testing new app that could allow customers to make purchases online by taking a selfie rather than entering a password. Currently, Mastercard customers use a system called SecureCode to verify their identity while shopping online. This requires them to enter a password at the point of sale. Participants in Mastercard's trial will be prompted to snap a photograph of their face using the Mastercard app on their smartphone at the online checkout point, rather than entering a password. This app then converts the photo into 1s and 0s using facial recognition technology, and transmits it over the internet to MasterCard, which compares it with a stored code representing the cardholder's face. If the two codes match up, then the purchase will be approved. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Wingsuit Flight Through 2 Meter Cave - Uli Emanuele By GoPro Original Productions
Egypt vows to continue an offensive on the Sinai Peninsula until ISIL militants have been removed. A hundred people have been killed in fighting in the past two days. (BBC)
The Kim Nirvana ferry capsizes off the Philippines en route from the city of Ormoc to Camotes island with 173 people onboard. So far at least 33 people are confirmed dead while at least 50 people have been rescued. (AFP via ABC Online), (BBC)
Solar Impulse completes epic flight to Hawaii -
Solar Impulse, the aeroplane that is powered only by the sun, has landed in Hawaii after making a historic 7,200km flight across the Pacific from Japan. Pilot Andre Borschberg brought the vehicle gently down on to the runway of Kalaeloa Airport at 05:55 local time (15:55 GMT; 16:55 BST). The distance covered and the time spent in the air - 118 hours - are records for manned, solar-powered flight. The duration is also an absolute record for a solo, un-refuelled journey. Mr Borschberg's time betters that of the American adventurer Steve Fossett who spent 76 hours aloft in a single-seater jet in 2006. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Solar Impulse
Music streaming reaches a record high in 2015 -
Music streaming has reached a record high in the UK, with the number of songs played rising by 80% compared to this time last year. New figures from the British Phonographic Industry show there have been 11.5 billion streams in the first six months of 2015. That's compared to 14.8 billion for the whole of 2014. Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk is the most streamed track of the year, with 45 million plays. [BBC Newsbeat]
Mark Ronson
BP reaches £12bn record settlement over Gulf oil spill -
British Petroleum has agreed to pay the largest settlement by a single company in US history over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. deal, which is still awaiting approval, will be worth $18.7bn (£12bn). Over 125 million gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf after an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010. [BBC]
A UBS whistle blower is assisting the government of Brazil in its investigation of currency manipulation by global banks, according to a Brazilian paper. (Reuters)
Dutch police detain 200 young people in The Hague for not following curfew as violence continues in the Schilderswijk district for a fourth night.(AFP via Daily Star)
Matt Stonie beats Joey Chestnut in Fourth of July hot dog eating contest -
America's Independence Day celebrations were overshadowed on Saturday by the shock defeat of the country's champion hot dog eating star. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, 32, began strongly at the annual Nathan's Famous contest in Coney Island, New York, before being overhauled and beaten by Matt “Megatoad” Stonie, who polished off 62 frankfurters and buns in 10 minutes (to add to a bacon eating record he claimed earlier this year). Mr Chestnut, unbeaten for eight years, fell two short. He managed a smile as he conceded defeat in front of thousands of fans. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Joey Chesnut
Chile beat Argentina on Penalties to win Copa America -
Chile secured the first major trophy in their history on home soil courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Argentina in the Copa America final.
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez slotted in the winning spot-kick after Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain fired over and Ever Banega was denied by Claudio Bravo.
Higuain had earlier missed from close range after 90 minutes of few chances. Sanchez came closest in extra time for Chile, who scored all four of their penalties in the shootout. [BBC]
Alexis Sanchez (playing for Arsenal)
England finish third in the Women's World Cup beating Germany 1-0 -
Fara Williams's extra-time penalty ensured England beat Germany for the first time in 31 years to finish third at the Women's World Cup. The performance was the second best by an England team following the 1966 win by the men's side and eclipsed the 1990 men's team, who finished fourth in Italy. The Lionesses had not beaten two-time World Cup winners Germany in 20 attempts but they more than matched their opponents and won the spot-kick in the second period of extra-time after substitute Lianne Sanderson was brought down by Tabea Kemme. Williams, who is England's record cap holder and was homeless at one point in her England career, beat retiring German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer for her third penalty of the tournament. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Car Chase by Vania Heymann
List of the Day -
Joey Chesnut World Eating Records (as of July 4, 2015)
Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Championship in Stockton, California, May 2014: 12.8 lbs. deep fried asparagus in 10 minutes.
(Hot Dogs) Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and buns (HDB): 69 HDB in 10 minutes during the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, New York on July 4, 2013.
Matzoh Balls: 78 matzoh balls in 8 minutes at Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen Restaurant in Houston, Texas on March 2, 2008
A rally of war veterans in Kiev calls for Ukraine to abandon the Minsk II ceasefire agreement and to declare war on pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region. Despite two ceasefire agreements since September combat operations, including the use of heavy artillery and ballistic missiles, never stopped.(BBC)
Greece votes 'No' and gambles its future -
Greek voters have delivered a defiant response to Europe. Political leaders and heads of government had lined up to warn the Greeks that a "No" vote would be a vote to leave the euro. It did not deter them. Indeed many voters seemed to revel in their resistance. The European Project is now facing its gravest crisis. [BBC]
USA beat Japan 5-2 in Women's FIFA World Cup Final -
Carli Lloyd scored an incredible 13-minute hat-trick as the United States thrashed Japan to win their third Women's World Cup title. In a repeat of the 2011 final, which Japan won on penalties, the Nadeshiko could not live with their stronger and quicker opponents, who went 4-0 up when Lloyd scored an astonishing third from the halfway line. The pulsating finale to an entertaining tournament was the highest-scoring final in the tournament's history, and matched the highest scoring men's final, when Brazil defeated Sweden by the same scoreline in 1958. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Carli Lloyd
Over 1000 people in the Philippines are stranded temporarily by Severe Tropical Storm Linfa (Egay) as landslides occur in Palawan province.(GMA Network)
Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro held at gunpoint for second time in year as robbers steal his car -
Armed thieves carjacked Rio de Janeiro's archbishop, making off with his car and briefly holding the driver hostage in the 2016 Olympic host city's latest brazen act of street crime. Archbishop Orani Tempesta was returning home with two Italian friends late on Sunday after celebrating Mass when his car was attacked in northern Rio, police and the archbishop's office said on Monday. [Daily Telegraph]
Rory McIlroy sustains major ankle injury in build-up to Open -
World number one and defending champion Rory McIlroy is a doubt for the Open after totally rupturing an ankle ligament playing football with friends. The 2015 Open begins in nine days' time at St Andrews in Scotland. McIlroy, 26, wrote on Instagram: "Total rupture of left ATFL (ankle ligament) and associated joint capsule damage in a soccer kickabout with friends. "Continuing to assess extent of injury and treatment plan day by day. Rehab already started." [BBC]
Rory McIlroy InstagramAstronomers discover 'monster black holes' -
Five monster black holes that were previously hidden by dust and gas have been uncovered by astronomers. The British-led discovery suggests there may be millions more "supermassive" black holes in the universe than were previously thought. Supermassive black holes are powerful cosmic "drains" sucking material into a point of infinite density formed from the compressed mass of hundreds of thousands to billions of suns. High energy X-rays emitted from around the newly identified black holes revealed their presence at the centre of five galaxies. [Daily Telegraph]
An Iraqi Air ForceSukhoi Su-25 jet, returning from a bombing raid against ISIL militants in the north, accidentally drops a bomb on Baghdaddestroying several homes and killing at least 7 civilians. (Sky News)
An air-strike by the Saudi-led coalition on the southern port city of Aden kills at least 30 people. It is unclear how many of the dead are civilians or Houthi rebels. (BBC)
Fat people 'are better at sniffing out food' -
Fat people could be gaining weight because their sense of smell is stronger and more vivid, scientists have found. A study by Yale University showed a heightened ability to imagine odours was linked to food cravings and in turn to higher body weight. Researchers found the ability to vividly imagine the smell of popcorn, freshly baked biscuits and even non-food odours is greater in obese adults. They said most people can imagine the view of a favorite location or sing a song to themselves, but struggle to imagine smells associated with our favourite foods. [Daily Telegraph]
Bill Cosby admitted he gave woman drugs before sex -
US comedian Bill Cosby admitted he obtained sedatives with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with, court papers from 2005 show. The unsealed files, obtained by the Associated Press news agency, show Mr Cosby made the admission in a sex abuse civil case brought by a woman. That case was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2006. Mr Cosby, now 77, is facing a series of sexual assault accusations dating back decades. He has denied the claims. Mr Cosby has never been criminally charged. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
Bill Cosby in 2011
World's oldest man dies in Japan aged 112 -
The world's oldest man, Sakari Momoi, has died in Japan at the ripe old age of 112. Momoi, born months before the Wright brothers made their first successful flight, passed away late on Sunday, said the official at Saitama City, north of Tokyo, where he had lived for many years. The supercentenarian, recognised as the world's oldest male at the age of 111 last year, died of kidney failure in a care home in Tokyo. [Daily Telegraph]
Eurozone leaders hold a crisis meeting to discuss options on Greek debt following the referendum as Greek banks are near to running out of cash. For the last week Greek banks allowed to withdraw only 50 euros a day. (Reuters)
The Government of Greece does not present any new proposals and Greek banks are unlikely to reopen this week. (AP)
The European Union gives Greece a deadline of Thursday to develop new proposals for discussion at an emergency summit on Sunday.(BBC)
Disasters and accidents
A United States Air Force F-16 collides with a privately-owned Cessna to the north of Charleston, South Carolina. The pilot of the jet ejects safely, but the Cessna breaks up mid-air, killing the two unidentified occupants. (CNN)
At least 22 people are killed in clashes between Arab and Berber communities in Ghardaia, Algeria. (BBC)
Business and economy
The British bank Barclays fires Chief Executive Antony Jenkins for his failure to reduce head count and the pace of cost cutting with ChairmanJohn McFarlane to act as interim CEO until a replacement is appointed. The bank was recently convicted of earning billions through fraud as part of the LIBOR scandal(BBC), (The Guardian)
The Shanghai stock market falls 30% over the past three weeks as 1,400 companies, or more than half listed, file for a trading halt in an attempt to prevent further losses. (The Guardian)
Microsoft announces another 7,800 job cuts primarily in its struggling phone division acquired from Nokia. (Wired)
Staff workers for the London Underground begin a 27-hour strike after management and labor unions were unable to reach a deal regarding overnight train services. (BBC)
Parisians will be swimming in the Seine by 2024, promises French capital's mayor -
Paris’ Socialist mayor on Thursday pledged to have resident of the French capital swimming in the Seine river by 2024, in her latest bid to clean up the city. Anne Hidalgo made the promise days after kicking off Paris’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, after the city lost out to London in 2012.
She said it was her dearest wish that the swimming phase of the Games’ triathlon “should take place in the Seine”. Contestants for the event in London took to Hyde Park’s Serpentine. [Daily Telegraph]
Anne Hidalgo
French police allowed to sport beards and tattoos -
French policeman are finally going to be allowed to let their hair down a little after unions won a battle to relax rules on officers sporting beards and tattoos. While London recently went wild over a “hipster cop” spotted policing a far-Right march, there have been no known sightings of any Gallic equivalents, with policemen in France famous for their short-cropped hair and clean-shaven look. That could all change, however, after the force’s Left-wing Force Ouvrière trade union representatives won a campaign for the right to grow beards and have tattoos. However, there are restrictions. Beards, the union stipulated, must remain “short-cropped”, “neat and compatible with the wearing of equipment”. Tattoos, meanwhile, “must not be racist, political, religious or xenophobic.” [Daily Telegraph]
Paris to allow cyclists to skip red lights -
Cyclists in Paris are to be allowed to ride through some red lights in a bid by the mayors office to get more people on their bikes. At several junctions there will be separate signals for cars and bikes, and while cars will be held by a red light, cyclists will be permitted to turn right or go straight ahead. In such scenarios, they would have to give way to pedestrians and other road users where necessary. The new road rules will be rolled out from the end of July, the mayors office said, adding in a statement that the new rules will "help improve the flow of cycle traffic". [Daily Telegraph]
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) imposes a six-month ban on stockholders owning more than 5 percent of a company's stock from selling those stocks, resulting in a 6 percent rise in stock markets. (Reuters)
Omar Sharif, actor - dies aged 83 -
Omar Sharif was the most famous Egyptian actor of his generation. He brought a smouldering intensity to films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. A man of striking good looks he escorted some of the world's most beautiful women. But he quit acting to become a ubiquitous presence at the world's most exclusive gaming tables. [BBC]
Omar Sharif
Greece’s Parliament Approves Prime Minister’s Bailout Plan -
Setting the stage for a pivotal deal with Europe, the Greek Parliament early Saturday approved Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s proposal for a three-year, $59 billion rescue package with harsh austerity terms that was remarkably similar to the one Greek voters rejected in a referendum less than a week ago. With a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on the bailout, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro currency zone, the plan passed by an overwhelming margin. [NY Times] Alexis Tsipras was elected on January 25, 2015 and vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010.
Alexis Tsipras
A bailout plan is submitted two hours before the midnight deadline. The plan would raise a retirement age to 67 and cut pensions by 15% for those retiring at 62. (LA Times)(Money Control)
Ellen Pao resigns as the interim CEO of Internet site reddit following a user backlash over the deletion of some subreddits for harassment and sacking of a popular admin. Site co-founder Steve Huffman will take her place. (WSJ)
Disasters and accidents
At least 23 people have been killed and 50 injured following a stampede at a free clothing drive in the northern Bangladeshi city of Mymensingh.(BBC)
The Hellenic Parliament passes a package of economic reforms to end the current stage of the debt crisis. (BBC)
Steve Huffman is re-appointed as the CEO of Reddit as Ellen Pao steps down over a dispute with the website's users over the firing of a popular employee. (Irish Times)
Hundred of villagers are evacuated from near the Colima volcano following recent eruptions. Authorities fear that it could be on the same scale as a 1913 eruption. (BBC)
Wimbledon 2015: Novak Djoković beats Roger Federer in final -
Defending champion Novak Djoković saw off seven-time champion Roger Federer in four sets to win his third Wimbledon and ninth Grand Slam title.
The Serb, 28, won 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (10-12) 6-4 6-3 to overtake the likes of Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl in the all-time list of major winners. Federer, 33, had hoped to become the first man to win Wimbledon eight times. The Swiss won a thrilling second set tie-break but Djoković came through to win in two hours and 56 minutes. [BBC] No-one in the crowd proposed to his girlfriend unlike Djoković's match in January 25, 2015.
Novak_Đoković
Woman, 30, changes name to log in to Facebook -
A woman has told how she has been forced to change her name by deed poll to match her "ridiculous" Facebook pseudonym after being locked out of her account. Jemma Rogers, 30, a holistic therapist, from Lewisham, south-east London, set up a profile on the social network in 2008. Wanting to avoid annoying friend requests from old friends and strangers, she created the profile under the pseudonym Jemmaroid Von Laalaa. But last month she got a message from Facebook asking her to send identification to prove it was a genuine name and account. In a desperate bid to get the profile back, she changed her name by deed poll and is now officially Ms Von Laalaa. What's more, despite her extreme efforts, she's still locked out of her account even after sending over her new ID to Facebook. [Daily Telegraph]
$1 million reward offered for Judy Garland's stolen ruby slippers -
An anonymous donor has offered a $1 million reward for credible information leading to the recovery of a pair of Judy Garland's sequined, ruby red slippers stolen from a museum in her Minnesota hometown. The late actress wore the slippers in "The Wizard of Oz." Three other pairs still exist, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. John Kelsch, executive director of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, says the donor is from Arizona and is a huge fan of Garland and the 1939 movie. The reward offer requires the exact location of the slippers and the perpetrator's name.
Video of the Day -
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Comic-Con Trailer
Saudi-led coalition forces bomb Houthi targets in several provinces of Yemen, killing at least 15 people, despite a UN-brokered truce.(Business Standard)
A European Union leaders' summit to discuss the Greek debt crisis is cancelled due to failure of finance ministers to agree on Greek proposals. However, Eurozone leaders do meet, with discussions continuing into the night. (BBC), (Sky News)(The Guardian)
An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition kills 25 civilians and wounds 50 in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Last week a ceasefire agreement was reached. (STL Today)(CTV News via AP)
All the missing 42 people have been found following the collapse of a Russian Army barracks in the Omsk Oblast of southwestern Siberia with 23 deaths. (TASS)
International relations
Georgia accuses Russia of violating its sovereignty by placing border markers on the edge of the South Ossetia region, leaving part of an international oil pipeline in territory under Russian control. The area was the site of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008. (Reuters)
PresidentBarack Obama commutes the sentences of 46 American prison inmates serving long sentences for drug related offences. (CNN)
Son of Boston police captain is charged with a foiled plot to bomb a university, inspired by Boston Marathon bombing, on alleged behalf of ISIS. He is scheduled Tuesday for a bail hearing at a federal court in Springfield. (AP)
The male defendant is found not guilty of death threats on US Majority Speaker of the House, John Boehner, by reason of insanity. He is still in jail and due for another trial on August 21 to determine his ability to adjust to society. (USA Today)
Large Hadron Collider discovers new particle - the pentaquark -
A new kind of particle, called the pentaquark, was discovered by scientists at the Large Hadron Collider yesterday [July 13, 2015]. Physicists had theorised the existence of the pentaquark since the 1960s, but had never been able to prove it until its detection by the world's most powerful particle smasher at Cern. The discovery of the pentaquark comes after the LHC was used in 2012 to prove the existence of another particle, the Higgs Boson, which confers mass. Large Hadron Collider spokesman Guy Wilkinson said the pentaquark represented a way to combine quarks - the sub-atomic particles that make up protons and neutrons. [Daily Telegraph]
The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider
Deal Reached on Iran Nuclear Program -
Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States reached a historic accord on Tuesday to significantly limit Tehran’s nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. The deal culminates 20 months of negotiations on an agreement that President Obama had long sought as the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency. Whether it portends a new relationship between the United States and Iran — after decades of coups, hostage-taking, terrorism and sanctions — remains a bigger question. Mr. Obama, in an early morning appearance at the White House that was broadcast live in Iran, began what promised to be an arduous effort to sell the deal to Congress and the American public, saying the agreement is “not built on trust — it is built on verification.” [NY Times]
New Horizons: Spacecraft survives Pluto encounter -
A signal received from the New Horizons spacecraft shows that it survived its historic encounter with Pluto. Data in its first call home since Tuesday's flyby suggest the spacecraft experienced no upsets as it hurtled past the icy world at 14km/s (31,000mph). The signal came through a giant dish in Madrid, Spain - part of a Nasa network of communications antennas. The message took four hours 25 minutes to traverse 4.7 billion km of space. [BBC]
Pluto by the New Horzons spacecraft - from NASA
Raheem Sterling: Manchester City sign Liverpool winger in £49m deal -
Manchester City have signed Liverpool and England forward Raheem Sterling for a fee that could reach £49m. City will pay an initial £44m for the 20-year-old, making him the most expensive English player ever. Sterling had asked to leave Anfield and was the subject of two bids from City in June, both of which were rejected. City boss Manuel Pellegrini described Sterling, who has signed a five-year deal, as "one of the best attacking players in world football". Sterling, who is only behind Gareth Bale on the list of most expensive British players, will wear the number seven shirt. [BBC] See List of the Day
Raheem Sterling
Video of the Day -
Great white shark beaches and is saved in Cape Cod
List of the Day -
Highest transfer fees for Football (soccer) players (as of 14 July 2015)
A helicopter belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) with four people on board (two crew members, a patient, and a person accompanying the patient) crashes in the Persian Gulf. (Tasnim)
Scientists at Northumbria University in northeast England develop a computerized statistical model of the Sun's solar cycle (a measurement of the number of sunspots and solar flares, in this case between 1976 and 2008, and their intensity and activity). While preliminary, and not yet peer-reviewed, the data predicts irregularities in the cycle: the Northern Hemisphere could experience a slight lowering in temperatures in the 2030s.(CNN)(Washington Post)
Kim Kardashian on the cover of Rolling Stone? It’s the death of rock’n’roll! -
Kim Kardashian has been accused of many things over the years, but this week brought a new addition to the charge sheet: killing rock’n’roll. The accuser? Sinéad O’Connor, who adduced that the presence of Kardashian and her cleavage on the cover of US magazine Rolling Stone was evidence that “music has officially died”. “Bob Dylan,” she added, “must be fucking horrified.” [Guardian]
Rolling Stone magazine cover
Donald Trump declares personal wealth of more than $10 billion -
Donald Trump, the property mogul turned US presidential candidate, has declared his personal wealth to be over 10 billion dollars (£6.4bn) in his official forms submitted to the US government’s election commission. In a typically flamboyant statement extolling his own vast wealth, Mr Trump complained that the Federal Election Commission forms did not have sufficient boxes to accommodate a man of his stature. “This report was not designed for a man of Mr. Trump's massive wealth,” said a statement issued by Trump campaign headquarters. [Daily Telegraph]
Donald Trump
Video of the Day -
The Death Of Bees Explained – Parasites, Poison and Humans
A preliminary report from the Dutch Safety Board of the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) disaster points to pro-Russian rebels as being responsible for the shooting down of the passenger flight on 17 July 2014. (CNN)
The circumnavigation attempt of Earth by the solar-powered Solar Impulse plane, currently in Hawaii, has been suspended for the rest of 2015 in order to perform necessary repairs. (BBC)
German squirrel arrested after woman complained it was stalking her -
An "aggressive" squirrel has been arrested by German police officers after a woman complained it was stalking her. Police in North Rhine-Westphalia received the bizarre emergency call on Wednesday from a woman who claimed the rodent was chasing her. The woman, from Bottrop, tried to give the pursuant rodent the slip but eventually rang the police out of desperation. Officers captured the squirrel and "arrested it," according to a message posted on the force's Facebook page. [Daily Telegraph]
Tom Selleck to pay $20k settlement to California after he was accused of water theft -
Actor Tom Selleck will pay $21,000 (£13,500) to a Southern California water district, which voted to settle the lawsuit accusing the American TV actor and film producer of obtaining water he was not entitled to. Selleck, 70, who is most famous for his lead role in the television series Magnum P.I, was accused earlier this month by the Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County of stealing water from a public fire hydrant in Calleguas. The water was purportedly used for his 60-acre avocado ranch in Westlake Village, just outside the region. [Daily Telegraph]
Tom Selleck
Bernard Tomic charged with trespassing and resisting arrest at Miami Beach hotel party -
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been charged with trespassing and resisting arrest following complaints over a noisy penthouse party at a Miami hotel, police said on Thursday. Security guards were called to a £4,500-a-night penthouse in the W Hotel in South Beach early Wednesday following multiple noise complaints. Tomic was described as “aggressive and belligerent” by a Miami police report. The 22-year-old tennis player, ranked 25th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, refused to turn down the music and slammed the door in the guards' faces, according to an arrest affidavit. [Daily Telegraph]
Bernard Tomic
Video of the Day -
Animated Flyover of Pluto’s Icy Mountain and Plains [See story from July 15, 2015]
The Nexen pipeline at the Long Lake facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, spills 5,000,000 litres (1,100,000 imp gal; 1,300,000 US gal) of oil emulsion. (CBC)
Jules Bianchi: F1 driver dies from Suzuka crash injuries -
French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi has died, nine months after suffering severe head injuries in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Bianchi, 25, had been in a coma since crashing his Marussia into a recovery vehicle at October's rain-hit race. His family said: "Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end." The Marussia team, now known as Manor, said Bianchi had left an "indelible mark on all our lives".
Jules Bianchi
Niger’s army killed at least 30 suspected Boko Haram fighters as it searched for militants in villages just over the border with Nigeria. (NewsDay Zimbabwe)
Typhoon Nangka passes through the western part of the main Japanese island of Honshu, causing at least two deaths, widespread flooding and the evacuation of 100,000 people. (Reuters)
Indonesian volcano eruptions
Thousands of Indonesians are stranded on the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan as five airports remain closed as a result of the eruption of the Raung and Gamalama volcanoes. (BBC)
At least five people are dead and three are missing after a coal mine in the Philippines province of Antique collapses. (AP)
Two commuter trains collide at the Booysens train station in Johannesburg, South Africa, injuring more than 250 people. (News24)
Ukraine expels Valery Shibeko, Russia's top envoy to Odessa, after declaring the consulate general "persona non grata" for conducting unnamed activities "incompatible" with his diplomatic work. (AFP)
A man goes on a shooting spree in Maine, U.S., killing two people and wounding three others in the towns of Lee and Benedicta. A manhunt is executed, and the suspect is arrested in Houlton. (CBC)
South Korea spy kills himself amid hacking scandal -
An employee of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) spying agency has been found dead in his car after apparently taking his own life on a mountain road, police say. His death comes as a scandal over phone-hacking gathers pace. The man left a suicide note admitting that he had deleted important information about the hacking. It has emerged that mobile phones were tracked and monitored just before the presidential election in 2012. [BBC]
North Korean elections - not too close to call -
Worker's Party expected to fare well in polls this Sunday with only one name on ballot paper and punishment for anyone who fails to endorse Kim Jong-un's policies. To indicate support for the approved candidate, the voter goes into a booth and carries out his democratic duty. Anyone who does not agree with the name on the ballot paper must go to a different booth and cross out the candidate's name. With the every move closely scrutinised, it would be an act of extreme bravery in a nation that is not known for tolerating dissenting voices for that to happen. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Jong-un (sketch)
Bratz are back after Barbie owner fails to kill franchise -
After almost a decade of a back-and-forth legal battle between Mattel and Bratz-owner MGA, the spunky dolls are back and ready to take on an already weak Barbie. Years before toys of Frozen characters knocked Barbie off her perennial perch, a gaggle of ethnically-diverse fashionistas known as Bratz temporarily toppled the word-famous doll – and now they’re back after winning a protracted legal battle with Barbie-owner Mattel.
Bratz, which first came to market in 2001, is relaunching this weekend with a revamped look, an extra character and new range of accessories in an attempt to regain its place at the top of toytown. [Daily Telegraph]
In a failed suicide blast, a security guard intercepted a suicide bomber clad in female clothing attempting to enter Quetta’s Hazara town, who then detonated their device that contained 6 to 7 Kg of explosive material, killing themselves and the guard. (Dawn).
Three civilians have been killed in shelling in the Donbass town of Avdiivka. Despite being in government-held territory local residents claimed they were fired on by pro-Ukrainian forces. (Reuters)
The wildfire burning in San Bernardino County, California has burned over 3,500 acres, and destroyed 16 homes and other buildings. The fire has also burned over 60 passenger vehicles and tractor-trailers. (CBS-Los Angeles)
The sailor wounded in Thursday's shooting at two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, dies a little after 2 a.m. Saturday, bringing the death toll of the shooting to five. (Chattanooga Times-Free Press)
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Surfer Mick Fanning escapes shark attack in South Africa -
An Australian surfer has made an incredible escape after encountering two sharks during a major competition in South Africa. Mick Fanning was competing in Jeffreys Bay, on the eastern Cape, when one of the sharks approached his surfboard. The final of the J-Bay Open had only just started when Fanning was knocked off his surfboard and into the sea. Fanning, the defending champion, escaped injury. The tournament was called off soon afterwards. "I was just sitting there and I felt something just get stuck in my leg rope, and I was kicking trying to get it away," Fanning told Fox Sports. "I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth." Fanning, a three-time world champion, said he was able to "get a punch into its back" and startle it. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Mick Fanning
Little Mix's Jesy gets engaged to Rixton's Jake on stage with Ed Sheeran -
Jesy from Little Mix has got engaged to Jake from Rixton. It happened on stage with Ed Sheeran and it seems that Ed helped out as a favour to Jake. Jake tweeted to Ed: "Travelled 5 hours to sing our favourite song on his day off. I will never ever be able to repay you. Love you pal." It seems that Ed gave up one of his rest days to play an acoustic version of Tenerife Sea at a Little Mix sound check. During the song Jake went down on one knee to pop the question.
Jesy Nelson
Fourteen sufi mausoleums in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali have been rebuilt, three years after they were destroyed by Islamist militants from Ansar Dine group. (BBC)
Grooveshark co-founder Josh Greenberg, 28, found dead -
The co-founder of a recently-shut down music streaming website has been found dead in his Florida home, local police have said. Josh Greenberg, who was aged 28, created Grooveshark in 2006. There was "no evidence of foul play or suicide," police in Gainesville said via Twitter. Grooveshark closed in April this year following years of legal action from several record labels. A US court had determined that the site could be liable for $736m (£472m) in damages after it was judged to have wilfully breached copyright when building the service's music library. [BBC]
Open 2015: Zach Johnson triumphs in Open play-off -
American Zach Johnson claimed his second major title with victory in a three-man play-off on a thrilling final day in the 144th Open Championship. The 2007 Masters winner finished a shot ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen and three ahead of Australian Marc Leishman over four extra holes. Earlier, the three ended on 15 under to lead a competitive field at St Andrews. Jordan Spieth's hopes of a Grand Slam were ended as he finished on 14 under along with Australia's Jason Day. [BBC] See List of the Day
Zach Johnson
Lee Nelson showers Fifa president Sepp Blatter with dollar bills -
Fifa president Sepp Blatter was showered with fake banknotes by a notorious prankster at a press conference in his Zurich headquarters. The comedian Lee Nelson - real name Simon Brodkin - managed to infiltrate the press conference, which was being held to announce reforms planned to world football's governing body, and a date for the presidential election. The press conference was delayed by around 10 minutes as organisers cleaned up the notes. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Canadian-Owned Infidelity Dating Site Suffers Cyber Attack -
A Canadian-owned dating website for married people seeking affairs says it has suffered a cyberattack after hackers claimed to have stolen confidential customer information, threatening to publish it unless the company is shut down. Avid Life Media, which owns Toronto-based site AshleyMadison.com, said Monday that it had taken steps to secure its sites. Ashley Madison, whose slogan is "Life is short. Have an affair," claims it has more than 37 million anonymous worldwide members. Online security blog KrebsOnSecurity.com posted what appeared to be a screenshot of the site's home page on Sunday bearing a message from the hackers, who said they acted to expose alleged lies Ashley Madison told customers about a service that allows members to erase profile information. [NY Times]
Video of the Day -
Comedian throws money at Blatter during press conference
A huge explosion in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruç, Turkey, targeting The Socialist Youth Associations Federation, kills at least 31 people and injures over 100. Preliminary evidence suggests an ISISsuicide attack. (BBC)(The Daily Star)
Chop My Money from Theo Anthony on Vimeo.
A day in the life of three street kids in the Eastern Congo.
Directed by Theo Anthony
Produced by Allen Amani
Voters in Burundi go to the polls for a presidential election amidst gunfire and violence with PresidentPierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term and opposition parties boycotting the election. At least two people have been killed in election violence. (BBC), (Reuters via SABC)
Madonna compares herself to Pablo Picasso -
Madonna thinks artists deep into their careers should stop if they do not have anything more to say. But at 56, the singer says she wants to keep going - and feels like Pablo Picasso. "I like to compare myself to other kinds of artists like Picasso. He kept painting and painting until the day he died. Why? Because I guess he felt inspired to do so," she said. "Life inspired him, so he had to keep expressing himself, and that's how I feel." Madonna released her self-titled debut album in 1983, and her latest album, "Rebel Heart," earlier this year. She said the key to sticking around is her continual desire to inspire others. "I don't think there's a time, a date, an expiration date for being creative," she said. "I think you go until you don't have any more to say." [Daily Telegraph] Madonna launched her latest video on June 17, 2015Madonna
Taylor Swift Chinese clothing line with 'TS' and '1989' touches Tiananmen Square nerve -
Taylor Swift has accidentally touched a political nerve in the lead up to her China tour by promoting merchandise with the letters 'TS' and the date '1989' -- shared by the Tiananmen Square massacre, which remains heavily censored in mainland China. The American star was due to launch her new range of clothing on China's biggest retailer platforms, Taobao and Jing Dong (JD.com), in the run up to her forthcoming China tour. However, the tour slated for November, could be jeopardised given the sensitive nature of the cack-handed reference. Both the tour and album were named after Swift's date of birth, 1989, but also allude to the year in which reportedly thousands of innocent civilians were mown down by government forces in Beijing among student protests. [Daily Telegraph]
Taylor Swift
A $7 Billion Charge at Microsoft Leads to Its Largest Loss Ever -
An accounting charge wiped out Microsoft’s profit for the quarter, leading to its largest loss ever, the company said on Tuesday, making clear the cost of its missteps in the mobile business. The $7.5 billion accounting charge, stemming from Microsoft’s troubled acquisition of Nokia’s cellphone business, was disclosed by the company earlier this month, along with plans to eliminate 7,800 jobs, mostly in the company’s phone operations. While the accounting charge was on paper and will not diminish the company’s huge cash hoard, it was a psychic blow to Microsoft, one of the biggest money makers in tech. [NY Times]
Scientists, led by study leader Jeff Taubenberger, at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), expose mice to non-infectious H proteins (hemagglutinins; 18 types known): one of two protein classes, along with N proteins (neuraminidases; 9 types known), that line influenza (flu) viruses. They then later exposed the mice to species of the flu they hadn't experienced before, and the mice were protected. This approach toward finding a new universal flu vaccine works better than the current approach of using live or weakened infectious whole flu strains, especially because of the virus's capability to mutate successfully easily, such as when a person is infected with more than one strain of it at a time. Human trials could start in 2016. (NIAID)
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'Earth 2.0' found in Nasa Kepler telescope haul -
A haul of planets from Nasa's Kepler telescope includes a world sharing many characteristics with Earth. Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, though its radius is 60% larger. Mission scientists said they believed it was the most Earth-like planet yet. Such worlds are of interest to astronomers because they might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on their surface - and might therefore be hospitable to life. Nasa's science chief John Grunsfeld called the new world "Earth 2.0" and the "closest so far" to our home. It is around 1,400 light years away from Earth. [BBC]
Taylor Swift apologises to Nicki Minaj -
Taylor Swift has apologised to Nicki Minaj following their Twitter row over the MTV VMA nominations. The singer's admitted she misunderstood Nicki's initial tweets, which attacked the music industry for favouring white females. "I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, then misspoke, I'm sorry, Nicki," Taylor wrote. Nicki has accepted her apology by tweeting back: "That means so much Taylor, thank you." It all started after Nicki voiced her disappointment at Anaconda not getting a nomination for video of the year. [BBC Newsbeat]
Nicki Minaj
Sony Pictures buys rights to make an emoji movie -
Sony Pictures Animation has bought the rights to turn emoji icons into a movie. The studio plans to create an animated feature film about the smiley, winky and unhappy characters used in texts and on social media. At this stage, it's not clear how it will turn the static yellow round faces into a Hollywood blockbuster. Commentators claim the success of The Lego Movie showed that any subject matter can be turned into a hit. Emojis were developed in Japan in the late 1990s as smiley-faced emoticons. [BBC Newsbeat]
Video of the Day -
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Official Trailer – “We March Together”
Turkey scrambles fighter jets and Turkish tanks open fire on ISIS positions along the Syrian border following an exchange of fire which left one Turkish soldier dead and two injured. The clashes are the first direct combat between the Turkish military and ISIS forces. (Telegraph)
Turkey agrees to allow the United States access to İncirlik Air Base, near the city of Adana (in close proximity to the Syrian border) for the US-led coalition forces' air strikes against ISIS. (Today's Zaman)
Seven people are wounded, and three are dead (including the shooter) after a 58 year-old gunman opens fire at the Grand 16 Movie Theater in Lafayette, Louisiana during a showing of Trainwreck. (NBC)[(CNN)
WWE Cuts Ties With Hulk Hogan Amid Report That He Used Slurs -
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. has severed ties with Hulk Hogan amid a report that one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling history used racial slurs in a conversation caught on a sex tape. The company deleted most references to Hogan on its website and issued a statement Friday saying it had terminated its contract with him. WWE did not give a reason, but issued a statement saying it is "committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide." On Friday, a joint report from RadarOnline.com and The National Enquirer said that Hogan had used racial slurs in a conversation caught on a sex video that is the subject of an invasion of privacy lawsuit. [NY Times]
Hulk Hogan in 2014
Converse launches first Chuck Taylor update in 98 years -
Converse has announced it is launching a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II – the first update to the iconic canvas shoe in nearly a century. The update is made of durable Tencel canvas, as opposed to the cotton kind, with higher tech shock absorption in Nike Lunarlon for the footbed. The idea is to make the show [sic - sole] more comfortable. Jim Calhoun, the 48-year-old chief executive of Converse, said many customers had complained that the original Converse was not supportive enough. The easily recognisable rubber toe cap will remain. The new shoe goes on sale on July 28 in black, white, red and blue. [Daily Telegraph]
The new Converse red
Apple patents Apple TV remote with Touch ID -
Entering passwords to log into Netflix could become a thing of the past after a patent for an Apple TV remote complete with fingerprint scanner emerged. Apple has been granted a patent for an Apple TV remote with inbuilt Touch ID sensor, allowing users to use their biometric data to enter TV passwords, created personalised profiles or controlling connected devices. The patent, filed in January 2014, explores how biometric information collected through fingerprint sensors could be harnessed to personalise user profiles and access accounts without the need for 'annoying and/or burdensome' logins. Data could also be supplied through retinal or facilia images, palm, toe or hand prints, voice samples and gesture patterns, according to the filing. [Daily Telegraph]
Turkish warplanes strike ISIS positions in northern Syria following an exchange of gunfire on the Turkish-Syrian border which left one Turkish soldier dead. The airstrikes are said to have killed as many as 35 ISIS militants. (Yahoo)
A large explosion, which triggers other explosions and a fire (which threatens a nearby forest) at a fireworks factory in southeastern Italy(Modugno, Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia Region) kills 7 people and injures several more, some seriously. Emergency vehicles were on the scene and the cause is being investigated; it is the peak season for fireworks in Italy because of the summer festivals there. (BBC)
Zhou Benshun, the Communist Party chief of China's Hebei province, is detained for investigation by the party's anti-graft body. He is first incumbent provincial leader to be investigated since the anti-corruption campaign began in 2013. (WSJ)
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Parking attendant 'mistakenly gives away' Grandmaster Flash's car -
Hip-hop pioneer says he returned to garage to find his customised Dodge Charger had been given to someone "dressed like him". When you leave your customised muscle car with a valet parking service in New York, you assume it is in safe hands.Particularly if you are a hip-hop superstar. But when Grandmaster Flash returned to the garage in Manhattan where he had left his Dodge Charger for two hours he was told by the attendant that his “whip” - slang for souped-up car – had been given to someone else. To make matters worse, he had left thousands of dollars of vintage vinyl in the car. [Daily Telegraph]
Has Kim Kardashian just fixed Twitter? -
Reality TV star wants to be able to edit misspelled tweets and Twitter co-founder says 'great idea'. It is easily one of the most annoying things about Twitter: the inability to edit tweets that contain mistakes, spelling errors or just came out sounding a bit wrong. Instead, Twitter users have the delete the tweet, and repost a new version, which leads to all kinds of problems if the earlier tweet had been retweeted, and on it goes. But hopefully not for long. Enter Kim Kardashian, the reality TV star and unofficial queen of Twitter, who uses the site daily to communicate with her 33.8 million followers and promote herself. On Friday, Kardashian turned her attention to the workings of the site, asking why it wasn't possible to simply edit tweets. Not long afterwards, she got a reply from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, which suggests a fix for the problem isn't far off. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Kardashian Twitter fix with Jack Dorsey
Kim Kardashian
The Saudi-led military coalition announces that a 5-day humanitarian ceasefire has been agreed to, set to begin just before midnight Sunday.(Wall Street Journal)
Lord Sewel faces call to quit Parliament over drugs claim -
Senior peer Lord Sewel has been urged to resign from the House of Lords after he was filmed allegedly taking drugs with prostitutes. He could also face a police inquiry over the Sun on Sunday's footage.The original footage released appeared to show Lord Sewel snorting powder from a woman's breasts with a £5 note. Lords Speaker Baroness D'Souza condemned his behaviour, saying it was "shocking and unacceptable" and the allegations would be referred to the House of Lords commissioner for standards and the Metropolitan Police. [BBC]
Tour de France: Chris Froome completes historic British win -
Chris Froome became the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice when he safely reached the finish line in Paris at the end of the three-week race. The 2013 champion finished alongside his team-mates on the final stage, behind a sprint won by Andre Greipel. Mark Cavendish, seeking a fifth win on the Champs-Elysees, finished sixth after the 109.5km race from Sevres. The win for Froome means a Briton, and Team Sky, have now won three of the last four of cycling's showpiece races. Froome, 30, beat Colombia's Nairo Quintana to the yellow jersey by 72 seconds with Spain's Alejandro Valverde third. [BBC] See List of the Day
Chris Froome
Bobbi Kristina Brown dies after coma -
Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, has died aged 22, a family representative has said. Kristen Foster said she passed away on Sunday surrounded by her family and was "finally at peace in the arms of God". [BBC] She fell into a coma after she was found in a bathtub on January 31, 2015.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009
Video of the Day -
6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon - 4K - The Slow Mo Guys
A 13 year old female suicide bomber attacks in the Cameroonian town of Maroua, killing 20 people and injuring another 70. (Voice of America)
Cameroonian officials order the closing of mosques and Islamic schools, and bar underage children from being at public places, following the recent strings of suicide bombings. (AP via Fox News)
A suicide bomber detonates a vehicle loaded with explosives at a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing 15 people. (CNN)
Verizon employees in nine states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia) and Washington, D.C. go on strike because of disputes between the union and the company. (New Haven Register)
Vladimir Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves Nobel Prize -
Vladimir Putin has said that Sepp Blatter deserves to win the Nobel Prize and does not believe a word of the corruption allegations against the Fifa president. In an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS, the Russian president gave his full support to the Fifa president just days after Mr Blatter had assured him that Russia had Fifa’s “complete trust” as hosts of the next World Cup finals in 2018. Mr Putin added that he believed that bribery scandal being investigated by US, Swiss and other law enforcement agencies was as a result of the failure of England and the US to win the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin
Norwegian court orders bank to cover man's £23k lap-dance and drinks bill -
A Norwegian court has ordered a bank to cover a £23,400 drink and lap-dance bill run up by one man during a night at a Polish strip club. The court made the decision after it concluded he had been drugged and could not be held responsible for his actions. Sparebank 1 will now have to make up for its client’s losses even though an investigation by Polish police into the incident at the club in the up-market seaside town of Sopot has been discontinued. The court rejected Sparebank's argument that the man was responsible for how he spent his money, saying all the evidence suggested he was doped, and therefore a victim. [Daily Telegraph]
Frenchfarmers protesting low prices within the country turn back hundreds of trucks suspected of carrying foreign agricultural products at the country's border with Germany. (AP)
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Cecil the lion's killer revealed as American dentist -
Cecil the lion – the most famous creature in one of Zimbabwe's national parks – was killed by an American hunter who has boasted about shooting a menagerie of animals with his bow and arrow. Walter James Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, is believed to have paid £35,000 to shoot and kill the much-loved lion with a bow and arrow. The animal was shot on July 1 in Hwange National Park. Two independent sources have confirmed the hunter's identity to the paper, which has also seen a copy of the relevant hunting permit. [Daily Telegraph]
Yahoo launches Livetext messaging app to rival Snapchat and WhatsApp -
Yahoo's unveiled a messaging app to take on the likes of Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Livetext will allow users to exchange live video, text and emoticons, but without audio. The app is available now for Apple and Android devices in the UK, US, Canada, Germany and France. Yahoo says video calls can be better than texts for expressing emotions, but their audio component makes private conversations public. With Livetext, you message friends by typing, just like texting, but you see video of friends without the audio. [BBC Newsbeat]
Clive Rice: Former South Africa and Notts captain dies aged 66 -
Former South Africa and Nottinghamshire captain Clive Rice has died aged 66.
Rice was South Africa's first skipper in one-day cricket after their readmission in 1991 following their sporting isolation during apartheid. The all-rounder played for Nottinghamshire between 1975 and 1987, winning the County Championship in 1981 and 1987, and was later appointed coach at Trent Bridge. He had been ill with a brain tumour. Rice was 42 when he made his official international debut and played only three ODIs, despite an outstanding first-class record which saw him average 40.95 with the bat and 22.49 with the ball. [BBC] (See List of the Day)
Police in Santa Cruz, California, find what they suspect is the body of 8-year-old Madyson Middleton, who was last seen on footage on the afternoon of Sunday, July 27, riding her new scooter. A 15-year-old male minor has been arrested on suspicion of homicide. (MSN)
Joyce Mitchell, who had smuggled hacksaw blades inside frozen meat to Richard Matt and David Sweat in prison, before withdrawing as their getaway driver, pleads guilty to a first-degree felony of promoting prison contraband and to a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree criminal facilitation. She faces up to 7 years in prison when sentenced. (MSN)
Barack Obama is the first US president to speak in front of the African Union (AU). He encourages the world to strengthen economic ties with the continent, but also criticises the lack of democracy. (WSJ)
Windows 10 launch: Microsoft releases new operating system -
Microsoft starts rolling out its new operating system, Windows 10, to customers around the world today, with members of its 'Insider' programme being the first to receive the free upgrade. Following a hostile reception to Windows 8, which launched in 2012 and introduced the concept of 'live tiles' for touch-based computing, Microsoft decided to bypass Windows 9 and jump straight to Windows 10, combining what it describes as the "best elements" of Windows 7 and Windows 8. Live tiles still feature in Windows 10, offering shortcuts to the user's favourite applications, but are far less obtrusive than in Windows 8. Microsoft has also brought back the Start menu from Windows 7, allowing users to browse through a list of their most-used programs. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Gerard Depardieu banned from Ukraine for supporting Russia over Crimea -
Gerard Depardieu has been banned from Ukraine for five years for making public comments suggesting he supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s main successor agency to the KGB, said the 66-year old French film star had been added to a blacklist of public figures considered hostile to Ukraine in its on-going confrontation with Russia. “The SBU has decided to ban Mr Depardieu for 5 years on the recommendation of the ministry of culture,” agency spokesman Elena Gitlyanskaya said. [Daily Telegraph]
Gerard Depardieu
Video of the Day -
1 Man + 12 Hairstyles
List of the Day -
Windows Operating Systems history [from Wikipedia]
Malik Ishaq, leader of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is killed during a shootout in which supporters of the group ambushed a prisoner convoy. The shootout killed 13 of the attackers, injured six police officers, and also killed two of Ishaq's sons. (New York Times)
Disasters and accidents
The Wragg Fire in Northern California continues to burn at 80% containment with over 6,991 acres being destroyed and mandatory evacuations.(KQED)
At least 27 people are killed and 149 injured after a out of control truck runs into a religious procession in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. (AP viaWashington Post)
Health
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announces that 8-year old Zion Harvey became the first pediatric patient to receive a double hand transplant earlier this month. (ABC)
Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell announces that Adrian Jerry Gonzalez, a 15-year-old will be tried as an adult in the murder of 8-year-old Madyson Middleton. (ABC News)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Iran city hits suffocating heat index of 165 degrees, near world record -
Wherever you live or happen to travel to, never complain about the heat and humidity again. In the city of Bandar Mahshahr (population of about 110,000 as of 2010), the air felt like a searing 165 degrees (74 Celsius) today factoring in the humidity.
Although there are no official records of heat indices, this is second highest level we have ever seen reported. To achieve today’s astronomical heat index level of 165, Bandar Mahshahr’s actual air temperature registered 115 degrees (46 Celsius) with an astonishing dew point temperature of 90 (32 Celsius). [Washington Post]
Nuns lose court bid to block convent sale to Katy Perry -
Judge says California nuns' attempt to sell the $15 million property to a restaurateur, instead of the pop star, is "invalid". A pair of nuns have suffered a major setback in their legal battle to stop the sale of their convent to pop star Katy Perry. Sisters Rita Callanan, 77, and Catherine Rose Holzman, 86, dressed in blue habits, looked disappointed as the ruling was given in the very temporal surroundings of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. The bespectacled Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary had objected to a plan by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, to sell the eight-acre property to Miss Perry, purveyor of risque hits like I Kissed A Girl. [Daily Telegraph]See July 1 2015Katy Perry
MH370 search: key questions as plane debris 'found' -
A metallic object described as six to nine feet long and three feet wide was found on a beach on the east coast of Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. The object had the code number “BB670” on it. Locals said the object had shells on it and appeared to have been in the water for some time. There are two main reasons investigators are confident the part comes from the missing MH370 aircraft. First, aviation experts say the object appears to be from a Boeing 777 – and no other such aircraft is believed to have gone missing in the region. If the object is from MH370, it will mark the first sign of the Boeing 777 since it disappeared on March 8 2014. But such confirmation will come as difficult news for the families of the 239 passengers who were on aboard. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters Rockin1000 Official Video
1000 musicians play Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters to ask Dave Grohl to come and play in Cesena, Italy
An ambush on a Turkish military convoy in the south-eastern Şırnak Province by PKK militants kills 3 Turkish soldiers. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
A heat wave hits the Middle East with Baghdad recording a top temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) and the Iranian city of Bandar Mahshahr recording a near world record heat index temperature of 67.8 °C (154.0 °F). (Washington Post)
At least 30 people are killed in a landslide that struck villages near Pokhara, Nepal. (Reuters UK)
Former Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman, General Guo Boxiong, is accused of taking bribes in exchange for the promotion of officers and expelled from the Communist Party of China. (BBC)
Facebook unveils solar-powered drone that can beam the internet down to earth -
Facebook has unveiled a full-scale prototype of its Aquila drone – the high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft that the Californian tech giant wants to use to beam internet to people in parts of the world that are not yet connected. Aquila, which is solar-powered and named after the eagle in Greek mythology that carried Jupiter's thunderbolts, is based on technology developed by Somerset-based company Ascenta, which Facebook bought in March 2014 for an estimated £12.5m. "Aquila has the wingspan of a 737 but weighs hundreds of times less, thanks to its unique design and carbon-fiber frame," said Jay Parikh, vice president of global engineering and infrastructure at Facebook, in a blog post. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Naomi Campbell guilty of assault on Sicilian paparazzo -
Naomi Campbell was convicted of assault by a Sicilian court on Friday after she scratched the eye of a paparazzo photographer who took pictures of her and her former boyfriend. The incident occurred in August 2009 when the British supermodel and her then partner Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin moored their yacht off the Sicilian island of Lipari to visit the local town. They had just arrived from St Tropez. A photographer, Gaetano Di Giovanni, took several photos of Campbell as she walked through the narrow streets. Campbell then hit photographer with her handbag, scratching one of his eyes. [Daily Telegraph]
Naomi Campbell
Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics -
Beijing has been chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, beating the bid of Kazakhstan's Almaty. Having hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese capital will be the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. Beijing and Almaty were considered outsiders when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago. But after a host of European cities withdrew for political or financial reasons, the Chinese bid beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 with one abstention. [BBC]
Two Turkish police officers and two PKK militants are killed following a PKK raid on a police station in the south-eastern town of Pozantı. Also, in the eastern province of Kars, PKK militants bombed a railway line and then fired at repair workers, leaving one dead. (BBC)
India and Bangladesh have swapped control of some 160 small pockets of land on each other's territory. Residents were asked to choose where they wanted to live and which nationality they would prefer. Most of them decided to change nationality and stay where they live. (BBC)
One Direction release surprise single, Drag Me Down -
It's a good day to be a Directioner. The four boys have surprised fans with their first single since Zayn Malik left the band. The song, Drag Me Down, premiered on iTunes and Spotify at 6.30am UK time. There's no suggestion of *who* might have been dragging them down. Twitter, the home of any self-respecting One Direction fan, erupted. The hashtag #DragMeDown has been tweeted two million times in the seven hours since its release. [BBC Newsbeat]
Duchess of Cambridge qualifies as advanced diver -
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has taken an advanced diving course that means she can keep up with her husband when he goes shark-diving in Mustique. The Duke of Cambridge has been diving for much of his life, encouraged by his father the Prince of Wales, whom he succeeded last year as president of the British Sub-Aqua Club. The Duchess’s pursuit of advanced diving qualifications, to enable her to dive to the same depth as the Duke, has until now remained a secret. Kensington Palace confirmed to The Telegraph that the Duchess has passed a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Advanced Open Water Diver qualification, meaning she can dive to a depth of 30 metres (98ft). [Daily Telegraph]
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Turkey has killed around 260 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party in recent bombing campaigns in Turkey and northern Iraq. Officially the operation was started to attack ISIL but over 90% of attacks were against the PKK. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Cilla Black, singer and TV star, dies in Spain aged 72 -
Singer and TV star Cilla Black, who enjoyed a 50-year showbusiness career, has died aged 72, her agent has said. The 1960s singing star became a popular TV celebrity on such shows as Blind Date and Surprise Surprise. Spanish police said a woman named Priscilla White - Black's real name - had died in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, where the star had a home. The death appeared to be due to natural causes, but this had not yet been confirmed by tests, police said. [BBC]
Cilla Black in 1970
Hitchiking robot 'killed' in Philadelphia -
A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide has met its demise in the US.
The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment say someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday, ending its brief American tour. The robot was trying to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada last year and parts of Europe. It set out from Marblehead, Massachusetts, two weeks ago in July with the goal of reaching San Francisco, but never made it off the East Coast. The creators were sent an image of the vandalised robot but cannot track its location because the battery is dead. [Daily Telegraph]
hitchBOT displayed at an exhibition
Ronaldo 'gives football agent Mendes Greek island' -
The multi-millionaire Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has given his agent Jorge Mendes a Greek island as a wedding present, media reports say. The island has not been named but the price tag could run into the millions, reports say. Spain's Mundo Deportivo website says Ronaldo knows the Greek islands well from holidays. Mr Mendes married his partner Sandra in Portugal on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson was among the celebrities there. [BBC]
Jorge Mendes
Trader jailed for 14 years over Libor rate-rigging -
Former City trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty at a London court of rigging global Libor interest rates. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud. The 35-year old is the first individual to face a jury trial for manipulating the rate, which is used as a benchmark for trillions of pounds of global borrowing and lending. Many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark. The jury found Hayes guilty on all eight charges of conspiracy to defraud. Hayes, a former star trader originally from Fleet in Hampshire, rigged the Libor rates daily for nearly four years while working in Tokyo for UBS, then Citigroup, from 2006 until 2010. [BBC]
The Athens Stock Exchange reopens after more than a month with share values falling by 22 percent in early trading. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
Flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains has caused over 100 deaths in India over the past week with tens of thousands of people taking shelter in refugee camps. (BBC)
Twenty people are injured when two cranes overturn whilst installing part of the Julianabrug at Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. (NL Times)
At least twelve people are killed with many feared trapped in the rubble as a fifty year old building collapses in the Indian city of Thane after days of heavy rain. (NDTV), (AP)
A street-corner sized sinkhole forms at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 64th Street in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York City, ruining the street corner, around 7:30 AM. The northbound N Broadway Local train is delayed; there is at least one disconnected pipe and gas lines are being repaired by National Grid workers; and the police have cordoned off the area. No fatalities or injuries have been reported. (Business Insider, via MSN)
At least 31 people are killed and about 100 injured as two express passenger trains (12 coaches of the Kamayani Express; to Varanasi fromMumbai, or Bombay) derail, partially swept off a bridge while crossing flooded tracks in India's Madhya Pradesh state. Related to this incident are monsoon rains and the end of a cyclone which have killed more than 100 in India. (NDTV), (Reuters, via MSN)
Several people are dead after two boats collide between Kiwa and Remba Islands on Lake Victoria. (The Nation)
Pierce Brosnan tries to board plane with 10-inch knife -
Pierce Brosnan, the former James Bond actor, has been stopped by airport security as he tried to board a plane in America with a large knife. The star had the 10-inch hunting blade confiscated from his hand luggage after it showed up during screening at Burlington International Airport, in Vermont. Brosnan, 62, was reportedly left embarrassed and angry when the knife was taken away by US Transportation Security Administration agents. [Daily Telegraph]
Pierce Brosnan
Mormons reveal Seer Stone for first time -
The Mormon Church released photographs on Tuesday of a so-called "seer stone" that members believe was used by the Utah-based faith's founder, Joseph Smith, to write the Book of Mormon, its principal sacred text. Photos of the egg-shaped, chocolate-brown rock are in a new publication that also carries images of the first printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, which Smith said was based on ancient records and include an account of a visit to America by Jesus Christ. The LDS Church teaches that Smith found gold plates engraved with ancient Egyptian symbols in upstate New York 185 years ago. [Daily Telegraph]
Natalia Molchanova: Freediving champion feared dead -
Russian freediving champion Natalia Molchanova is feared dead after going missing on Sunday. The 53-year-old was diving for fun off Formentera, a Spanish island near Ibiza, when she failed to surface. Search efforts have been continuing but it is feared she may have been caught up in strong underwater currents. She became "the most decorated competitive freediver in the world", with 41 world records, said her family and the global freediving federation AIDA in a joint statement. [BBC] See List of the Day. On May 14, 2015 Peter Colat, a Swiss freediver, held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, smashing the world record.
Natalia Molchanova in 2009
Video of the Day -
The Lexus Hoverboard: It's here
List of the Day -
AIDA recognised freediving records (as of May 15, 2015)
Examination of the part is being carried out, under the direction of a judge, at the Balma, France, aeronautical test facility in the Toulouse area to identify everything they can from the metal: damage, barnacles, etc. (UPI)(Deutsche Welle)(MSN)
Researchers based at the University of Helsinki, using data from Statistics Finland, suggests that fathers live longest when having children around the age of 25 to 30, rather than prior. (Tribune)
Facebook launches live video for celebrities in Mentions app -
Facebook has launched a live video function for celebrities on its Mentions app. The feature will allow any star with a verified account to broadcast to fans who follow them. It'll be in competition with services like Periscope and Meerkat and will appear in people's News Feed.
The Facebook Mentions app allows athletes, musicians, politicians and other stars to talk with their fans and each other. [BBC Newsbeat]
George Cole, Arthur Daley in Minder, dies at 90 -
Stars of stage and screen have been paying tribute to "immaculate" and "unforgettable" Minder actor George Cole following his death at the age of 90. Cole, whose showbusiness career spanned 70 years, is best remembered for his portrayal of small-time wheeler dealer and crook Arthur Daley in the TV show Minder, alongside his likeable bodyguard Terry McCann, played by Waterman. He died yesterday in hospital with his family at his side after a short illness, it was announced today. [Daily Telegraph]
Apple Music signs 11 million up to free trial in first five weeks -
Apple has signed up 11 million users to a free trial of Apple Music since the service launched at the end of June. Jimmy Iovine, who co-founded the Beats Music streaming service bought by Apple before it launched Apple Music, told USA Today he was "pleasantly shocked" by the service's growth in its first five weeks, while Eddy Cue, the company's senior vice president of internet software and services, said: "We're thrilled with the numbers so far." Should all of the trial members choose to keep paying for their subscriptions, Apple Music will have accumulated the equivalent of around half of rival streaming service Spotify's paying membership - some 20 million - within three months. [Daily Telegraph]
Jimmy Iovine
George Cole, Arthur Daley in Minder, dies at 90 -
Stars of stage and screen have been paying tribute to "immaculate" and "unforgettable" Minder actor George Cole following his death at the age of 90. Cole, whose showbusiness career spanned 70 years, is best remembered for his portrayal of small-time wheeler dealer and crook Arthur Daley in the TV show Minder, alongside his likeable bodyguard Terry McCann, played by Waterman. He died yesterday in hospital with his family at his side after a short illness, it was announced today. [Daily Telegraph]
One Direction number one breaks streaming records -
One Direction have topped the UK singles chart with their new single Drag Me Down. The track broke streaming records, earning the highest first-week streams for a single in the UK with 2.03m plays. Drag Me Down is One Direction's first single as a foursome since the departure of Zayn Malik. Its release came a surprise to fans who had not been expecting a new single. [BBC Newsbeat]
One Direction in 2013 before Zayn left
North Korea sets up own time zone in rebuke to 'wicked Japanese imperialists' -
The hermetic communist state of North Korea is often said to be locked in a Stalinist time warp. But it is now turning the clocks back - by 30 minutes a day - by official decree. The state news agency has announced the creation of a new Pyongyang time zone as a rejection of the legacy of “wicked Japanese imperialists”. North Korea will step back in time by half an hour on Aug 15th – the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese rule at the end of the Second World War. [Daily Telegraph]
A Bangladeshi blogger known for his atheist views has been hacked to death by a gang armed with machetes, the fourth such incident this year, in the capital Dhaka, Bangla. (BBC)(The Telegraph)(The Hindu)
The jury in the penalty phase of the trial of Aurora theater shooter James Holmes reaches a verdict to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Reuters)(AP)(WABC)
Ashes 2015: England hammer Australia to regain the urn -
England regained the Ashes after wrapping up a spectacular victory over Australia on the third morning of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge. The hosts took Australia's three remaining second-innings wickets in 39 minutes to win by an innings and 78 runs. Ben Stokes took the day's first wicket to finish with 6-36 before Mark Wood clinched the victory by bowling Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. England's second successive three-day triumph gives them an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with one match to play. After skittling Australia for 60 runs on day one, England made 391-9 declared before reducing the tourists to 241-7 at the end of day two. [BBC]
Twitter launches football 'hashflags' for start of new Premier League season -
Twitter has launched a new set of hashflags to coincide with the start of the new Premier League season. Tweeting the club's hashtag will bring up that team's crest and putting them together will bring up both images next to each other. So Liverpool is #LFC and Everton is #EFC but #EFCLFC will bring up hashflags for the Merseyside derby. Putting #BPL and #BPLKickoff in your tweet will put the Premier League trophy next to it. #FPL brings up the league's logo. The new hashflags are available on the opening weekend of the season (until midnight on Monday) as well as key points through the year, such as transfer deadline day and the final run-in. Oh - and Twitter's now calling hashflags Twitter emojis BTW. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day below
Video of the Day -
List of the Day -
Premier League hashflags
Bournemouth - #AFCB
Arsenal - #Arsenal
Aston Villa - #AVFC
Chelsea - #CFC
Tottenham - #COYS
Crystal Palace - #CPFC
Everton - #EFC
Leicester City - #LCFC
Liverpool - #LFC
Manchester City - #MCFC
Manchester United - #MUFC
Norwich City - #NCFC
Newcastle United- #NUFC
Southampton - #SaintsFC
Stoke City - #SCFC
Sunderland - #SAFC
Swansea - #Swans
Watford - #WatfordFC
West Brom - #WBA
West Ham - #WHUFC
A hostage rescue operation in central Mali was successfully performed by British SAS forces after gunmen attack a hotel with at least seven people dead. (Daily Star)
Typhoon Soudelor makes landfall in mainland China in Fujian province with 250,000 having been evacuated from that province and Zhejiang province. (AFP via ABC News)
Australia proposes limiting Vegemite sales to prevent alcohol abuse -
Australia’s government says Vegemite sales should be limited in some communities to prevent the yeast-based spread being used to make home-made alcohol. Nigel Scullion, the indigenous affairs minister, said the spread - which is considered something of a national culinary staple - was a "precursor to misery" in communities suffering from alcohol abuse. He said he was not proposing a ban but wanted to restrict excessive sales of high-yeast products such as Vegemite in “dry” communities – typically remote Aboriginal townships where alcohol sales are banned. Vegemite, from the same family of spreads as Marmite, has been produced in Australia since 1923 and its advertising jingles have sometimes been said to be more widely known than the national anthem. [Daily Telegraph]
A woman's bra wire saves her from bullet in German hunting accident -
A woman's bra wire has saved her life after a bullet hit her during a hunting accident in north-eastern Germany. The tourist was cycling through woods with her husband in the Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania area of the country. According to newspaper the Gadebusch-Rehnaer Zeitung, the pair had inadvertently strayed into the middle of a boar hunt while crossing a field. The woman said she felt a pain in her chest, which turned out to be a bullet ricocheting off her bra underwire. She was taken to a doctor in nearby Gadebusch by a passing motorist and treated for severe bruising on her chest plus a small blood clot. The gun and ammunition from the hunt were also impounded and police with sniffer dogs and metal detectors searched the area. [BBC Newsbeat]
Tyrone Harris, Jr is shot in Ferguson, Missouri one year after the death of Michael Brown after allegedly firing shots at police. He is in a critical condition.(St Louis Post-Dispatch)
Google unveils surprise restructuring under Alphabet -
Google has unveiled a surprise restructuring, creating a new parent company called Alphabet Inc. Under the rebranding, Google will retain its best-known businesses, such as search, apps, YouTube and Android. Some of the newer entities, such as the investment and research divisions, the "smart-home" unit Nest, and the drone arm will be run under Alphabet. Google founder Larry Page said it would create a simpler structure for what had become a diverse group of businesses. The name Alphabet was chosen for two reasons, Mr Page said. It represents language, "the core of how we index with Google search", and because Alpha-bet means "investment return above benchmark, which we strive to do". [BBC]
Tom Davies, 19, becomes 'youngest person to cycle the world' -
A British teenager is thought to have become the youngest person to cycle around the world. Tom Davies, 19, from Battersea, England, finished an 18,000-mile journey on Sunday raising more than £50,000 for several charities. Around 100 of his family and friends welcomed him home. During the six months he was away, he had to run away from a group of monkeys, was chased by dogs in Albania and raced an emu in Australia.
A scientific study, part of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, examined huge blocks of space as distant as several billion light years away and concluded that the universe is "slowly dying" as more stars gradually go out faster than they are being replaced by light-emitting active ones. In cosmological terms, the demise of the universe -age calculated at approximately 13.8 billion years- is billions, perhaps trillions of years away. (The Guardian, via MSN)(CNN)(South African Times Live)
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Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson makes emergency landing as plane runs low on fuel -
Bruce Dickinson, the Iron Maiden frontman, was forced to make an emergency landing at a Royal Air Force airfield when his replica war plane started to run low on fuel. The heavy metal star pilot made an unexpected appearance in his Fokker triplane at RAF Halton, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Dickinson took advantage of the Strasser Scheme, set up thanks to the work of Charles Strasser, the vice president of the Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association. It was established so that aircraft in can divert with no extra charge in the event of an emergency. All Ministry of Defence airfields, as well as 99 per cent of the UK's civilian airfields, are signed up to the scheme. [Daily Telegraph]
Bruce Dickinson
Google unveils Alphabet... but that's already trademarked by BMW -
The general reaction to Google's announcement that it would create a new holding company called Alphabet, of which Google would be a subsidiary, was one of surprise and approval.
But perhaps the most surprised recipient of the news was BMW, which already runs a registered business called Alphabet. The German carmaker told WirtschaftsWoche, the German business magazine, that it will be "necessary to examine the legal trademark implications" of the name of Google's new parent company. BMW also said it had not been contacted by Google before the surprise restructuring on Monday. In his announcement, Google co-founder Larry Page said Alphabet's website would be http://abc.xyz, a decision that may have been influenced by the fact that alphabet.com is owned by BMW's subsidiary, which operates in 18 countries and supplies 530,000 vehicles to corporate customers. [Daily Telegraph]
In Puyallup, Washington, a gunman on a mass shooting spree shot and killed a man, then fired at homes and people before driving a stolen SUV through the garage door, crashing into several cars and shooting at police until stopped when his SUV was rammed by a police car. (KIRO)
Debris from a Buk surface-to-air missile is found at an unspecified location in eastern Ukraine. According to the Dutch Safety Board and the Dutch prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation, it may have come from a Buk (possibly of Russian origin) fired by rebel fighters, accidentally or purposefully, in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The investigation remains classified. (AFP, via MSN)
In talks held regarding the course of the Syrian Civil War, Russia and Saudi Arabia fail to reach agreement over cooperation in the fight against ISIL, with the Saudi representative refusing any common struggle with Assad's regime. (The News Hub)
Georgia accuses Russia of cutting off its citizens from their farmland by installing border signposts demarcating the breakaway South Ossetia region, calling on Moscow to refrain from "escalation". (The Daily Star)
China blasts: Shipment explodes in Tianjin port -
Massive explosions have hit China's northern port city of Tianjin, reportedly injuring many people. According to Chinese state media, the blasts occurred when a shipment of explosives blew up at about 23:30 (16:30 GMT). Pictures and video shared on social media showed flames lighting up the sky and damage to nearby buildings. Latest reports in state media suggest that hundreds of people have been taken to hospital. The first explosion was followed by another 30 seconds later. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Twitter takes the chains off Direct Messages by removing 140-character limit -
Twitter is fairly conspicuous by its absence among the big messaging players. The service has allowed its users to send private messages back and forth for years, but for a long time, the feature seemed like an afterthought, with bugs such as unreliable notifications. This is slowly changing. On Wednesday, Twitter finally removed a 140-character limit on Direct Messages (DMs), meaning users can send up to 10,000 characters (which roughly allows space for 2,000 words). Sachin Agarwal, Twitter's DM product manager, said this had been one of Twitter users' most commonly-requested features. [Daily Telegraph]
RIP to LOL - the history of laughing out loud -
A Facebook study suggests that people are choosing to use "haha" and emojis over "LOL" to express laughter. The research claims more than half (51.4%) opt for "haha", while just 1.9% are LOLers, although it didn't look at direct messages. LOL was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2011, but the origin of the phrase can be traced back to the 1980s. The Facebook study suggests a third of people use emojis for laughter. [BBC Newsbeat]
Video of the Day -
直击天津滨海新区爆炸瞬间 现场响声震天
Massive explosions have hit China's northern port city of Tianjin
A massive explosion in the Chinese city of Tianjin results in at least 17 deaths, 11 people seriously injured and hundreds of people being hospitalised. (BBC)(NBC News)(CCTV)
A CNN reporter is interrupted from reporting by upset friends and relatives of victims outside a Tianjin hospital. (CNN)
In a two years period, 280 to 300 children have been sexually abused and filmed doing forced sex acts in Pakistan by a gang consisting of 20 to 25 culprits. (CNN)(Anadolu Agency)(BBC)
Nigerian granted divorce over wife's late meals -
A Nigerian court has recently granted a 57-year-old man a divorce on the premise that his wife was bringing him his meals too late at night, local media reported on Thursday. Olufade Adeyoka recently explained to a courtroom in Lagos that he was fed up, that his wife of 25 years, Olusola, continued to serve him his meals late. In an interview with the Nigerian newspaper 'Vanguard' Adeyoka claimed that his wife "had failed in her matrimonial obligations". This is thought to be the first time a legal divorce has been granted due to problems regarding domestic mealtime arrangements, however Nigeria has seen many abnormal divorce cases granted. [Daily Telegraph]
Pants 'for superheroes': Underwear that protects sperm count by blocking smartphone radiation -
Smart underwear designed to protect male fertility from radiation emitted by smartphones and laptops has been unveiled by a British scientist. Described by Sir Richard Branson as "underpants for superheroes", the Wireless Armour underwear contains a mesh of pure silver woven into the fabric. It shields against 99.9 per cent of electromagnetic radiation, which is emitted from devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, and has been linked to fertility problems by scientists. [Daily Telegraph]
Wireless Armour underwear
Modern Family's Ariel Winter has had a breast reduction -
Modern Family star Ariel Winter has revealed she has undergone breast reduction surgery. The 17-year-old said she made the decision after suffering with back and neck pain as a result of her 32F cups. "It's amazing to finally feel right," she told Glamour magazine. The actress, who plays young teenager Alex Dunphy in the TV series, had the surgery in June and reduced the size of her chest to a 34D. [BBC Newsbeat]
Ariel Winter
The death toll from the 2015 Tianjin explosion rises to 50. (AP)
An unspecified-type Egyptian military aircraft crashes due to a 'technical failure' near the Libyan border killing four crew members and injuring two others. (ABC via AP)
Swedish prosecutors drop some charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as the statute of limitations expire but will continue to investigate rape claims. (Sky News)
William and Kate issue furious warning over paparazzi pictures of their children -
The paparazzi are using children to lure Prince George into view as they take increasingly desperate measures to capture lucrative images of the young royal, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have revealed. The tactic is one of several "dangerous" and "distressing" methods detailed in an open letter published by the furious couple, warning that a line had been crossed. The letter, sent to 24 worldwide media industry watchdog bodies, says it is clear that Prince George has become the "number one target" in the Royal Family for unscrupulous freelance photographers who sell their images abroad. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day below
Prince George of Cambridge with his parents in 2014
Video of the Day -
The reason every meme uses that one font
List of the Day -
Succession to the British throne [as of August 14, 2015 - list from Wikipedia]
Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana caused body image issues -
Miley Cyrus has spoken about how growing up as Hannah Montana led to body image issues. "I was made to look like someone that I wasn't," Miley told Marie Claire, "which probably caused some body dysmorphia." The 22-year-old explained: "I had been made pretty every day for so long and then when I wasn't on that show, it was like, who ... am I?" Miley starred in Hannah Montana TV series from 2006 to 2011. [BBC Newsbeat] In April 2015 Cyrus revealed she wanted to have sex with Joan Jett.
Miley Cyrus
Michael Sam, first openly gay American Football player, leaves sport after mental health concerns -
The first openly gay professional American football player is taking a break from the game, after a difficult year that saw him dropped by two NFL clubs. Michael Sam made history when he was drafted by the St Louis Rams last year, sparking a flurry of media interest. However, he failed to gain a place in the team and recently made his debut in Canada with the Montreal Alouettes. He announced his decision on Twitter. [Daily Telegraph]
Michael Sam on Twitter
The death toll from the explosions in Tianjin rises to at least 85. In a further update, Chinese state media reports are now saying that the death toll has now risen to at least 104. (AP, via MSN), (AFP, AP, via The Daily Telegraph)
Police order further evacuations near the blast site following reports of more explosions. (The Guardian)
Guardian Angels return to New York's Central Park -
With their bright red jackets and berets, the Guardian Angels were once a common sight in a city riddled with violent crime. And this week they made a pointed return to New York's Central Park for the first time in more than two decades, citing a 26 per cent rise in crime there so far this year. "We realise things are much better than they were" in the crime peak of the 1980s and early 90s, said Curtis Sliwa, the group's founder, but "we want it to stay that way." After years of celebrating reductions in crime, the nation's biggest city has seen murders rise by 9 per cent so far this year, although serious crime overall is down 5 per cent. [Daily Telegraph]
PGA Championship: Australia's Jason Day breaks major drought with three-shot win over Jordan Spieth -
Australia's Jason Day has ended a long wait for his first major, shooting a final round 67 to clinch victory in the PGA Championship by three shots. He led by three shots at the turn and held his nerve through the back nine to seal a memorable win over America's Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth at the Whistling Straits course in Wisconsin. Day's four-round total of 20-under was a record low score for a major championship. [ABC]
Jason Day
Crowds gather throughout Brazil to demand the impeachment of PresidentDilma Rousseff due to a bribery and corruption scandal involving senior members of the governing Workers' Party. Recent polls show her approval ratings below 10%. (France 24)
Cannes watch thief arrested after taunting police with pictures of luxury life on the run -
A gangster who stole designer watches worth €1.7 million (£1.2 million) from a Cannes jewellers and taunted police for two years with pictures of himself enjoying a luxurious lifestyle in Morocco has been arrested. NabiI Ibelati, 29, who has French and Moroccan nationality, had been on the run since July 2013, when he burst into Kronometry jewellers on the Cannes “croisette” in broad daylight with a pistol and grenade rifle, tied up staff and made off with 100 luxury watches. An accomplice and a brother of Ibelati were arrested six months later in France, but Ibelati fled to Morocco, posting regular Facebook pictures that showed him living the high life: relaxing in an infinity pool, enjoying a formal dinner and riding a camel in the desert. Moroccan authorities arrested Ibelati on Saturday, after secretly recording members of his entourage discussing his movements. [Daily Telegraph]
The songs China doesn't want you to hear -
In China, the government has banned a list of 120 songs from the internet, including a string of karaoke favourites. It says the songs "trumpet obscenity, violence, crime or harm social morality", and has ordered them to be removed from websites. Songs with titles like I Love Taiwanese Girls, Fart, Beijing Hooligans and Don't Want to Go to School have all been blacklisted. [BBC Trending]
The U.S. offers to assist Pakistan with its investigation into the suicide bombing attack on Sunday that killed at least 19 people, including Shuja Khanzada, the interior minister of the Punjab Province. (Daily Pakistan)
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which announced an extensive computer data breach in May 2015, has revealed that the breach is much deeper and more serious than previously thought, exposing an additional 220,000 individuals. The thieves had infiltrated a now-deactivated online system called "Get Transcript." (AP, via MSN)(USA Today)
Heidi Klum hits back at Donald Trump after he said she was 'no longer a 10' -
Heidi Klum has ridiculed Donald Trump after the presidential candidate said she was "sadly no longer a 10" in a sexist remark about her looks. The billionaire Republican, who has made a string of offensive comments since declaring his bid for the White House in June, claimed the German supermodel was no longer as attractive as previously.“Sometimes I do go a little bit far,” he said in an interview with the New York Times, in which he insisted he was not a misogynist. “Heidi Klum. Sadly, she’s no longer a 10.” In response, the German supermodel, who is a mother of four and regularly voted one of the most attractive women in the world, posted an amusing video on Twitter in which she poses for a photoshoot with a "10" on her t-shirt. [Daily Telegraph]
Heidi Klum on Twitter
Museum brings in security for Nicki Minaj waxwork -
Madame Tussauds has brought in extra security to monitor a waxwork of Nicki Minaj. The figure is based on the rapper's iconic pose in her Anaconda video - where she's posing in heels on her hands and knees. Since the Las Vegas museum unveiled it earlier this month, fans have been rushing to be photographed with it. Some visitors have been getting a bit too excited and taking "inappropriate" pics. [BBC Newsbeat]
Nicki Minaj
Fighting has intensified near the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine with both the Government of Ukraine and the rebels blaming each other. The separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Horlivka were bombed with hundreds of shells and rockets in the last 72 hours. (New York Times)
Oscar Pistorius' early release blocked by minister -
South Africa's justice minister has blocked the early release of athlete Oscar Pistorius from prison on Friday. He said the decision by the parole board to free the athlete after serving 10 months of his five-year sentence was premature and without legal basis. It could now take months for the board to review its decision, legal sources told the BBC. Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter last year after shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic athlete insists he mistook her for an intruder. [BBC]
Oscar Pistorius competing
Athletics: Sebastian Coe elected IAAF president -
Former Olympic 1500m champion Lord Coe is the new president of the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics. The 58-year-old Briton beat rival Sergey Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion, by 115 votes to 92. Following his election, Coe tweeted that, after the birth of his children, this was the most "momentous moment" of his life. The former chairman of London 2012, Coe replaces 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack, who has been in charge for 16 years. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sebastian Coe and Oscar Pistorius in 2011
Video of the Day -
The Martian | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX
At least 151 were killed in a Boko Haram attack last week on a northeastern Nigerian village, Yadin Kukuwa. News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants destroyed telecom masts around the village. (Independent)(AFP via Times Live)
Fighting resumes in South Sudan after the failure to reach a deal between tribes loyal to the president and tribes loyal to the former vice-president. (AP via Fox News)
United States announces that it is proposing sanctions against those connected to the South Sudan conflict, unless a ceasefire is reached promptly. (Al Jazeera English Online)
Law and crime
Following a July 15 hacking, user data of the infidelity-promoting dating website Ashley Madison is leaked with over 30 million users having their information compromised. (BBC)
Police in the American city of St. Louis, Missouri, make nine arrests and use tear gas to disperse protesters after a killing of an armed man allegedly aiming a gun at police officers earlier in the day. (CNN)
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras quits and calls early polls -
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced he is resigning and has called an early election. Mr Tsipras, who was only elected in January, said he had a moral duty to go to the polls now a third bailout had been secured with European creditors. He had to agree to painful state sector cuts, including far-reaching pension reforms, in exchange for the bailout - and keeping Greece in the eurozone. Greece received the first €13bn ($14.5bn) tranche of the bailout on Thursday after it was approved by relevant European parliaments. It allowed Greece to repay a €3.2bn debt to the European Central Bank and avoid a messy default. The overall bailout package is worth about €86bn over three years. [BBC]
Alexis Tsipras
Voters back teenager Deez Nuts to be next US president -
Someone calling himself Deez Nuts is running for US president and is actually getting support from voters. In a North Carolina poll, almost one in 10 people said they'd vote for Nuts to run the most powerful nation on Earth. He's up against businessman Donald Trump - who's ahead in the polls - and former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Asked to chose between the three hopefuls, 9% of respondents backed Nuts. Though 12% of people didn't know. The man behind Deez Nuts is actually a 15-year-old. He's Brady Olson, who lives on a farm in the rural state of Iowa. Only thing is, candidates have to be at least 35-years-old to become president of the United States. Tough luck, Nuts. [BBC Newsbeat] See Top Twitter Trends
Stuffed wolf worth £32,000 stolen from Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts' granddaughter -
A £32,000, six-foot-long stuffed wolf has been stolen from the home of Charlotte Watts, granddaughter of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Police are seeking three men in connection to the theft which happened after an evening spent socialising in London. Charlotte and a friend met the three men, believed to be in their early 20s, at a Soho club and invited them back to her Chelsea home at 4am,according to the Evening Standard. One hour later the men left the home and when the women woke up the next day they found the 45kg, three-foot-tall wolf gone. [Daily Telegraph]
Charlie Watts
Macedonia declares a state of emergency and deploys police units on its borders as immigrants from the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, block the railway line between Thessaloniki and Skopje. (The News Hub)
North and South Korea exchange artillery fire over the border at Yeoncheon, prompting South Korea to order evacuations of its citizens in the area. (Sky News)(BBC)
Thai police say they suspect that at least ten people were involved in planning the attack on the Erawan Shrine but international terrorists were unlikely to have been involved. (BBC)
France train shooting: Americans overpower gunman -
Three people have been hurt after a heavily armed man opened fire on a train in northern France, before being overpowered by American passengers. The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras, and the attacker was arrested at Arras station. US President Barack Obama praised the passengers, who included two off-duty US military personnel. [Later named as Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and non-military friend Anthony Sadler] The man arrested was a 26-year-old Moroccan. Anti-terrorist officers have taken over the case. The weapons were said to include a Kalashnikov, a knife, an automatic pistol and cartridges. French authorities said three people were injured, two of them seriously - one with a gunshot wound, the other a knife wound. [BBC]
Spotify says sorry after privacy policy anger -
Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek has apologised following anger over the music streaming service's new data privacy policy. Some users said they were leaving the music service over changes in its terms and conditions. The new terms included access to pictures, contact phone numbers and sensor data stored on the user's smartphone. Mr Ek apologised in a blogpost for the "confusion" the changes had created. He promised an "update" to the new policy in order to clarify it but did not suggest that the terms themselves would be changed. "We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will - and will not - be used," Mr Ek wrote. He said Spotify would not access or import people's photos, contacts, sensor or GPS data without their permission. [BBC]
Daniel Ek
One Direction release space-themed Drag Me Down video -
One Direction have released their first music video without Zayn Malik and it's out of this world, kind of. Niall, Liam, Louis and Harry play astronauts in their video for Drag Me Down. Astronauts. Drag Me Down. Gravity. Space. Get it? Anyway, Nasa let 1D film the video at their headquarters in Houston, Texas. Libby Jackson, an astronaut flight education programme manager for the UK Space Agency, reviewed the promo for Newsbeat. "The guys went out to Nasa's Johnson Space Centre and filmed at their facilities there - so it's a fairly accurate portrayal of some of the elements of human spaceflight. "It's obviously impossible to fit an entire astronaut's training into a three minute video, but they've certainly given a flavour. "You see One Direction trying out a prototype Mars rover, which astronauts would need to learn drive for their missions," she said. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day and Top Twitter Trends.
Malala celebrates string of top GCSEs -
Among those celebrating exam success is girls' education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai who gained a string of As and A*s in her GCSEs. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, took to Twitter to list Malala's grades which include A*s in GCSE and iGCSE maths. "My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child," wrote Mr Yousafzai. Malala was shot by the Taliban after writing a diary about life under their rule in North-West Pakistan. Last year, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. [BBC]
Malala Yousafzai
A bottle with a letter inside by British marine biologist George Parker Bidder III is discovered by a woman vacationing in Germany. The bottle dating from 1906, if confirmed, would be the world's oldestmessage in a bottle found to date. (MSN)
7 Dead as Fighter Jet Crashes Into Highway at British Airshow -
A fighter jet taking part in a British airshow on Saturday crashed into a highway, killing seven people. The crash took place at the Shoreham Airshow in West Sussex, on England’s southern coast, at 1:20 p.m. Video footage showed the jet soar, loop and then plunge before it could complete a second loop. It crashed into a busy road, the A27, near the airfield where the show took place. Hours after the crash, the police had no comment about the pilot’s fate. Beyond the fatalities, one person was seriously hurt and 14 others had minor injuries, according to a statement from the Sussex Police. [NY Times]
Facebook and Instagram remove Project Harpoon page -
Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram have taken down the pages run by Project Harpoon. The internet movement sees people digitally edit pictures of women to make them appear thinner.
Now if you try to look at Project Harpoon on these social media sites, you are met with an error message. The online group started on Reddit, in a thread called Thinner Beauty which says it is not about "hate" but wants to provide people with "health goals". [BBC Newsbeat]
Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin to win world 100m title -
Usain Bolt produced perhaps his greatest performance of all as he put a troubled build-up behind him to beat two-time doper and clear favourite Justin Gatlin to retain his world 100m title. The controversial Gatlin came into the final on a 28-race unbeaten run and apparently relishing his role as the sport's bad guy. But at the same Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing where Bolt announced himself to the world with two Olympic golds and two world records in 2008, the Jamaican superstar came past a faltering Gatlin at the death to snatch victory by one hundredth of a second. Bolt's 9.79 seconds was more than two tenths off his world record, but this was a night for athletics to celebrate victories rather than times. [BBC] See List of the Day
Usain Bolt
Banksy’s ‘Dismaland’ in England: It’s a Strange World, After All -
WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England — Rain pelted down for much of Sunday afternoon on this drooping beachside resort town where “Dismaland,” the gloomy anti-Disneyland created by the artist Banksy, opened this weekend. “Dismaland,” a satirical take on a theme park, features grumpy guards, funereal theme park games and art by about 60 artists — including Banksy, Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer. The exhibition had a “locals” day on Friday and opened to the public on Saturday; it runs through late September. The exhibition came largely as a surprise: Members of the British news media had spotted construction at the exhibition site — the abandoned grounds of a former family swimming pool — early last week, and had begun to speculate on what was taking place there. The exhibition includes new and old artwork by Banksy, including a pool with mobile boats full of figurine immigrants in what apparently is the English Channel, and a mural-style work in the his signature silhouette style, which shows a fat cat in a suit gorging himself while a gaunt woman with children stands across from him. [NY Times]
Logo_of_Dismaland
Met Office loses multi-million pound BBC weather contract -
The Met Office has lost its lucrative weather forecasting contract with the BBC after nearly a century of providing the service. Negotiations to renew the deal hit a dead end and a new firm is expected to take over next year. The BBC said it was legally required to open up the contract to outside competition and secure the best value for money for licence fee payers. Dutch and New Zealand firms are said to be in the running for the contract, which is believed to make up a sizeable share of the £32.5 million a year the Met Office receives from commercial organisations, according to the Mail on Sunday. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends
Mel Gibson accused of pushing female photographer -
Oscar-winning actor Mel Gibson has been accused of pushing a female photographer in Sydney. The Daily Telegraph's Kristi Miller told Australian media she was pushed and verbally abused while taking pictures of Gibson and his girlfriend. She alleges Gibson's tirade ended when his partner, 24-year-old US equestrian vaulter Rosalind Ross, intervened. "I thought he was going to punch me in the face," Ms Miller said. "He was spitting in my face as he was yelling." Police confirmed they are investigating reports a female photographer was pushed outside a cinema on Sunday night. [BBC] Gibson swore at a TV journalist in February 2010.
Mel Gibson
Al-Qaeda militants take over parts of the strategic southern Yemeni port city of Aden. The militants reportedly raised their black flag above the city's port and government buildings. (Reuters)
Britain and Iran reopen embassies in each others' capitals that had been closed after Iranian protesters stormed the British embassy on November 29, 2011. (Reuters)
Edinburgh Fringe: Mobile phone joke voted funniest -
A pun by comedian Darren Walsh has scooped the prize for funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe. The 39-year-old, whose show Punderbolt is on at the Pleasance, took first place in the vote by TV channel Dave. The winning joke was: "I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free. Walsh, from Peterborough, who won the first UK Pun Championship last year, said he was delighted. "What a punderful feeling," he said. [BBC] See List of the Day
British IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson Dies of Injuries From Pocono Crash -
Justin Wilson, a British racecar driver who was struck by debris from another car during the closing laps of the penultimate race in the IndyCar Series season, died Monday, racing officials said. He was 37. Wilson was struck in the head on Sunday at Pocono Raceway by a piece of debris that broke off from the car of Sage Karam, who was leading the race before he crashed. Wilson had tried to avoid the subsequent pileup, but his car hit the debris and veered into an interior wall. He was airlifted to a hospital in Allentown, Pa., where he was in a coma in critical condition before he died. [NY Times]
Justin Wilson in 2008
China's 'Black Monday' sends markets reeling across the globe -
China has been a major contributor to economic growth and low global inflation for more than two decades. But tonight, investors around the globe are catching their breath after one of the worst day’s trading in many years. They’re now pondering whether today marks the start of a new and alarming phase of the crisis which began some eight years ago. And while today’s losses are sizeable, they’re not among the worst losses in market history. For all the talk of Black Monday in China,and gloomy photos to match, this was more of a correction in Western markets. [The Guardian]
Windows 95 turns 20 -
Windows 10 might be the current OS of choice for many, but 20 years ago today (August 24) the world of home computing underwent a seismic shift as Windows 95 rolled off the production lines and into people's lives. The basis for many consumers' first computing experience, Windows 95 revolutionised the computing space not only on the surface, but beneath it too. From an all new graphical user interface to a switch to 32-bit foundations, it's hard to overstate the impact this Start menu introducing software has had on the world. If you can even remember the days of floppy disks then you'll know how much of a nightmare the Windows 95 update must have been to install, compared to today when waiting 17 seconds for a film to buffer on Netflix seems outrageous. For those without a CD-ROM drive, each of the 3.5-inch cartridges held a measly 1.44MB of data. Later updates, for those refusing to accept CDs had taken off, jumped to 26 floppy disks. [Digital Spy] See Top Twitter Trends
Video of the Day -
Guy annoys girlfriend with puns at Ikea - We moved in together recently so had to make the unavoidable trip to IKEA; I figured out how to get through there as quickly as possible.
Yeah, yeah I know, vertical video and all that. I filmed it in Snapchat, you'll survive.
List of the Day -
The top 10 funniest jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe
"I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free" - Darren Walsh
"Kim Kardashian is saddled with a huge arse ... but enough about Kanye West" - Stewart Francis
"Surely every car is a people carrier?" - Adam Hess
"What's the difference between a 'hippo' and a 'Zippo'? One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter" - Masai Graham
"If I could take just one thing to a desert island I probably wouldn't go" - Dave Green
"Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and a loaf of bread. That's not a miracle. That's tapas" - Mark Nelson
"Red sky at night. Shepherd's delight. Blue sky at night. Day" - Tom Parry
"The first time I met my wife, I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" - Alun Cochrane
"Clowns divorce. Custardy battle" - Simon Munnery
"They're always telling me to live my dreams. But I don't want to be naked in an exam I haven't revised for..." - Grace The Child
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, says that Turkey and the United States will launch a "comprehensive" campaign to flush out ISIL from a zone in northern Syria near the border. In effect this means creating a "security zone" by sending foreign soldiers into former territory of Syria. (Reuters)
Italian woman, 46, arrested for locking 'toy boy' in basement over sex demands -
An Italian woman has been arrested after allegedly locking up her "toy boy" boyfriend for refusing to have sex with her, in a story that has evoked comparisons with the classic film The Graduate. The woman, 46, who was divorced, met the 25-year-old during a holiday romance in Campania in southern Italy. Initially they got on well but the young man reportedly became increasingly vexed by the amount of sex that the older woman was demanding. He declined her advances on several occasions but she then took revenge by locking him up, against his will, in the basement of her house at Arzano, near Naples. The young man managed to raise the alarm, calling for help from passers-by. [Daily Telegraph]
George Clooney photobombs Cindy Crawford as she takes romantic selfie with husband -
Does anyone enjoy looking at "romantic selfies" of couples kissing on Instagram? It's worse than a public display of affection (PDA), as it is done purely to show off how in love you are with the person you're smooching. Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber were taking a tender selfie together, when George Clooney decided to ruin it by pulling a strange face in the background. [Daily Telegraph]
Cindy Crawford Instagram with Rande Gerber and George Clooney
International bridge champions accuse teammates of cheating -
Two Israeli men, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz, have been accused by their team mates of cheating in three matches including the Spingold tournament - one of the most famous of all.
A triumphant team of bridge players has been ripped apart by accusations that would, in the words of the whistleblower, “even make a Hollywood movie surreal.” Two Israeli men, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz, have been accused by their team mates of cheating. Quite how they cheated is unclear, but Norwegian bridge professional Boye Brogeland, one of the world’s highest-rated bridge players, said the other four members of the team were handing back three titles they had won together. [Daily Telegraph]
A Federal Security Service court in Russia sentences Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison for plotting terrorist acts in Crimea, amid allegations of torture and US claims that he is being held hostage in Russia after having been abducted from Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists. (BBC)
4 people are killed and 3 others are severely injured in a shooting at a camp in Roye, Somme, France. (L'Express)
Ex-Broadcaster Kills 2 on Air in Virginia; Takes Own Life -
He was a fired television reporter with a history of conflicts at work and rage apparently stoked by racial grievances. And when he sought revenge on Wednesday, gunning down two former colleagues, he used the tools of social media to ensure that his crime was broadcast live, recorded from multiple angles and posted online. Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, identified by the authorities as the gunman, waited until Alison Parker and Adam Ward, young journalists at WDBJ in Roanoke, were on air, then killed them while recording on his own video camera. Mr. Flanagan shot himself in the head hours later, the authorities said, but as the chase for him was on, he wrote about the shooting on Twitter, uploaded his video to Facebook and sent a manifesto to ABC News that spoke admiringly of mass killers and said that as a black, gay man he had faced discrimination and sexual harassment. [NY Times]
Alison Parker and Adam Ward
Theater shooter Holmes gets 12 life sentences, plus 3,318 years -
A Colorado judge formally sentenced James Eagan Holmes to multiple life terms plus thousands of years in prison for the Aurora movie theater massacre that killed 12 and wounded 70. Holmes, a 27-year-old former grad student, received one life term for each person he killed, plus 3,318 years for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives. He is not eligible for parole. Prosecutor George Brauchler said he believed the sentence was the fourth longest in U.S. history. He described the judge's command to promptly remove Holmes from the courtroom as "the right exclamation point" to bring a painful, difficult trial to a close. [CNN]
James_Holmes_2012
Burger King is trying to make the McWhopper happen -
Lovers of fast food burgers are in for a treat: why choose between the Big Mac and the Whopper when you can have both in one mouthful and save the world at the same time? Burger King has approached McDonald's about combining their star burgers for one day only, in a bid to raise awareness of Peace Day, the day of global unity recognised by the United Nations held annually on September 21. The McWhopper would be six parts Big Mac (top bun, all-beef patty, cheese, lettuce, special sauce and middle bun) and six parts Whopper (tomato, onion, ketchup, pickles, flame-grilled patty and bottom bun). The limited edition burger would be available in a co-branded pop-up restaurant in Atlanta, the mid-way point between McDonald's headquarters in Chicago and Burger King HQ in Miami. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
A Swedish rescue crew finds 51 dead migrants in the hold of a boat off the coast of Libya during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea that has saved 439 other people. In addition, three women are found dead in another migrant boat and another corpse is found during ten rescue operations on Wednesday that have saved around 3,000 people, according to the Italian coast guard. (Reuters)(AP via Columbus Republic)
A U.S. television reporter and her cameraman, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, are shot dead during a live broadcast in Moneta, Virginia; the woman they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, is wounded. The alleged shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, later uploads a video of the murder and commits suicide. (WTKR)
Facebook sets user record as more than 1bn people log on in single day -
Facebook has revealed that more than 1bn people used the site on Monday - the first time the social network has hit the milestone. Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the company in 2004 while studying at Harvard, said he felt "proud" that one-in-seven people on Earth logged on to the website during the day. The 31-year-old wrote in a post on Facebook:
Mark Zukerberg tweet
Although Mr Zuckerberg did not specify what had caused the rise in the number of users, the website has consistently attracted more followers. Last month Mr Zuckerberg revealed Facebook had 1.49bn monthly active users, up 13pc from a year earlier. [Daily Telegraph]
The top ten most unexpected words added to the online Oxford dictionary [according to the Daily Telegraph]
1. manspreading (noun): the practice whereby a man, especially one travelling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seat
2. awesomesauce (adjective): extremely good; excellent
3. bants (noun): playfully teasing or mocking remarks exchanged with another person or group; banter
4. fat-shame (verb): cause (someone judged to be fat or overweight) to feel humiliated by making mocking or critical comments about their size
5. Brexit (noun): a term for the potential or hypothetical departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union
6. bruh (noun): a male friend (often used as a form of address)
7. cakeage (noun): a charge made by a restaurant for serving a cake they have not supplied themselves
8. fatberg (noun): a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets
9. Grexit (noun): a term for the potential withdrawal of Greece from the eurozone (the economic region formed by those countries in the European Union that use the euro as their national currency)
10. hangry(adjective): bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger
Someone has invented the first Apple Watch sex toy - and it's a sell-out -
When you heard about all the apps you could get on an Apple Watch, was the first thing that sprung into your head an Apple Watch operated sex toy? As unorthodox an idea you may think it is, a lot of people want the piece of tech - it reached its $10,000 crowdfunding goal in just 24 hours. The $39 early bird special is sold out already, as is the reseller's special, for people and websites who want to sell the sex toy to other customers. 'Blush' works by remote control, and is attached to a vibrating sex toy, that would be either controlled by you or your partner. The sex toy has three speed settings, can be recharged via a USB port and has up to two hours of battery life, and can either be directly controlled by Bluetooth for up to 30 feet or internet controlled, which can make it reach long distances. [Daily Telegraph]
Ashley Madison founder and chief executive Noel Biderman quits following hack -
The founder and chief executive of cheaters' dating website Ashley Madison has stepped down just weeks after it was hacked. Noel Biderman, who heads the Canadian business's parent company, Avid Life Media, is no longer employed at its headquarters, a spokesman said. It comes after a hacker group named The Impact Team stole the personal details of 37m Ashley Madison clients and posted them online. UK victims allegedly included 124 civil servants, 92 Ministry of Defence staff, around 50 police officers, 56 NHS workers, 65 local education and school staff and 1,716 people at universities and further education colleges. The data contained addresses, ages, phone numbers, credit card details and even sexual fantasies of users. [Daily Telegraph]
The body count from a van found on an Austrian highway carrying migrants yesterday rises to at least 71. Three people are arrested in Hungary in relation to their deaths. (AP via New York Times)(ITV)
DominicanPrime MinisterRoosevelt Skerrit reported that Tropical Storm Erika has left at least 12 dead and more than 20 missing. Erika deposited almost 12 inches of rain in less than 10 hours and caused extensive damage across the island as floods wiped out roads, swamped villages and started mudslides. (CNN)
Seven people are killed and two injured after being exposed to toxic chemicals at a paper mill in central China. (AP)
Thirty-eight girls and young women die in a crash and twenty others on board the truck are injured travelling to the traditional Umhlanga ceremony in Swaziland. (AP)
President Trương Tấn Sang of Vietnam signs two directives granting amnesty to 18,539 prisoners including murderers, rapists, human traffickers and other criminals but no political prisoners were released. (AP via New York Times)
World Athletics Championships: Ashton Eaton sets new decathlon world record in Beijing -
Ashton Eaton's world record in the decathlon has stolen the limelight from Mo Farah and Usain Bolt on the penultimate night of the world athletics championships in Beijing. Farah completed the long distance double for a second consecutive occasion at a world titles with victory in the men's 5,000 metres final, while Usain Bolt captured his third gold in the Bird's Nest in the last seven days when he anchored Jamaica to a win in the men's 4x100m relay. But it was Eaton who deserved top billing, after the American dipped under his world mark to post a two-day total of 9,045 points. Eaton, the defending champion, collected 829 points in running four minutes and 17.52 seconds in the final event, the 1,500m, enough to beat his previous record by six points. [ABC]
Ashton Eaton tweet
Mo Farah completes the 'triple-double' with 5,000m at the athletics world championships in Beijing -
Mo Farah is the first athlete to win the 5,000 and 10,000m races at successive world championships. The ‘triple-double’: it is a coinage usually confined to basketball, but in Beijing it belongs to the extraordinary Mo Farah, who for a record third successive global championships has completed twin triumphs over 5,000 and 10,000 metres. None of the distance icons – not Emil Zatopek, not Lasse Viren, not Kenenisa Bekele – managed it, but Farah streaked into history at the Bird’s Nest stadium with another exquisitely controlled performance over 12½ laps. [Daily Telegraph]
European interior ministers and transport officials hold emergency talks in Paris following the recent attack on the Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris. (BBC)
Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed are each sentenced to three years' jail in Egypt for "aiding a terrorist organization" and falsifying news. Greste, who earlier was deported to Australia, was tried in absentia. Mohamed, an Egyptian, was sentenced to an additional six months for possession of a spent bullet casing; Fahmy is a Canadian national. (ABC News)(Al Jazeera)
Tens of thousands of Malaysians rally in the capital Kuala Lumpur calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak to step down over a financial scandal where a MYR 2.672 billion (USD 700 million) payment was made to his bank account from unnamed foreign donors. (BBC News)
Oliver Sacks, neurologist - obituary -
Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who has died aged 82, wrote perceptive accounts of intriguing neurological disorders in books such as Awakenings (1973) and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985); away from his work he was variously a biker, weightlifter and wild swimmer. Sacks’s writing fascinated and inspired writers and film directors and showed how patients who are isolated by disease can still retain their dignity and humanity. In his best-known book, Awakenings, Sacks told the extraordinary story of a group of patients at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx where he worked as a consultant neurologist. W H Auden declared Awakenings to be a masterpiece of medical literature. It inspired a play by Harold Pinter and an Oscar-nominated film starring Robin Williams as the dedicated doctor and Robert De Niro as a patient temporarily freed from years of catatonia. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends
Oliver Sachs in 2009
Hurricane Ignacio, which has weakened to a Category 3 (115 mph) storm, is expected to side-step Hawaii this week though will still generate high surf, rain and powerful winds. The Big Island and Maui remain on a tropical storm watch. Ignacio may re-strengthen to a hurricane when he clears Oahu on Wednesday. (Inquisitr)(Reuters)
Hungary makes a fifth arrest in relation to the death of seventy-one migrants in a truck in Austria. (CNN)
65 girls and young women traveling to an annual dance festival are killed after an open truck smashes into the back of a van near Mbabane, Swaziland. (RT)(The Telegraph)
Protestors in Beirut continue their protests against the government due to a lack of effective garbage collection in the city during one of the hottest summers on record. (NPR)
Bartender finds $20 note then wins $1 million California lottery with it -
An American man who found a $20 note on a street outside San Francisco International Airport used it to play the California lottery and won $1 million, a lottery spokesman said on Monday. Hubert Tang used the lucky note to buy two scratch cards at a shop near the airport on Wednesday and won the top prize with one of them, lottery spokesman Greg Parashak said. "I scratched the ticket outside of the store. I told my friend who I was with that I didn't know if it was real but, 'I think I just won a million dollars,'" Tang said, according to Parashak. Tang said he did not yet have plans for the money, but joked that he might use it to place $20 bills in random places for other lucky players to find, according to the lottery. [Daily Telegraph]
Bear Grylls to test President Obama's survival skills in special episode of Running Wild -
President Barack Obama is to appear on a television show with Bear Grylls in Alaska, where the British adventurer will give him a "crash course" in how to survive in the wild. The president is to trek through the Alaskan wilderness with the survival expert and former SAS soldier, for a special episode of “Running Wild”, a show in which celebrities are thrown back to nature and pushed to their mental and physical limits. The participation in the show, which is due to air on NBC later this year, is part of a three day trip by President Obama to the Arctic Circle – the first by any sitting president – which he hopes to use to illustrate the urgency of his climate change agenda. [Daily Telegraph]
Bear Grylls
Isil 'blows up Temple of Bel' in ancient Syrian city of Palmyra -
Violent jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have partially destroyed the the most famous landmark in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The Temple of Bel was damaged on Sunday, according to messages posted on the Twitter account of a local activist group, the Palmyra Co-ordination Council. Although the extent of the destruction was unclear, a Palmyra resident, Nasser al Thaer, said that a huge blast had echoed through the area on Sunday afternoon. [Daily Telegraph]
Temple of Bel in 2011
According to a new study, the Sumatran Rhino is now considered extinct in the wild in Malaysia. No new wild animals have been spotted since 2007, elsewhere fewer than 100 Rhinos remain in the wild. (MSN).
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Kanye West tells MTV Video Music Awards he wants to 'run for president' -
Kanye West stole the show at the MTV Video Music Awards by declaring that he will run for US president in 2020. He was given the lifetime achievement award but during his speech said he'd "decided in 2020 to run for president". Cheered on by his wife Kim Kardashian, Kanye got an extended standing ovation when he was picking up the Video Vanguard lifetime achievement award. He also appeared to confess to smoking weed before taking the stage. "I will die for the art, for what I believe in and I ain't always gonna be polite. "I rolled up a little something. I got the answer. We're the millennials bro." [BBC Newsbeat]
Kanye West
Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger announce split -
Avril Lavigne has announced that she's separating from Chad Kroeger after two years of marriage. The singer posted a statement on her Instagram account alongside a happy photo of the couple on their wedding day. "It is with a heavy heart that Chad and I announce our separation today," she wrote. "Through not only the marriage, but the music as well, we've created many unforgettable moments." The 30-year-old married the Nickelback frontman in July 2013.
Avril Lavigne
Video of the Day -
Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams
List of the Day -
MTV VMA Winners 2015 [Billboard Magazine]
Video of the Year:
Beyoncé - "7/11"
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" -- WINNER
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
Best Male Video:
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk" -- WINNER
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
The Weeknd - "Earned It"
Nick Jonas - "Chains"
Best Female Video:
Beyoncé - "7/11"
Taylor Swift - "Blank Space" -- WINNER
Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda"
Sia - "Elastic Heart"
Ellie Goulding - "Love Me Like You Do"
Best Hip Hop Video:
Fetty Wap - "Trap Queen"
Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda" -- WINNER
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - "See You Again"
Big Sean ft. E-40 - "IDFWU"
Best Pop Video:
Beyoncé - "7/11"
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Taylor Swift - "Blank Space" -- WINNER
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Maroon 5 - "Sugar"
Best Rock Video:
Hozier - "Take Me To Church"
Fall Out Boy - "Uma Thurman" -- WINNER
Florence + the Machine - "Ship To Wreck"
Walk the Moon - "Shut Up and Dance"
Arctic Monkeys - "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"
Artist to Watch:Fetty Wap - "Trap Queen" -- WINNER
Vance Joy - "Riptide"
George Ezra - "Budapest"
James Bay - "Hold Back The River"
FKA Twigs - "Pendulum"
Best Collaboration:Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" -- WINNER
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - "See You Again"
Ariana Grande & The Weeknd - "Love Me Harder"
Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj - "Bang Bang"
Video With a Social Message:
Jennifer Hudson - "I Still Love You"
Colbie Caillat - "Try"
Big Sean ft. Kanye West and John Legend - "One Man Can Change the World" -- WINNER
Rihanna - "American Oxygen"
Wale - "The White Shoes"
Song of the Summer:
David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj, Afrojack & Bebe Rexha - "Hey Mama"
Demi Lovato - "Cool For The Summer"
Fetty Wap ft. Monty - "My Way"
Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink - "Worth It"
Five Seconds of Summer - "She's Kinda Hot" -- WINNER
Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ - "Lean On"
OMI - "Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)"
Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky - "Good For You"
Silento - "Watch Me"
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood"
The Weeknd - "Can't Feel My Face"
Best Art Direction:
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" (Charles Infante)
Snoop Dogg - "So Many Pros" (Jason Fijal) -- WINNER
Jack White - "Would You Fight For My Love" (Jeff Peterson)
The Chemical Brothers - "Go" (Michel Gondry)
Skrillex & Diplo - "Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
Best Choreography:
Beyoncé - "7/11" (Beyoncé, Chris Grant, Additional choreography: Gabriel Valenciano)
OK Go - "I Won’t Let You Down" (OK Go, air:man and Mori Harano) -- WINNER
Chet Faker - "Gold" (Ryan Heffington)
Ed Sheeran - "Don’t" (Nappy Tabs)
Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Never Catch Me" (Keone and Mari Madrid)
Best Cinematography:Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Never Catch Me" (Larkin Sieple) -- WINNER
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud" (Daniel Pearl)
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" (Christopher Probst)
FKA Twigs - "Two Weeks" (Justin Brown)
Alt-J - "Left Hand Free" (Mike Simpson)
Best Direction:
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" (Joseph Kahn)
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk" (Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy)
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright" (Colin Tilley & The Little Homies) -- WINNER
Hozier - "Take Me To Church" (Brendan Canty, Conal Thomson)
Childish Gambino - "Sober" (Hiro Murai)
Best Editing:Beyoncé - "7/11" (Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Jonathan Wing) -- WINNER
Ed Sheeran - "Don’t" (Jacquelyn London)
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" (Chancler Haynes at Cosmo Street)
A$AP Rocky - "L$D" (Dexter Navy)
Skrillex & Diplo - "Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
Best Visual Effects:
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" (Ingenuity Studios)
FKA Twigs - "Two Weeks" (Gloria FX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi, and Max Chyzhevskyy)
Childish Gambino - "Telegraph Ave." (Gloria FX)
Skrillex & Diplo - "Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer) -- WINNER
Tyler, The Creator - "F****** Young/Death Camp" (Gloria FX)
Wikipedia concludes a large-scale operation blocking hundreds of users centered on networks of for-pay edits violating the encyclopedia's guidelines. (BBC)(The Guardian)(Ars Technica)
The death toll from a Legionnaires' disease outbreak at a Quincy, Illinois veterans home rises to at least seven with more than the current number of 32 sickened expected since the incubation period for illness can be up to two weeks. (Reuters)
Thousands of refugees arrive in Germany'sMünchen Hauptbahnhof from Budapest. Police and firefighters on the scene provide them with food, water and medical aid even as more continue to arrive. (thelocal)
Lake County, Illinois authorities seek three suspects, believed to be two white men and a black man, who killed a police officer from the Fox Lake, Illinois Police Department, Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 30-year veteran of the force who had been a mentor to many youths in the area and one of the most decorated officers in his department. (Chicago Tribune)
Wikipedia rocked by 'rogue editors' blackmail scam targeting small businesses and celebrities -
Hundreds of small British businesses and minor celebrities have been targeted by a sophisticated blackmail scam orchestrated by “rogue editors” at Wikipedia, The Independent can reveal. The victims, who range from a wedding photographer in Dorset to a high-end jewellery shop in Shoreditch, east London, faced demands for hundreds of pounds to “protect” or update Wikipedia pages about their businesses. A former Britain’s Got Talent contestant was among dozens of individuals targeted. The scam worked by targeting firms struggling to get pages about their businesses on Wikipedia. They were often told their articles had been rejected due to concerns of excessive promotional content – although in some cases the scammers themselves may have been the ones causing the articles to be removed. [The Independent]
‘Doctor Who’: Alex Kingston Revives River Song Role For Christmas Special -
Actress Alex Kingston is returning to the world of “Doctor Who” for this year’s Christmas special, to air Dec. 25 on BBC America. Kingston plays the time-traveling Professor River Song, who is married to the Doctor. She’s appeared in 15 “Doctor Who” episodes since 2008, but the Dec. 25 special will mark the first time she’s worked with Peter Capaldi, the latest actor to play the Doctor in the enduring British sci-fi franchise. The 11th “Doctor Who” Christmas special began production this week, from a script by exec producer Steven Moffat and directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Producers said a range of guest stars for the special are still to be announced. [Variety] See Top Twitter Trends
Alex Kingston
Man invents 'Nutella Lock' to stop people stealing -
Daniel Schobloch has invented the "Nutella Lock" to keep chocolate spread thieves out. Schobloch says the product started off as a joke and was inspired by a friend: "One of my friends was always getting worked up because his children were stealing his Nutella." Eventually, word got out that someone had finally created a solution to all our Nutella woes, and demand began to rise. As of the end of August, Schobloch as sold nearly 1000 units. He hopes to bring the device, which he warns shouldn't be used as a "serious security" measure, to the open market soon. In the meantime, you can put an end to Nutella thievery by purchasing a lock on eBay for 10 euros (£7.30). Though judging by the response on Twitter, you'll have to be quick. [Daily Telegraph]
French farmers kidnap Alps park chiefs, demanding protection from wolf attacks -
A group of 50 farmers are holding hostage the president and director of a national park in the Alps, demanding they take urgent action to stop wolves attacking their livestock. French farmers have kidnapped the head of a national park in the Alps, demanding stronger measures against wolves that are attacking their flocks. Around 50 farmers took the law into their own hands on Tuesday evening by taking hostage Guy Chaumereuil, president of the National Park of Vanoise in the French Alps, along with the park’s director, Emmanuel Michau. France has become accustomed to “bossnapping” over the years during labour disputes, but this is thought to be the first time an official has been held over a wolf dispute. [Daily Telegraph]
Eight people have been killed and over 30 injured in riots in the Indian state of Manipur since the passage of three controversial land bills on Monday. (IBN Live)
There have been 907 deaths last month in El Salvador as a result of gang violence, a death rate not seen since the Salvadoran Civil War of the 1980s. (BBC)
Mel Gibson will not be charged for allegedly pushing female photographer -
Mel Gibson will not face charges for allegedly shoving a female photographer in Sydney. Kristi Miller, the photographer, told police Gibson pushed and verbally abused her, and that she feared he "was going to punch me". New South Wales police announced on Thursday that they would not charge Gibson over the alleged incident, which Ms Miller said took place outside a cinema on 23 August. "At this stage, based on the evidence gathered, no formal action will be taken," police said in a statement. [Daily Telegraph]
Mel Gibson
Teen who wants to throw party hacks parents' phone and changes 'no' to 'hell yes' using autocorrect -
It is perhaps a given that children these days know more about technology than their parents. And this was perfectly demonstrated by a young man apparently who got his parents to agree to a party they never wanted in the first place. The teenager, known only as Brendan, knew he wouldn't get the answer he wanted if he asked in the traditional sense. So, he hacked his parents' phone and changed the autocorrect settings from "no" to "HELL YES". He asked his parents in a group conversation, which was then posted on imgur: "Hey guys can I throw a party tmrw night. [sic]" His mother tried to say no. However, her phone said "HELL YES". It is unclear if Brendan threw his party, or got grounded, but his parents will probably keep a closer eye on thier phones from now on. [Daily Telegraph]
imgur - Added a shortcut to parents phone everytime they type "No"
Bodies of Syrian refugees are found on a beach in Turkey, including a 3-year-old boy, pictures of whose body spread virally and prompt grave international concern.(Al Jazeera)
French prosecutors state that they believe "with certainty" that a piece of debris that had washed ashore on Reunion Island came from the missing plane. (BBC)
North Korean all-girl band 'created by Kim Jong-un' -
Seven-strong group to serve as 'ideological scouts, the bugles of revolution and ideological flag-bearers'. A new all-girl band that North Korean state media says was created by Kim Jong-un has made its debut in Moscow. The female vocalists of the Chongbong Orchestra have been tasked with "creating music for the masses", North Korean state media reported. The singers and their brass backing band play "light music" and are a "revolutionary art organisation that represents and leads the era", North Korean television reported, adding that the group was set up as part of the "grand plan" of the "respected Kim Jong-un". [Daily Telegraph]
Egyptian billionaire offers to buy an island off Italy or Greece to rehouse refugees -
If Greece or Italy sell him an island, Naguib Sawiris, the 10th richest man in Africa, says he will host the migrants and offer them jobs in the new country. Naguib Sawiris, the 10th richest man in Africa, announNaguib Sawirisced the initiative on Twitter, but said that he had not yet approached the Italian or Greek governments about his plan. "Greece or Italy sell me an island, I'll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country," he wrote. [Daily Telegraph] Naguib Sawiris is the founding member of Al Masreyeen Al Ahrrar political party.Naguib Sawiris tweets
Hatton Garden jewelry heist: Four men admit part in £10m Hollywood-style robbery of 'impenetrable' London vault -
Four men have admitted their involvement in the £10m Easter weekend Hatton Garden Safety Deposit raid, at Woolwich Crown Court. John Collins, Daniel Jones, Terry Perkins and Perry Reader all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden deposit. The admission does not mean the men carried out the burglary but that they participated in an agreement or encouragement of the offence. The pleas come after Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company went into liquidation after falling into insolvency. A law firm representative said the company owed money "to companies and people". The dramatic raid of Hatton Garden Safety Deposit, near the City of London, happened over the Easter Weekend when a masked gang used power tools, including an angle grinder, concrete drills and crowbars to break into the facility on Thursday, 2 April. [International Business Times]
Hatton Garden road sign
Video of the Day -
Что будет если в Колу добавить ПРОПАН ? Coca Cola + propane = Mega ROCKET
An explosion at an arms depot in Yemen kills 45 Emirati soldiers who were part of the Saudi led coalition. (Yahoo)
Five Bahraini soldiers are killed on the Saudi-Yemeni border while taking part in a military operation against Yemen-based Houthi militants. (Reuters)
Clashes in and around Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe kill at least 17 people. Government representatives blame the attacks against security forces on former Deputy Defense Minister Aduhalim Nazarzoda, who fought against government forces in the Tajikistan Civil War. (BBC)
Russia set to set up new police unit to deal with rowdy weddings -
Police in southern Russia have set up a new unit dedicated to keeping the peace at the region’s notoriously drunken wedding parties. A squad of 40 officers will be assigned to stop "uncontrolled expressions of joy" during marriages, during which well-wishers often have a habit of firing guns in celebration. The unit will operate in the North Caucusus region of Adygea, near the Black Sea coast, where one wedding reveller was fined 50,000 roubles last month (£500) for firing his pistol outside a registry office in the capital, Maykop. "The creation of the 'wedding police' should put an end to uncontrolled expressions of joy by people in wedding motorcades," said Aleksandr Rechitsky, Adygea's Interior Minister. [Daily Telegraph]
Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour makes chart history -
In the Lonely Hour has been in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row - that's the longest unbroken run of any debut album. It's not left the top 10 since it was released in May 2014, when it debuted at number one with opening week sales of 101,000. The chart record was previously held by Emeli Sande, with her debut album Our Version Of Events. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day
Sam Smith
Video of the Day -
The 9 BEST Scientific Study Tips
List of the Day -
List of albums which have spent the most weeks on the UK Albums Chart [List from Wikipedia]
Gunmen killed 13 minority Hazara men, but spared the life of one woman among the traveling party, in usually tranquil Balkh Province. No group immediately claimed responsibility. (AFP via Times of Oman)
Finland: City hands out 'survival box' to new students -
A Finnish city is handing out "survival packs" to new students, taking inspiration from the country's famous baby starter boxes. The city of Lahti has packaged up a selection of essentials for new arrivals to its universities and colleges, helped by contributions from local businesses, national broadcaster Yle reports. More than 1,000 students have received one of the kits so far. And just like the parcels given to expectant mothers across the country, Lahti's offering comes in a modest cardboard box. Among the items new students will find inside is a bus pass for trips around the city, some locally produced sheets and socks, and a pack of porridge, Yle says. Students can also tuck into the popular Nordic snack salmiakki - a sour, salty liquorice. The survival pack is meant to introduce students to the delights of Lahti while also serving as a marketing opportunity for businesses in the city. [BBC]
BBC plans North Korea broadcasts -
The BBC is to propose an expansion of the World Service - including its first radio broadcasts to North Korea [on short wave radio] - as it sets out plans for its own future. A children's iPlayer and a pool of 100 local reporters who would share work with newspapers are also planned. Director general Tony Hall will say the aim is to turn the BBC into "an open platform for British creativity". The BBC is laying out its plans as part of negotiations with the government ahead of charter renewal in 2016. [BBC]
Italian chess player 'cheats' using Morse code and spy pendant -
An Italian chess player has been expelled from one of Italy’s most important tournaments after he allegedly used Morse code and a spy pendant containing a hidden camera to communicate with an accomplice. Arcangelo Ricciardi entered the International Chess Festival of Imperia ranked 51,366 in the world, but astonished rivals as he breezed through the early stages of the competition to reach the eighth and penultimate round. Jean Coqueraut, who refereed the tournament in Liguria, northern Italy, said he began to suspect something was wrong early on in the competition. “In chess, performances like that are impossible,” he told La Stampa newspaper. “I didn’t think he was a genius, I knew he had to be a cheat." Tournament organisers then asked the 37-year old to pass through a metal detector and a sophisticated pendant was found hanging around his neck underneath a shirt. The pendant contained a tiny video camera as well as a mass of wires attached to his body and a 4cm box under his armpit. Mr Ricciardi claimed they were good luck charms. It is thought the camera was used to transmit the chess game in real time to an accomplice or sophisticated computer, which then suggested moves for Mr Ricciardi through a series of signals received in the box under his arm. [Daily Telegraph] In August two Israeli men were accused by their team mates of cheating in international Bridge competitions.
SeaWorld will no longer accept stolen whales after plea from One Direction star, Harry Styles -
The SeaWorld marine park has announced it will no longer accept whales stolen from the wild after a barrage of criticism, most recently from Harry Styles of One Direction. In a concert in San Diego, which hosts one of SeaWorld’s attractions, the pop star urged fans to boycott the company. SeaWorld was heavily criticised in Blackfish, a documentary released in 2013. The company had been waiting for US government approval for the import of 18 beluga whales which were captured in Russia. Several of the whales were due to be taken to SeaWorld’s own facilities. But earlier this week, SeaWorld said it was no longer willing to receive them.
Harry Styles
Sam Smith tweets Bond theme tease featuring mysterious 'Spectre ring' -
Sam Smith has all but confirmed that he will sing the theme tune for the new James Bond film, Spectre. The singer tweeted a picture of a finger with a ring featuring the movie's logo. He had been tipped for the soundtrack several times but previously denied any involvement in the project.
Sam Smith/Twitter
'Biggest' Stonehenge site discovered -
Archaeologists have found around 100 huge standing stones buried near Stonehenge. Experts think the discovery could be the 'biggest' prehistoric monument ever built in Britain. Using special equipment to scan below the Earth's surface experts were able to find evidence of seventeen previously unknown wooden or stone structures. The results suggest Stonehenge - which is 5,000 years old - did not stand alone. Scientists think the newly discovered sites were related to Stonehenge. One big surprise the research found was traces of up to 60 huge stones or pillars - part of an ancient "super henge", about 1.5km wide.[BBC]
Turkish jets strike PKK militant positions across south-east Turkey and northern Iraq and deploy special forces to the Iraqi border following a deadly PKK attack which left at least 16 Turkish soldiers dead. (Reuters)
Business and economy
The patent office in IndiarejectsPfizer's petition for a patent on an arthritis drug, tofacitinib, re-affirming their rejection of the same drug in 2011. The drug is a chemical reformulation of the active compound in the medicine and thus the Indian Patent Office says that the company would have to establish that the compound for which it is seeking a patent is therapeutically more effective than the active compound. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
Five people are killed as a small plane crashes in the western part of the American state of Colorado. (USA Today)
Hundreds of people, tired of waiting for promised transportation, broke out from Hungary's first migrant holding center near the Serbian border, past police overwhelmed by their numbers, to start the march north toward Budapest. The asylum seekers / migrants, now accompanied by groups of police, advanced along the edge of the main highway to the capital. (AP via Global News)
In an education scandal in Egypt, a top student, Mariam Malak, says she's a victim of corruption and fraud with the school or the examination board swapping her final exam papers with another pupil, thus assigning her a "Zero"-grade for each of the seven subjects. 40,000 online rally for her via a Facebook support page while another top student reporting the same complaint. (BBC)
Wayne Rooney breaks England goals record -
Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley. England captain Rooney equalled Charlton's tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer. And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday's match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years. [BBC] See List of the Day 2
Wayne Rooney
British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas -
A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides. Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off. The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out. Flight 2276 was bound for London's Gatwick airport. There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board. [BBC]
Sam Smith blows his cover: Spectre theme song singer confirmed -
Sam Smith would make an excellent secret agent. After months of speculation, the singer has confirmed that he has recorded the theme song for the next James Bond film, Spectre. Smith has co-written the title song, Writing's On The Wall, with Jimmy Napes. It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965. Smith confirmed the news on Twitter, calling the opportunity "one of the highlights of my career". The identity of the theme song’s singer had been an impressively well-kept secret. Smith, whose 2012 collaboration with Disclosure brought him to fame, gave particularly mixed messages: when pushed on the subject by Radio 2 last week, he flatly denied involvement with the film’s soundtrack. But yesterday he dropped a heavy hint to the contrary, tweeting a teaser picture of a ring imprinted with the Spectre logo.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day 1
Earlier this week Smith's album In the Lonely Hour stayed in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row - a new record.
Sam Smith
U.K. Prime MinisterDavid Cameron confirms that two ISIS militants, UK citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, were killed in Syria when a British drone attack hit their car on August 21, 2015. Both Khan and Amin had appeared in an ISIS recruitment video last year. They are alleged to have been plotting a terrorist attack on the UK. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Pope Francis announces reforms making it easier for people to annul their marriages. (BBC)
New Zealand temporarily bans the sale or lending of the book Into the River by Ted Dawe, pending a review which could see the book restricted long-term. This is the first time in 22 years that a book has been restricted to this extent in New Zealand. (The Guardian)(Radio New Zealand Online)
Business and economy
German airline Lufthansa cancels 84 long-haul flights as pilots go on strike over a proposed restructure plan. (Bloomberg)
A massive sandstorm hits Lebanon and Syria as well as Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the storm caused the deaths of two women, and sent hundreds to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Particularly hard hit were the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many in flimsy tents in informal campsites. (Middle East Eye)(AP via CTV News)(Al Jazeera English Online)
During protests over a lack of mining jobs in South Africa's Limpopo province, demonstrators destroy 21 buses, a police station, and a municipal office as well as blocking roads from Lephalale to Marapong. (ENCA)
Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest-reigning UK monarch -
The Queen has thanked well-wishers at home and overseas for their "touching messages of kindness" as she becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Speaking in the Scottish Borders, the 89-year-old monarch said the title was "not one to which I have ever aspired". At 17:30 BST she had reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes - surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. David Cameron said the service the Queen had given was "truly humbling". The exact moment the Queen became the longest-reigning sovereign is unknown. Her father, George VI, passed away in the early hours of 6 February 1952, but his time of death is not known. [BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Queen ELizabeth II in March 2015
iPad Pro, new Apple TV and iPhone 6S handsets unveiled -
Apple has unveiled a larger iPad tablet, a TV box with its own app store and new iPhones that can detect how firmly their screens are being pressed. The firm suggested the iPad Pro was suited to work tasks, video games and both editing and watching movies. Sales of the company's earlier iPads had been on the decline. Apple said the "3D touch" feature of its new phones "transformed" the experience of using them by making it easier to use and switch between apps. The iPad Pro has a 12.9in (32.8cm) display, making its shortest edge the length of its earlier iPad Air 2's height. In addition, the firm announced a stylus called the Apple Pencil, which has sensors in its tip to help mimic the effect of using a real pencil on paper. The announcement is notable since the firm's ex-chief executive Steve Jobs said in 2010: "If you see a stylus, they blew it." [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Brief History of the Royal Family
List of the Day -
Monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland 1603 - present day [from Wikipedia]
A German court issues an injunction ordering a halt to a Lufthansa airline pilots' strike. Earlier, Germany's biggest airline announced it had canceled 1,000 flights while about 500 would still operate. (CNBC), (AP via US News & World Report)
Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa. The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa. The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors. The studies which have been published in the journal Elife also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour. The species, which has been named naledi, has been classified in the grouping, or genus,Homo, to which modern humans belong. [BBC] See List of the Day
Pope Francis emojis launched for US visit -
Pope Francis draws huge crowds wherever he goes and now his fans can share their admiration with papal emojis. A new keyboard app is being released to mark the Pope's upcoming visit to America. You can have the Pope balancing a basketball or riding a taxi (although we suspect he'd prefer his Popemobile). They're among 52 emojis and 14 GIFs in the app from Swyft Media, the company which created the first ginger emojis.
Pope emojis by Swyft Media
Giant Lenin 'head' unearthed 24 years after burial in Berlin -
The giant head of a statue of Russian revolutionary Lenin has been unearthed, 24 years after it was buried in a German forest. Workers dug up the granite structure from woodland outside Berlin, following a campaign by historians. The head was once part of a 19m (62ft) monument to the communist leader, which towered over the east of the city. It was dismantled in 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the pieces were buried in a secluded forest. [BBC]
At least 30 people have been killed in the southeastern Turkish city of Cizre following clashes between Turkish security forces and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) supporters. Locals say Cizre has been "under siege" since the militaryimposed a curfew. (BBC)
The United States Senate fails to pass a resolution blocking approval of the nuclear agreement with Iran, meaning it will formally be adopted on October 19. (New York Times)
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for allegedly inciting violence at anti-government rallies. (AP)
A U.S. federal jury awards nearly $17.5 million to five former migrant workers at a South Florida farm in their case of sexual harassment and abuse in their work. (Reuters)
Mecca crane collapse: Saudi inquiry into Grand Mosque disaster -
Saudi Arabia has begun an investigation after a crane collapsed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, killing at least 107 people. The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque [also known as Masjid al-Haram] - which was filled with worshippers at the time. The inquiry is taking place as criticism grows over safety standards at the holy site. It is unclear how many of the victims were killed by the collapse or the stampede that followed it. At least 230 people were injured in the incident.The collapse happened at 17:23 local time. [BBC]
Masjid al-Haram in 2014
Video of the Day -
Taser Impacts on Bare Skin at 28,000fps - The Slow Mo Guys
Burundi's army chief General Prime Niyongabo survives an assassination attempt after armed men attacked his motorcade on a busy road in the capital, Bujumbura. Six people are killed in the attack. (BBC) , (New York Times)
At least three people die, 27 are injured, and 26 people are missing, the majority of them in and around Jōsō city in Ibaraki Prefecture, as a result of floods and landslides in Japan after heavy rainfall caused by Tropical Storm Etau. (Reuters)(The Independent-UK)
U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman sentences a Federal Aviation Administration contractor, Brian Howard, to 12 years in prison for willfully destroying a Chicago-area air navigation facility using a September 26, 2014, fire which caused $100 million in damage. (AP)
Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership contest and vows "fightback" -
Jeremy Corbyn has promised to lead a Labour "fightback" after being elected the party's new leader by a landslide. The veteran left-winger got almost 60% of more than 400,000 votes cast, trouncing his rivals Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. He immediately faced an exodus of shadow cabinet members - but senior figures including Ed Miliband urged the party's MPs to get behind him. Mr Corbyn was a 200-1 outsider when the three-month contest began. But he was swept to victory on a wave of enthusiasm for his anti-austerity message and promise to scrap Britain's nuclear weapons and renationalise the railways and major utilities. [BBC]
Jeremy Corbyn
Russian Cosmonaut Returns From Record-Breaking Space Mission -
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka's safe return from months aboard the International Space Station has put him in the record books for spending more time in space than any other human — the equivalent of nearly two and a half years on five different flights. Padalka, whose latest 168-day stay on the ISS gives him a total of 879 days in space, has smashed the previous record, which was set by fellow Russian Sergei Krikalev in 2005, by two months. [NPR]
Gennady Padalka
Floyd Mayweather beats Andre Berto to make it 49 straight wins -
Floyd Mayweather made it 49 straight wins with a wide points victory over Andre Berto in Las Vegas. The challenger was game but his fellow American, defending his WBC and WBA welterweight titles, was simply too difficult to hit at the MGM Grand. Mayweather, 38, was awarded the verdict 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. Mayweather was adamant it was his last fight, but having equalled Rocky Marciano's career record of 49-0, he might decide to have one more. "My career is over, that's official," said five-weight world champion Mayweather, widely regarded as the greatest fighter of his generation. Mayweather made $34m (£22m) for his latest outing but few expect him to fulfil his promise to retire. [BBC] In June Mayweather topped the Forbes Celebrity rich list
Floyd Mayweather
Harvard's exclusive Spee club invites women to join after decades of resistance -
The barriers have fallen one by one at Harvard's exclusive Spee Club. First Catholics were admitted at the start of the 20th century, then Jews in the 1930s and blacks in the 1960s. But female undergraduates were always a step too far. The Spee even moved off campus in the 1980s when the university ordered it and eight other clubs to open their doors to women. This week, things finally changed for a club that once counted John F Kennedy among its members. A number of female students reported waking on Friday to find invitations – set out in ornate calligraphy and sealed with an elaborate “S” - had been slid under their doors asking them to attend a reception next week, the first step to membership. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Bride puts a spell on her magician groom during first dance
List of the Day -
How much does the iPhone 6s cost around the world? [Daily Telegraph]
Chinese and Indian troops face-off in the Burtse region of northern Ladakh after Indian troops dismantled a disputed watchtower the Chinese were building close to the mutually-agreed patrolling line. (Economic Times)
The Egyptian Armed Forces claim that an offensive against ISIS militants in northern Sinai over the past week has killed at least 164 insurgents with the loss of eight troops. (AFP via Sky News)
'Stolen' diamond surgically removed in Bangkok -
A Chinese woman suspected of stealing a $300,000 (£195,000) diamond in the Thai capital, Bangkok, has had the jewel surgically removed from her intestines. She is thought to have swallowed it in order to smuggle it out of the country. The woman is believed to have stolen the six-carat diamond from a jewellery fair on Thursday by swapping it for a fake gemstone. However, she was caught on security cameras at the fair and later arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. A man travelling with her was also arrested. Police said the woman initially denied involvement, but an X-ray revealed the diamond lodged inside her.
She was initially given laxatives, but when nature failed to take its course, a colonoscope was used to extract the gem. [BBC]
Elton John offers to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights -
Sir Elton John has said he wants to hold talks with Vladimir Putin over what he called the Russian president's "ridiculous" stance on gay rights. The Rocket Man singer extended the offer of talks after speaking at a conference in neighbouring Ukraine, where he met with the country's president Petro Poroshenko to lobby him about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. Sir Elton accused Mr Putin of saying "stupid things" in reference to his warning to gay people travelling to the Winter Olympics to "leave the children in peace". [Daily Telegraph] In March 2015 Sir Elton called for a boycott of fashion label Dolce & Gabbana after the legendary designers criticised same-sex families
Sir Elton John
Mens Tennis: Novak Djokovic clinches second US Open crown -
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won his second US Open championship and his 10th career Grand Slam title with an electric four-set victory over 17-time major winner Roger Federer on Sunday evening. In a contest of the game's premier heavyweights, it was the Serb who played the biggest points the best as he captured his first crown in the Big Apple since 2011 with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in a match that was delayed by approximately three hours because of rain. [US Open] Djokovic also beat Federer in four sets to win the Wimbledon title in July 2015. See List of the Day
Novak_Đoković
Womens Golf: Lydia Ko becomes youngest major winner -
New Zealand's Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a major with a six-stroke victory at the Evian Championship in France on Sunday. The world number two is 18 years, four months and 20 days old. The previous record was held by American Morgan Pressel, who was 18 years, 10 months and nine days old when she won the Kraft Nabisco in 2007. In February, aged 17, Ko became the youngest player to reach the top of the rankings and she also holds the record as the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour after her Canadian Open victory as a 15-year-old amateur in 2012. [BBC]
Lydia Ko
Video of the Day -
Kelvin Jones: Call You Home
Kelvin Jones : Call You Home from Joe Connor on Vimeo.
Yup, that really is a TV in space, for real. I created this video by sending a vintage Sony TV into orbit on a weather balloon provided by Sent Into Space, surrounded by cameras so as to capture this spectacular footage hovering above the Big Blue Marble itself.More precisely, it took two launches - both from Snowdonia in Wales, with two identical TVs, with each launch providing the opportunity to rig the GoPros in different positions. I'm pleased to say that all TVs in this music video were harmed as they crash-landed back to earth. We sent the TV off from Snowdonia and it landed in Bury, Manchester - taking in my hometown of Warrington on the way which can be seen in the promo. I'm proud to say that the TV got 99.997% above the atmosphere, just 0.003% below the Armstrong line - surely the highest TV in history.
A PKK car bombing on a checkpoint kills two Turkish police officers and injures five others in south-eastern Turkey. Also, Turkish security forces impose a curfew in the region's largest city, Diyarbakır. (Reuters)
Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency (消防庁) advises 2.8 million people to evacuate due to heavy flooding in the eastern region of the country. (CNN)
RussiancosmonautGennady Padalka's return from the ISS on Saturday sets a new record for time in space, breaking the one fellow countryman Sergei Krikalev set in 2005. Padalka totaled 879 days in space (2.41 years) over five flights. (NPR)
Health and medicine
Doctors at Salamanca University Hospital in Salamanca, Spain implant a 3-D printing-produced artificial titaniumsternum (breastbone), and a portion of the ribs (as opposed to the current standard, a non-customized, flat piece of titanium, which can loosen over time) in a patient who had numerous cancerous tumors in that area, the first use of 3D printing technology to take the place of these specific body parts. (Quartz, via MSN)
Switzerland holds 'X Factor' national anthem contest -
What does a country do if its national anthem is said to be so boring that no one can remember the words? The answer in Switzerland, it seems, is to hold a TV talent contest to find a better one. The country has just come to the end of a 20-month-long hunt for a new anthem that culminated in an X Factor style live television show over the weekend in which three finalists battled it out and viewers voted by text message. The winning entry was submitted, in French, German, Italian and Romansh, by Werner Widmer, a 62-year-old healthcare director from Zurich. The organisers say their next project is to convince the country to adopt Mr Widmar’s new version. [Daily Telegraph]
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott ousted by staunch republican Malcolm Turnbull -
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has been ousted in a stunning coup by self-made millionaire Malcolm Turnbull, continuing the nation’s five-year run of leadership swaps. Winning a 54 to 44 Liberal party-room vote in Canberra on Monday, Mr Turnbull, 60, promised to unite the party and the nation with a new style of leadership that “respects the people’s intelligence”. The deputy Liberal leader, Julie Bishop, backed Mr Turnbull and easily won back her position in a 70 to 30 vote against cabinet minister Kevin Andrews. [BBC]
Malcolm Turnbull
Taylor Swift is being sued because she accused a radio host of touching her bottom -
Taylor Swift is being sued by a former Coloradoan radio DJ who claims that he lost his job because of claims the singer made about him allegedly grabbing her bottom. In June 2013, David Mueller, who is known on the radio as "Jackson", went to a meet-and-greet with Taylor Swift, and brought along his girlfriend. Mueller and his girlfriend had their photo taken with Ms. Swift, and this is where things got ugly. Ms. Swift allegedly claimed that at this point he "lifted up her skirt and grabbed her bottom". After this, he was escorted from the premises by security. Then, after a series of calls between Taylor Swift's team and his radio station, he was fired. Mueller denies the claims that he touched her inappropriately. [Daily Telegraph]
Taylor Swift
Ten people are killed, seven from the same family, in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a government building in a southern suburb of Sana'a, the Yemen capital. (Reuters)
Taliban insurgents storm a prison in the central Afghan province of Ghazni killing at least four prison officers and freeing about 350 prisoners. The deputy provincial governor of the Ghazni province says the attackers were well-organised and wearing military uniforms. (BBC)
The Pentagon says that Russia has deployed its domestic use only T-90 tanks and artillery pieces to Syria along with more troops in what one defense official described as the "first clear sign of offensive weapons arriving in Syria" and "the largest deployment of Russian forces outside the former Soviet Union since the collapse of the USSR". (Fox News)
A University of Notre Dame study finds significant correlation between substantial executive stock options and future product recalls. CEOs with abundant stock options get a huge payoff when the company performs well but endure minute consequences when it doesn’t. (Fortune)
Shannon Lamb, a professor at Delta State University who was suspected of two murders in the U.S. state of Mississippi—the woman he was living with in Gautier and a fellow professor at the Delta State campus in Cleveland—dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while being pursued by police. (Fox News)
In the U.S., Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, involved in the litigation over same-sex marriage, states she will not block her deputies from issuing marriage licenses, but will not authorize them personally (her name will not appear on them, and they will state that they were given under a federal judicial order). (Reuters)
Michael Jordan earned more from trainers in 2014 than during entire basketball career -
It is no secret that Michael Jordan and Nike make a lot of money from Air Jordan trainers. But an infographic by PBS has revealed just how lucrative the line of sports shoes, which have obtained cult-like status among sneaker fans, is. In 2014 alone Jordan, 52, made $100 million from sales of trainers, more money than the $94 million he made in the entire of his stellar 15-year career as an NBA basktball player. His eye-watering income made him the highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year. [Daily Telegraph]
Michael Jordan
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe delivers wrong speech in parliament -
Zimbabwe's 91-year-old president Robert Mugabe read the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of parliament on Tuesday, repeating an address he gave to the legislature last month. The veteran leader read the 25-minute-long speech through to the end, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month. "There has been a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where... the president delivered the wrong speech," said George Charamba, the presidential spokesman. "The mix-up happened in his secretarial office," Mr Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper's online edition. "The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered." [Daily Telegraph] In February 2015 Mugabe allegedly suspended 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps.
President Robert Mugabe
Vladimir Putin 'reaches out' to Sir Elton John after singer asks to discuss gay rights -
Sir Elton John was engaged in a bizarre war of words with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday night after the singer publicly thanked the Russian leader for "reaching out" to him to discuss gay rights - but the Kremlin then denied the conversation ever took place. The veteran rock star said Mr Putin, who recently appeared to equate homosexuality with paedophilia and urged gay people to "leave kids alone", had called him and suggested they might meet. "Thank you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face to face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia," he wrote on his Instagram account. However, in a bizarre twist last night, Mr Putin's spokesman rejected the Rocket Man's claim. "Putin did not have a conversation with Elton John, and most importantly, we did not receive any kind of proposal for a meeting from him," said Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin's spokesman. At the weekend, Sir Elton condemned the Russian strongman's "ridiculous" stance on gay rights, which has seen a law passed banning homosexual "propaganda" among children in June 2013.[Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to build and launch rockets from Florida's 'Space Coast'
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced plans to build and launch rockets from Flordia's "Space Coast". At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Bezos announced that his Blue Origin space company will build rockets and launch them into orbit from Cape Canaveral. He plans to send up satellites first, then people - including space tourists and even himself. He predicts the first launch will occur by the end of the decade; he declined to be more specific, saying more details would be forthcoming next year. The as-yet-named rocket will launch and land vertically, the same method the company is testing for suborbital flights from remote West Texas. The first-stage boosters will be reusable to save money. The crew capsules will fly themselves and not require pilots. [Daily Telegraph]
Jeff Bezos
Houthi militants backed by Yemeni troops reportedly seize control of al-Rabu’ah, a town in Saudi Arabia's southwestern Asir region near the Yemeni border, forcing Saudi forces to pull out of the area. (Press TV)
Blackjack-addicted Buddhist monk accused of stealing $150,000 -
A Buddhist monk with an expensive blackjack addiction has appeared in court in New York, charged with stealing around $150,000 (£97,000) in donations to fund his habit. Khang Nguyen Le, 45, was paid $1,000 a month for his role as the most senior monk at the Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Southwest Louisiana, based in the town of Lafayette. But over the past four years he had found himself with a growing gambling addiction and, according to court documents, stole from the organisation to feed his habit. He is accused of spending up to $10,000 every two or three days at the blackjack tables, and hiding in the corners of the casino so no one would spot him. [Daily Telegraph]
Naomi Campbell tries to #freethenipple, fails -
The supermodel joined the controversial campaign, then felt the wrath of Instagram’s strict nudity policy. The fashion icon posted a topless picture to her Twitter and Instagram accounts on Wednesday, both accompanied by the #freethenipple hashtag. However, despite the fact she looks amazing and really not very offensive, Instagram wasn't having it. Within a few hours, the site had removed the image for violating its strict terms of use. In other words, there was a little too much nipple.The black and white portrait, taken from Garage magazine, is a sneak peek of her upcoming two volume TASCHEN book, and was shot by renowned photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. [Dazed Digital] The picture remained on Cambell's Twitter feed below:
Naomi Cambell Free the Nipple Tweet
Dislike button: Why Facebook wants to know what makes you sad -
It has finally happened. “Today is a special day” declared Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a live "in-person townhall" event. Almost casually, he dropped a bombshell that has ignited technology commentators overnight: Facebook is getting a new button. Yes, alongside "like" will be something else. It almost certainly will not be a "dislike" button. The widespread news is that Facebook will twin "like" with "dislike", long one of the most popular suggestions from Facebook users. However, if you actually listen to what Zuckerberg said, he rules this out: “we didn’t wanna just build a dislike button…[where] people were voting up or down people’s posts…what they really want is an ability to express empathy”. [Daily Telegraph]
Mark Zuckerberg
Hewlett-Packard, which has struggled for years in a declining PC market, will cut up to 33,300 jobs over the next three years, mostly in its enterprise business. (Reuters)
'Universal urination duration' wins Ig Nobel prize -
A study showing that nearly all mammals take the same amount of time to urinate has been awarded one of the 2015 Ig Nobel prizes at Harvard University. These spoof Nobels for "improbable research" are in their 25th year.
The team behind the urination research, from Georgia Tech, won the physics Ig. Using high-speed video analysis, they modelled the fluid dynamics involved in urination and discovered that all mammals weighing more than 3kg empty their bladders over about 21 seconds. Run by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, this is a jubilantly irreverent affair. It has become world famous for recognising scientific achievements that "make people laugh, and then think". This year's Ig winners travelled from six continents to accept their trophies. The triumphant research included a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg, and the discovery that the word "huh?" occurs in every human language. [BBC] See List of the Day
Valcke's reign at FIFA likely to be at an end -
For the second time in his career, Jerome Valcke leaves FIFA with a cloud hanging over him. Sepp Blatter's lieutenant for the past eight years, Valcke became the highest profile figure in the corruption-plagued organization to fall during the current series of scandals when he was "released from his duties" on Thursday and it appears unlikely he will return. The Frenchman has not been formally dismissed but Blatter is standing down in February and Valcke had already suggested he would probably go at that time as well. The 54-year-old, however, is now being investigated by FIFA's ethics committee after allegations he was involved in a plan to re-sell 2014 World Cup tickets for a lucrative profit. [Reuters]
Jérôme_Valcke
Sperm banks attract customers by offering them enough cash to buy a new iPhone -
Chinese sperm banks have been saying that there is no need to sell a kidney to afford an iPhone, just your bodily fluids. Renji Hospital in Shanghai is one among several facilities offering enough money to buy an iPhone if men donate sperm. The hospital wrote in an online posting: "No need to sell your kidneys - you can easily have a 6s," which refers to cases where people actually sold their organs to be able to afford Apple products. The advert says that if a man passes a health test and then regularly donates his sperm, he can earn enough money to purchase an iPhone. This amounts to 6,000 yuan (£610) which is enough to buy the new iPhone 6s. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Does Your School Matter? - ASAP Science
List of the Day -
Winners of the Ig Awards 2015 [BBC]
Chemistry - Callum Ormonde (University of Western Australia) and colleagues, for inventing a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg.
Physics - Patricia Yang (Georgia Institute of Technology, US) and colleagues, for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds).
Literature - Mark Dingemanse (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands) and colleagues, for discovering that the word "huh?" (or its equivalent) seems to exist in every human language - and for not being quite sure why.
Management - Gennaro Bernile (Singapore Management University) and colleagues, for discovering that many business leaders developed in childhood a fondness for risk-taking, when they experienced natural disasters (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and wildfires) that - for them - had no dire personal consequences.
Economics - The Bangkok Metropolitan Police (Thailand) for offering to pay policemen extra cash if the policemen refuse to take bribes.
Medicine - joint award: Hajime Kimata (Kimata Hajime Clinic, Japan) and also Jaroslava Durdiaková (Comenius University, Slovakia) and her collagues, for experiments to study the biomedical benefits or biomedical consequences of intense kissing (and other intimate, interpersonal activities).
Mathematics - Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Karl Grammer (University of Vienna, Austria) for trying to use mathematical techniques to determine whether and how Moulay Ismael the Bloodthirsty, the Sharifian Emperor of Morocco, managed, during the years from 1697 through 1727, to father 888 children.
Biology - Bruno Grossi (University of Chile) and colleagues, for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked.
Diagnostic medicine - Diallah Karim (Stoke Mandeville Hospital, UK) and colleagues, for determining that acute appendicitis can be accurately diagnosed by the amount of pain evident when the patient is driven over speed bumps.
Physiology and entomology - Awarded jointly to two individuals: Justin Schmidt (Southwest Biological Institute, US) for painstakingly creating the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates the relative pain people feel when stung by various insects; and to Michael L. Smith (Cornell University, US), for carefully arranging for honey bees to sting him repeatedly on 25 different locations on his body, to learn which locations are the least painful (the skull, middle toe tip, and upper arm). and which are the most painful (the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft).
Arab Coalition warplanes bomb Yemen's capital Sanaa targeting a high-profile Houthi leader's house. At least nine civilians are killed in the attack. (Reuters)
American Airlines halts flights for 90 minutes at its major hubs in Chicago, Dallas, and Miami because of a computer glitch. The incident produces a cascading effect of delays throughout all US airlines. (UPI)
Brazil'sSupreme Court issues a decision that bans corporate money in elections. This ruling comes as a major investigation is underway in the country on a campaign financing bribery and corruption scandal. (Singapore Today Online), (AP via Fox News)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Rugby World Cup 2015 Opening Day celebrated with Google Doodle -
Google has marked the start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup with a special doodle. In the doodle, the "G" of Google is transformed into an animated rugby player running through the rain with a rugby ball under his arm.
According to Matt Cruickshank, who designed the doodle, it is intended to celebrate "the girth and gracefulness of the 2015 World Cup players". "Having grown up playing rugby in England, I can still feel the muddy squelch in my boots lining up on the pitch for lessons," he said. "After a few concepts I concentrated on the vice like grip of an arm around the ball and how this could be used as a 'G'. I even added rain for the full effect." [Daily Telegraph]
Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army -
President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services. Fanning, 47, has been a specialist on national security issues for more than two decades and has played a key role overseeing some of the Pentagon’s biggest shipbuilding and fighter jet programs. Fanning’s nomination, which must go to the Senate for confirmation, reflects a major shift for the Pentagon, which only four years ago prevented openly gay troops from serving in the military. The policy didn’t extend to civilian leaders, such as Fanning. [Washington Post]
Eric Fanning
Video of the Day -
1 Question That Reveals a Narcissist: "The Science of Us" Episode 9
In India, about 2.3 million people respond to the state of Uttar Pradesh's announcement of 368 low-level government jobs openings that pay 16,000 rupees ($240) a month. At least 255 of the applicants had a doctorate and over 200,000 had master's degrees. (AP)
Governor of ArizonaDoug Ducey states that 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. is ballistically linked to four incidents and arrested in Glendale, Arizona after a SWAT raid. Merritt was previously charged twice in 2013, the first for failing to stop at the scene of a damaged vehicle, and the second for assault and criminal damage. Police state that he is known to hold anti-government and anti-police views. He is charged with four counts each of aggravated assault, criminal damage, disorderly conduct, discharging a firearm within city limits, carrying out a drive-by shooting, and intentional acts of terrorism; and his bail is set at $1 million. (ABC15), (KOB), (HEAVY), (ABC News), (Q13FOX), (AZ Central), (CNN), (Yahoo News), (NBC News)
Novelist Jackie Collins dies aged 77 -
The novelist Jackie Collins has died of breast cancer at the age of 77, her family said in a statement. "It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one-of-a-kind mother," the statement said. The British-born writer, sister of actress Joan Collins, died in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman said. Collins's raunchy novels of the rich and famous sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries.
In a career spanning four decades, all 32 of her novels appeared in the New York Times bestseller list. [BBC]
Jackie Collins
Japan shocks the rugby world and Twitter erupts -
80-1 outsiders to beat South Africa, Japan's win over the two-times world champions has sent Twitter into a frenzy. Japan’s utterly well-deserved conquering of the mighty Springboks [32-34] has, unsurprisingly, made Twitter’s rugby community quite excited.The bookmakers usually know a thing or two about these things, yet more than a few people would have thought this morning that even 40-1 for the Brave Blossoms to win against the Boks was rather generous. For those who don't understand how big a shock this was, @Burgerboxx provided an interesting, and somewhat useful, analogy. [Daily Telegraph]
Guinness World Record judicator hit in head by robot at giant Belfast Meccano bridge opening -
Engineering students have set a new world record with a 100ft footbridge made from Meccano. The temporary structure - weighing in at approximately 1,300lbs - has been built 100 feet long across Belfast's Clarendon Dock and was unveiled at an event on Saturday. Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to confirm it had set a record for the world's largest ever Meccano construction. However the event did not go quite as smoothly as organisers hoped, with a giant Meccano robot believed to have malfunctioned and swiped a Guinness World Record judicator round the head.Dr Danny McPolin from the school of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, who led the project, said: "If you count all the nuts and bolts and washers, there is approximately 70,000. "In terms of the longer pieces, if they're all laid out end-to-end I think it would be about 3.8kms - approximately 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. [Daily Telegraph]
A Saudi-led military coalition bombards government buildings and residential neighborhoods in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, killing about 30 people, including civilians. Rescuers continue searching for other possible victims buried under the rubble. (AP viaOrange County Register), (Xinhuanet)
Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović says Croatia will 'force' Hungary to accept migrants by sending them to the Hungarian border. Hungary responded angrily calling Milanović "pathetic" and accused Croatia of human smuggling. (BBC)
Bridge cheating scandal grows as top German players admit 'ethical violations' -
Three weeks after a fellow bridge professional threatened to name and shame those he believed were cheating, German bridge partners Josef Piekarek & Alex Smirnov have publicly confessed to "ethical violations". In apparent attempt to jump before they were pushed, the pair even suggested their own punishments for their behaviour, saying in a statement: "We are aware of the "whispers" circulating about our ethical conduct, and we are sorry to say there is some truth to them. We have voluntarily agreed never again to play competitive bridge together and to take two years off from playing competitive bridge.” The German Bridge Federation and the World Bridge Federation have yet to respond to the admission by Smirnov & Piekarek, [Daily Telegraph]
Apple's iOS App Store suffers first major attack -
The company [Apple] disclosed the effort after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps. It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple's stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, a total of just five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.N). The hackers embedded the malicious code in these apps by convincing developers of legitimate software to use a tainted, counterfeit version of Apple's software for creating iOS and Mac apps, which is known as Xcode, Apple said. [Reuters]
Greek elections: Alexis Tsipras emerges as clear winner in shock result -
Greece’s radical former prime minister Alexis Tsipras returned to office on Sunday night after his far-left Syriza party won a clear victory in Greece’s general election. Despite a tepid campaign that saw Mr Tsipras’s personal popularity fall sharply, preliminary results showed the 41-year-old’s far-left Syriza party had won sufficient seats to form a coalition government in the coming days. After a tight race, Syriza ran out comfortable winners, with initial projections showing them falling only five or six seats short of the 151 seats needed to govern. [Daily Telegraph] Tsipras announced he was resigning has called an early election on August 20, 2015Alexis Tsipras winning tweet
Alexis Tsipras
Primetime Emmy Award winners [Reuters]
BEST DRAMA SERIES - "Game of Thrones"
BEST COMEDY SERIES - "Veep"
ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES - Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES - Viola Davis, "How To Get Away With Murder"
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES - Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES - Uzo Aduba, "Orange is the New Black"
ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES - Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES - Tony Hale, "Veep"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES - Allison Janney, "Mom"
VARIETY TALK SERIES - "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"
VARIETY SKETCH SERIES - "Inside Amy Schumer"
REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM - "The Voice"
LIMITED SERIES - "Olive Kitteridge"
ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE - Richard Jenkins, "Olive Kitteridge"
ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE - Frances McDormand, "Olive Kitteridge"
At least 13 migrants died when a ferry and their inflatable dinghy collided off the northwestern Turkish port of Canakkale. Twenty people were rescued while another 13 are still missing. (BBC), (i24 News)
Austrian officials report 11,000 migrants crossed into the country from Hungary on Saturday, and another 7,000 are expected today. Seven trains are scheduled to transport 3,500 of these travelers to Germany. (CBS News)
Apple 'sets shipping date for electric car' -
Apple has designated building an electric car as a "committed project" and has set a target shipping date for 2019, according to reports. The project has been codenamed Titan and its leaders have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the Wall Street Journal claimed. For Apple, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product’s main features. Reports in August revealed that Apple was developing a car and studying self-driving technology, but it was unclear if the iPhone maker was designing a vehicle that could drive itself. [Daily Telegraph]
Foo Fighters 'kicked off' performing at Emmys after disagreement with Fox -
Dave Grohl says Foo Fighters were "kicked off" performing at the Emmy's after a disagreement with Fox. The singer said that the band had been approached to play at the ceremony. But he says their spot was pulled after they refused to play half of Sonic Highways and half of Learning To Fly. "The band and the Academy were extremely happy and excited to have Foo Fighters play as the first ever rock band on the Emmys," the Foos said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine. "Fox then refused to allow the band to play a full song from the Emmy-winning Sonic Highways. [BBC Newsbeat]
Dave Grohl
U.S. officials say Russia has begun flying drones on surveillance missions over Syria in what would be Russia's first military air operations in the country since the recent military build-up at a Syrian airbase in Latakia. (Reuters)
Hungary's parliament passes a law allowing the Hungarian military to help handle the migrant crisis at its borders with Serbia and Croatia, including the right to use non-lethal force such as rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades or net guns. (Reuters)
In Auckland, New Zealand, an extradition hearing for Kim Dotcom, former owner of a file sharing website, for alleged copyright infringement, racketeering, and money laundering begins, seeking to bring him to the U.S. (BBC)
At least eight people are killed and 45 wounded in shootings over the weekend across Chicago. (Fox Chicago)
A Denver, Colorado federal jury convicts Harold Henthorn of murder in the death of his wife Toni Henthorn, who fell off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate their wedding anniversary. His previous wife had died in suspicious circumstances also. (AP)
Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell is sentenced to 28 years for Salmonella typhimurium-tainted peanut butter, the most severe punishment ever handed out to a producer in a foodborne illness case. In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people in 46 states, half of them children, fell ill. Parnell and his brother were convicted in September 2014 of 71 criminal counts. His brother Michael Parnell is sentenced to 20 years, and the plant's former quality control manager Mary Wilkerson is sentenced to five years. (LA Times), (USA Today)
Politics and elections
Political parties in Northern Ireland hold talks to save a power-sharing agreement following claims that Irish nationalist militants were involved in the murder of a former operative. (Reuters)
The coup leader General Gilbert Diendéré says that he is ready to hand over power to transitional authorities as the army marches on the capital Ouagadougou. (BBC)
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Robert Lewandowski scores fastest five goals in Budesliga history -
Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes after coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga victory against Wolfsburg. Bayern trailed 1-0 at half-time, when Lewandowski came on for Thiago. Six minutes later, the Poland international netted his first goal of the night from close range. Lewandowski added four more in quick succession to record the fastest five goals scored by one player in Bundesliga history. [BBC]
Robert Lewandowski
Volkswagen CEO: 'We have totally screwed up' -
The President and CEO of Volkswagen's US group has admitted that the company "totally screwed up" in using software to rig emissions tests. Michael Horn told an audience in New York that Volkswagen had been "dishonest" and that their actions went against their own "values". Last Friday, US regulators said VW diesel cars had much higher emissions than tests had suggested. Some other governments have announced they will also investigate. [BBC]
Heist havoc: US bank robber shot by customer -
A US bank robber has ended up in hospital after his heist went spectacularly wrong and he was shot by a customer of the bank he was trying to hold up. The drama unfolded in the Michigan city of Warren. The robber was in the middle of holding up the bank and was about to be given money by the teller when he was shot in both arms and a leg by a bank customer, according to the Local 4 news station. The robber fled the bank but was later found by police lying on the street, bleeding. The bank robber is now in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The customer, who had a concealed weapon licence, is co-operating with police. [Daily Telegraph]
Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. from his last stop in Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, at Joint Base Andrews (formerly, Andrews Air Force Base), near Washington D.C., to start his first tour of the United States. He is received by U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, Marian Lois Robinson, U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden, his wife, U.S. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, two Biden granddaughters, the Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, military and base leaders, and Washington's Cardinal Donald Wuerl. He will be received tomorrow morning in a second arrival ceremony, at the White House, and will meet with the President there. (The Guardian)
Volkswagen says that 11 million vehicles could have suspect emission control software and it has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.2 billion US dollars) for possible fines, repairs, and litigation. (NBC News)
Facebook launches 360 video with Star Wars exclusive -
A short, exclusive Star Wars clip is among the first 360-degree videos to be posted on Facebook. The sequence, created by Lucasfilm's special effects team ILMxLAB, allows users to look in all directions as the camera whizzes through the sci-fi scene. When watched on a normal computer, the mouse is used to move the view. On mobile devices, a user can move the device around to alter the perspective. Other 360 videos posted include content from Discovery, GoPro, NBC and Vice.[BBC]
All About That Bass writer says he got $5,679 from 178m streams -
Kevin Kadish, who wrote All About That Bass, says he made just $5,679 (£3,700) from 178 million streams of the song. "I've never heard a songwriter complain about radio royalties as much as streaming royalties," Mr Kadish said. "That was the real issue for us, like one million streams equals $90 (£59)." Mr Kadish co-wrote All About That Bass with singer Meghan Trainor. She became the first act to enter the UK top 40 based purely on streams of All About That Bass. Streaming now accounts for one-third of the US music industry's income, which remains relatively flat, with total revenue down 0.5% to $3.17bn (£2.05bn). [BBC Newsbeat]
Meghan Trainor
Video of the Day -
The Angry Birds Movie - Official Teaser Trailer
List of the Day -
List of most streamed songs in the United Kingdom - [from Wikipedia]
Hajj Stampede Near Mecca Leaves Over 700 Dead -
In streaming ribbons of white, great masses of Muslim pilgrims made their way between cities of air-conditioned tents toward the next stop on their holy tour of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Then something went disastrously wrong, trapping the crowds in narrow streets and touching off a mass panic and crushing stampede that left the asphalt covered with lost sandals, crumpled wheelchairs and piles of white-robed bodies. It was the deadliest accident during the hajj pilgrimage in a quarter-century, with at least 717 pilgrims from around the world killed and more than 850 injured. [NY Times]
Russian billionaire hands two 'stolen' Picassos to French authorities -
A Russian billionaire has handed in to French authorities two Picassos, valued at £20 million, that the artist’s stepdaughter claims were stolen from her. Dmitri Rybolovlev, who owns Monaco football club, insists he acquired the portraits of Picasso’s second wife, Jacqueline Picasso, in good faith from Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier. In a statement, Mr Rybolovlev's family trust said it was handing over “Tête de femme. Profil” [Head of a Woman. Profile] and “Espagnole à l’éventail” [Spanish Woman with a Fan] as they "possess immeasurable aesthetic and sentimental value" for Catherine Hutin-Blay, Jacqueline's daughter. [Daily Telegraph]
Luhansk People's Republic officials in Donetsk told U.N. agencies and several other international NGOs to leave the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. Despite the Minsk Protocol and Minsk II peace agreements low intensity fighting and shelling continued non-stop in the region for over a year. There are fears that full-scale war will start because the breakaway regions plan on holding local elecion without approval from the Ukrainian government. (AP via ABC News)
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Fifa: Sepp Blatter faces criminal investigation -
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of football's world governing body Fifa. The attorney general's office said he was suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a "disloyal payment" to European football chief Michel Platini. Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added. Fifa said it was co-operating with the investigation. Mr Blatter, 79, has run Fifa since 1998 and has always denied any wrongdoing. [BBC] In July FIFA turned down a request for Blatter to Attend U.S. Senate Panel hearing
Sepp Blatter
London Zoo love triangle: Meerkat keeper glassed rival over llama handler -
A meerkat keeper has been found guilty of assaulting a monkey keeper in a vicious brawl at London Zoo's Christmas party which saw the two love rivals fight over the llama keeper. Caroline Westlake, who will be sentenced next month, hit her colleague Kate Sanders in the face with a glass leaving a wound that required stitches, a court heard on Friday. Miss Westlake claimed that it was an accident, and that Miss Sanders had already punched her, held her backwards over a 30 ft balcony and then spat at her. [Daily Telegraph]
Netflix adds gender reassignment to staff benefits list -
Netflix has added gender reassignment surgery to its list of staff benefits. The streaming entertainment service is not the only one - other technology companies including Facebook and Tesla also offer the option, along with hormone therapy, in a bid to be as diverse as possible. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11886148/Netflix-adds-gender-reassignment-to-staff-benefits-list.html [Daily Telegraph]
Michigan motorist sets car, gas pump on fire trying to kill spider with cigarette lighter -
A motorist got more than he bargained for when he stopped at a Michigan gas station earlier this week and started a fire when he tried to kill a spider with a cigarette lighter. Surveillance video from the Mobil gas station in Center Line shows flames quickly engulfing the man’s car and the gas pump, Fox 2 Detroit reported Friday, while adding that luckily no one was hurt. The dopey motorist put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. He told authorities he spotted a spider on his gas tank and pulled out his lighter to get rid of it, the station said. He claimed to be deathly afraid of spiders. Calmly, Adams hit the gas automatic stop button and quickly called the Center Line Fire Department. The fire destroyed the gas pump. The motorist’s vehicle suffered little damage. [Fox News] See Video of the Day
Mark Zuckerberg calls for universal internet access to combat poverty -
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and a host of celebrities kicked off a campaign on Saturday to make internet access universal, saying this was critical to fulfilling the United Nations' newly adopted agenda to combat global ills. Calling for efforts to ensure internet access for everyone globally by 2020, Mr Zuckerberg said internet connections are a dynamic tool for sharing knowledge, creating opportunities, lifting communities out of poverty and promoting peace. "A 'like' or a post won't stop a tank or a bullet, but when people are connected, we have a chance to build a common global community with a shared understanding," Mr Zuckerberg told at a private lunch with business leaders at the United Nations. [Daily Telegraph]
Mark Zuckerberg
Switzerland bans sale of Volkswagen diesel cars -
Switzerland is banning sales of Volkswagen diesel engine cars which could be fitted with ‘cheating’ devices in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal. Authorities said all VW models with diesel engines suspected of being able to trick emissions tests are affected. Other makes in the VW group, including Seat and Skoda, are also being banned from sale. In all, the move is expected to affect 180,000 cars, not yet sold or registered in Switzerland. Cars sold and already on the road will not be subject to the ban. [Daily Telegraph] On September 22 the CEO of VW's American company admitted that they had "screwed up" and subsequently resigned.
Video of the Day -
LiveLeak - Crazy Man Set Fire To Gas Station To Kill Spider
At least four Armenian soldiers are killed following an Azeri attack near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Yesterday, Azerbaijan shelled several ethnic Armenian villages, leaving three civilians dead. (Reuters)
Armenia's Defense Ministry declares that it will "use artillery and missiles" to repel attacks by Azerbaijan following the deaths of four soldiers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, raising fears of all-out war between the rival countries. (Fox News)
Tropical Storm Niala forms off the coast of the Hawaiian islands with the likelihood of heavy rain on the island of Hawaii (Big Island) over the weekend. (Accuweather)
Nicolas Sarkozy 'insists his name must be printed larger than rivals' on rally invitation -
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted on having invitations to a political rally reprinted to show his name twice as large as those of his rivals for the presidential nomination of his centre-Right party, The Republicans. Mr Sarkozy reportedly bristled when he saw his name on the original invitation in the same size letters as those of Alain Juppé and François Fillon. The two former prime ministers intend to run against Mr Sarkozy in a party primary next year. [Daily Telegraph]
Nicolas Sarkozy
Kanye says he's serious about becoming president -
Kanye West says he's totally serious about becoming US president in 2020.
In an interview with Vanity Fair he says he's had lots of support since announcing plans to run for election. He says people are "really into the idea" because they think he's "extremely thoughtful" and "probably the most honest celebrity we have". One possible spanner in the works of his political ambitions, though: he "hates politics". "I'm not a politician at all. I care about the truth and I just care about human beings. I just want everyone to win, that's all I can say, and I think we can," he says. [BBC Newsbeat]
[BBC Newsbeat]
Kanye West
Spieth caps season with $11.48 million double win -
Jordan Spieth capped a brilliant season in sensational style as he scored a four-stroke victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday that also won him the FedExCup playoffs title for an $11.48 million pay day. Spieth shot a closing one-under-par 69 at East Lake Golf Club for a nine-under total of 271 and his fifth win of the season, including the Masters and U.S. Open. The prize money haul included the $10 million jackpot bonus for winning the season's FedExCup points competition, virtually clinched him Player of the Year honours and returned the 22-year-old American to the number one world ranking. [Reuters]
Jordan Spieth
Air-strikes by Saudi helicopter gunships on the Yemeni village of Bani Zela in Yemen's Red Sea border area with Saudi Arabia kill at least 25 people. (Euronews)
France says it has carried out its first air-strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant within Syria, destroying a training camp in the east of the country. Previously, France had only carried out air-strikes in Iraq with consent of the Iraqi government. (Reuters)
'Supermoon' coincides with lunar eclipse -
People around the world have observed a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincided with a so-called "supermoon". A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky. The eclipse - which made the Moon appear red - has been visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe. This phenomenon was last observed in 1982 and will not be back before 2033. [BBC]
The supermoon on September 28, 2015
Record number of guns found in U.S. airport searches -
U.S. airport security agents discovered a record 67 firearms in luggage passengers intended to carry on to airplanes during one week in September, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Of the 67 firearms found during the week ended Sept. 17, 56 were loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms found during a week in May 2013, TSA said. Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year. [Reuters]
Martian salt streaks 'painted by liquid water' -
Scientists think they can now tie dark streaks seen on the surface of Mars to periodic flows of liquid water. Data from a Nasa satellite shows the features, which appear on slopes, to be associated with salt deposits. Crucially, such salts could alter the freezing and vaporisation points of water in Mars's sparse air, keeping it in a fluid state long enough to move. Luju Ojha and colleagues report the findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. There are implications for the existence of life on the planet today, because any liquid water raises the possibility that microbes could also be present. And for future astronauts on Mars, the identification of water supplies near the surface would make it easier for them to "live off the land". [BBC]
Kaiser Gullies
Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal -
Nepalese officials say they will introduce regulations banning inexperienced climbers from attempting Mount Everest in an attempt to improve safety and maintain the “glory” of the summit. Permits to climb Everest will only be given to those who can prove they have already scaled mountains that are higher than 6,500 metres, officials said. Disabled, old and very young people also face bans. The permits cost thousands of dollars and are a key source of revenue for Nepal. It is unclear how the demand for “proof of competence” might be enforced. [Guardian] An earthquake hit the region on May 12, 2015 killing 18 climbers and guides on the mountain.
An Arab Coalition air-strike on a wedding party in Wahijah, a village near the Red Sea port city of Mocha in southern Yemen, reportedly leaves at least 38 people dead. (BBC)
Royal Dutch Shell halts its drilling program for oil and gas off the coast of Alaska citing high costs and a challenging regulatory environment. (Bloomberg)
Separatists won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia's parliament (72 out of 135) in this weekend's election that saw a record turnout of 78 percent. The winners will seek to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months. Spain's constitution does not allow any region to break away. Spanish Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy vows to fight the separatist plan. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)
Barack Obama 'flouted secret service rules' for Bear Grylls challenge -
Bear Grylls has spoken of how President Obama flouted the protocol of his secret service to take up every challenge thrown at him, when he appeared on the survival guru's television show last month. The British ex-SAS soldier and television host said Mr Obama's security team were on tenterhooks, as he and the president spent the day trekking through the Alaskan wilderness filming a special episode of "Running Wild". "We ended up doing everything and he loved it. Afterwards, I thought I was going to get a special telling off from the secret service guys, but they all laughed and had a good time." Grylls said he was warned by Mr Obama's protocol staff that he could not give the president any gifts. But at the end of the filming he gave him his knife and said that the president should keep it "as a last line of defence if anybody ever got through the secret service". "I had a great email a few days later from his team saying that he absolutely loves the knife and he keeps playing with it! Boys love their toys," he said. [Daily Telegraph]
Bear Grylls
Australia: Council seeks cash for kangaroo-proofing -
A drought-affected district in eastern Australia is asking for government help to protect its villages against a "plague" of thirsty kangaroos, it's reported. The mayor of sparsely populated Barcoo Shire, in the state of Queensland, says hordes of kangaroos are causing concern among local people because they're coming into residential areas looking for food and water, the Brisbane Times reports. "The sheer numbers, you can drive around and you'll see a mob of kangaroos and you lose count after 120 or 130, they are in plague proportions," says Mayor Julie Groves. The council has now applied for federal government funding to pay for about 55km (34 miles) of fencing to keep the animals out of villages, sports parks, cemeteries, and off the local air strip used by the flying doctor. [BBC]
Edward Snowden (@Snowden) joins Twitter -
American whistleblower Edward Snowden has joined Twitter, asking in his first tweet, “Can you hear me now?”. The 32-year-old immediately began following the National Security Agency's (NSA) official account, the only organisation he has followed so far. Snowden, who is currently living at an undisclosed location in Russia after being granted asylum, links to Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Twitter account in his bio. The bio adds: “I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public.” He gained 100,000 followers within an hour of joining Twitter and has also been given a ‘verified’ blue tick. The former CIA contractor leaked tens of thousands of files from systems at the NSA in 2013 from which the techniques and methods of it and GCHQ were then exposed. He faces charges in the U.S. for leaking details of the once-secret surveillance programs. [Daily Telegraph]
Edward Snowden's first tweet
Eight of Iran's women's football team 'are men' -
Eight of Iran's women's football team are actually men awaiting sex change operations, it has been claimed. The country's football association was accused of being "unethical" for knowingly fielding eight men in its women's team. Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, told an Iranian news website: “[Eight players] have been playing with Iran’s female team without completing sex change operations.” On Wednesday, authorities reportedly ordered gender testing of the entire national squad and leading league players. The names of the players thought to be male were not revealed. [Daily Telegraph]
Electricity from the air - Drayson's big idea -
Free energy from the air. It sounds like a fantasy but that is what the entrepreneur and former science minister Lord Drayson has just unveiled at London's Royal Institution. He claims that a technology called Freevolt can be the power source for the "internet of things", allowing low energy devices from wearables to sensors to operate without being plugged in. The technology involves harvesting radio frequency energy from existing wireless and broadcast networks, from 4G to digital television. Lord Drayson says it's a world first: "It doesn't require any extra infrastructure, it doesn't require us to transmit any extra energy, it's recycling the energy which isn't being used at the moment." The technology was demonstrated in the lecture theatre at the Royal Institution, where Michael Faraday worked on electromagnetism in the 19th Century. Lord Drayson first showed how much radio frequency energy was in the room, and then used his Freevolt system to power a loudspeaker. [BBC]
Lord Drayson
Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in fatal car crash: prosecutors -
Former Olympic champion and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in connection with a crash in Malibu earlier this year that killed a 69-year-old woman, Los Angeles prosecutors said on Wednesday. Based on the facts in the case, prosecutors lacked evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Jenner's conduct was unreasonable, according to documents provided by Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Jenner, 65, was driving a Cadillac Escalade along Pacific Coast Highway and towing a trailer carrying a dune buggy when she slammed into two other cars, according to authorities. During the crash, a white Lexus being driven by 69-year-old Kim Howe was shoved by Jenner's sport-utility vehicle across a center divider and into oncoming traffic, where it was struck head-on by a Hummer. [Reuters]
The upper chamber of the Russian parliament approves a law allowing the use of the Russian Armed Forces outside its borders, following a request by Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The News Hub)
An Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons, including rockets and anti-tank shells, is intercepted and seized in the Arabian Sea, 150 miles southeast of the Omani Port of Salalah, by Arab coalition forces. Saudi Arabia has previously accused Iran of supplying weapons to Houthi militants in Yemen. (BBC)
A hurricane warning is in place in The Bahamas as Tropical Storm Joaquin approaches the islands. Joaquin (max. winds 70 mph) will pass over ocean with temperatures near 86°F (30°C) - the warmest since record keeping began in 1880, and is forecast to become a hurricane today. Joaquin is expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches possible over San Salvador and Rum Cay. The storm is predicted to accelerate and be several hundred miles off the North Carolina coast Sunday morning. (National Hurricane Center), (UPI), (Reuters)
With maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, Joaquin is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane. It is expected to pass The Bahamas Thursday, bringing tropical-storm-force winds, storm surges, coastal flooding and 5-10 inches of rain. While the European forecast model suggests Joaquin will avoid the U.S. East Coast, the American model predicts it will ram into Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina this weekend. (NBC News), (NHC)
Gunman kills nine at Oregon college, dies in shootout with police -
A gunman stalked onto a college campus in southwestern Oregon on Thursday and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven before police shot him to death, authorities said, in yet another burst of U.S. gun violence that ranked as the deadliest this year. The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was slain in an exchange of gunfire with two police officers in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the morning rampage. He was not publicly identified by local authorities - the county sheriff vowed never to utter his name. But CBS, CNN, NBC and the New York Times named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. [Reuters]
Native American tribe to open first marijuana resort in US -
A Native American tribe in the US state of South Dakota has said it plans to open what would be the first marijuana resort in the US. The 400-member Santee Sioux tribe already runs a casino, hotel and ranch and hopes the resort will be a new revenue generator. Marijuana is not legal in South Dakota but the tribe has been permitted to grow and sell pot since June. It will open on New Year's Eve and only be sold on the reservation. Sioux leaders would grow the marijuana to be offered in a smoking lounge. [BBC]
Peeple app for rating human beings causes uproar -
A new app that promises to let users review individuals has caused controversy before it has even launched. Peeple will allow members to give star ratings to people they know via the app, much as restaurants and hotels are rated on sites such as Yelp. The app has caused uproar online, with web users descrying it as "creepy" and "terrifying". Peeple's founders say they will pre-screen for negative abuse. However, users will not be able to delete comments made about them. Nor will they be able to remove themselves from the site once on it. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Study supports cancer link with height -
A Swedish study of five million people appears to support the theory that height and cancer risk are linked. The study found that taller people had a higher risk of breast cancer and skin cancer, among other cancers.
Its results suggested that for every 10cm (4in) of height, when fully grown, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18% in women and 11% in men. But experts said the study did not take into account many risk factors - and that tall people should not be worried. Previous studies have shown a link, although why it exists is not known. [BBC]
In retaliation for the rocket fired on the Israeli city of Ashdod, the Israeli Air Force carries out airstrikes on suspected Hamas positions in Gaza. No casualties are reported. (The News Hub)
Russian air-strikes reportedly kill U.S.-backed Syrian rebels as Russian jets bomb rebel positions in rural areas of northern Syria, including the town of Jisr al-Shughour, which is currently held by Islamist militant groups including Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front. (The Telegraph)
Hezbollah fighters and newly arriving Iranian troops are reportedly preparing for a 'major ground offensive' in northern Syria, backed by Russian air-strikes. (Reuters)
Four Turkish soldiers are killed in PKK attacks across southeastern Turkey. Turkish authorities impose a curfew in the city of Mardin due to escalating violence. (Today's Zaman)
Chinese authorities arrest a suspect in yesterday's 17 Liucheng Countymail bomb explosions that killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50. The suspect is identified as 33-year-old quarry-worker, Wei Yinyong, from Dapu township also inGuangxi Province. There is another explosion this morning. While it's not clear if it is connected, authorities reportedly located 60 packages yesterday which were being examined by a bomb squad. (The New York Times), (Asia One), (Voice of America), (Al Arabiya)
Hurricane Joaquin becomes a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Some additional strengthening is possible tomorrow. The storm, moving at just 6 mph, is predicted to drop 10 to 15 inches of rain in the central Bahamaswith up to five inches expected for the rest of the archipelago. (Nassau Tribune), (NHC)
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends everyone diagnosed with HIV immediately receive antiretroviral therapy and recommends preventative treatment for all at "substantial risk" of infection. Previously, the UN health agency had recommended to physicians that the threshold for patient intervention was the presentation of symptoms. (The Verge), (Time), (WHO)
International relations
Bahrain recalls its ambassador to Iran and asks the Iranian acting chargé d'affaires to leave the kingdom within 72 hours after the Iranian is declared persona non-grata, a day after Bahraini security forces discovered a large bomb-making factory inNuwaidrat and arrested a number of suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Bahrain's decision to recall its ambassador comes "in light of continued Iranian meddling in the affairs of the kingdom of Bahrain in order to create sectarian strife and impose hegemony and control." (The Daily Star), (Gulf News)
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Sam Smith's James Bond theme makes UK chart history -
Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall has made history by becoming the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK. The track achieved combined chart sales and streams of 70,000 copies - 13,000 ahead of its closest competitor, Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? The previous highest-charting Bond themes were Adele's Skyfall and Duran Duran's View To A Kill, which both reached number two. Smith said he was "so proud" of the song and being number one was "crazy". He told BBC Radio 1: "Out of all the songs I've brought out in my life, I was not expecting this to even chart in the top 10, let alone number one. It's unbelievable." [BBC] See List of the Day
Sam Smith
Janet Jackson puts the breaks on her Unbreakable world tour -
Janet Jackson has postponed her upcoming concert in Las Vegas and this isn't the first time the pop icon has hit a road block along the way on her Unbreakable World Tour. The 49-year-old singer and performer announced her comeback this past June but it has been a series of highs and lows for the pop icon since. She has planned to reschedule this stop for next May 2016 when the venue will move to a new arena that can accommodate 20,000 fans. [Daily Mail] Today also saw the release of her new album "Unbreakable", the first studio album from Jackson in seven years. See Video of the Day
Janet Jackson
Switzerland 'could house 50,000 refugees in Cold War bunkers' -
Switzerland can accommodate up to 50,000 refugees in nuclear bunkers, the country’s defence minister has said. During the Cold War, Switzerland began a policy of building enough fallout shelters that the entire country could safely retreat underground if there was a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the West. Today, while theoretically still available in a doomsday scenario, many of the bunkers are put to other uses. One in the small town of Sevelen was run as a “zero-star hotel” for some years, while the city of Geneva has used its bunkers as homeless shelters. Mr Maurer said around one-third of Switzerland’s public bunkers were currently in a position to take in refugees, with space for 50,000. [Daily Telegraph]
American wingsuit flier Johnny Strange dies in Switzerland accident -
Johnny Strange, an American adventurer who was the youngest person to climb the world's seven tallest summits, has died in a wing suit accident in the Alps, Swiss police confirmed on Friday. The 23-year-old, who crashed shortly after jumping from Mount Gitschen in central Switzerland, is the latest casualty in what is regarded as one of the world’s most deadly extreme sports. He died on impact with the ground, likely after losing control mid-jump, according to authorities in the Swiss canton of Uri. Mr Strange, from Malibu, California, became the youngest person to scale the tallest peaks on each of the world's seven continents in 2009, when he was 17. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Janet Jackson - BURNITUP! Feat. Missy Elliott (Lyric Video)
OSCE observers who are monitoring a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels, reported the presence of a new Russian weapons system in rebel-held territory this week, the 'TOS-1 Buratino' is a thermobaricmultiple rocket launcher system which can destroy several city blocks in one strike and cause indiscriminate damage. Only Russia produces the system and it was not exported to Ukraine before the conflict broke out. (Reuters)
Business and economy
Air France KLM will cut 2,900 jobs after talks with pilots unions are unsuccessful. (BBC)
Hurricane Joaquin attacked The Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane and destroyed houses, cut communications and electric power, uprooted trees, and unleashed heavy flooding. So far, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries. The storm, which weakened to Category 3 status with 125 mph sustained winds, is expected to dump up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain in some location before it moves away from the islands. (AP via Sacramento Bee)(AFP via Yahoo News)
JK Rowling dismisses Harry Potter fan theories about time travel and werewolves -
JK Rowling has shut-down a theory that one of the Harry Potter characters was a time traveller. The author responded to fans who claimed they had put together evidence about Ronald Weasley being a time travelling Dumbledore. On Twitter, she said that this theory is "false." Also, referring to the idea that Draco Malfoy could be a werewolf, she tweeted: "I've never seen that one before. Draco definitely isn't a werewolf (and Snape's not a vampire)." [BBC Newsbeat]
J. K. Rowling
Denis Healey dies aged 98 -
Denis Healey, a towering figure in the Labour Party and perhaps the most recognisable politician for a generation, has died. His family said the 98-year-old died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning at his home in Sussex after a short illness. The retired Labour politician, often described as "the best prime minister the party never had", served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 under the premierships of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. [Daily Telegraph]
Denis Healey in 1974
England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13 -
England are out of the World Cup after being torn apart by a superb Australia display at a stunned Twickenham. Two converted first-half tries and four penalties from Wallaby fly-half Bernard Foley in a virtuoso display brought a richly deserved win on a black night for England's men in white. The result means both Australia and Wales are into the quarter-finals. It is the first time that a host nation has gone out at the group stage of the tournament. And to complete their humiliation, it is also the first time England have failed to make the knockout stages. [BBC]
The Pentagon is reportedly weighing the option of using military force to protect the U.S.-backed rebels fighting the Assad regime. The Pentagon's own reports show that most of the rebels sympathize, hand over weapons and money or even outright join extremist groups such as ISIL or the Al-Nusra Front(Fox News)
ISIS claims responsibility for the killing of a 65-year old Japanese citizen in Bangladesh. This comes after the recent murder of an Italian, Cesare Tavella, in Bangladesh which was also claimed by ISIS. (Al Arabiya)
Two people are killed, including an eight-year-old boy, after a double-decker bus crashed into a Sainsbury's supermarket in Coventry city centre; six others were also seriously hurt including the bus driver according to West Midlands Police. (BBC)
England become the first host nation and first former finalist to be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup during the group stages following their defeat to Australia. (BBC)
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Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool boss sacked after Merseyside derby -
Liverpool have sacked manager Brendan Rodgers after three and a half years in charge. He was dismissed after Sunday's 1-1 draw at Everton, which left the Reds 10th in the Premier League, but the decision was made before the game. "Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch," read a club statement. Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp are the favourites to replace Rodgers. [BBC]
Brendan Rodgers
Dick Advocaat: Sunderland boss quits Premier League strugglers -
Dick Advocaat has resigned as Sunderland boss, with the team yet to win in the Premier League this season. The 68-year-old Dutchman was appointed in March, when the Black Cats were one point above the relegation zone.
He guided them to safety and was due to leave the club in the summer, only to sign a new one-year contract. [BBC]
Dick Advocaat
Woolly mammoth skeleton unearthed by Michigan farmers -
Two farmers in Michigan made an astonishing discovery when they unearthed the remains of a woolly mammoth while digging in a soybean field. Experts say it is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state. University of Michigan researchers say there is evidence the mammoth lived 11,700-15,000 years ago. [BBC]
How rugby star daughter's doll captivated Australia -
North Queensland swept to victory in Australia's National Rugby League final on Sunday, but it was a little girl's doll which stole the limelight. Cameras captured the moment a crying Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston celebrated his team's win with his daughter who was clutching a dark-skinned doll. For the first time in NRL history, both teams in the final had been skippered by an Indigenous Australian, and the moment was seen by many as a moment of inclusion and diversity. [BBC]
Johnathan Thurston
Video of the Day -
What Do You Mean / Epic Segway Dance Cover @justinbieber
Two Israeli civilians are killed and three injured by stabbing attacks carried out by Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City. As a result Palestinians are banned from entering the Old City for two days unless they live there. (BBC News)(Yahoo News)(CNN)
Turkey's air force launches a new wave of air-raids bombing PKK positions in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish warplanes destroyed PKK fuel and ammunition depots in the Hakkari province on the border with Iraq as well as in the easternKars province according to a military statement. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says reforms in Syria are unlikely until terrorism ("a word typically used to describe all of the government’s armed opponents") is vanquished. The country will continue to send representatives to peace negotiations sponsored by Moscow, but ruled out negotiations with the Western-backed groups opposing his government. (Washington Post)
At least 17 people have been killed with four more missing following heavy flooding along the French Riviera in the southeast of France. Rail, road and air traffic were all suspended and 27,000 homes were without electricity. A major stretch of the French Riviera has been declared a natural disaster zone. According to local radio station France Bleu-Azur, more than 17cm of rain fell on the Alpes-Maritimes region in two hours, the same amount the region would usually expect over two months. (AFP via Yahoo News)(Sky News)(Euro News)
U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina, hit by a once-in-a-millennium downpour that dumped over two feet of rain in some areas and turned South Carolina roads into rivers and parking lots into lakes. More than 250 roads across the state closed. A low pressure area is funneling heavy tropical moisture into the region as well as pulling in Hurricane Joaquin-related precipitation. "Catastrophic flash flooding" is expected overnight. (CNN)(NBC News)
U.S. Coast Guard searchers, looking for the 790-foot El Faro cargo ship missing since Thursday, located multiple objects including life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen in the waters off The Bahamas. Connection to El Faro is not immediately confirmed. (USA Today)(ABC News)
Bermuda, which suffered a glancing hit by then-Category 2Hurricane Joaquin, reports scattered power outages with heavy rain, high wind, and waves. The center of Joaquin, now Category 1 (max winds 85 mph), is moving north-northeast and will clear Bermuda sometime Monday. (Palm Beach Post)(AP via Orlando 6)(NHC)
Exit polls show Portugal’s centre-right government, in its first contest since tough austerity measures were launched to combat a debt crisis, is headed for victory but could lose its majority in parliament. (The Guardian)(Reuters)(The Telegraph)
In Minsk, about 1,000 opposition activists protest Russia's plans to establish a military air base in Belarus, saying it would turn the former Soviet republic into a Kremlin "vassal" and add to regional tensions. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has refrained from commenting on the initiative to establish the base. (Fox News)
Thousands of NASA Apollo mission photos uploaded online -
Thousands of photos taken by Apollo astronauts on moon missions are now online. Around 13,000 scans of images from NASA's archives, taken across ALL manned Apollo missions between 1961 and 1972 have been given to founder of the Project Apollo Archive Kipp Teague. He told Newsbeat "serious budget cuts" mean the organisation doesn't have the resourses to publish them. Kipp launched the gallery in 1999, but following questioning about decisions to edit some images in the past, he was prompted to post unedited, high resolution images this time around. [BBC Newsbeat]
Apollo 11 Magazine 40/S - (Color) / EVA; NASA photographs; unprocessed 1800 dpi Hasselblad film scans by Johnson Space Center, circa 2005
Extreme phone pinching is the strangest trend of 2015 -
Back in 2013 there was the Harlem Shake. In 2014, we had the Ice Bucket Challenge. Since then, social media trends have taken a bizarre turn, via some goats. Extreme phone pinching is the latest trend sweeping social media networks, and it involves holding your expensive phone over perilous locations. The only rule appears to be that you can only hold onto your gadget using only your thumb and forefinger. Photos and videos have been flooding the internet of phone users dangling their precious handsets over cliffs, toilets and drains. [Daily Telegraph]
Turkey says a Russian warplane violated its airspace near the Syrian border, prompting the Turkish Air Force to scramble two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it. The Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to protest the violation and urged Russia to avoid repeating such a violation, or it would be held "responsible for any undesired incident that may occur". (Reuters)
Fighting rages between Houthi militants and Hadi loyalists backed-by Saudi-led coalition forces along Yemen's Red Sea coast for control over the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Houthi officials said their forces had destroyed six opposing tanks and killed multiple pro-Hadi fighters. Also, the UAE announced another of its soldiers had died during fighting in Ma'rib. (Business Insider)
Business and economy
Clothing manufacturer and retailer American Apparel files for bankruptcy. The company said its 200+ retail stores will continue to operate without any interruptions. (New York Times)(Forbes)
The World Bank estimates that 9.6 percent of the world’s population is living in extreme poverty this year, down from 12.8% in 2012. The bank also updated its global poverty line from $1.25 per day to $1.90 per day to reflect inflation and changes in purchasing power around the world; it was last adjusted in 2008. (Time)(The Guardian)
In South Carolina, nine people are now reported dead in weather-related incidents and millions remain homebound. Rain is forecast to continue with parts of the state dealing with flooding for some time. (CNN)(AP via ACBS News)
The El Faro, missing since Thursday, is announced to have sunk on Thursday with 33 people on board during Hurricane Joaquin after a debris field is found. (NBC News)
At least nine people are dead as Typhoon Mujigae hits southern China in the midst of the country's weeklong National Day holiday. Mujigae also generated several strong tornadoes and left dozens of fishermen missing. Nearly 200,000 people had been evacuated before the storm made landfall. Neighboring Guangxi Zhuang region orders 12,700 fishing boats and 35,400 offshore workers to return to port. (AP)(International Business Times)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and 11 Pacific Rim countries is finalized in the American city of Atlanta, Georgia. According to wikileaks, The main point of the deal will be that trans-national corporations will not be subjected to laws of individual countries. Instead an international system will be formed with the right to overrule national laws and legal decisions. (The Australian)
Kentucky pet store worker nearly crushed to death by python -
A man working at a Kentucky pet store has been seriously hurt after a massive python he was feeding nearly crushed him to death. Police said they were called to Captive Born Reptiles and found the snake wrapped around the man. Terry Wilkens was not breathing when the officers pried the snake off him but he resumed breathing shortly afterwards, officers said. The python weighed about 125lb (56kg) and measured 20ft (6m) long. "It was only by the grace of God that one of the officers knew how to deal with snakes," Newport Kentucky Police Chief Tom Collins told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Officer Gregory Ripberger grabbed the snake by its head and uncurled the python from Mr Wilkens. [BBC]
Jungle Carpet python
Instagram says @music is just the start for music on the app -
The boss of Instagram has said "it's just a matter of time before music becomes even more dominant" on the app. Kevin Systrom's social media site has just turned five. But he told Newsbeat: "We never knew music would take off in the way it did but now 25% of our top [most followed] accounts are music related". In April, Instagram launched @music, which Kevin explained set out to "feature off-the-beaten path, hard-to-find accounts." [BBC Newsbeat]
Author jailed for flashing after prostitute disputes small penis claims -
A serial flasher has been jailed after a woman appeared in court and gave a detailed description of his penis. Hinton Sheryn, 68, had denied he would get his penis out in public - because he was embarrassed it was "unusually small". But officers managed to find a prostitute he used who came to court at the last minute and contested his claims. The female sex worker described his manhood and told Plymouth Crown Court it was a "normal" size. Her late intervention helped convict the successful author, who has now been jailed for 17 years after being convicted of 18 crimes. The former pop promoter was so notorious for exposing himself in the village near Plymouth, Devon, where he lived in the 1970s and 1980s he was known as "the flasher". [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
The New Microsoft Band: Live Healthier and Achieve More
NATO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg says Russia's pair of violations of Turkish airspace over the weekend do not look like accidents. Russia, which said it's looking into claims of a second violation, reported the first violation lasted a few seconds and was due to poor weather. (BBC)
Russian warplanes bomb Islamic State positions in the central Syrian city of Palmyra and in the northern Aleppo province, releasing videos that show them destroying 20 vehicles and 3 weapons depots. (Reuters)
Russia says it would consider extending its air-strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria to Iraq if it receives such a request from the Iraqi government. Iraqi President, Fuad Masum has recently said he would welcome this assistance. (Reuters)
A Boko Haram attack near Lake Chad kills at least 11 Chadian troops while 17 Boko Haram militants are also reportedly killed in the fighting following the pre-dawn strike on Chadian army positions. (AFP via Yahoo)
Thirteen people are reported to have died during this storm, 11 in South Carolina and two in North Carolina. At least 18 dams have breached or failed since Saturday. Communities downstream face a mass of water working its way toward the low-lying coast. (CNN)
The death toll from Thursday's landslide in the Guatemalan village of El Cambray Dos increased to 152 with more than 300 people missing. No survivors have been found at the site. Search crews have found entire families who died huddled together and buried alive. The Guatemala’s National Disaster Reduction Commission, known as the Conred, declared the area uninhabitable. (BBC)(Reuters)(Press TV)
Blatter faces 90-day suspension from FIFA, confidant says -
FIFA president Sepp Blatter faces an imminent 90 day suspension from soccer if the governing body's ethics judge backs a prosecutor's recommendation, a close friend and former advisor to Blatter told Reuters on Wednesday. Blatter's long-term confidant Klaus Stoehlker said the decision by judge Hans-Joachim Eckert on the provisional suspension was expected by Friday. "There is no final decision, this is a recommendation from the lower part of the Ethics Committee to the upper part," said Stoehlker, who added that Blatter had been informed of the development. [Reuters] In July FIFA turned down a request for Blatter to attend a U.S. Senate Panel Hearing
Sepp Blatter
Twitter launches Moments feature for 'the day's biggest and best stories' -
Twitter's launched a new feature called Moments to make it easier to see the day's biggest and best stories. It works by grouping together interesting and important tweets on single subjects - which you can then read, even if you don't follow the people tweeting them. Moments will appear in a special tab rather than on your timeline. It's hoped this will appeal to people who find Twitter too confusing to start with. The Moments tab will be divided into sections including news, sports and entertainment. For now, it's only being rolled out in America but will be heading to Europe soon. [BBC Newsbeat]
The Great British Bake Off 2015: the final - Nadiya crowned winner -
So the smallest baker had the biggest smile. In the final of The Great British Bake-Off (BBC One), 4ft 11in Nadiya Hussain’s face lit up with victory. It would have taken a hard-hearted viewer not to grin at her win too. After 10 weeks of fiendish challenges – popping dough into proving drawers, peering anxiously into ovens and wincing as tough-to-please judges poked at their pastry – just three of the original 12 contenders remained, their eyes on the title of Britain’s best amateur baker. Nadiya became the third consecutive female winner of that glass cake-stand trophy. It was a victory for women, for multicultural Britain and for brilliant baking. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends and List of the Day
Retired wrestler Hiroshi Hase appointed to Japanese cabinet by PM Shinzo Abe -
Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, has appointed a former television announcer and a retired wrestler who went by the ring name Viet Cong Express #1 to his new cabinet. Mr Abe retained around half his ministers in the first reshuffle of portfolios since he won the general election in December, but also has one eye on elections for the upper house of the Japanese parliament next summer. Hiroshi Hase, 54, was appointed minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology and the challenge of "education rebuilding".
Video of the Day -
Honest Trailers - Aladdin
List of the Day -
Great British Bake Off Innuendos 2015
"The wobble should be like me backside" - Sandy on her crème brûlée (2015, episode 4)
"Stand away from your hot baps!" - Mel and Sue
"One crack bad, two cracks better" - Mel Giedroyc to Ugne about her Madeira cake (2015, episode 1)
"You have got two hours to pop Mary's cherry" - Sue (the second half of the quote was "in the oven")
"The terror of a soggy bottom has been keeping me up all night" - Season four finalist Kimberley
"Go on Mary, give it a good slapping" - Paul Hollywood
"Time to stop fiddling with Charlotte now" - Sue Perkins
"Oh no, you have some irregular-shaped balls" - Mary Berry
“He loves his buns”- Mary Berry, on Paul Hollywood
An FBI investigation has reportedly found that criminal networks specializing in nuclear smuggling in Eastern Europe, particularly in the nation of Moldova, have shipped radioactive material to 'Middle Eastern extremists', including the Islamic State (which in the recent past has threatened to unleash a nuclear holocaust to 'wipe the West off the face of the Earth'). (AP via The Huffington Post)
United States PresidentBarack Obama telephoned MSF International President Joanne Liu to apologize for the U.S. bombing of the hospital in Afghanistan, express his condolences for the 22 people killed, commit to provide a transparent, thorough, and objective accounting of the facts and circumstances of the incident, and implement any changes to make tragedies like this one less likely to occur in the future.(Reuters)(Washington Post)
Brazil'sFederal Accounts Court (TCU), in a unanimous 8-0 decision, rules that PresidentDilma Rousseff's government manipulated its accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit. The ruling, while not legally binding, is expected to be used by opposition lawmakers who are calling for impeachment proceedings. (Reuters)(AP)
Google purchases abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com -
Google has purchased the domain name abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com in the wake of its restructuring as Alphabet, continuing its domain purchase spree. The company launched conglomerate Alphabet's site on ABC.xyz back in August, a move which saw the internet giant cleave its core YouTube, search, Android and email business from its ambitious research divisions, including the secretive Google X labs division. Domaininvesting.com noted that abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com was originally created in 1999, and that Google is now registered as the owner of the site under Whois records. Alphabet's home page is abc.xyz, so the company now has one of the longest domain names around as well as one of the shortest. However, the site notes, it's unlikely that even Google will be able to pursuade BMW to sell them alphabet.com, or news network ABC to give up ABC.com. Google will probably choose to leave the site as an inactive placeholder, rather than populate it with any new Alphabet content, and it's unknown how much they paid to gain control of the name. [Daily Telegraph]
Structure of Alphabet companies
Daniel Craig: 'I would rather slash my wrists than do another Bond film' -
Daniel Craig has said he would rather "slash my wrists" than do another James Bond film. The star, who will reprise his role as the British spy for the fourth time in the forthcoming SPECTRE movie, told Time Out magazine he wanted to "move on" from the franchise. But he added if he were to do another 007 film it would "only be for the money". When asked whether he could imagine doing another Bond movie, he said: "Now? I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on." [Daily Telegraph] In March 2015 Bond stars Daniel Craig and Roger Moore teamed up for a special 007 sketch for UK's Comic Relief
Daniel Craig
France Train Hero Stabbed -
Spencer Stone suffered what police described as "significant" injuries during a street brawl while out with friends in Sacramento, California. The US airman is in a stable condition in hospital after reportedly being stabbed four times in the chest.The incident, which took place at 12.45am (local time) on Thursday morning, is not thought to be connected to terrorism. Mr Stone - along with friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler - was hailed as a hero in August after subduing a heavily armed gunman on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris. [Sky News]
Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, President Hollande, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos after their Legion of Honor ceremony at the Élysée Palace on August 25, 2015
Spencer Stone, one of the individuals involved in stopping the gunman in the August 2015 Thalys train attack, is stabbed in downtown Sacramento. He is in stable condition at a hospital with what are believed to be non-life threatening wounds. (MSN)
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) reach a new tentative four-year labor agreement, averting a threatened strike of the automaker’s U.S. operations. The agreement must be ratified by a vote of FCA's 40,000 U.S. union workers, who rejected the previous proposal earlier this month. If ratified, the UAW intends to use the pact as a template for negotiations with General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Company. (Reuters)(Detroit Free Press)
The German state of Bavaria plans "emergency measures" in response to the migrant crisis, including deporting migrants back to Austria and closing the border. An estimated 225,000 migrants have arrived in the southern German state in less than five weeks. (Yahoo)
Justin Bieber's lawyers demand nude photos are removed from US news website -
Justin Bieber's legal team is demanding that media websites who have published naked photos of the star remove them immediately. The Hollywood Reporter claims to have seen a lawyer's letter sent to the New York Daily News, which originally published the pictures of the star on holiday in French Polynesia. The photos of the singer in Bora Bora are still live on the US website. Bieber's legal team says the publication of the photos represent a breach of the singer's publicity and privacy rights. The photos also, according to the letter, infringe Bieber's trademarks. The legal document is demanding action within 12 hours of receipt. [BBC Newsbeat]
Justin Bieber
One Direction announce new single "Perfect" and release date -
One Direction's next Made in the A.M. single's accidentally been announced as 'Perfect' thanks to a classic tweet-and-delete scenario from those crazy critters at Apple Music. Awkies. Yup - we already knew the Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson-penned tune had been registered; but now it looks like the track's gonna be the second proper single off of the fifth album following 'Drag Me Down.' And 'Infinity,' if you wanna count that. [Sugarscape]
Video of the Day -
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES - Official UK Trailer #1 (2016)
United States suspends its 500 million dollar Syrian rebel training program. The new strategy will shift toward supplying military aid "to a select group of vetted leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted push into territory still controlled by ISIL," a U.S. official said. (CNN)(ABC News)
Israel Defense Forces kill six Palestinian protesters and wound 60 at the Gaza Strip border, according to Gaza medics. The protesters attempted to destroy the "border" fence between Gaza and Israel and IDF soldiers "responded with fire on the main instigators in order to prevent them progressing and to disperse the riot," according to the IDF. (Reuters)(CNN)
Iraqi police officials say at least 35 people have been killed following a mortar bombardment of villages near the eastern city of Baqubah, capital of the Diyala Governorate. Officials did not speculate on who may be responsible for the attack, however theIslamic State group has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in the volatile province. (AP via ABC News)
A new tally by the Associated Press places the death count from the Mina stampede at 1,453 killed making it the deadliest disaster ever to occur during the Hajj. (AP via MSN)
China says it will "not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation", following a statement from a Pentagon official, that the U.S. may consider sailing warships close to China's disputed artificial islands in the South China Sea within the next two weeks. (Reuters)
One person is killed and another wounded, with a person in custody, in a shooting at an apartment complex near the Texas Southern University campus in southeast Houston, Texas. This is the second shooting involving TSU this week. A man is in serious, but stable, condition after being shot on the campus's Tiger Walk on Tuesday. (Houston Chronicle)(Reuters)
The southern German state of Bavaria threatens to take the Federal German government to court if it fails to take immediate steps to limit the flow of migrants to Germany. Over 200,000 migrants are estimated to have entered Germany since the beginning of September, the vast majority over the Austrian border into Bavaria. (Reuters)
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Shia LaBeouf Arrested For Public Intoxication -
Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has been arrested in Austin, Texas for public intoxication. A video on the TMZ website appears to show the actor in handcuffs as police put him in the back of a patrol car. Witnesses told the site the actor was acting bizarrely, running down the street, jaywalking and ignoring police warnings. The Austin City Limits music festival is currently taking place in the city. Records show the 29-year-old was booked into Travis County Jail on Friday night and later released. [Sky News]
Shia Labeouf
Japan: Citizens clamour for Tokyo disaster manual -
A manual to help people in Tokyo prepare for disasters has proved so popular that local officials have complained that they are being sold on the internet for profit. The 340-page Tokyo Bousai ("Disaster Preparedness Tokyo") appears in a startling yellow cover, and 7.5m copies are being distributed free of charge to Tokyo residents. It's currently available to download in Japanese and English from the city government's website, but for those who still crave a physical copy of the manual, the Tokyo government is considering selling it at cost price. [BBC]
Tokyo Disaster Manual
The death toll from Friday's violence at the Gaza Strip border is now seven Palestinians. Of the 60 wounded, 10 were seriously injured. Massive riots managed to breach the border fence and enter Israeli territory and were dispersed by live fire. (Ynet News)
Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara near the main train station leave at least 97 people dead and over 400 wounded. The bombing occurred during a peace rally protesting the conflict between Turkey and the militant KurdishPKK. (BBC),(CNN), (Sky News Australia)
The U.S. Department of Defense will make payments to families of victims of last week's U.S. airstrike that struck a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz. At least 22 people were killed including 12 staff members and 10 patients, including three children. MSF says 33 people are still missing and presumed to have died in the fire. (Reuters)(NBC News)(AFP via ABC News)
Vanuatu president's anger as stand-in pardons himself -
The president of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has expressed his anger after his deputy pardoned himself and 13 other convicts while he was out of the country. Speaker Marcellino Pipite was one of 14 MPs - half of the country's parliament - who were convicted last Friday of giving and receiving corrupt payments over a vote of no confidence in a previous government. With President Baldwin Lonsdale out of the country on Saturday, Pipite used his delegated powers to gazette a pardon for himself and his fellow defendants. Vanuatu's constitution allows the speaker to assume presidential powers in the absence of the head of the republic, including the power of pardon. [BBC]
Aerosmith To Donald Trump: Stop Using Our Song -
Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has asked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop using the band's power ballad Dream On at campaign events. Attorneys for Tyler have sent a second cease-and-desist letter to Mr Trump’s campaign committee, saying he does "not have our client's permission to use Dream On or any of Tyler's other songs". The letter adds that it "gives the false impression that he is connected with or endorses Mr Trump's presidential bid". Tyler, a registered Republican, went to the GOP contenders' first debate in August. Attorney Dina LaPolt said in a statement that the letter is not a "political" or "personal issue with Mr Trump", but one of permission and copyright. [Sky News]
Steven Tyler
Israeli traffic police stop a Palestinian woman transporting a small car bomb within Israeli territory near Jerusalem. She detonates the bomb, lightly wounding a police officer and critically wounding herself. (AP via Houston Chronicle)(AFP via NDTV)
A suicide bomber targets a foreign forces convoy in the Joy Shir area of Kabul. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility. A statement from Afghanistan's Interior Ministry reported at least three civilians were wounded. There are no report of casualties among the foreign forces. (AFP via Times of India)(Reuters)
Five members of the NATO-led coalition die and five others are injured in a non-combat helicopter crash in Kabul. The Associated Press reported the chopper collided with a monitoring balloon on landing. Nationalities weren't identified by NATO'sResolute Support; the British said two were Royal Air Force personnel. (BBC)(CNN)(USA Today)
The Turkish Air Force launches a wave of airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish security officials have also rejected a PKK ceasefire declared on Saturday shortly after the bombings in Ankara, saying "The PKK ceasefire means nothing for us. The operations will continue without a break". (Reuters)
Thousands gather in Ankara to pay their respects to those killed in Saturday's peace rally bombings. Marches and sit-ins protesting the attack were also held in Istanbul. No group has claimed responsibility. Turkey’s already polarized political parties traded accusations of responsibility for the attack. National elections are still scheduled for November 1, 2015. (Los Angeles Times)(The Guardian)(CNN)
A 15-hour protest about police-related deaths, in Thalang on Thailand'sPhuket Island in the Andaman Sea, turned into a riot when the crowd attacked the Thalang Police Station with rocks and fire bombs. Two young men were killed in a motorcycle crash while being chased by police. Fourteen police were injured, nine cars were torched, 13 others and five motorcycles damaged. While numerous people were inconvenienced by the blockade, a heart attack patient died on his way to Thalang Hospital when the ambulance couldn't get through the crowd. (AP via Fox News)(Celebcafe.org)(Immortal.org)(PhuketWan Tourism News)
Millions of Guineans vote peacefully in the West African country's second free election since gaining independence from France nearly 60 years ago. Ballot counting started; the provisional outcome is not expected until the end of this week, an official said. Incumbent PresidentAlpha Conde is expected to win reelection. (Deutsche Welle)
Queen's advisers strip Jeremy Corbyn of 'Right Honourable' title after Privy Council snub -
The Queen’s advisers told Parliament to strip Jeremy Corbyn of his “Right Honourable” status after Number 10 wrongly implied the Labour leader had joined the Privy Council, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Mr Corbyn was described on Parliament’s website as “Right Honourable”, which denotes membership of the centuries-old Privy Council, until late last week. The Labour leader was also described as a “Right Honourable Gentleman” by Prime Minister David Cameron when they faced each other in the Commons last month, days after he was voted in as Labour leader. However, after Mr Corbyn failed to attend the first meeting of the Privy Council since the summer holidays with the Queen last Thursday, the “Rt Hon” title was removed from Mr Corbyn’s page on Parliament’s website. [Daily Telegraph]
Swedish police called on a beard club because they were mistaken for Isil -
The police in Sweden were shocked to receive a call from a passer-by that alerted them to a possible Isil warrior group, north of the city Jönköping. When they arrived, they "had a good laugh" - the group mistaken for Isil was actually a beard club called the Bearded Villians. They had stopped in the area in order to take a photo together, posing with a sign which, from a distance, could be mistaken for the Isil flag. [Daily Telegraph]
Bearded Villains
Palestinians carried out three stabbing attacks against Israeli citizens and police in Jerusalem today with two of the attackers shot dead as the wave of violence continues, police said. There have been a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank in recent days that have wounded several Israelis; nine attackers have been shot dead. Also, at least 16 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during/after violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza. (AP via Houston Chronicle)(Times of Israel)(Israel National News)
An Arab attempting to stab pedestrians on a street in Tel Aviv is subdued by bystanders, with no injuries reported. (Israel National News)
Two Palestinian teenagers stab and critically injure a Jewish teenager and another man in East Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood in the third stabbing attack in the capital in six hours; one attacker is neutralized by a motorist and the second is shot dead by police. (The Jerusalem Post)
Cairo'scriminal court orders the release of the sons of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who are waiting for the Court of Appeal's decision in a financial corruption case. Each was sentenced to three years. The court ruled Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, who were initially detained in April 2011, had already served the requisite time in prison for the sentence. (New York Daily News)(Reuters)
Chess gets 'sexy' in million dollar Las Vegas tournament
The cerebral, centuries-old pastime of chess is not something normally associated with the glitz of Las Vegas. But amid the neon lights of the Planet Hollywood casino some of the world's greatest grandmasters gathered to battle it out for $1 million in prize money at the game's most lucrative ever tournament. There were tears and tantrums, controversial rulings, and stunning upsets - and that was exactly what the organisers wanted. The competition, called Millionaire Chess, was a concerted effort to "sex up" the favorite hobby of nerdy schoolboys, and ultimately turn it into a money-spinning television sport. To that end a Big Brother-style "confessional" booth was installed where players revealed their inner turmoil to a camera between moves and "trash talked" their opponents. The tournament was eventually won by [World number 2] Hikaru Nakamura. Following the biggest payday of his stellar chess career he said: "I want to thank the organisers. They have tried to make chess sexy and that's what chess needs. There are so many stereotypes out there about chess. This is very special." [Daily Telegraph]
Hikaru Nakamura
Playboy Magazine abandons nudity -
Playboy magazine is stopping publishing pictures of totally nude women because the internet has made them outdated, its US owners say. It's a break with a 62-year format that has had a significant impact on American culture. Every month since 1953, fold-out spreads of fully nude women have filled Playboy. The glossy adult men's magazine boasts a plethora of celebrity conquests in its portfolio. Madonna, Sharon Stone and Naomi Campbell were photographed at the peak of their fame. Kate Moss posed for its front cover in a bunny outfit. Lindsay Lohan and Pamela Anderson have also graced it. [BBC] Coincidentally today is international "No Bra Day" - See Top Twitter TrendsFacebook Briefly Bans The Phrase 'Everyone Will Know' -
Facebook blocked the phrase "everyone will know" for more than a day, but users are now once again able to post the seemingly innocuous three words. "This was a mistake with our spam filter and our engineers have resolved the issue," Melanie Ensign of Facebook security communications told The Huffington Post. HuffPost also independently confirmed that the phrase can now be posted. "We're constantly updating the rules used by our spam-fighting engine and this particular phrase erroneously got caught in the mix," she explained. Ensign didn't know exactly how long the phrase had been banned. On Friday, someone asked on Question.com, “Why can't you post 'everyone will know' on Facebook?” Another user replied they also were unable to post the phrase as a status. On Sunday, a Reddit thread was filled with people claiming they were unable to post the phrase as a status or in a comment. [Huffington Post]
Two stabbing attacks take place in Ra'anana: one outside city hall in which one man is injured and the attacker is subdued by civilians; in a second incident, the attacker stabs civilians in front of a cafe, injuring one critically and three lightly until he is subdued by civilians. (The Jerusalem Post)
In Jerusalem two men attempted to stab passengers on a bus before being shot; one person was killed and another wounded as a driver rammed into a crowd and the attacker reportedly stepped out of the crashed vehicle and attempted to stab the wounded before being subdued by police; in a separate incident two male passengers were killed and three others suffered gunshot wounds in a combined shooting and stabbing attack on a bus in the neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv in southern Jerusalem. (The Times of Israel)
'Muggle' becomes internet sensation after Democrat debate -
Amid the suited spin doctors and political professionals, one maverick in the Democratic Presidential Debate really stood out. And it wasn't Bernie Sanders. The internet was abuzz with musings about who the striking white-haired person in the audience could be. Bathed in a blue light from the studio settings, the man was seemingly oblivious to the sensation he was creating. And his identity remains a mystery - for now - and so online jokers have come up with their own answers. [Daily Telegraph]
Muggle at Democrat conference?
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean both win three BET Hip Hop Awards -
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean were the big winners at this year's BET Hip Hop Awards. Both rappers won three prizes followed by Drake, J. Cole and Fetty Wap, who all won two. Lamar, who enjoyed success earlier this year with his third album To Pimp A Butterfly, was named lyricist of the year at the ceremony which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. He also won awards for impact track and hip hop video for his single Alright. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day for full winners list.
Kendrick_Lamar
Video of the Day -
Man cuts ball fired at 160 kmh with samaurai sword
From comments:
Assuming the radar gun reads the highest velocity, and taking drag into consideration, the ball hits the sword after around 211 ms. If he is using the sound for triggering his reaction the sound would take ~3 ms to reach him and using the average audio stimulus reaction time of ~170 ms would leave him ~38 ms to draw the sword and hit the ball. That's 0.038 seconds.
List of the Day -
BET Hip Hop Awards Winners 2015Best Hip-Hop Video
Big Sean feat. Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign – “Play No Games”
Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings”
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” -- WINNER
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyoncé – “Feeling Myself”
Best Collabo, Duo or GroupBig Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings” -- WINNER
Big Sean feat. E-40 – “IDFWU”
Fetty Wap feat. Monty – “My Way”
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyoncé – “Feeling Myself”
Nicki Minaj feat. Drake and Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter”
Best Live Performer
Drake
J. Cole -- WINNER
Kanye West
Kendrick Lamar
Nicki Minaj
Lyricist of the Year
Big Sean
Drake
J. Cole
Kendrick Lamar -- KENDRICK LAMAR
Nicki Minaj
Video Director of the Year
Alan Ferguson
Benny Boom -- WINNER
Chris Robinson/Lil Chris
Colin Tilley
Director X
DJ of the Year
DJ Drama
DJ Envy
DJ Esco
DJ Khaled
DJ Mustard -- WINNERProducer of the YearDJ Mustard -- WINNER
J. Cole
Kanye West
Mike Will Made-It
Pharrell Williams
Timbaland
MVP of the Year
Big Sean
Drake -- WINNER
Future
J. Cole
Kendrick Lamar
Nicki Minaj
Track of the Year
“Alright” – Produced by Pharrell Williams and Sounwave (Kendrick Lamar)
“Blessings” – Produced by Boi-1da and Vinylz (Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West)
“Commas” – Produced by DJ Spinz and Southside (Future)
“IDFWU” – Produced by Dj Dahi, Dj Mustard, Kanye West and Key Wane (Big Sean feat. E-40)
“Trap Queen” – Produced by Tony Fadd (Fetty Wap) - WINNERAlbum of the Year
Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise
Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too LateJ. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive -- WINNER
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint
Wale – The Album About NothingWho Blew Up Award
Bobby Shmurda
DeJ Loaf
Fetty Wap -- WINNER
Rae Sremmurd
Tink
Hustler of the YearDr. Dre -- WINNER
Drake
J. Cole
Jay Z
Nicki Minaj
Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
A$AP Rocky
DeJ Loaf -- WINNER
Drake
Kanye West
Nicki Minaj
Best Club BangerBig Sean feat. E-40 – “IDFWU” (Produced by Dj Dahi, Dj Mustard, Kanye West and Key Wane) -- WINNER
Dej Loaf – “Try Me” (Produced by Dds)
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen” (Produced by Tony Fadd)
Future – “Commas” (Produced by DJ Spinz and Southside)
Rich Homie Quan – “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” (Produced by DJ Spinz and Nitti Beatz)
Best MixtapeFuture – 56 Nights - WINNER
Future – Beast Mode
Future – Monster
Lil Wayne – Sorry 4 The Wait 2
Travis Scott – Days Before RodeoSweet 16: Best Featured Verse
Drake – “Blessings” (Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West)
Drake – “My Way (Remix)” (Fetty Wap feat. Drake) -- WINNER
E-40 – “IDFWU” (Big Sean feat. E-40)
Kendrick Lamar – “Classic Man (Remix)” (Jidenna feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter” (Nicki Minaj feat. Drake and Lil Wayne)
Impact Track
Big Sean feat. Kanye West and John Legend – “One Man Can Change The World”
Common and John Legend – “Glory” (From The Motion Picture “Selma”)
J. Cole – “Apparently”
J. Cole – “Be Free”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” -- WINNERPeople’s Champ AwardBig Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings” -- WINNER
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Future – “Commas”
Kendrick Lamar – “i”
Rae Sremmurd – “No Type”
Rich Homie Quan – “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)”
Taliban insurgents overrun two security checkpoints near Kandahar in the southern Helmand Province, killing at least 29 border police officers, according to local officials. (Star Tribune)
A SwissBoeing F/A-18 military jet crashes in France while on a training mission, injuring the pilot. The Swiss defense ministry has said it did not know what caused the accident. (Reuters)
A temporary footbridge across the M1 motorway in Sandton near Johannesburg, South Africa, collapses, killing two people and injuring 23. Both carriageways of the motorway remain closed as rescue work continues. (News24)
Twitter goes down for 10 minutes, everybody panics -
Twitter went down for users in several parts of the world, causing widespread panic and much soul-searching across the UK, Japan and parts of America. The Twitter website, Tweetdeck - its service for power users, and its mobile apps were all down at 14:14 BST on Thursday. Service was restored roughly 10 minutes later. The website Down Detector, which registers reports of outages, registered a huge spike in queries for Twitter being down. Users in the UK, Japan, the US and the Middle East were among those affected. [Daily Telegraph]
Twitter down notice
Russia 'tried to cut off' World Wide Web -
Russia has run large scale experiments to test the feasibility of cutting the country off the World Wide Web, a senior industry executive has claimed. The tests, which come amid mounting concern about a Kremlin campaign to clamp down on internet freedoms, have been described by experts as preparations for an information blackout in the event of a domestic political crisis. Andrei Semerikov, general director of a Russian service provider called Er Telecom, said Russia’s ministry of communications and Roskomnadzor, the national internet regulator, ordered communications hubs run by the main Russian internet providers to block traffic to foreign communications channels by using a traffic control system called DPI. The objective was to see whether the Runet – the informal name for the Russian internet – could continue to function in isolation from the global internet. The experiment, which took place in spring this year, failed because thousands of smaller service providers, which Roskomnadzor has little control over, continued to pass information out of the country, Mr Semerikov said. [Daily Telegraph]
Porn during lunch breaks is OK but smoking cannabis can get you sacked, Italy's highest court rules -
Employees cannot be sacked for watching porn during their lunch breaks if it does not impact upon their ability to do their work, Italy’s highest court has ruled. According to Italian media reports, the Court of Cassation ruled against major car manufacturer Fiat after it sacked a factory worker in Termini Imerese, a town in Sicily. Bosses had caught the man watching adult films at work, but he argued that his viewing was limited to “catching a glimpse of a movie during his lunch break”. But it wasn’t all bad news for Fiat, as in a separate ruling on Wednesday the court found the carmaker was within its rights to sack a man caught smoking cannabis during his lunch break – presumably because its effects continued into his working hours. [The Independent]
Video of the Day -
Back To The Future In ACTUAL 2015 - by College Humor
Yemen's Sana'a-controlled forces fire a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Saudi "war crimes". A spokesman for Yemen's military allied with Houthi militants said the missile hit a Saudi airbase and caused "widespread destruction". There was no immediate comment from the Saudi side. (Reuters)
The German automotive watchdog KBA orders Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million cars in that country after the emissions scandal becomes public knowledge. (Reuters via SBS Australia)
International relations
Vietnam says a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea. More than 20 Vietnamese fishing boats have been attacked by Chinese vessels this year causing tensions between both countries.(AP via Yahoo)
The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) has asked the U.S. Navy to resume the search ended by the U.S. Coast Guard for the merchant vessel SS EL FARO believed lost on Oct. 7 during Hurricane Joaquin. The loss of the ship – with its crew of 33 hands – is regarded as “the worst U.S. merchant marine disaster of recent memory.” (USNI News)
Five individuals -- four men and a teenage boy -- are arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl at a Sydney, Australia, house party. (CNN)
The NevadaGaming Control Board rules that daily fantasy sports leagues are a form of gambling that requires a license to operate in the state, including being offered to state residents. Due to Nevada's status as a major gambling center, the decision is seen as potentially influencing other U.S. states' stances on the leagues. (CBS News)(ESPN)
Astronomers say they have observed bizarre light patterns using the Kepler Space Telescope from a star that appears old, but is shrouded in debris like a much younger star, roughly 1,500 light-years away. This has led to speculation that these are an "artificial extraterrestrial mega-structure", orbiting the star known as KIC 8462852 in the Cygnus constellation. KIC 8462852 lies just above the Milky Way between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. It first attracted the attention of astronomers in 2009 when the Kepler Space Telescope identified it as a candidate for having orbiting Earth-like planets. (Independent)(Discovery News)
Santa Claus is elected to North Pole City Council in Alaska -
Mr Claus, who is 68 years old, has a white beard and is often seen in his hometown wearing red. Admittedly this North Pole is actually in Alaska, not the one every associates with Christmas. And Mr Claus actually changed his name from Thomas Patrick O'Connor about 10 years ago. "I'm fairly well known. I think people are pleased with it. We'll see. Time will tell," he said. "I have three years to make a positive impression so hopefully I will get off on the right foot later this month." North Pole, Alaska, is home to about 2,200 people. Their new city councillor will take his seat later this month. Mr Claus, who was living in Nevada when he changed his name, says he tries to help at-risk children and improve the lives of young people. [BBC Newsbeat]
China home to more billionaires than the US -
China has eclipsed the United States as home to the world’s highest number of billionaires, according to a new report. Despite China's economy cooling in recent months, the number of billionaires within its borders rose this year by 242, bringing the total to 596. The US, in contrast, is currently home to 537 billionaires, according to The Hurun Report, which monitors the wealthy in China. The list reflects a power shift in China’s economy, with the surge in the number of super rich fuelled by the growth of the nation’s IT and manufacturing industries. [Daily Telegraph]
Yahoo Mail does away with passwords -
One of the biggest pains of the digital age is having to memorise multiple lengthy and appropriately unguessable passwords. Now, Yahoo has done away with the password altogether in its new Yahoo Mail app, instead asking users to sign in via push notification. The new app uses new sign-in method Yahoo Account Key, which sends a notification to the smartphone you've chosen to link to the account asking 'Are you trying to sign in?' and the option to select yes or no. Yahoo claims the feature is more secure than a traditional password due to the second step of phone verification, but without the need to input a code. [Daily Telegraph]
An Israeli soldier is stabbed shortly after the fire by a Palestinian posing as a journalist with a camera and a "PRESS" vest; the attacker is shot dead. (Reuters)
Many residents of Los Angeles and Kern Counties in southern drought-stricken California are trapped by flash floods after receiving four to six inches of rain in a short period of time. (CNN)
Six construction workers, injured when scaffolding at an unfinished building collapsed in Houston, Texas (US), are rushed to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Firefighters continue to sift through the debris for other potential victims. (Houston Chronicle)
The European Union and Turkey reach an agreement for Turkey to stem the flow of migrants into Europe in return for a £3bn aid package, easier visa conditions and re-energised talks to join the bloc. (ITV)
Russia and other ex-Soviet states meeting in Kazakhstan agree to set up a joint task force to tackle instability on their borders, most notably from Afghanistan. (Reuters)
China hosts the ministers of defense from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the meeting a Chinese defense official suggests joint maritime drills between the host and ASEAN. At the same time, it is widely expected that U.S. Navyvessels may soon sail within 12 nautical miles of islands China is constructing upon reefs and atolls in the South China Sea. (New York Times)(BBC)
Rafe Esquith, a notable teacher in the Los Angeles, California, public school system files a $1 billion class action lawsuit against the LA Unified School District. Esquith, recently removed from teaching and subsequently fired, alleges on behalf of almost 2,000 individuals, certain age-discrimination tactics by the school system against older teachers. (CNN)
Hawaii GovernorDavid Ige declares a state of emergency to address homelessness as the state has seen an alarming increase in unsheltered individuals and families over the past two years, particularly on O'ahu. Hawaii has the highest per capita rate ofhomelessness among the 50 states at about 465 people per 100,000 citizens. This act "frees up" money for this problem. (UPI)(Reuters)(Hawaii)
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Apple loses patent lawsuit to University of Wisconsin, faces hefty damages -
Apple Inc could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices. The jury in Madison, Wisconsin also said the patent, which improves processor efficiency, was valid. The trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages. WARF used the patent to sue Intel Corp in 2008, but the case was settled the following year on the eve of trial. Last month, WARF launched a second lawsuit against Apple, this time targeting the company's newest chips, the A9 and A9X, used in the just-released iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as the iPad Pro. [Reuters]
Volkswagen faces €40bn lawsuit from investors -
Volkswagen is set to be pushed deeper into crisis after it emerged that the carmaker is facing a record-breaking €40bn (£30bn) legal attack spearheaded by one of the world’s top law firms. Quinn Emanuel, which has won almost $50bn (£32bn) for clients and represented Google, Sony and Fifa, has been retained by claim funding group Bentham to prepare a case for VW shareholders over the diesel emissions scandal, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Bentham has recently backed an action by Tesco shareholders over the retailer’s overstating of profits. The pair are attempting to assemble a huge class action following what they call “fundamental dishonesty” at the German auto giant, which plunged the carmaker into crisis after it admitted using “defeat devices” to cheat pollution tests. [Daily Telegraph]
Henriette Reker, a candidate in Cologne's mayoral race, is stabbed in the neck by a man claiming to be angry over Germany's refugee policies. Reker is in serious condition, as is an aide. Three others suffered minor injuries. (BBC)(Today)
Three Turkish troops, including a lieutenant colonel, are killed following clashes with PKK insurgents around Dağlıca vlliage, in the southeastern Hakkâri Province. At least 17 PKK insurgents were also reportedly killed in the fighting. (Today's Zaman)
Israelisecurity forces kill four Palestinians and critically wound another who attempted to stab either police officers or a member of the public today. This is the latest in a month of similar attacks where 17 Palestinians, labelled as the attackers, and eight Israelis have been killed. (UPI)(Abu Dhabi National)
The United States cancels two potential Arctic lease sales off Alaska's northern coast, and announces Shell and Statoil current leases will not be extended because of "current market conditions and low industry interest." (NPR)(BBC)
Typhoon Koppu (Lando) heads towards the Philippines island of Luzon where it is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm, linger and deposit up to 50 inches of rain in some areas. (Mashable)
At least 16 people are killed near Odessa in the Ukraine after a passenger boat sinks in bad weather. (RT)
Law and Crime
Ardit Ferizi, a 20-year-old hacker from Kosovo and computer student in Malaysia, is arrested for hacking into a Phoenix, Arizona computer system and stealing the names and personal information of thousands of U.S. military personnel. Ferizi is accused of giving the information to ISIS. The U.S. is seeking Ferizi’s extradition. (CNN)
A shooting just before midnight at the ninth annual Fort Myers, Florida, Zombicon kills one person and injures four others, none with life threatening injuries, and causes pandemomium on the city's downtown streets. Police ask attendees to share smartphonevideo from the incident. (USA Today)(Reuters)
Spain to teach bullfighting in schools -
Spain’s education ministry has drawn up plans to create courses in bullfighting as an optional subject in state schools. For the first time, bullfighting, as well as other subjects related to the spectacle, will be available for students aged 16 and older who move into vocational training after finishing their compulsory education. The move appears to represent a final attempt to defend the activity by Spain’s conservative government before elections in December. Students who complete the course will receive a professional training certificate in "Tauromachy – bullfighting – and Auxiliary Livestock Activities" after they have learned the skills of bullfighting, the regulations applied to the event and the rules on breeding Spain’s fighting bulls. The full-time, two-year courses will be offered at a number of high schools around the country. [Daily Telegraph]
Big Ben's clock 'needs £40m of work' to keep bongs sounding -
The taxpayer faces a bill of up to £40 million to keep the famous "bongs" of Big Ben sounding, according to a report. Parliament's Great Clock is said to be so dilapidated that it could grind to a halt unless drastic repairs are carried out. A report presented to the cross-party Commons Finance Committee has set out a £29.2 million plan for fixing the issues. It would see the mechanism shut down for four months - believed to be the longest stoppage in its 156-year history. The document, seen by the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times, said: "The clock currently has chronic problems with the bearings behind the hands and the pendulum. "Either could become acute at any time, causing the clock to stop - or worse." [Daily Telegraph]
Cleaning Big Ben in 2007
The Israeli military evacuated dozens of Jewishworshippers who were surrounded by Palestinians after entering Joseph's Tomb compound in Nablus, which was recently torched by Palestinians. The area is under full Palestinian control but Jewish prayer is permitted there when coordinated with authorities. The military said Sunday's visit was not, and the worshippers had no permit. (AP)(New Delhi Television)
U.S. Military officials announce that a military airstrike in northwest Syria killed a financial manager and leader of an al Qaeda network. Sanafi al-Nasr, of Saudi Arabia, was said to have been plotting terror attacks against the West. (New York Times)
Slow-moving Koppu weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in the northeastern Philippines leaving at least two people dead and at least six missing, displacing 16,000 villagers, and knocking out power in entire provinces, according to authorities. (AP via NBC News)(UPI)
At least four people are killed and a dozen injured after a small plane crashes in a residential area of the Colombian capital Bogota. (AP)
A San Francisco-boundSouthwest Airlines flight returned to Los Angeles after an apparent altercation on the plane. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the fracas may have begun after one passenger reclined her seat, and the passenger behind her allegedly “started choking her." One passenger was removed from the flight. The airline moved the remaining passengers to a different plane to resume their journey to San Francisco. (USA Today)(NBC News)
Nasa predicts near-miss with asteroid on Halloween -
An asteroid is due to pass by Earth on Halloween and miss us by a whisker, according to Nasa. Well, if whiskers were 499,000km long, at any rate. The asteroid was spotted by Nasa a fortnight ago and is set to fly past the Earth on Halloween at over 78,000mph. It will cross by Earth at the closest it's been since 2006. The space agency explained why they spotted it at such short notice, despite constantly monitoring the size. They said: "The asteroid is on an extremely eccentric and a high inclination orbit." We won't be able to see the asteroid with the naked eye, but anyone with access to a telescope will be able to see it as it passes by. "This is the closest approach by a known object this large until 1999 AN10 approaches within 1 lunar distance in August 2027," said Nasa. [Daily Telegraph]
Q Awards 2015: Foals beat Ed Sheeran and Blur to win Best Act In the World Today -
The Oxford band Foals confirmed their elevation to music’s biggest stages after being voted Best Act In the World Today at the Q magazine awards. Foals, who combine indie rock with electronic beats and African-inspired rhythms, beat Blur, Noel Gallagher and Ed Sheeran to the award, previously won by the likes of Radiohead and Coldplay. Ed Sheeran beat Kanye West, Taylor Swift and Sam Smith to the Solo Artist award, capping a year in which the strummer sold out three nights at Wembley Stadium, performing with just his guitar and a loops pedal. However Sheeran lost out to the Brighton drums and bass rock duo Royal Blood for the Best Live Act prize. [The Independent] See List of the Day
The Foals
Hundreds Of Apps Banned From App Store For Accessing Users’ Personal Information -
Hundreds of iOS applications have been pulled out of the App Store, following a report from analytics service SourceDNA, which uncovered a group of applications that were extracting users’ personally identifiable information, including email addresses associated with their Apple IDs, devices and peripheral serial numbers, as well as a list of apps installed on their phone. The applications in question had been using an SDK from a Chinese advertising company called Youmi which was accessing this information by way of private APIs, the report found. Nearly all of the developers were located in China so, for now, this appears to be an isolated incident. However, the larger concern here has to do with how long this activity had been taking place – and what that means in terms of Apple’s App Store review process, given that it hadn’t caught this suspect activity until being alerted to it by a third party. [Tech Crunch]
The Q Awards 2015 WinnersQ Best New Act
James Bay
Best Track
The Libertines – Gunga Din (Winner)Q Best Album
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday Q Best Video
Florence + The Machine – Ship To WreckQ Hero
Mark Ronson
Q Best Live Act
Royal Blood
Q Classic Album
Soul II Soul – Club Classics Vol. OneQ Best Solo Artist
Ed Sheeran
Q Innovation in Sound
Gary Numan
Q Best Act In The World
Foals
Gibson Les Paul Award
Tony Iommi
Q Outstanding Contribution to Music
New Order
Q Classic Single
Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Q Icon
Duran Duran
19-year-old soldier Omri Levy was killed and nearly a dozen injured in a shooting and stabbing attack in the central bus station in the southern city of Beersheba carried out by an Israeli Bedouin Arab, 21-year old Mohind al-Okbi, who was killed after a gun battle. (Washington Post)(NBC News)
Israeli hospital officials announce an Eritreanmigrant, Haptom Zerhom, mistakenly shot by an Israeli security guard and then attacked by bystanders who thought he was involved in the Beersheva bus station attack, has died of his wounds. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahsho said this latest incident seemed to capture the current climate of ratcheted-up tensions. Police are looking to identify and locate members of the crowd who beat and fatally wounded the man; the security officer whose shot incapacitated the victim will not be investigated. (AP)(Yediot Ahronot – Ynet)
Afghanistan’s acting defense minister has stated that the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz bombed on 3 October by U.S. forces was being used as a safe haven by insurgents. MSF has repeatedly denied the allegation, stating "Every staff member in Kunduz working for MSF has repeatedly reported to us that there were no armed people in the hospital at the time of the bombing". (AP)
Business and economics
China’s economy expanded 6.9% in third quarter over last year’s growth, just slightly better than forecast. (New York Times)
Spencer Stone, primarily responsible for thwarting an August terrorist attack on a train en route to Paris from Amsterdam and later stabbed in downtown Sacramento has undergone open heart surgery. The wounds from the most recent altercation were more serious than previously reported. (Air Force Times)
Following 21 days of deliberation the deadlocked jury in Manhattan declared a mistrial in the case against three former senior attorneys from the “once large and prominent law firm” Dewey & LeBoeuf. The three had been charged with “plotting to manipulate financial records in an attempt to defraud bank lenders and insurance companies during the financial crisis.” (New York Times)
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Crushes Presale Ticket Records -
Fan demand led to crash of multiple websites like Fandango and MovieTickets.com. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” broke the record for the highest number of first-day presale tickets for Fandango, AMC and IMAX. According to Fandango, the site has sold eight times as many tickets as it did on the first day for the previous record holder, “The Hunger Games” in 2012 — and that’s even before the 24-hour mark was reached. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in 2010 slipped to third place in first-day advance sales. Traffic on Fandango surged to seven times the site’s typical peak levels, a site spokesperson reported. Similarly, MovieTickets.com reported that the online ticketer saw traffic “three times higher than the highest peak in the company’s 15 plus year history.” Comparably, the advance ticket sales for “The Force Awakens” are already four times greater than advance tickets sold for “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.” [The Wrap] See Video of the Day
Fed-up cafe bans money from underwear -
In this tough economic climate, small business owners need every dollar they can get their hands on. Unless said dollar comes from a customer’s undies, apparently. Staff at a Carnarvon cafe were so fed up with patrons paying with money retrieved from undergarments they put the attached sign at the cash register for a six-week period. Fascine Coffee Lounge owner Robin Weeks said the straw that broke the camel’s back was a man who tried to pay his bill with money from his jocks. “My son thought people shouldn’t put money there and he shouldn’t have to touch it,” Weeks said. “We had four or five people that did it. A lot of women think their bra is the best place for their money because they don’t have pockets.” Weeks said while most people approved of the sign, there were some who refused to change their ways. [Western Australian]
Fascine Coffee Lounge sign
At least three Russian troops fighting along side the Syrian Army are reportedly killed after a shell hit their position in the coastal province of Latakia. If confirmed, the deaths would be the first Russian military casualties since intervening in the civil war in September. (Reuters)
Taliban forces advance on Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, amid fierce fighting with government forces that threatens to cut off a major highway and has prompted many families to flee. (Reuters)
Lamar Odom, who had been hospitalized in grave condition after ingesting, in a binge, herbal Viagra, alcohol, and other substances in a 3-day, $75,000 stay at a legal brothel in Nevada, comes out of his coma, improves, and is able to have conversations, though he is still on dialysis to deal with the renal damage he suffered. He is released from intensive care and Sunrise Hospital, to a hospital closer to his Los Angeles home. (MSN via Sporting News)
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ISIL orders males aged 14 and older in Raqqa, its de facto Syrian capital, to register with the police, an action seen as the first step toward forced conscriptions in this region. (Al Jazeera America)
The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for pregnant women to abstain completely from alcohol during the entire three trimesters of the pregnancy, saying no amount of any type of alcohol should be considered safe since the risks, to the baby in particular (such as fetal alcohol syndrome, among many others), are too great. This puts the U.S. alongside other Western developed countries- except Italy and the United Kingdom, which still allow occasional small amounts- in urging complete abstinence. TheAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the two other U.S. agencies that comment most about this issue, already recommend total alcohol abstinence. (CNN)
New York City police officer Randolph Holder, 33, has died from gunshot wounds sustained in the line of duty. An immigrant from Guyana, Holder was on the force for five years. He is the fourth NYPD officer to have been killed in less than a year. (New York Times)
Two Chineseconsulate staff are killed and a consul general injured after a gunman opened fire on a restaurant in the city of Cebu, the "second city" of the Philippines. Various reports named the gunman as Chinese national Li Qingliang. (The Telegraph)
Wikileaks releases U.S.Central Intelligence Agency director John O. Brennan's personal information after the top spy's personal email account was hacked and information sent to Wikileaks. All of the documents predate Brennan's time in the Obamaadministration and reveal no classified data. Among the information released are Social Security numbers, an incomplete questionnaire for security clearance, and addresses of his family and associates. (BBC)(CNN)
Wentworth golf club asks for six-figure membership fee -
One of the UK's most exclusive golf clubs is to start charging £125,000 to new joiners. Wentworth, which was bought by the Beijing-based Reignwood Group in September 2014, has told existing members they must stump up £100,000. Annual fees on top of that are to rise from £8,000 to £16,000. James Wyatt said he and other members faced having to pay "an enormous amount". The Surrey golf club said membership pricing "is a private club matter". [BBC]
Working Enigma machine fetches world record price at New York auction -
An extremely rare and fully operational Nazi Enigma machine from Second World War has sold for $365,000 in New York, setting a new record at auction, Bonhams said on Thursday. The M4 machine, which was built between 1943 and 1945, is one of around 150 to have survived from an estimated 1,500 that were built as Nazi Germany fought to fend off the Allies. A spokeswoman for Bonhams said the $365,000 (£237,000) sale price set a new world record for an Enigma machine sold at auction. The purchaser at Wednesday's sale was identified only as a private collector. [Daily Telegraph]
Rudely-named south-east London coffee shop ordered to remove its sign -
A crudely-named coffee shop in south-east London has been ordered by its landlord to remove the "offensive" sign bearing its name. Fuckoffee tweeted a picture of a letter it received from the landlord's lawyers:
The letter read: "We are instructed that you have either erected or allowed your sub-tenant to erect an offensive sign on the exterior of the buliding... without the permission or authority from our client to do so and this constitutes a trespass." According to the letter, the Bermondsey Street coffeeshop could face legal proceedings or the forfeiture of its lease if it does not remove the sign. It will also have to cover the costs of the legal steps taken so far. [Daily Telegraph]
In a pair of incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday, two migrants were killed, 16 are missing, and 48 were rescued from boats heading to Greece from Turkey that capsized in the Aegean Sea. (Hürriyet Daily News)
Authorities in Slovenia say around 2,000 migrants from a refugee camp at the Croatian border are traveling in four trains toward Austria, three to the overloaded crossing at Šentilj and the other to Jesenice. (Washington Post)
A teacher and a student are killed, and another student injured, in an attack at a high school in Trollhättan, Sweden. The attacker was shot dead by police. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Chilean officers start to grant civil unions licences to both heterosexual and homosexual couples, marking the first time a same-sex relationship is officially recognized in the country. (BBC)(The Guardian)
The UKHouse of Commons passes an "English votes for English laws" bill by 312 to 270 votes giving English MPs a greater say over legislation that only applies to England. The bill has been fiercely opposed by the opposition Labour Party and theScottish National Party. (BBC)
Cats are terrified of cucumbers and no one knows exactly why -
People on the internet have been playing a charming joke on/causing uncalled-for distress to their cats by placing cucumbers behind them while they eat. It has to be specifically a cucumber. Pet owners have been trying it out for themselves and filming the responses. In order for the trick to work, you apparently have to place a cucumber quietly behind a cat while it is eating. When the cat turns around and notices the cucumber, you get quite an interesting response. They don't see it first, but when they do, look out. The trend has reached reddit, and there is a dedicated thread called 'cucumbers scaring cats'. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
A bomb detonates in a Muharram procession in Jacobabad killing twenty-four people, including 10 children & 6 women and several others injured. (Dawn)(Samaa News)
At least nine people are killed and dozens injured in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi after several mortar shells hit a protest against a UN proposal for a unity government to end the four-year long crisis in the country. (Reuters)
Lockheed Martin embarks on corporate overhead cost cutting reviews, another initiative following business selloffs and personnel layoffs. In the face of U.S. budget constraints, Lockheed’s actions are in step with those of other major U.S. defense contractors. (Zacks)
Hurricane Patricia makes landfall at Playa Perula in Mexico's western Jalisco state . The storm strengthens into a powerful Category 5 hurricane with winds of 200 mph and gusts up to 245 mph. The NHC has called the storm "potentially catastrophic" for Mexico. Patricia is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches, through Saturday. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. (National Hurricane Center)(Reuters), (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Hurricane Patricia becomes the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere with winds of 200 mph (320 km/h). (NBC)
Kuwait and France sealed a deal whereby the Gulf nation will upgrade its defense capabilities with $2.8 billion worth of military equipment. Defense experts cite the ongoing conflict in Iraqi Civil War, the June 2015 terror attack claimed by ISIS in Kuwait City, and a reluctance by the U.S. to supply Kuwait as reasons for the deal. (Vice News)
Police in Bamberg, Germany arrested three people said to be involved in a far-right extremist terror plot to attack refugee shelters, shelter staff and public officials supportive of refugees. (The Telegraph)
Nineteen-year old Cameron Selmon died during last night's shooting on the Tennessee State University campus when a fight erupted during a dice game, in which a player pulled out a gun and started firing. One of the three injured 18-year-old female students remains hospitalized. The suspect fled the scene on foot and is still at large. The school is closed today but will re-open with Monday classes. (The Tennessean)(Fox News)
Hurricane Patricia hits, spares Mexico of major damage so far -
Hurricane Patricia, the record-breaking category 5 hurricane, rumbled across western Mexico early on Saturday, uprooting trees and triggering some landslides but causing less damage than feared for such a massive storm, officials said. Authorities relocated coastal residents, evacuated tourists from beach hotels and closed sea ports, airports and schools in several states before Patricia made landfall in Jalisco state as a huge category five hurricane. Patricia had grown into the strongest hurricane ever recorded hours before reaching the coast, raising fears that it would bring death and destruction across the country. [Daily Telegraph] Astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted this picture of the storm from the Space Station
Lenin statue given Darth Vader makeover -
A statue of Vladimir Lenin in the Ukrainian city of Odessa has been given a sci-fi twist - by being transformed into Darth Vader. The statue, in the grounds of a factory in the Black Sea port city, had been earmarked for removal under the country's "de-communisation" law. But instead, it now wears the instantly recognisable shiny black helmet and mask of the Star Wars villain, the local Dumskaya news website reports. "Everything flows and nothing abides," says warehouse manager Semyon Horbunov, taking inspiration from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. "New heroes replace old ones, and this is how the world goes round." But while the monument is Darth Vader on the outside, deep down it's still Lenin. "The bronze Lenin was left inside, so that the grateful or not-so-grateful descendants could exhume him, if needed," sculptor Alexander Milov is quoted is saying by Ukraine Today. [BBC]
A first lieutenant and two soldiers have been killed in an explosion which targeted a police armored vehicle in the northern Sinai city of Al-Arīsh. (NY Times)
At least 40 people, including several fishermen, are reportedly killed following Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on two islands off Yemen's Red Sea coast. Local fisherman reported coalition aircraft and warships struck the Aqban and Kadman islands targetingHouthi forces but also destroyed several boats killing local fishermen. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
Actress Maureen O'Hara dies in her sleep at her Boise, Idaho, home. "She passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family as they celebrated her life listening to music from her favorite movie, The Quiet Man," said her family's statement. (AP)(ABC News)
Hurricane Patricia, which hit the Mexican coast as a Category 5 storm, appeared to leave remarkably little damage as it moved rapidly inland over mountainous western Mexico and is now a tropical depression (35 mph/55 kph). The storm is currently centered northeast of Zacatecas, Mexico, moving northeast at 24 mph/39 kph. While there are no reports of casualties or substantial widespread damage, authorities warn deadly floods and mudslides remain possible. (ABC News)(CTV News)(NHC)
Israel and Jordan agree to take steps to quell violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem which includes round-the-clock monitoring of new security cameras there. Israel reaffirms Jordan's historic role as formal custodian of what is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims. Yesterday, Israeli authorities lifted restrictions that had banned men aged under 40 from praying at al-Aqsa. (Reuters)(BBC)(Washington Post)
Thousands protest and clash with police in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, demanding the immediate resignation of Prime MinisterMilo Đukanović. Đukanović has rejected calls to resign and has accused the opposition of trying to prevent the country'sNATO membership, saying he is convinced Russia is behind the unrest. (AFP via Yahoo)
Lewis Hamilton wins his third F1 World Championship -
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling United States Grand Prix to seal his third World Championship. Hamilton pressured team-mate Nico Rosberg into a mistake during a frantic last 10 laps after a safety car and swept by to take his 10th win of 2015. It was an exciting climax to a race of fluctuating fortunes, lead changes and superb racing in changing conditions. Hamilton becomes only the second British driver after Sir Jackie Stewart to win three Formula 1 drivers' titles. [BBC] See List of the Day
Lewis Hamilton
Moto GP: Valentino Rossi penalised for kicking Marc Marquez -
MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi will start the final race of the season from the back of the grid after kicking Marc Marquez off his bike during the Malaysian Grand Prix.Rossi finished third but was given three penalty points following a post-race investigation. He later accused Marquez of "making me lose the championship". Honda's Dani Pedrosa won the race, with Jorge Lorenzo second. The final race takes place in Spain on 8 November. Rossi now leads Lorenzo by just seven points in the championship. [BBC]
Valentino Rossi
Video of the Day -
Confusion as Turkey clocks defy time-change delay -
Confused Turks are asking "what's the time?" after automatic clocks defied a government decision to defer a seasonal hour's change in the time. Along with other countries, Turkey had been due to "fall back" an hour on Saturday at the end of summertime daylight saving. The Turkish government however decided to postpone the change until after upcoming polls. But some clocks have changed the time regardless - causing bewilderment.
The hashtag #saatkac - or "what's the time?" - is now trending in Turkey as Twitter users express confusion. [BBC]
Our Fractal Brains from Julius Horsthuis on Vimeo.
The United Parcel Service pilots’ union authorizes its executive board to call a strike at the board’s discretion as contract talks slog into a fifth year. This, in the wake of competitor FedEx pilots' approval of a new six-year contract. (WSJ)
The attorney for Adacia Chambers, the woman whose car plowed into homecoming parade crowd, says he doesn't think his client was intoxicated at the crash. Tony Coleman said, "I don't believe right now that she was intoxicated. ... she's suffering frommental illness." (USA Today)(KFOR)
More than 200 bears are killed in a single day in the U.S. state of Florida after state officials allow the hunting of the animals for the first time in 21 years; supporters say the aim is to cut down on the surging population of black bears, but animal rights activists have criticized the hunts as cruel and ineffective. (Sky News)
Voters in Argentina go to the polls to select a new President and legislature with the presidential election to go to a runoff on November 22 as neither candidate could secure a majoriey. (BBC), (CNN)
Voters in Poland go to the polls for a parliamentary election with the opposition Law and Justice party performing well in exit polls. (BBC)
Exit polls show Poland's conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, led by euroscepticJarosław Kaczyński and the new PM Beata Szydło, won an absolute majority in today's general elections. Kaczyński is the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczyński, who died in a 2010 jet crash. The PiS picks up 242 out of 460 seats in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, ousting the governing Christian democratic Civic Platform (PO) party gets 133 seats and becoming the first party to win a majority in its own right since the collapse of communism in 1989. Prime MinisterEwa Kopacz has conceded defeat. (NDTV)(Newstalk)
Most polls in Haiti’s high-stakes presidential, second rounds of legislative, and local elections closed on schedule. Voting was relatively orderly across the nation of some 10 million people. Voters have 54 contenders for president to choose from; a runoff between the top two candidates is scheduled for December 27. (Miami Herald)(NBC News)(SABC)
Dog named Trigger shoots owner in the foot in Indiana -
A dog named Trigger shot his 25-year-old owner in the foot in a bizarre accident that had Indiana officials on Monday reminding hunters to take safety lessons. Allie Carter of Avilla was wounded during a waterfowl hunt on Saturday morning at the Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area in northern Indiana, according to Indiana Department of Natural Resources. She laid her 12-gauge shotgun on the ground while repositioning herself and her 11-year-old chocolate Labrador stepped on the gun, depressing the trigger, said Indiana Conservation Officer Jonathon Boyd. The safety of the shotgun was not on, so it went off and Carter was shot in the left foot, Boyd said. Carter, who had never completed a hunter education course, was hospitalized. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the bird shot pellets and was treated and released, Boyd said. [Reuters]
Saudi prince held after seizure of two tons of amphetamines at Beirut airport -
A Saudi prince has been detained at Beirut airport in Lebanon after two tons of an amphetamine drug popular with Syrian rebels was found on a private jet. Prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four other men were held after what was described as the biggest ever drugs bust at the city’s main Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to local media and security sources. They were allegedly "attempting to smuggle about two tons of Captagon pills and some cocaine", a security source was quoted as saying. Captagon is a brand name for the widely used amphetamine phenethylline. Although this type of amphetamine has been prescribed in the past to treat childhood and other behavioural disorders, it is now used overwhelmingly as a stimulant in the Middle East. [Daily Telegraph]
11-year-old girl sets up business selling secure passwords for $2 -
Weak passwords are still the plague of the cybersecurity industry, with the most popular passwords of 2014 including "123456", "password" and "qwerty", making it easy for hackers to break into accounts and steal data. Now an 11-year-old girl from New York is offering a solution. Sixth-grader Mira Modi has started her own business making cryptographically secure passwords and selling them for $2 a pop. She generates the passwords using a system called Diceware to create strings of words that are easy to remember but difficult to crack. The system involves rolling a die to generate random numbers, which are matched to a list of short words from the Diceware dictionary. Those words are then combined into a non-sensical string, such as: alger klm curry blond puck horse. These six-word passphrases contain a lot of "entropy", or randomness, which means that it would take a powerful computer a very long time to correctly guess them. They are also easier to memorise than strings of individual characters. [Daily Telegraph]
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports at least 120,000 people have been displaced in Syria this month because of fighting. These displaced Syrians need tents, basic household items, food, water and sanitation services. The agency's humanitarian partners are scaling up their response. (AP)
Toyota is once again the world's largest carmaker with 7.5 million units sold thus far in 2015, compared to Volkswagen's 7.43 million and General Motors' 7.2 million. (BBC)
Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone announced it would buy US auto parts retailer Pep Boys for $835 million. (Reuters)
USAA, one of the largest financial services companies in the U.S., announced the ending of its long-term relationship with MasterCard. The tenth-largest credit card issuer in the U.S. will replace the old credit cards with Visa cards next year. (WSJ)
Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United KingdomPrince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, in an op-ed piece in the The Daily Telegraph, warns of "potentially serious repercussions" for the two countries' relationship unless a more respectful discourse developed. At issue is London's withdrawal from a £5.9m (US$9.1m) prison deal with Saudi Arabia which has been linked to London's concerns about a death penalty case and a case involving Karl Andree, a 74-year-old Briton who faces 350 lashes. Today, the Saudi Supreme Court confirmed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr's death sentence. (Arab News)(BBC)
Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez announce divorce after two years of marriage -
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and her French actor husband, Olivier Martinez, said on Tuesday they are divorcing after two years of marriage. It is the third divorce for Berry, 49, who has a two-year-old son with Martinez. The couple cited irreconcilable differences, according to celebrity website TMZ.com. Berry in 2002 became the only black actress to win an Academy Award for a lead role, clinching the Oscar for her performance in Monster's Ball. [Daily Telegraph]
Halle Berry
Darth Vader supporter Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine -
It's a sentence we never thought we'd write, but here goes: Chewbacca has been arrested in Ukraine after police say they caught him campaigning for Darth Vader. A candidate, using the identity of the Star Wars Sith Lord has been running in local elections in the city of Odessa. It's claimed the man dressed as Chewbacca had broken election day rules by campaigning on voting day. It's being reported Chewbacca was fined the equivalent of a fiver. He'd arrived at a polling station along with the candidate when police stepped in. [BBC]
A Yemeni hospital in Saada run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is destroyed by several Saudi-led coalition airstrikes overnight. The director of the hospital, Ali Mughli, reported "The air raids resulted in the destruction of the entire hospital with all that was inside - devices and medical supplies - and the moderate wounding of several people". Another airstrike hit a nearby girls school and damaged several civilian homes according to local media. UNICEF said the Saada hospital was the 39th health center hit in Yemen since March. The Saudi-led coalition denies that its planes had hit the hospital. (Reuters)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports the Islamic State, on Sunday, executed three detainees in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra by strapping them to pillars and blowing them up with the antiquities. ISIL has yet to tell locals the identities of the three individuals or say why they had been killed. (BBC)(USA Today)
United States Defense SecretaryAshton Carter says the U.S. will begin "direct action on the ground" against the ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria, aiming to intensify pressure on the militants as progress against the militants remains elusive. The U.S. has done some special operations raids in Syria, e.g., last week's rescue operation with Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to free hostages held by ISIL. Carter also said the U.S. would intensify the air campaign against ISIL with heavier airstrikes and will focus on Raqqa, the group's declared capital in Syria. (NBC News)(Al Jazeera)(AP via Boston Globe)
A Libyan helicopter carrying cash for a local bank on the way out and returning to Tripoli with passengers is shot down near the coastal Almaya area west of the capital city, killing at least 14 of its 23 passengers including senior officers Hosein Bodaya and Duhain Al-Rammah, officials with Libya’s Dawn militias. (AP via ABC News)(BBC)(UPI)
The Taliban, which effectively controls some of the worst-affected areas across multiple provinces, urged charity organizations not to hold back in delivering aid to Afghan victims of the quake, saying militants in the affected areas were ordered to provide "complete help." (Reuters)(Daily Star)
Britain is reviewing the powers of the House of Lords after the unelected peers stalled legislation yesterday that would have eliminated some tax allowances for the nation’s poor. Senior Conservatives say the upper chamber of Parliament stepped out of their usual roles as technical overseers of legislation. However, Conservative MPDavid Davis warned that such a move was “bully politics” that would “disgust” the public. (BBC)(AP via Washington Post)
Google's Project Loon internet balloons to circle Earth -
Google believes it is on course to have enough internet-beaming balloons in the stratosphere to form a ring over part of the world next year. It told the BBC the move would let it trial a continuous data service to people living below the balloons' path. The declaration coincides with the announcement that three of Indonesia's mobile networks intend to start testing Project Loon's transmissions next year. One expert said the plan had benefits over other solutions. Sri Lanka previously signed a separate agreement signalling its wish to be another participant in the giant helium balloon-based scheme. [BBC]
Biscuit that survived the Titanic sells for $23,000 -
A cracker that survived the Titanic and lives on, unmunched, today has been sold for $23,000 (£15,034). The biscuit was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia vessel that saved Titanic passengers at sea, and was kept intact in a Kodak film envelope by Fenwick along with the following notation: “Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912.” The 103-year-old biscuit was used as part of a survival kit on one of the Titanic lifeboats. [Daily Telegraph]
Apple reports biggest annual profit in history with net income of $53.4bn -
Apple has recorded the biggest annual profit in corporate history, with record sales of the iPhone helping it to make $53.4bn (£35bn) in the last 12 months. The world's biggest company surpassed the $45.2bn made by ExxonMobil in 2008, after the release of its latest smartphones increased profits by 31pc in its fourth quarter. However, Apple warned that growth is likely to slow down significantly in the crucial Christmas period, and sales of the iPad fell by a fifth to their lowest level since 2011. The company predicted that sales in the current quarter would be between $75.5bn and $77.5bn – as little as 1pc up on the same period last year – partially due to a strong dollar. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
HOW I CRASHED THE SPECTRE PREMIERE AND AFTER PARTY JAMES BOND STYLE
Ankara's Chief Prosecutor's office says it has "strong evidence" that an Islamic State group — based in Gaziantep, near the Syrian border — is behind the bombings at this month's Ankara peace rally that killed 102 people, as well as four previous attacks in Turkey since May that have mainly targeted supporters of a pro-Kurdish party. (AP)(AFP via NDTV)
Aid workers warn that survivors of the earthquake are at risk of dying of exposure as temperatures in Pakistan and Afghanistan fall to near freezing levels. (Time)
Austrian ChancellorWerner Faymann, when discussing management of the flow of migrants with the press, talks about "technical security" measures but insists there will be "no fence" at the Slovenian border. This, in contrast to Interior MinisterJohanna Mikl-Leitner who earlier spoke of plans for a "fence" on the border to Slovenia. Austria has been one of the more vocal countries criticizing Hungary's decision to build a fence along its border with Serbia. (AP)(BBC)
The Cassini probe makes a close flyby of Saturn's sixth-largest moon, Enceladus, coming within approximately 49 km (30 mi) of the surface and passing through the icy plume above the south pole. The transit of the plume was the deepest to date. Photographs and other data from the mission are expected within 48 hours. (BBC Online)(JPL Press Release)
Jeremy Clarkson threatened with three years in jail as Argentina reopens Falklands row probe -
Jeremy Clarkson’s hopes of putting the infamous Top Gear Falklands row behind him were dashed last night after a court probe was reopened in Argentina. A judge in the southern city of Ushuaia had thwarted attempts to have the former BBC presenter charged with falsification in April after the controversial number-plate on the Porsche he drove was swapped ahead of a riot. But state prosecutors appealed Maria Cristina Barrionuevo’s decision not to press ahead with a full-scale criminal investigation against Clarkson and his ex-Top Gear team. Last night the probe was back on - and Clarkson and programme chiefs facing a worst case scenario of three years in prison - after three appeal judges sided with prosecutors and ordered Barrionuevo to reactivate the case. [Daily Telegraph] In March 2015 Russia’s army TV channel issued an offer to Jeremy Clarkson to present a motoring show, noting his interest in tanks, aircraft carriers and other hardware.
Jeremy Clarkson
An extensive search is underway in the northeastern Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Lesbos for at least 34 people missing from a boat that sank yesterday. Some 242 people were rescued but eight died, five children, two men and a woman.(Reuters)(AP via Kathimerini)
China: Guangzhou warns zombies to stay off metro -
Halloween revellers are being urged to avoid the underground system in one southern Chinese city, in case they cause a panic. Transport police in Guangzhou say people in ghoulish fancy dress have been making other passengers nervous in recent days, and officers want travellers to report anyone they spot wearing spooky costumes. "Passengers' strange behaviour may make some feel uneasy, cause onlookers to panic and could easily lead to security risks," the force says in a statement posted on its Sina Weibo microblog account. "Therefore the subway does not encourage such acts." [BBC]
Justin Bieber sorry for storming off stage after one song in Norway -
Justin Bieber's been living up to the name of his new song Sorry by apologising to his fans for storming off stage in Norway. He said he was "done" and "I'm not doing the show" after performing one track during a TV recording in Oslo. In fan-filmed videos, Justin Bieber can be seen getting annoyed with people at the front of the stage while trying to wipe the floor. The singer later posted an apology on his Instagram account. [BBC]
Andrew Parker, head of British security agency MI5, states that ISIS terrorists are planning attacks in Great Britain and current terror threat levels are the highest he’s witnessed in his career. (The Telegraph)
Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International cut all ties with Philidor Rx Services. This comes in the wake of recent revelations that Valeant was looking to acquire Philidor, a relationship that raised questions from various quarters. Valeant is the subject of U.S. federal investigations. (New York Times)
Greek prime ministerAlexis Tsipras lashes out at European "ineptness" in handling the continent's massive immigration crisis. The Associated Press reports 31 more people — mostly children — drowned in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea near the islands of Kalymnos and Rhodes. Turkey's state-run agency says four children drowned and two others are missing after two new accidents with boats headed to Greece's Lesbos and Samos islands. The death toll in the Aegean Sea over the past three days is at least 50. The Greek coast guard says they rescued 600 people in the past 24 hours, while thousands more made it safely from Turkey to Greece's southeastern islands. (AP via Huffington Post)(Reuters)
Storms hit the American state of Texas causing at least two deaths with one person reported missing. Rivers overflowed as more than a foot of rain fell in some areas while tornadoes ripped through buildings outside San Antonio. (NBC News)(Reuters)
A Virginia (U.S.) school bus overturns after being struck by a van, sending 28 students to local hospitals with five seriously injured. (Inside Edition)
New Zealand hails 'phenomenal' All Blacks -
New Zealand media toasted the All Blacks' victory over Australia in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final, hailing the achievements of a "phenomenal" team many are calling the best of all time. Directed by the "magic" of flyhalf Dan Carter, the All Blacks fended off a gallant Australia 34-17 at Twickenham, a gripping final deservedly rated the tournament's best ever. Carter was named man-of-the-match for his 19-point effort, a fitting swansong for one of the game's finest flyhalves who was sidelined by injury when his team mates edged France to win the 2011 final on home soil. [Reuters] See List of the Day
Dan Carter
One Direction play the final gig of their world tour in Sheffield -
One Direction have played the final gig of their world tour before their self-proclaimed extended break. After more than 80 shows across 20 countries, their On The Road tour came to an end in Sheffield. From this point on, the band only have a few one-off appearances at music awards shows before they go their separate ways in March 2016. But 1D insist they're not splitting up and instead want to focus on solo projects. [BBC]
One Direction
Adele's Hello is number one after smashing various chart records -
Adele is back at the top of the Official Singles Chart with her monster comeback single Hello. She's smashed records all over the place, with other artists basically competing for the scraps left in her wake. So, here are the numbers that put Adele firmly back on top of the music world.
Hello sold a whopping 333,000 in a week - That includes a staggering 259,000 downloads - and makes it the biggest number one single for... well, only three years actually.
But streaming was even more mind-bending - 7.32 million plays - That's almost double the previous record held by Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? which had 3.87 million plays in a week last month.
Her video got 27.7 million views in one day - That worked out as one million views an hour on YouTube in the first two days of it being released.
[BBC] See Video of the Day
Adele
The wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukachev says, in a call with their daughter before the flight, he complained that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired. According to Egyptian officials, while in the air, the pilot told traffic controllers the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and he intended to try and land at the nearest airport. (AP via New Jersey Herald)
A large space rock 2015 TB145, thought to be a dead comet, passes close to the earth. (Time)
According to a new NASA (U.S.) study, ice sheet gains outweigh losses on the continent of Antarctica. An increase in snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago outweighs increased losses from the continent's thinning glaciers. In 2013,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings suggested gains were not keeping up with losses. NASA glaciologist Jay Zwally said, "We’re essentially in agreement with other studies ... (except) ice gain in East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica exceeds losses in the other areas." (UPI)(NASA)
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 2015Malcolm 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
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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
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
Frenchnational 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)
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]
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)
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)
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)
"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)
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)
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)
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 APU.S. history course to focus on citizenship and patriotism, while condemning civil disobedience and strike actions. (Washington Post)(AP via Huffington Post)
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.
Egypt'sSharm 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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
ManhattanDistrict AttorneyCyrus 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)
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
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)
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,
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)
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)
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 PresidentHassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed.(Reuters)
The United StatesFBI 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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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
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)
South Korean news agency Yonhap reports China'smobile 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)
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)
German ChancellorAngela 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)
U.S. Secretary of StateJohn 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)
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Scott N. Johansen, a UtahJuvenile 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)
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]
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)
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)
The top of Dubai'sBurj 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)
In a suit filed by two former Americanprofessional 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)
'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
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 Belgianjihadist 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)
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)
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 PresidentBarack 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)
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]
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)
The Israeligovernment 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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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]
United States authorities report dozens of suspected radicals in the U.S. are under "tight surveillance" to preclude a Pariscopycat. 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)
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 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)
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)
A court sentences former restaurant spokesperson Jared Fogle to over 15 years imprisonment for sex with minors and the possession of child pornography. (NPR)
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
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)
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)
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 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)
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
Russianpole vaulterYelena 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)
Ban bathtubs, says Sweden's 'green king' -
The king of Sweden wants to ban all bath-tubs in an effort to save water. King Carl XVI Gustaf, who in recent years has put past scandals relating to his reputation as a lothario behind him to become better known as a dedicated environmentalist, has given a frank interview to describe his determination to turn the royal palace in Stockholm green. He also suggested that having given up taking baths himself his people should follow where he has led. “We should ban all baths, imagine that,” he said when asked about his suggestions for everyday energy saving. The question arose when he confessed he had recently been forced to run himself a bath when staying somewhere that lacked showers. “That’s when it hit me how much water and energy it used," he said. "I thought ‘I can’t believe I’m having to do this’. I felt quite ashamed.” [Daily Telegraph]
King Carl Gustaf
Belgium raises its terror alert level to the highest level in the capital Brussels and deploys soldiers on the streets of major Belgian cities such as Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. As part of the emergency measures, the Belgian government is advising people in the Brussels area to avoid crowded places, which includes concerts, train stations, airports, public transportation, and busy shopping streets, warning of an "imminent threat". (France 24)(BNO News)
Ahmet Dahmani is detained by Turkish police in the resort of Antalya on suspicion of being an ISIL scout ahead of the Paris attacks. (Sky News)
French police release seven of the eight people arrested during Wednesday's raid of a flat where the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was hiding. The man who said he was in charge of the property is still being held. (Reuters)
Olivier Salgado, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Mali, says at least 19 people were killed in the attack along with two of the attackers. Earlier reports indicated that 27 people died. (CNN)
Crimea is without power after transmission towers in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast were blown up by unknown people. The Crimean Emergencies Ministry declares a state of emergency due to the power outage and puts rescue teams on high alert. (RT)
Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of al-Azhar in Egypt, says violence has no link to authentic Islam, terrorism is a life philosophy whose adherents were willing to die and is an intellectual and psychological disease that uses religion as a front.(Reuters)
Japan's prime minister Shinzō Abe says he is considering sending Japanese Navy warships to the South China Sea to back-up U.S. naval operations, saying, "With regard to activity by the Self-Defense Forces in the South China Sea, I will consider it while focusing on what effect the situation has on Japan’s security." In response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Hong Lei, told Chinese state media that China will remain on “high alert for intervention by Japan in the South China Sea issue”. (Bloomberg)(The Diplomat)
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
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)
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)
Daesh (Islamic State) militants counter-attack in Iraq'sSaladin 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)
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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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
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'sNorth 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)
TurkishF-16 fighter jets shoot down a RussianSukhoi 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 rebelTurkmen 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)
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)
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 ministerStefan Löfven who told reporters, "to put it bluntly, more people will have to seek asylum and get protection in other European countries". (Reuters)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
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)
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)
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]
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)
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)
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)
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 fuelemissions. (CNN)
'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]
Malianforces 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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
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
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)
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)
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
Turkish Prime MinisterAhmet 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)
ConservativeMPPhilip Davies announces up to 100 prisoners serving life sentences in Britishprisons 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)
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)
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]
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 Delhiembassy’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)
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)
Former prime ministerRoch 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)
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)
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to give away 99% of shares -
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan say they will give away 99% of their shares in the company to good causes as they announce the birth of their daughter Max. Mr Zuckerberg made the announcement in a letter to Max on his Facebook page. He said they were donating their fortune to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to make the world a better place for Max to grow up in. The donation amounts to $45bn (£30bn) at Facebook's current value. [BBC]
Mark Zuckerberg
Mariah Carey gets $300,000 for a one-hour store visit -
[Maria] Carey’s kicking off December with an appearance Tuesday night at a Pier 1 pop up store in New York, where Confidenti@l has learned she’s being paid a whopping $300,000 to attend the event for just one hour. “Let’s call it 45 minutes,” laughs our source, who adds that the “Hero” singer also had a few demands about her appearance. “She specifically wanted (it noted) that she was ‘appearing’ not ‘performing.’ They would have loved her to perform but just getting her is worth it.” Our insider adds that Carey gave final approval on the invite before it went out, requesting that she be called “The Queen of Christmas,” at the “Pier 1 Imports: Christmas Pop-Up Storybook” at 503 Broadway. [NY Daily News]
Mariah Carey
The Iraqi government, via state TV, requests all civilians leave the ISIL-held city of Ramadi in Anbar province, after several days of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against ISIL. Observers speculate this request precedes major ground operations to retake Ramadi, which fell to ISIL in May. (Deutsche Welle)
Dozens of Houthi fighters are reportedly killed, according to Saudi state television and residents, following a major push by Yemen-based Houthi forces into the kingdom's southern Najran Region. The Houthi-run Saba News Agency said that Houthi fighters had seized three Saudi military outposts near the city of Najran, destroying several armored vehicles, including two U.S.-made M1 Abrams tanks and three Bradley vehicles. (Reuters)
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announces the plan to donate 99 percent of the company stock he and his wife Priscilla Chan own over their lifetimes, shares today worth about $45 billion, to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children." (The Washington Post)
An American E. coli scare results in the recall of hundreds of thousands of products in a dozen states and covering major supermarket chains including Walmart, Safeway and Albertsons. (CNN)
The United StatesCenters for Disease Control announces the number of people newly diagnosed with diabetes declined in 2014 for the fifth consecutive year. Experts do not know whether efforts to prevent diabetes are finally started to work, or if the disease has simply peaked in the population. (NPR)(The New York Times)
Chicago, Illinois Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked for and received the resignation of that city’s police superintendant Garry McCarthy. Emanuel spoke of the loss of the public’s confidence in the city police and announced a task force on police accountability. The change comes in the wake of protests over the release of police footage showing the October 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. (CNN)
British parliament votes to bomb Islamic State in Syria -
Britain's parliament voted on Wednesday to launch bombing raids against Islamic State in Syria, supporting Prime Minister David Cameron's case that the country needs to help destroy militants who are "plotting to kill us". After more than 10 hours of tense debate, lawmakers voted in favour of air strikes, by 397 to 223. British Tornado GR4 bombers could leave an air base in Cyprus within hours to launch the country's latest military action in the Middle East. [Reuters] See Top Twitter Trends.
David Cameron
Russia expands its military presence in Syria with an additional airbase that can accommodate fixed-winged military aircraft. The U.S. Department of Defense also confirms that Russia added S-400surface-to-air missiles to its Syrian stockpile and armed its military aircraft with air-to-air missiles. According to Military Times, "A Pentagon spokesman expressed concern" these moves indicate Russia's commitment to aiding the embattled Assad regime as opposed to combating ISIL. No Syrian opposition groups including ISIL have combat-ready aircraft that require air-to-air missiles. (Fox News)(Military Times)
Cameroon’s army, backed by a regional taskforce, has killed at least 100 members of the militant Islamist Boko Haram group and freed 900 people it had held hostage, the west African country’s defence ministry has said. Regional taskforce conducts sweep along border with Nigeria. (The Guardian), (Yahoo news),
A second shooting incident near 1757 Richardson in San Bernardino unfolded around 3:00 p.m. PST, with police requesting a BearCat and medical assistance. A suspect was shot on-scene around 3:16 p.m. PST and another taken into custody shortly afterwards. (The New York Times), (Los Angeles Times)
Arts and culture
The Institute of Contemporary History in Munich announces a publication of a two-volume set of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The new edition, which contains 3,500 scholarly annotations, is intended, The New York Times reports, “To set the work in historical context, to show how Hitler wove truth with half-truth and outright lie, and thus to defang any propagandistic effect while revealing Nazism.” This is the first printing in Germany since the end of World War II. (The New York Times)(The Week)
Days of heavy rain in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu causes floods with many areas in the city of Chennai under water. The death toll from rain-related incidents has reached 188. (The Hindu)
The Indian Navy and Army are conducting rescue operations in low lying areas. (NDTV)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announces the invitation sent to Montenegro to join the military alliance, 16 years after the alliance bombed the country, as part of Yugoslavia, in the Kosovo War. Montenegro's accession would result in "retaliatory actions", according to a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin. (BBC News)(CNN)
Four men, alleged jihadists from Kosovo are arrested, three in Italy and one in Kosovo, for making nonspecific threats against Pope Francis and the former U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo. The men are described by police as highly dangerous and as having celebrated the November 2015 Paris attacks. (The Independent, via MSN)
Politics and elections
YemeniPrime MinisterKhaled Bahah rejects a cabinet reshuffle ordered by PresidentAbd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, another sign of the deepening rift between the two leaders. These problems started in March after the president appointed the minister of health as acting foreign minister without consulting the prime minister. (Reuters)
Oscar Pistorius verdict changed to murder -
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict. He killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door. He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail. Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder. [BBC] Pistorius started community service in November 2015
Oscar Pistorius competing
UK Trading Standards officers seize 15,000 unsafe hoverboards -
More than 15,000 unsafe hoverboards - otherwise known as self-balancing scooters - have been seized at ports and airports around the UK. Trading Standards officers said the boards were in danger of overheating, exploding or catching fire. The London Fire Brigade said at least three house fires were caused by such devices over 10 days in October. Many have plugs without fuses, faulty cables or chargers that can burst into flames, according to Trading Standards. It said that 88% of the hoverboards it seized around the UK were found to be defective. [BBC]
Black Friday breaks record with 185K gun background checks -
More Americans had their backgrounds checked purchasing guns on Black Friday than any day on record, according to data released by the FBI this week. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 185,345 requests on Nov. 27, one of the largest retail sales days in the country. "This was an approximate 5% increase over the 175,754 received on Black Friday 2014," wrote Stephen Fischer, the FBI's chief of multimedia productions. "The previous high for receipts were the 177,170 received on 12/21/2012." [USA Today]
Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses on Russian national television the shootdown of one of their jets in Syria by the Turkish Air Force. He goes on to say that "if anyone thinks Russia's reaction will be limited to trade sanctions, they are deeply mistaken". (BBC)
In the wake of Washington’s pledge of additional Special Operations troops to Iraq, several members of Iraq’s ruling alliance state that only the Iraqi Parliament can authorize the action, and political associates of Iraqi Prime MinisterHaider al-Abadi report such a troop expansion would be unacceptable. Several members of Iraqi militias have also decried a deployment of more U.S. troops. (Reuters)
Harvard Law School officials are reviewing the use of the school’s seal that includes three bushels of wheat, which also appears on Isaac Royall's family coat of arms. Royall, a slaveholder whose father was known to be a cruel owner, left part of his estate to help found the law school. (MSNBC)(Boston Globe)
The Swedish government wants to be able to close the Øresund Bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark if the country's record refugee influx continues. (Local)
U.S. Attorney GeneralLoretta Lynch announces criminal corruption charges against 16 FIFA officials in an indictment that expands Justice's May filing that indicted 14 officials associated with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and related sports marketing companies. At U.S. authorities request, Swiss police arrest two South AmericanFIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials at the five-starBaur au Lac hotel in Zürich, on suspicion of accepting "millions of dollars" in bribes. In addition, eight of the defendants indicted in May have pleaded guilty. (CNN)(New York Daily News)
British astronaut set to be the first man to run a marathon in space -
A British astronaut is set to become the first man to run a marathon in space. Tim Peake is due to take on 26.2 miles on a tredmill at the same time as the London Marathon in April 2016. This will make him the first person to run a marathon in space. He is due to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15 and will stay in space for 173 days until June 5 next year. He will be attached to the treadmill when he takes on the marathon by a harness in order to combat weightlessness and will be watching a video of the London course on a big screen. [Daily Telegraph]
Timothy Peake
Norway newspaper publishes Father Christmas 'obituary' -
A Norwegian newspaper has apologised to its readers after publishing a death notice for "Father Christmas". The fictional death announcement was for "Dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788", said to have died on 3 December in Nordkapp, Norway's northernmost point. The funeral was to be held on 28 December at the "North Pole Chapel". Norway's second-biggest selling newspaper blamed an error in its internal procedures. Aftenposten said it had removed the classified advertisement from its website after it was made aware of its error. [BBC]
Many parts of Chennai still remain flooded, including almost all of South Chennai. Food and other basics are in short supply throughout the city. (The Times of India)
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcome new baby arrival -
Kim Kardashian has given birth to a baby boy. The news was announced on the reality television star's website, with a short note that said: "Kim Kardashian West and her husband, Kanye West, welcomed the arrival of their son this morning. Mother and son are doing well." The couple are already parents to daughter North who was born in June 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Kardashian
Actor Morgan Freeman in plane scare -
A private plane carrying Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was forced to make an emergency landing, but the star and his pilot were unhurt. The plane blew a tyre on take-off from Clarksdale, Mississippi, on Saturday.
The SJ30 jet made a forced landing in Tunica, about 40 miles (65km) away, where it went off the runway. In a statement, the Shawshank Redemption star said: "Sometimes things don't go as planned and a tyre blew on take-off, which caused other problems." He continued: "But thanks to my excellent pilot Jimmy Hobson we landed safely without a scratch. [BBC]
Morgan Freeman
Three suicide bombers at Lake Chad kill at least 30 people and injure at least 80 others. Three women carried out the attack at a weekly market on an island on the Chadian side of the lake. No group claims responsibility; officials suspect the attacks were carried out by members of the Boko Haram militant group from neighboring Nigeria. (Al Jazeera), (BBC)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces the discovery of the SpanishgalleonSan José which sunk off that country’s coast over 300 years ago. The discovery was a joint venture between Colombia and U.S. firm Sea Search Armada, which filed a lawsuit when Colombia claimed the wreck as a heritage site. The wreck’s cargo is placed somewhere in the $4 to $17 billion range. (NPR)
Residents in India’ssouthern Tamil Nadu State grapple with the aftermath of the worst deluge in decades, a disaster that claimed 280 lives, according to the official death toll. More than half of Chennai's 859 city areas remain under water in the flat, coastal city of six million. The National Disaster Response Force's Rekha Nambiar said, “Rescue work is over. We are focused on relief now." (The Malay Mail), (The Gulf Today)
Vicky Pattison wins I'm A Celebrity 2015 -
Vicky Pattison has been crowned queen of the jungle on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! The Geordie Shore star beat Union J's George Shelley into second place. TOWIE star Ferne McCann finished third. On being crowned jungle queen, she said: "It doesn't sound right. I think you have made a mistake!" The 28-year-old has been the favourite for most of the series, winning over viewers with her gutsy attitude and funny one-liners. [BBC Newsbeat]
Vicky Pattison
Finland is considering giving every citizen €800 a month -
Authorities in Finland are considering giving every citizen a tax-free payout of €800 (£576) each month. Under proposals being draw up by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), this national basic income would replace all other benefit payments, and would be paid to all adults regardless of whether or not they receive any other income. Unemployment in Finland is currently at record levels, and the basic income is intended to encourage more people back to work. At present, many unemployed people would be worse off if they took on low-paid temporary jobs due to loss of welfare payments. [Daily Telegraph]
Fifa: FBI probing Sepp Blatter role in $100m bribery scandal -
The FBI is investigating the role played by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in a $100m (£66.2m) bribes scandal, a BBC investigation has discovered. Sports marketing company ISL paid a total of $100m to officials including former Fifa president Joao Havelange and ex-Fifa executive Ricardo Teixeira. In return, ISL was granted lucrative television and marketing rights throughout the 1990s. Blatter denied knowing about the bribes and took no action. He even allowed Teixeira to take part in the notorious vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. [BBC]
Sepp Blatter
Video of the Day -
Volvo Trucks - Look Who’s Driving feat. 4-year-old Sophie
A series of air strikes in Syria'sRaqqa province, believed to be carried out by U.S.-led coalition warplanes, leaves at least 32 Islamic State fighters killed and 40 more wounded. The final toll could rise as casualty figures were collected from a single hospital. The jets hit IS headquarters and bases to the north, east, and southeast of provincial capital Raqqa city. (Reuters)(AFP via Dawn)
Finland's government plans to give all its citizens, rich or poor, a monthly payment of €800, with no strings attached. The Finnish government says it wants to launch a “universal basic income experiment” in 2017 to test the feasibility of this program, which would replace the country’s current benefits system. (The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo)
Turkish and Ukrainian firms talk out a cooperation deal to help modernize their country's militaries in the wake of military actions by Russia. (Defense News)
Germany's vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, accuses Saudi Arabia of financing Islamic extremism in the West and warns that it must stop. He tells German media, “We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over, Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany". His comments come days after Germany's Federal Intelligence Service released a report saying Saudi Arabia was "destabilizing" the Arab world. (The Telegraph)
Law and crime
Clashes erupt in Athens between left-wing demonstrators and Greek police with at least eighteen people arrested. (Reuters)
Venezuelan opposition leaders say their Democratic Unity Roundtable has won control of the 167-seat legislature from the ruling Socialists for the first time since 1998. There is no confirmation on Sunday's election from the national electoral board. An opposition victory would be a major setback for the socialist revolution started 17 years ago by the late Hugo Chávez. (AP)(Reuters)(AP)
Voters in Armenia go to the polls to vote in a referendum to change from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Voters in France begin voting in the first round of regional elections just three weeks after the deadly Islamic Statemilitant attacks in Paris. Exit polls show strong gains for the far-right National Front which is leading in six regions and reshape the political landscape after decades of domination by the centre-left and the centre-right coalitions. Midday voter participation is 16.27 percent, marginally higher than five years ago. There are 44.6 million eligible voters. (Reuters), (France 24), (France24)
Austria: Linz scraps gay pedestrian crossing lights -
The Austrian city of Linz has scrapped its gay-themed pedestrian crossing lights, which were adopted earlier this year with the aim of promoting tolerance. The red and green signals, depicting same-sex couples holding hands, were first introduced in Vienna to coincide with the the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Their popularity meant Salzburg and Linz later followed suit. But while the signals have become a permanent feature in the capital, they've now been removed from the streets of Linz. [BBC]
IBM pulls #HackAHairDryer campaign following Twitter backlash -
IBM has pulled the plug on its #HackAHairDryer campaign designed to encourage more female engineers and scientists after social media users turned against it. The initiative, which was centered around encouraging more women to apply for positions within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries, was roundly derided after Twitter users claimed it was patronising and trivialised science. Angry users took issue with the use of a hairdryer, claiming the campaign belittled women's scientific abilities. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends
Turkey refuses to withdraw its forces from northern Iraq despite being giving a 48 hour ultimatum by Iraq to leave the country. Turkey says the troops are there as part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight against the Islamic State. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force, and will take its case to the United Nations if they are not pulled out. (Reuters)
Business and economics
The United StatesFederal Trade Commission (FTC) files an administrative complaint challenging office-supplies giant Staples' proposed $6.3 billion acquisition of top rival Office Depot. The FTC said the deal would significantly reduce national competition in the market for office supplies sold to large business customers. The companies plan to contest the FTC decision. (USA Today)(Bloomberg via Chicago Tribune)
Desmond's fury and flooding has resulted in at least two deaths. Cumbria Police say about 5,000 properties were flooded and around 3,000 remain without power. (Sky News)(ITV)
Flooding that's devastated parts of northwest England, on Sunday temporarily brought a 260-foot high waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales National Park back to life for the first time in residents' living memory. But by today, it stopped. (Sky News)
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'Go part-time vegetarian to protect the planet' -
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says people should go meat-free one or two days a week to protect the climate. Meat-eating was an environmental problem, with farming creating an estimated 28% of global greenhouse gases, the body-builder and movie star told BBC News. Asking people to go totally vegetarian would be too demanding, he said. It would better to suggest giving up meat once or twice a week, he added. When asked how young men would achieve a body like The Terminator - the cyborg assassin in the film of the same name - without steak, he said many successful body-builders avoided meat. [BBC]
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Saint West: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West name their baby boy -
Many of her fans had been hoping she would choose "South" but Kim Kardashian West surprised them once again by calling her new baby "Saint". Saint West, who weighed in at eight pounds one ounce, arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday. But Mrs West, and rapper husband Kanye, waited for two days before announcing the name on Twitter and her app. The couple's first child, daughter North West, was born in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
Kuala Lumpur airport seeks owner of 'abandoned' jets -
Officials at Malaysia's main airport have taken out a newspaper advert seeking the owner of three Boeing 747 jets they say have been left unclaimed. The notice said if the owners "fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days..., we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft". It said fees for landing and parking were also owed. An airport official was quoted as saying they had tried to contact the jets' last known owners. He added that in the past decade a few other planes, mostly smaller aircraft, have been abandoned, with one that was left in the 1990s eventually being bought and turned into a restaurant in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. [BBC]
A $28,500 deposit was made to Syed Farook’s bank account two weeks before he and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out the San Bernardino massacre, a source close to the investigation says. Investigators are exploring whether the transaction was a personal loan or something else. (SBS)(Fox News)
According to the FBI, the couple that perpetrated the attack had long been radicalized, and had been practicing at a target range days before their murder spree. (New York Times)
FBI agents found an empty GoPro package, shooting targets, and tools inside a car belonging to the mother of San Bernardino mass-shooter Syed Farook. (Daily Mail)
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, targeting Houthi rebels battling pro-government fighters, killed and wounded dozens in the port city of Mocha, according to Yemeni security officials. Around 35 fighters on both sides were killed in the battle over a key military base near the city of Taiz. (AP via Miami Herald)
Rebels in Homs and the Syrian government agree to a local ceasefire that is to include the withdrawal of opposition fighters from the al-Waer neighborhood, the only area of the heavily damaged city still under rebel control. The evacuation is expected to start Wednesday. Residents are hoping to return in the next few days. (Daily Mail)(CBS News via Hawaii News Now)
UK-based Anglo American plc (AAUKF) announces plans to slash 85k jobs and shed 60% of assets over the next several years; it will also halt dividend payments for the rest of 2015-16 and cut capital expenditures. The company cited depressed commodity prices for its actions. (CNNMoney)
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump early Tuesday rejected criticism of his call to "shut the door" on Muslims entering the U.S. during a heated round of interviews in which he said he was not worried about being compared to Hitler. (The Hill)
Angela Merkel named as Time magazine's person of the year -
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has been named by Time magazine as its person of the year - the first woman to receive the accolade in almost 30 years. Mrs Merkel, 61, was chosen for her leadership at a time of immense difficulty in Europe, and becomes the first woman to be named as person of the year since 1986. Last year's winners were the Ebola fighters. "Not once or twice but three times there has been reason to wonder this year whether Europe could continue to exist - not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft," said Nancy Gibbs, editor of the magazine. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Angela Merkel Time Magazine CoverKnightsbridge to fine boy-racers up to £1,000 if they rev their supercar engines -
For years they have infuriated residents in London's Knightsbridge with their incessant racing around the neighbourhood in noisy supercars. But boy-racers found guilty of wrecking the peace will now be fined £1000 after locals won a battle to make the uncouth behaviour a criminal offence. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which plays host to Harrods department store, has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which hopes to restore peace to the neighbourhood. [Daily Telegraph]
Denmark: Nature agency offers free ponds to landowners -
Denmark's nature agency is offering to pay for people to have ponds installed on their land in an effort to protect endangered wildlife. The government's AgriFish Agency is offering to foot the bill for creating water features up to 1,000 sq m (10,764 sq ft) in size, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reports. But such is the level of interest in the new scheme, officials say they probably won't be able to meet demand. So far there have been more than 100 inquiries by interested landowners, the report says. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
YouTube Rewind: Now Watch Me 2015 | #YouTubeRewind [Over 13 million views in 24 hours]
List of the Day -
The Shortlist for Times Person of the Year 2015
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Donald Trump
Black Lives Matter
Hassan Rouhani
Travis Kalanick
Caitlyn Jenner
Amnesty International reports that years of foreign military intervention, poor oversight on weapons sales, and lack of control over the international flow of weaponry have enabled ISIL to accumulate its vast armaments stockpile. Amnesty International calls for weapons embargoes and the ratification of the global Arms Trade Treaty by nations that have not already done so and, at the same time, are sources of weapons in the ISIL stockpile. (Agence France-Presse via AlJazeera America)(Agence France-Presse via Defense News)
Heavy rains continue to lash Thanjavur and Thanjavur district, inundating urban areas and hundreds of acres of farmland. Many residential areas in Thanjavur have been marooned by rising water. (The Hindu)
A group of mayors and officials from American cities such as Philadelphia, and New York City say that if they had their way Donald Trump would be banned from their cities for his comments on Muslims. (NBC)
Donald Trump: petition to ban presidential candidate from the UK becomes most popular ever -
An online petition calling for Donald Trump to be blocked from entry to the UK has broken the parliamentary website record and is approaching half a million signatures. It currently has more than 470,000 names, beating the previous high of 446,482. The Petitions Committee is expected to discuss the petition at its meeting on 5 January. [BBC]
Donald Trump
Famous Moscow cemeteries to install free wi-fi -
Three of Moscow's most-visited cemeteries are about to enter the digital age, with the installation of full wi-fi connectivity. Visitors will be able to browse the internet for free at the Novodevichy, Troyekurovskoye and Vagankovo cemeteries starting from the first half of 2016, according to the Moscow city website. The head of the city's funerary services office, Artem Yekimov, says the aim is to help visitors find out more about famous people buried there and their graves - and make visiting the cemeteries more "comfortable". Telecommunications company YS System says it offered to install the wi-fi networks after hearing about plans to create rest areas - dubbed "zones of psychological comfort" - at the cemeteries. [BBC]
Hajj stampede killed three times Saudi Arabia's official number, says report -
The September Hajj stampede killed at least 2,411 pilgrims, a new count shows, three times the number of deaths acknowledged by Saudi Arabia. The figures establish the crush on September 24 as the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. Saudi's official death toll of 769 people has not changed since September 26, and officials have yet to address the discrepancy. The kingdom rebuffed criticism from its regional rival Iran and efforts by other countries to join a probe into the deaths. Saudi's King Salman ordered an investigation into the tragedy almost immediately, yet few details have been made public since and hundreds of pilgrims remain missing. [Daily Telegraph]
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan cleared over hit-and-run crash -
An Indian court on Thursday cleared Bollywood superstar Salman Khan of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run crash 13 years ago, acquitting him of all charges after he appealed his conviction. The Bombay High Court said a lower court had erred in finding Khan guilty of culpable homicide at the end of his trial in May, when he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. [Daily Telegraph]
Salman Khan
Pro-Hadi government forces backed by Arab coalition air and naval forces, seize control of the Hanish Islands off the coast of Yemen, near the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait from troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The islands have been subject to heavy shelling by coalition forces for weeks according to local fishermen. (Reuters)
Swiss officials say police, based on a CIA tip, are hunting for at least four Islamic State-associated suspects believed to be plotting an attack in Geneva. (AP)
Syrian opposition politicians and rebels, attending a two-day meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, agree on a framework that would guide proposed talks to end Syria's nearly five-year conflict: a civil, democratic Syria with a transitional government that would respect human rights and the territorial integrity of the country; and, safeguard state institutions while restructuring security forces. Ahrar ash-Sham, a Saudi-backed ultraconservative group, withdrew from the talks at the end of the meeting.(BBC)(AP)
Tokyo police are using drones with nets to catch other drones -
Tokyo's police force has introduced an elite fleet of interceptor drones designed to chase and catch suspicious-looking drones in nets flying over sensitive locations amid concerns for the prime minister's safety. Riot police will control the camera-equipped interceptor drones to chase after private drones they feel may be spying on buildings, including the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's office, and ensnare them in large nets before returning to the ground. Those controlling the force drone will first warn the suspicious drone's operator to cease the flight, before pursuing them. A four-propellor drone carrying trace amounts of radioactive caesium was intercepted on the top of the prime minister's office in April, raising terror concerns in the capital. Police said radioactivity levels were only a maximum of 1 microsievert of gamma rays per hour, a level that is not harmful to humans. [Daily Telegraph]
Google Chrome extension replaces all mentions of Donald Trump with Voldemort -
When JK Rowling said Donald Trump was worse than Lord Voldemort, after the former's proposal that all Muslims should be banned from entering the US, the Harry Potter author inspired one person to take the idea that little bit further. A Google Chrome user has released an extension for the web browser that turns all mentions of Trump into various aliases for Harry Potter's nemesis. A series of Trump-related Chrome extensions have filled the web. The Trumpweb inserts quotes from the man himself in between "Donald" and "Trump", and another removes any mentions of him from Facebook. You can also change any mentions of Trump to "your drunk uncle". [Daily Telegraph] A petition started on December 6 to ban Trump from entering Britain has now reached over half a million signatures.
Donald Trump
Three Palestinians are killed by Israeli forces, two in Hebron, one of whom reportedly tried to ram his car into soldiers and the other during a violent demonstration in the West Bank city. A third Palestinian died in clashes with Israeli troops at the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. (Today)(AP via Stars & Stripes)
Burundi’s army repels attacks on military barracks in the capital, Bujumbura, in the worst violence since this spring's unrest that developed after PresidentPierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office. According to an army spokesman, at least 12 gunmen are killed and 20 captured. Reports that at least five soldiers have been killed are denied by the army, which says the soldiers were wounded. Two southern sites, a police station and an army camp, were also attacked, with no report on casualties. Kenya Airways and RwandAir cancels its flights to Bujumbura. (Al Jazeera)(Bloomberg)
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's branch in Libya (Libya Province) seizes control of the western Libyan town of Sabratha, after storming it in retaliation after two of their men were arrested in a house nearby; however they then set up checkpoints around the town, with little opposition from the local militias that were supposed to be in control of the area. There are now fears that the militant group could destroy the town's Roman amphitheatre, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (The Telegraph)
Swisspolice in Geneva, following yesterday's CIA tip, arrest two Syrian nationals. Apparently, traces of explosives were found in their car. PresidentSimonetta Sommaruga says, "There is currently no indication that there was a concrete attack planned."(Sky News)
Two of the U.S.’s oldest and largest companies, DuPont and Dow Chemical Company, will merge in an all-stock deal valued at $130 billion. The deal, which includes future plans for DowDuPont to split into three independent, public companies, is expected to face intense scrutiny from federal antitrust regulators, who will examine the impact on prices and the availability of vital seeds and herbicides.(Reuters)(The Washington Post)
Major UK-based reinsurance broker Aon Benfield estimates India has suffered over US$3 billion (over Rs. 200 billion) worth of losses as a result of the flooding, and rates them as the costliest floods and the eighth-costliest natural disaster of 2015.(Business Standard)
Has history been made at COP21? -
I'm not a fan of hyperbole, but it would be churlish to say the adoption of the Paris Agreement [at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP21] was anything other than a globally, historic moment. This carefully worded document that balances the right of countries to develop with the need to protect the planet is a truly world changing instrument. It sets out, for the first time, a global approach to a problem of humanity's own making: the recent rapid warming of the Earth that science says is mainly down to the use of fossil fuels. The deal sets out a firm goal of keeping temperature rises well below 2C, and will strive for 1.5C. This is no easy task as researchers say that this year 2015, the world has gone through 1C above pre-industrial levels. The agreement text means that emissions of greenhouse gases will have to peak globally and reduce rapidly thereafter, in accordance with the best possible science. This phrase is crucial according to observers, meaning that the Paris deal will be guided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And the IPCC say that carbon emissions will have to go to zero by the end of this century. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference logo
Elon Musk launches $1bn fund to save world from AI -
Elon Musk has unveiled his latest big-money project: saving humanity from destruction by artificial intelligence. The man who made his billions from PayPal and who has gambled a chunk of his fortune on the race for space, has warned frequently that AI represents humanity's greatest existential threat. He is joining forces with other tech entrepreneurs to establish a $1 billion investment fund for researchers to pursue applications with a positive social impact and to try to stay one step ahead of the technology. Along with his Paypal co-founder, Peter Thiel, and backing from Indian tech giant Infosys and Amazon Web Services, he has set up OpenAI, a nonprofit company that will back research into novel uses of AI and share the findings. [Daily Telegraph] In May 2015 Musk's firm SpaceX won long-waited approval from the US Air Force to launch military satellites
Elon Musk
Sixteen people are killed and many more injured by a car bomb and a second, delayed explosion near a hospital in Syria's mainly Alawite, government-controlled neighborhood of al-Zahra, east of Homs' old city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rightsreports. The attack comes just five days after the government and rebels agreed on a local ceasefire in the western al-Waer suburb. (Reuters)(EuroNews)
Burundi'sarmy reports 87 people, including eight government defenders, were killed, and 45 attackers captured in Friday's clashes at three military sites in Bujumbura. Police have not identified the gunmen. Witnesses report some of the victims' arms were tied behind their backs while others were killed at close range. This was the worst violence since this spring's attempted coup d'état. One of the generals behind the failed coup says his rebel group still wants to oust the president. (Reuters)(AFP via Global Post)
Residents in the United States' fourth largest city are voting in a runoff election to choose the new mayor of Houston, Texas. The race is between the top two finishers in November's non-partisan election: Sylvester Turner, a veteran lawmaker seeking to expand economic opportunities; and, Bill King, a businessman pledging to fix city finances. (Reuters)(KPRC-TV)
Ed Sheeran 'quits' social media -
Singer Ed Sheeran has announced he is "taking a break" from social media as he is "seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes". Writing on his Instagram account, the singer explained he was "taking the opportunity of not having to be anywhere... to travel the world". He also confirmed to fans that his third album is "on its way" and "is the best thing I have made thus far". Sheeran has 16 million Twitter and 5.5 million Instagram followers. He has just completed a world tour of his number one album x (pronounced "multiply") in Auckland, New Zealand. Before the final show, he also tweeted that he was "buggering off for a while". [BBC]
Ed Sheeran
UFC 194: Conor McGregor knocks out Jose Aldo after 13 seconds -
Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo after just 13 seconds at UFC 194 to win the featherweight title in Las Vegas. Irishman McGregor, 27, beat the long-time champion by landing a strong left hand with his first connecting punch to secure the fastest ever knockout in a UFC title fight. McGregor claimed in the build up to the fight that he would "embarrass" Aldo with a first-round knockout. "Precision beats power, timing beats speed," McGregor said afterwards. "I feel for Jose. He's a phenomenal champion. He deserved to go a little bit longer." It was also Brazilian Aldo's first defeat in 10 years after winning 18 straight fights. [BBC]
Conor McGregor
Video of the Day -
Tiny Hamster Agility Course - Dumptruck Vs Porkchop
The U.S. State Department issues a travel advisory for Burundi and advises its citizens there to leave as soon as possible due to the increased violence in the capital Bujumbura where 87 people were killed this weekend. Families of U.S. government personnel and non-emergency personnel have been ordered to leave immediately. (UPI)(US State)
Unofficial results show at least 17 Saudi Arabian women won municipal council seats in the kingdom's third-ever election, and the first to allow female participation. Voters elected representatives for two thirds of the municipal council seats. The government announced that 979 women were candidates. (Reuters)(NPR)(Daily Pakistan)
While voters in Central African Republic cast their ballots in a constitutional referendum aimed at ending years of sectarian strife, clashes erupt in the capital Bangui's PK5 Muslim neighborhood, killing at least two and injuring over 20. PK5 residents, visited by Pope Francis two weeks ago, marched to the U.N. headquarters in the country to complain they were unable to cast their ballots. The proposed constitution would limit a president to two terms, add an upper house to go along with the National Assembly, and fight institutional corruption. (France24)(Reuters)(Al Jazeera)
Taylor Swift to release concert video on Apple Music -
Taylor Swift is releasing a live concert special from her 1989 world tour exclusively on Apple Music. The 1989 World Tour Live can be streamed from 20 December. It is not available to buy but it is free for streaming for Apple Music subscribers. Swift criticised Apple Music in June for not paying artists during its free, three-month trial launch. She said she was withholding her 1989 album because of Apple's stance. The company then did a u-turn. Swift said Apple "had shown such humility in what they did ... so that's how we get to (here)." [BBC Taylor Swift
Kim Jong-un 'ordered girl group home over Chinese snub' -
They mystery surrounding the hurried departure of Kim Jong-Un's girl group from China may have been solved. North Korea reportedly ordered the Moranbong Band to return from China in a fit of pique after their scheduled performance was snubbed by the leadership in Beijing. The 21-strong Moranbong Band left Beijing abruptly just before they were due to perform at an invitation-only concert on Saturday. At least one member of China's politburo was expected to attend, according to South Korea's Yonhap News reported. A Chinese government official told Yonhap that North Korea initially expected Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, to attend he concert, but was horrified at the offer of only a politburo member. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
36 Questions That Make Strangers Fall In Love (The LAB)
Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry reports their investigation of the 31 October 2015 deadly crash of Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 in the Sinai has not found any evidence of terrorism. Prior to this, the working assumption has been that plane was brought down by a bomb, and a group affiliated with ISIL said it was responsible. (Sky News)(CNN)
A Palestinian rams his car into a bus stop near the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem before being shot dead by police; fourteen people, including a toddler, are injured in the attack. (Ynet News)(The Times of Israel)
At least seven people are killed in clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish protesters across southeast Turkey, as Turkish authorities declare new curfews across the restive region. According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 52 curfews have been imposed since mid-August by Turkish authorities across seven Turkish provinces in the region, placing around 1.3 million people under curfew. (Reuters)
Business and economics
Oil price reached its lowest since December 2008. Other indicators in broader markets caused investor jitters ahead of the expected interest rate hike by the U.S. central bank on Wednesday. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man from eastern Jerusalem, Muhammad Abu Kaf, is indicted by Israeli prosecutors on eight counts of incitement to violence or terror for posting a video on Facebook calling on people to stab Jews. (Ynet News)
Spacecraft carrying Russian, American, Briton docks with space station -
A Soyuz spacecraft successfully delivered a Russian, an American and a Briton to the International Space Station on Tuesday after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The otherwise smooth journey ended with a slightly delayed docking at 1733 GMT as Russian commander Yuri Malenchenko aborted the automatic procedure and manually guided the spacecraft towards the station. Alongside Malenchenko, a veteran of long-duration space flights who is on his fourth space mission, were NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Briton Tim Peake, both former Apache military helicopter pilots. Peake, 43, a former army major who is on a six-month mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), became the first astronaut representing the British government and wearing a Union Jack flag on his arm. The first Briton in space was Helen Sharman, who travelled on a Soviet spacecraft for eight days in 1991. [Reuters]
Timothy Peake
Star Wars: Force Awakens gets world premiere -
The hotly anticipated latest addition in the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, has had its world premiere in Los Angeles. Stars from the original series including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher joined newcomers including John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. The plot of the film remains a closely-guarded secret and a media embargo on reviews is in place until Wednesday. Fans had been camping out for days outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, which along with other LA venues screened the seventh Star Wars instalment. Security was tight, with a giant tent shrouding the red carpet. The TCL Chinese Theatre - formerly known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre - showed the first Star Wars movie in 1977. [BBC]
'Late' Madonna rebuffs fans over Manchester gig complaints -
Pop singer Madonna has told fans she is no "diva" after technical hitches meant she was late on stage for a gig in Manchester. The 57-year-old artist made the comments on Monday at the Manchester Arena during her Rebel Heart tour. "If you diva bitches want to keep complaining about it, then don't come to my show," she said. She added: "I'm not back there eating chocolate and filing my nails and getting my extensions done, all right?" However, the singer told fans: "Tonight, our video crashed, and we had no video, and our back-up file was - I don't know - it was compromised, put it like that... So praise the Lord and thank you God but that is why we are late, all right? For no selfish diva bitch reason." [BBC] In July 2015 Madonna compared herself to Pablo Picasso.
Madonna
World's longest-surviving castaway sued for $1 million after being accused of 'eating his colleague' -
A fisherman who stunned the world by surviving 15 months lost at sea is being sued for $1 million (£650,000) by the family of his dead colleague, who accuse him of eating their relative to ensure his own survival. Salvador Alvarenga, 36, is the only man known to have survived for over a year at sea. And when he set sail from the coast of Mexico in November 2012, he thought he was setting out on a two-day fishing trip, having paid 22-year-old Ezequiel Cordoba $50 to accompany him. But a vicious storm with 10ft waves knocked out the 25ft boat’s communication systems, and washed their supplies overboard. The pair survived for several months by catching fish and birds, and drinking turtle blood and rainwater. He eventually died, extracting promises from Mr Alvarenga not to eat his corpse, and to find Cordoba’s mother and tell her what happened. [Daily Telegraph]
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that increased airstrikes by Russia have forced humanitarian assistance organizations to curtail their relief efforts, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in northern Syria. (The Washington Post)
Typhoon Melor (Nona) causes widespread flooding and blackouts in the Philippines. More than 700,000 people had been evacuated ahead of the storm which hit late on Monday night. (New York Times)
A Baltimore, Maryland deadlocked jury was told by the trial judge to resume deliberations after closing arguments in the first trial of police officer William Porter, charged in the death of Freddie Gray. With demonstrations and unrest following the death, the city has cancelled leave for police officers and the mayor has called for calm when a verdict is announced. (CNN)(The Gazette)
United Kingdom police arrest a 21-year-old man in Berkshire in the hacking of Hong Kong-based electronic toy maker VTech. Details of more than six million people from servers used to support VTech's learning products app store were compromised.(BBC)(Digital Trends)
New Zealand announces the flag design chosen by the public that will challenge the current flag in a March 2016 vote. Voters will choose between the current flag, which features the British Union Jack with a dark blue background, and the challenger, asilver fern and four red stars on a black and blue background. (CTV)(Stuff)
Amazon tells customers: Get rid of your exploding hoverboards -
Customers who bought hoverboards as Christmas gifts have been urged to "dispose" of them and accept refunds after three of Britain's biggest retailers suspended sales. In an email seen by The Telegraph, internet giant Amazon has asked customers to take the self-balancing, two-wheeled scooters to a local recycling point for electronic equipment. Estimates suggest around 500,000 people in Britain have bought hoverboards as Christmas gifts. A further million are considering it, according to the watchdog Electrical Safety First. More than 15,000 of 17,000 self-balancing scooters analysed at borders since October 15 have been deemed unsafe and detained. [Daily Telegraph]
Germany: Star Wars-themed service at Berlin church -
A church in Berlin has announced it will hold a special pre-Christmas service devoted to Star Wars. Excitement is building in Germany ahead of the release of the franchise's latest installment, The Force Awakens, on Thursday. But the Zion Church, located in the capital's central Mitte district, is taking inspiration for its Sunday morning service from one of the classics - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Those attending the event will be shown scenes from the 1983 film, and there's also the promise of organ music inspired by the score, the local church district says on its website.
The idea came from two young pastors-in-training, Ulrike Garve and Lucas Ludewig, who see parallels between the George Lucas films and the Bible. "In the key scene of Episode VI, Luke Skywalker is drawn onto the side of the emperor, of evil," says Mr Ludewig, described as a theologian and Star Wars expert by the church. "Luke resists with the words: I will never belong to the dark side." That sentiment, he says, is reminiscent of a passage from Romans: "Do not let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." [BBC]
Last round pound coin minted -
The Royal Mint is producing the final round pound coin on Wednesday. It is more than 30 years since the now familiar gold-coloured coins were first minted. The new-look replacement will be brought into circulation in 2017. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots & "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Cast Sing "Star Wars" Medley (A Cappella)
Pakistan says it was surprised to learn of the country's inclusion in Saudi Arabia's so-called "Islamic anti-terrorist alliance", and that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance by the Saudis. Pakistan's Foreign SecretaryAizaz Ahmad Chaudhry says he has asked the country’s ambassador in Riyadh to get a clarification from Saudi Arabia on the matter. Malaysia has also denied any involvement in Saudi Arabia’s military coalition to counter terrorism. (BBC)(DAWN)
Japan's Supreme Court upholds a 19th-century law that requires married couples to have the same surname, but struck down another law that barred women from remarrying within six months of a divorce as unconstitutional. (The Guardian)
A bank in Minnesota (U.S.) is robbed by the same person a second time while an Iowatelevision station was doing a live update on the first robbery. The robber was arrested shortly afterwards. (Associated Press)
After the jury fails to reach a unanimous decision, a Baltimore, Maryland, judge declares a mistrial in the trial of police officer William Porter, the first officer to be charged in the death of Freddie Gray. (NBC News)(ABC News)
About 100 men in more than 50 machine gun-mounted trucks kidnap at least 26 Qataris, including members of the royal family, from a hunting camp in Iraq near the Saudi border. (Sky News)
Jose Mourinho: Chelsea sack boss after Premier League slump -
Chelsea have sacked manager Jose Mourinho seven months after he led them to the Premier League title. The 52-year-old Portuguese had been in his second spell at the club, taking charge in June 2013. Chelsea finished eight points clear last season and won the League Cup, but have lost nine of their 16 league games so far and are 16th in the table, one point above the relegation places. Mourinho's final match was Monday's 2-1 defeat at leaders Leicester City. Pep Guardiola, Guus Hiddink, Juande Ramos and Brendan Rodgers have all been touted as possible successors as Blues owner Roman Abramovich begins another managerial search. [BBC]
Jose Mourinho
Pastafarian marriages approved in New Zealand -
Ever wanted to get married while wearing a colander on your head? Move to New Zealand - they just gave the right to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to perform marriage ceremonies. Members of the church call themselves Pastafarians and believe that the world was created by an airborne spaghetti and meatballs-based being, although its own website notes that some followers consider it to be a satirical organisation. The registrar-general told stuff.co.nz that the request was valid because the purposes set out by the church were educating and training people, particularly atheists and superstitious people, about Flying Spaghetti principles and practices. He said: "In considering the matter I have referred to the Objects of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, reviewed material available online about this organisation and considered other organisations already able to nominate marriage celebrants. "A review of media and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster's international website show a consistent presentation of their philosophies. While some claim this is a 'parody organisation', members have rebutted this on a number of occasions." [Daily Telegraph] In November 2016 ‘Pastafarian’ Lindsay Miller won the right to wear colander on head in driving licence photo in Massachusetts.
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Delegates from Libya's warring factions sign a U.N.-brokered agreement to form a national unity government. Some of Libya's armed brigades are closely allied with political leaders who oppose this agreement. (Reuters)(Al Arabiya)
The Turkish Army deploys tanks into civilian areas of Silopi and soldiers are reportedly going house-to-house in search of PKK militants. The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) condemns the Turkish military actions in Silopi. (RT)
Disasters and accidents
A 6.4-magnitudeearthquake hits the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The epicenter was 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the town of Tres Picos, not far from the Pacific coast. There are no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. (Reuters)(USGS)
Nineteen workers trapped by Wednesday's gas explosion and raging fire in a coal mine in Hegang in Heilongjiang privince are not expected to survive because of carbon monoxide and the high temperatures from the fire, according to the rescue and command office's Zhang Qinxiang. Thirty-three miners escaped. (MINING.com)
Riots break out in the western Dutch town of Geldermalsen over plans to establish a centre for asylum seekers in the town. Local police say they made several arrests. Including this year's arrivals, the Dutch government said in November it expected to receive 58,000 asylum seekers by the end of 2016. (BBC)
Star Wars film breaks opening night box office record -
The new Star Wars film has set a new opening night box office record in the US and Canada, industry experts said. Star Wars: The Force Awakens made $57m (£38m) on Thursday night, beating the previous record of $43.5m held by Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011. Analysts say the space saga could become the biggest selling movie of all time. The film also set a new opening day box office record in the UK and Ireland. The £9.64m tally beat the previous best of £9.48m set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Midnight screenings on Thursday morning accounted for £2.4m of ticket sales. Rentrak's Paul Dergarabedian, one of Hollywood's best-known box office analysts, said the film's opening night performance in the US and Canada "portends a massive and potentially record-breaking opening day and weekend for the film". [BBC]
The $70m cost of Uber Force One: Price of private flights for Obama and family -
Barack Obama's eighth consecutive Christmas vacation to Hawaii starts Friday just as a new report shows the total cost of his vacations has now exceeded $70 million to U.S. taxpayers. The costs are being savaged by a critical conservative group, which says Obama is treating Air Force One, which costs $206,000/hour to run, 'like an Uber ride' ahead of his next jaunt to his home state,' says Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch pressure group. Fly-time alone will set taxpayers back somewhere in the region of $3.5 million as Obama, the First Lady, Sasha and Malia and their two dogs jet off for around two weeks. The total cost of Obama's vacations since taking office in January 2009 has now hit $70.5 million, according to a new report. Yet he still has not taken anywhere near the total number of vacations or days off as his predecessor, George W. Bush, the report shows. [Daily Mail]
Barack Obama on Air Force One
Iceland grapples with volcano-naming responsibility -
Authorities in Iceland have decided on a name for a volcano a year after it started erupting. Council members in the rural district of Skutustadahreppur, which boasts a population of 371, took on the hefty responsibility to officially name the lava field known conversationally to locals as Holuhraun, the Iceland Review news website reports. After considering four names for the volcano - Flaedahraun, Holuhraun, Nornahraun and Urdarbruni - the vote was carried to officially use the name Holuhraun, despite only getting the backing of two of the five council members, Icelandic newspaper Visir said. [BBC]
Two ballistic missiles are fired from Yemen at Saudi Arabia, one of which is intercepted by the kingdom's air defences, while the other missile lands near the city of Najran, according to a coalition statement on Saudi state media. No casualties have been reported. (AFP via AhramOnline)
An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition hit Iraqi forces as the army engaged militants in poor weather conditions south of the city of Fallujah. Official reports state one soldier was killed, and nine were injured, but casualties may be significantly higher. Amilitary medic says he's treated at least 20 for injuries. (The Washington Post)
The Chinese government warns residents in Northern China to prepare for a wave of choking smog arriving over the weekend and lasting through Tuesday, with Beijing affected hardest. The capital city issues its second-ever "red alert" -- the first was announced on December 7, 2015. This alert triggers the odd-even license plate system to halve cars on the road, and recommends schools close. China's National Meteorological Center reports the pollution will stretch from Xi'an, across part of Central China, through Beijing and up into Shenyang and Harbin in China's frigid northeast. (Reuters)(South China Morning Post)
NATO's Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System becomes partly operational at Romania's Deveselu airbase, as U.S. Navy personnel takes control of the site after years of construction. Aegis Ashore facilities in Romania form part of NATO's European missile defence system, with another site under construction in Poland expected to become operational by 2018. The United States Ambassador to RomaniaHans G. Klemm says that they have explained to the Russians on numerous occasions that the missile system is, "not directed at Russia, nor does it have the capability to threaten Russia." The head of Russia's Strategic Missile Troops, Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, has dismissed the purported effectiveness of the missile defense system, saying Moscow develops “brand new and effective means and techniques to penetrate any missile defense system”. (AP via Yahoo News), (RT)
In the United States, a group of hospitals, 32 in 15 states, agree to pay a total of $28 million to settle charges they submitted false claims to Medicare for a type of spinal fracture treatment. This is the latest settlement stemming from a decade-oldwhistleblower lawsuit about alleged inappropriate billing for kyphoplasty. More than 130 hospitals have paid about $105 million to settle billing claims from this spinal procedure. (Reuters)(The Arizona Republic)
Jeff Weaver, presidential campaign manager for VermontSenatorBernie Sanders, says the DNC's suspending access to the Democratic voter file is part of a "pattern" of actions that suggest the DNC is not impartial. The campaign, which had notified the DNC of software problems, threatens to take the DNC to federal court if the party organization doesn't restore the campaign's access. (UPI)(CNN)
Michael Briggs of the Sanders campaign says the voter data access issue has been “resolved.” (ABC News)
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Harrison Ford nets £23m from Star Wars -
Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford will rake in more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Insiders say Disney producers were so determined to get the 73-year-old to reprise his role as Han Solo for The Force Awakens that they agreed a £16.7 million fee. Ford will also get a 0.5 per cent share of the film’s gross earnings, which are expected to break records by hitting at least £1.3 billion. It means the actor’s share could be worth £6.5 million. His salary is more than 76 times greater than that of British newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. They received £300,000 each for their starring roles in the movie. However, once worldwide box-office takings have topped the $1 billion mark, the pair will also start to receive a small cut. [Daily Mail]
Harrison Ford
Miss Universe: Miss Colombia mistakenly crowned as winner -
The host of the Miss Universe has apologised after mistakenly naming the wrong woman as winner, leaving Miss Colombia empty-handed. After the error, Ariadna Gutierrez was instead declared runner-up and surrendered her crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. #MissUniverse2015 became Twitter's biggest trend of the night as social media users expressed their disbelief. The host Steve Harvey responded, saying it was "his mistake" and he would take responsibility for not reading the winning card correctly. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
Star Wars smashes box office records on opening weekend -
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" shattered box office records with an estimated $517 million (£350 million) in worldwide ticket sales on its opening weekend, a staggering debut that re-established the celebrated space saga as a global phenomenon. The first "Star Wars" film in a decade recorded the biggest domestic opening in Hollywood's history, collecting $238 million over the weekend in the United States and Canada. Global sales for "Force Awakens" finished second only to the dinosaur film "Jurassic World," which in its June opening garnered $525 million worldwide, including China, where the "Star Wars" film will not open for weeks. "Jurassic World" took $208.8 million at domestic cinemas in its first weekend. "Force Awakens" is the seventh installment in the epic science-fiction franchise created by George Lucas in 1977. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Video of the Day -
THE 64TH ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT | Can't 'Miss' Moment: The Reveal
List of the Day -
Star Wars films in order of box office performance -
1. Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) - $1,486m
IMDb rating:8.7
2. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - $818m
IMDb rating:8.8
3. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) - $784m
IMDb rating:8.4
4. Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) - $707m
IMDb rating:6.5
5. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - $495m
IMDb rating:7.7
6. Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) - $446m
IMDb rating:6.7
7. The Clone Wars (2008) - $41m
IMDb rating:5.8
Note that figures are for US box office and allow for the effects of inflation.
A missile-strike attributed to the Israeli Air Force in Jaramana in southern Syria kills high-ranking LebaneseHezbollah commander and murderer, Samir Kuntar, and eight National Defence Force (NDF) personnel. Kuntar was the longest serving Lebanese prisoner in Israel until his release in 2008. On April 22, 1979 Kuntar and his team broke into an apartment building and kidnapped a father, 31-year-old Danny Haran, and his 4-year-old daughter, Einat, taking them to a nearby beach and killing them. (Reuters)
Airstrikes, apparently from Russian jets, kill scores of people in the center of rebel-held Idlib in northwest Syria. The missiles hit a busy market place, several government buildings, and residential areas. At least 73 bodies, 30 unidentified, have been recovered. (Reuters)
Thirty-three buildings collapse after a landslide hit an industrial park in Shenzhen, China, leaving at least 91 people missing. (CNN)
An avalanche in Svalbard, a NorwegianArcticarchipelago, kills one and injures nine others as the snow smashes into 10 houses in Longyearbyen. The deluge from Sukkertoppen mountain follows Friday's 60 mph storm that ripped off a school roof and temporarily closed the airport. Dozens of homes at the foot of the mountain were evacuated and all of the area's residents have been located, according to Tone Hertzberg, a spokeswoman for Svalbard's governor. Experts from Norges Geotekniske Instituttare examining nearby slopes. (AP via CBS News)(newsinenglish.no)
A ferry ran into trouble in rough seas off the coast of Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, with at least three killed, including two children, 39 rescued, and 77 missing. The New Marina, a fiberglass boat, was reported to be carrying 109 passengers with a crew of 10. The National Search and Rescue Agency says the boat sank 22.5 km (24 miles) off the coast of the Wajo Regency in South Sulawesi. Rescue teams expect to resume their search for the missing, Monday. (BenarNews)(Muscat Daily)
Fifa: Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini get eight-year bans -
Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Uefa boss Michel Platini have been suspended for eight years from all football-related activities following an ethics investigation. They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) "disloyal payment" made to Platini in 2011. The Fifa ethics committee found Blatter and Platini had demonstrated an "abusive execution" of their positions. "I will fight for me and for Fifa," Blatter, 79, said at a news conference. Platini said the decision was a "masquerade" intended to "dirty" his name. Both men continue to deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). Swiss Blatter and 60-year-old Frenchman Platini have also been fined £33,700 ($50,000) and £54,000 ($80,000) respectively. [BBC] In September Swiss police opened a separate investigation into criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal.
Sepp Blatter
Martin Shkreli fired from drug firm KaloBios following arrest -
Martin Shkreli has been fired as chief executive from the drug company KaloBios Pharmaceuticals. It comes just days after his arrest by the FBI for securities fraud. In a short statement, the company said he had also stepped down voluntarily from the board. Mr Shkreli, who came to prominence after his company raised the price of a lifesaving HIV drug by 5,000%, has pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges. He has already resigned as head of the company which made the drug, Turing Pharmaceuticals. The FBI has accused Mr Shkreli of using assets from his former company, Retrophin, to illegally pay off debts at MSMB, the hedge fund he managed. He was released on $5m (£3.53m) bail. [BBC]
Martin Shkreli
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Fire-breathing Backflip with Steve-O - The Slow Mo Guys
Taliban forces overrun the Sangin District in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province following clashes with Afghan security forces which left dozens dead. Taliban militants have reportedly surrounded the local police compound with around 170 officers trapped inside the compound, according to a local official. (FRANCE 24)
At least two people are killed in a attack, near the north-eastern village of El Wak in Mandera County near the Somali border. A group of Kenyan Muslims traveling on a bus ambushed by suspected Al-Shabaab insurgents, protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups, according to eyewitnesses. (BBC)
Fighting continues to rage between the Turkish Army and PKK militants across southeastern Turkey, with the Kurdish-majority cities of Cizre and Silopi both becoming war zones as street-to-street fighting takes place. Turkish tanks shelled civilian houses in Silopi, while a Turkish military helicopter was damaged by PKK fire as it attempted to land in Cizre. Also, two Turkish soldiers were killed and six others wounded in a roadside bombing near the town of Bitlis. Many within Turkey are saying a civil war is now underway. (Al Jazeera)
In Sunday's elections, Spain's center-right ruling People's Party (PP) wins 123 seats (35.1%), and the center-left Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) takes 90 (25.7%) of the 350 seats in parliament, thereby ending Spain's two-party system since neither major party won an absolute majority. Turnout was 73 percent. Spain's new political forces, Podemos and Ciudadanos (C's), get 69 and 40 seats, respectively. Smaller parties split the remaining 28 seats, 17 to Catalonia parties which favor secession. It appears that a coalition government will be necessary. PSOE has declined to join the PP, which actually doesn't want that either. King Felipe, who ascended the throne in June 2014, is constitutionally empowered to mediate. (Stratfor)(Fortune)(International Business Times)(BBC)
Actor Nicolas Cage returns stolen dinosaur skull he bought -
Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage has agreed to turn over a rare stolen dinosaur skull he bought for $276,000 to U.S. authorities so it can be returned to the Mongolian government. The office of Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint last week to take possession of the Tyrannosaurus bataar skull, which will be repatriated to Mongolia. The lawsuit did not specifically name Cage as the owner, but Cage's publicist confirmed that the actor bought the skull in March 2007 from a Beverly Hills gallery, I.M. Chait. The "National Treasure" actor is not accused of wrongdoing, and authorities said he voluntarily agreed to turn over the skull after learning of the circumstances. Cage outbid fellow movie star Leonardo DiCaprio for the skull, according to prior news reports. [Reuters]
Nicolas_Cage
SpaceX succeeds in historic rocket launch and landing -
SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket late on Monday night for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as planes. Its engines burning bright orange against the dark night sky, the Falcon 9 made a graceful arc back to Earth and touched down upright at Cape Canaveral, Florida, minutes after launching a payload of satellites to orbit, video images showed. "I still can't quite believe it," Musk said in a teleconference after the landing. "I think this is a revolutionary moment. No one has ever brought an orbital class booster back intact." Previous attempts to land the Falcon 9's first stage on a floating ocean platform have failed - with the rocket either colliding with the autonomous drone ship or tipping over. [Daily Telegraph] In June 2015 a SpaceX rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station exploded minutes after take-off. See Video of the Day
Elon Musk
Video of the Day -
Historic Landing of Falcon 9 First Stage at Landing Zone 1
Virginia Attorney GeneralMark Herring announces, effective February 1, 2016, that Virginia will no longer recognize concealed carry handgun permits from 25 (of the 30) states with reciprocity agreements with the commonwealth whose concealed handgun regulations are weaker than Virginia's. The state agreements with the other five states will not change. Virginia’s concealed carry permits will not be recognized by at least six states because they require mutual recognition of permits. (The Washington Post)(AP via Chicago Tribune)
American actor Nicolas Cage agrees to return to Mongolia a stolen dinosaur skull he bought in 2007 for $276,000. Cage says he was unaware the skull had entered the country illegally. (Reuters)(USA Today)
Skier's Close Call As Drone Camera Crashes -
A skier has narrowly avoided serious injury after a drone being used to film the event he was competing in crashed to the ground. The drone hit the snow just centimetres away from Austria's Marcel Hirscher during the alpine skiing World Cup slalom in Italy. "This is horrible," Hirscher, who finished second in the event, said. A skier has narrowly avoided serious injury after a drone being used to film the event he was competing in crashed to the ground. The drone hit the snow just centimetres away from Austria's Marcel Hirscher during the alpine skiing World Cup slalom in Italy. "This is horrible," Hirscher, who finished second in the event, said. [MSN News] See Video of the Day
Marcel Hirscher
Madonna goes to court to force 15-year-old son to return to New York -
Madonna has gone to court to force her 15-year-old son Rocco to return to New York, after his father Guy Ritchie insisted that he wanted to stay in the UK for Christmas. The singer appeared before a judge in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, where she won her bid to have her son forced to board a plane from London. Mr Ritchie, a film director who has two children with Madonna, argued through his lawyer that Rocco preferred to spend Christmas with his father, the New York Post reported. Judge Kaplan ordered that Rocco should talk with Madonna, and then revisit the issue of which parent he prefers. The judge told a smiling Madonna that Rocco must also present himself to court in the United States for the case to be decided. “I’m directing the child to be returned to New York. If he wants to stay with his father, he must return to his mother.” [Daily Telegraph]
Madonna
Video of the Day -
TV drone crashes during ski race - Marcel Hirscher at Madonna di Campiglio
Amnesty International reports at least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, indicating "serious failures by Russia to respect international humanitarian law". Moscow denies causing civilian deaths. (BBC)
An overnight raid by suspected Boko Haram militants on Niger's southern border town of Abadam, kills two Nigerien Army soldiers and three civilians. And, separately, a suicide-bomb attack on Lake Chad killed three of the attackers but no one else. A military convoy was also ambushed by militants in northern Cameroon, although there were no reported deaths. (Reuters)
Clashes continue between PKK militants and Turkish Army troops in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. At least one Turkish soldier is killed and several are wounded in a bomb attack. (Reuters)
Hacktivist collective Anonymous declares a cyber-war on Turkey, and claims responsibility for the major week-long cyber-attack between 14 and 21 December on Turkey, which it accuses of supporting the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and threatened additional attacks in case the alleged support continues. “We will continue attacking your internet, your root DNS, your banks and take your government sites down,” it said. “After the root DNS, we will start to hit your airports, military assets and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure,” the group added. (Hurriyet Daily News)(Independent)
South Korea announces an end to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak that has killed 36 people since May 2015. The virus infected 186 people, with nearly 17,000 people confined to their homes and thousands of schools temporarily closing at the peak of the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where it first appeared in 2012. (AFP via FRANCE 24)
Robert Downey Jr pardoned for 20-year-old drug conviction -
US actor Robert Downey Jr has been granted an official pardon for a drug conviction that sent him to prison nearly 20 years ago. California Governor Jerry Brown announced pardons for 91 people who had been out of custody for 10 years and proved they had turned their lives around. The conviction will remain on his record but the actor twice-nominated for an Oscar will have his voting rights restored. In 1996, police found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in his car when they stopped him for speeding. [BBC] Earlier in 2015 Downey was named by Forbes Magazine as the 8th highest paid celebrity and highest paid actor.
Robert Downey Jr
Anti 'sweet tooth' hormone discovered by scientists -
A cure for sugar cravings is a major step nearer after scientists identified a hormone which suppresses a "sweet tooth". Researchers say their findings, published online in the journal Cell Metabolism, could improve the diet and help patients who are diabetic or obese. While sugar cravings are common, particularly at this time of year, the physiological mechanisms that trigger our "sweet tooth" were not well defined until now. But the new study in mice shows that a hormone produced by the liver, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), suppresses the consumption of simple sugars.[Daily Telegraph]
Officials report the casualties from yesterday's spring-like storm that triggered more than 20 tornadoes, destroyed homes, delayed and cancelled air flights, and caused power outages in the U.S.Midwest and Southeast have risen to at least 11 people killed with dozens injured. Mississippi GovernorPhil Bryant declares a state of emergency in areas affected by the storm. (NBC News)(Reuters)
Up to 100 people die in an explosion at an LPG gas plant in Nnewi, Anambra, in southern Nigeria. Sources indicate the accident was caused by a truck discharging its contents before the mandatory cooling time had expired. (BBC)(Vanguard)
Uruguay's National Emergencies System reports two people have died in flooding from heavy rains in its northern provinces, and almost 5,500 have been evacuated. The Uruguay River has risen close to three meters over safe levels in Paysandú, and almost four meters (13 feet) in Salto. (Fox News Latino)(Latin American Herald Tribune)
The 53 Americans taken hostage in Tehran, Iran, in 1979, or their families, will receive compensation of $4.4 million each from the United States government as a result of a provision in the spending deal signed into law last week. (ABC News)(The Hill)
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UK astronaut Tim Peake calls wrong number from space -
British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted an apology on Christmas Day from the International Space Station after calling a wrong number. He wrote "I'd like to apologize to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' — not a prank call — just a wrong number!" The 43-year-old former army helicopter pilot did not say who he was calling.
Timothy Peake
Amnesty International reports at least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, indicating "serious failures by Russia to respect international humanitarian law". Moscow denies causing civilian deaths. (BBC)
An overnight raid by suspected Boko Haram militants on Niger's southern border town of Abadam, kills two Nigerien Army soldiers and three civilians. And, separately, a suicide-bomb attack on Lake Chad killed three of the attackers but no one else. A military convoy was also ambushed by militants in northern Cameroon, although there were no reported deaths. (Reuters)
Clashes continue between PKK militants and Turkish Army troops in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. At least one Turkish soldier is killed and several are wounded in a bomb attack. (Reuters)
Hacktivist collective Anonymous declares a cyber-war on Turkey, and claims responsibility for the major week-long cyber-attack between 14 and 21 December on Turkey, which it accuses of supporting the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and threatened additional attacks in case the alleged support continues. “We will continue attacking your internet, your root DNS, your banks and take your government sites down,” it said. “After the root DNS, we will start to hit your airports, military assets and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure,” the group added. (Hurriyet Daily News)(Independent)
South Korea announces an end to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak that has killed 36 people since May 2015. The virus infected 186 people, with nearly 17,000 people confined to their homes and thousands of schools temporarily closing at the peak of the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where it first appeared in 2012. (AFP via FRANCE 24)
Nudists rescue sinking yacht at start of Sydney-Hobart race -
A group of struggling sailors in Sydney were given a surprising rescue when they found themselves being hauled to shore by a nudists. A small wooden boat had sailed out to watch the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, which sees 100 vessels set out on Boxing Day every year. But as spectators were walking back along the coast, they saw a boat get in to trouble near Lady Bay Beach – a popular site for nudists. "The boat came angling into the shore, which was a bit weird,” said Chris Pearce, a photographer with Getty agency. Mr Pearce said that a crowd of people swimming in the sea came to their rescue, in waters around three feet deep. After the woman and child were rescued from the boat, those left on board started to see the funny side of the situation. Photographs of the rescue show at least one man on board grinning as nude men surrounded the boat, ready to lend a hand. [Daily Telegraph]
Twitter is winning war on trolls and extremists, says its Europe chief -
The social media giant, which is 10 years old in March, has amassed 320 million users and a valuation of more than $33bn (£22bn). But it desperately needs to turn back waves of negative headlines and to find ways to engage more deeply with the margins of its audience. But Twitter is fighting back. Boosted in October by the return of its founder Jack Dorsey, now permanent chief executive, it believes it is winning its war on trolls and clearing its decks of violent extremists. Speaking to The Independent ahead of the company’s tenth anniversary, Bruce Daisley, head of Twitter in Europe, said: “We have spent longer and put more effort into user safety than any other issue. The measures we’ve taken correlate directly with a reduction in the amount of bad behaviour on the platform.” [The Independant]
At least one person is injured and another is arrested after a machete attack at Intu Bromleyshopping centre in the United Kingdom during the busy annual Boxing Day sales. A motive or possible link to terrorism has not yet been established. (The Guardian)
The death toll in the spring-like, tornado-laden storms that began Wednesday in the American South has risen to 18 with additional tornadoes hitting north-central Alabama Friday and one outside of Dallas, Texas, today. (NBC News)(USA Today)
Officials report at least four people died and more than 100 were injured, most in Pakistan, after Friday night's 6.3 magnitude earthquake in northeast Afghanistan. Casualty numbers may change since rescue teams have not reached all affected areas.(Latin American Herald Tribune)
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Eiffel Tower joins Twitter and receives a warm welcome from Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal -
When a 126-year-old woman took to Twitter for the first time this week, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty were so impressed that they sent her tweets to congratulate her. But this was no ordinary old lady – it was the Eiffel Tower, the world’s most visited monument, taking its first steps on the wildly popular microblogging site. “Parisian since 1889, now I am sparkling on Twitter!” said one of the first tweets, in both English and French, on the official account of the 1,063 ft-high tower nicknamed La Grande Dame by its creator, Gustave Eiffel. The tower that each year attracts more than seven million visitors from across the globe, already has around 1.7 million fans on its Facebook account but until this week had kept away from Twitter. Its arrival there this week, under the username @LaTourEiffel, was quickly hailed by direct tweets from the official accounts of other world-renowned monuments. [Daily Telegraph]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes fastest to take $1bn -
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has become the fastest film to take $1bn (£674m) at the global box office. JJ Abrams' film achieved the feat in 12 days, beating the previous record of 13 days set by Jurassic World in June.
But while Jurassic World had the benefit of record takings in China over the period, The Force Awakens has yet to open there. Star Wars also scored the biggest US Christmas Day box office takings in history with $49.3m (£33.2m). The film took $153.5m (£103.5m) in the US in its second weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $544.6m (£367m). [BBC]
Christmas time storms, tornadoes kill at least 43 in U.S. -
Storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time. The bad weather, or the threat of it, prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states. Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois. In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed. [Reuters]
British soldiers aid evacuation in flood-hit northern England -
British soldiers helped evacuate hundreds of people from rising floodwaters in the historic city of York on Sunday, after heavy rainfall inundated towns and cities across northern England. Prime Minister David Cameron pledged more military help for the region as the army was deployed to move 300 to 400 people from their homes in York, where the River Ouse was expected to continue rising until Monday, the local council said. Some 100 soldiers were also helping emergency services in the hardest hit areas of West Yorkshire, including Leeds, police said, after the region suffered its worst flooding in 70 years. [Reuters]
Thousands of people are evacuated from their homes as flood waters continue to rise across large parts of northern England, with York particularly badly affected. (BBC)
Man dies after blowing up condom machine, says German police -
A man died on Christmas Day in Germany after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police said on Monday. The 29-year-old man was taken to hospital in the western town of Schoeppingen, near the Dutch border, by the two other men who fled the scene of the explosion in a car, leaving behind condoms and money scattered around the gutted vending machine. The two men told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs, injuring his head. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police. During questioning, police said, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine. Police said the three men apparently got into a car after triggering the explosion, but the 29-year-old did not close his door and was hit by debris when the machine exploded. [Daily Telegraph]
Lemmy, Motorhead frontman, dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis -
Motorhead frontman Lemmy has died aged 70, two days after learning he had cancer, the British band has announced. Lemmy formed the rock group in 1975 and recorded 22 albums, including Ace of Spades, as he became one of music's most recognisable voices and faces. The band said on its Facebook page: "Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy has passed away after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer." Lemmy was born Ian Fraser Kilmister in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1945. He lived in Anglesey, Wales, as a child and acquired the nickname Lemmy while at school, although he claimed to have had no idea where it came from. [BBC]
Lemmy in 2005
Game of Thrones tops list of 2015's most pirated shows -
For the fourth year running, fantasy series Game of Thrones has topped a list of the most pirated TV shows. According to Torrentfreak, the season five finale was illegally downloaded 14.4m times. More than half of those came in the week after its US premiere. The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory rounded up the top three, with 6.6m and 4.4m downloads respectively. Earlier this year, Game of Thrones broke a record when more than 258,000 users shared the show simultaneously. The HBO drama was mainly downloaded on BitTorrent. [BBC] Last year Game of Thrones was only downloaded 8.1 million times.
Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones)
At least 32 people are killed and 90 injured following a car bomb and suicide-bomb attack in the al-Zahra district of the Syrian city of Homs. (Reuters)
A Chinese official who sanctioned a dump of construction debris that led to a deadly landslide in the southern city of Shenzhen that killed at least 7 people and has left over 70 missing, kills himself by jumping from a building in the city’s Nanshan district, according to the South China Morning Post. (TIME)
A police officer storms the police headquarters in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and shoots dead three fellow officers, including a commanding officer. Authorities say Guarionex Candelario, 50, was arrested for the killings shortly afterwards and taken to hospital for minor injuries. (NY Daily News)
A U.S. grand jury decides not to bring charges against a Cleveland policeman over the killing of 12 year old Tamir Rice. (BBC)
The leader of Poland's Democracy Defence Committee, Mateusz Kijowski, says the government has "broken the country" after Polish President, Andrzej Duda, enacted a measure curbing the powers of the country's highest legislative court, theConstitutional Tribunal, despite protests and warnings from the European Union. Kijowski further called for foreign intervention in the country from "Europe and the United States" to topple the Law and Justice (PiS) government, saying "they must help us, otherwise Poland will leave the community of democracies". After news broke that Duda had signed into law the constitutional tribunal bill, he made a speech on television defending his move. Polish newspaperGazeta Wyborcza quoted U.S. sources saying Barack Obama had objections and had let it be known he would delay meeting Duda. The newspaper also suggested Poland’s hosting of the next NATO summit, planned for July 2016, was in the balance. (The Guardian)
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Russia: Book of Putin quotes 'given to officials' -
Officials across Russia have been given a 400-page book of "prophetic" quotes by President Vladimir Putin as a new year gift, it's reported. The collection, entitled Words That Change The World, was sent to as many as 1,000 people by one of Mr Putin's top aides, Vyacheslav Volodin, according to the business newspaper RBK. Recipients include MPs, regional governors and civil society representatives. In an accompanying letter, Mr Volodin says the book should be seen as a guide to the Kremlin's "values and guiding principles". He's also reported to have recommended it to a recent meeting of officials as "required reading for any politician". [BBC]
Vladimir-Putin
Russia 'unlikely' to return by Rio Olympics -
Russia are unlikely to return to international competition in time for next year's Rio Olympics, says European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen. Russia's athletics federation was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations for alleged involvement in widespread doping. An IAAF inspection committee is due to visit Russia in January. "For the moment they have to fulfil the conditions, but I cannot really see them competing in Rio," Hansen said. [BBC]
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VertiGo - A Wall-Climbing Robot Including Ground-Wall Transition
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Google Trends 2015 - Top Searches - Global Sporting Events
Missouri GovernorJay Nixon warns residents that the state faces historic flooding that likely will rival Great Flood of 1993 levels. Swollen rivers are still rising and won't crest for days. The Mississippi River is expected to reach nearly 15 feet above flood stage on Thursday. Nixon pleaded with drivers to stay off inundated roadways. Twelve of the 13 people killed from these recent storms died after their vehicles were swept from flooded roadways. (NBC News)(UPI)
Ethan Couch, the so-called “affluenza” teen who violated probation for killing four people when driving while intoxicated when he disappeared from Tarrant County, Texas, is taken into custody in Mexico. Mexican officials will remand Couch and his mother, with whom he fled, to the U.S. Marshals Service. (Reuters)
Freak storm pushes North Pole 50 degrees above normal to melting point -
A powerful winter cyclone — the same storm that led to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding — has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year. From Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, a mind-boggling pressure drop was recorded in Iceland: 54 millibars in just 18 hours. This triples the criteria for “bomb” cyclogenesis, which meteorologists use to describe a rapidly intensifying mid-latitude storm. A “bomb” cyclone is defined as dropping one millibar per hour for 24 hours. NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center said the storm’s minimum pressure dropped to 928 millibars around 1 a.m. Eastern time, which likely places it in the top five strongest storms on record in this region. [Washington Post]
Uber claims one billion journeys in five years since launch -
Uber claims to have made one billion journeys since its launch in 2010, underlining the massive growth of the ride-sharing service and its challenge to the traditional taxi industry. The company said its billionth trip was completed in London on Christmas Eve - five and a half years after its first journey in San Francisco. The figure suggests that Uber has averaged more than 600,000 rides a day since its driver-hailing app went online, although the figure today is much higher. Uber said last year that it was arranging 1 million trips per day, and has since expanded in dozens of new cities around the world. [Daily Telegraph]
Canadian Bad Santa pulls Christmas Eve heist, escapes in Hummer -
A man dressed as Santa Claus robbed a small-town Canadian jewelry store at gunpoint on Christmas Eve, before dashing away in a Hummer, police said on Wednesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the red-and-white-garbed robber entered a jewelry store in Stettler, Alberta, in late afternoon last Thursday. He demanded jewelry and diamonds from a clerk and left with a bag of them. No one was hurt. An employee at the store declined to comment. [Daily Mail]
Burundi's President, Pierre Nkurunziza, says Burundians will fight against any African Union peacekeepers sent into the country in response to the ongoing crisis, "everyone has to respect Burundian borders," Nkurunziza said. The African Union said this earlier this month it was ready to send 5,000 peacekeepers to protect civilians caught up in months of violence. (Reuters)
Iraq's Foreign Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, renewed demands that Turkey fully withdraw its troops from northern Iraq, asserting that Turkey must respect Iraq's sovereignty or face potential military action. (Reuters)
Belgium cancels New Year's Eve firework celebrations in Brussels amid fears of an Islamic terrorist attack in an unspecified European capital city. (Sky News)
American entertainer Bill Cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The county's District Attorney-elect said his office is also examining evidence related to other cases. The current charges relate to one particular 2004 incident. (New York Times)
Two Belgian policewomen and eight soldiers reportedly held an orgy at a police station in the Brussels neighbourhood of Ganshoren while colleagues hunted for the Paris terror attacks suspects. The police station was near Molenbeek, where anti-terror raids had been taking place. Police spokesman, Johan Berckmans, said “we have launched an investigation to find out what exactly happened". (The Guardian)
Voters in the Central African Republic are heading to the polls for the rescheduled parliamentary elections and the first round of the presidential election, where 30 candidates are running to replace Acting PresidentCatherine Samba-Panza. The presidential runoff election is scheduled for 31 January 2016. The Central African Republic has been rocked by unrest since the March 2013 coup of president François Bozizé by Séléka, a mostly Muslim alliance of anti-government groups. Thousands have died and about one million people have been displaced in the ongoing sectarian violence between Séléka and the Christian anti-balaka militia. The United Nations peacekeeping mission has promised a heavy security presence today. (AP via The Washington Post)(Pulse News Agency)
BBC Website And iPlayer Crippled Following Massive DDoS Attack -
Have you ever seen a dog chase its own tail? That pretty much describes what's going on at BBC News this morning. The site suffered a pretty large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack earlier today, one that knocked out the company's entire network and iPlayer streaming service, causing grief for web visitors who grew impatient with how long it took to restore service. As for the image of a dog chasing its own tail, it's based on BBC's reporting of the situation. The site posted a statement on Twitter in the early morning hours saying it was "aware of a technical issue" affecting its website, but declined to elaborate. A BBC News journalist for the site's Technology section posted an article saying that internal sources blamed the issues on a DDoS attack, then a few paragraphs down notes that "BBC has yet to confirm or deny that such an attack was responsible for the problems." So there you have it -- BBC acknowledged a technical issue (duh) while one of its own journalists heard from people within the organization that it was a DDoS attack, but for some unknown reason the site won't go on record as saying so. The good news is order has been restored and, despite claims to the contrary on Twitter, this is not the end of the world. [Hot Hardware]
BBC Error 500
Dubai seeks cause of massive hotel fire at New Year -
The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused a spectacular fire to engulf a 63-storey luxury hotel in the city centre on New Year's Eve. Firefighters managed to subdue the blaze, but part of the Address Downtown Hotel is still smouldering. A BBC reporter says a significant fire is still visible on the 20th floor, where the blaze apparently started. The tower was evacuated and 16 people were hurt. But a fireworks show went ahead at the Burj Khalifa tower nearby. [BBC]
Record flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries that has closed major highways, forced evacuations, and overflowed levees, continues to threaten the Midwestern United States where at least 24 have died. The Mississippi is expected to crest in the next few days in Thebes, Illinois, at 47.5 feet, breaking the 1995 record by more than a foot and a half (46 cm). And now periods of below-freezing air will cause some flooded areas to turn icy. (Reuters)(AccuWeather)(Chicago Tribune)
Air Canada Flight 88, a scheduled flight from Shanghai to Toronto, diverts to Calgary International Airport after the aircraft, a Boeing 777, encountered violent turbulence. Twenty-one passengers, including three children, were taken to hospital. (CBC)
A fire breaks out at The Address Downtown Dubai hotel. Fourteen people are reported as injured, with one indirect casualty. (CNN)
Law and crime
Russian PresidentVladimir Putin signs an amendment to Russia's law regarding the regulation of the use of weapons, giving the FSB the authority to use lethal force on crowds in order to "prevent acts of terrorism, rescue hostages, or repel attacks on public buildings." (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Rat on a plane: Air India flight returns to Mumbai after rodent spotted on board -
An Air India plane flying to London was forced to return to Mumbai after passengers spotted a rat on board, the airline said on Thursday. Though the rat was not found, the pilot returned to Mumbai on Wednesday keeping passenger safety in mind, Air India said in a statement. Passengers were later flown by a separate aircraft to London. The aircraft would be fumigated and checked before it is returned to service. Maintenance workers would have to make sure that the rat did not damage equipment or chew any wires and the plane is certified to be rodent-free, an airline official said. [Daily Telegraph]
China's new two-child policy law takes effect -
Married couples in China will from Friday (Jan 1) be allowed to have two children, after concerns over an ageing population and shrinking workforce ushered in an end to the country's controversial one-child policy. The change, which was announced in October by the ruling Communist Party, takes effect from Jan 1, 2016, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend. The "one-child policy", instituted in the late 1970s, restricted most couples to only a single offspring through a system of fines for violators and even forced abortions. For years, authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China's economic boom and had prevented 400 million births. [Channel News Asia]
100 Things we didn't know last year - by the BBC (1-33)1. It costs £300 to operate on a constipated goldfish.
Find out more2. Traditionally, police horses in England's Thames Valley force can be called Odin, Thor or Hercules, but not Brian.
Find out more
3. Barack Obama calls David Cameron "bro".
Find out more (Time)4. The first sports bra was made from two jockstraps.
Find out more5. One in 10 of Britain's train carriages still flush toilet waste straight on to the railway tracks.
Find out more6. Jamaica, Colombia and Saint Lucia are the only countries in the world where a woman is more likely to be a boss than a man.
Find out more (Washington Post)7. You don't have to speak French to become French-language Scrabble world champion.
Find out more8. Kolo Toure, the Ivory Coast and Liverpool defender, hasn't touched his own dog for seven years.
Find out more (Metro)9. An egg can be unboiled.
Find out more (Metro)10. There are four different ways to pronounce diplodocus, and the way children say it is probably more technically correct than the academics' preferred option.
Find out more11. A 51-year-old software engineer named Bryan Henderson has edited Wikipedia 47,000 times to remove the ungrammatical term "comprised of".
Find out more (Backchannel)12. Buzz Aldrin claimed $33.31 in travel expenses connected to his trip to the moon.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)13. Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond once played a ghost in a Bollywood soap opera.
Find out more (Buzzfeed)14. "Let us turn ours into a country of mushrooms by making mushroom cultivation scientific, intensive and industrialised!" is an official slogan of North Korea.
Find out more15. Roughly 56% of average monthly earnings in Malawi are spent on mobile phone charges, compared with about 0.11% in Macau, China.
Find out more16. Quentin Tarantino still records films from TV on VHS cassettes.
Find out more (Independent)17. Lollipop men and ladies who "high five" pedestrians may be breaching official protocol.
Find out more18. Squid can fly - but they tend to do it under cover of darkness.
Find out more19. It's possible to trick the brain into thinking it can hear Mariah Carey sing All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Find out more (New Scientist)20. King Arthur may have been Glaswegian.
Find out more (The National)21. A man-sized lobster lived 480 million years ago.
Find out more22. At Hotel Football, run by ex-Manchester United players, Gary Neville is represented in the bathroom by blackcurrant-extract shampoo while brother Phil is a bar of soap.
Find out more (Financial Times)23. Vicars and priests have the highest job satisfaction of all UK workers.
Find out more24. Narwhals' long tusks - an exaggerated front tooth used for courtship - are super-sensitive.
Find out more25. There is only one concert grand piano in Gaza.
Find out more26. Boston in Lincolnshire is one of the most neurotic places in Great Britain while Orkney is one of the least.
Find out more27. Michael Jackson made a series of prank calls to Russell Crowe.
Find out more (Guardian)28. Breaking Bad is the show people most often lie about having watched.
Find out more (Radio Times)29. The UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not permit the wearing of colanders on heads in driving licence photos, even for religious reasons.
Find out more (Daily Mirror)30. People who swear have larger vocabularies.
Find out more (Toronto Sun)31. The Queen likes to have her pre-lunch gin and Dubonnet in front of BBC Two's The Daily Politics.
Find out more (Daily Mail32. In September 1944 the New York Times explained pizza to its readers and included a rare use of its plural "pizze" - there was an earlier article but it only mentioned pizza in passing.
Find out more (New York Times)33. There is little international trade in onions - about 90% are consumed in their country of origin.
A shooting takes place at a pub in Tel Aviv, Israel, leaving two dead and eight injured. The police claim to know the identity of the shooter and have launched a nationwide manhunt. (Haaretz)
Arts and culture
A new 28-foot tall statue of Jesus, dubbed "Jesus de Greatest," is unveiled on New Year's Day outside St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Abajah village, Nigeria's Imo state, which is described as the tallest Jesus statue in Africa. (USA Today)
Royal Shakespeare Company reveals its high-tech tips: carrots, cereal and tea bags -
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to open up its archives for the first time, sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets that have made their most accomplished productions. Anyone hoping to hear the highest-tech tricks of the trade, however, may be in for a surprise, as they disclose techniques even a schoolboy could master. The RSC's first permanent exhibition of its own archives will show visitors how the company uses carrot sticks, rice crispies, and glue to pull off specific special effects. It will also how it uses tea bags and water to age the look of ordinary paper to make it appear Elizabethan: a trick used by schools up and down the land. The visitor attraction, called The Play's The Thing, will open in June 2016, making it the RSC's first exhibition devoted to the making of Shakespeare plays. It will be part of the restoration of the Swan Wing, built in 1879 and the oldest part of the Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre. [Daily Telegraph]
Swan_Theatre_Stratford
100 Things we didn't know last year - by the BBC (34-66)
34. Chewing something can partially excise earworms - songs that stick in the mind.
Find out more (the Times)35. Former UK Liberal Democrat party leader Lord Ashdown told his successor that he used to eat hedgehogs.
Find out more (Evening Standard)36. In north-eastern England, Conservative candidates used to wear red, Liberals blue and Labour green rosettes until the 1970s.
Find out more37. Larry King tweets by calling a dedicated voicemail, which is listened to by an assistant who then transcribes his thought to Twitter.
Find out more (Vox)38. Mali has two tax rates - 3% and 30% - and you might be asked which you'd rather pay.
Find out more39. The world's favourite colour is blue.
Find out more (YouGov)40. Radiohead's Thom Yorke appears on the front of an Iranian self-help book about marital and sex problems.
Find out more (Daily Mirror)41. Tom Cruise advised Nasa on how to design their website.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)42. Drug dealers in Marseille offer loyalty cards.
Find out more (The Local)43. The worst times to drink coffee are between 08:00-09:00, 12:00-13:00 and 17:30-18:30. The best is about an hour after waking up, regardless of the time.
Find out more (AsapSCIENCE)44. The chances of a successful bank robbery are higher in the morning - but it's also among the least lucrative crimes.
Find out more45. Iceland has the world's happiest gay men.
Find out more (Planet Romeo)46. Chinese authorities consider the phrase "your mum" too coarse for the internet.
Find out more (Bloomberg)47. There are only three non-gentrifying neighbourhoods in New York City.
Find out more (Gawker)48. Reddit has a very detailed 9,000-word guide to the dos and don'ts of giving away Game of Thrones spoilers.
Find out more (Reddit)49. Oliver Cromwell supposedly called the Magna Carta the "Magna Farta" - he didn't like it.
Find out more (New Yorker)50. Most kangaroos are left-handed.
Find out more51. Marvel Comics stipulates that Peter Parker must be white and straight but Spiderman can be of any ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Find out more (Washington Post)52. The word "twerk" dates back to 1820.
Find out more53. Heaven exists but hell does not, according to the theology of Sepp Blatter.
Find out more54. UK officials discussed plans to relocate the entire 5.5 million population of Hong Kong to Northern Ireland in 1983.
Find out more55. Three-times F1 world champion Niki Lauda swapped his trophies for unlimited free car washes.
Find out more (Reuters)56. Playing Tetris for 12 minutes the day after a traumatic event can reduce flashbacks.
Find out more (Smithsonian magazine)57. There are four main personality types into which people can be categorised when drunk: "Mary Poppins", "Hemingway", "Nutty Professor" and "Mr Hyde".
Find out more (the Drinks Business)58. Minions are all male because their creator believed they were too stupid to be female.
Find out more (The Wrap)59. Nando's is one of the biggest buyers of contemporary South African art.
Find out more (FT)60. In Ohio, it's illegal to disrobe in front of a man's portrait.
Find out more (Slate)61. A UK court can determine how short your shorts should be.
Find out more (Caerphilly, Ystrad Mynach and Bargoed Campaign)62. Butt-dials aren't considered private conversations in the US.
Find out more (Slate)63. A baby is born on its predicted due date just 4% of the time.
Find out more64. For three months, Leicestershire police didn't investigate attempted burglaries if they occurred at odd-numbered properties.
Find out more (The Times)65. Reindeer migration is a major live television event in Norway.
Find out more66. Real Paleolithic people, contrary to some of the followers of the fashionable modern diet named after them, appear to have eaten plenty of carbohydrates.
Find out more (Quartz)
Heavily armed terrorists, reportedly members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, attack an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab; three security force personnel and four of the terrorists are reported to have been killed. (DNA)
Paul McKenna: I chose my wife by Excel spreadsheet -
Paul McKenna, the hypnotist and self-help guru, has disclosed that he decided who to marry by using an Excel spreadsheet. The 52-year-old revealed the software - normally used by accountants and office administrators - helped him to choose his wife-to-be, his long-time personal assistant Kate Davey. McKenna, who is worth around £40m, said a friend had pointed out that although he had dated a "lot of beautiful women", he "didn't actually like them". He was encouraged to "make an Excel spreadsheet" to find out who he loved - and it turned out to be Kate, who has worked with him for 20 years. The pair revealed their feelings to each other three years ago and are now engaged to be married. [Daily Telegraph]
Paul McKenna
100 Things we didn't know last year - by the BBC (67-100)
67. MI5 erroneously suspected novelist Doris Lessing of running a brothel.
Find out more (Independent)68. US Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders released a spoken-word folk album in 1987.
Find out more (Dangerous Minds)69. It is possible to have orgasms in your left foot.
Find out more (New York magazine)70. The formula for the perfect poohstick is PP = A x I x Cd.
Find out more71. Silk can be made from the solidified saliva of a clam.
Find out more72. Gorillas have individual tastes in music.
Find out more (Discover Magazine Blogs)73. The simpler and more repetitive a song's lyrics, the more likely it is to reach number one in the Billboard Hot 100, debut in the top 40 and climb the chart more rapidly.
Find out more (Psychology Today)74. The producer who was Gordon the Gopher's puppeteer ended up as the BBC's head of editorial standards.
Find out more75. Bill Cosby was the first choice to play Sam Malone in Cheers, ahead of Ted Danson.
Find out more (Hollywood Reporter)76. In their spare time, US fighter pilots play a mash-up of pool and rugby called crud.
Find out more (New York Times)77. Scots have 421 words for snow.
Find out more78. Lies are more convincing when the person telling them needs to urinate.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)79. Spotify's shuffle is not truly random but sprinkles different genres evenly across a playlist and alternates songs by the same artist.
Find out more80. The English composer Benjamin Britten wrote a national anthem for Malaysia, only for it to be rejected in favour of a cabaret tune.
Find out more81. Elephants almost never get cancer.
Find out more (Nature News)82. Actor Brian Blessed says that he delivered a baby in a park, bit through the umbilical cord and then licked the infant's face clean.
Find out more83. People who like their coffee black are more likely to be psychopaths.
Find out more (Huffington Post)84. American toddlers shoot one person a week on average.
Find out more (Washington Post)85. Biff Tannen's older self, as portrayed in Back to the Future Part II, was based on Donald Trump.
Find out more (Daily Beast)86. The US used to relocate beavers by parachuting them out of planes.
Find out more (Mashable)87. Dancing to Gangnam Style could raise people's pain thresholds.
Find out more (Wired)88. Pregnancies conceived in December have the best chance of success.
Find out more (Netmums)89. Men with beards have a greater tendency to hold sexist attitudes than their clean-shaven counterparts.
Find out more (Mental Floss)90. Footballers have worse teeth than the general population.
Find out more91. It's possible to hallucinate a foreign accent.
Find out more (Brain Decoder)92. Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume is almost as good at repelling mosquitoes as commercial insect sprays containing Deet.
Find out more (Daily Beast)93. Germaine Greer wrote a 30,000-word love letter to Martin Amis in 1976.
Find out more (the Guardian)94. You're So Vain definitely is about Warren Beatty (and two other men).
Find out more95. A 17th Century scientist planned to paint the bubonic plague on to hats to create a biological weapon.
Find out more (New Scientist)96. The Churchill household spent around £1,160 each year on wine, £104,400 in today's money.
Find out more (the Economist)97. A cow's flatulence could fill a 55-gallon (250-litre) bag with methane in one day.
Find out more (Grist)98. It would cost £11,602.25 to send a letter to Mars from the UK.
Find out more (Daily Mirror)99. Text messages that end with a full stop are seen to be less sincere than those that don't.
Find out more (Wired UK)100. Employees who say they love following the rules are the ones who are most likely to be fired for breaking them.
Find out more (New York Magazine)
Gunfire and loud explosions are heard at an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab, as anti-terrorist operations continue. A further two militants, for a total of six, are reported to have been killed; seven military and paramilitary personnel are reported to have been killed, with up to 20 other security personnel wounded. (DNA)
Sexy China TV drama busted, returns to air more sedate -
A Chinese television drama that was pulled off the air after the female characters appeared on screen showing cleavage has returned to the screen, though this time showing only the actresses' heads, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday. The drama, "The Empress of China" also known as the "Saga of Wu Zetian", was removed by commercial satellite station Hunan TV for "technical reasons" in late December, Xinhua said. Chinese Internet users responded by complaining about the censorship on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. Several complained that they would not be able to see the hundreds of costume changes by Fan Bingbing, one of China's most popular actresses, who plays the Empress Wu. [Reuters]
Five of the terrorists who attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab are reported to have been killed; mopping-up and search operations continue. National Security Guard officials state the operations will continue until the air base is made safe. (Indian Express)
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's branch in Libya attacks the Libyan oil port of Sidra, which is Libya's largest oil depot. Two members of the Petrol Facilities Guard militia, which is defending Sidra, were reportedly killed in clashes. Islamic State militants were reportedly pushed back from the port, but the group now says it controls the town of Bin Jawad, 30km west of Sidra on the road from its stronghold in Sirte. (BBC)
Saudi Arabia will end all air traffic and trade links with Iran, and demands that Iran must "act like a normal country" before it would restore severed diplomatic relations. (Reuters)
In efforts to control an influx of migrants, Denmark introduces ten days of identity checks on its southern border with Germany, while Sweden introduces similar measures on the Øresund Bridge between itself and Denmark. All three countries are subject to the Schengen Agreement on the free movement of people. (BBC)
German carpenter invents on-off contraception switch for sperm -
A German carpenter has invented a valve which he claims will revolutionise contraception, by allowing a man to turn the flow of sperm from his testicles on and off at the flick of a switch. Clemens Bimek told Spiegel magazine the idea first came to him some 20 years ago, when he was watching a television documentary about contraception, and wondered whether it would be possible to control the flow of sperm with a simple valve. When he discovered that no one had ever filed a patent for such a device, he decided to develop his own. “Many of the doctors I consulted didn’t take me seriously. But there were some who encouraged me to go on tinkering and helped me with their expertise,” Mr Bimek said. Now the valve he has developed is to be implanted in 25 men in trials - starting this year. [Daily Telegraph]
Cricket record: Pranav Dhanawade hits 1,009 in school match -
An Indian teenager scored more than 1,000 runs in a single innings to set a new world record in school cricket. Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade broke the previous record of 628 set by Arthur Collins in 1899 on Monday. But he continued his innings in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament and reached 1,009 runs. He smashed 59 sixes and 127 fours in 395 minutes before his KC Gandhi School declared the innings at 1,465 against Arya Gurukul School on Tuesday. [BBC]
Sachin Tendulkar tweet
'Anti-IS group' claims BBC website attack -
A group that says it targets online activity linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed it was behind an attack on the BBC's website. All the BBC's websites were unavailable for several hours on New Year's Eve after what a BBC source described as a "distributed denial of service" attack. The group, calling itself New World Hacking, said it had carried out the attack as a "test of its capabilities". In a tweet to BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, the group said: "We are based in the US, but we strive to take down Isis [IS] affiliated websites, also Isis members. "The reason we really targeted [the] BBC is because we wanted to see our actual server power." Earlier, New World Hacking had said: "It was only a test, we didn't exactly plan to take it down for multiple hours. Our servers are quite strong." [BBC]
Islamic State militants continue to besiege the Libyan oil port of Sidra, attacking checkpoints on the road to the port, leaving seven guards dead. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said an oil storage tank in the port was set on fire by a long-range rocket, and that the oil tank fire started just as firefighters were close to bringing under control another blaze at an oil tank that was hit during fighting in the nearby Ra's Lanuf Refinery on Monday. (Reuters)
California's state climatologist Michael Anderson mentions that the recent El Niño-fueled storms will put a dent in the ongoing drought, but not end the conditions citing larger reservoirs that are still below normal. (USA Today)
The Ground Force is re-organized under the People's Liberation Army Ground Force Command, under commander Li Zuocheng. (SCMP)
Former Beijing Deputy Communist Party SecretaryLu Xiwen is expelled from the Communist Party of China for "interfering with the market economy and law enforcement" and "living a luxurious lifestyle", among other offenses. (SCMP)
Twitter closer to allowing longer tweets of up to 10,000 characters -
Twitter is considering ditching its 140-character limit in tweets. After 24 hours of speculation it seems the the social media company is considering a new 10,000 character limit - the same as for Direct Messages. It's the latest effort by the firm to appeal to a wider audience. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he isn't definitely set on sticking with 140 characters. [BBC] See Top twitter Trends
Netflix extends its service to almost all the world -
Netflix has gone live in nearly every country in the world. The firm announced it had switched on its service in 130 additional countries. It said it was still trying to expand to China. The other exceptions are North Korea, Syria and Crimea, where it is banned from operating by US law. The announcement was made by the firm's chief executive Reed Hastings at his keynote speech at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. He also confirmed that Netflix would begin offering HDR (high dynamic range) content later this year. The company's shares jumped to about 8% over their opening price following the announcements. [BBC]
'Star Wars: Force Awakens' Tops 'Avatar' to Become No. 1 Film of All Time in North America -
J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing film of all time in North America, not accounting for inflation. On Wednesday, the Disney and Lucasfilm mega-blockbuster overtook the $760.5 million earned by James Cameron's Avatar. Force Awakens — which grossed $8 million on Tuesday for a domestic total of $758.2 million — achieved the milestone in only 20 days in release, a remarkable feat. [Hollywood Reporter]
People's Choice Television Award winners:
Favourite show: The Big Bang Theory
Favourite network comedy: The Big Bang Theory
Favourite comedic actor: Jim Parsons
Favourite comedic actress: Melissa McCarthy
Favourite network drama: Grey's Anatomy
Favourite dramatic actor: Taylor Kinney
Favourite dramatic actress: Ellen Pompeo
Favourite cable comedy: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Favourite cable drama: Pretty Little Liars
Favourite cable actor: Kevin Hart
Favourite cable actress: Sasha Alexander
Igloo built in middle of downtown Chicago road stumps the internet -
An igloo built in the middle of a busy road in downtown Chicago has captivated the internet and left people passing by a little confused. Internet users speculated the 5ft-tall igloo home built under a streetlight near a busy intersection had been constructed by a homeless person. However the person who created the home from slabs of ice has been identified as local resident David Sudler. He built the chilly fort over two nights using the ice blocks and a milk crate to stack the slabs and create the roof. [Daily Telegraph]
Adam Robinson Tweet
Facebook wants to kill off your phone number -
The days of the phone number are, quite literally numbered, thanks to the inexhorable rise of the company's Messenger app, according to David Marcus, Facebook's vice president of messaging products. "Think about it: SMS and texting came to the fore in the time of flip phones. Now, many of us can do so much more on our phones; we went from just making phone calls and sending basic text-only messages to having computers in our pockets," Marcus wrote in a blog post. "With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more," he said. "Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number." [Daily Telegraph]
People's Choice Music Award winners:
Favourite male artist: Ed Sheeran
Favourite female artist: Taylor Swift
Favourite group: Fifth Harmony
Favourite breakout artist: Shawn Mendes
Favourite male country artist: Blake Shelton
Favourite female country artist: Carrie Underwood
Favourite country group: Lady Antebellum
Favourite pop artist: Taylor Swift
Favourite hip-hop artist: Nicki Minaj
Favourite R&B artist: The Weeknd
Favourite album: Title by Meghan Trainor
Favourite song: What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber
Favourite music icon: Madonna
Gunmen open fire on tourists at a hotel close to the Giza pyramids. There were no casualties in the attack, which caused some damage to the hotel, and the attackers were arrested shortly afterwards.(BBC)
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes today reportedly hit the presidential palace and a mountain military base to the south of Sana'a, causing children and teachers in several schools to flee. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Reuters)
Tribal chair Charlotte Rodrique of the local Burns Paiute Tribe has joined in asking the occupiers to leave saying "The protesters have no claim to this land". Charlotte further cites a treaty that was never ratified by the United States Congress giving ownership of the land to the tribe. (The Washington Post) via MSN)
French police shoot dead a knife-wielding man, who was shouting "Allahu Akbar", outside a police station in Goutte d'Or, located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. A piece of paper with an Islamic State flag and claim for the attack written in Arabic was found on his body. The incident is noted for taking place on the anniversary of last year's Charlie Hebdo shooting. (BBC)
In the United States, a swarm of 30 (and counting) earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater struck Oklahoma from Wednesday evening through Thursday mid-afternoon. The biggest, a magnitude 4.8, happened yesterday at 10:27 p.m. CST, 32 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma. (The Weather Channel)
Scotland Yard confirms that they are investigating a triple murder in relation to the death of British actress Sian Blake and her two sons after the discovery of their dead bodies on Tuesday. (AAP via News Limited)
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Secret Netflix code unlocks thousands of hidden genres -
Netflix's incredibly niche, personalised subgenres have long captivated movie nerds, from "Steamy Crime Movies from the 1970s" to "Period Pieces About Royalty Based on Real Life".
The genres, based on a complicated algorithm that uses reams of data about users' viewing habits to recommend exactly what a particular user is into, number in the tens of thousands. When Netflix thinks you'll like sentimental Spanish-language dramas or gritty tearjerkers, they'll show up on your home screen, but aside from that, they're not easy to find. But a simple web address trick has emerged showing how you can find any one of these genres simply by switching a number in a URL. If you're logged into Netflix, enter:
http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/XXXX
where "XXXX" is a series of digits - into your browser's toolbar to bring up one of the thousands of genres in Netflix's library. 1089 is "Mind-bending Movies", for example; while 354 is "Movies Starring Matthew McConaughey" - currently a genre of one film. Not all numbers will result in a subgenre, and given Netflix's ever-changing algorithms, they might move around every now and then, while there may be regional differences meaning that some codes don't work. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
James Corden and Meghan Trainor: All About That Change
Three people are unaccounted for and at least 135 structures are destroyed, including the historic Yarloop Workshops, following a bushfire in the small Western Australian town of Yarloop. Reports coming out of the area suggest the town of Yarloop has been almost completely destroyed with one local official, Murray Cowper, saying, "A big fireball came through and there was no way they were going to stop it. This could well be the end of the town". (SBS)(BBC)
The chief of Cologne's police force, Wolfgang Albers, is relieved of his duties following criticism of his handling of violent clashes and sexual assaults by migrant gangs in the city on New Year's Eve. (The Independent)
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini 'to end stormy second marriage after 19 months' -
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is lodging divorce papers to end her stormy second marriage, it was reported on Sunday. The X Factor judge will cite her French husband Jean-Bernard’s "unreasonable behaviour" and formally end their marriage after 19 months, it is claimed. The Sun on Sunday reports former Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who was previously married to footballer Ashley Cole, has been unhappy that Jean-Bernard, 35, didn’t like her spending time with other men. [Daily Telegraph] In November 2015 Fernandez-Versini took legal action over ‘white powder’ bathroom picture after the 2015 British Fashion Awards.
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
Anti-Serbian protesters set fire to the government's headquarters in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, over an EU-brokered deal that will give Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority greater local powers. (RT)
Law and crime
Sian Blake's partner Arthur Simpson-Kent is arrested in Ghana in connection with the murder of Blake and her two children. (The Guardian)
Singer David Bowie has died at the age of 69 from cancer. Tributes have been paid from around the world to the "extraordinary artist" whose last album was released days ago. His son, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news and a statement was issued on his social media accounts. "David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer," it said, asking for privacy for the family. [BBC]
Iman and David Bowie
'El Chapo' Guzman: Sean Penn interview provokes US scorn -
The Obama administration and a US presidential hopeful have criticised Sean Penn's interview with Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. It was conducted in October in the Mexican jungle after Guzman's jail break, and published by Rolling Stone. A White House spokesman said the Hollywood actor's "so-called interview" was "maddening", while Republican Marco Rubio said it was "grotesque". Guzman, 58, was recaptured on Friday after months on the run. Unnamed Mexican officials say Penn's secret meeting helped lead them to the boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel. He has now been returned to the maximum-security Altiplano jail, from where he escaped in July via a tunnel dug to the shower in his cell. [BBC]
Poland summons the German ambassador in Warsaw over "anti-Polish" remarks made by German politicians. (BBC)
Law and crime
U.S. Army officials set August 8 as the start date for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s court-martial. Bergdahl, charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, was held captive by the Taliban for five years after he left his base in Afghanistan. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for early this week. (AP)
Lionel Messi wins Ballon d'Or over Ronaldo & Neymar -
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player for the fifth time. The 28-year-old Argentine had 41.33% of the vote, with Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (27.76%) second and Barca's Neymar (7.86%) third. Either Messi or Ronaldo, who became a three-time winner last year, have won the past eight awards. United States midfielder Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, won the women's award. England coach Mark Sampson was beaten to the women's football coach of the year award by USA boss Jill Ellis. [BBC] See List of the Day
Lionel Messi
Video of the Day -
EHANG184, world's first Autonomous Aerial Vehicle
List of the Day -
Past Ballon d'Or winners
2014: Cristiano Ronaldo
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo
2013: Cristiano Ronaldo
2007: Kaka
2012: Lionel Messi
2006: Fabio Cannavaro
2011: Lionel Messi
2005: Ronaldinho
2010: Lionel Messi
2004: Ronaldinho
2009: Lionel Messi
2003: Zinedine Zidane
Messi's 2015 in numbers
61 games, 52 goals and 26 assists.
A goal every 101 minutes and an assist every 202 minutes.
Best minutes-per-goal rate - 80 - of anyone scoring a minimum of 10 goals across Europe's top five leagues during 2015.
Directly involved in 49 goals in La Liga - 34 scored and 15 assists - which was the joint-most with Ronaldo in 2015 across the top five European leagues.
Scored in all six club tournaments in 2015, as Barcelona won five of them.
Armed militiamen, also known as the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, who are occupying the USFWS administered Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, tear down a part of a fence that they claim was erected by the federal government in order to allow privately owned cattle to graze on the adjacent public land. USFWS condemns the actions through a written statement which states that, "Removing fences, damaging any refuge property, or unauthorized use of equipment would be additional unlawful actions by the illegal occupiers. Any movement of cattle onto the refuge or other activities that are not specifically authorized by [the Fish and Wildlife Service] constitutes trespassing." (The Guardian), (The Oregonian)
Thousands of protesters in Leipzig demonstrate against a record refugee influx they blame for mass sexual violence at New Year's Eve events in Cologne and other German cities. Many chanted 'We are the people', 'Resistance!' and 'Deport them!'. The rally was organized by a local chapter of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident). Six Pakistani men and one Syrian man were also attacked by so-called vigilantes in Cologne, following calls on social media for "revenge" in the wake of the New Year's Eve assaults. (Daily Mail)
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall announce engagement -
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and actress-model Jerry Hall are to get married.
They announced their engagement in the births, marriages and deaths section of the Times newspaper, which is owned by Mr Murdoch's News Corporation company. It will be the fourth marriage for Mr Murdoch, 84, and the first for Miss Hall, 59, although she lived with singer Sir Mick Jagger for many years. The new relationship reportedly began in the summer. A spokesman said: "They have loved these past months together." [BBC]
Rupert Murdoch
Jerry Hall
Winning tickets in the nearly $1.6-billion Powerball lottery were sold in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said on Thursday, leaving at least three people to split the record-setting jackpot. California Lottery officials confirmed that the winning six numbers had been purchased at a convenience store outside Los Angeles, as well as at locations in Florida and Tennessee. The identity of the winners was not yet known. Lottery officials said it could be several hours before it is known whether there are other winners in the 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories where Powerball is played. In Chino Hills, a suburb east of Los Angeles, crowds descended on a 7-Eleven store where the winning ticket had been bought, snapping pictures and congratulating staff. The store will receive a $1-million bonus for selling the ticket. The odds of picking a winning combination were 1 in 292 million. [Daily Mail]
Three winning Powerball lottery tickets are sold in the U.S. states of California, Florida, and Tennessee. Each will share the estimated jackpot of US $1.6 billion dollars, the largest lottery jackpot in world history. (ABC News)
Subtropical Storm Alex is located 785 miles (1,260 km) south-southwest of the Azores. Alex is one of just four tropical or subtropical storms to occur in January since 1851, the first year records were kept. The hurricane season begins on June 1 of each year. Alex is expected to hit the Azores on Friday with average rain accumulations of 3 to 5 inches. (The Washington Post)(NHC)
Israel says Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström is no longer welcome in the country after she called for investigations into "suspected extrajudicial executions" of Palestinians by the Israeli army. Sweden has for many years financed NGOs such as B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence operating in Israel. (Breaking Israel News)
A major indication that relations between Cuba and the U.S. are increasingly normalized will be the island nation’s participation later this month at an annual Caribbean security conference in Jamaica, according to the outgoing head of the United States Southern Command, General John F. Kelly. (Military Times)
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Alan Rickman, Harry Potter and Die Hard actor, dies aged 69 -
Actor Alan Rickman, known for films including Harry Potter, Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, has died at the age of 69, his family has said. The star had been suffering from cancer, a statement said. He became one of Britain's best-loved acting stars thanks to roles including Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films and Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling led the tributes, describing him as "a magnificent actor and a wonderful man". [BBC]
Alan Rickman in 2011
Hatton Garden heist: Three men found guilty over £14m jewellery raid -
Three men have been found guilty of involvement in the Hatton Garden safe deposit raid, the largest burglary in British legal history. Jewellery and valuables worth an estimated £14 million were stolen when a gang of thieves carried out the "sophisticated" and meticulously planned break-in over the Easter weekend last year. The group used a drill to bore a hole 20in deep, 10in high and 18in into the wall of a vault in London's jewellery quarter, before ransacking 73 safety deposit boxes. Following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Carl Wood and William Lincoln were found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property, while Hugh Doyle was convicted of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property. [Daily Telegraph]
Hatton Garden road sign
10 Highest US Lottery jackpots [See January 13, 2016]
1. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets, from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)
2. $636 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013, (two tickets, from California and Georgia)
3. $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013 (one ticket, from Florida)
4. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (two tickets, from Arizona and Missouri)
5. $564.1 million, Powerball, Feb. 11, 2015 (three tickets, from North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas)
6. $448.4 million, Powerball, Aug. 7, 2013, (three tickets, one from Minnesota and two from New Jersey)
7. $425.3 million, Powerball, Feb. 19, 2014 (one ticket, from California)
8. $414 million, Mega Millions, March 18, 2014, (two tickets, from Florida and Maryland)
9. $399.4 million, Powerball, Sept. 18, 2013, (one ticket, from South Carolina)
10. $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (two tickets, from Georgia and New Jersey)
Wikipedia Celebrates its 15th birthday -
If you want a modern wonder of the internet, look no further than Wikipedia, which turns 15 years old today. It's gigantic (more than five million articles in English alone), and gigantically useful for those seeking a grounding in any topic. It has illustrated how the internet and the power of the crowd can disrupt established businesses: both the book-based Encyclopaedia Britannica and Microsoft's CD-based Encarta fell before the onslaught of a simple collaborative document that anyone could edit and enhance. Even Google failed with its rival, launched in 2008 and killed amid indifference in 2012. It even has a creation myth; people think it was the effort of Jimmy Wales alone, but in fact he and Larry Sanger (an "internet project developer" - thanks, Wikipedia) were working on the idea of an online encyclopedia called Nupedia, which began in 1999. [Daily Telegraph] [This web site is a supporter of Wikipedia]
Jimmy Wales
Video of the Day -
22x22 rubik's cube World Record
List of the Day
15 amazing things since the idea of Wikipedia was launched to the world on January 15, 2001. [Wikipedia]
Millions of people have gathered all this knowledge by working together from everywhere around the world.
Ward Cunningham designed the wiki, the first internet platform that allowed many people to work on a document at the same time. He named it ‘wiki,’ a Hawaiian word that means ‘quick.’ (There is even a wiki-wiki shuttle in Honolulu.)
2
You know the encyclopedia, but there’s so much more.
It was held at the Göttingen University Library in Germany.
4
Behind the scenes, bots do some of the repetitive jobs so that volunteers don’t have to.
There are almost 2,000 bots approved for use on the English Wikipedia alone, and they even have names. PhotoCatBot helps people find articles that need images.
5
Wikipedia became one of the top 10 websites in the world in 2007.
It’s the only non-profit anywhere near the top.
6
People who work on Wikipedia are called “Wikipedians”.
Building the world’s largest database of information with people from all over can be challenging. Wikipedians write rules, guidelines and essays to help other people understand being a Wikipedian. “No angry mastodons” suggests that you shouldn’t edit when you’re hungry or intoxicated.
7
The first photo ever uploaded to Commons was a pair of quail.
…while this scan of the world’s first photograph uploaded to Wikimedia Commons is entirely inscrutable. Speaking of birds and photos, there is such a thing as pigeon photography: “A homing pigeon was fitted with an aluminium breast harness to which a lightweight time-delayed miniature camera could be attached.” (There was even a stamp for pigeon mail. It’s adorable and shaped like a triangle.)
It simply said, “A dog by which all others are measured.” The English Wikipedia page for poodleis now more than 5,000 words, and includes the many names that people have invented for poodles crossed with other dog breeds: Labradoodle, Poochon, Cockapoo, Spoodle, Maltipoo, Goldendoodle, Schnoodle, Pekapoos, Cavapoo, and Bernedoodle.
9
Wikipedia helps keep the Internet open and free.
In 2012, the Wikipedia communities blacked out the site to protest SOPA.
"Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880–5 June 1963) was a British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour “in the face of the enemy” in various Commonwealth countries. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, ‘Frankly I had enjoyed the war.’"
“Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory were able to make extremely accurate forecasts about the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and flu in the U.S., Japan, Poland and Thailand by examining three years’ worth of Wikipedia search data.”
Gunmen armed with heavy weapons attack a restaurant called Cappuccino and the Splendid Hotel, taking hostages, in the heart of Burkino Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. At least 20 people are reportedly killed. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Three men are arrested in the outskirts of Jakarta in connection with the attacks. Police have identified the attackers killed in the raid with two of the men having been imprisoned for terrorism related offences. (AP via Newser)
A trial of the facts regarding allegations of child abuse against 12 former residents of children's homes in Leicester by British lord Greville Janner ends due to his death. (BBC)
American rapper Mos Def is banned from South Africa for five years, having been living illegally in the country since 2013 on a tourist visa. (BBC)
A special court is set up at The Hague to try Kosovo Liberation Army suspects for alleged war crimes against ethnic minorities and political opponents. (BBC)
Obama issues order lifting nuclear-related sanctions on Iran -
U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Saturday lifting sanctions on Iran related to its nuclear program after Tehran fulfilled requirements under a nuclear agreement with world powers, the White House said. Obama determined that Iran's implementation of the pact "marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran's nuclear program," he wrote in the order, released by the White House. [Daily Mail]
Hundreds of civilians are reportedly killed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants throughout the city of Deir ez-Zor. Syria's state news agency SANA, quoting residents, said "around 300 civilians" were killed. If confirmed it would be one of the deadliest days in Syria's nearly five-year war. (AFP via Yahoo)
Russia may nuke asteroids -
The European Commission funded Russian scientists to develop plans to save the world from rogue asteroids by blowing them up with nuclear weapons. Scientists from the Russia’s top space research institute teamed up with missile and rocket engineers to look at ways of sending a warhead into space under a European Commission funded program called NEOShield. “Work was distributed among various participants from different countries and organisations, and work on deflecting dangerous space objects with nuclear explosions was conducted by Russia” between 2012 and 2015, the Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine Building, part of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said in a press release on Saturday. [Daily Telegraph]
The winners for the Critics’ Choice Awards 2016
BEST PICTURE: Spotlight
BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson – Room
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sylvester Stallone – Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS: Jacob Tremblay – Room
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE: Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR: George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Mad Max: Fury Road – Colin Gibson
BEST EDITING: Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Inside Out
BEST ACTION MOVIE: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE: Tom Hardy – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE: Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COMEDY: The Big Short
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY: Christian Bale – The Big Short
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY: Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE: Ex Machina
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Son of Saul
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Amy
BEST SONG: Furious 7 – “See You Again”
BEST SCORE: The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Raheel Sharif will visit Riyadh on Monday and Tehran on Tuesday to launch mediation efforts between Iran and Saudi Arabia for normalization of relations and to ease the tensions in the region after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr and an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. (DAWN)(Pakistan Today)(India Times)
Friends Reunited website to close down -
Friends Reunited - one of the UK's first social networks - has announced it will soon close. One of its founders Steve Pankhurst explained in an email that the platform was still used by "a handful of members" but that it was "no longer used for the purpose it was built for". Friends Reunited launched in the year 2000 and was bought by broadcaster ITV for £175m ($250m) in 2005. However, it failed to keep pace with other social networks. It was sold to comic publisher DC Thompson for only £25m in 2009 and Mr Pankhurst wrote in a blog post that the company had offered it back to him a couple of years ago. [BBC]
Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey, 67, dies -
Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey has died at the age of 67, the band has announced. He died in New York City on Monday from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia. "Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us," his family and fellow band members said. The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles, including Hotel California in 1976. Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. [BBC]
Glenn_Frey
The full list of winners for the 36th London Critics' Circle Film Awards:
FILM OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: 45 Years
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR: The Look of Silence
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR: Am
ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Courtenay — 45 Years
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Charlotte Rampling — 45 Years
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Mark Rylance — Bridge of Spies
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Kate Winslet — Steve Jobs
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: George Miller — Mad Max: Fury Road
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy — Spotlight
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Hardy — Legend, London Road, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Saoirse Ronan — Brooklyn, Lost River
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Maisie Williams — The Falling
PHILIP FRENCH AWARD FOR BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: John Maclean — Slow West
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR: Stutterer — Benjamin Cleary
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Ed Lachman, cinematography — Caro
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM: Kenneth Branagh
North Korea claims to invent 'alcohol which doesn't give you hangover' -
They already claim to have cured cancer, Aids and Ebola with a miracle drug produced from ginseng root.
Now North Korean scientists seem to have scaled new heights of greatness with their latest invention - a special blend of liquor which doesn't give you a hangover. According to the state-controlled newspaper Pyongyang Times, the drink also relies on ginseng root for its medicinal qualities and has been hailed as a "national scientific and technological hit." The recipe replaces sugar with burnt rice, supposedly eliminating the liquor's bitter taste along with any risks of a hangover. The drink "is suave and causes no hangovers", claimed the Pyongyang Times piece, which was entitled: "Liquor wins quality medal for preserving national smack." It is the latest in a string of outlandish claims made by North Korea's state media, which once congratulated its supreme commander for learning to drive at the age of three. [Daily Telegraph]
Twitter down in global outage -
Twitter went offline on Tuesday morning for users of both its website and mobile apps. Visitors to the social network were met with a "Something is technically wrong" message on a blue background. Twitter's status page said: "Some users are currently experiencing problems accessing Twitter. We are aware of the issue and are working towards a resolution." "Something is technically wrong," a notice on the Twitter website said. "Thanks for noticing - we're going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon." At around 10am service resumed as usual, although was down again shortly before midday and at various times over Tuesday afternoon. [Daily Telegraph] The social network later said an "internal code change" had led to the problem, which lasted six hours 10 minutes. "We reverted the change, which fixed the issue," it added.
Twitter error page
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights releases a report stating that at least 18,802 civilians have been killed and another 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015 with approximately half the deaths occuring in Baghdad. (United Nations)
2015 was hottest year ever recorded 'by far' -
Blistering heat blanketed the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change. Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report. "This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record." Compared to 2014, last year was 0.29 Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius) warmer, the "largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken." [Daily Telegraph]
New evidence suggests a ninth planet lurking at the edge of the solar system -
Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto. They are calling it "Planet Nine." Their paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, estimates the planet's mass as five to 10 times that of the Earth. But the authors, astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, have not observed the planet directly. Instead, they have inferred its existence from the motion of recently discovered dwarf planets and other small objects in the outer solar system. Those smaller bodies have orbits that appear to be influenced by the gravity of a hidden planet – a "massive perturber." The astronomers suggest it might have been flung into deep space long ago by the gravitational force of Jupiter or Saturn. [Washington Post]
Video of the Day -
Australia Day Lamb 2016 | Commence Operation Boomerang
List of the Day -
National Television Awards 2016, London
Talent Show
Winner: Strictly Come Dancing
Britain's Got Talent
The Voice UK
The X Factor
Challenge Show
Winner: The Great British Bake Off
Bear Grylls: Mission Survive
MasterChef
The Apprentice
Serial drama
Winner: EastEnders
Coronation Street
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks
Comedy
Winner: Peter Kay's Car Share
Benidorm
Birds Of A Feather
Not Going Out
Drama
Winner: Downton Abbey
Broadchurch
Casualty
Doctor Who
New drama
Winner: Doctor Foster
Humans
Ordinary Lies
Poldark
Factual entertainment
Winner: Gogglebox
DIY SOS: The Big Build
Paul O'Grady: For The Love Of Dogs
Top Gear
Live magazine show
Winner: This Morning
BBC Breakfast
Loose Women
The One Show
Drama performance
Winner: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster)
Sheridan Smith (Black Work)
David Tennant (Broadchurch)
Aidan Turner (Poldark)
Entertainment programme
Winner: I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Celebrity Juice
The Graham Norton Show
President Putin 'probably' approved Litvinenko murder -
The murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in the UK was 'probably' approved by President Vladimir Putin, an inquiry has found. Mr Putin is likely to have signed off the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko with polonium-210 in part due to personal "antagonism" between the pair, it said. Home Secretary Theresa May said the murder was a "blatant and unacceptable" breach of international law. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said the public inquiry was "politicised". Litvinenko aged 43 in London in 2006, days after drinking tea poisoned with the radioactive substance. The former Russian spy - who is believed to have later worked for MI6 - had been a fierce critic of the Kremlin. [BBC]
Norwegian in underwear clings to car roof to stop thief -
A man clad only in boxer shorts stopped a thief from stealing his car in southern Norway - by clinging on to the roof in a hair-raising ride at -17C. Police say the owner was left "pretty bloody" after the car crashed into a safety barrier on a bridge. A suspect has been taken into police custody. The owner, 25, woke up in Kristiansand in the early hours of Wednesday when he heard his car engine firing up. He raced out, grabbed a car door-handle and refused to let go. The thief drove the car at up to 90km/h (56 mph), he said, but the owner managed to smash the back window with his knee and grappled with the thief before the car hit the safety barrier. [BBC]
A British inquiry alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin "probably" personally approved the FSB's murder of Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006 based on findings from a public enquiry. (CNN)
It Cost Google One Billion Dollars to Keep its Search Bar on iPhones -
Google’s search bar has been a fixture on Apple devices for years, something that’s always seemed counter-intuitive, what with Android being iOS’s only real competitor. According to Bloomberg, Google’s search engine is only exists there because of a $1 billion payment made to Apple in 2014. Bloomberg found the details in court proceedings from an Oracle vs Google lawsuit. Oracle has been fighting Google since 2010 over the search giant’s use of Oracle’s Java software in the development of Android. Somewhere along the way, Oracle’s lawyers got their hands on internal Google finances, which were brought up in open court, before Google’s attorneys pleaded to have the transcript redacted and sealed. According to Oracle’s lawyers — and neither confirmed nor denied by Google’s side — Google paid Apple $1 billion (that equates to around £701,000,000) in 2014 to keep its search bar on Apple devices. The two companies then have a revenue-sharing agreement to split any profits Google makes from Apple’s devices, although the breakdown is not known. [Gizmondo]
Steve Zadesky, who has been running the electric car project for Apple Inc. for two years, will leave that company soon for personal reasons, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Wall Street Journal)
Wei Hong resigns as Governor of Sichuan province in China after it was revealed that he was undergoing investigation for "breaching party discipline." Former World Health Organization executive committee member Yin Li becomes acting governor. (SCMP)
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Blizzard blankets eastern seaboard of US in deep snow -
A huge blizzard has blanketed the US eastern seaboard in snow, bringing New York and Washington DC to a standstill and affecting some 85 million people. Up to 40in (102cm) of snow settled in parts, paralysing rail and air links, and cutting power to 200,000 people. A travel ban in New York, which saw its second highest snowfall on record, is set to be lifted later on Sunday. At least 18 deaths, from road accidents but also snow shovelling, have been blamed on the weather since Friday. New York's Central Park received 26.8in, the second-biggest fall recorded since 1869 and just shy of the all-time high, 26.9in, recorded in February 2006. [BBC]
Jordanian soldiers kill 12 "infiltrators" and wound several others, on the border with Syria, foiling an attempt by dozens of smugglers to cross into the kingdom. The soldiers also confiscated more than 2 million narcotics pills that were left behind. (Reuters)
This potentially record storm, which is predicted to generate blizzard conditions through a third day on Sunday, has caused at least 10 deaths, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, led to more than 8,300 canceled flights, stranded many travelers on major highways and, with up to 70 mph winds, produced record-high tides along the Delaware and New Jersey shores. (NBC News)(Reuters)(ESPN)
Around 200 migrants storm the French port of Calais,near the underground tunnel to Britain, after a demonstration in support of migrants living in the nearby Calais jungle camp, with approximately 50 of them boarding the P&O Ferries operated MS Spirit of Britain cross-border ferry. The port was closed following the incident. (Reuters)
Poland surveillance law plan angers protesters: Thousands of Poles have taken part in marches in Warsaw and other cities to protest about plans of the conservative government, which they say will curtail privacy and freedom. (BBC News)
Tokyo police roll out 3D mug shots -
Tokyo's police force is to start taking 3D mug shots of suspects being held in custody, it's reported. The images will form part of a database which officers hope will make it easier to analyse CCTV footage, the the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports. All of the Japanese capital's 102 police stations will be fitted with a 3D camera as part of the new process, which will begin in April. "As we can identify the suspects more quickly and accurately, our arrest rate is expected to become greater," one senior officer tells the paper. Unlike regular two-dimensional mug shots, the 3D images can be adjusted to match the angle of security camera footage, which is often shot from above, rather than at face height. At the moment police only photograph suspects' faces from the front and diagonally, making it difficult to match mug shots to CCTV images. Tokyo's police force says it is the first to roll out the cameras across all of its stations - until now they have only been installed at some regional police headquarters in Japan. [BBC]
Australia makes 'captain's call' on best words of 2015 -
Captain's call - a phrase "plucked" from the cricket pitch and politicised by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott - has become the Macquarie Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2015. Mr Abbott's controversial choice to award Prince Philip a knighthood was one of his many "captain's calls". The noun is defined as "a decision made by a political or business leader without consultation with colleagues". The dictionary said the word "perfectly encapsulates" Australia in 2015. [BBC] See List of the Day
Video of the Day -
Liquid Ping Pong in Space - RED 4K
List of the Day -
Australian Word of the Year runners-up
lumbersexual: a portmanteau of lumberjack and metrosexual - referring to urban men who adopt the style of an outdoorsman as a fashion statement.
deso: Colloquially refers to a designated driver, who refrains from drinking alcohol in order to drive others safely home. Also, deso driver.
open kimono: A business policy of sharing information freely with an outside party.
keyboard warrior: a person who adopts an excessively aggressive style in online discussions which they would not normally adopt in person-to-person communication, often in support of a cause, theory, world view, etc.
ghost plate: a clear plastic numberplate cover which becomes opaque when viewed from certain angles, thereby obscuring the registration number; designed to circumvent identification by speed cameras.
athleisure: clothing, shoes, etc., designed for both exercise and general casual wear.
tri-tip: a cut of beef, taken from the bottom of the sirloin.
digital disruption: Commerce the impact of digital technology in making various established industries and products obsolete.
abandoned porn: a genre of photography which romanticises abandoned buildings and urban areas in a state of decay. Also, ruin porn.
wombat gate: a swing gate installed in a ditch going underneath a fence, so that wombats, who follow very predictable patterns at night, can come and go without destroying the fence.
Heavy snowfall in western and central Japan leaves at least two people dead and over a hundred injured. Snowfall was also recorded for the first time in 155 years on Amami Ōshima, a subtropical island in Japan's southern Kagoshima Prefecture. (The Japan Times)
Irish potato picture sells for £750,000 -
Yearning for starchy carbohydrates after a few drinks is nothing new - but a businessman has taken it to a new level. After a few glasses of wine, he bought a picture of an Irish potato for £750,000. "It's not the first time that someone has bought the art right off my wall," photographer Kevin Abosch told The Sunday Times newspaper. "We had two glasses of wine and he said, 'I really like that.' "Two more glasses of wine and he said, 'I really want that.' We set the price two weeks later." Abosch took the picture of the organic Irish potato back in 2010 as part of a series, but he's already known for snapping celebrities like Johnny Depp and Steven Spielberg. A starting price for one of his portraits will reportedly set you back around £200,000 at least. The artist had the spud delivered to him in a batch of organic vegetables, and says he understands how some people could see the price tag as being a little "absurd". [BBC]
Officials from the New York State parks system have proposed to temporarily "shut off" the American portion of Niagara Falls (also known as American Falls) within three years. The shut off will allow the replacement of two 115-year-old pedestrian stone bridges that are unsafe for the public. (Sky News)
At least eighty-five people are killed in Taiwan and tens of thousands stranded in airports as an unprecedented cold snap hits several Asian countries including China and South Korea. (Focus Taiwan),(CNN)
In Texas, a grand jury has cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing while it has indicted two anti-abortionists who were involved in making videos of the organization. (New York Times)
Australians choose alternative flag which removes the Union flag in new survey -
Australians have chosen a favourite alternative national flag amid calls to remove the Union flag from the current “outdated” design which has been flown since 1901. The preferred design, labelled the Southern Horizon, was the most popular of six options and captured 31 per cent of the vote in a survey conducted by the University of Western Sydney. The second most popular option, the Reconciliation Flag, received 28 per cent of the vote. The competition was prompted by the New Zealand government’s decision to hold a referendum on changing the flag – a process which is due to be completed in March. [Daily Telegraph]
Southern Horizon flag
Romania offers neighboring Moldova a $65 million (60 million euros) loan to help stave off economic collapse and keep the former Soviet Republic on a pro-European course, provided the Moldovan government implements major reforms. Government funds were needed to cover more than $1 billion that "disappeared" from three Moldovan banks in November 2014. In the frigid capital Chișinău, 15,000 people from both the pro-European and pro-Russian sides of the political divide, protested on Sunday against the current government and demanded new elections. Prime MinisterPavel Filip, who took office last week, is the country's sixth PM in a year. (AP)(Reuters)(The New York Times)
Authorities in the People's Republic of China say that Wang Baoan is under suspicion for "serious violation of discipline" (a phrase usually associated with corruption charges) as the head of that country's powerful National Bureau of Statistics. (BBC)
Hapless US sailors rescued for ninth time during bid to cross the Atlantic -
Two ‘Captain Calamity’ sailors have been rescued for a ninth time in seven months while trying to sail from Norway to America. Bungling Bob Weise and Steve Shapiro, both 71, managed to set their boat on fire having left a candle burning while it was moored, just the latest in a long line of mishaps to delay their sailing adventure. The hapless US yachtsmen set off from Scandinavia in their 40ft sailing boat Nora for a ‘last hurrah’ expedition last July but have since endured a catalogue of disasters. Their 18-ton boat suffered “considerable” damage in the latest incident after it tipped over while in Hayle Harbour, Cornwall, exacerbated by the fact they had left a candle burning when they popped ashore for groceries. [Daily Telegraph]
Record-breaking $6.2M raised for mental health during Bell Let’s Talk Day -
It’s a new Bell Let's Talk Day record. Bell says 125,915,295 calls, texts, tweets and shares on Wednesday raised $ 6,295,764.75 for Canadian mental health. "I'm truly overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of the non-stop conversation about mental health this year and by what we've all built together," said Clara Hughes, Canada's six-time Olympic medalist and Bell Let's Talk national spokesperson since the initiative began in 2010. [CTV News Windsor] See Top Twitter Trends
Suicide bombers blow themselves up in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, killing at least 13 and injuring at least 30 others. (AFP via Yahoo)(Reuters)
Amnesty International reports that at least 160 young Iranians are currently awaiting execution and 73 others have been put to death between 2005 and 2015, which including sentencing girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to death. (The Huffington Post)
In tennis, the sport's governing bodies launch an independent inquiry into the anti-corruption unit following a report published by the BBC and BuzzFeed about allegations of failing to pursue allegations ofmatch fixing. (ABC Australia)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
Peta's NSFW Super Bowl 50 advert banned by TV execs -
An advert produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, intended to air during the Super Bowl next month, has been barred from viewers' screens by TV executives. The advert, depicting two couples having sex, is intended to encourage people to adopt veganism. "Vegans last longer. See the side by side proof here," reads the supporting text, as the vegan and meat-eating couples are shown going at it hammer-and-tongs. The meat-eaters' love-making is over within moments of the advert beginning - while the vegans keep going until the end. PETA says it planned for the clip to be aired during the Super Bowl, where advertisers pay millions of dollars to target US TV's largest, most receptive audience of the year. "We did try to submit the ad last fall but we didn't get a response from the executives at CBS," a spokesman for the animal rights organisation said. However, since news broke that the advert was banned it's received a huge amount of attention, winning 1.1 million YouTube views in just three days. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
PETA Tweet
Video of the Day -
Last Longer | Vegan Sex Drive Shown in Steamy Scene
Georgia welcomes the ICC's investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the 2008 South Ossetia war, which will be the first inquiry by the ICC into possible abuses by Moscow and/or Georgia.(Radio Free Europe)
Italian town welcomes first baby for 28 years -
A small town in northern Italy is celebrating the arrival of its first baby since the 1980s. The mayor of Ostana, which lies in the mountains of the Piedmont region, says the new arrival is a "dream come true" for the tiny community, which has seen its population plummet over the past 100 years. Baby Pablo, who was born in a Turin hospital last week, takes the number of inhabitants to 85, although only about half live there permanently, La Stampa newspaper reports. Mayor Giacomo Lombardo says that while 1,000 people called Ostana home in the early 1900s, a steady drop in the birth rate began after World War Two. "The real decline started in 1975, with 17 babies between 1976 and 1987, when the last boy was born - until little Pablo," he says. [BBC]
Human rights activists claim that three pro-democracy advocates have been sentenced up to five years imprisonment on charges of attempting to overthrow the Communist Party government inGuangzhou. (AP via Star Tribune)
Lebanon returns Israeli vulture cleared of spying -
A huge vulture detained in Lebanon on suspicion of spying for Israel has been returned home after UN peacekeepers intervened, Israeli officials said. The bird, which has a 1.9m (6ft 5in) wing span, flew over the border from an Israeli game reserve and was caught by Lebanese villagers on Tuesday. They became suspicious as the griffon vulture had a tracking device attached to its tail. It is part of a conservation project to reintroduce raptors to the Middle East. Wildlife officials say the vulture was brought from Spain last year and set free about a month ago in the Gamla Nature Reserve in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Tel Aviv University is involved in tracking the bird, and as well as a GPS transmitter, it had tags on its wings and an engraved metal ring on its leg saying: "Tel Aviv Univ Israel". [BBC]
People are freaking out over their results on the JK Rowling approved Harry Potter Sorting Hat test -
There have been Harry Potter Sorting Hat quizzes online for years, but this one has actually been approved by the author. JK Rowling has made, or approved, a quiz to go on her Pottermore website, which purports to accurately tell you what house you should be in. The quiz asks a series of personality questions, and sorts you in to your true house.
It tells you whether you are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. You can take the Pottermore quiz here. {Daily Telegraph]
In October 2015 JK Rowling dismissed Harry Potter fan theories about time travel and werewolves
J. K. Rowling
Jamaican health officials confirm the country's first case of the Zika virus in a 4-year-old child who recently returned from a trip to Texas. (USA TODAY)
Sir Terry Wogan: Tributes paid to veteran broadcaster -
Tributes have poured in for veteran BBC broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan who has died aged 77, after a short illness. BBC director general Tony Hall hailed him as "a broadcasting legend". Sir Terry hosted a long-running TV chat show, fronted the Eurovision Song Contest and was the face of Children in Need, while his Radio 2 breakfast show regularly had around 8m listeners. Sir Terry, who had not been seen in public since November when he pulled out of hosting the annual Children in Need telethon, died "after a short but brave battle with cancer", his family said. He leaves his wife Helen and their three children. The couple also had a daughter who died in infancy. [BBC]
Terry Wogan in 2005 receiving his Knighthood
Bill Gates 8 Desert Island Discs [BBC]
David Bowie and Queen - Under Pressure: "In my 20s and 30s, I worked a lot. But a few Fridays and Saturdays we'd go out and dance so this kind of reminds me of those disco days."
Willie Nelson - Blue Skies: "My wife Melinda and I love Willie Nelson. So as a surprise gift for her, I had him show up the night before we got married. We were on a beach in Hawaii and he kind of walked down the beach with his guitar and I said, 'Well here he is, let's have this guy sing some songs for us.'"
Ed Sheeran - Sing: "My kids, who are 19, 16, and 13, refresh my musical taste by tuning the radio or calling up songs on their phones. And so this is one that my 13-year-old, Phoebe, happens to like."
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced: "Because I was younger [Paul Allen] would sometimes taunt me with the title of this song - Are You Experienced - because I hadn't gotten drunk or other various things, so this is one of our favourites."
U2 - One: "Paul told me that I should meet Bono, and I didn't prioritise it. We finally did get to meet and I was amazed how he had thought about [global health] read about it, and so started a partnership. He has been absolutely amazing."
The Beatles - Two of Us: "Steve [Jobs] was really into music and he loved the Beatles and so did I. And he actually mentioned the song, Two of Us, saying that was kind of like this journey we'd been on where we'd been competing and working together."
How Can Love Survive, from the Sound of Music: "Melinda and I both love the Sound of Music and as I met [investor and philanthropist] Warren Buffett, he and his first wife Susie sang a song from The Sound of Music. In fact this is one we'd never heard because it was in the Broadway musical and not in the movie. It's kind of a cute song so Melinda and I think of this as one of our favourites."
My Shot from Hamilton, the musical: "It's about a young person saying, 'Hey I'm going to take a risk - I'm going to get out there and try and do something new and different.'"
Japan deploys two MIM-104 Patriotsurface-to-air missile interceptor systems in Tokyo in preparation for any North Korean ballistic missiles potentially heading for the city. The deployment comes amid concerns of an imminent North Korean missile launch following the detection of "increased activity" at a North Korean missile facility. (RT)
Alphabet - owner of Google - takes top spot from Apple -
Alphabet- Google's parent company- has surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after its latest earnings report. The company made a profit of $4.9bn (£3.4bn) for the fourth quarter, an increase from $4.7bn a year ago. The announcement sent its share price up as much as 9% in after-hours trading.
That means that Alphabet is now worth around $568bn, compared with Apple, which has a value of $535bn. [BBC] Alphabet was launched in August 2015
Structure of Alphabet companies
Zika-linked condition: Rio Olympics 'to go ahead' despite virus -
There is no chance that the Rio Olympics will be cancelled because of a Zika virus outbreak, Brazil has said. The authorities said there was no risk to athletes and spectators - except pregnant women - at the August event. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned a disease linked to Zika posed a global public health emergency requiring a united response. The infection has been linked to cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with underdeveloped brains. Experts are worried that the mosquito-borne virus in Latin America is spreading far and fast, with devastating consequences. Meanwhile, WHO Director General Margaret Chan called Zika an "extraordinary event" that needed a co-ordinated response. The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola. It means research and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Flight Over Dwarf Planet Ceres
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
A snow storm in the United States is affecting multiple regions in Colorado, California and elsewhere, with more than 70,000 people in southern California losing power. (AccuWeather)
Chinese authorities arrest 21 people involved in the Ezubao online finance scheme accused of allegedly defrauding 900,000 people of 50bn yuan ($7.6bn; £5.3bn) in a Ponzi scheme. (BBC)
Two men are sentenced to death for the murder of Tibetan religious leader Akong Rinpoche, his nephew and his driver in 2013. (Reuters)
LinkedIn: Slovenian club sign right-back after posting advert -
Not one for fax machines and agents' fees, Slovenian club NK Domzale had a novel way of avoiding the madness of the January transfer window - using LinkedIn. The online networking service is best known for telling you an old colleague has a better job than yours and is mainly used in the UK by professionals such as lawyers and accountants. But after Domzale head coach Luka Elsner, 33, posted a message asking for an "offensive right-back" who "must have an EU passport", the top-flight club received 150 applications and signed Spanish defender Alvaro Brachi, 30, just before transfer deadline day. [BBC]
DK Domzale LinkedIn ad
A-lister Naomi Watts links up with Anglesey football club -
A Hollywood A-lister has agreed to become the honorary president of a small Anglesey football club. Naomi Watts said she was "very excited" to take on the role for Glantraeth FC, based in Malltraeth, which has a population of 400 people. The English-born star of Mulholland Drive and King Kong spent time as a child on her grandparents' farm nearby. Glantraeth FC play in the third tier Welsh Alliance football league division one and get crowds of 40 people. After former president Sir George Meyrick stood down last August, secretary Stan Strickland suggested Ms Watts as a replacement. He sent a letter to her agent who is based on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, and received a positive response on Monday night. [BBC]
Naomi Watts
Negotiators for the European Commission and the United States agree on a pact protecting data transfers across the North Atlantic by companies such as Google and Amazon, imposing on such companies certain privacy shield obligations. (Reuters)
Britain suffers 'biscuit drought' following McVities factory flood -
"The fact that you can't have a ginger nut with your cup of tea at the end of the night ... it's the end of the world, isn't it?" So said one disgruntled biscuit lover in a BBC report on the ongoing biscuit drought currently gripping the nation. Many of Britain's best-loved biscuits remain absent from shop shelves after floods forced the closure of the United Biscuits factory in Carlisle in December. The factory produces numerous well-known brands of biscuit, including McVitie's ginger nuts, Crawford's custard creams and Carr's water crackers. [Daily Telegraph]
McVitie's chocolate digestive biscuit
Lord Lucan death certificate granted -
Lord Lucan is now presumed to be dead, a High Court judge has ruled. A death certificate has been issued 42 years after the peer vanished when his children's nanny Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in London. He was declared dead in 1999, despite dozens of unverified sightings, but the new ruling gives his son the right to inherit the family title. His son, Lord Bingham, said: "I am very happy with the judgment of the court in this matter." [BBC]
Three Palestinian assailants launch a shooting and stabbing attack near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, killing one policewoman and seriously injuring another, and lightly injuring a civilian, before being shot and killed by other security forces at the scene. Pipe bombs were discovered on their bodies. (The Times of Israel)
Two Hamas militants die after a tunnel they were digging from the Gaza Strip into Israel collapses. (AP)
At least 15 people are killed and 58 injured after rockets reportedly fired by rebels hit pro-government neighborhoods in the southern city of Daraa. (RT)
Japan puts its military on alert to shoot down any North Korean rocket that threatens it following an announcement by North Korea of a planned "Earth observation launch". (Reuters)
South Korea warns North Korea of "searing consequences" if it doesn't abandon plans to launch a long-range rocket that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibits the country from engaging in any ballistic activities. (Fox News)
Earth, Wind & Fire soul band founder Maurice White dies -
The founder of soul group Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White, has died in the US, his brother has said. White, 74, died in his sleep in Los Angeles on Thursday morning. He suffered from Parkinson's Disease. His band had a series of hits including September, Boogie Wonderland, Shining Star and After the Love has Gone. The singer-songwriter was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1992 but his condition was reported to have got worse in recent months. [BBC]
Maruice White 1982
Black tarantula named after Johnny Cash -
A new species of black tarantula that lives near Folsom Prison, California, has been named after Johnny Cash. The famously black-clad country singer wrote a song about the prison, and also played a historic series of concerts for inmates there in the 1960s. Aphonopelma johnnycashi is among 14 new tarantula species from the southern US which have been described by biologists in the journal ZooKeys. As part of his PhD research at Auburn University in Alabama, Chris Hamilton carefully whittled that down to 29. He eliminated a lot of double-counting, but also defined 14 species that were entirely new to science. "It's a perfect name. It fits the spider - it's found around Folsom and the males are predominantly all black, so it fits his image. "I have a Johnny Cash tattoo so I was very happy that it worked out that way." [BBC]
The cover art for the album At Folsom Prison by the artist Johnny Cash. Copyright Columbia Pictures
Russia's Ministry of Defence accuses Turkey of preparing a military incursion into northern Syria, saying it had registered "a growing number of signs of hidden preparation of the Turkish Armed Forces for active actions on the territory of Syria". Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are active on the border of Syria involved in fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Reuters)
German police arrest two Algerian men suspected of having links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and planning terror attacks in the country. One of the men detained, reported to be aged 35, had been living in a refugee shelter in the town of Attendorn, east of Cologne. Police say "investigations show that he has been trained militarily in Syria". (BBC)
X Games biker and BMX star Dave Mirra dies -
Police in the US say X Games biker Dave Mirra has died aged 41. Officers in North Carolina say his body was found early on Thursday with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Dave Mirra was a former BMX champion and one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history. He won a medal every year from 1995 to 2008, picking up 14 golds. His one-time record of 24 career medals was only broken in 2013 by Bob Burnquist. Only Shaun White has won more X Games gold medals than him. [BBC Newsbeat] See Top Twitter Trends (UK)
Dave Mirra in 2010
New York crane collapse kills at least one person -
A large construction crane has collapsed in lower Manhattan in New York City, killing one person and injuring at least two others. The Fire Department of New York confirmed the fatality and is on the scene responding to the accident. The collapse happened along West Broadway early on Friday morning in the Tribeca neighbourhood. The downed crane, which filled the street, fell onto numerous parked cars. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the victim was sitting in a parked car at the time of the accident, and that it was caused by high winds. Workers were in the process of lowering the crane due to the high winds when it collapsed. No workers were injured. [BBC] See Video of the Day
1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti breaks auction sale for racing car at $32 million -
A 1957 Ferrari driven by the great British motor racers of the 1950s broke the record for the world’s most expensive racing car sold at auction after fetching just over €32 million (£24.7 million) on Friday. Despite the stratospheric price at the Artcurial auction in Paris, the buyer cannot use the vehicle on the roads as it was designed purely for racing. Only four Ferrari 335 S Spider Scagliettis were ever produced, and this one had been in the hands of a private French collector for more than 40 years – hence the feverish excitement at the Rétromobile classic car show in Paris, where the auction took place. The 335S is purely a racing car, unlike the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was a dual purpose vehicle also homologated for road use.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Video of the Day -
Crane collapse in New York - original footage by Glenn Zito
Copyright Glenn Zito.
List of the Day -
Cars sold at auction for over $10 million (source Wikipedia]
Clashes between local tribal forces and Sudanese fighters in Libya's southeastern Cyrenaica region around the town of Kufra leaves around 30 dead. (Reuters)
Puerto Rico declares a state of emergency due to the ongoing Zika virus outbreak. At least 22 people have been reported to have been infected with the Zika virus in the U.S.territory. (ABC News)
Law and crime
A shooting at a boxing match weigh-in between Jamie Kavanagh and Antonio João Bento in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, leaves one person dead and two others injured. The gunmen were reportedly dressed as police officers and armed with AK-47s. (BBC)
How Facebook updated 'six degrees of separation' (it's now 3.57) -
If you pick any two Facebook users, it's been calculated there's an average of 3.57 "degrees of separation" between them. The maths has been done using the social media giant's handy data set of 1.6 billion people. Facebook wanted to test the age-old "six degrees of separation" theory to mark its 12th birthday. "This is a significant reflection of how closely connected the world has become," the firm says. "When people connect, powerful things happen and lives are changed. "We see this on Facebook every day, whether it's an exchange with an old friend that brings a smile to your face or a new connection that changes your life path, or even the world." It means that each person in the world (at least among the 1.59 billion people active on Facebook) is connected to every other person by an average of three and a half other people. Find out your own degrees of separation at Facebook's blog page. [BBC Newsbeat]
Video of the Day -
"NFL 2016: Part One" — A Bad Lip Reading of the NFL
Part 2 available here
Tunisia completes the construction of a 200km (125 mile) barrier along its border with Libya, intended to keep out terrorists trained in Libya. (Reuters)
Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos beat Carolina Panthers -
The Denver Broncos produced a defensive masterclass to upset the Carolina Panthers 24-10 and win Super Bowl 50. Carolina were heavy favourites, having lost only once all season and with the league's Most Valuable Player of the season Cam Newton at quarterback. But Newton was smothered by the Broncos defence and gave up three turnovers, including one that led to a touchdown. That helped Denver, quarterbacked by veteran Peyton Manning, open a 10-0 lead early on and they never lost it. It had been rumoured the game would be 39-year-old Manning's last, but he said afterwards he would "take time to reflect". [BBC]
Coldplay and Beyonce star in half-time show -
British group Coldplay were the main performers at the half-time and they were joined by Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson. Coldplay opened the show by singing 'Yellow' and 'Viva La Vida' as children carrying multi-coloured umbrellas and violins streamed onto the pitch. Mars and Ronson performed their hit 'Uptown Funk', before Beyonce sang her new song 'Formation'. The artists closed the show by performing a mash-up of Coldplay's hit 'Fix You' and Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love'. [BBC]
Twitter suspends 125,000 'terrorism' accounts -
Twitter says it has suspended more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 "for threatening or promoting terrorist acts". In a blog, the US-based firm said the accounts "primarily related to ISIS" (the so-called Islamic State group). "We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism," it said, adding that it had increased its report reviewing teams to react faster. Twitter has more than 500 million users around the world. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
"NFL 2016: PART TWO" — A Bad Lip Reading of the NFL
Part One available here
The death toll from yesterday's earthquake in Taiwan rises to at least 29, with at least 120 trapped under collapsed buildings in Tainan, while 198 people have been rescued. (AP)(Taipei Times)
A man is killed and three other employees are injured following a suspected meteorite strike in a garden outside the Bharathidasan Engineering College in Tamil Nadu, India. Witnesses say they saw a mysterious object fall from the sky. If confirmed, this would be the first recorded fatality from a meteorite strike. (Metro)(The Indian Express)
Japan's NHK news reports the rocket passed over the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, condemns the launch and says, "We absolutely cannot allow this. We will take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people". The Japanese government says no rocket debris fell on Japanese territory and there are no reports of damage. The rocket reportedly falls into waters southwest of Jeju Island. (ABC News), (Yonhap)
South Korea's intelligence agency claims that North Korea is preparing for another nuclear test. (Yonhap)
One person is killed and seven others are injured in a shooting outside a Rochester, New York sports bar. (ABC News)
Hamas reports it has executed one of its commanders, Mahmoud Eshtewi, for “moral and behavioral violations.” Human Rights Watch, contacted by Eshtewi’s family, had been monitoring the case. (AP viaThe Washington Post)
Politics and elections
Politicians in Haiti agree to a process to select an interim President to replace Michel Martelly. Presidential elections will be held on April 14 with the winner to be sworn in on 14 May. (BBC)
Power being restored after Storm Imogen hits England and Wales -
More than a thousand properties remain without power after Storm Imogen brought heavy rain and strong winds. South-west England and south and mid-Wales bore the brunt, with rail and ferry services disrupted and some schools closed. Waves of up to 19.1m (63ft) were measured off the Cornish coast, and winds of 70-80mph felt in many areas. Winds of more than 80mph were recorded in many areas, including 81mph on the Isles of Scilly, 84mph in Pembrey Sands, Carmarthenshire, and 96mph at The Needles, off the Isle of Wight. The Met Office said "phenomenal" sea conditions were also measured at several points offshore. Defined as waves of more than 14m (46ft), it is the highest level on the World Meteorological Scale. [BBC]
Thousands flock to 'malware museum' -
An online archive of old computer malware has attracted more than 100,000 visitors since it launched four days ago. Some of the software showed an animation or messages. Others invited the infected user to play a game. Many of the viruses were created by "happy hackers" rather than organised criminals, said cybersecurity expert and curator Mikko Hypponen. The malware all dates from the 1980s and 1990s. The versions online have all been stripped of their destructive capabilities, but show the messages they would have displayed within emulator windows. His personal favourite is a virus called Casino, which overwrote a crucial part of the computer's file system but took a copy of personal files and then offered the user the opportunity to win them back in a game of Jackpot. "Casino was a real problem," Mr Hypponen, who works at security firm F-Secure, told the BBC. "At the time the advice was, you lose nothing by playing. In the early 1990s very few people had back-ups so you had lost your files anyway." [BBC]
Video of the Day -
The All-New 2016 Toyota Prius | The Longest Chase #GoPriusGo | Toyota
The South Korean Navy fires warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat after it crossed the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea and entered South Korean-controlled waters. As of 2016, North Korea refuses to recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line, that was drawn up at the end of the Korean War. (Reuters)
'Airbnb for sex' - Entrepreneurs set up KinkBNB for lovers to book guiltless sexcapades -
People who own a Fifty Shades-esque red dungeon of pain, and want to find a use for it when they are on holiday, or who own a honeymoon-worthy castle could now find themselves a lucrative new source of income. KinkBNB is marketing itself as the sex-positive Airbnb - and tenants and renters alike know what they are getting into when they sign up for the site. The Airbnb-style homesharing website now lets lovers book sex-focused getaways without stressing about waking up the next door neighbours or being landed with a hefty damages charge. Its layout is similar to the traditional homesharing site - listing amenities such as washing machines, gardens and swimming pools.
Google boss becomes highest-paid in US -
The chief executive of Google, Sundar Pichai, has been awarded $199m (£138m) in shares, a regulatory filing has revealed. It makes him the highest-paid chief executive in the US.
Mr Pichai became chief executive of the search engine giant following the creation of its parent, Alphabet. The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have amassed fortunes of $34.6bn and $33.9bn, according to Forbes. Mr Pichai, 43, was awarded 273,328 Alphabet shares on 3 February, worth a total of $199m, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The new award of shares takes Mr Pichai's total stock value to approximately $650m. [BBC]
Sundar Pichai
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in Taiwan rises to 41 with 109 people missing. (Focus Taiwan)
Taiwan authorities arrest three construction company executives of the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building, which collapsed Saturday, on suspicion of negligent homicide. Almost all of those killed have been recovered from the rubble from this building; the 100-plus missing are likely buried in the debris. (Reuters)(AP via The Washington Post)
Two passenger trains collide in the German town of Bad Aibling in the state of Bavaria. At least ten people are dead, one person is missing and presumed dead, about 80 are wounded, and 17 are seriously or critically injured. The rescue is difficult- resembling a mountain-type rescue- because of a nearby river and a steep incline and a curve in the tracks; rescue helicopters had to be used. It is one of Bavaria's and Germany's deadliest-ever railroad accidents. Human error is being examined as a possibility. (BBC)(CNN)
Gymnast Sophina DeJesus's hip-hop routine wows the internet -
Video of an American student gymnast has gone viral after she threw in some hip-hop moves during a university competition. Sophina DeJesus's floor routine has been watched millions of times online. The UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduate told Pac-12 Sports Report she had "no clue" it would get such a big reaction. "I wanted to think of something to end my senior year with a bang," she said. Sophina was awarded 9.925 for her routine, despite the crowds cheering for the judges to give her a perfect 10. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day
Sophina DeJesus NY Times tweet
Einstein's gravitational waves found at last -
One hundred years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, scientists have finally spotted these elusive ripples in space-time. In a highly anticipated announcement, physicists with the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) revealed on 11 February that their twin detectors have heard the gravitational 'ringing' produced by the collision of two black holes about 400 megaparsecs (1.3 billion light-years) from Earth.“Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves,” David Reitze, the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, said at a Washington DC press conference. “We did it!” One black hole was about 36 times the mass of the Sun, and the other was about 29 solar masses. As they spiralled inexorably into one another, they merged into a single, more-massive gravitational sink in space-time that weighed 62 solar masses, the LIGO team estimates. [Nature] See Video of the Day
Star Wars prosecuted over Harrison Ford injury -
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg. The actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014. The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd - a subsidiary of Disney. Foodles Production said it was "disappointed" by the HSE's decision. Following the incident, Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery. [BBC] Harrison Ford received more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster and last year crashed his light aircraft for a third time.
Harrison Ford
Sir Richard Branson ‘attacked’ by stingray and door on holiday -
Sir Richard Branson had a holiday to remember, for all the wrong reasons, after he was injured by a stingray and then a bullet-proof glass door. The Virgin billionaire said he had been “in the wars” in the Cayman Islands, admitting his holiday “didn’t quite go to plan”. “We were surrounded by stingray, as well as stunning coral reefs and tropical fish,” he wrote in a blog post. “But the rays were feeding all around, and they mistook yours truly for their food. Suddenly I felt a painful sensation on my wrist – they have one heck of a painful kiss! Rays are actually part of the shark family, so I've now been kissed by a shark. Getting stung by a ray is meant to bring seven years good luck but it didn’t bring much for Branson who then had an unfortunate run-in with a glass door. “As my anniversary was coming up, I popped into a local jewellery shop to look for a gift for Joan [his wife]. I strolled purposefully into the shop, not noticing there was a glass door in my way. Crash!” he explained. “I hit the glass head first and I got this painful cut above my left eye. It was bullet-proof glass! We quickly set up a makeshift operating theatre, where I was given three stitches. [Daily Telegraph]
Richard Branson tweet
Indonesia wants gay-themed emojis removed -
Indonesia wants social networking sites to remove any emojis representing same-sex couples, it's reported. One popular messaging app, Line, has already dropped all LGBT-themed emojis, after saying it had received complaints from users. Now the Indonesian government is asking major players like Facebook and WhatsApp to follow suit and remove the icons for users within the country, the Republika newspaper reports. "No social media may show items that smack of LGBT. Because we have our own rules, like religious values and norms, which they must respect," information ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu is quoted as saying. Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, but prevailing conservative attitudes in the Muslim-majority country make open discussion of sexuality controversial. Mr Cawidu did not specify what would happen if companies refused to remove the emojis. [BBC]
The death toll from the earthquake rises to 94 with 550 people injured, and at least 30 more missing and believed buried in the apartment complex rubble in Tainan. (CNN)
The discontinuance of electricity and water into the Kaesong area impacts area residents who lose their steady supply of water. The public received about 60 percent of the 17,000 tons of water South Korea pumped north each day. (AP via Fox News)
China has announced it will back a United Nations resolution to make North Korea "pay the necessary price" for the recent rocket launch. (Reuters)
Bill Murray hurled fans phones of a rooftop -
Bill Murray is accused of going all Naomi Campbell on some fans who tried to take his photo in the tranquil seaside town of Carmel, CA ... and now cops are investigating. Bill was hanging out at the Vesuvio rooftop lounge, a popular watering hole for celebs playing in the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tourney. It's going on now, and Bill is playing. The owner of the restaurant, Scott Pepe, tells us Bill wasn't drinking ... he just got really pissed when a few patrons got starstruck and took his pic. The fans were pretty obvious, with flashes going off only 10 feet away from Bill, according to Scott. He says Bill got so angry he got up and chucked their phones off the 2nd story rooftop. Police spoke to the star of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day but decided not to press charges. Instead, the owners of the phones were happy to be compensated. [TMZ]
Bill Murray
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/12/bill-murray-throws-phones-carmel-restaurant/#ixzz40F2rItkn
This painting is 'too obscene' for Facebook -
This image is of the painting Ice Cream which was created in 1964 by one of the world's first pop artists, Evelyne Axell. It was uploaded last week by the Philadelphia Museum of Art however censors removed it shortly afterwards. The museum says Facebook told them it shows "excessive amounts of skin or suggestive content". Far from obscene, experts at the museum described the painting as "challenging typical standards by showing women...and their playful characteristics". [BBC Newsbeat]
Phila Museum of Art tweet
The death toll from the earthquake rises to 113 with four people still in the rubble of the Weiguan Golden Dragon high-rise tower in Tainan. (AP via Philly News)
At the 52nd Munich Security Conference in Germany, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that NATO and Russia are "not in a cold-war situation but also not in the partnership that we established at the end of the Cold War" while the Russian Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev says tensions between Russia and NATO have sent the world spiralling into a "new Cold War", blaming U.S. and European leaders for the souring of relations with Russia. He also rejected accusations that Russian warplanes have bombed civilians in Syria, saying it is "just not true". (Sky News), (BBC)
Baftas 2016: The Revenant rules at Baftas -
Wilderness drama The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, has dominated this year's Baftas. It was named best film while DiCaprio won best actor and Alejandro G Inarritu best director. Apocalyptic action movie Mad Max: Fury Road took four awards: for make-up and hair, editing, costumes and production design. Brie Larson won the best leading actress award for her role as a kidnapped mother in Room. Director Lenny Abrahamson, who picked up the award on her behalf, called her "one of the best actors of her generation." [BBC]
Leonardo_DiCaprio
Kanye West REALLY wants $1 billion from Mark Zuckerberg -
Kanye West has publicly asked Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1bn (£700m) into Kanye West ideas. He take his money, when he's a need. Yeah, he's a trifling friend indeed. In a series of tweets Kanye begs the co-founder of Facebook for help because he doesn't have "enough resources" to create what he "really can". It comes after he claimed to have a personal debt of $53m (£36m). Yes, that's FIFTY THREE MILLION DOLLARS. It's all because Kanye thinks he can make the world a better place. He also thinks tech companies in San Francisco should donate money to him rather than African school children. [BBC Newsbeat]
Kanye West begging tweets
Video of the Day -
Simon's Cat Logic - Love
List of the Day -
Winners of the BAFTA Film Awards 2016
Best filmWinner: The Revenant
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Spotlight
Outstanding British filmWinner: Brooklyn
45 Years
Amy
The Danish Girl
Ex Machina
The Lobster
ActorWinner: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
ActressWinner: Brie Larson - Room
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
Maggie Smith - The Lady in the Van
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Supporting actorWinner: Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Benicio del Toro - Sicario
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Supporting actressWinner: Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina
Julie Walters - Brooklyn
DirectorWinner: Alejandro G Inarritu - The Revenant
Todd Haynes - Carol
Adam McKay - The Big Short
Ridley Scott - The Martian
Steven Spielberg - Bridge of Spies
Adapted screenplay
Winner: The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
Room
Steve Jobs
Original screenplayWinner: Spotlight
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Animated filmWinner: Inside Out
Minions
Shaun the Sheep Movie
DocumentaryWinner: Amy
Cartel Land
He Named Me Malala
Listen to Me Marlon
Sherpa
Foreign filmWinner: Wild Tales
The Assassin
Force Majeure
Theeb
Timbuktu
CinematographyWinner: The Revenant
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Costume designWinner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Brooklyn
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
EditingWinner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
The Martian
The Revenant
Make-up and hairWinner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Brooklyn
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Revenant
MusicWinner: The Hateful Eight
Bridge of Spies
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Production designWinner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
SoundWinner: The Revenant
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Special effectsWinner: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ant-Man
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
British short animationWinner: Edmond
Manoman
Prologue
British short filmWinner: Operator
Elephant
Mining Poems or Odes
Over
Samuel-613
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producerWinner: Naji Abu Nowar (writer/director) & Rupert Lloyd (producer) - Theeb
Alex Garland (director) - Ex Machina
Debbie Tucker Green (writer/director) - Second Coming
Sean McAllister (director/producer) & Elhum Shakerifar (producer) - A Syrian Love Story
Stephen Fingleton (writer/director) - The Survivalist
Rising Star awardWinner: John Boyega
Taron Egerton
Dakota Johnson
Brie Larson
Bel Powley
The United Nations reports that civilian casualties reached a record level in 2015; at least 3,545 non-combatants were killed and 7,457 injured. (Reuters)
Taylor Swift disses Kanye West at the Grammy Awards during her acceptance speech -
Taylor Swift's 1989 has won the coveted album of the year award at this year's Grammys in Los Angeles. The singer - who is the first woman to win the award twice - also won best pop vocal album and best music video for her track Bad Blood. Swift dissed Kanye [West] during her acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards. She's the first woman to win album of the year twice and said it was for "all the young women out there". She said: "There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame." Her speech appears to be in response to Kanye West's lyric from his new album where he claims to have made Taylor Swift famous. [BBC]
In January 2016 Swift won the Peoples Choice Award for best female artist. In November 2015 she was sued for allegedly stealing the lyrics for her song "Shake it off". Also see List of the Day.
Taylor Swift
Stephen Fry quits Twitter, saying 'fun is over' after Bafta spat -
Bafta show host Stephen Fry has confirmed he has left Twitter declaring "the fun is over". He faced criticism online after comparing costume designer Jenny Beavan to a "bag lady" when she picked up her Bafta for Mad Max: Fury Road. The presenter later insisted Beavan was a "dear friend" and had "got" the joke. Fry said he has not "slammed the door" on Twitter but said the site had become a "stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous". Writing on his official website, he said people needed to "grieve" for what Twitter had become, writing: "I like to believe I haven't slammed the door, much less stalked off in a huff throwing my toys out of the pram as I go or however one should phrase it. "It's quite simple really: the room had started to smell. Really quite bad." [BBC]
In January 2015 Fry married his 27 year old partner Elliot Spencer
Stephen Fry
Hollywood hospital held to ransom by hackers -
Ransomware is a growing menace for computer users - but when a hospital is targeted, it makes the disruption far more serious. Computer systems at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center have been offline for more than a week following a ransomware attack. According to local news sources, hackers were said to have demanded $3.4m (£2.4m) to provide the codes to unlock the stolen data. The hospital has confirmed the attack took place, but has not commented on the ransom. A voicemail message at the hospital reassures patients that medical records had not been accessed by the hackers. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Indoor Snowstorm Prank!!
List of the Day -
Grammy Award winners 2016
Album of the year
Winner: 1989 - Taylor Swift
Sound & Color - Alabama Shakes
To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
Traveller - Chris Stapleton
Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd
Best new artist
Winner: Meghan Trainor
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Best rock album
Winner: Drones - Muse
Chaos And The Calm - James Bay
Kintsugi - Death Cab For Cutie
Mister Asylum - Highly Suspect
.5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot
Best rock performance
Winner: Don't Wanna Fight - Alabama Shakes
What Kind Of Man - Florence & The Machine
Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
Ex's & Oh's - Elle King
Moaning Lisa Smile - Wolf Alice
Record of the year
Winner: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
Really Love - D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
Blank Space - Taylor Swift
Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
Song of the year
Winner: Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge
Alright - Kendrick Duckworth, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams (Kendrick Lamar)
Blank Space - Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift
Girl Crush - Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose (Little Big Town)
See You Again - Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz (Wiz Khalifa)
Best pop vocal album
Winner: 1989 - Taylor Swift
Piece By Piece - Kelly Clarkson
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful - Florence & The Machine
Uptown Special - Mark Ronson
Before This World - James Taylor
Best pop solo performance
Winner: Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
Heartbeat Song - Kelly Clarkson
Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding
Blank Space - Taylor Swift
Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
Best traditional pop vocal album
Winner: The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern - Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap
Shadows In The Night - Bob Dylan
Stages - Josh Groban
No One Ever Tells You - Seth MacFarlane
My Dream Duets - Barry Manilow
Best music video
Winner: Bad Blood - Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
LSD - ASAP Rocky
I Feel Love (Every Million Miles) - The Dead Weather
Alright - Kendrick Lamar
Freedom - Pharrell Williams
Best dance recording
Winner: Where Are U Now - Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber
We're All We Need - Above & Beyond Featuring Zoe Johnston
Go - The Chemical Brothers Featuring Q-Tip
Never Catch Me - Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar
Runaway (U & I) - Galantis
Best R&B performance
Winner: Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey) - The Weeknd
If I Don't Have You - Tamar Braxton
Rise Up - Andra Day
Breathing Underwater - Hiatus Kaiyote
Planes - Jeremih Featuring J. Cole
Best R&B album
Winner: Black Messiah - D'Angelo And The Vanguard
Coming Home - Leon Bridges
Cheers To The Fall - Andra Day
Reality Show - Jazmine Sullivan
Forever Charlie - Charlie Wilson
Best urban contemporary album
Winner: Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd
Ego Death - The Internet
You Should Be Here - Kehlani
Blood - Lianne La Havas
Wildheart - Miguel
Best country album
Winner: Traveller - Chris Stapleton
Montevallo - Sam Hunt
Pain Killer - Little Big Town
The Blade - Ashley Monroe
Pageant Material - Kacey Musgraves
Best country song
Winner: Girl Crush - Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose (Little Big Town)
Chances Are - Hayes Carll (Lee Ann Womack)
Diamond Rings And Old Barstools - Barry Dean, Luke Laird & Jonathan Singleton (Tim McGraw)
Hold My Hand - Brandy Clark & Mark Stephen Jones
Traveller - Chris Stapleton
Best metal performance
Winner: Cirice - Ghost
Identity - August Burns Red
512 - Lamb Of God
Thank You - Sevendust
Custer - Slipknot
Best rap album
Winner: To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
2014 Forest Hills Drive - J. Cole
Compton - Dr. Dre
If You're Reading This Its Too Late - Drake
The Pinkprint - Nicki Minaj
Best music film
Winner: Amy - Amy Winehouse
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown - James Brown
Sonic Highways - Foo Fighters
What Happened, Miss Simone? - Nina Simone
The Wall - Roger Waters
Best song written for visual media
Winner: Glory - Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens (Common and John Legend)
Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey) - Ahmad Balshe, Stephan Moccio, Jason Quenneville & Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd)
Love Me Like You Do - Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Tove Nilsson, Ali Payami & Ilya Salmanzadeh (Ellie Goulding)
See You Again - Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
Til It Happens To You - Lady Gaga & Diane Warren
Authorities in the Chinese city of Tianjin after an inquiry into the explosions last year found that the chemical plants were too close to residential areas. (AP)
Ukraine bans Russian cargo trucks from transiting its territory after Russia's Ministry of Transport barred Ukrainian cargo trucks because armed groups had been blocking some Russian trucks from entering Ukraine. (Reuters)
Former Prime Minister of IsraelEhud Olmert starts a 19-month prison sentence for bribery and obstructing justice. In the last decade, he was found or admitted guilty in four different corruption investigations.(AP via Yahoo! News)
'How VIP do we gotta get?': Sir Paul McCartney turned away from Grammys after-party -
This is one for the ages ... Paul McCartney turned away at a Grammy after-party ... not once, but twice. Paul, Beck, and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins went to Argyle in Hollywood Monday night to hobnob at the bash hosted by Tyga. Security was not impressed and told them they were not welcome. You hear Paul say, "How VIP do we gotta get? We need another hit." After a second failed attempt, the trio bails and they make their way to Hyde for the Republic Records party. They had better luck there. UPDATE - A rep for Argyle says Paul was not denied at the door, but instead there was a mix up. The rep claims Paul was trying to go to Mark Ronson's Republic Records party (which was at Hyde Lounge) ... and once Paul figured that out he left. We're told the club absolutely would have let in Sir McCartney if he wanted access. [TMZ]
Sir Paul McCartney
Women hit their 'style peak' at 30 - six years before men -
Women hit their 'style peak' at 30 when they feel most fashionable and confident, but men must wait until they’re 36. The study found women aged 30 now own an average of 212 clothes, shoes and accessories worth an eye-watering £7,658. This huge collection includes 166 items of clothing - including seven high-fashion outfits worth £2,399 and seven pairs of designer shoes, costing £2,086. Meanwhile, women aged 30, such as actress Keira Knightley, typically own 24 pieces of jewellery worth £2,800, the study, carried out by home insurer MORE TH>N, found. The study found men own an average of £8,868 worth of 'stylish belongings', including 182 items of clothing, designer shoes, watches, bags and jewellery. The research suggests that women aged 30 and men aged 36 are more confident in their style sensibilities as well as owning more valuable items. Just one year later, the value of a person's style and their confidence decreases, the study of 2,000 UK adults found. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
Intelligent Parking Chair | Inspired by NISSAN
The Making of the Nissan self-parking chair video
DON'T set your iPhone to 1 January 1970 or you'll break it -
Apple is warning iPhone users not to fall for an internet hoax that leaves handsets useless and irreparable. A fake advertisement claims that changing the date on your iPhone to 1 January 1970 will give you a retro Apple design - it doesn't. And the date change will cause your phone to become permanently stuck while rebooting if it's switched off or runs out of battery. The bug affects the likes of the iPad Air, Mini 2 and any iPhone 5s onwards. The glitch was discovered last week, but a fake photo has been circulating on social media encouraging people to switch the date on iPhones 5s and upwards. Users were meant to be able to discover an Easter egg in the form of a 1970s-style multicoloured Apple logo and design. Unfortunately, going retro on your iPhone won't change the design. Instead, when the phone is turned off and turned on again, it refuses to reboot, displaying the Apple home screen and going no further. [BBC Newsbeat]
Apple ordered to help FBI break into San Bernardino gunman's phone -
An American judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation break into a phone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the killers in the December shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California. Sheri Pym of the US District Court in Los Angeles ruled Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators seeking to unlock the data on Farook's iPhone 5C. This includes bypassing its auto-erase function and passcode protection so investigators can try an unlimited number of passcode guesses. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The company has five business days to contest the order if it believes compliance would be "unreasonably burdensome," Ms Pym said in her decision. [Daily Telegraph]
World's largest lottery winners come forward to claim share of $1.58bn jackpot -
The winners of the world’s largest ever lottery have finally come forward to claim their ticket, more than a month after the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot sent America into a frenzy. David Kaltschmidt, 55, and his wife Maureen Smith, 70, won a $528.7 million (£370m) share of the jackpot – splitting their winnings with John and Lisa Robinson, who purchased their winning ticket in Tennessee, and a California winner who has yet to come forward. But the Florida pair, who announced their win at a press conference on Wednesday, said they did not even tell their children at first. "That was hard," said Ms Smith. Her husband said they were determined the win wouldn’t change them. They decided to take the $327.8m lump sum rather than receiving the $528m sum in instalments. The odds of winning the $1.58 billion jackpot were 1 in 292.2 million. [Daily Telegraph]
Hairy panic sets in as homes are swallowed in masses of tumbleweeds -
Bizarre images have emerged of houses inundated with tumbleweeds in rural Victoria after extreme dry conditions cover homes in clouds of 'hairy panic'. Residents have been left frustrated and exhausted trying to rid their properties of the ghost-like weed, which has engulfed front and back yards, gardens and garages. Named hairy panic, the weeds of Wangaratta are world-class, holding their own against Texas tumblers. Locals say the tumbleweed has been around for a couple of years but, with dry conditions, this summer is by far the worst. They suspect it's coming from a nearby paddock that a farmer has failed to maintain. The council can't help because the situation is not considered a fire risk, which has left homeowners to clean up indefinitely. [Yahoo News Australia]
'Unauthorised trousers' kill Canadian zoo's otter -
A Canadian zoo is under scrutiny following the death of an otter which had been given a pair of trousers to play with in its enclosure. Logan, a 12-year-old American river otter, drowned at Calgary Zoo after being given the article of clothing as an "unauthorised enrichment item", the Calgary Sun newspaper reports. The zoo's general curator, Colleen Baird, says Logan got trapped in one of the trouser legs, and two employees have subsequently been disciplined following an investigation into the incident. "It was human error and we take animal deaths very seriously," she tells the paper, but refuses to be drawn on who was responsible. "It's irrelevant how exactly the pants got in there, it's more that the pants got in there in the first place." [BBC]
A man sues an Oklahoma gun range after he is told to leave after identifying himself as a Muslim. The gun range owners though claim that the man was acting belligerent. (Associated Press via MSN)
Voters in Uganda go to the polls for a general election to elect a new President of Uganda as well as for parliamentary and local elections. The Presidential race with eight candidates including incumbentYoweri Museveni and seven challengers is tipped to be the closest in the nation's history. (BBC)
Kizza Besigye, the main opposition presidential candidate, is "briefly" arrested after the polls close in Naguru, trying to get into a police command center in the capital Kampala. Besigye, who's challenged President Musveni in the last three elections, has been repeatedly arrested, roughed up, or confined to house arrest during that time. (AP via Sky News Australia)(The Globe and Mail)(The New York Times)
EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameron -
David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK "special status" and he will campaign with his "heart and soul" to stay in the union. The agreement, reached late on Friday after two days of talks in Brussels, gives the UK power to limit some EU migrants' benefits. It also includes a treaty change so the UK is not bound to "ever closer union" with other EU member states, he said. EU exit campaigners said the "hollow" deal offered only "very minor changes". [BBC]
David Cameron
John McAfee offers to unlock killer's iPhone for FBI -
Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has said he will break the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. Mr McAfee made the offer to the FBI in an article published by Business Insider. Apple has refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device, dividing opinion over whether the firm should be compelled to do so. Mr McAfee said he and his team would take on the task "free of charge". The offer came as Mr McAfee continues his campaign as a US presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. "It will take us three weeks," he claimed in his article. Security expert Graham Cluley cast doubts on Mr McAfee's idea that he could use "social engineering" to work out the pass-code of Farook's locked iPhone. This is a process by which hackers try to find out login credentials by tricking people into giving them away. "In a nutshell, dead men tell no tales," said Mr Cluley. "Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code." "The FBI isn't interested anyway, they want to set a precedent that there shouldn't be locks they can't break," he added. [BBC]
John McAfee
Yahoo Inc. says that it has created a committee of independent directors that will explore strategic alternatives, notably the sale of its core internet business. (Reuters)
Serbia closes its southern border with Macedonia to migrants from countries not affected by war as part of measures to prevent illegal immigration. (RT)
John McAfee, creator of the anti-virus software McAfee, Inc. and former CEO, offers to unlock an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino attackerSyed Farook for the FBI for free after Apple Inc. refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device. McAfee said "It will take us three weeks," with access to a super-computer in an article published by the Business Insider. (BBC)
Opposition leader Kizza Besigye is arrested again just before a planned press conference. Police raid Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change party headquarters and fire tear gas at the FDC supporters. Partial results from the electoral commission show a lead for incumbent president Yoweri Museveni. (BBC)
Brendon McCullum: New Zealand captain breaks fastest Test century record -
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum scored the fastest ever Test century in a majestic display against Australia on the first day of the second Test. The 34-year-old needed just 54 balls to reach his 12th century in his 101st and final Test before retiring. It beat the mark of 56 balls set by West Indies great Sir Viv Richards against England in 1986, and equalled by Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq in 2014. "I was trying to hit every ball for four or six," said McCullum. "Viv was my idol growing up, he was an incredible cricketer. I'm almost a little bit of embarrassed to go past him, to be honest." He went on to score 145 off of 79 balls. [BBC] See List of the Day
At least 14 people are killed and 32 wounded in battles in the eastern city of Benghazi, most in the Boatni neighborhood, between the Libyan National Army and Islamist militants. (Reuters)
Hundreds of evacuation centres are activated in Fiji as Cyclone Winston makes landfall in Fiji's outer islands and heads towards islands with higher population. (ABC News Australia)
A curfew of 6pm is introduced with power out in many areas of Fiji. (ABC)
A "state of natural disaster" is declared for the next 30 days with Cyclone Winston classified as the strongest storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere. (Slate)
Jat protesters shut down 70% of Delhi's water supply meaning the Indian city could run out of water by the end of the weekend. At least nine people are killed in fighting. (The Times of India), (BBX)
French authorities give up to 1000 migrants, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, until 8pm local time on 23 February to leave the Calais jungle camp. Those who refuse to leave will be forcibly removed by police.(Sky News)
Salesmen warned not to knock on George Clooney's door -
Doorstep traders have been ordered to stay away from the luxury country mansion home of Hollywood star George Clooney. Residents in the River Thames-side village of Sonning have decided to put a stop to unwanted door-to-door salesmen by becoming a No Cold Calling Zone. Sonning-on-Thames is the first village in Berkshire to be declared a designated No Cold Calling Zone after families living there joined forces with Wokingham and West Berkshire Trading Standards officers and Thames Valley Police. Clooney, 54, and his human rights lawyer wife Amal paid £10 million for the 17th Century Grade II-listed Georgian mansion 15 months ago and workmen have been busy adapting it to their specifications. [Daily Telegraph]
Clooney is set to run the London Marathon 2016 after losing bet with model Christy Turlington.
George Clooney
Samsung brings back water resistance and microSD with the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge -
As expected (thanks to numerous leaks in the weeks leading up to Mobile World Congress), Samsung revealed the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge today in Barcelona. This time around, though, the standard and curved screen variants of Samsung's flagships are two different sizes. The Galaxy S7, like last year's GS6, has a 5.1-inch Quad HD screen. The Galaxy S7 edge, though, is at least as much of a sequel to the Galaxy S6 edge+ phablet as it is to the smaller Galaxy S6 edge. The S7 edge has a 5.5-inch QHD display – the same screen size as (but with sharper resolution than) Apple's iPhone 6s Plus. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge go up for pre-order on February 23, ahead of a March 11 US release date. Early orders will get a free Gear VR along with a six-game bundle, along with the phone purchase. [Gizmag]
Denny Hamlin beats Martin Truex Jr. in closest Daytona 500 finish ever -
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin made a daring late-race pass, moving from fourth to first in the final two turns to beat Martin Truex Jr. to the checkered flag by 0.010 seconds (or about a foot) to win the Daytona 500. It's the closest finish in the 58-year history of the historic race. The four Joe Gibbs Racing cars, plus the affiliate car of Truex, were the class of the field throughout Sunday's race. Hamlin led the most laps, but had ceded the lead to teammate Matt Kenseth, who led the field for 40-straight laps. He paced the field down the backstretch on the final lap. That's when Hamlin made his move. After sitting in line as the laps ticked off, Hamlin moved to the outside in front of Kevin Harvick. Hamlin passed teammate Kyle Busch for third as the field entered Turn 3. As Kenseth went up to block, Hamlin darted to the middle. Kenseth's car started to slide but he saved it, leaving Hamlin and Truex to battle for the win. Truex looked to have the advantage as the two headed to the tri-oval but Hamlin inched ahead at the finish line. [Yahoo News]
Denny Hamlin
Kalamazoo County, Michigan authorities say last evening's shooting spree resulted in six deaths with two others seriously wounded. Each victim was shot multiple times. Police acknowledge that an earlier report that a 14-year-old girl died is incorrect; she is alive, but "severely, gravely" injured. The suspect, a 45-year-old man who is a Uber driver without a prior criminal record, was taken into custody without a struggle. (USA Today)(CNN)
Australia issues a security alert, warning that terrorists may be planning attacks in and around the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. It also recommended that Australians avoid travel to the coastal region of eastern Sabah, where the beaches and islands are popular with foreign tourists. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
Ashraf Rifi resigns as the Minister for Justice for Lebanon in protest at Hezbollah domination of the government which he claims is harming relations with Arab nations. (AP)
Taylor Swift donates $250,000 to Kesha after her failed lawsuit against Dr Luke and Sony -
Taylor Swift has donated $250,000 (£176,099.74) to Kesha after her failed lawsuit. Kesha on Friday lost her bid to end her contract with Sony. A New York judge denied Kesha a court injunction that would have allowed her to record new music outside of her record label. The 'Tik Tok' singer has been unable to record any new music for two years, as she refuses to work with her producer, Dr Luke, who she claims sexually assaulted her. According to the New York Daily News, Kesha will have to record six more albums under Kemosabe Records, Dr. Luke's Sony imprint. In October 2014, Kesha sued Dr. Luke, accusing him of drugging, raping and abusing her a decade ago; Dr. Luke has denied all charges. [Daily Telegraph]
Kesha
Jeb Bush drops out of presidential race -
A crestfallen Jeb Bush bowed to the inevitable on Saturday night and pulled out of the fight to win the Republican nomination. With the latest projections showing that Mr Bush was locked in a battle to win a distant fourth place in the South Carolina primary, the announcement was hardly a surprise. Fighting back tears he said: “Tonight, I am suspending my campaign, "I'm proud of the campaign that we have run to unify our country." [Daily Telegraph]
The death toll in Fiji rises to at least 17 as authorities continue to assess the damage. All schools in the country are closed for the week. A nationwide curfew remains in effect. (Weatherzone)(CNN)
German Interior MinisterThomas de Maizière strongly criticizes Austria's decision to put a daily cap on the number of refugees the country can accept. Austria has set a limit of dealing with 80 asylum applications a day, while letting thousands of others transit to Germany. Maiziere said this sends "the wrong signal" and is "unacceptable". (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Jat protesters reach an agreement with the Indian government on increased reservations similar to those authorized for economically disadvantaged lower castes. Authorities say at least 19 people have been killed in the three-day demonstrations. Protest leaders call for reopening blockaded roads in the northern state of Haryana. Water restrictions, implemented after protesters damaged the water station's New Dehli feed, remain in effect while engineers repair the equipment. (The Indian Express)
Comoros authorities are counting ballots from Sunday's incident-free, presidential primary on Grande Comore island. The presidency rotates between the nation’s three semi-autonomous islands, which also held gubernatorial elections. Provisional results are due Wednesday. Then, on April 10, 2016, the three leading candidates will vie in a runoff. (Bloomberg)
London's Crossrail to be called the Elizabeth Line -
Crossrail, the new railway which will run beneath London, is to be named the Elizabeth Line in honour of the Queen, Boris Johnson has announced. London's mayor revealed the line's name and purple logo as he visited Bond Street station with the monarch. Trains on the railway will travel under the centre of the city, linking parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to Essex when it opens in December 2018. Mr Johnson said it was "wonderful" the line had "such a significant name". "The Elizabeth Line will provide a lasting tribute to our longest-serving monarch", the mayor said. [BBC]
Elizabeth Line Roundel
Thai princess leaves $40,000 custom toilet 'unused' -
A toilet that cost an estimated $40,000 (£28,300) to custom-build for a Thai princess visiting Cambodia was left unused, officials say. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn reportedly just took photos of the toilet's building during her visit to Yeak Lom Lake, in north-east Cambodia. The toilet has now been removed and the hut will serve as a tourist office.
The story made headlines in Cambodia, where fewer than 40% of people in rural areas have access to toilets. The toilet, housed in a specially constructed air-conditioned hut, was set up for Ms Sirindhorn two-hour visit to the north-eastern lake on Monday, reportedly at her request. [BBC]
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
At least one person has been killed and three people remain missing following the partial collapse of a decommissioned turbine hall at Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire, England. (BBC)
Jeremy Clarkson apologises to Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon -
Jeremy Clarkson has apologised to the Top Gear producer he punched after settling a £100,000 racial discrimination and injury claim. Oisin Tymon launched the action against the presenter and the BBC after a "fracas" last March that left Mr Tymon with a bloody lip. "I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the incident and its regrettable aftermath," Clarkson said. The presenter was dropped by the BBC following the assault. Clarkson, 55, added: "I want to reiterate that none of this was in any way his fault. Mr Tymon's lawyers said the case had been settled but did not give details of the settlement. It is understood to be in excess of £100,000 ($140,000), an amount to which both Clarkson and the BBC contributed. [BBC]
In October 2015 Clarkson was threatened with three years in jail as Argentina reopened Falklands row probe.
Jeremy Clarkson
Brit Awards 2016: Adele dominates with four awards -
Adele has been crowned Queen of the Brits, winning four prizes including best British female and best album. "To come back after so long away and be so warmly received means so much," she said. One Direction's victory in the fan-voted best video category robbed Adele of the opportunity to become the most-garlanded artist in a single Brits ceremony. As it stands, her total of four awards is equalled only by Blur, who won the same number in 1995 for their album Parklife. Adele became more emotional as the ceremony continued, bursting into tears after accepting the global success prize - which recognises success overseas. "I got really lost for a while and I didn't know if I'd ever come back," she said, referencing the writer's block that delayed her much-anticipated third album. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini lose Fifa appeals but bans reduced -
Outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter and suspended Uefa boss Michel Platini have had bans from all football-related activities upheld. But the suspensions have been reduced from eight to six years by Fifa's appeals committee. Both were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) "disloyal payment" to Platini. They both deny any wrongdoing and have said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Blatter and Platini said the payment honoured a verbal or gentleman's agreement made in 1998 for work carried out by the Frenchman when he was a technical advisor for Blatter. Blatter, 79, added in a statement that he was "very disappointed by the appeal committee of Fifa". Platini, 60, said it was "insulting and shameful" and a "political decision". The committee said "activities and services rendered to Fifa, Uefa and football" was a mitigating factor. [BBC]
In September 2015, the Swiss Police launched an investigation into Blatter over criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal.
Michel Platini
British male solo artistJames Bay
Aphex Twin
Calvin Harris
Jamie xx
Mark Ronson
British female solo artistAdele
Amy Winehouse
Florence + the Machine
Jess Glynne
Laura Marling
British groupColdplay
Blur
Foals
One Direction
Years & Years
British breakthrough actCatfish and the Bottlemen
James Bay
Jess Glynne
Wolf Alice
Years & Years
Critics' choice
Jack Garratt
Izzy Bizu
Frances
Brits global success awardAdeleBritish singleAdele - Hello
Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love
Ed Sheeran & Rudimental- Bloodstream
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
James Bay - Hold Back The River
Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
Little Mix - Black Magic
Olly Murs ft Demi Lovato - Up
Philip George - Wish You Were Mine
Years & Years - King
British album of the yearAdele - 25
Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams
Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
James Bay - Chaos and the Calm
Jamie xx - In Colour
British producer of the year
Charlie Andrew - winner
Mark Ronson
Mike Crossey
Tom Dalgety
British artist video of the yearOne Direction - Drag Me Down
Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love
Ed Sheeran - Photograph
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
Jessie J - Flashlight
Little Mix - Black Magic
Naughty Boy ft Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin - Runnin' (Lose It All)
Adele - Hello
Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall
Years & Years - King
International male solo artistJustin Bieber
Father John Misty
Drake
Kendrick Lamar
The Weeknd
International female solo artistBjork
Ariana Grande
Courtney Barnett
Lana Del Rey
Meghan Trainor
International groupTame Impala
Eagles of Death Metal
Major Lazer
Alabama Shakes
U2
A report by two Israeli human rights groups, B'Tselem and HaMoked, states dozens of Palestinian detainees at the Shin Bet'sShikma interrogation facility in Ashkelon have been subjected to mistreatment, and in some cases torture. The report examined affidavits and personal accounts from 116 Palestinians held for security reasons at the facility between August 2013 and March 2014. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)(Jurist)
A family of five falls victim to a murder-suicide in Phoenix, Arizona. 26-year-old Alex Buckner is identified by Phoenix police as the shooter, who was killed in a gunfight with police. (AZCentral)
Queen's pigeon rescued after fleeing royal loft -
Animal welfare officers who rescued a lost pigeon in East Lothian were surprised to discover it had a royal owner - the Queen. The Scottish SPCA was called when the exhausted bird was spotted at Traprain Terrace in Haddington on February 2. Staff traced it back to its owner and the racing pigeon has now been returned to the royal loft 407 miles away at Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The charity's animal rescue officer Connie O'Neill said: "I've rescued many pigeons during my career with the Scottish SPCA but this was certainly a first for me. "We were able to identity where the pigeon had come from using the ring number on its leg and arrangements were made for it to be collected." [Daily Telegraph]
Islamic State hackers take aim at Facebook’s Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Dorsey -
Islamic State has released a new video featuring photographs of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg riddled with digitally added bullet holes and mocking the social media websites' attempts to block terrorist content from their platforms. Hackers known as the Sons Caliphate Army, the self-styled hacking division of Islamic State, uploaded a video on Tuesday entitled “Flames of the Supporters” in which the group challenges the efforts of Facebook and Twitter to shut down its digital operations. The video begins displays screen grabs of some of the 10,000 Facebook accounts, 150 Facebook groups and 5,000 Twitter profiles the terrorist group claims to control. It takes aim at the recent campaigns by the two social media websites to take down accounts controlled or connected to the terrorist group and used to spread their message. [Daily Telegraph]
Fiji's known casualties are 42 dead, one missing, and more than 100 injured. Authorities say five percent of the country (45,245 people) is staying in evacuation centers and about 80 schools have been damaged. UNICEF reports at least 120,000 of Fiji's children have been affected. The current identified destruction is more than $1 billion. About 80 percent of the plantations were damaged, especiallysugar fields. However, tourism'sinfrastructure has escaped serious damage. (La Prensa de San Antonio)(Daily Mail)(Fijivillage.com)
At an event hosted by Center for Strategic and International Studies, Foreign MinisterWang Yi expresses China's concerns that the planned deployment of the THAAD missile defense system and the X band radar for which the South Korea and the United States have started talks to secure its approval in order to counter the growing threat of North Korea's weapons capabilities could jeopardize the country's "legitimate national security interests." At the Pentagon, Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said that if China wanted to prevent consideration of the THAAD system's deployment, it should lean on Pyongyang saying, "If China wanted to exert a lot of influence on somebody to prevent THAAD from being considered going into Korea, then they should exert that influence on North Korea." (Reuters)(Bloomberg)
Greece recalls its ambassador to Austria in response to Austria's hosting of a meeting with Balkan states, to which Greece was not invited, about European migrant crisis policies that would make it harder for migrants to head north across Europe. Greece's foreign ministry called the move an "unfriendly act." More than 100,000 migrants have entered the EU illegally so far in 2016, nearly all of them arriving in Greece. (BBC)(Reuters)
Morocco suspends contact with the European Union over a European court ruling that invalidates the bloc's farm trade deal with Rabat, and saying it should exclude the disputed Moroccan-controlled territory of Western Sahara. (Reuters)
A series of shootings in and near the American town of Hesston, Kansas, results in at least four deaths, including the shooter, at an Excel Industries building, with up to 20 people injured. The shooter is Cedric Ford, a convicted felon. (KWCH)(USA Today), (KAKE)
Fifa presidential election: Gianni Infantino succeeds Sepp Blatter -
Gianni Infantino has succeeded fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter as president of world football's governing body Fifa. The Uefa secretary general polled 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (four votes) and Jerome Champagne (0) were third and fourth respectively. Blatter, who had led Fifa since 1998, stood down last year and was later suspended from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines. Infantino is a 45-year-old lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter's home town of Visp. He entered the presidential race when it became clear that Michel Platini, boss of European football's governing body Uefa, could not stand. "I will work tirelessly to bring football back to Fifa and Fifa back to football," he said. "This is what we want to do." [BBC]
Gianni Infantino
Philippine security forces kill as many as 42 ISIL-linked militants, and captures their stronghold in the predominantly MuslimLanao del Sur province. Three Philippine Army soldiers were also killed during the fighting. (Reuters)
Dow Chemical agrees to pay $835 million to settle a decade-long, price-fixing, class-action dispute. Dow states that the uncertainty about the U.S. Supreme Court makeup following Justice Anton Scalia'sdeath means there is an "increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class action suits." The urethane chemicals case, from 2005, was against a number of companies; Dow had been the only defendant not to settle. (Reuters)(Reuters via Winnipeg Sun)
The Syrian cessation of hostilities truce is in effect, as of midnight, Saturday, local Syrian time (10:00 p.m. UTC Friday/5:00 p.m. EST Friday). (Reuters)
A gunman from a rural area near Belfair, Washington (U.S.), kills four members of his family, including two children, and, after a multi-hour standoff with police, also kills himself. A 12-year old girl, who was not shot, is alive. (The Seattle Times)
Oregon scraps goat landscaping scheme due to cost and smell -
It seemed like an environmentally good idea at the time: Set 75 rented goats loose on 9.1 acres of [Salem] city park to chomp and chew invasive plants such as Armenian blackberry and English ivy that were choking native flora out of Minto-Brown Island Park. So the city, responding to community interest, launched a pilot project last October, contracting with Yoder Goat Rentals out of Molalla to remove the invasive species. But in a report submitted this week to the Salem City Council, the public works department revealed that the six-week project cost the city almost five times what it would normally have spent had it removed the vegetation using more conventional, and less odoriferous, methods. According to the report presented Monday, the total cost to the city for using the nannies and billies, which were "universally welcomed by park users as a pleasant pastoral addition to the scenery," was $20,719. Ruminate on that, if you will. [Statesman Journal]
Russian troops 'lose' field gun after holiday salute -
Russian soldiers have been left red-faced after losing a large artillery piece in the middle of the city of Volgograd, it's reported. Surprised locals called the police after finding the weapon - a World War Two-era ZiS-3 76mm mobile field gun - blocking the pavement of a major thoroughfare near the centre on Tuesday evening, the LifeNews TV channel reports. It turns out the gun went Awol as it was being towed back to the barracks in a column of military vehicles from the city's Volga embankment, where it had been used in a gun salute to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day - an annual official holiday celebrating the armed forces. One eyewitness reports seeing it uncouple itself from a turning lorry and trundle backwards onto the roadside, coming to rest only 1m (3ft) from a parked car. "Only a bit more, and it would have ended up in the front passenger seat," he says. It's not clear whether the troops noticed the loss, as the witness says they "carried on as if nothing had happened". A military spokesman, however, insists the servicemen did spot the gun's departure, but were unable to stop as they were in an "organised column". [BBC]
A truce is in effect, as of midnight. Russian Air Force attacks on opposition positions were reported to have been intensified before the truce took effect. (BBC)
Counting begins of the votes cast yesterday with exit polls indicating that the existing coalition will not gain enough votes to govern without reaching a deal with other parties. (BBC)
Counting of votes begins in Iran after polling hours in yesterday's election were extended by six hours due to a heavy turnout. Reports indicate that reformist candidates are doing well in the early count.(Reuters via Swiss, info), (AP)
Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins Academy Award -
Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for survival epic The Revenant, after six nominations. He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards, with Brie Larson named best actress for Room. Spotlight took home the best picture Oscar with Mad Max: Fury Road picking up the most awards of the night, with six accolades. Mark Rylance won the best supporting actor Oscar, with fellow Briton Sam Smith winning best original song. The ceremony had been boycotted by some Hollywood figures protesting about the lack of ethnic diversity among this year's nominees, as all 20 nominees in the best acting or supporting acting categories are white. Host Chris Rock addressed the controversy head on as he launched the ceremony, and it was a theme that was returned to several times during the night. Rock commented he had "counted at least 15 black people" in the montage that opened the ceremony, before welcoming people to the "white People's Choice awards". Among the winners for Mad Max: Fury Road - nominated for 10 Oscars including best director for George Miller - was British designer Jenny Beavan, for best costume design. The Revenant won three of the 12 awards for which it was nominated. Alejandro Inarritu also won best director and Emmanuel Lubezki won his third Oscar for cinematography in a row, having won in 2015 for Birdman and 2014 for Gravity. [BBC] See List of the Day
Leonardo_DiCaprio
French cleaners scrub off street art -
Citizens of Reims in northern France have lost a brand new artwork commissioned for the town, after the anti-graffiti squad scrubbed it off. The town hall commissioned a street art mural by the country's top graffiti artist, C215, showing a sulking boy slumped against a wall. But there was a slight hitch - the town's cleaning department were not told not to remove it. C215, whose real name is Christian Guemy, seemed quite relaxed about it. The artist told AFP news agency what surprised him was that it was cleaned up by the same city that commissioned him. The town hall had apologised, he said. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Fastest robot to solve a Rubik's Cube - Guinness World Records
List of the Day -
Full list of winners at the 88th Academy Awards
Best picture
Winner: Spotlight
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Best actor
Winner: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
Best actress
Winner: Brie Larson - Room
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
Best supporting actor
Winner: Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone - Creed
Best supporting actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs
Best director
Winner: Alejandro Inarritu - The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
Adam McKay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Best adapted screenplay
Winner: The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Best original screenplay
Winner: Spotlight
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Straight Outta Compton
Best animated film
Winner: Inside Out
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best foreign language film
Winner: Son of Saul - Hungary
Embrace of the Serpent - Colombia
Mustang - France
Theeb - Jordan
A War - Denmark
Best animated short
Winner: Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
Best cinematography
Winner: The Revenant
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Best costume design
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
The Revenant
Best documentary feature
Winner: Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
Best documentary short
Winner: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Last Day of Freedom
Best editing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Big Short
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best live action short
Winner: Stutterer
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Best make-up and hair
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best original score
Winner: The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best original song
Winner: Writing's on the Wall, Sam Smith - Spectre
Earned It, The Weeknd - Fifty Shades of Grey
Manta Ray, J Ralph & Antony - Racing Extinction
Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo - Youth
Til It Happens To You, Lady Gaga - The Hunting Ground
Best production design
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
The Martian
The Revenant
Best sound editing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best sound mixing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best visual effects
Winner: Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Thirty-six people are believed to have died at a coal mine where a methane gas leak triggered three explosions and the collapse of the mine in Vorkuta, Russia. (NDTV)
South Korean opposition lawmakers' anti-terrorism bill filibuster, which stops all other legislative business, extends its world record to 115 hours Sunday afternoon, easily besting Canada's 58-hour session in 2011. The major issue is giving South Korea's intelligence agency powers to monitor private communications. This parliamentary session is set to end March 11, with elections on April 13. (Reuters)
Swiss citizens vote on four referenda, including one, proposed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, that would automatically expel foreigners who commit two minor crimes. Current law calls for deportation of non-citizens convicted of murder or sexual violence. (BBC)(AFP via The Guardian)
Peter Rabbit to feature on 50p coin to mark Beatrix Potter anniversary, Royal Mint announces -
Beatrix Potter's mischievous Peter Rabbit is to become the first children's literary character to appear on a UK coin. In a move certain to infuriate Mr McGregor, the anthropomorphic vegetable thief will feature on a silver 50p released to mark the 150th anniversary of the author's birth in 1866. The Royal Mint said three more Potter characters will feature on special edition coins released later in the year to complete a four-piece set. [Daily Telegraph]
Peter Rabbit 50p
Blossom fans break into Chinese prison grounds -
A Chinese prison compound has been attracting hordes of visitors keen to see the site's blossoming trees in full bloom - with some scaling walls in order to get in, it's reported.
Members of the public had previously been allowed onto the site, in the southern city of Guilin, to wander among a huge grove of peach trees planted in an area housing jail staff. Guards say in past years they've only seen a trickle of visitors, but this year's spectacular display means thousands have turned up, forcing prison authorities to limit access to people visiting inmates or staff, the local Nanguo Zaobao newspaper reports. [BBC]
1952 – The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
1960 – The 5.7 MwAgadir earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir, and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.
1964 – In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
China says it expects to lay off 1.8 million state workers in the coal and steel sectors, or about 15 percent of the industries' workforce, as part of efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
One person has died and hundreds of people have been evacuated after heavy rain in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. (Jakarta Post)
Clashes break out inside the Calais jungle camp in the port city of Calais between migrants and riot police as officials attempted to evict hundreds of migrants from the southern section of the camp. Several tents and wooden shacks were set on fire by migrants. (The Telegraph)
In the United States, a 14-year-old shoots two students, who were hospitalized in stable condition, in the Madison Local School cafeteria. Two other teenagers are injured, none seriously. The southwesternOhio school, which had practiced for such an event, immediately went into lockdown; Tuesday classes are cancelled. (AP via The Citizen)(UPI)(School website)
It's Kylie Minogue versus Kylie Jenner in a battle for who owns their name -
Kylie Minogue is trying to stop Kylie Jenner from using "Kylie" as a trademark in America. And the singer's lawyers aren't pulling any punches. They've filed documents describing the Keeping up with the Kardashians star as a "secondary reality television personality" who participates in "photo exhibitionism". They also say giving Kylie J the trademark could damage Kylie M and her other trademarks. The legal papers from KDB refer to her as a "home-schooled graduate," saying her "photographic exhibitionism and controversial posts have drawn criticism from, for example, the disability rights and African-American communities". [BBC Newsbeat]
Kylie Minogue (L) and Kylie Jenner (R)
Sam Smith 'taking a break from Twitter' after Oscars row with Dustin Lance Black -
Sam Smith says he's taking a break from social media. It's after Dustin Lance Black criticised him on Twitter for claiming that he was the first openly gay man to win a prize at the Oscars. Sam Smith made the comment during his acceptance speech after winning the Academy Award for best song for the theme tune to James Bond movie Spectre. "I read an article... by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar," he said. "I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world. "I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day." But the comments didn't go down well with director Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar in 2009 for his film Milk. After all the online drama, the British singer said it was time to "log off for a while".
Sam Smith tweet
The United States Army's elite Delta Force captures their first suspected ISIL operative during a raid in northern Iraq. The detainee is being interrogated by the U.S. and is expected to be turned over to Iraqi officials in the coming days. (CNN)
At least 18 people are killed and 16 others injured in a multi-vehicle accident involving a bus near Nahdah in northwestern Oman. Six of the dead were from Oman, four from Saudi Arabia, two from Pakistan, and one from Yemen. Five others are unidentified. (AP via ABC News)
The Peruvian Army is deployed on the country's northern and southern coasts to help cope with El Niño-related floods that have killed at least two people and left thousands homeless. (Euronews)
Filipino fishermen say China has deployed up to five ships around the disputed Quirino Atoll, also known as Jackson Atoll, in the South China Sea, preventing them from accessing traditional fishing grounds. (Reuters via Channel News Asia)
Ukraine bans government officials from publicly criticizing the work of state institutions and their colleagues, after damaging disclosures last month that highlighted slow progress in fighting corruption.(Reuters)
Kanye West appears to have torrent site Pirate Bay open in a photo he's tweeted -
Kanye West is in trouble over his tweets - again - after the background to a photo he posted made it look like he was illegally downloading files. He sent out a picture on Twitter showing him listening to a Sufjan Stevens track on YouTube, but fans quickly spotted other tabs he had open. One of them says "Xfer Records Serum", but is next to others saying "Pirate Bay Torrent Xfe" and "MediaDownloader". Deadmau5 hit out at Kanye, saying: "@kanyewest - can't afford Serum?" Kanye's original tweet simply said "Day 3" alongside the photo. [BBC Newsbeat]
In September 2015 West announced he will be running for US President in 2020.
Kanye West
Emirates A380 makes longest non-stop flight as airlines launch long-haul battle -
An Emirates superjumbo touched down in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday, after spending more than 17 hours in the air from Dubai – making it the world's longest commercial scheduled flight. The Emirates A380 covered a route of about 8825 miles, before turning around and doing it all again on the way home. It beat the previous record – Qantas's Dallas to Sydney route – by about 250 miles. [Daily Telegraph]
One Chinese national is killed and three others injured in a possible militant attack on a Chinese-invested company in Laos, the official Xinhua News Agency reports. (Reuters)
Jordan says an overnight raid on an ISIL cell in the city of Irbid has left seven militants and one security officer dead, with five others injured. Those killed were planning to blow up civilian and military targets in the country, according to the General Intelligence Directorate (GID). (BBC)
The European Union launches a new aid program worth an initial 700 million euros (US$760 million) to address the growing refugee crisis in Greece. EU Humanitarian Aid CommissionerChristos Stylianides says the so-called Emergency Assistance Instrument will be used to help migrants trapped in Greece and, if needed, in other countries on the migration route front lines. Approval by a majority of EU members is required. The next EU meeting is scheduled for Monday. (The New York Times)(Reuters)(Kathimerini)
Italian parliament bar clamps down on bill-dodging -
The bar inside Italy's lower house of parliament has deployed "receipt inspectors" to ensure that MPs pay their bills, it's reported. The establishment at Palazzo Montecitorio, home to the Chamber of Deputies, has lost a significant chunk of revenue because some politicians have been failing to settle up, Corriere della Sera reports. The company that took over running the bar last year noticed that takings were 30% lower than expected. Staff have now been told that customers must pay for their order and show their receipt to the barista before actually being served any refreshments - something that is done in some Italian bars. They'll be backed up by a team of receipt-checkers, whose job will involve being "discreet, but inflexible", observing patrons and intervening if anyone fails to pay up, the paper says. [BBC]
Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome
Spain's Princess Cristina denies role in tax fraud at 'trusted' husband’s company -
Princess Cristina of Spain denied any involvement in tax fraud on Thursday when she gave evidence in the first criminal trial held in the country with members of the royal family among the accused. King Felipe’s sister said that she had been completely unaware of the business operations at a company she owned jointly with her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who is accused of a series of crimes including embezzlement of public funds and money laundering. Asked by her defence lawyer why she became the co-proprietor of the company called Aizoon, Princess Cristina it had been Mr Urdangarin’s idea and she had agreed: “Out of trust. He asked me and I accepted.” The 50-year-old princess, who has been stripped of her aristocratic title of Duchess of Palma by King Felipe, said that Aizoon existed “to channel my husband’s income”. “He was the administrator and he took the decisions”, she added. The public prosecutor has requested a 19.5-year jail sentence for Mr Urdangarin, who, along with his business partner, is accused of diverting €4.5 million of public money from a non-profit organisation to private accounts. [Daily Telegraph]
Infanta Cristina Duchess of Palma de Mallorca
Video of the Day -
KEN BLOCK'S GYMKHANA EIGHT: ULTIMATE EXOTIC PLAYGROUND; DUBAI
A nationwide power outage hits Syria. The Syrian government says shortly before the power outage, militants had hit part of a power-generating station with rockets in the city of Hama, though it hasn't said whether this damage was linked to the nationwide outage. Also, it isn't clear how many people are affected by the power outage as many cities outside of the government's control already weren't being served by the government-run power grid. (CNN)
At least 31 people are killed in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, when a bus, with a blown front tire, switches lanes and slams into an oncoming public transport minibus. (AP ia Fox News)
A riot at a prison in Guyana's capital Georgetown leaves at least 16 people dead. The riot began when inmates angered by a search that led to the confiscation of mobile phones set fires in one part of the prison. (Reuters)
Voting begins for the second stage of New Zealand's flag referendum with the current flag going up against the design chosen on the first stage of the referendum. Voting will end on March 23 with polling showing the current flag is favoured to win. (BBC)(CNN)
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall marry -
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has married actress-model Jerry Hall in London. Mr Murdoch, whose News UK company publishes The Times and The Sun newspapers, and Miss Hall married in a civil ceremony at Spencer House. It is Mr Murdoch's fourth marriage and the first for Miss Hall, 59, after her 1992 Bali wedding to Sir Mick Jagger was later deemed legally void. Australian-born Mr Murdoch, 84, who now has US nationality, tweeted he was "the luckiest and happiest man in world". [BBC]
Rupert Murdoch
Jerry Hall
Union J say they have axed George Shelley: 'One member is not bigger than the band' -
George Shelley has parted ways from Union J – with his former band mates saying they kicked him out. Josh Cuthbert, JJ Hamblett and Jaymi Hamsley told The Sun that the I’m A Celebrity runner-up refused to commit to the pop group after returning from the jungle in December. But a spokesman for George said it was a “mutual decision” – and called the other Union J members “simply jealous”. The boy band apparently gave him a final ultimatum by email, as the situation had become “heart-breaking”. [MSN]
George Shelley
Royal Australian Navy facing calls to apologise after speeding warship damages boats in New Zealand -
A speeding Australian warship is being blamed for damage caused to boats and a fish farm inside a tranquil New Zealand waterway. HMAS Warramunga has been conducting advanced navigation training in New Zealand for Australian and Kiwi navy students. Last week, locals in the picturesque Marlborough Sounds said they spotted the Anzac Class frigate speeding through their sheltered harbour. Paul Keating from local advocacy group Guardian of the Sounds said several boats and a walkway were damaged. "Twelve people rang the harbour master that day to lay complaints and one of them was, I believe, from the salmon farm," he said. "Maritime hoonery would be a good way to describe [it]. "We haven't been given any reason why they chose to drive into the bays and then do very sharp turns." [ABC Australia]
A Libyan spokesperson says two Italianhostages are freed by local fighters from Islamic State custody in Sabratha, Libya. He also confirms that two other Italian hostages were recently killed during local forces clashes with IS militants. (AP via ABC News)
The British Chambers of Commerce suspends Director-General John Longworth for announcing his personal views on Brexit. The BCC, whose members are split on this issue, will not campaign for either side. (BBC)
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Sport Relief: Shearer beats Savage in 57-hour five-a-side epic -
Alan Shearer's team have beaten Robbie Savage's squad by 18 goals in a 57-hour five-a-side game for Sport Relief. Shearer, who captained the Match of the Day team, beat Savage, who led the BBC 5 live team with 547 goals to 529. More than 1,100 people played in the snow and rain outside BBC MediaCityUK in Salford since 09:15 on Thursday, raising £370,592 for Sport Relief. All-time Premier League top goal-scorer Shearer was presented his winning trophy by Gary Lineker. After scoring in extra time of the last game, Shearer said the challenge had tired him out. "My back, my thighs, my knees - they're all in bits but it was all worth it." The 57-hour duration of the match was chosen because it is the equivalent of a Premier League club's entire season. The Premier League is matching all of the public's donations up to a maximum of £500,000. The money will go towards helping disadvantaged people in the UK and overseas. [BBC]
Alan Shearer
Email inventor Ray Tomlinson dies at 74 -
Internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson, who is credited with the invention of email, has died at the age of 74. The US computer programmer came up with the idea of electronic messages that could be sent from one network to another in 1971. His invention included the ground-breaking use of the @ symbol in email addresses, which is now standard. Tomlinson died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday, according to reports. He sent what is now regarded as the first email while working in Boston as an engineer for research company Bolt, Beranek and Newman. [BBC]
Ray Tomlinson in 2004
Nancy Reagan dies -
Nancy Reagan, the former first lady, died on Sunday at home in Los Angeles at the age of 94. A much-loved figure in America, Mrs Reagan - who like her husband moved from being a Hollywood star to living in the White House - died from congestive heart failure. Born in New York, Mrs Reagan grew up in Chicago before moving to California to pursue an acting career. She met her future husband in Hollywood, when she was blacklisted for suspected Communist sympathies and she turned to Reagan, then president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, for advice. The couple married in 1952. [Daily Telegraph]
Nancy Reagan in 1983
Leicester City fan cashes out £72,000 on Premier League bet -
A Leicester City fan, who stood to win £250,000 from a £50 bet on his team winning the Premier League, has cashed out for £72,000. The Warwickshire man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, bowed out of the 5,000-1 wager on Saturday. Hours later his stake would have been worth £91,000 after the Foxes beat Watford 1-0, said Ladbrokes. The winner said: "It will mean so much if we win, so there's no point in being greedy." [BBC]
Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani is sentenced to death for corruption. Zanjani was arrested in December 2013 after accusations that he withheld billions in oil revenue channelled through his companies. He denies the allegations. (BBC)
Voters in Benin go to the polls for the first round of voting in a presidential election with 33 candidates vying to replace current PresidentThomas Yayi Boni. (Bloomberg)
Maria Sharapova failed drugs test at Australian Open -
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has revealed she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open. The Russian, 28, tested positive for meldonium, a substance she has been taking since 2006 for health issues. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, is provisionally suspended from 12 March pending further action. "I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it," said Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old in 2004. "For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received a letter from the ITF [International Tennis Federation] I found out it also has another name of meldonium, which I did not know." [BBC] See List of the Day
Maria Sharapova
Peyton Manning: Denver Broncos quarterback retires from NFL -
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has announced his retirement, ending a sparkling 18-year career in the NFL. Manning struggled to hold back tears as he confirmed the news at a media conference in Denver on Monday. He said: "I fought a good fight. I finished my football race. After 18 years it is time." Manning, who turns 40 on 24 March, played his last game when he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in February. It was his second Super Bowl win, the first coming in 2007 during a 14-year spell with the Indianapolis Colts. [BBC]
Peyton Manning
The EU plans to boost aid to Greece and declare the route north through the Balkans closed. Presently, about 13,000 people are stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border. (BBC)(Kathimerini)
Amnesty International takes on the EU for using Turkey as a buffer to police Europe’s borders. Deputy Director Gauri van Gulik says Europe has an absolute duty to protect refugees and must fast-track significant, unconditional resettlement. (AP via The Washington Post)
Former mayor of the Pitcairn IslandsMike Warren is found guilty of downloading more than 1000 images and videos of child abuse and child pornography while working in child protection and is sentenced to 20 months in prison. (The Guardian)
American sportscaster Erin Andrews is awarded $55 million damages after a stranger, in 2008, secretly recorded her in the nude through a hotel door peephole, and posted the video on the Internet. (New York Daily News)
'Fifth Beatle' Sir George Martin dies, aged 90 -
Record producer Sir George Martin, known as the "fifth Beatle", has died, aged 90. His family thanked "everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages of support" after his death at home on Tuesday, his manager said. Beatles drummer Ringo Starr broke the news on Twitter and led tributes, saying Sir George "will be missed". Sir George signed the Beatles and produced more than 700 records. He also worked with artists including Gerry and the Pacemakers, Shirley Bassey and Cilla Black. [BBC]
George Martin in 2006
'Le burger' now top selling dish in French restaurants, new study reveals -
For the guardians of French gastronomy, the prospect of being served something as unsophisticated as a slab of mincemeat with a bap and slice of cheese would long have been considered sacrilegious. Today, however, the tables have turned. In a culinary revolution, three quarters of French restaurants now sell hamburgers and 80 per cent of these say it has become their top-selling dish, according to a new study. "Le burger" – as the French dub the quintessentially American invention to the despair of linguistic purists of the Académie Française – has become a feature of even the most illustrious eateries. Indeed, such is its success that sales are set to overtake those of the classic "jambon beurre" (ham and butter baguette), the nation's staple lunchtime sandwich. Last year, the French chomped their way through 1.19 billion burgers, an 11 per cent rise on the previous year, while "le jambon beurre" fell to 1.23 billion. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
A History of Rock in 15 minutes.
348 rockstars, 84 guitarists, 64 songs, 44 drummers, 1 mashup.
History of Rock from Ithaca Audio on Vimeo.
A Pew Research Center survey of Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis, via face-to-face interviews from October 2014 through May 2015, finds deep divisions in Israeli society – not only between Israeli Jewsand the country’s Arab citizen minority, but also among the religious subgroups that make up Israeli Jewry. An overwhelming majority (98%) of Israeli Jews agree all Jews should have the right to move to Israel and receive immediate citizenship. Close to half (48 percent) support the expulsion or transfer of Arabs from Israel, yet most secular Jews disagree (58%) with this, as do 54 percent of those in the center politically (more so from the left). Meanwhile, Israeli Arabs, currently about one-in-five of the country's adults, generally do not think Israel can be a Jewish state and a democracy at the same time. Fewer Arabs (down 24 points) think a peaceful, two-state solution is possible, from 74% in 2013 to 50% now. Both groups are skeptical of the peace process: Israeli Arabs question the sincerity of the Israeli government in seeking a peace agreement, while Israeli Jews are equally skeptical about the sincerity of Palestinian leaders. (Pew is a non-partisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C.)(Pew Research Center)
An Istanbul court places the Cihan News Agency under state control. The seizure of the Fethullah Gülen-linked news agency comes just days after the Turkish government seized control of the oppositionZaman newspaper. (Reuters)
Anti-PC Effort #TheTriggering Explodes on Twitter -
#TheTriggering, a hashtag meant to ridicule politically correct attitudes, exploded on Twitter and became a major trending topic in the United States. Activist Lauren Southern came up with the idea a few months ago: [mediaite.com]
See Top Twitter Trends
Kim Jong-un says North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads -
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his scientists have successfully miniaturised thermo-nuclear warheads to place on a ballistic missile and create a "true" deterrent, state media said on Wednesday. While Pyongyang has boasted of mastering miniaturisation before, this is the first time Kim has so explicitly claimed a breakthrough that experts see as a game-changing step for the North's nuclear capabilities. Kim also stressed that the warheads were "thermo-nuclear" devices, echoing the North's claim that the fourth nuclear test it conducted in January was of a more powerful hydrogen bomb. "The nuclear warheads have been standardised to be fit for ballistic missiles by miniaturising them," Kim noted during a visit with nuclear technicians, the North's official KCNA news agency said. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
The Most Interesting Man in the World Embarks on His Greatest Adventure Yet – Adios Amigo
U.S. special forces, landing in two helicopters, stage an overnight raid on the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Awdhegele in Somalia's Lower Shebelle region. Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheik Abduasiz Abu Musab, confirmed the raid saying "The helicopters landed outside town and the ground forces entered, there was heavy fighting and they were forced to flee"."They were masked and spoke foreign languages which our fighters could not understand," Abu Musab told Reuters. "We do not know who they were but we foiled them." (AFP via Yahoo! News)(Reuters)
Macedonia says it will no longer let any migrants through its southern border with Greece, effectively blocking the Balkan route for migrants. The decision came after Slovenia barred access to migrants transiting the country. There are around 13,000 migrants now stranded at the Macedonia-Greece border. (BBC)
The Parliament of Egypt drafts a law which will ban women from wearing full-face veils such as the niqāb and burqa in public places and government institutions. The move comes after Cairo Universityrecently banned nurses and doctors from wearing veils in medical schools and in teaching hospitals, arguing the ban would “protect patients’ rights and interests”. (The Independent)
Peru's electoral court bans two leading candidates - Julio Guzman and César Acuña Peralta - from participating in next month's election due to breaches of electoral law. (BBC)
Nasa's super-slippery anti-insect coating could slash cost of flying -
Nasa has invented a super-slippery material which could allow planes to glide through the air with less resistance and cut could the price of travel. The new coating would reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency, it is predicted. Up to now even the tiniest pieces of debris in the air, such as insects, trigger swirling air turbulence which perturbs the airstream, making it harder for a plane to push through. The new substance is designed on the microscopic pits and ridges of the lotus leaf which naturally repels water. It will allow insects to simply slip off the side rather than stick, causing more resistance. Nasa forecasts that debugging aircraft combined with new designs to take advantage of the smoother airflow, could improve fuel efficiency by more than one percent. Although it does not seem like much, it could see costs for an airline like British Airways fall by £35 million a year. [Daily Telegraph]
Fukushima nuclear plant 'will leak radioactive water for four more years' -
Operators of Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant Fukushima have warned that it will take a further four years to fix the problem of contaminated water leaks. The admission was made as a sombre nation prepared to mark the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which triggering the world’s worst nuclear disaster in decades. The problem of dealing with contaminated water leaks - which now exceed 760,000 tonnes – has emerged as major challenge to the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant. Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which operates Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, confirmed it will take four years to collect and treat all contaminated water pooled around the reactors. [Daily Telegraph]
Two days of heavy rain in the American state of Louisiana has caused at least three deaths and caused more than a thousand people to evacuate their homes. (Fox News)
Progressive rock legend Emerson dies -
Keith Emerson, the co-founder and keyboardist of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died aged 71, according to his former band mates. "We regret to announce that Keith Emerson died last night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles," read a statement on the band's Facebook page. Yorkshire-born Emerson was one of the top keyboardists of the prog rock era. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Santa Monica police confirmed to the BBC. His death was being investigated as a suicide, police added. [BBC]
Keith Emerson performs on his Hammond and Moog synthesizer during the Emerson & Lake Tour 2010.
Apple customer goes to the top for iPhone battery answer -
The head of Apple's operating system iOS confirmed that open but unused apps do not affect iPhone battery life after a customer emailed boss Tim Cook. The customer from Ohio, known as Caleb, asked Mr Cook whether closing down "multitasking apps" improved battery life and whether it was something the chief executive did himself. Senior vice-president Craig Federighi replied "no and no". However, other smartphone batteries can benefit from app closure. While many Apple users do shut down apps in the belief it extends the iPhone battery this is not advice explicitly given by the firm itself. It only recommends disabling apps from carrying out background refreshes in a list of tips about saving power. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez: Newcastle United appoint Spaniard as Steve McClaren's successor -
Rafael Benitez has been named as Newcastle's new manager, following the sacking of Steve McClaren. The former Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Valencia boss takes over with the Magpies a point from safety with 10 games left. The Spaniard, 55, has signed a three-year contract, which is understood to contain a break clause should Newcastle be relegated at the end of the season. "C'mon Toon Army. The club and I need your total involvement," he said. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez
The Algerian Army kills three suspected Islamist militants near the eastern city of El Oued and seizes a large quantity of weapons, including six anti-aircraft missiles. (Reuters)
American veterans’ nonprofit charity The Wounded Warrior Project board of directors removes chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operation officer Al Giordano after an independent investigation confirms earlier news reports about lavish spending on employee perks, high overhead, and other perceived malfeasance. (The New York Times)
AstronautScott Kelly announces his retirement from NASA effective April 1. Kelly holds the record for the American who has spent the most time in space. (NASA)
Snapchat is assembling a super team to build smart glasses -
Today, you use your smartphone's cameras to take snaps and creates stories on Snapchat. But in the future, you could be Snapchatting with a pair of Google Glass-like smart glasses on your face. According to CNET, Snapchat has aggressively assembled a team of wearable experts to work on some kind of smart eyewear device. Now, imagine being able to put on a pair of smart glasses and then see these effects overlaid on top of your friends' faces using augmented reality. It would be insane. Of course, this is just one far-flung idea. For all we know, Snapchat could be building something entirely different. [Mashable UK]
Woman sues after toilet 'exploded' while she was sitting on it -
A woman is suing for damages after being “blown off” her toilet when workmen used high-power hoses to clean out sewer lines in her neighbourhood. Angela Wright of Baltimore, Maryland, says the incident, which took place in October 2014, left her suffering physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident. Both Ms Wright and her bathroom were “covered in filth and excretion,” following what she described as an "explosion". In an interview with Fox 45 she said: “I was literally covered in faeces. Are you kidding me? Who wants that?” [Daily Telegraph]
Airstrikes on the Al-Qaeda-held Al-Mansoura district in the port city of Aden, kill at least 17 militants and injure 20 civilians, according to local medics and a Yemeni security official. (Reuters)
Business and economics
Reuters reports, on the basis of unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," that Energy Transfer Equity, a private equity concern, is in talks to sell Sunoco, a deal which would be valued at more than $2 billion. (Reuters)
A protestor attempts to storm the stage as Donald Trump was talking at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, causing Secret Service agents to jump on the stage and form a wall around the presidential candidate amid the chaos. The suspect was identified as Thomas Dimassimo, 32, and was charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic, according to Chief Mike Etter of the Dayton Police Department. Dimassimo is a Black Lives Matter activist. (NBC News).
Thousands of people take to the streets of Warsaw and other cities in Poland in protest against the government after it refused to publish the Constitutional Court's ruling that the government cannot change how the court works. (BBC)
Paris St-Germain score 9 as they win French title -
Paris St-Germain were crowned French champions with two months to spare as Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four in a 9-0 demolition of bottom side Troyes. Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot put them 3-0 up inside 19 minutes before Ibrahimovic struck three within 10 minutes in the second half. Matthieu Saunier scored an own goal and Cavani made it 8-0 before Ibrahimovic added his fourth. [BBC]
Paris St-Germain won the league with 62 days and eight games to spare, a record for any of Europe's 'big five' domestic leagues.
In 115 appearances in Ligue 1, Zlatan Ibrahimovic now has 102 goals and 35 assists.
This win was the sixth time this season that PSG have scored four goals or more in a Ligue 1 game.
This title is PSG's sixth overall and their fourth in a row
Six people have been killed in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, with two Mississippi fishermen missing, in this week's flooding in the America's Deep South. More than 24 inches of rain has fallen in some of the hardest-hit areas with more rain today that is expected to lead to additional flooding later this week. (Fox News)(UPI)
Ninjas wanted as Japan region promotes 'warlord tourism' -
Sharpen your shuriken, Japan's Aichi prefecture is looking to hire six ninjas in a bid to boost tourism. The roles are full time and the pay is ¥180,000 ($1,600; £1,100) a month, the job ad says (in Japanese). Physical fitness and acrobatic skills are a must says Aichi prefecture, which hopes to promote "warlord tourism". Ninjas were 15th Century Japanese mercenaries specialising in espionage, assassination, sabotage and other forms of irregular warfare. [BBC]
Saudi Arabia: All female Brunei crew in historic flight -
Three Royal Brunei Airlines pilots have made history by being the company's first all-female flight crew, making their first journey to Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive. The women flew the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Brunei to Jeddah. The milestone coincided with Brunei's National Day to celebrate independence. February's flight Captain was Sharifah Czarena, assisted by Senior First Officers Sariana Nordin and Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem. Captain Czarena trained in the UK and in December 2013 became the first Royal Brunei pilot to fly out of London Heathrow in its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner. [BBC]
At least nine suspected cartel members are killed in gunfights with government forces during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, Mexico. (Appeal Democrat)
Russian PresidentVladimir Putin orders Defence MinisterSergey Shoygu to start the withdrawal of Russian Armed Forces from Syria, saying during a meeting with Shoygu, "I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow.” (RT)(BBC)
Siam Commercial Bank reports eight people were killed and seven others injured in the basement of its Bangkok, Thailand, headquarters during an upgrade of the building's fire safety system Sunday evening. It appears that workers mistakenly activated a system that released pyrogen, a chemical that deprives a fire of oxygen. (AP)(BBC)
Mother Teresa to be made a saint in September -
Pope Francis has announced that Mother Teresa will be elevated to sainthood on 4 September, months after he approved a second miracle for the late nun and Nobel prize winner who was known as the “Saint of the Gutters”. The canonisation of Mother Teresa, who was hailed for her work with impoverished and dying people living in the slums of Kolkata, India, has been highly anticipated by supporters, and will be a highlight of the church’s jubilee year of mercy. More than 300,000 pilgrims went to Rome in 2003 for Teresa’s beatification – the first step towards sainthood. The Vatican said in a short statement on Friday that the Argentinian pontiff had approved the second miracle – the final hurdle to make her a saint – in which a Brazilian man was said to have been cured of multiple brain tumours in 2008 following the nun’s intercession. [Guardian]
Mother Teresa in 1986
California homeless man receives $100,000 for spotting fugitives -
A homeless man from San Francisco is to be given a reward of $100,000 (£71,000) for helping police recapture two prison inmates who had escaped. Matthew Hay-Chapman had seen photographs of the two fugitives on the news and spotted them in a stolen van. They had broken out of Orange County Jail six days earlier, sparking a state-wide manhunt. The full $150,000 (£106,000) reward was split between four people, with Mr Hay Chapman getting the largest share. Mr Hay-Chapman spotted the fugitives in the stolen van next to a market in San Francisco and alerted officers in the area. [BBC]
Belgian security forces hunt gunmen linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks following a raid on a house in Brussels which left four officers wounded and one suspect dead after an exchange of gunfire. Roads have been blocked off in the Belgian capital's southern suburb of Forest as one or more gunmen remain at large. (The Independent)(Irish Times)
Linn Energy, an oil-and-gas producer with about $10 billion in debt, says a bankruptcy filing may be unavoidable. The company was founded in 2003 and had its initial public offering in 2006. (Reuters)
The entire Washington D.C. Metro system will shut down for 29 hours beginning at midnight Wednesday for an emergency investigation after an electric cable caught fire on Monday. (The Washington Post)(NBC4 Washington)
The European Union suspends direct financial aid to Burundi after concluding that the Burundian authorities had not done enough to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict occurring in the country.(The Guardian)
Argentina's coastguard says it has sunk a Chinese fishing trawler that was operating illegally within its territorial waters. The coastguard says it rescued four of the trawler's crew while others who abandoned ship were picked up by another Chinese vessel shadowing the pursuit. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
The Ferguson, Missouri, city council, after last month voting to change the terms of the agreement, reverses course and unanimously (6-0) agrees to accept a U.S. Justice Department overhaul of its troubled police force and municipal courts. This avoided a likely expensive legal battle with the federal government which had filed suit against the city following last month's vote. (CNN)
Chinese city brings in penalty points for dog owners -
A city in eastern China is tackling negligent dog owners with a new driving licence-style system. The pilot scheme, which started this month, gives pooches in the city of Shaoxing a licence pre-loaded with 12 points which are then gradually docked for breaking the rules, Qianjiang Evening News reports. Taking a dog into a public place such as a school or restaurant will cost an owner three points, while "failing to take effective measures" to stop a badly behaving dog results in six points being docked. A microchip under the dog's skin will hold data on the penalties incurred. The biggest penalties are reserved for owners who use their pets to cause deliberate wounding, and those who abandon or abuse their animals - they'll lose all 12 points and be banned from reapplying for an ownership licence. "Like drink-driving and other bad behaviour, dog owners will be blacklisted, and won't be able to raise dogs again," says city official Zhang Zhuoming. The paper says Shaoxing has experienced problems with both stray and domestic dogs, with more than 7,000 dog biting incidents registered last year. [BBC]
Pigeons track air pollution in London with tiny backpacks -
A small flock of pigeons have been given tiny backpacks to monitor air pollution in London. The project was dreamt up by Plume Labs, a company focused on the environmental problem, and the marketing agency DigitasLBi. The rucksacks are fitted to the birds using small fabric vests, and the sensors inside are able to measure nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels. Only 10 birds are in flight at any one time, so the amount of data being collected is pretty small. However, it's still a creative way of analysing the air that millions breathe in every day in the capital. [Endgadget]
Video of the Day -
X-Men: Apocalypse | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX
The Washington Metro, a commuter rail system which transports nearly 1 million passengers across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area per day, shuts down to allow for an emergency inspection of 600 electrical cables, following two fires occurring over the past 14 months. Officials say the system is scheduled to resume service by the following morning, though individual Metro lines or stations could remain closed indefinitely if problems are identified. (The Washington Post)(The Washington Times)(CBS News)
Cuban officials announce they have detected the first case of the Zika virus transmitted inside the country: a 21-year-old Havana woman who had not traveled abroad. Cuba has reported a handful of travel-associated Zika cases, all believed imported from Venezuela. (Medical Xpress)(Outbreak News Today)
The delegation of the government of Syria rules out starting any direct talks with the opposition delegation as U.N. sponsored peace talks enter a third day in Geneva. (BBC)
Kurdish officials say they plan to declare a federal region in northern Syria after being excluded from peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the 5-year-old conflict. The move will combine three Kurdish-led autonomous areas into a federal system in what is set to alarm neighboring Turkey. (USA Today)
Authorities in Turkey arrest three academics on charges of "terrorist propaganda" after they called for an end to security operations in the country's Kurdish-majority southeast. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
The U.S. military disciplines more than a dozen personnel for mistakes that led to the bombing of a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital that killed 42 people in Afghanistan last October. No criminal charges are pending. The partially redacted investigation report is expected to be made public shortly. (AP)
Donald Trump announces he will skip the Fox News GOP presidential debate between the three remaining candidates on March 21, saying he thinks "we had enough of debates." (Newsmax)
Ohio Governor John Kasich says he will also skip the debate if Donald Trump follows through on his vow not to attend. (The Hill)
In the Missouri Primary, media outlets have held off calling yesterday's races due to the extremely close results. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton lead in their party's vote, but by just two-tenths of 1 percent ahead of Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, respectively. Missouri law states a recount may be requested if the margin is less than half a percentage point. Either Cruz or Sanders or both can request a recount. These results are unofficial, until they’re certified by the Missouri Secretary of State, which reportedly could take up to four weeks. Trump leads by about 1,700 votes and Clinton's edge is about 1,500. The state also needs to count the remaining absentee and provisional ballots; the deadline for overseas ballots is noon Friday. (The Hill)(CNN)
Protests erupt outside the presidential palace in Brasília, and on São Paulo's main Avenue Paulista. on news of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's appointment as President Rousseff's chief of staff. Federal Judge Sérgio Moro says taped conversations between the two show Lula and Rousseff, apparently, trying to influence the investigation. (Reuters)
Science and technology
Scientists release a small flock of pigeons, dubbed "The Pigeon Air Patrol", carrying tiny backpacks to monitor London's air quality during a period of moderate to high pollution. The backpacks contain sensors used to measure nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels. (Engadget)(The Guardian)
Sport
The PGA of America announces it is discontinuing the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, a special postseason event among the year's winners of the four major championships of regular men's golf. This year, it was set to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, California. The 2015 event was cancelled after the PGA decided to move the exhibition contest from the same Trump Club, and they couldn't find a replacement course golf course with suitable dates. (AP)(PGA)(ESPN)
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There’s a 10,000% increase in searches for an unusual type of porn this week -
This week sees a whopping 10,000 per cent increase in searches for one particular type of porn. And it’s, erm, unusual. But whatever, each to their own. You may already be aware that this Thursday, March 17, is St. Patrick’s Day. While many revellers (Irish or not) mark the day with a pint of the black stuff, a huge portion of people are staying at home for some time alone with Leprechaun porn. Pornhub have revealed searches for Leprechaun erotica increased by a staggering 10,000 per cent on St. Patrick’s Day last year. And that’s not all folks. The number of people searching for the word Irish on the adult film site increased by 600 per cent, while searches for St Patrick’s Day-theme porn increased by 6,000 per cent. Online traffic on Pornhub from Ireland on St Patrick’s Day is on average 5 per cent higher than usual. [The Metro]
Ben Nevis gains a metre thanks to GPS height measurement -
Ben Nevis, Britain's tallest mountain, is a little bit bigger than we thought. The Ordnance Survey (OS), has re-measured the Scottish peak and its official height is now put at 1,345m - a metre taller than before. The actual difference from the last official measurement in 1949 is much less - but enough for the height to be rounded up rather than down.
The change comes from the precision that can now be achieved with modern technologies such as GPS. OS, Britain's official mapping agency, has already begun issuing maps with the new height. The official measuring point atop Ben Nevis is one of those squat concrete pillars familiar to hill-walkers all over the country. It sits on a cairn, and it was when this pile of stones was restored recently that OS experts took the opportunity to check the mountain's exact height. It is more than 60 years since this was last done, and back then, it took a team three weeks to complete the job after hauling heavy gear up Ben Nevis and nearby peaks. [BBC]
Ben Nevis
Video of the Day -
Anything VINE Can Do, YOUTUBE Does Better (ft. Thomas Sanders)
The People's Republic of China expresses its opposition to unilateral sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the imposition of new sanctions by the United States on the country in response to its recent nuclear and rocket tests. (Reuters)
Kurdish parties in northern Syria declare the establishment of a federal system in areas they control. The move was criticized by the government of Syria. (BBC)
A Brazilian federal judge blocks the appointment of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as chief of staff, arguing that the appointment would derail a federal judicial investigation against him. The government said it would appeal against the decision. (BBC)
Bernie Sanders concedes the Missouriprimary to Hillary Clinton, who led by 1,531 votes, 0.002 percent of those counted. Sanders says he will not ask for a recount, an option he had because the result is under the state's requirement, 0.005 percent -- one-half of one percent. The Republican contest is too close to call as Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz by a similar 0.002 percent. (AP via MSN.com)
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Hulk Hogan awarded $115m in Gawker sex tape case -
A Florida jury has awarded Hulk Hogan $115m (£79m) after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler. Mr Hogan's legal team argued the New York-based website violated his privacy and the video was not newsworthy. The case, which pitted freedom of the press against a celebrity's right to privacy, has been closely watched. The video was posted in 2012 after Mr Hogan was secretly recorded having sex with his friend's wife. Mr Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, said the release of the sex tape hurt his career. He was one of the most popular professional wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s and later starred in his own reality television show with his family. [BBC]
Hulk Hogan
Sport Relief raises 'a record' £55m -
More than £55m has been raised so far for charity on Sport Relief's live TV show, ahead of a weekend of fundraising. David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Gary Lineker and Greg James were among those who hosted the BBC show, broadcast from London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Highlights included a Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em sketch featuring tennis siblings Andy and Jamie Murray. The total of £55,444,906 breaks the previous on-the-night record of £51m. [BBC] See List of the Day
Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes -
Iain Duncan Smith has dramatically resigned from the [UK] Government in protest at George Osborne's proposed cuts to benefits for the disabled. The former Conservative leader said that plans to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion were a "compromise too far" and said that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead. He added that they are "not defensible" when announced alongside a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers. Mr Duncan Smith [a former Conservative Leader] also accused the Chancellor of forcing through cuts to welfare for "political" rather than national economic reasons. [Daily Telegraph]
Iain Duncan Smith
Australia Senate passes reforms after farcical all-nighter -
Monty Python references, a colonoscopy analogy and a pyjama-clad senator featured during an all-night sitting of Australia's upper house. The Senate has finally passed changes to how its members are elected after 28 hours of debate. The changes will disadvantage so-called micro parties that have gained increasing power in the Senate. The ruling conservative Coalition formed an unlikely partnership with the Greens party to pass the reforms. But the opposition Labor Party and micro party senators, who opposed the laws, dragged out the debate with filibuster tactics and amendments. During the all-night debate, Labor senators consistently spoke off-topic to delay votes to the legislation giving voters greater control over where their preferences were allocated. The laws eventually passed by a margin of 36-24. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Proof of evolution that you can find on your body
List of the Day -
Total charity donations "on the night" by BBC Sport Relief
European Union leaders offer Turkey a detailed package of cash and incentives to agree that all migrants attempting to cross the Aegean Sea by raft or boat would be sent back to Turkey which, in effect, becomes the region's migrant holding center. A number of stumbling blocks remain, such as raising the amount of aid from 3 billion euros to at least 6 billion euros; reducing the "72 arduous conditions" the Turks must meet to implement visa-free travel for Turkish citizens; Europe agrees to accelerate talks with Ankara on its EU bid; etc. Human Rights Watch protests the proposed fast-track collective expulsions that fail to take individual circumstances into account and breach peoples' right to seek asylum. (The Washington Post)(Journal of Turkish Weekly)
European Union and Turkish officials agree on how to handle the flood of refugees. The deal, to return irregular migrants to Turkey, includes acceleration of the country's long-stalled bid for membership in the union; billions of euros in extra aid, 3 billion euros now, another 3 billion by 2018; and, visa-free travel for Turks once the country satisfies the EU criteria. Europe will be taking in thousands of Syrianrefugees directly from Turkey. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) strongly condemns the deal as "ugly and illegal." The agreement is set to go into effect Sunday, March 20, 2016.(CNN)(Middle East Eye)(Reuters)
Health and medicine
Swiss research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found that paracetamol -- sold as Tylenol and as a generic, acetaminophen, in the United States -- was not effective at reducing pain or improving movement in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. The analysis examined 74 randomly-selected trials published between 1980 and 2015 with 58,556 patients who had osteoarthritis. The study did find the prescription drug diclofenac, sold in the U.S. as Cataflam or Voltaren, is the most effective NSAID available. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of Tylenol, disagree with the study's conclusions.(CBS News)(The Lancet)
Jia Jia, a columnist for China'sTencent media company is reported missing after not being heard from since Tuesday, when he was on his way to Hong Kong. He was last heard from when he tried to warn a friend about publishing an anonymous letter calling for PresidentXi Jinping's resignation. (BBC)
A Florida jury awards Hulk Hogan $115m after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler. Mr Hogan's legal team argued that the New York City-based website violated his privacy and that the video wasn't newsworthy. (BBC)
Politics and elections
Former PresidentPervez Musharraf travels to Dubai for medical treatment of his back and leg, before moving on to either the U.S. or U.K. for additional treatment, spokesperson Aasia Ishaque said. Musharraf, 72, will return to Pakistan to face all pending legal cases. Earlier this week, Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif’s government implemented the Supreme Court ruling, and lifted the 2013 ban that barred Musharraf from international trips. (Bloomberg)
Brazil's lower house of Congress, which yesterday overwhelmingly approved (433-1) a 65-member investigatory, presidential impeachment committee, was in session today -- unusual since lawmakers are generally away from the capital on Fridays. The charge alleges President Rousseff broke budget rules to boost public spending in the run-up to her re-election in 2014. The president has 10 lower house sessions to present her defense. Friday's session means that clock has started and she now has nine sessions. (Reuters)(Reuters via Swiss Broadcasting Corporation)
Supporters of the governing Workers’ Party took to the streets, in a sense answering the massive anti-government gatherings since Sunday, in all of Brazil’s 26 states. Organizations from both sides of the protests have called for people opposed to the Workers’ Party to stay home Friday to avoid a repeat of Thursday's clashes. (The Washington Post)(Fox News Latino)
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Bruce Springsteen signs late note for schoolboy -
As excuse notes go, it is a step up from the “dog ate my homework”. But not all teachers would be impressed with a letter explaining a nine-year-old's late arrival in class was down to being at a rock concert the night before. So Xabi Glovsky had it signed by Bruce Springsteen. He went to the concert in Los Angeles with his father, Scott, a life-long fan of the Boss. They went armed with a homemade sign. “Bruce, I will be late to school tomorrow. Please sign my note :-)” it said. At the end of the three-and-a-half-hour show, and well after Xabi's bedtime, Springsteen sent a security guard into the crowd at the Los Angeles Sports Centre to invite father and son backstage. He asked Xabi for the name and spelling of his teacher, before whipping out pen and paper for the note. It read: “Dear Ms. Jackson, Xabi has been out very late rocking & rolling. Please excuse him if he is tardy.” [Daily Telegraph]
Bruce Springsteen
Six Nations 2016: England win Grand Slam with France victory -
England have their first Grand Slam in 13 years after holding out to secure a historic victory in Paris. First-half tries from Danny Care and Dan Cole had given them a five-point half-time lead, only for the relentless penalty precision of Maxime Machenaud to keep France within touching distance. But a third try in three matches from Anthony Watson calmed rising nerves before a brace of late penalties from Owen Farrell allowed the travelling support to sing their heroes home. It marks a remarkable turnaround for new head coach Eddie Jones, coming just six months after the humiliation of a home World Cup exit at the group stages before he took control. [BBC] See List of the Day
At least 13 Egyptian policemen are killed after a security checkpoint in the city of Arish, North Sinai Governorate came under attack by militants. Ambulances were reportedly subjected to heavy gunfire as they attempted to reach the wounded. The Islamic State's Sinai branch claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters)
Flydubai Boeing 737-800 Flight FZ981, en route from Dubai for about four hours, crashes during landing in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 on board. It appears the jet crashed in poor visibility, some 50–100 meters left of the runway, during the second approach. Rostov-on-Don Airport will remain closed until at least 9:00 am Moscow time. (RT)(Airways News)(Reuters)
Former United Nations official and head of the UN mission for the Ebola outbreakAnthony Banbury accuses the UN of “colossal mismanagement,” saying it had failed to uphold the principles for which it was established. He cited the organization's “Orwellian admonitions and Carrollian logic” of the UN bureaucracy and minimal accountability regarding the widespread rape and sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers.(The Guardian)
A survey conducted by Datafolha shows a majority of Brazilians now favor the impeachment or resignation of PresidentDilma Rousseff. The poll showed 68 percent of respondents favor Rousseff's impeachment by Congress, while 65 percent think the president should resign. The president's approval ratings have been hammered by Brazil's worst recession in decades and its biggest ever corruption probe. (Reuters)
Star Wars beats Mad Max at Empire awards -
Sci-fi blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens trumped Mad Max: Fury Road at this year's Empire Awards, winning five awards to the latter's four. The Force Awakens was named best sci-fi/fantasy and was also honoured for its visual effects, director JJ Abrams and stars John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Fury Road was recognised for its make-up, costumes, soundtrack and production design at the central London event. But neither title took home the best film award, which went to The Revenant. Matt Damon was on hand to accept his best actor award for The Martian, while Sweden's Alicia Vikander won best actress for The Danish Girl. [BBC]
Matt Damon
Eddie Izzard completes Sport Relief marathons challenge -
Comedian Eddie Izzard has completed his challenge in South Africa to run 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief. The 54-year-old needed to run a double marathon on Sunday to complete his challenge beneath a statue of Nelson Mandela, in Pretoria. Izzard attempted a similar feat in South Africa in 2012 but had to pull out for health reasons. The comedian's endurance feat raised more than £1.35m. The 2016 Sport Relief total stands at £56,984,007. "That was very, very tough," Izzard told reporters as he swigged from a celebratory bottle of sparkling white wine. The 27 marathons were intended to reflect the 27 years Mr Mandela had spent in prison before becoming South Africa's first black president. [BBC]
Eddie Izzard
Before the President's arrival, Cuban authorities arrest more than 50 Ladies in Whitehuman rights activists. The group marches after every Sunday Mass at a church in the Miramarsuburb of Havana, and usually get arrested and detained for hours or days. They had hoped President Obama's visit would change that routine. (USA Today)(Havana Times)
Voting is underway in today's parliamentary election in the former Soviet republic. PresidentNursultan Nazarbayev'sNur Otan party is expected to win easily, and retain control of the 107-seat Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament. The recent crackdown on political activists and media dims chances this election will be the first judged free and fair by Western observers. (AP via Sioux City Journal)(Townhall.com)
A rerun of Zanzibar's presidential election takes place amid an opposition boycott. The election originally occurred at the same time as Tanzania's election in 2015 but was annulled because of supposed fraud. (Daily Nation)
A run-off election begins in Niger with current PresidentMahamadou Issoufou highly favored to win as his main opponent Hama Amadou, who was earlier jailed, was flown out of the country for medical reasons. (Reuters)
A referendum is underway in Senegal where voters will vote on whether or not to reduce presidential term limits from seven to five years. Senegal's referendum also calls for a strengthened National Assembly, better representation for Senegalese abroad, greater rights for the opposition and participation of independent candidates in elections among the 15 changes. (The Daily Star)
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Twitter celebrates 10 years of tweets and hashtags -
Since the first tweet was sent in 2006, Twitter has become the go-to social network for finding out about everything from global events to celebrity gossip. On its tenth birthday, Twitter has 320 million users including celebrities such as Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Adele, all of whom have tens of millions of followers.Over the decade, the social network has changed its logo and name - from Twttr to Twitter - as well as notching up 250 billion likes. Users create 500 million tweets per day and 200 billion tweets every year, with users sharing hashtags to discuss global moments, such as the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris, using #JeSuisParis. [Daily Mail] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Hatton Garden 'Guv'nor' Brian Reader jailed for six years -
The mastermind of the £14 million Hatton Garden jewellery raid has been jailed for six years and three months. Brian Reader, 77- the oldest member of the gang - suffered a stroke in Belmarsh Prison following what was the biggest burglary in English history. Appearing via video link at Woolwich Crown Court, Reader, who the court was told now uses a walking frame, was sentenced to six years and three months by Judge Christopher Kinch QC. James Scobie QC, Reader's defence barrister, previously said: “He has a history of prostate cancer, which may return. He has a mass in his face being tested for possible cancer. He has had a stroke and is blind in one eye.” [Daily Telegraph]
This real life cat burglar keeps stealing men's underwear -
A cat-owner from New Zealand has posted an apologetic note online after her pet cat went on a months-long crime spree, pinching various items of men's clothing from around her neighbourhood. Brigit, a six-year-old tonkinese cat, has been going out at night on the streets of Hamilton and entering into strangers' homes, where she'll pick up some socks or underwear and take it away with her. Brigit then brings the clothes home, often leaving them on her owner Sarah Nathan's bed. In the past couple of months Brigit has pinched around than a dozen pairs of men's pants and around 60 single socks. [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day -
INCREDIBLE Facts You Never Knew About Twitter!-Facts in 5
List of the Day -
Twitter in numbers – the top 10 most popular tweets, likes and hashtags [Metro]
1) Most retweeted tweet – Oscars selfie
2) Most followed person – Katy Perry
3) Most mentioned person – Justin Bieber
4) Most tweeted emoji – Face with tears of joy emoji
(Picture: Myles Goode/Metro)5) Most geo-tagged city – São Paulo
6) Most tweeted hashtag tradition – #FF
7) Total number of likes - 250 billion
8) Tweets per minute event record – FA World Cup Final - 618,725 tweets per minute
9) Fastest tor reach one million followers – Caitlyn Jenner - 4 hours and 3 minutes.
10) Number of times ‘love’ was shared on Twitter [tweets with the word "love" in them] - 34.8 billion mentions
Gunmen attack a European Union military training operation housed in a converted hotel in the Mali capital, Bamako. There are no casualties among the mission personnel. One suspect is killed and two are arrested. No group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)
A Catalan official says the 13 exchange students killed in Sunday's accident were 19-to-25-year-old women, seven from Italy, two Germans, an Austrian, a woman from France, a Romanian and an Uzbek. Twenty-four people are being treated in hospital with one student in critical condition, and six people, including the driver, in serious condition. Reports from officials indicate the driver lost control of the coach and crashed to the other side before running into an oncoming car. The bus driver, who passed alcohol and drug tests, is being investigated for possible negligent homicide as police seek to determine the cause of the crash. (AP via the Washington Post)(AFP via Yahoo! News)
At a 55-minute joint press conference, following their two-hour closed door meeting, United States PresidentBarrack Obama and Cuban PresidentRaúl Castro agreed this “new day” of openness between the two countries benefits the entire hemisphere as well. Each acknowledged more needs to be done. Obama said he spoke frankly about human rights, free expression, and democracy; Castro said the U.S. needs to remove the military base at Guantanamo Bay, and completely end the U.S. embargo. Obama's experience gave him an advantage when journalists delved into sensitive areas. (The Washington Post)(The New York Times)
New Zealand Prime MinisterJohn Key settles a defamation case with freelance cameraman Bradley Ambrose, acknowledging comments he made about the man caused him professional and personal harm. (AP)
Myanmar's new parliament, in its first legislative act, votes (611-3) to eliminate 15 government ministries. President-elect Htin Kyaw says by eliminating the ministers' salaries, the nation will save $4 million over five years. No civil servants will lose their jobs. (AP)
Suicide And Suitcase Bombs Rip Through Brussels -
Hundreds of soldiers are on Brussels' streets and Belgium is on its highest terror alert level after 34 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a series of explosions claimed by Islamic State. Shots were fired as attackers at Zaventem Airport were reportedly heard shouting in Arabic before two blasts ripped through the departure area, leaving at least 14 people dead. Maalbeek metro station was then hit by an "enormous" explosion about an hour later during the morning rush hour, killing at least 20 people. Footage from Maalbeek station shows black smoke pouring from the entrance, with people being moved on stretchers and victims seen with facial injuries. Nearly 200 people have been injured in the attacks. [Sky News]
Video of the Day -
Dozens Killed in Brussels Terrorist Attacks (Wall Street Journal)
German tax authorities are investigating Citigroup over its use of a "dividend stripping" strategy, which allowed both the buyer and seller of a stock to claim the tax credits. (Reuters)
A court in southern Russia finds Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko guilty of being complicit in the killing of two Russian journalists, killing civilians and illegal border crossing and is sentenced to 22 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 rubles. Savchenko denies all the charges and the Ukrainian government said that they would continue to press for her release. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A federal judge postpones Tuesday's hearing at the government's request. The FBI says a third party demonstrated a way to access Syed Rizwan Farook'siPhone. Melanie Newman, U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, says officials are cautiously optimistic a test of this method will allow access to the phone without compromising the data. (NPR)(ABC News)
Brazil PresidentDilma Rousseff says she will not resign under any circumstances because she hadn't committed a crime, and equated a bid to impeach her to a coup d'état against democratic rule. A congressional impeachment committee has started hearings. Rousseff could be suspended if the Chamber of Deputies approves the motion to impeach. The president urged the Supreme Court to remain impartial in this political crisis. (Reuters)(Yahoo7)
Sport
Indian Wells (California) CEO and tennis tournament director Raymond Moore resigns following reactions of outrage, including by top-ranked Serena Williams and retired legend Martina Navratilova, to his comment that top-level women's players rode "on the coattails of the men" and were "very, very lucky" to have equal prize money. This is the event's second controversy involving female players. Serena and her sister Venus boycotted the tournament (also known as the BNP Paribas Open) until 2015 following verbal abuse directed toward the sisters in the 2001 open. (Reuters)(AFP via The Economic Times)(Time)
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Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl backs teenage metal band in Cornwall noise row -
US rocker Dave Grohl has leapt to the defence of a teenage heavy metal band from Cornwall - after their local council said they were too loud. The Black Leaves of Envy were told they would have to stop practising in a family garage after noise complaints from neighbours. Foo Fighters frontman Grohl penned an open letter to the authority after the band reached out to him. He asked Cornwall Council to "reconsider the restrictions". In the open letter, former Nirvana drummer Grohl says he started out practising in a garage and says music is a "wonderful, creative outlet for kids". Grohl also penned a separate letter to the band, giving them advice on soundproofing. He advised the group to fill the garage walls with sand and cover the floor in gym mats. Band member Adam Jones, 17, said: "It's just been surreal - I'm speechless." "Seeing the Foo Fighters tag you in a post on Facebook was just incredible," he said. [BBC] Grohl famously broke his leg when he fell off the stage at a gig in Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2015 but returned to finish the concert.
Dave Gohl
Formula 1 drivers warn success of sport could be jeopardised -
Formula 1 drivers have demanded change at the top of the sport, saying its decision-making process is "obsolete and ill-structured". Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) directors Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Alex Wurz have written a letter on behalf of the drivers. It "urges the owners and stakeholders of F1 to restructure its governance". Many issues can be traced back to F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, but the letter does not mention the 85-year-old. Some recent decisions are "disruptive", avoid "the bigger issues" and "could jeopardise F1's success", it adds. Writing the letter is an extraordinary step by the drivers, which reflects the strength of their feelings on the matter.
Jenson Button
Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says two brothers of Belgian nationality, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, were responsible for yesterday's suicide bombings. Khalid bombed the subway station while Ibrahim bombed the airport, he added. A third suspect, who died at the airport, is identified as Najim Laachraoui, says De Standaard. A fourth suspect seen in the airport photo, who left a massive bomb at the airport that did not detonate, is unidentified and still at large. (UPI)(Los Angeles Times)(De Standaard)
Van Leeuw says 31 people died and 271 are injured in the bombings. (UPI)
Referring to the Brussels bombings, Poland abandons a pledge to shelter Syrian migrants under a European Union relocation agreement. (Reuters)
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, announce they are withdrawing from the so-called hotspots on the Greek islands because of the new EU-Turkey deal. UNHCR's Melissa Fleming says, "Under the new provisions, these sites (hotspots) have now become detention facilities." MSF's Marie Elisabeth Ingres says, “We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized (sic) for a mass expulsion operation, and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants.” (Vox Media)(New Europe)
Voters in Senegal approve a series of constitutional reforms, which include a reduction of presidential terms from seven to five years, with 63 percent of the vote. (BBC)
Johan Cruyff: Barcelona and Holland legend dies aged 68 -
Johan Cruyff, the man credited with helping reinvent modern soccer, has died aged 68. The former player and manager of Spanish giants Barcelona and the Netherlands' most successful club Ajax, had been battling lung cancer. ne of the world's greatest ever footballers, Cruyff's Dutch team finished runners up in the 1974 World Cup playing a revolutionary style of soccer that was dubbed "total football." A statement on his official website read: "On March 24 2016 Johan Cruyff died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard fought battle with cancer. [CNN] See List of the Day
Johan Cruyff
Video of the Day -
What If The World Went Vegetarian? - ASAP Science
List of the Day -
Johann Cruyff senior career record (from Wikipedia)
Lebanese daily newspaper As-Safir ("The Ambassador" in Arabic) is to cease print and online operations after over 40 years, citing falling revenues and Lebanon's political environment and sectarian problems as reasons for its closure. The newspaper has close ties to Hezbollah. (Reuters)
In Toronto, Jian Ghomeshi is aquitted on all charges of sexual assault and choking. The judge found the claimants had "lied, had been manipulative and hid pertinent information" from the court and this created reasonable doubt. Protests against due process emerged immediately afterwards. (National Post)
In New York, an appeals court upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit trying to keep Ted Cruz of the ballot in the U.S. Presidential contest on the ground of his Canadian birth. (Reuters)
Amnesty International urges Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party make release of political prisoners, and rescinding laws that made incarceration possible, a top priority when they take office next Friday, April 1, 2016. Amnesty International adds it knows of almost 100 political prisoners still behind bars, with hundreds of others in detention. AI's Jasmine Heiss says, "The incoming government must take bold steps to show that human rights abuses are a problem of the past.” (AP via The Washington Post)(USA Tday)(Amnesty International)
Grand Theft Auto deer causes chaos in game world -
An indestructible, teleporting deer is causing chaos in a version of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V game. Artist Brent Watanabe has programmed the virtual deer to wander around the large San Andreas game world. In its first few days of wandering, the deer has been caught in a gangland gun battle, invaded a military base and been chased by the police. More than 200,000 people have tuned in to watch the deer via a video stream on the Twitch site. [BBC]
CGI deer in Grand Theft Auto
Microsoft chatbot is taught to swear on Twitter -
A chatbot developed by Microsoft has gone rogue on Twitter, swearing and making racist remarks and inflammatory political statements. The experimental AI, which learns from conversations, was designed to interact with 18-24-year-olds. Just 24 hours after artificial intelligence Tay was unleashed, Microsoft appeared to be editing some of its more inflammatory comments. The software firm said it was "making some adjustments". "The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement. As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We're making some adjustments to Tay," the firm said in a statement. [BBC]
The Nigerian Army claims to have rescued more than 800 hostages from Boko Haram while performing a "clearance operation" in the Northeastern part of Nigeria with fighting killing 22 insurgents. (Al Jazeera)
The body of Ukrainian lawyer Yurij Grabovsky, who defended two ex-Russian soldiers charged in Eastern Ukraine with terrorism and waging an aggressive war against the country, is found on the grounds of a former farming collective in Zhashkiv, Ukraine. Grabovsky went missing from Kiev on March 9. Information from one of two men being held in this case led police to the remains. (Reuters)(Jurist)
Twelve Portuguese nationals, who were residents of Fribourg, Switzerland, are killed in a head-on collision between their minibus and a truck, on a highway 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Paris, France. The only survivor from the bus is the driver; the two Italian occupants of the truck are slightly injured. (Post-Bulletin)
Netflix acknowledges it's been slowing its video transmission on wireless mobile carriers around the world, including Verizon and AT&T, for five years to "protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps." Last week, these carriers were accused of this. The company told The Wall Street Journal that T-Mobile or Sprint users weren't affected because, "historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies." In May, Netflix plans to shift some of that control to viewers themselves. (C|net)(PC Magazine)
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Rolling Stones treat Cuba to spectacular and historic gig -
Hundreds of thousands thronged to the Ciudad Deportiva stadium to see the British rockers, who follow hard on the heels of a visit by Barack Obama, in a week that few on this island are ever likely to forget. Amid growing hopes of reform and further opening, the Stones frontman emphasised how far the country has already come in cultural opening from the 1960s, when their songs were considered ideologically divergent. “We know that years ago, it was difficult to listen to our music in Cuba, but now here we are in your beautiful land,” Jagger said in Spanish. “I think that, finally, the times are changing. That’s true, no?” The crowd roared their agreement. [The Guardian]
Mick Jagger in 2014
British rock band The Rolling Stones performs in Havana, Cuba, the first Western band to play an open-air free concert in the country, in what has been called a "historic moment." Western music used to be banned in Cuba as being "ideologically divergent." (The Guardian)
Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro announces the film, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, will not be screened at the 2016 Festival as previously announced. “Grace [Hightower] and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined," Mr. De Niro said. "... (our) Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community ... do not believe (this film) contributes to or furthers the discussion (about autism) I hoped for," the actor/producer said. (USA Today)
Syria civil war: Assad hails Palmyra recapture from IS -
President Bashar al-Assad has hailed the recapture of Palmyra from so-called Islamic State (IS) as an "important achievement" in the "war on terrorism". A monitoring group has backed the Syrian government's claim that the city was recaptured overnight by the army. Military sources say the Syrian army now has "full control". It had been gaining ground for several days, supported by Russian air strikes. President Assad said this showed the success of the army's strategy. His comments, to a group of visiting French parliamentarians, were carried on state TV. IS seized the Unesco World Heritage site and modern town in May 2015. When IS seized the city it destroyed archaeological sites, drawing global outrage. Two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers were left in ruins. The jihadist group, which has also demolished several pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous. [BBC]
Temple of Bel in 2011
Cat accidentally sent 260 miles away survives eight days in the post -
A Siamese cat had a very lucky escape when its owners accidentally posted her 260 miles away to West Sussex. Cupcake’s owners were sending some DVDs to a buyer in Worthing but failed to spot their pet was asleep in the cardboard box. The feline spent eight days in the post but miraculously survived the traumatic journey from Falmouth in Cornwall. “Imagine how surprised the recipient was when, along with the anticipated DVDs, an elegant Siamese cat emerged from the box,” explained the Grove Lodge Veterinary Group, who helped track down Cupcake’s owner. “This person was somewhat startled as they were not expecting to receive a free cat along with their order of DVDs.” The stunned buyer contacted the RSPCA who collected the cat and brought her to Grove Lodge for a health check. [Daily Telegraph]
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military chief, pledges to work with the new civilian government that takes over the Southeast Asian country next week, after 54 years of direct or indirect rule by the military. (AP)
According to a new poll, two-thirds of Venezuelans think PresidentNicolás Maduro should end his presidency this year or be removed via a recall referendum amid a worsening economic crisis. In the event of a referendum, 52.1 percent of Venezuelans would vote to remove him from office, up from 44.5 percent in January, according to the poll. (Reuters)
Police in Brussels, Belgium forcibly break up an apparent far-right demonstration with water cannons after they joined a crowd of people paying tribute to the victims of the bombings. The demonstrators claim to have marched against terrorism but police intervened when the demonstrators confronted Muslim women and made Nazi salutes. (Euronews)(BBC)
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Harrison Ford auctions Han Solo Star Wars jacket in honour of daughter with epilepsy -
Harrison Ford is auctioning his Star Wars: The Force Awakens jacket for charity. The 73-year-old actor - who reprised his role as Han Solo in the latest installment of the sci-fi franchise - donated the iconic garment which he wore in his first scene in the 2015 movie to raise money for epilepsy research. The signed garment will benefit the NYU Langone Center and FACES (Finding A Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures), with bidding starting at $18,000 on ifOnly. But the actor - whose 26-year-old daughter Georgia suffers from the condition - joked the director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the New York clinic, Dr. Orrin Devinsky, had taken a shine to the jacket. [Daily Mirror] In February 2016 the production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being prosecuted over a filming incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg.
Harrison Ford
FBI finds method to hack gunman's iPhone without Apple's help -
The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending a court case, the US justice department says. Apple had been resisting a court order issued last month requiring the firm to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook's phone. But officials on Monday said that it had been accessed independently and asked for the order to be withdrawn. Responding to the move, Apple said: "From the beginning, we objected to the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government's dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought." [Daily Telegraph]
Taliban fighters fire explosives at Afghanistan'sParliament while it is in session. Members of Parliament said no one was wounded while a Taliban spokesperson claims it caused heavy casualities. (Al Jazeera)
At least 115 Al-Shabaab militants are killed and a further 110 are captured following heavy fighting with pro-government forces in the Galmudug region of Somalia, according to the regional government. There has been no independent confirmation of this claim. (BBC)
Belgian prosecutors release Faycal C., a man charged in connection with last week's deadly Brussels bombings. The prosecutor's office says the evidence which led to his arrest has not been backed up by the ongoing investigation. (Reuters)
Alaska Airlines cancels 41 flights to and from six cities across the state, Barrow, Bethel, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Nome, and Prudhoe Bay, due to Pavlof's "massive ash cloud." The carrier announces flights will remain grounded pending Tuesday's assessment of flying conditions. (KTUU-TV)
A three-year-old girl is decapitated in an apparently random killing by a man with a cleaver in Taipei, Taiwan. The man was arrested shortly afterwards. (The Guardian)
Police lift the lockdown. An armed man was shot by police, is in police custody, and is undergoing surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. A female bystander suffers what appears to be a minor injury. (The Washington Post)
New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo signs an order banning all non-essential travel to North Carolina, i.e., travel not necessary for the enforcement of New York state law, public health, and/or safety, following the state's passage of a law blocking local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances. (CBS News)
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Chocolate shortage sparks violence at Easter family fun day in Skegness -
A volunteer at an Easter family fun day in Skegness was attacked by a visitor who became enraged when organisers ran out of chocolate eggs. Families paid £5 to attend Church Farm Museum's "Easter Eggstravaganza", which was raising funds for Bury-based charity Annabelle's Challenge for Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The fee included access to the site, billed as Lincolnshire’s only open air farming museum, along with a falconry display, an Easter bonnet competition, and an egg hunt. Families were also given an Easter egg - until supplies ran out. "We were handing them out and there were some people who got aggressive when we said we had run out of eggs. "A lady with her large family was aggressive and she grabbed my volunteer by the scarf round her neck, she pulled her across the counter and demanded her money back. [Daily Telegraph]
Belgium officials lower the official death toll from 35 to 32, with nearly 100 still hospitalized. (UPI)
BrusselsZaventem International Airport CEO Arnaud Feist says the airport will reopen at less than a quarter capacity Wednesday, as ongoing tests determine which flights can resume. It could take months for the airport to return to full capacity, Feist added. (UPI)
New research, published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, finds women who have endometriosis, the abnormal growth of uterine tissue outside the uterus, may face a 60 percent higher risk of developing heart disease than women without the disorder. The potential risk was especially high for women 40 or younger. At least 10 percent of women of reproductive age suffer from endometriosis (endo) says Dr. Stacey Missmer of Brigham and Women's Hospital, who co-authored the study. (UPI)(NBC News)
A hijacked EgyptAir flight lands in Cyprus. All hostages have been released, and the hijacker has no evident ties to any terrorist organizations. (The Guardian)
Dozens of chief executive officers of major U.S. technology, biotech, and financial companies urge North Carolina to repeal a new state law forcing transgender people to use rest-rooms and changing-rooms according to the gender on their birth-certificate.(AP via WBT)
The NC Values Coalition, which worked to get Charlotte's nondiscrimination ordinance overturned by the state legislature, says hundreds of North Carolina businesses support the new state law, though fear retaliation if they make that support public. The coalition did list 17 businesses willing to be identified as supporting the new law. (AP)
In a move designed to head off a 4-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court directs lawyers for the Obama administration, and for the religious groups who challenge it, to submit written briefs on a possible remedy to the case: whether coverage could be provided through the group's insurance companies without any actual notice to the government. A 4-4 decision would not set a national precedent, and would let stand the preceding decision in each case. In these seven cases, the appeals court in six upheld the government mandate. (NBC News)
The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the country's largest party, decides unanimously to leave President Rousseff's governing coalition. While Rousseff will remain in office, it's likely she could be impeached in a matter of months, which would make Vice PresidentMichel Temer president. (Reuters)
Chief of staff Jaques Wagner says President Rousseff will announce a new governing coalition before the end of the week. The President has an opportunity to form a new coalition for her remaining two years and nine months in office, Wagner added. (Reuters²)
The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a United States foreign aid agency, pulls $472m of funding for a Tanzanian electricity project after concluding that the election held in Zanzibar "was neither inclusive nor representative". Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, held a rerun of its election that was boycotted by the opposition after it was previously annulled because of supposed fraud. (BBC)
Candidate Donald Trump says he will no longer honor his pledge to support the eventual Republican Party pick for president because, "I have been treated very unfairly." (AP)(Fox News)
Two police officers are killed and four others are wounded in the western Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal after they were run over by a bus driven by young men protesting a hike in public transport fares, according to government officials and Reuters witnesses. (Reuters)
Europe's largest floating solar farm to open -
The biggest floating solar farm in Europe is being constructed on a reservoir. More than 23,000 solar photovoltaic panels are being laid on the surface of the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. The farm, which will be the size of eight football pitches, is expected to generate 5.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity in a year. The energy will be used to part power a nearby water treatment works. Thames Water said construction of the solar farm, which is about eight miles (13 km) from Heathrow airport, will be completed by the end of March. The floating pontoon will be 57,500 sq m in size. [BBC]
Thailand and neighbouring countries suffer from the worst drought in decades as an El Niño-induced water shortage reduces reservoirs to critical levels. (Al Jazeera)
At least nine people are injured in severe storms that spawned multiple tornado touchdowns in northeastern Oklahoma and sections of the Southwestern United States. One patient is in critical condition; the others suffered serious injuries, according to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas are also impacted. A flash flood watch has been issued through Thursday evening. Two (2) to 4 inches of rain is expected, with perhaps 6 inches in some locations. (AP)
Health and medicine
A new study by researchers at McGill University and the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that each additional month a woman has paid maternity leave is associated with decreased infant mortalityby more than 10 percent. Researchers noted that paid maternity leave reduces stress because of the guarantee of income and job security, increases the chances for breastfeeding and other infant care, and allows a mother to seek more medical attention for herself. (UPI)(PLOS Medicine)
The United States Food and Drug Administration announces it has relaxed its official requirements regarding the use of the abortion drug Mifeprex (RU-486). The current guidelines were based on 1990s medical evidence. Changes include reducing the number of physician visits required by abortion-seeking women, reducing drug dosage, and allowing women to take the drug for three weeks longer -- now a total of 70 days. (UPI)
Mexico City, facing the capital's worst air-quality crisis in over a decade, issues a temporary order that all cars remain idle one day a week. Today, authorities report a pollution index of 108 (bad) after low readings during Holy Week. Vehicles will also be forced from the roads one Saturday a month. The measure will begin next Tuesday, April 5, and run until Thursday, June 30, 2016. Starting July 1, improved technology will be in place at smog-check centers where all vehicles must be tested every six months. (AP via Fox News)
International relations
The Wallenberg family files an application to formally declare Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (born in 1912) to be dead. Wallenberg saved the lives of thousands of Jews in World War II only to disappear at the hands of the Soviet forces. (Times of Israel)
The Ukrainian parliament votes to ban all Russian films released after January 1, 2014, saying the move is aimed at improving “national security"; more than 430 Russian films and TV series fall under the new measures. Last month, the State Committee in Television and Radio-broadcasting in Ukraine removed 15 Russian TV channels from being broadcast in Ukraine. (RT)
A Bangladesh Court issues an arrest warrant, the second one so far, for former Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia and 27 opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party members over political violence, mostly petrol-bomb attacks, that occurred during anti-government protests last year that killed at least 120 people. (Al Jazeera)
A Larnaca, Cyprus, court orders that 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, who was arrested by Cypriot police yesterday, remain in local police custody for eight days to assist Cyprus's own investigation. Mustafa faces charges of hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping, and threats to commit violence. It's unclear if Mustafa had any explosives; the bomb belt he wore was fake, and officials are waiting for testing results on unidentified liquids found among his possessions. (AP via The Daily Courier)
The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which organizes some 16,500 border patrol agents, endorses Donald Trump for President of the United States, NBPC's first-ever endorsement in a presidential election. (CNN)
The opposition controlled National Assembly of Venezuela passes an amnesty bill that could potentially free over 70 opposition leaders and activists jailed during protests last year, including prominent leaderLeopoldo López. (BBC)
The opposition plans to generate a recall referendum that would ask voters if President Maduro should be removed from office. The Constitution states a recall referendum can be held once the president has served half of his six-year term (Maduro became President on April 19, 2013) and at least 20 percent of registered voters sign the petition. (UPI²)
Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85 -
Entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, has died aged 85. His publicist said: "Ronnie Corbett CBE, one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, passed away this morning, surrounded by his loving family. "They have asked that their privacy is respected at this very sad time." Corbett was one of the UK's best-loved comedians and along with Ronnie Barker, their double act was one of the most successful of the 1970s and '80s. [BBC] See Video and List of the Day
Ronnie Corbett in 2010
Video of the Day -
The Two Ronnies. Four Candles
List of the Day -
Ronnie Corbett's best jokes
A man was marooned on a desert island. One day a beautiful woman arrives in a wet suit. 'When did you last have a smoke?' she asks. 'Five years ago.' So she gets out a cigar and he smokes it. She unzips her wet suit a bit and says, 'When did you last have a drink?' He said, 'Five years ago.' So she gets out a bottle of Scotch and he has a drink. Then she unzips her wet suit a bit more and says, 'And when was the last time you played around?' He looks at her in amazement and says: 'You're not telling me you've got a set of golf clubs in there?'
A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston by-pass. Motorists are asked to be on the look-out for 16 hardened criminals.
We will be talking to an out of work contortionist who says he can no longer make ends meet.
There was a fire at the main Inland Revenue office in London today, but it was put out before any serious good was done.
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my right hand.
For some time, my wife's had this ridiculous idea that I'm playing too much golf. Actually, it came to a head at about 11.30 last night. She suddenly shouted at me: "Golf, golf, golf. All you ever think about is bloody golf!". And I'll be honest, it frightened the life out of me. I mean, you don't expect to meet somebody on the 14th green at that time of night.
This is a message for seven honeymoon couples in a hotel in Peebles: Breakfast was served three days ago.
French wine growers fear that this year's vintage may be entirely spoiled due to the grape treaders' sit-in.
West Mercia police announced tonight that they wish to interview a man wearing high heels and frilly knickers, but the chief constable said they must wear their normal uniforms.
It was revealed in a government survey published today that the prime minister is doing the work of two men, Laurel and Hardy.
We'll be talking to a car designer who's crossed a Toyota with Quasimodo and come up with the Hatchback of Notre Dame.
After a series of crimes in the Glasgow area, Chief Inspector McTavish has announced that he is looking for a man with one eye. If he doesn't find him, he's going to use both eyes.
We've just heard that in the English Channel, a ship carrying red paint has collided with a ship carrying purple paint. It is believed that both crews have been marooned.
A grandfather has gone missing after eating four cans of baked beans, two cauliflowers and a jar of gherkins. His family have made an emotional appeal for him not to come home for at least a fortnight.
Today is our anniversary. It's just 12 years ago today when she said "I do". It certainly surprised me, because I didn't think she did.
That was the night when I leapt onto the dancefloor and did my rather racy impression of John Travolta. I suppose it must have been the animal in me. Well, I had a ferret down my trousers.
This new controller thinks I am the funniest man in Britain. He's been told to stay in bed and take things easy for a while.
I remember that day clearly, because it was the one day there wasn't a sale at Allied Carpets.
This joke dates back to 256 BC which, as scholars of ancient Egypt will know, was the year of the famous wildcat strike by the amalgamated union of eunuchs and allied sopranos, in a dispute over severance pay.
Since the last joke, I'd like to thank all those of you who have written in with suggestions about what I can do with my act, one or two of you with diagrams.
Offers of work have been flooding in. Last week I was invited to go on a round-the-world cruise. By the chairman of the Flat Earth Society.
This week I was asked to do a very important after-dinner speech. I said: "Do you want me to be funny?" They said: "No, just be yourself."
A car bomb, targeting an armored vehicle transporting police personnel, explodes close to a bus terminal in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, Turkey, killing at least seven police officers and wounding 27 more people, including 13 officers, according to a joint statement by Turkish officials and the police. The attack comes one day before Turkish Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoğlu's scheduled visit to the city. There has been no claim of responsibility. CNN points out both Kurdish rebels and ISIL militants have claimed similar recent incidents. (Al Jazeera)(CNN)(AP)(Arab News)
More than 50 heads of state as well as representatives from international organizations attend the annual Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., with the notable exception of Russia, which declined to attend. The main agenda of the two-day gathering is the discussion of North Korea and the threat it poses with its nuclear weapons and the possibility of ISIS extremists getting a nuclear weapon. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A U.S. official announces that The Pentagon plans to transfer about a dozen inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to at least two countries that have agreed to take them, in the latest move inBarack Obama’s final push to close the facility. The official declined to name the countries ready to take them in. (The Guardian)
A Malaysian court dismisses Malaysia Airlines's bid to throw out a lawsuit filed by relatives of three people who went missing on Flight 370. The company argued that the disappearance of MH370 on March 8, 2014, occurred before the company came into existence as Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) on September 1, 2015, and therefore has no liability to relatives. The court ruled MAB's liability would be determined in a trial. (UPI)(Malay Mail)
Venezuela's National Assembly, responding to last month's Central Bank of Venezuela report that the country experienced a 180.9 percent inflation increase in 2015, passes legislation, The Law of Bonds for Food and Medicine for Retirees and Pensioners, that could make it easier for pensioners and retirees to pay for food and medicine. The approved bill has been forwarded for PresidentNicolás Maduro'ssignature. (UPI)
Today, thousands of demonstrators gathered in more than 20 states in support of Silva and Rousseff. (Reuters²)(AP via ABC news)
Brazil sports minister George Hilton resigns and will be replaced on an interim basis by Ricardo Leyser, a senior official in the ministry. Leyser, 45, has worked in the sports ministry since 2003, and has been heavily involved with the Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, August 5-21, 2016. (The Rio Times)(insidethegames)
Hello! Magazine apologises for 'fabricated' Clooney interview -
Hello! Magazine has apologised for running an "exclusive" interview with George Clooney that the actor says was completely fabricated. The UK-based magazine said it purchased the interview from an entertainment news agency called Famous, which they have worked with in the past. Hello! said it thought the article was accurate and has removed the piece from its website. Mr Clooney said the interview never took place. He said in a statement: "The problem is that I have not given an interview to Hello Magazine and the quotes attributed to me are not accurate. In my experience, being misquoted is not unusual but to have an 'exclusive interview' completely fabricated is something new. And a very disturbing trend." [BBC]
George Clooney
Video of the Day -
Introducing the self-driving bicycle in the Netherlands - (only available on April 1st!)
International monitors from the OSCE report that fighting has intensified in Eastern Ukraine as a second year of a shaky truce begins. The worst of the fighting is located between government-controlledAvdiivka and separatist-controlled Yasynuvata. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A U.S. drone strike reportedly kills a key Al-Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, and two other militants, near the town of Jilib, Somalia, according to several U.S. officials. (AP)
Health authorities in Fiji are urging people to observe strict personal hygiene as the country goes through a massive outbreak of conjunctivitis. In the past 14 days alone the number of cases of the virus in one district of Suva have jumped from 700 to 5000 cases. (Radio New Zealand)
The Parliament of Moldova announces that the country will hold a Presidential election on October 30. A court in early March ruled in favor of having a direct national election to choose a president rather than a vote in parliament, a concession to protesters who have been demonstrating for months against the political elite. This will be the first time since 2001 that the public will choose their country's president directly. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
PresidentDilma Rousseff loses another key member of the country's 2016 Summer Olympics organization. Colonel Adilson Moreira of the National Public Security Force, who was in charge of organizing security, in an email to his colleagues reportedly criticizes the President and other senior officials, saying he is ashamed of the country's being led by an "unscrupulous group." Brazilian officials, who earlier received Sports Minister George Hilton's resignation, say the planning for the Olympic Games will not be affected. (BBC)(International Business Times)
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Scientists 'find cancer's Achilles heel' -
Scientists believe they have discovered a way to "steer" the immune system to kill cancers. Researchers at University College, London have developed a way of finding unique markings within a tumour - its "Achilles heel" - allowing the body to target the disease. But the personalised method, reported in Science journal, would be expensive and has not yet been tried in patients. Experts said the idea made sense but could be more complicated in reality. However, the researchers, whose work was funded by Cancer Research UK, believe their discovery could form the backbone of new treatments and hope to test it in patients within two years. [BBC]
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports a mass grave, containing the bodies of beheaded women and children, has been found in the former ISIL-controlled city of Palmyra, recently retaken by the Syrian government. (The Independent)
Iraqi security forces free a large number of prisoners from an underground ISIL-operated jail in the city of Hīt. Malallah al-Obeidi, a local official in the Al Anbar Governorate, put the number of freed prisoners at around 1,500, saying most of them were civilians. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
A bombing kills at least five Turkish soldiers and one special forces police officer in the southeastern city of Nusaybin, near the Syria–Turkey border. (BBC)
Austria plans to deploy soldiers on its border with Italy to stem an expected increase in migrants trying to get to northern Europe, according to Austrian Defence MinisterHans Peter Doskozil. "As the EU's external borders are not yet effectively protected, Austria will soon ramp up strict border controls. That means massive border controls on the Brenner Pass, and with soldiers," Doskozil told German daily newspaper Die Welt. (Reuters)
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution setting the stage for the deployment of UN Police to Burundi, where political unrest that has lasted nearly a year killed over 400 people and displaced tens of thousands. The resolution asks Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon to present options within 15 days for the deployment of UN police in order to monitor the security situation, promote respect for human rights and advance the rule of law. (Al Jazeera)
Greece demands an explanation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after an apparent leaked transcript suggested the IMF may threaten to pull out of the country's bailout as a tactic to force European lenders to offer more debt relief. Whistleblowing site WikiLeaks published what it said was the transcript of a March 19 conference call of three senior IMF officials discussing tactics to apply pressure on Greece, Germany and the EU to reach a deal in April. (Reuters)
Law and crime
Indianwomen's rights activists are barred by angry villagers and local authorities from entering Shani Shingnapur temple despite a court ruling guaranteeing access. Breaking with a centuries-old tradition, the high court in Mumbai ruled women have a fundamental right to enter Hindu temples across the state of Maharashtra, and the government has the responsibility to protect their rights. Bhumata Ranragini Brigade leader Trupti Desai and 25 other supporters were detained by police. All India Mahila Congress President Shobha Oza and Delhi Commission for Women chairwoman Swati Maliwal called the actions of locals and authorities "completely shameful." (UPI)
The Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya shuts its offices in Beirut, Lebanon and dismisses 27 employees in a sudden move reflecting tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. Saudi Arabia interpreted Lebanon's lack of public solidarity as a sign that it had become beholden to Hezbollah. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
The Governor of the U.S. territory of GuamEddie Calvo announces his intention to hold a plebiscite to decide the future political status of the island. Calvo said he hopes to start a successful "education campaign" on the issue before filing a petition to start a referendum. If the plebiscite does take place, voters on Guam would be asked to select which political status they would prefer; independence, statehood, or free association However, the possible vote would be non-binding as any change in political status would require an act of Congress in Washington, D.C.. Guam is currently on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in need of decolonization. (Radio New Zealand)
Police in Brussels, Belgium arrest multiple right-wing and anti-racist protesters, with riot squads engaged in a tense confrontation with local youths in the district of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. A standoff grew when far-right protesters faced a counter-demonstration, despite protests being banned by local authorities who were fearful of last Sunday's event, in which police forcefully dispersed a right-wing protest with water cannons. (Reuters)
World Twenty20: West Indies beat England to claim second title -
Carlos Brathwaite hit the first four balls of the final over for six as West Indies stunned England to win the World Twenty20. West Indies, who were 11-3 in pursuit of England's 155-9, needed 19 off the final over to win and did it in style. Marlon Samuels' 85 not out kept them in contention before Brathwaite's match-winning blitz off Ben Stokes. Joe Root scored 54 for England but nothing could stop the Windies joining their women as World T20 champions. In the process, the West Indies also became the first two-time winners of the men's World Twenty20. [BBC]
Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens -
A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax. The company says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. The documents show links to 72 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries. Gerard Ryle, director of the ICIJ, said the documents covered the day-to-day business at Mossack Fonseca over the past 40 years. "I think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents," he said. [BBC]
Azerbaijan calls a unilateral ceasefire in its fight with ethnic Armenians one day after 30 soldiers died. The Associated Press reports rebel forces reject Azerbaijan's claims, saying they see no sign the government has stopped fighting. (AP), (BBC)(NPR)
Iraqi forces capture the northern part of the ISIL held town of Hīt, west of Baghdad. (AP)
An attacker throws a grenade and fires shots outside a sports hall in the small town of Zubin Potok in northern Kosovo, just hours before Serbian Prime MinisterAleksandar Vučić was due to hold an election rally there. "A hand grenade exploded outside the sports hall but there are no injuries," Besim Hoti, a Kosovo police commander in the area, told Reuters. (Reuters)
The Health Information Trust Alliance, a nonprofit industry group, warns that hospitals in the United States must prepare for more ransomware attacks. A review late last year of some 30 mid-sized U.S. hospitals found 52 percent were infected with malicious software. This week, an attack on MedStar Health forced the largest healthcare provider in the Washington, D.C. area, to shut down much of its computer network. (Reuters).
Czech Minister of the Interior Milan Chovanec says that authorities in Prague will send a group of 25 Iraqi Christians back to Iraq after they tried to move to Germany rather than staying in the Czech Republic. The refugees were on their way to Germany via bus before being stopped at the border. Czech authorities agreed to a request by the German police to take the people back. Chovanec said the 25 Iraqis abused Czech generosity and should go back to Iraq within seven days. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Last month's agreement between the European Union and Turkey will be implemented Monday as migrants currently on Greek islands will be returned to the Turkish mainland. (AP)
A Japanese Navy submarine makes a port call in the Philippines, the first in fifteen years, in a show of growing military cooperation amid tension triggered by China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. It was escorted into the former U.S. Naval Base at Subic Bay by two Japanese destroyers on a tour of Southeast Asia. (Reuters)
The Parliament of South Africa announces it will debate a motion to impeach PresidentJacob Zuma this coming Tuesday. This comes after Zuma is facing mounting pressure when the Constitutional Courtruled that Zuma violated the constitution by using state funds to renovate his mansion. Yesterday, anti-apartheid veteran Ahmed Kathrada joined opposition leaders in calling for Zuma's resignation. (Al Jazeera)
Police forcibly break up a protest in Malé, Maldives, with tear gas and pepper spray and detain multiple journalists. The demonstration was against government moves to introduce a new law to criminalize defamation. (BBC)
The Associated Press reports a government-sponsored committee of 27 companies/trade associations, set up by the U.S. FAA in February, on Friday submitted recommendations that could clear the way forcommercial drone flights over populated areas, and help speed the introduction of package delivery drones. (AP)
The 2016 United States women's college basketball national championship will be decided when two former Big East Conference foes meet at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 8:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Connecticut topped Oregon State 80–51, and Syracuse claimed an 80–59 win over Washington in Sunday's semifinals. Syracuse (30–7, 13–3 ACC) will be making its first appearance in the NCAA title game. UConn (37–0, 18–0 American), a 10-time national champion and defending champion for the fourth straight season, has won every title game it has played in.(ESPN)(ESPN²)
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National Poo Museum opens doors on Isle of Wight -
A museum dedicated to excrement, with examples from the animal and human world, has opened to the public. The exhibition at the Isle of Wight Zoo features faeces from animals such as elks and lions as well as a human baby. The National Poo Museum has been created by members of the artist collective Eccleston George. "Poo is all around us and inside us, but we ignore it," said co-curator Daniel Roberts. Twenty illuminated resin spheres show off the different types of faeces with facts hidden behind toilet lids on the museum walls. [BBC]
Mexico City authorities declare a pollution alert after smog rose to 1.5 times acceptable limits the day before implementation of the City's new, temporary air quality program that will keep one-fifth of the city's cars at home every weekday. (AP)
The Supreme Court decided two cases where businesses appealed the previous rulings, finding for the plaintiffs in both. The Court upheld a more than $150 million class action judgment on Walmart'streatment of workers in Pennsylvania, and upheld a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo over allegations the bank imposed excessive overdraft fees. (Reuters via CNBC)
Icelandic Prime MinisterSigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson refuses to resign after leaked "Panama Papers" tax documents showed he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments. "I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," Gunnlaugsson told Icelandic television Channel 2. (AFP via Times Live)
Fighting erupts between unknown assailants and police in the southern part of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, after a disputed Presidential election that brought Denis Sassou Nguessoback to power for a third term. The reason for the clashes is not immediately clear but they have taken place in districts where support for the opposition is strong. The government blames the violence on the Ninjas, a militant group active during the Second Republic of the Congo Civil War. (Al Jazeera)(BBC)
Panama Papers: Iceland PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigns -
Iceland's prime minister has resigned - the first major casualty of the leaked Panama Papers that have shone a spotlight on offshore finance. The leaks, from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, showed Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company with his wife but had not declared it when he entered parliament. He is accused of concealing millions of dollars' worth of family assets. Mr Gunnlaugsson says he sold his shares to his wife, and denies any wrongdoing. He is one of dozens of high-profile global figures mentioned in the 11.5 million leaked financial and legal records, which were first published on Sunday. [BBC]
Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson
Doncaster Rovers fans angry at 1D star Louis Tomlinson's competition win -
Doncaster Rovers fans have reacted angrily to One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and his grandfather winning a competition to design the football club's new away kit. The club revealed the 'Story Of My Life' singer was behind the design on Monday after the poll had closed. In the wake of the announcement some fans have criticised the club and questioned the credibility of the vote. Doncaster Rovers say the voting process "was all was fair and above board". Writing on Twitter one fan said: "I wonder if the vote was rigged or that shirt actually won??? #drfc." [BBC]
Louis Tomlinson
Pfizer Inc. decides to terminate its $160 billion merger with Allergan, Plc as officials in Washington crack down on corporate inversions. Pfizer will need to pay a $400 million fee to Allergan for expenses relating to the deal. (Bloomberg)
China'sMinistry of Commerce says that it is restricting trade with North Korea, in line with the recent sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council last March. China will be banning the export of jet fuel and import of gold, some coal and "rare earth metals" used in high-tech goods. (BBC)
France places Panama back on its list of countries that do not cooperate in catching tax evaders. "France has decided to put Panama back on the list of uncooperative countries, with all the consequences that will have for those who have transactions" with the Central American state, Finance MinisterMichel Sapin, told Parliament on Tuesday. (AFP via Al Jazeera)
Due to concerns about an increasingly anti-Mexican climate across the border, Mexico unexpectedly changes two of its top officials responsible for U.S. relations. Foreign MinisterClaudia Ruiz Massieutold local media, "We have been warning that our citizens have begun to feel a more hostile climate. This (anti-Mexican) rhetoric has made it clear that we have to act in a different way so that this tendency being generated doesn't damage the bilateral relationship." (Reuters)
The Military junta of Thailand gives the Royal Thai Armed Forces broad police-like powers. The military is now allowed to prevent or suppress over 27 types of offenses. The move created an outcry from human rights organizations and prompted the United States to express its concern over the growing influence of the military in the country. (The Guardian)
The results of a referendum last month in the Australian state of Queensland with voters agreeing to plans for a four year fixed parliamentary term. (AAP via Yahoo! News)
Peruvians protest in five cities, including the capital Lima, against the presidential candidacy of Keiko Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, who exactly 24 years ago this day carried out a coup by shutting down Congress and taking over the courts with the support of the military. Keiko Fujimori is the front runner in Sunday's April 10, 2016, election. Yesterday, Fujimori committed to respect democratic liberties and the rule of law, and to work against corruption, which some opponents have rejected. The Organization of American States says the election could lack credibility unless two recently-disqualified candidates are allowed to run. (NBC News)(AP via The Washington Post)(Prensa Latina)
In women's college basketball, the Connecticut Huskies top the Syracuse Orange to cap a perfect season (38-0) with the program's fourth straight national championship, and in all four, UConn's senior center Breanna Stewart wins the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player. (CNN)(ESPN)
Rangers F.C., the association football club with the most domestic league titles in the world, earn promotion to the Scottish Premiership, returning to the nation's top division for the first time since their triple relegation for financial reasons in 2012. (BBC Sport)
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Samsung patents design for 'smart' augmented reality contact lenses -
Samsung has filed a patent on 'smart' contact lenses, which can project images straight into the users' eyes. Wearing the lenses would allow users to experience 'augmented' reality, with computer-generated images superimposed over the real world. As Samsung blog SamMobile reveals, the South Korean patent shows a drawing of the lens, which is fitted with a miniscule display, camera and antenna. It's also fitted with a number of sensors that can detect eye movement and blinking, which is how users would control the display. Since the device is so small, it's designed to connect to a smartphone for processing power. According to the patent application, written in Korean and translated by SamMobile, the contact lenses would provide much better image quality than existing smart glasses, as well as being far less bulky and intrusive. [The Independent]
Samsung Contact Lens patent image
US university in Scalia law school acronym blunder -
Officials at a US university were left red-faced after their decision to rename a law school after late Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia prompted hilarity over its unfortunate acronym. George Mason University in Virginia said its law school would be called the Antonin Scalia School of Law. The eagle-eyed immediately took to Twitter to point out that the acronym would be ASSoL. The university has since renamed it as the Antonin Scalia Law School. [BBC]
Beyonce sues over 'Feyonce' label -
Singer Beyonce is suing a US company to stop it from selling merchandise branded "Feyonce". Texas firm Feyonce Inc sells clothing, and other items such as mugs with the label, on its website. The pop star claims the label is too near to her own trademarked name and confuses customers and fans and damages her reputation. The singer also claims in court papers filed in Manhattan that the company has ignored her requests to stop. Beyonce's complaint accuses the San Antonio company, and three individuals, of "brazenly" selling the Feyonce-labelled merchandise. [BBC]
Beyonce_Knowles
Video of the Day -
50 ft Flamethrower in 4K Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys
Cyclone Zena, now a category 3 storm, heads for Fiji, where a tropical depression already dumped up to 12 inches of rain on the western and northern parts of Fiji's largest and most populous island, Viti Levu, triggering major flash flooding that's killed at least two people. The archipelago is still recovering from category 5 Cyclone Winston that killed 44 people in February. (Weather.com)(Television New Zealand)
Deadly floods hit Ethiopia, leaving at least 28 people dead as seasonal rains come early to the country. The majority of these deaths occurred in the city of Jijiga while elsewhere, heavy downpours of rain were reported with more floods expected in the next few days. (Al Jazeera)
The President of RussiaVladimir Putin announces the creation of a new National Guard, which he said would fight terrorism and organized crime. However, some critics claim the creation of the National Guard is linked to the upcoming legislative election this September with them saying that Putin fears unrest, something Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denies. (BBC)
The results, while not official yet, show voters solidly rejecting the approval of the Association Agreement with 61.1 percent and turnout reaching over the 30 percent threshold for the referendum to be valid. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Modern men lack Y chromosome genes from Neanderthals, researchers say -
Although it's widely known that modern humans carry traces of Neanderthal DNA, a new international study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that Neanderthal Y-chromosome genes disappeared from the human genome long ago. The Y chromosome is one of two human sex chromosomes. Unlike the X chromosome, the Y chromosome is passed exclusively from father to son. This is the first study to examine a Neanderthal Y chromosome, Fernando Mendez, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford said. Previous studies sequenced DNA from the fossils of Neanderthal women or from mitochondrial DNA, which is passed to children of either sex from their mother. "We've never observed the Neanderthal Y chromosome DNA in any human sample ever tested," Bustamante said. "That doesn't prove it's totally extinct, but it likely is." [phys.org]
NASA 'cuts space station video' immediately after bizarre UFO hovers above Earth -
A space enthusiast has come across what could be an astonishing visit from aliens. An unnamed alien hunter recorded the UFO while watching the live feed from the International Space Station earlier this week. However, the mysterious video of the giant UFO took a strange turn after the ISS video feed suddenly went dead for nearly an hour just as the bizarre flying object came into view. The "clearly defined UFO" appeared emerging above the horizon of Earth before it "disappeared completely from sight". The enthusiast said the speed of the object "had to be in the tens of thousands of miles per hour." He described the bizarre sighting on Tuesday as "unquestionably real and present" and raised suspicisions after "NASA cut the live feed for nearly an hour" just as the UFO vanished. [Daily Express] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
'Millennium Falcon-type UFO' spotted in NASA's live International Space Station feed
According to Syrian state television, ISIL militants kidnapped over 300 staff members from a cement factory outside of the city of Al-Dumayr earlier this week and no contact with them has been made since. (Al Jazeera)
Another earthquake measuring at 6.7 strikes off the northwest of Vanuatu, the third earthquake in the same region this week. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the earthquake poses no tsunami threat. (Radio New Zealand)
Students from Jagannath University in Dhaka, where Nazimuddin Samad studied, protest the killing and tell reporters that police inaction over previous killings contributed to the death of Samad. (BBC)
The government of Panama announces that it is creating an "international panel" to help improve transparency in its offshore financial industry. The move follows the leak of millions of documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca, showing it helped some clients evade tax and avoid sanctions. (BBC)
Springsteen cancels North Carolina concert over bathroom bill -
Rock star Bruce Springsteen on Friday canceled a concert scheduled for this weekend in North Carolina to protest a new state law restricting bathroom use by transgender individuals, as country music stars decried similar legislation proposed in Tennessee. Springsteen said in an online statement that the North Carolina law was "an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress." Tickets for the concert that was to be presented on Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina, would be refunded, according to Springsteen's website. PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) cited the discriminatory nature of the law when it canceled on Tuesday a new operations center that was to employ 400 workers in Charlotte. [Reuters] In March Springsteen signed a late note for a schoolboy who came to one of his concerts
Bruce Springsteen
SpaceX reusable rocket lands on ocean platform -
The US aerospace company SpaceX has successfully landed a resusable rocket on an ocean platform, after four previous attempts failed. Mission controllers cheered as the Falcon 9 rocket remained upright on the platform off Florida. It was returning from delivering an inflatable habitat into space for Nasa. The inflatable room will attach to the International Space Station (ISS) for a two-year test and become the first such habitat to for humans in orbit. It is due to reach the ISS around 09:00 GMT on Sunday along with other freight aboard the Dragon capsule. Built by Nevada company Bigelow Aerospace, the habitat is intended to pave the way towards the use of such rooms for long space trips, including to Mars. [BBC] See Video of the Day
At least seven people are killed, including five Egyptian Army soldiers, a military officer and a civilian woman in two separate blasts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. ISIL's Sinai branch claimed responsibility for the attacks on several websites. (Reuters)
ISIL militants reportedly execute 175 workers who were captured earlier this week at a cement factory situated to the east of Damascus. (RT)(Daily Mail)
In the 256-page document, the Pope encourages the clergy to embrace sinners as well as saints, opens the door a bit for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, and stresses that Catholics, with their own informed consciences guided by the light of the Gospel, address tricky moral questions in their life, and not only be guided by dogmatic rules from above. Francis also asserts the right to a natural deathwithout aggressive treatment; firmly rejects the death penalty; and reiterates the Church's opposition to same-sex marriage. (AP²)(The Washington Post)(Vatican)
El Salvador officials seize documents and equipment during a raid of the local offices of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Attorney General Douglas Melendez says authorities interviewed seven employees, and confiscated 20 computers and some documents. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
The French occupy movement known as Nuit debout enters its ninth day, "March 40," spreading across dozens of French cities and to Belgium, Germany, and Spain. (The Guardian)
A Myanmar court releases 69 jailed student activists in the first wave of amnesty for the country's political prisoners, with more releases expected. This comes after State CounsellorAung San Suu Kyi vowed to push for the release of all the political prisoners in Myanmar. (Al Jazeera)
Grand National: Rule The World wins under David Mullins -
The 33-1 shot Rule The World, ridden by 19-year-old David Mullins and trained by Mouse Morris, has won the 2016 Grand National at Aintree. Mullins, in his first ride in the race, came storming through to overhaul The Last Samuri (8-1 joint favourite) and Vics Canvas (100-1) late on. It gave Morris a double after Rogue Angel's Irish National win last month.
Last year's winner Many Clouds challenged but was beaten a long way out and finished 16th and last. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Snowboarder Girl Chased By Bear - I Was Singing Rihanna Work And Didn't Know It Was Behind Me!
List of the Day -
Grand National Trivia
Fastest winning time: Mr. Frisk (1990); 8 minutes 47.8 seconds
Egypt and Saudi Arabia reach an agreement on the disputed islands of Tiran Island and Sanafir Island, placing the formerly Egyptian-administered islands officially under Saudi Arabian sovereignty. (Daily Mail)
Thousands of people protest in Whitehall calling on British Prime Minister David Cameron to resign over his financial affairs and his handling of them in relation to revelations made by the leak of the Panama Papers. (Independent)
Fifa: Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke & Markus Kattner 'awarded themselves £55m' -
Former high-ranking Fifa officials Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner awarded themselves pay rises and bonuses worth $80m (£55m) over five years, say Fifa lawyers. Football's governing body revealed the contracts of ex-president Blatter, fired ex-secretary general Valcke and sacked former finance director Kattner one day after a Swiss police raid. Fifa's lawyers said there was evidence that the trio made "a coordinated effort" to "enrich themselves" between 2011 and 2015. Documents and electronic data were seized from Kattner's old office during Thursday's operation, which relates to investigations into Blatter and Valcke, according to sources close to Fifa's internal investigation. [BBC]
Jérôme_Valcke
Hillary Clinton picks up six out of seven pledged delegates in the V.I. caucus. (AP via ABC News)
Science and technology
Scientists report, in the AHA journal Stroke, that a small trial of stroke victims showed significant improvement following injection of stem cells directly into their brains. The study had been designed just to test whether the highly experimental therapy was safe. Such treatments were available in China for many years but treatment results were very inconclusive. (Tech Insider)(Stroke)
Danny Willett wins the 2016 Masters -
While Jordan Spieth attempted to make history today, Danny Willett stole the spotlight. With a final-round, 5-under-par 67, Willett became the first Englishman in 20 years to win the Masters Tournament. Willett, 28, finished at 5-under-par 283. He defeated Spieth and Lee Westwood (69) by three shots. Spieth bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11. Then, he hit his tee shot at the par-3 12th into the bank, his ball rolling back into the water. Spieth then chunked his third shot into the water and his fifth into the back bunker. He got up and down from there for a quadruple-bogey 7. With Spieth’s meltdown, Willett birdied Nos. 14 to move to 4-under. He rolled in a seven-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to get to 5-under. Then, he saved par at No. 17 after hitting his second shot just off the green. Willett made par at No. 18 to finish with a 3-under-par 33 total on the back nine. He joins Nick Faldo as the only two Englishmen to ever win the Masters. [Augusta.com]
Danny Willett
Video of the Day -
2CELLOS - Whole Lotta Love vs. Beethoven 5th Symphony
The Taliban, in a statement claiming responsibility for yesterday's rocket attacks into Kabul, Afghanistan, says the intended target was U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry, who was in the capital to help defuse a crisis within the unity government. Kerry had departed less than an hour earlier. No casualties have been reported. (CNN)
Suspected Shining Path rebels kill three people, two of them Peruvian Army soldiers and the other a driver, in an attack on a vehicle carrying election materials in the remote areas of the country. (BBC)
Voters in Chad go to the polls for the first round of voting in a presidential election with incumbent PresidentIdriss Déby favoured to win a fifth term. (Reuters)
Voting begins for the second round of an election in the Comoros with a tight race expected between three candidates. They are current Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi, who won the first round, former coup leader Azali Assoumani and Governor of Grande Comore Mouigni Baraka. (Al Jazeera)
Macedonianpolice fire tear gas at refugees as they attempted to break through a fence at the Greece-Macedonia border near Idomeni, sparking clashes that injured 200 people. (Al Jazeera)
British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron releases his tax records in an effort to remove discussion about his personal wealth from the current political discourse. His initial reluctance to admit he had benefited from his late father's offshore Panama Papers holdings still seems to be affecting the upcoming European Union referendum. Unfortunately for the PM, the main Sunday newspapers in the U.K. tell of a gift of 200,000 pounds ($282,500) from his mother in 2011, suggesting it may have been a way of avoiding inheritance tax. (Reuters)
The World Wildlife Fund reports global populations of tigers, an endangered species, are up about 20 percent over the past six years. This increase in tiger numbers, after declining for a century, was primarily in India, Russia, Nepal, and Bhutan. The third Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation starts Monday in New Delhi, India. (Newsweek)
Bryan Adams cancels Mississippi concert over new religious law -
Bryan Adams has cancelled a concert in Mississippi over the US state's new controversial religious liberty law. The law, which allows some private businesses and religious groups to refuse service to gay people, was passed last week. The singer issued a statement saying he could not "in good conscience" perform in the state. He added he found it "incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against". He was due to play the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi on Thursday. Adams's cancellation comes after Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in North Carolina last week because of a new law in that state. [BBC]
Bryan Adams
Clashes and air strikes are reported in Yemen despite a fragile truce between the government and Houthis taking effect. However, the truce appears to be largely holding as members from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are granted unhindered access to give humanitarian aid and personnel across the country. (BBC)
At least five people are killed and seven are wounded following a car bomb attack near a government building in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the attack. (BBC)
Goldman Sachs agrees to pay $5.06 billion to settle allegations that it sold packages of shoddy mortgages prior to the global financial crisis.. The U.S. Justice Department settlement includes a $2.385 billion civil penalty, and $1.8 billion for distressed borrowers and communities affected by the housing crisis. (The Washington Post)(UPI)
A severe heat wave grips Malaysia as much of Southeast Asia struggles with unusually hot and dry weather created by the El Niño season. Temperatures in Malaysia soared above 37°C, prompting more than 250 schools to close. (Al Jazeera)
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, says he welcomes the tentative truce that started at midnight Yemen time. The truce opens unhindered access for relief aid to all of Yemen. Peace talks are set to start later this month. (Reuters)
South Korea announces that a colonel from North Korea's military spy agency defected to the south last year. Senior-level defections are rare, most being low level operatives. (AP)
Five workers from the company that supplied fireworks to the Puttingal Temple have been detained by Indian police with the death toll rising to 106. (CNN)
Voting for a referendum begins in Darfur, Sudan. Voters will be asked during the three-day referendum to decide on the permanent administrative status of the region. The choices are for the creation of a Darfur Region composed of the States of Darfur, or the retention of the status quo states system. Darfur is currently divided into five states. Voters will decide this week whether the area should go back to being one region, as it was until 1994. However, there are fears of voter apathy and if the referendum will be credible. (Al Jazeera)
The President of the Georgian breakaway state of South OssetiaLeonid Tibilov announces his plan to hold a referendum on whether to become part of Russia or to keep its de facto independence before August of this year. This comes after South Ossetia signed various agreements further integrating the region with Russia. (TASS)
Prof Hawking backs interstellar travel project -
Stephen Hawking is backing a project to send tiny spacecraft to another star system within a generation. They would travel trillions of miles; far further than any previous craft.
A $100m (£70m) research programme to develop the computer chip-sized "starships" was launched by the billionaire Yuri Milner, supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. "If we are to survive as a species we must ultimately spread out to the stars," he said. "Astronomers believe that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet orbiting one of the stars [in] the Alpha Centauri system. But we will know more in the next two decades from ground based and space based telescopes. "Technological developments in the last two decades and the future make it possible in principle within a generation." [BBC]
Stephen Hawking in 1999
Entertainer and producer David Gest found dead -
Entertainer, producer and reality television star David Gest has died in a London hotel aged 62, a statement from his friend says. Gest, who is a former husband of singer Liza Minnelli, died at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf. His friend and ex-bodyguard Imad Handi confirmed the news in a statement. American Gest was best known in the UK for his appearances on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother. [BBC]
Reuters reports that it has seen a draft memorandum generated by the International Monetary Fund that describes the debt owed by Greece to its European partners as "highly unsustainable." (Reuters)
A Pakistanipolice officer accidentally detonates a grenade in an anti-terrorism court in Karachi, injuring himself and a court assistant. The officer was attempting to demonstrate a grenade detonator to a judge and said the grenade was defused before pulling the pin. (The Guardian)
North Korea accuses South Korea of kidnapping its citizens and demands their immediate return after Seoul's Ministry of Unification said 13 of them had defected to South Korea from China, where they worked in a Pyongyang-operated restaurant. China says that the 13 people, a male manager and 12 young female employees, had legitimate passports and had freely exited China. (The Straits Times)
Belgium federal prosecutors say two more men have been charged with terrorist offenses linked to last month's Brussels bombing. Also, three people connected to the last year's Paris attacks are in custody. (Reuters)
North Carolina GovernorPat McCrory signs Executive Order 73 that addresses some, but not all, troublesome provisions in House Bill 2 that caused businesses, traveling recording stars, etc., to stay clear of the state. The order does expand the state's anti-discrimination employment policy to include LBGT protection, but reiterates that people use the marked facility consistent with "... their biological sex." The American Civil Liberties Union says the order, "... fall(s) far short of correcting the damage done ... (and that)... transgender people are still explicitly targeted by being forced to use the wrong restroom." Equality North Carolina says, "... the order doubles down on the Governor's support for some of the most problematic provisions of HB2." (NPR)(WSOC)(WNCN)
A German train controller, who was operating the tracks where two trains collided on February 9 near the town of Bad Aibling, Bavaria, is arrested on possible manslaughter charges. Prosecutors say the controller had been playing a game on his mobile phone, which led to his making signalling errors. The crash resulted in 11 deaths and 85 injuries, 24 serious. (UPI)
Politics and elections
Hundreds of people take to the streets of Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir after Indian Army soldiers shot dead at least two people during a protest against an alleged case of sexual harrasment by an army soldier against a young woman. (Al Jazeera)
In a 13-minute audio tape he released Monday, Vice President Temer outlines his administration in the event that President Rousseff is impeached. Temer says he unintentionally sent the tape to lawmakers through an instant messengerapp. (Bloomberg)(AP via The Washington Post)
Russian warplanes 'aggressively' pass US missile destroyer -
Two Russian planes flew close to a US guided missile destroyer almost a dozen times, American officials have said. The Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes, in international waters in the Baltic Sea, had no visible weaponry and the ship took no action. One official called the events on Monday and Tuesday "one of the most aggressive acts in recent memory". The commander of the missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, described the flights as a "simulated attack". The passes were "unsafe, potentially provocative" and "could have caused an accident," officials said in a release. [BBC]
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Myanmar 396 kilometers (246 miles) north of the capital, Naypyidaw, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (AP via CBS News)
The government of Malawi declares a state of emergency across the country over worsening food shortages caused by a severe drought that is affecting much of Southern Africa with about 2.8 million Malawians, or 20% of the population, facing food insecurity. (Al Jazeera)
Indian officials report, with 24 deaths today, the heatwave in the eastern state of Odisha has killed 135 people. Temperatures of 105.5 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded yesterday at 19 locations across the state. Meteorologists say the heat, an after-effect of El Niño, has delayed the traditional April rains. (UPI)
A number of people were injured in clashes between police and several thousand protestors in Skopje, Macedonia, with demonstrators breaking into PresidentGjorge Ivanov's offices. (RT)
Sport
The World Anti-Doping Agency advises that WADA-accredited laboratories are currently conducting studies on meldoniumexcretion rates since existing data is lacking. Meldonium became a banned substance on January 1, 2016. A large number of athletes, including grand-slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova, had taken the medication in the past, and have tested positive this year. The new data will address how long meldonium stays in the body and determine if athletes were provided a reasonable amount of time to adhere to the new restrictions prior to testing. The drug was used by many Soviet-bloc athletes since the 80s. (Reuters)(WADA)
US basketball star Kobe Bryant shines in final game -
One of basketball's biggest stars, Kobe Bryant, has retired from the sport after a career spanning two decades with a stunning final performance. He scored 60 points to help the LA Lakers make a dramatic comeback against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles. Bryant, 37, spent his entire career with the Lakers, winning five NBA titles and recording the third highest total number of points in the sport. Tickets for his final match changed hands for up to $27,500 (£19,315). Bryant scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to help his team overcome a 15-point deficit to win the game. [BBC]
Kobe Bryant
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes near Kumamoto, Japan, collapsing several buildings killing at least four people and injuring 400. However, no tsunami warning was issued and local nuclear power plants reported no problems. (Reuters), (CNN), (Japan Today)
The U.S. company Microsoft has sued the United States, alleging that it has been prevented from disclosing warrants to the company’s customers in violation of the company’s constitutional rights. (NYT)
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir impose a curfew around the capital of Srinagar, Handwara, and neighbouring villages as protests turn violent. People began to protest last Tuesday when allegations were circulated by residents in Handwara that an Indian Army soldier tried to sexually assault a teenage schoolgirl. (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of opposition supporters rally in Harare, Zimbabwe, against PresidentRobert Mugabe and the deteriorating economy. The rally was banned by the police, however, it went ahead after a ruling by the High Court sanctioned the protest. (BBC)
New Zealand stages first Pastafarian wedding on pirate boat -
The light-hearted Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has staged its first legally recognised wedding. Toby Ricketts and Marianna Fenn tied the "noodle knot" in the New Zealand South Island town of Akaroa. The happy couple say that guidelines of the Pastafarian religion stipulate that wedding celebrants must be pirates. Members of the church profess the belief that the world was created by an airborne spaghetti and meatballs-based being and humans evolved from pirates. New Zealand officials last month designated the religion as an officially-recognised faith, allowing Wellington-based Pastafarian Karen Martyn the legal right to conduct marriages. She carried out her inaugural wedding as an ordained "ministeroni" on Saturday. [BBC]
A battle rages in the Kunduz Province of Afghanistan as the Taliban launches its spring offensive to capture the city of Kunduz. According to a Taliban spokesperson, several outposts already fell to them but this could not be verified immediately while a police chief says that the security forces were keeping "the situation under control". (Al Jazeera)
At least four Turkish Army soldiers are killed and two others are wounded after a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in the southeast Mardin Province. (Reuters)
The death toll from yesterday's earthquake rises to nine with eight dead in the town of Mashiki. Eight hundred people have been injured including over 50 seriously injured. (AP)
Authorities in Rwanda jail former politician Léon Mugesera for life. Mugesera was known for describing Tutsis as "cockroaches" and called for their extermination in a speech in 1992 and is said to be a precursor to the Rwandan genocide. (BBC)
Riot police violently break up an anti-Sisi protest in Cairo, Egypt. In the first sign of public discontent with President Sisi's rule, hundreds of people gathered and shouted slogans calling for his overthrow. (Al Jazeera)
Leaders of the Czech Republic choose “Czechia” as the one-word alternative name of their country to make it easier for companies, politicians and sportsmen to use on products, name tags and sporting jerseys. However, this change must still win cabinet approval before the foreign ministry can lodge the name with the United Nations for it to become the country’s official short name. (The Guardian)
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Ecuador earthquake of 7.8 magnitude kills dozens -
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador has killed at least 77 people and injured more than 500, Vice-President Jorge Glas says. The quake, Ecuador's largest since 1979, hit at 18:58 on Saturday (23:58 GMT) near the northern town of Muisne. Widespread severe damage is reported, with a bridge destroyed as far south as Guayaquil about 300km (190 miles) away. President Rafael Correa, who is flying back from a trip to Italy, has decreed a state of emergency. He said: "This is a very painful test. I ask the country to be calm and united... Let's be strong; we will overcome this." He added: "Roads and hospitals can be rebuilt; you cannot recover lost lives. That's what hurts the most." [BBC]
Army approves 22 women as infantry, armor officers -
The Army approved requests from 22 women to become the first female infantry and armor unit officers, opening leadership and ground combat positions previously only available to men. The Army said throughout the coming weeks 13 women will enter the armor branch and nine others will enter infantry as second lieutenants. They will be the first females to serve in the traditionally all-male front-line combat branches since the U.S. Department of Defense opened all combat roles in the U.S. Armed Forces to women. [UPI]
Prince rushed to hospital after emergency plane landing -
Prince has been rushed to hospital after his plane made an emergency landing.According to TMZ, the singer's private jet was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Illinois.It happened just hours after he'd performed on stage in Atlanta. Prince was immediately taken from the plane in an ambulance and treated at a nearby hospital.He was released after a few hours. [BBC]
Prince in 2008
According to a police chief, at least 40 Taliban fighters are killed after launching an offensive against Afghan security forces to seize the strategic northern city of Kunduz while four security force personnel are also killed. (Al Jazeera)
AMISOM soldiers kill four Somali civilians in the town of Bulla Marer, southwest of Mogadishu. The AU Mission said scared soldiers opened fire when the car the civilians were driving failed to stop at a roadblock. (BBC)
German police report an apparent deliberate explosion at a Sikh temple in Essen while a wedding was being celebrated, has injured three people, one in serious condition. Police say there is no indication this was a terrorist incident. (AP)
Arts and culture
The United States Army approves 22 soldiers requests to become the service's first female infantry and armor unit officers. Thirteen women will enter the armor branch, and nine others will enter infantry assecond lieutenants. (UPI)
A second earthquake hits southern Japan with a magnitude of 7.1 killing at least 32 people with the death toll from both earthquakes rising to 42. The new quake traps even more people. In Kumamoto a landslide occurs as well as a bridge collapse. (AFP via Yahoo! News)(AP)(AP via Yahoo! News)
Later, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center announces the threat has largely passed. The United States Geological Survey reports the 7.8 magnitude quake was preceded, 11 minutes earlier, by a 4.8 earthquake. Production at the 110,000 barrel-per-day Esmeraldas refinery is suspended as a precautionary measure. (The Straits Times)
Pope Francis offers refuge to a dozen SyrianMuslims, three families with six children, who faced deportation from Lesbos. The refugees accompanied the Pope on his return trip to Rome. (The Guardian)
EUForeign policy chiefFederica Mogherini holds the highest-level talks between the EU and Iran in decades to mark a new phase in relations between the two. Both sides are keen to focus on trade, energy and the environment as possible areas of cooperation. (BBC)
Iraq'sParliament cancels its third session in a week to discuss political reforms as some MPs dispute the legitimacy of speaker Salim al-Jabouri to chair the meeting. Also, protesters gathered in the streets ofBaghdad to protest the growing political deadlock in the country. (Al Jazeera)
As protesters continue to take to the streets of Skopje, Macedonia, lawmakers confirmed that a snap election will take place on June 5 despite the protesters being angry at PresidentGjorge Ivanov’sdecision to halt investigations into more than 50 public figures, including top politicians embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal. Zoran Zaev, the main opposition leader, vowed to boycott the election. (The Guardian)
Messi scores 500th career goal -
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has scored his 500th career goal. The Argentine forward netted in the 63rd minute of Sunday's Liga clash with Valencia to bring up the landmark. Messi, who was making his 525th appearance for Barca, has now scored an incredible 450 goals for the Liga champions, while he has a total of 50 for Argentina from his 107 caps for the national team. [Goal.com] In January Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player for the fifth time.
Lionel Messi
Apple recovered one tonne of gold by recycling iPhones last year -
Apple has revealed it reclaimed almost one metric tonne of gold by recycling its own products in 2015. At current prices, that's equivalent to around £28 million worth of gold. The figure was revealed in Apple's recently-released Environmental Responsibility Report, which details the results of the company's eco-friendly efforts in the last financial year. As well as the gold, Apple recovered three tonnes of silver (worth around £1.1 million at current prices), and over 1,300 tonnes of copper. These valuable materials were reclaimed through the Apple Renew scheme, which lets customers hand in their worn-out Apple devices in exchange for money off future Apple purchases. [The Independent]
Heavy fighting continues in the north of Afghanistan as Taliban fighters intensify their attacks in several districts around Kunduz in their bid to retake the city. According to a police chief, militants overnight attacked several police checkpoints in the southwest outskirts of the city while government forces repelled a major attack to the east of Kunduz. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A bus carrying members of the Bharati Gananatya opera troupe crashes into a gorge in India's Odisha state resulting in 25 people killed and 11 injured. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Members of OPEC meet in Doha, Qatar, amid uncertainty in the markets and the outcome of the meeting. Since 2014, the price of oil has dropped dramatically. Analysts hope that an agreement to freeze output will reassure global energy markets that the recent recovery in prices is sustainable. (Al Jazeera)
The Italian referendum proposes repealing the law that allows oil drilling concessions extracting Hydrocarbon within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast to be prolonged until the exhaustion of the useful life of the fields. (Euronews)
At least 7,000 people take to the streets of Brussels, Belgium, in a march "against terror and hate." However, turnout was less than half of what was hoped for by organizers. (BBC)
Depp's wife Amber Heard avoids Australia dog-smuggling conviction -
Actress Amber Heard has avoided a conviction for illegally taking her dogs into Australia. Ms Heard, married to actor Johnny Depp, had pleaded guilty in court to making a false statement on her immigration card about the couple's Yorkshire terriers. But the Queensland judge gave her a one-month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded. If she breaks the bond she must pay A$1,000 ($770; £540). The authorities also released an unusual video apology from the couple. In the video, which was shown in court and made public by the Department of Agriculture, the couple expressed remorse and advised travellers to respect Australian quarantine laws. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Amber Heard
Three-day working week 'optimal for over-40s' -
Workers aged over 40 perform at their best if they work three days a week, according to economic researchers. Their research analysed the work habits and brain test results of about 3,000 men and 3,500 women aged over 40 in Australia. Their calculations suggest a part-time job keeps the brain stimulated, while avoiding exhaustion and stress. The researchers said this needed to be taken into consideration as many countries raise their retirement age. [BBC]
YouTube live-streams in virtual reality and adds 3D sound -
YouTube is introducing live-streamed 360-degree videos on its service. The Google-owned platform said select concerts from California's Coachella festival would be the first to use the virtual reality facility. In addition, it announced videos on its service could now be enhanced with "spatial audio", which simulates the effect of sounds coming from different directions and distances. One expert said the innovation could greatly enhance VR experiences. The announcements were timed to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, where several new virtual reality products are being launched. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: Australian biosecurity
A bomb explosion in Jerusalem set two buses on fire and injured 21 people with ball bearing and nails. Israelipolice say they believe the incident was a suicide bombing but no group has claimed responsibility. (Euronews)(Ynetnews)
According to the government of Ethiopia, the death toll from a raid carried out by attackers from South Sudan has risen to 208 from a figure of 140 a day earlier, with 108 children being kidnapped in the process. Ethiopian forces killed 60 of the attackers and says it would cross the border into South Sudan to pursue the assailants if necessary. (Al Jazeera)
A member of the board of the Bundesbank in Germany says that the European Central Bank ought to crack down on the political practice, in EU's member state, by which banks that are no longer viable are nonetheless kept in business, as so-called Zombie banks. (Reuters)
Violent storms cause floods across Uruguay with seven people killed and more than 2,000 left homeless. Four of those were killed by a tornado that struck Dolores. Four million people in the Chilean capital ofSantiago were left without tap water as heavy rains triggered landslides. This led to the fouling of the city's water supply. (Al Jazeera)
Heavy rain of more than 1 foot (0.30 m) causes major flooding in Houston, Texas, affecting 1,000 homes, causing five deaths and causing power outages for over 100,000 residents. (CNN), (USA Today), (Time)
Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely criticizes Philippine presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte regarding his remarks about the rape of an Australian citizen. (Rappler), (The New York Times)
During a visit to Baghdad, U.S. Defense SecretaryAsh Carter announces that the United States will be sending more troops to the country to help in the fight against ISIL. The U.S. also plans to giveKurdishPeshmerga forces, which are fighting ISIL on the ground, more than $400m (£280m; €350m) in assistance. (BBC)
More than 30,000 runners participate in the 120th running of the Boston Marathon. Two Ethiopian runners win. Adriana Haslett and Patrick Downes, survivors of the 2013 bombing who each lost a leg in the blast, were in the field.(The Boston Globe)(NPR)
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Liking mornings linked to being stupid -
People who are upbeat in the morning have extremely low intelligence, it has been confirmed. Researchers at the Institute for Studies found that self-styled ‘morning people’ have IQ levels below that of most people and even some animals. Professor Henry Brubaker said: “People who jump eagerly out of bed to begin their ‘morning rituals’ have the simplistic upbeat mentality that comes from a general lack of awareness. Labradors are also like that. “Their only evolutionary purpose is to clatter around in the kitchen making smoothies, annoying the more intelligent humans so much that they are forced to crawl grudgingly out of bed and start doing the things that are truly necessary to society. “‘Morning people’ love poor quality cheerful art like ‘beach grooves’ compilation CDs and films about street dancers succeeding against the odds. They’re nice. They just aren’t very bright.” [Daily Mash]
A large explosion is reported in the Afghan capital Kabul a week after the Taliban declared the start of their annual spring offensive. The target was an Afghan government security compound with at least 28 people reported killed and more than 200 others injured. (Times of India), (AP via Fox News)
Airstrikes that were likely carried out by Syrian government forces kill around 40 people in a crowded market in rebel territory in Syria's Idlib Governorate. (Reuters)
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake has risen to at least 480 with 1,700 missing. Another 2,500 have been injured. PresidentRafael Correa states it is the worst disaster in Ecuador in seven decades, and the reconstruction will have a "huge economic impact" on the country. (BBC)(CBS News)
Swedish deputy prime minister Åsa Romson is criticized after referring to the September 11 attacks in New York as mere "accidents". Romson made the comments on public television while discussing the resignation of housing minister Mehmet Kaplan who had compared Israel's treatment of Arabs to the Nazis’ treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. (Daily Mail)(The Local)
In response to an ongoing Supreme Court case regarding the ownership of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the government of India said it should not try to reclaim it from the United Kingdom. The government argues that the diamond was given to the British as a gift and was not stolen. However, the Supreme Court says it will continue with the case. (BBC)
Law and crime
Authorities in China sentence Huang Yu, a computer technician from Sichuan who worked for a government department which handled state secrets, to death for leaking more than 150,000 classified documents to an unidentified foreign power. The documents in question covered secrets ranging from the ruling Communist Party to military and financial issues. (The Guardian)
A Jerusalemdistrict court rejects an insanity plea and convicts Yosef Chaim Ben-David as the ringleader of the terrorist kidnapping and murder of the 16-year-old Palestinian. In November, the court convicted Ben-David's two accomplices, both minors, of murder. (Haaretz)(Al Bawaba)
While South Korea prepares for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Associated Press reports the country has covered up widespread human rights violations, including rapes and murders, when it swept so-called vagrants off the streets in the years prior to the 1988 Games in Seoul. Thousands of victims have received no compensation, nor public recognition nor an apology. The AP says two early attempts to investigate were suppressed by senior officials and the current government refuses to revisit the case and is blocking a push by an opposition lawmaker. (AP)
The government of the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island announces it is going to take its governance issue to the United Nations. Former and final Chief Minister of the island Lisle Snell said he seeks to have Norfolk Island added on the UN's list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and be given the rights that are accorded under the terms and conditions of being on the list. In 2015, the Australian government terminated Norfolk Island's self-governing status in response to serious financial issues but without the islanders' or government's consent. (Radio New Zealand)
Harriet Tubman to be first African-American on U.S. currency -
Anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will become the first African-American on the face of U.S. paper currency, and the first woman in more than a century, when she replaces former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday that Tubman, who was born into slavery in the early 1820s and went on to help hundreds of slaves escape, would take the center spot on the bill, while Jackson, a slave owner, would move to the back. Introduced alongside a slew of changes to the $5 and $10 notes as well, the redesign gives the Treasury "a chance to open the aperture to reflect more of America's history," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. A new $10 bill will add images of five female leaders of the women's suffrage movement, including Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to the back, while keeping founding father Alexander Hamilton on the front. The reverse of a new $5 note will show former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., officials said. Former President Abraham Lincoln will remain on the front. [Reuters]
Victoria Wood dies aged 62 after cancer battle -
Comedian, singer and writer Victoria Wood has died after "a short but brave" battle with cancer aged 62. Her publicist said the star "died peacefully at her north London home with family" on Wednesday. Wood's long-time comedy partner Julie Walters said she was "too heart sore to comment - the loss of her is incalculable". Wood found fame in the 1980s and was best known for her BBC sketch Acorn Antiques and comedy Dinnerladies. She won five Baftas including two for her one-off ITV drama Housewife, 49. [BBC]
Victoria Wood in 2012
Victoria Wood's best One-liners [The Independent]
"Sexual harassment at work. . . is it a problem for the self-employed?""My children won’t even eat chips because some know-all bastard at school told them a potato was a vegetable.""My boyfriend had a sex manual but he was dyslexic. I was lying there and he was looking for my vinegar.""Jogging is for people who aren’t intelligent enough to watch television.""People think I hate sex. I don’t. I just don’t like things that stop you seeing the television properly.""In my day we didn't have sex education, we just picked up what we could off the television.""We'd like to apologise to viewers in the north. It must be awful for them.""I sometimes think that being widowed is God's way of telling you to come off the Pill.""I once went to one of those parties where everyone throws their car keys into the middle of the room. I don’t know who got my moped but I’ve been driving that Peugeot for years.""Life's not fair, is it? Some of us drink champagne in the fast lane, and some of us eat our sandwiches by the loose chippings on the A597."
A magnitude-6.1 aftershock has struck off the coast of Ecuador at 3:33 a.m. local time, the US Geological Survey says, in the same area as the massive earthquake on Saturday. (USGS), (Reuters via Asia-Pacific News)
People in Ecuador start burying their dead as the death toll from the earthquake passes 500. (AP)
Up to 500 people are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean last week, in what would be the deadliest migrant shipwreck in months. (The Guardian)
NATO reopens informal talks with Russia for the first time in nearly two years. According to the Secretary General of NATOJens Stoltenberg "NATO and Russia have profound and persistent disagreements, today’s meeting did not change that." (Euronews)
The U.S. state of Utah declares pornography a "public health risk" in a move Governor of UtahGary Herbert says is to "protect our families and our young people". The bill, signed by the governor, does not ban pornography in the state but does call for greater "efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction". (BBC)
The first criminal charges are laid against three people, two state officials and a municipal official, involved in the Flint water crisis. (New York Times)
Two people are burned alive amid xenophobic riots in Lusaka, Zambia. The riots started after rumours spread that Rwandans were behind recent ritual killings in the city. More than 250 people have been arrested after more than 60 Rwandan-owned shops were looted in two days of violence. (BBC)
Yasri Khan, a senior member of Swedish Green Party (part of the Government coalition), who was refusing to shake hands with a female reporter on grounds that it violated his Muslim faith, announces that he is quitting politics. (The Local)
Protests continue against President Gjorge Ivanov in Skopje, Macedonia. Opposition leader Zoran Zaev said he will only take part in EU-brokered negotiations with the government if certain conditions are met. (The Irish Times)
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Prince Dies at 57: Iconic Musical Genius Found Dead in Paisley Park -
Prince died today at age 57 at his Paisley Park home and studio in Minneapolis, his publicist confirmed to the Associated Press. TMZ first reported the news. According to a press release sent from the Carver County Sheriff's Department this afternoon, deputies arrived at Paisley Park at 9:43 a.m. and found Prince unresponsive in the elevator. After CPR attempts were unsuccessful, he was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. The cause of death has not yet been determined, and Carver County with assistance from Hennepin County Sheriffs and the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office are investigating. Prince was hospitalized last week after his plane for was forced to make an emergency landing in Moline, Ill. Released a few hours later, a rep told TMZ that he had been battling a bad case of the flu. One of the most iconic musicians in music history, Prince's extensive career grew out of the music scene of his native Minneapolis, where he lived his entire life. His 1978 debut album For You and self-titled second LP, released in October 1979, kicked off an incredibly prolific run of albums that included 1999, Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day, Sign O The Times and Batman, among others, throughout the 1980s at a clip of nearly one per year, evolving with each release. [Billboard]
Prince in 2008
Queen's 90th birthday: Beacons lit amid UK celebrations -
The Queen has lit the first of more than 900 beacons lighting up across the UK and overseas as part of her 90th birthday celebrations. Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall then joined the monarch at a private dinner in Windsor Castle. Earlier, cheering crowds lined the streets in Windsor as the Queen took part in a walkabout. At the lighting of the beacon in Windsor, the Prince of Wales, referring to his mother, said: "I find it very hard to believe that you've reached your 90th year and I suddenly realised the other day that I have known you since you were 22 years old. "But this, ladies and gentleman, is a very special occasion and this beacon that her majesty is about to light will also represent - as it lights other beacons across the nation - the love and affection with which you are held throughout this country and the Commonwealth. [BBC]
Solar plane slowly soaring from Hawaii to California -
A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, in about three days. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is flying this leg of the journey. [AP]
The Ethiopian Army crosses the border into South Sudan with the latter's approval in search of more than 100 children who were kidnapped and spirited across the border in a surprise attack by unknown assailants that also killed 208 people a few days ago. (Al Jazeera)
The Bunyadi, a Londonpop-up restaurant where diners will be encouraged to eat in the nude, has a reservation waiting list of more than 13,000 people for its June opening. The restaurant will operate for three months. (UPI)
The Vatican suspends PricewaterhouseCoopers' audit of its finances over questions whether proper procedures were followed when the December 2015 contract, reportedly worth $3 million, was enacted. Analysts say this move exposes the rift between the church’s old guard and supporters of financial reform, and raises questions about the Catholic Church’s commitment to cleaning up its finances. (Reuters)(The Guardian)(BBC)
Disasters and accidents
More than 100 are feared dead in an early summer heatwave in India which has forced the closure of schools. (Reuters)
At least 24 people are killed, 136 others injured, and eight workers still missing from yesterday's blast at the major Clorados 3 petrochemical plant of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo. Nineteen people remain hospitalized, with 13 in serious condition. The plant is run by Mexichem under agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the national petrochemical company, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on the country's southern Gulf of Mexico coast. Pemex had an earlier fire at the same facility in February 2016 that killed one worker; also that month, an offshore Pemex Gulf platform fire killed two and injured eight.(Reuters)(AP)
At least two people are killed after an oceanfront stretch of an elevated bike lane in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collapses when it was hit by a strong wave. Two other people were rescued alive, while another may be missing. The bike lane was among the projects built in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics. No Olympic event will be held on the path. (AP)(AP² via CBS News)(Hindustan Times)
Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte said that Australia and the United States should go ahead and cut their ties with the Philippines if he was elected president, following critical comments of their ambassadors on his rape remarks. (Rappler)
Staffan de Mistura, U.N. envoy to Syria, says there has been "real but modest" progress in the country's humanitarian situation, despite the shaken ceasefire. Aid convoys have reached 560,000 people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas; six areas still remain off limits. Yesterday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent medically evacuated 515 people from four communities—Zabadani, Madaya, Kfarya, and Foua—besieged by government and rebel groups. (AP)
The government of El Salvador unveils and deploys a new heavily armed special forces unit to fight criminal gangs in rural areas of the country. Officials say it will target gang leaders who left the cities because of a government crackdown. (BBC)
Six high ranking Pakistan Army officers, including a lieutenant-general and major-general, are sacked by Chief of Army StaffRaheel Sharif amid corruption allegations within the army. Sharif said corruption had to be uprooted to fight terrorism. (BBC)
Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko signs legislation banning all Russian films made after January 1, 2014. The legislation also bans movies produced by Russia after 1991 if they "glorify the work of government bodies" of Russia, citing such movies to be a threat to national security. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered only by the sun, takes off from Kalaeloa, Hawaii, USA, on the ninth leg of its around-the-world journey. This portion of the trip will cover 2,542 nautical miles and, in about three days, is scheduled to touch down in Mountain View, California. The journey originated in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on March 9, 2015, and, after another 8,130 nmi, will complete the circle when it lands in Abu Dhabi. (AP)
Finland's postal workers to mow lawns -
Finland's postal service will be doing more than just delivering letters and parcels this summer - its workers will be mowing lawns, too. The state-owned Posti company is offering a weekly grass cutting service, with customers able to choose either 30 minutes or 60 minutes of lawn-mowing time, the national broadcaster Yle reports. It will only be available on Tuesdays, though, as the volume of post tends to be lighter than on other days, and customers will have to provide their own lawnmower. They'll also have to be willing to pay 65 euro (£51; $73) a month for the half-hour sessions. [BBC]
A suicide bomber kills at least nine people at a Shi'ite mosque in southwestern Baghdad. A second attacker was shot dead by security forces before he could detonate his explosives. (Reuters)
The United States admits it has killed 20 civilians and wounded 11 others in airstrikes in Syria and Iraq between September 10, 2015, and February 2, 2016. (UPI)
State oil company Petroleos Mexicanos reports the death toll has risen to 28 from Wednesday's explosion at Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo's Clorados 3 petrochemical plant in the Gulf port city ofCoatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Some workers are still missing while 18 others remain hospitalized. Officials say the explosion came from an unspecified leak. The plant produces the hazardous industrial chemicalvinyl chloride. (AP)
A record 175 states sign the United Nations climate agreement in New York on opening day. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions formally join it. (ABC News Australia)(AP)
Eight family members are murdered in four different locations in Pike County, Ohio. Three children, including a four-day-old baby, survived the killings. (Fox News), (AP)(AP²)
The European Union announces it is considering imposing sanctions on Macedonia's leaders for reneging on an agreement last year to investigate corruption in the ruling class and issuing an amnesty instead to those involved. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Thousands of Sudanese students take to the streets around the University of Kordofan in Khartoum and other parts of the country to protest the recent killing of students last Monday. Security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest, killing many students after they attempted to nominate pro-opposition candidates for their campus elections. (The Guardian)
Mexican PresidentEnrique Peña Nieto proposes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes and easing limits for personal use of the drug. He said he would be sending a bill to the Congress to increase the amount users can legally carry from the current five grams to 28 (0.18-1oz). The news comes just two days after he addressed the United Nations General Assembly at a special session on drug policy and is seen as a chance to re-think the current strategy of fighting drug-trafficking, especially in Mexico where the fighting has killed tens of thousands of people. (BBC)
The Commission on Election announced that the May 9 elections shall push through despite a massive breach on its database by hackers which puts 55 million registered Filipino voters at risk.
President of FIFAGianni Infantino says a new independent committee will be set up to monitor working conditions at Qatar's 2022 World Cup venues. The move is an attempt by the world football's governing body to ease fears of human rights abuses in the state, where organizations like Amnesty International documented multiple cases of poor working conditions and abuses against migrant workers. (BBC)
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William Shakespeare 400: Prince Charles takes to stage to speak Bard's most famous line -
Prince Charles bravely went up against Britain's finest actors to make his acting debut with what is possibly Shakespeare's most famous line. The Prince of Wales became the Prince of Denmark as he joined acting royalty on stage to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, uttering: "To be or not to be. That is the question." Charles made a shock appearance as Hamlet alongside Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant in a star-studded televised gala performance in the Bard's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. Charles, who had been watching Shakespeare Live! at the town's riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre show with the Duchess of Cornwall, was heard to speak from the wings, asking: "Might I have a word ... " Then followed the opening lines to what is one of Shakespeare's best-known soliloquies: "To be or not to be, that is the question." [Daily Mirror]
Manager at exotic pet shop paid a prostitute with a MONKEY worth $2,500 that he swiped from the store owned by his wife -
An Oregon man was arrested after he allegedly tipped a prostitute with an exotic monkey, valued at $2,500, that he took from his own pet store. Nathan Allen McClain, 36, is accused of tipping a prostitute with an exotic primate and paying her with money from the Zany Zoo Pet Store fund, which included a donation jar with money, in exchange for a sexual encounter, according to Eugene detectives. The unidentified woman, who police tracked down at a local hotel, had the Galago primate in her possession and told authorities she received it as a tip from a client, whom she identified as McClain. The woman was cooperative, and provided a statement to detectives, along with the animal. [Daily Mail]
Two separate car bombs kill at least 12 people in Iraq's capital, Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the blast at the security checkpoint in a northern district that killed nine and injured 28 others. Three people are killed and 11 injured at the second bombing in southern Baghdad that targeted an army convoy; no group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)
A Russianoil tanker catches fire in the Caspian Sea, killing at least one crew member. A total of 10 crew members were evacuated from the ship, which was in the territorial waters of Turkmenistan when the fire broke out. It was unclear what caused the blaze. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
The death toll from the earthquake passes 650 with over 50 people missing. It is now the deadliest earthquake in South America this century. (AP via ABC News)
Rebel leader Riek Machar misses an international deadline to return to the capital Juba to take the post of Vice President. Machar was offered the position by PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit in the hopes of putting an end to the civil war but has repeatedly delayed his return. (Al Jazeera)
According to the Sudanese electoral commission, more than 97% of voters in Darfur choose to remain as five states rather than form a single region. However, The vote was held amid ongoing insecurity and many of Sudan's 2.5 million displaced people were not registered to vote, with the U.S. State Department warning that the referendum could not be considered credible "under current rules and conditions". (BBC)
Astronaut Tim Peake smashes the Guinness World Record for a space marathon -
British astronaut Tim Peake ran the London Marathon while aboard the International Space Station in a world record time. The spaceman is the second person to complete the 26.2 mile distance while on the ISS. However, Peake's time of three hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds was far faster than US astronaut Sunita Williams of four hours, 23 minutes and ten seconds. Williams ran her race in 2007 at the same time as the Boston Marathon. [Daily Mail]
Rockets fired by ISIL from northern Syria hit a poor neighborhood and a mosque in the Turkish city of Kilis, killing one person and injuring 26 others. Turkish security forces responded by returning fire into Syria. (Euronews)(Reuters)
U.S. PresidentBarack Obama rules out deploying U.S. ground troops in Syria and says military efforts alone cannot solve the country's problems. He also said he did not think that ISIL would be defeated in his last nine months of office. (BBC)
U.S. officials report PresidentObama will announce plans to send as many as 250 more U.S. troops to Syria to help fight ISIL militants. The troops are likely to include special operations forces and medical or intelligence support personnel, an official added. The decision is scheduled to be announced around noon tomorrow in Hanover, Germany, during the President's farewell tour of Europe. (CBS News)(Reuters)
Ebru Umar, a Dutch journalist of Turkish descent, is arrested in Kuşadası, Turkey, for tweets deemed critical of PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan. This comes as a political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts which insult Erdoğan or Turkey. (The Guardian)
Austrians vote in the first round of electing the next president. Preliminary estimates indicate FPÖ's Norbert Hofer won the first round with 36 percent of the vote. Greens' Alexander Van der Bellen, who is supported by the Green Party, garnered 20%, and another independent, Irmgard Griss, took 18.5 percent. President Heinz Fischer was not eligible to be re-elected. Candidates representing the two leading parties, that have ruled for the past 70 years, were eliminated. Hofer and Van der Bellen will compete in the runoff election on May 22, 2016. (Bloomberg)(Election website)(Deutsche Welle), (Euro News)
Hokkaido 5th district by-election, 2016: LDP candidate Yoshiaki Wada staved off the competition from independent candidate Maki Ikeda. Despite the LDP's winning margin decreasing from 14% (in 2014) to 2%, this win is seen as a boost for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the upcoming upper house election.
Protests continue in Moldova as thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrate in the capital Chișinău despite concessions given to the protesters last month by the government. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Around 1,000 people stage a rare public protest in the Kazakh city of Atyrau, rallying against the government's decision to sell land in auctions amid a heavy police presence, though they did not forcibly disperse the rally. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
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Is this the new Mojito? -
The Mojito, the Cuba Libre and the Dark and Stormy have all earned their place in the cocktail hall of fame. And now a new creation looks set to join their ranks: the 'Venceremos' – a bold new cocktail that gets its kick from a dash of sesame oil. And it's all thanks to Gn Chan, the self-confessed 'lightweight' bartender from New York, whose most recent concoction has been named the best cocktail in the world at the 2016 BACARDI Legacy Global Cocktail Competition.The mixture of BACARDI rum and coconut liqueur with pineapple, cucumber and lime juice (topped off with a dash of sesame oil and garnished with a pineapple leaf) is now set to grace bars, clubs, restaurants and lounges across the world. Best of all, it's simple to make. 'Put everything together,' says Chan, 29, who currently works at a speakeasy-style bar in Manhattan. 'Shake. Strain. Done.' Chan, who describes himself as an 'accidental bartender' explains that the Venceremos – Spanish for 'we shall overcome' - is a reflection of his own journey as he hustled his way to the top of his career. [Daily Mail]
Mexican police come under attack in a two-hour gunfight in the city of Acapulco, killing one gunman. At the same time, a separate group of gunmen attacked a federal police base in the city. (BBC)
British department store chain British Home Stores (BHS) collapses into administration after a last-minute rescue deal fails. The collapse of the retailer, which employs 11,000 people, is the biggest failure on the UK's high street since the collapse of Woolworths Group in 2008. (The Guardian)
Saudi Arabia'sCouncil of Ministers announces a broad-based economic reform plan, known as Vision 2030, which will help the oil-reliant state to diversify its economy over the next 14 years. (Al Jazeera)
A Royal Norwegian Air ForceF-16 fighter jet, taking part in a mock attack on Tarva on April 12, mistakenly opened fire on a control tower with three officers inside, who survived unharmed, according to the Norwegian military. (The Guardian)
At least two people are killed and seven are injured following an explosion on a bus in Yerevan, Armenia. The cause of the blast is being investigated. (RT)
The top U.S. diplomat in BelarusScott Rauland and Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey said that their countries are ready to discuss the possible return of their ambassadors. Makey told reporters in Minsk that "there is readiness from both sides for a full normalization of our relations." Belarus recalled its ambassador from Washington in 2008 after the United States imposed sanctions against Belarusian oil giant Belneftekhim following tensions between Minsk and the West. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Turkey says it has deported more than 3,300 foreigners suspected of links to jihadi groups, and barred another 41,000 foreigners from entering the country. (AP)
The U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio, agrees to pay $6 million to settle a wrongful deathcivil rightslawsuit brought by the family of Tamir Rice. Rice was a 12-year-old boy who was walking outside a recreation center holding an air pellet gun when he was shot and killed by a Cleveland Police officer on November 22, 2014. Prosecutor Tim McGinty reported in December 2015 that an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict the police officers. (NPR)(CNN)
Beautiful People dating site data sold online -
Data stolen from a dating website aimed at "beautiful people only" has been traded online. The details of more than a million members including their weight, height, job, and phone numbers were discovered unencrypted online in December 2015. They have now been sold on the black market, said security expert Troy Hunt. The firm said the data belonged to members who joined before July 2015 and that no passwords or financial information were included. Security researcher Chris Vickery, who originally discovered it, told the BBC the firm acted quickly after he notified them - but by then, data had already been sold on. People hoping to join the Beautiful People website submit photographs which are then rated by existing members of the opposite sex for 48 hours. If they get enough positive votes, they are then granted membership. [BBC]
Facebook profits up almost 200% to $1.51 billion -
Facebook has revealed stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter, helped by a growing number of users and higher advertising revenue. The social network reported earnings of $1.51 billion, or 52 cents per share, up from $512 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier, and over 1.65 billion users now use the social network, with the average users visiting for 15 minutes a day. The results are in stark contrast to Apple and Twitter, who posted poor results yesterday, with Apple shares falling 7% today. Separately, Facebook also announced that it will create a new class of non-voting stock, known as 'Class C capital stock,' designated to let CEO Mark Zuckerberg keep tight reins on the company even as it issues more shares to compensate employees and investors. [Daily Mail]
Mark Zuckerberg
Representatives of the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic in Eastern Ukraine say at least five civilians are killed by artillery fire at a checkpoint in the town of Olenivka, with another 10 injured.Kiev denies the accusation. A local border-guard spokesman says there was an explosion at the checkpoint but he saw no artillery fired from either side, suggesting the blast could have been a bomb.(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Archaeologists in Taiwan discover 48 sets of remains unearthed in graves in Taichung. The most striking discovery among them is the 4,800-year-old skeleton of a mother looking down at a child cradled in her arms. (The Guardian)
The Philippine peso sinks to become the "worst performing currency in Asia" as a result of a volatile and unpredictable presidential election. (Bloomberg)
Disasters and accidents
Heavy rain pelts earthquake-hit Ecuador causing floods, mostly in the town of Alluriquin in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province, killing at least four people and injuring several more. About 300 people have been affected by the floods after a local river burst its banks, engulfing the town with water. (Al Jazeera)
The government of Austria passes a new law that restricts the right of asylum in the country and allows claimants to be rejected directly at the border, a move criticized by rights groups. Officials say they are also considering building a fence at the main border crossing with Italy at the Brenner Pass. (BBC)
Iraqi authorities ban Qatar-based satellite television networkAl Jazeera from broadcasting in the country and closes its offices in Baghdad, accusing it of violating government guidelines issued in 2014 to regulate media “during the war on terror". (Reuters)
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry respond to Obamas' Invictus Games challenge -
When US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama challenged Prince Harry on social media, he responded by bringing in a big gun — the Queen. The Obamas posted a video of themselves on Twitter promoting the Invictus Games, an international sports event for wounded, disabled and sick military personnel and veterans. Harry, fifth-in-line to the throne and a patron of the Invictus Games, responded to the US President and his wife in kind. "Unfortunately for you, Flotus and Potus, I wasn't alone when you sent me that video," the Prince tweeted to the Obamas. He also added a video of his own, showing him chatting amiably with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, while they thumbed through an Invictus Games brochure, just as the Obamas' challenge lands in his cellphone. [ABC News] See Video of the Day
Large Hadron Collider: Weasel causes shutdown -
The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator at Cern is offline after a short circuit - caused by a weasel. The unfortunate creature did not survive the encounter with a high-voltage transformer at the site near Geneva in Switzerland. The LHC was running when a "severe electrical perturbation" occurred in the early hours of Friday morning. A spokesman for Cern said that the weasel did not get into the tunnels, just the electrical facilities. [BBC]
According to Eurostat, the Eurozone's economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of 2016, faster than what was originally expected, with unemployment falling to 10.2%. This growth suggest that the eurozone's economy is now bigger than it was before the start of the financial crisis of 2007–08. (BBC)
A court in South Africa rules that the decision in 2009 to drop over 750 corruption charges against PresidentJacob Zuma was irrational and called for a review of them. However, the court ruling does not automatically reinstate the charges against Zuma as a legal team must be set up to decide on whether to charge him or not. (Al Jazeera)
Iran goes to the polls for second round elections in constituencies where no candidate achieved 25 per cent of the vote in February's elections. (Reuters via Trust)
Protests erupt in various cities of Venezuela as the country faces increased food and power shortages, forcing the government to ration them, leading to widespread looting and violence. According to the opposition, who control the National Assembly, over a million people support its bid to start a referendum on ousting PresidentNicolás Maduro. (Al Jazeera)
Protests in France turn violent as protesters clash with police, injuring over 20 police officers and resulting in over 120 arrests nationwide. The protests are against a labour law being proposed in the National Assembly, saying it will reduce rights and deepen job insecurity for youth. (The Guardian)
Russia challenges US after Baltic jet face-off -
Russia says it was right to confront a US Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea on Friday. The Pentagon said a Russian jet fighter acted in an "unsafe and unprofessional manner", and performed a barrel roll over its plane. Russia said that the American jet had turned off its transponder signal, which helps others identify it. It is the second incident in the Baltic this month in which the US has accused Russian planes of flying aggressively. US jets "regularly" try to approach Russia's borders with transponders switched off, the statement said. Over the past 18 months, Russia has been repeatedly accused of the same practice over the Baltic and near UK waters. It is not clear how close to Russia's waters Friday's incident occurred. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life | Danielle Feinberg
A heatwave in India has claimed 300 lives in April with daytime cooking banned in some parts of the country to prevent fires which have claimed an additional 80 lives. (AP)
2016 Kenya floods
Search and rescue efforts continue in Nairobi after the collapse of a building yesterday. Kenyan police have confirmed seven deaths so far. (AP via Daily Mail)
The death toll from the Kenya floods including the Nairobi building collapse rises to fourteen. (Capital FM)
A three-storey building collapses in the Indian city of Mumbai, resulting in six deaths and trapping many others. (Times of India)
At least five people are killed by floods in the U.S. state of Texas. (FOX News)
A mosque under refurbishment in Mogadishu, Somalia, collapses, killing at least 15 people and injuring around 40. Hundreds more are thought to be buried under the rubble. (BBC)
According to survivors, at least 70 migrants are missing after their dinghy sank off the coast of Libya. 26 people were rescued by the Italian coast guard. (BBC)
Five people are killed in a military plane crash in Sudan. (Reuters)
Russia says it intercepted a U.S. Air Force plane approaching its border over the Baltic Sea on Friday because the aircraft had turned off its transponder which is needed for identification. The Pentagon says the U.S. RC-135 was flying a routine route in international airspace when the Russian SU-27 fighter intercepted it in an "unsafe and unprofessional" way. (Reuters)
Law and crime
Police in Stuttgart, Germany, arrest at least 400 left-wing demonstrators after they attempted to stop a conference by the Alternative for Germany from being held. The protest grew violent when they began to throw stones and use fireworks against the police. (The Guardian)
Egypt tries 237 activists, who face jail terms of up to three years, arrested for protesting without permits against PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi. Thousands demonstrated this month following the Sisi government's decision to hand over two uninhabited islands in the Straits of Tiran to Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch says at least 382 had been arrested. (Reuters)
Roughly 2,000 people protest in Belgrade against alleged fraud in the country's recent election. The protesters accuse Prime MinisterAleksandar Vučić of manipulating the results in order to prevent the far-right Dveri party from reaching the 5-percent threshold and gaining seats in the National Assembly. A repeat vote is expected on May 4 in locations where voting irregularities have been found. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Malia Obama: US president's daughter to go to Harvard -
US President Barack Obama's eldest daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in 2017, after taking a year off following her high school graduation, the White House says. "Malia will take a gap year before beginning school," a White House statement said. The 17-year-old will be following in the footsteps of her parents, both of whom went to Harvard Law School. Her choice of university has been a subject of much speculation. Malia is the eldest of the Obamas' two daughters. She and her sister Sasha, 15, attend the Sidwell Friends, a prestigious local private school. [BBC]
Three Turkish soldiers are killed and 14 others wounded in an armed attack by Kurdish militants during a military operation in the town of Nusaybin, Turkey. (Reuters)
Kenyan authorities say the death toll from Friday's collapsed eight-story residential building in Nairobi has risen to 20, with 73 people missing. Rescuers continue searching for survivors. The building had been declared unfit for human habitation by the country's National Construction Authority, but remained standing. Note: the building was originally reported as six stories; flooding had sunk the ground and first floors. (AP)
In Punjab, Pakistan, the death toll has risen from 13 to 33 for people who has eaten sweets, accidentally tainted with insecticide. The mass poisoning occurred in April. (Daily Times)
The first cruise ship in more than a half-century bound for Havana from the United States leaves Miami, Florida, at about 4:24 p.m. EDT. Carnival Cruise Line's 704-passenger Adonia was able to set sail for the northern Caribbean country after Cuba, on April 22, loosened its policy banning Cuban-born people from traveling to the country by sea. (AP)
Thousands are set for May Day demonstrations across the United States for immigrant and worker rights, and for civility in presidential campaign rhetoric. Organizers and authorities in California are urging participants to remain calm, given the violence this week connected with Presidential campaign protests. (AP via The Washington Post)(KPCC)
Egyptianpolice raid the headquarters of the journalists' association in Cairo, and arrest two journalists with the opposition website Bawabet Yanayer, editor Amr Badr and reporter Mahmud el-Sakka, for alleged incitement to protest in violation of the law. (Daily Mail)(Reuters)
Leicester City confirmed as 2015/16 Premier League champions -
Leicester City have completed one of the most remarkable triumphs in sporting history by winning the 2015/16 Premier League title. The club's first top-flight championship in their 132-year history was sealed following Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Monday night, meaning they have an unassailable seven-point lead at the top of the table with two games left to play. At the start of the season, Leicester were 5000/1 outsiders to become champions after flirting with relegation for most of last season and they were playing in League One as recently as 2009. [Sky News]
See Video of the Day
Craig Wright revealed as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto -
Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. His admission follows years of speculation about who came up with the original ideas underlying the digital cash system. Mr Wright has provided technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin's creator. Prominent members of the Bitcoin community and its core development team say they have confirmed his claims. By going public, Mr Wright hopes to put an end to press speculation about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. The New Yorker, Fast Company, Newsweek and many other media organisations have all conducted long investigations seeking Bitcoin's creator and named many different people as candidates. "I have not done this because it is what I wanted. It's not because of my choice," he said, adding that he had no plans to become the figurehead for bitcoins. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Leicester City players celebrate winning Barclays Premier League
Artillery shelling and drone attacks by the U.S.-led coalition strike Islamic State positions in Syria, according to Turkish authorities, killing 63 militants and destroying multiple rocket launcher and gun positions. (AP)
Business and economy
The Philippines stock market suffers the biggest drop since February amid uncertainty about the upcoming elections. (Bloomberg)
Police in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua arrest scores of protesters as planned demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the incorporation of the region with Indonesia were to take place today. (Radio New Zealand)
President of VenezuelaNicolás Maduro orders clocks in the country to move forward by a half hour from UTC−04:30 to UTC−04:00 in order to save electricity as Venezuela faces an increasing electricity shortage. While gaining a half hour of sunlight, this means Venezuelans will now lose a half hour of sleep. (The Guardian)
Sesame Street sends cease and desist letter to STD awareness group after it suggests Bert and Ernie have HIV -
Sesame Street sent a cease and desist letter to a company that used its characters Bert and Ernie in their campaign ad that promoted at-home HIV and STD testing. Lately, a company which has created a 'simple, cutting-edge, and affordable STD testing' method, posted a photo of the two characters to their Facebook page.'Help us take STD Testing out of the Stone Age,' the company, wrote on Facebook, in a post accompanied by a picture Bert and Ernie, according to the New York Post.Elizabeth W Fishman, Vice President of Strategic Communications for the show, told the The Post that the Mately ad is an 'unauthorized, unlicensed use of our characters'. Fishman added that Mately will be contacted and sent 'a cease and desist letter instructing them to take this down'. Bert and Ernie are shown in the Facebook post looking at a set of papers. 'See Ernie, you've got nothing to worry about, everything is positive!' the caption reads. [Daily Mail]
By 7 pm local time, the entire town of population 80,000 is placed under a mandatory evacuation. The neighbourhood of Beacon Hill, home to about 2,200 people, is 80% destroyed by fire. (Weather Underground)
El Salvador arrests former congressman Raúl Mijango for allegedly attempting to smuggle banned items into prison and allegedly associating with gang members. (Reuters via Trust)
The government of Hungary announces it will hold a referendum regarding future European Union quotas for resettling refugees. The vote is expected to be held either in September or October of this year where a turnout of over 50 percent will render it to be valid. (Al Jazeera)
A meeting is held in London on the issue of West Papuan independence. Independence leader Benny Wenda joined various humanitarians, parliamentarians and lawyers in urging the United Nations to secure a vote on the future status of the region, which is occupied by Indonesia. (The Guardian)
Instagram hacked by 10-year-old boy -
A 10-year-old Finnish boy named Jani has been given $10,000 (£7,000) after he found a security flaw in image-sharing social network Instagram. The boy, who technically is not allowed to even join the site for another three years, discovered a bug that allowed him to delete comments made by other users. The issue was "quickly" fixed after being discovered, said Facebook, which owns Instagram. Jani was paid soon after - making him the youngest ever recipient of the firm's "bug bounty" prize. After discovering the flaw in February, he emailed Facebook. Security engineers at the company set up a test account for Jani to prove his theory - which he did. The boy, from Helsinki, told Finnish newspaper Iltalehti he planned to use the money to buy a new bike, football equipment and computers for his brothers. Facebook told the BBC it had paid $4.3m to bug bounty recipients since 2011. [BBC]
Apple loses trademark fight over 'iPhone' name in China -
Apple has lost a trademark fight in China, meaning a firm which sells handbags and other leather goods can continue to use the name "IPHONE". The Beijing Municipal High People's Court ruled in favour of Xintong Tiandi Technology, said the official Legal Daily newspaper. Xintong Tiandi trademarked "IPHONE" for leather products in China in 2010. Apple filed a trademark bid for the name for electronic goods in 2002, but it was not approved until 2013. [BBC]
Suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants launch a car bomb attack on a military installation in Turkey, killing one soldier; Turkey's army destroyes PKK targets in air strikes and kills more than 20. (Reuters)
The Philippine stock market continues to fall for the fifth straight day due to fears about the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. He continues to lead in opinion polls. (The Philippine Star),(Rappler)
BritishpublisherTrinity Mirror announces that its daily newspaper, The New Day, will close after just two months since its launch, after sales fell to around 30,000 copies per day. The last edition will be printed on May 6. (The Guardian)
The European Union proposes visa-free travel for Turkish citizens within Europe's Schengen Area and invites member states and EU lawmakers to endorse the move by June 30. The EU says Turkey has met all but five of the 72 criteria included in the agreement in exchange for its efforts to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe. This visa deal also needs approval from the European Parliament.(AP)(UPI)
Tunisian mobile gamers win a cow -
A couple in Tunisia have walked away with an unusual prize - a cow - after they recorded the top score in a locally developed mobile phone game, it's reported.
Pamela the cow spent two weeks at the game developer's headquarters in Tunis before being awarded to the unnamed couple at the beginning of May, the Tuniscope news website says.
The pair triumphed in a strategy game called Bagra - literally "cow" - which consists of keeping a herd of cows and preventing other players from stealing them, while trying to pinch as many as possible from other herds. [BBC]
Canadian wildfire edges south, leaves thousands stranded -
The 88,000 residents who fled a wildfire that has ravaged the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray in Alberta will not be able to return home anytime soon, officials warned on Thursday, even as the inferno edged slowly south. The out-of-control blaze has consumed entire neighborhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada's energy heartland and officials warn its spread now threatens two oil sands sites south of the city. The wildfire has already forced precautionary production cuts or shutdowns at about a dozen major facilities, eating into a global crude surplus and supporting oil prices this week. [Reuters] See Video of the Day
Facebook Live tab is now on the Android app -
It's taken a month, but the Live tab on Facebook has now started appearing for Android app users. Back in April, the social network announced that video was going to be even more of priority for the company, with users being offered a dedicated page to find live streams. Android users are starting to see the Live tab in the centre of the screen, pushing out Messenger from its spot. Clicking on the Live option brings up a scrolling stream of video.Anyone watching the feed can then react and comment in real time. [BBC Newsbeat]
Video of the Day -
Fire 'rains' down in Fort McMurray neighbourhood during escape
Since the fire has intermittently blocked the only route south toward Alberta's major cities, evacuees have had to go north toward oil camps and a few small settlements. The province has airlifted 4,000 people to Edmonton and Calgary as of late Thursday. Roughly 20 percent of Canada'scrude oil production, around 680,000 barrels per day, is offline and is expected to increase. There are no known casualties from the fire, which today has grown to 210,000 acres (85,000 hectares), but fatalities are reported in at least one vehicle crash along the evacuation route. (Daily Mail)
Colorado Springs, Colorado, agrees to pay people who were sent to jail because they couldn’t afford to pay fines for minor offenses like panhandling and jaywalking. The city will pay $125 for each day the person spent behind bars, an estimated total of $103,000 for the 66 people identified. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people cannot be jailed if they do not have the money to pay. (AP via The Washington Post)(The Colorado Independent)
Members of the British public head to local polling stations to cast their vote for various governmental positions, including the Mayor of London. (The Daily Telegraph)
Labour's Sadiq Khan elected London mayor -
Sadiq Khan has been elected the new Mayor of London - boosting Labour after it slumped in Scotland's elections. Mr Khan is the city's first Muslim mayor, after beating Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614. The result bolsters leader Jeremy Corbyn after Labour was beaten into third in Scotland by the Tories and lost some English councillors.
In Scotland, the SNP said it would form a minority government after winning its third election in a row. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is celebrating what she said was an "emphatic" victory, her first as party leader, after the SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24. But she played down talk of another independence referendum after falling short by two seats of an overall majority. In Wales, Labour remains as the largest party, with 29 out of 60 seats, but was denied a majority as Plaid Cymru and UKIP both made notable gains. [BBC]
Sadiq_Khan
China bans 'erotic' banana-eating live streams -
Chinese live-streaming services have banned people filming themselves eating bananas in a "seductive" fashion. New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output round-the-clock to ensure nothing untoward is going on, keeping an eye out for any "erotic" banana-eating, according to New Express Daily. It's not just fruit that's on their radar though - the paper adds that wearing stockings and suspenders while hosting a live stream is now also forbidden. The move is the authorities' latest attempt to clamp down on "inappropriate and erotic" online content, state-controlled CCTV reports. In April, the Ministry of Culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that "harms social morality". Despite the government's concerns, such sites are attracting more and more users in China. Particularly popular are webcam sessions where young women - and sometimes girls under 18 - entertain a predominantly male audience, often singing Chinese songs or chatting to their viewers. [BBC]
A man is killed, and two others are injured (a man in critical condition and a woman with non-life-threatening injuries), in the parking lot of Westfield Montgomery Mall in Potomac in Montgomery County, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Soon after, a woman is killed at a grocery store some miles away. Police suspect that the same shooter may be behind both crime scene incidents. Police in both Montgomery County and neighboring Prince George's County are also examining whether this person is the same as the male involved in the fatal shooting the previous day of a woman, Gladys Tordil, who was allegedly shot (a bystander who tried to help was also wounded) by her estranged abusive husband, tentatively identified as Eulalio Tordil, 62, a former Federal Protective Service officer. (MSN)(CNN)
The supporters of presidential candidates Grace Poe and Mar Roxas post petitions and counter-petitions on Change.org urging either candidate to drop-out and give way for the other. (The Manila Standard)
SpaceX successfully lands another Falcon 9 First stage onto a floating barge for the second time. It was carrying a Japanese communications satellite JCSAT-14, which was successfully put into geostationary orbit. (Wired)
Nyquist Unrelenting in Kentucky Derby Victory -
Whatever has been thrown at Reddam Racing's Nyquist, he has been able to handle. And May 7 at Churchill Downs he added the Kentucky Derby to his already impressive résumé. The son of Uncle Mo broke like a champion from post 13 and was out front in the early strides, but was able to settle into position just off the pace set by Danzing Candy, who broke poorly from the outside post and needed to be rushed up entering the first turn. And for the immediate future of Nyquist, who pushed his earnings to $4,954,200 with the Derby score, up next is a walk of the shedrow May 8 and a trip to Baltimore May 9. And beyond that, O'Neill might be looking toward a higher power. [The Blood Horse]
At least 13 Iranian soldiers are killed in a battle with Islamist militants in a village near Aleppo, Syria. The largest single day loss for the Iranians since the start of the conflict. (Retuers)(Business Insider)(NDTV)
Flight delayed after passenger becomes suspicious of equation -
An Italian economist says his flight was delayed after a fellow passenger saw him working on a differential equation and alerted the cabin crew. Guido Menzio was taken off and questioned by agents who did not identify themselves, after the woman next to him said she felt ill. He showed them what he had been writing and the flight eventually took off - more than two hours late. The University of Pennsylvania associate professor boarded the Philadelphia-Syracuse flight on Thursday on his way to Ontario, where he was due to give a lecture. Before the flight took off, the woman sitting next to him passed a note to a member of the cabin crew. She initially told them she was feeling unwell but then voiced her suspicions about Mr Menzio's scribblings. He wrote: "It's a bit funny. It's a bit worrisome. "The lady just looked at me, looked at my writing of mysterious formulae, and concluded I was up to no good. "Because of that an entire flight was delayed." [BBC]
BAFTA Awards 2016 -
TV Baftas: Double win for Wolf Hall -
Wolf Hall won two awards at this year's Bafta Television Awards, on a night which contained several speeches that defended the independence of the BBC. Mark Rylance received the leading actor award for his role as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC Two historical drama, which also picked up the drama prize. C4's This is England '90 and Peter Kay's Car Share also won two prizes. The leading actress prize went to Suranne Jones for her role in the BBC One marital drama Doctor Foster. [BBC]
Mark Rylance
Michel Platini: Uefa president to resign after ban appeal fails -
Uefa president Michel Platini will resign from European football's governing body after failing to have a six-year ban from football overturned. A Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) panel reduced the ban to four years on Monday. Following the judgement, the 60-year-old said he would be stepping down. Platini and former Fifa counterpart Sepp Blatter, were last year found guilty of ethics breaches over a 2m Swiss Franc (£1.3m) "disloyal payment". The pair, who deny wrongdoing, had their original bans reduced from eight to six years by the Fifa appeals committee. Platini had taken his case to Cas seeking to get the ban overturned, but a three-man panel said it "was not convinced by the legitimacy of the payment". [BBC]
Michel Platini
Japan vagina artist cleared over kayak model but fined for data distribution -
A Japanese court has found an artist not guilty for displaying a kayak based on the shape of her vagina. The judge ruled that Megumi Igarashi's brightly-coloured kayak sculpture did not immediately suggest female anatomy. However, she was fined 400,000 yen ($3,700) after a judge ruled that she broke the law by sharing data from 3D scans of her genitalia, which could be used to recreate the shape of a vagina. Japan's strict obscenity laws prohibit public displays of genitalia. [BBC]
UEFA President Michel Platini, who had been suspended by the FIFA Ethics Committee last fall, announces his resignation following the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision that let stand his ban, shortened to four years which corresponds to the duration of his remaining time in office. The court ruled that Platini was guilty of conflict of interest for taking a $2 million payment from FIFA approved bySepp Blatter in 2011. (USA Today)
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West Ham bid farewell to the Boleyn Ground -
West Ham United fans packed Upton Park for the final time for their Premier League game with Manchester United which they won 3-1. [Daily Telegraph]
Alberta authorities update information about the fire. About 2,400 homes and buildings were destroyed, but firefighters saved 25,000 others in the city, including the hospital, municipal buildings, and every functioning school. They expect most of the 88,000 evacuees will return to their homes within two weeks. The fire, which has merged with another blaze, is about 884 square miles (2,090 square kilometers) in size. The majority of Canada'soil sands industry, and a third of the country's total oil output, is offline, though Shell Canada has restarted its Albian Sands mining operations. (AP)
An assailant stabs four people, killing two, at a home and a mall in Taunton, Massachusetts. A third victim is being treated for life-threatening injuries. The suspect was shot and killed by an off-duty deputy sheriff at the second scene. (CNN)(The Boston Globe)
Officer Edward Nero waives his right to a jury trial on misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. (Reuters)
Trump is projected as the winner in the Republican primary in West Virginia while Bernie Sanders is projected to win the Democratic Primary. (New York Times), (BBC)
Brazil's Federal Senate unanimously votes to strip Delcídio do Amaral of his senate seat. Amaral, one of Rousseff's biggest foes, was arrested last November for allegedly taking kickbacks from Petrobras.(AP)
Queen filmed calling Chinese officials 'very rude' -
The Queen has been filmed saying Chinese officials were "very rude" during last year's state visit by President Xi Jinping. She was discussing their treatment of Britain's ambassador to China with a senior police officer at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday. It came after David Cameron was overheard saying Afghanistan and Nigeria were "fantastically corrupt". The Queen's remarks were filmed as she was introduced to Metropolitan Police Commander Lucy D'Orsi, who the monarch is told had overseen security during President Xi's visit to the UK in October. [BBC]
The Queen
High heels row: Firm accused of sexism changes policy -
A firm that sent home a temp without pay for refusing to wear high heels has changed its policy. London receptionist Nicola Thorp, 27, says she was told to wear shoes with a "2in to 4in heel" when she arrived at finance company PwC in December. When she refused and was sent home she set up a petition calling for the law on dress code to be changed. Outsourcing firm Portico said "with immediate effect all our female colleagues can wear plain flat shoes". The company initially said Ms Thorp, from Hackney, had signed its "appearance guidelines" but said it would review them. [BBC]
A twin suicide bombing attack at a police station in Baghdad kills five people. Yesterday 93 people had been killed and 165 injured in the deadliest day of attacks in Iraq this year. (AP via Fox News)
The Bank of England issues an unusually sharp warning about the possible economic consequences of an "Out" vote in the upcoming Brexit referendum. (Reuters)
A criminal investigation is launched by the New Hampshire attorney general against law enforcement officials after news footage showed Massachusetts/New Hampshire police appear to beat a man who was surrendering at the end of a bi-state car chase. (Washington Post via MSN)
Maryland state elections officials decertify the results of Baltimore’s April 26, 2016, primary election because, for example, the number of ballots cast was hundreds more than the number of voters who checked in at polling places. (The Washington Post)
A 120-year old woman is found living in the Astrakhan Oblast of Russia, which would make her the world's oldest living person. However, her birth year remains internationally unverified. Thus, 116-year old Italian Emma Morano is still listed as the oldest verified living person. (TASS)
Fifa appoints Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura as its first woman secretary general -
Fifa appointed its first female and non-European secretary general on Friday night after announcing that United Nations humanitarian co-ordinator Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura would replace the disgraced Jérôme Valcke. New president Gianni Infantino confirmed that the Senegalese, a 21-year veteran of UN programmes, would become the most powerful official in world football during Fifa’s annual congress in Mexico City. Infantino had previously promised to consider both a woman and an African for the role – and he delivered on both counts. [Daily Telegraph]
Fatma Samoura (R) in 2008 with George Clooney (L) and Marie-Sophie Reck (C)
Hezbollah says Mustafa Badreddine, one of Hezbollah's highest ranking officials believed responsible for military operations in Syria, has been killed by artillery fire from the Syrian rebels. (Al-Jazeera)
A massive fire breaks out at a tire dump in Seseña, near Madrid in Spain. The illegal dump contains 100,000 tons of used vehicle tires. The smoke from the fire is visible for at least 30km. (ABC News)
At least one person is dead as a shopping mall being built in the Nigerian city of Abeokuta collapses. Unconfirmed reports indicate that ten people may have died. (BBC)
Barcelona pip rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title on last day -
Barcelona pipped bitter rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick at Granada. Barca's fifth victory in a row ensured they won the league by one point from Real, who beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0. Suarez tapped in, powered home a header and slotted Neymar's pass to give him La Liga's golden boot with 40 goals. [BBC]
Luis_Suarez
Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine's Jamala wins competition -
Ukraine's Jamala has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin. Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia - which was the favourite going into the competition - was third with 491 points. Jamala is the first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest and caused controversy ahead of the show over her political song. The song references the year when Stalin deported almost all of the ethnic group from its native region of Crimea in what was then Soviet Russia (later to become part of Ukraine). [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Recap of all the Eurovision Song Contest finalists
Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro orders the seizure of factories that have stopped production and the jailing of their owners amid a nationwide state of emergency. During a speech to pro-government supporters in Caracas, he said the country had to recover the means of production, to counter its deep economic crisis. He also said military exercises would take place next weekend to counter "foreign threats". (BBC)
Max Verstappen becomes youngest F1 winner in history at Spanish Grand Prix -
The delivery of the prodigy Max Verstappen, who became the youngest winner of a Formula One race when he triumphed in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, brought an iridescence to a sport that for too long has laboured in the single colour of the silver Mercedes. When Verstappen made his F1 debut for Toro Rosso as a 17-year-old last year he was so young that the concerned people at the FIA changed the rules; now you have to be 18. Verstappen was actually only 16 in 2014, when it was first announced that he would be driving in F1. Many sagacious voices said he was too young but there can be no doubts now. He crossed the winning line aged 18 years and 228 days, beating Sebastian Vettel’s previous record by two and a half years – Vettel was 21 and 73 days when he won in Italy in 2008. [Guardian]
Max Verstappen
Magnetic Hyperloop pod unveiled at MIT -
A people-carrying pod designed to levitate and travel at extremely high speeds has been unveiled in Boston. A 30-strong team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of several groups and companies working on making the Hyperloop concept a reality. The idea, first envisioned by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, is to create a transport system that propels pods through airtight tubes. The MIT team said its pod design paved the way for "a mode of transportation that could change how we think about travel". Critics of Hyperloop say it is unlikely to succeed because of prohibitive costs. A white paper by Mr Musk published in 2013 proposed a Hyperloop tube connection from San Francisco to Los Angeles. At speeds of around 700mph (1,127km/h), Mr Musk predicted the journey time would be around 30 minutes. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Suicide bomb attacks in a state owned cooking gas plant in Taji, north of Baghdad, kill at least 18 people, while 11 others die in attacks across the country. (Al-Jazeera)(Reuters via Daily Mail)
President-elect of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, vows to reintroduce capital punishment and give security forces permission to shoot to kill for organized crime figures and people resisting arrest. Duterte is due to take office on June 30, 2016. (BBC)
A released report from an interview with former U.S. diplomat Donald Rickard reveals that he provided intelligence that led to the arrest of Nelson Mandela. (The Telegraph)
Tens of thousands of people are evacuated from Old Trafford shortly before kick-off between Manchester United F.C. and A.F.C. Bournemouth after a suspect package was found. A controlled explosion was then carried out within the stadium. The package is discovered to be an explosives training device left behind earlier in the week by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs. (BBC)
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First penis transplant in U.S. performed in Boston -
Surgeons in Boston have performed the first penile transplant in the United States, a procedure that soon could help severely wounded troops, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital said Monday. Thomas Manning, 64, whose penis was removed in 2012 due to penile cancer, is recovering well and showing no signs of rejecting the transplant, his surgeons said. [USA Today]
Crimeans told to stop stealing sand from beaches -
Officials in Crimea are warning people to stop stealing sand from tourist beaches, or else face a prison sentence. The peninsula's beaches are being targeted by people who remove the sand for use as free building material, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reports. At more remote beaches it's being taken away by the lorry-load, the paper says. Sand theft can hit local authorities finances hard. In February, a group of builders were charged with illegally removing more than 1bn roubles-worth ($15.4m; £10.6m) near Moscow. [BBC]
At least 15 students are killed and 6 are missing after heavy rains and flash flooding trigger a landslide at a popular tourist resort in Deli Serdang Regency, Indonesia. (The Star Online)
Colombian police announce the seizure of about 8 tonnes (18,000 lb) of cocaine in an operation targeting the Clan Úsuga gang. This would make it the biggest seizure of drugs in the history of Colombia.(UPI)(BBC)(NBC News)
A Swedish court sentences Claver Berinkindi, a 61-year-old Swedish citizen originally from Rwanda, to life in prison for participation in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. (Reuters)(THE LOCAL)
Politics and elections
The Afghan capital Kabul is locked down as members of the Hazara community protest the proposed route of a power line. (AP)
British Premier League finishes late with Leicester City as 5000-1 Champions -
The final match of the Barclays Premier League saw Manchester United beat Bournemouth 3-1 in a rescheduled match after a suspect package was found at Old Trafford two days earlier. Leicester City were the surprise of the season. Following their narrow escape from relegation in the previous season many pundits had predicted that they would be relegated and bookmakers gave 5,000–1 odds on them winning the title which they achieved with two matches to spare. After the dismissal of manager Nigel Pearson, they began the new season with Italian Claudio Ranieri in charge. The Golden Boot (for the most goals scored by a player) went to Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane. Norwich City, Newcastle United and Aston Villa were relegated. [Wikipedia] See List of the Day
Harry Kane
Hackers' website breached by hacker -
The email addresses and private messages of more than 470,000 members of a hacking website have been leaked online following a huge data breach. The Nulled website was a popular marketplace for stolen account details and hacking tips. The leaked data contained more than 5,000 purchase records relating to the exchange of stolen information. The site has been taken offline, stating it is undergoing "routine maintenance". [BBC]
Fireball captured on US traffic police officer's dashcam -
A bright fireball shot across the sky early Tuesday around 0500 GMT (0100 EDT), lighting up several north-eastern US states and parts of Canada. The bright flash was apparently left by a meteor burning up as it passed through Earth's atmosphere. The incident was caught on camera, including the dashcam of an officer from the Plattsburgh Police Department, which you can see here. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Amid growing concern about North Korea's ballistic missile capability, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. are to hold their first ever joint anti-missile exercise next month, according to South Korea's Ministry of National Defense. The three countries will practice "detecting and tracing a hypothetical North Korean missile," said a ministry official. (CNN)
Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1 to win the Europa League for fifth time -
Liverpool suffered a dramatic second-half collapse as Sevilla claimed the Europa League for the third season in succession with a superb comeback. Jurgen Klopp's side looked on course to secure the prize of Champions League football - on offer to the winners of the competition - when Daniel Sturridge's magnificent strike with the outside of his left foot gave them the interval lead. The good work was wrecked in the first 17 seconds of the second half when Kevin Gameiro turned in Mariano Ferreira's cross to put Sevilla level. Coke's fine 64th-minute finish confirmed Sevilla's superiority and he added a contentious third from close range, which was initially disallowed but was then given as Liverpool slumped to their second final defeat this season after losing to Manchester City in the Capital One Cup. [BBC]
Coke
Google's conversation-based Assistant takes on Amazon -
Google has announced a conversation-based tool to control smartphones, smartwatches and other devices. Google Assistant can be used to find information, play media and carry out tasks - such as booking cinema tickets - via a back-and-forth chat between the user and the software. The firm also announced a voice-activated device with a built-in speaker called Google Home to deliver the tech to living rooms. It will compete with Amazon's Echo. Amazon launched its own dialogue-based smart home device in 2014, which is powered by the firm's proprietary virtual assistant Alexa. [BBC]
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, met with a group of prominent U.S. conservatives, over allegations that the company censors conservative content. (Reuters).
Disasters and accidents
More than 150 people are feared dead by two landslides triggered by more than three days of heavy rain in central Sri Lanka. (Reuters)(The New York Times)
Google Patents Sticky Car Hood to Trap Pedestrians in a Collision -
Google has a solution to help mitigate injuries in the event a pedestrian and a self-driving car collide: human flypaper. In a patent issued this week, the search giant describes a "system for protecting a colliding object from a secondary impact, after an initial impact with a vehicle." The patent calls for a giant sticker to be placed on the front end of a vehicle, with a special coating over the layer that is only broken when something collides with the vehicle, exposing the adhesive and helping the colliding object to remain on the vehicle. [ABC]
Google car fly paper patent diagram
German churches to get wi-fi 'Godspots' -
Worshippers at Protestant churches in central Germany will soon be able to access the internet via free wi-fi hotspots - billed as "Godspots" by the church. Wi-fi is being installed at 220 churches across the Berlin and Brandenberg region, with plans to expand coverage to all 3,000 churches in the region, the RBB broadcaster reports. Among the first to get connected will be Berlin's French Cathedral on the central Gendarmenmarkt square, and the city's iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. People will be able to access the "Godspots" both inside and outside, and the church is promising a secure network with no advertising. Users will first be greeted by a home page with information about the building, community and faith-related material, but then they'll be free to browse the wider web. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
These Lizards Have Been Playing Rock-Paper-Scissors for 15 Million Years
Mum in Chewbacca mask shatters Facebook Live record -
A braying Chewbacca mask found "on clearance" has shot a Texas mother to internet stardom. Candace Payne was not expecting to purchase the mask when she went to her local Kohls department store, just outside of Dallas, Texas. She doesn't even consider herself a huge Star Wars fan. On Thursday, the 37-year-old mother of two was returning some items and was going to spend her birthday money on some exercise clothes or something "for the kids". The Facebook Live video she broadcast from the store's car park - immediately after purchasing the Chewbacca mask - has broken the record as the most-watched Facebook Live video - ever. "That's just crazy," Mrs Payne told the BBC. "I'm just laughing - in all honesty, that is ridiculous. I've looked at the number of views and it just seems like someone is just playing with a calculator." It's a big number: So far, more than 48 million people have watched Payne laugh hysterically as she shows Facebook her new purchase. [BBC] See Video of the Day [Also see 24 May - Video of the Day]
Candace Payne - Chewbacca
India records its hottest day ever -
A city in India's Rajasthan state has broken the country's temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records began, the weather office says. The new record in Phalodi in the desert state comes amid a heatwave across India. The previous record for the hottest temperature stood at 50.6C in 1956. The heatwave has hit much of northern India, where temperatures have exceeded 40C for weeks. The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and increasing heat but life-threatening temperature levels topping 50C are unusual. [BBC]
The Oklahoma Legislature files a measure asking for Congress to impeach Barack Obama over his decision to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.(KOCO)
Iraqi security forces fire tear gas and water cannon on protesters attempting to storm the Green Zone in Baghdad, injuring at least 33. (Bloomberg)(WSJ)
The Iraqi government imposes a curfew in Baghdad. (Reuters)
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Manchester United win FA Cup and replace their manager -
Manchester United came from behind and survived Chris Smalling's sending-off to beat Crystal Palace and win the FA Cup at Wembley through Jesse Lingard's extra-time strike. As Wembley was awash with growing speculation this this would be Louis van Gaal's final match as United manager - with BBC Sport understanding he will be replaced by Jose Mourinho next week - he was able to add English football's most glamorous cup to his honours list. United looked on course to end the season empty-handed as well as missing out on Champions League football when substitute Jason Puncheon's powerful far-post finish put Palace ahead with 12 minutes left. It was harsh on United, who had hit the woodwork through Marouane Fellaini and Antony Martial, but they responded within four minutes with a brilliant run from Wayne Rooney that ended with Juan Mata scoring from close range. United lost Smalling to a second yellow card for hauling back Yannick Bolasie in extra time - but Lingard took the trophy to Old Trafford when he lashed home a first-time strike from Damien Delaney's half-clearance after 110 minutes. [BBC]
Louis van Gaal
Video of the Day -
Cruising with Tesla's Autopilot in Houston traffic
Naked sleepwalker helped back to Manchester hotel -
A man was helped back to his hotel after sleepwalking into the street in Manchester city centre without any clothes on, police have said. The naked man was spotted outside his hotel on Chorlton Street, at about 04:30 BST. Greater Manchester Police said it was a "genuine case of sleepwalking". GMP tweeted: "We checked with officers; was proper somnambulism, not a dare. Person grateful for our help + saw the funny side themselves." The man's identity has not been revealed by police. [BBC]
Voters in Vietnam go to the polls to choose legislators for its Parliament. The only legal party in the country is the Communist Party, which has already chosen its members. (AP)
Voters in Tajikistan go to the polls for a referendum to make various amendments to the constitution which include, among other things, the elimination of term limits to allow PresidentEmomali Rahmonand only him to run again for office and lowering the presidential age limit from 35 to 30, which observers believe will position Rahmon's son Rustam Emomali for future succession. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Science
NASA projects that 2016 will have the warmest global temperature average on record, breaking the previous record high set in 2015. This year would be the third record-breaking year in a row. Per NOAAannals, April marked the 12th record warmest month in a row. (Scientific American)
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Barack Obama eats $6 dinner in Vietnam with chef Anthony Bourdain -
Barack Obama didn't want to miss out Monday night in Hanoi, so he hit the town with renowned chef-turned-television host Anthony Bourdain. The pair dined together at Huong Lien, a bún chả restaurant that serves the grilled pork and noodle dish thought to originate in Vietnam's capital city. The US reporters in the White House press pool that was accompanying Obama in the presidential motorcade were not allowed to follow the pair inside the restaurant, which was crowded with local patrons. But social media lit up with photos from those who were present for the surprise visit, which was not listed on the president's public schedule. [The Independent]
Anthony Bourdain tweet
Video of the Day -
If Meat Eaters Acted Like Vegans - Ultra Spiritual Life episode 35
Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre reports 92 people are confirmed dead with 109 people still missing from landslides and floods resulting from Roanu. More than 500,000 have been driven from their homes. (EconomyNext)
Bangladesh reports at least 26 deaths caused by drowning or homes collapsing with 500,000 evacuated during the storm. Maheshkhali Island officials are monitoring a badly damaged 17-mile stretch of mud embankment in danger of collapsing, allowing seawater to flood the communities. (The Weather Channel)(The Navhind Times)
Health officials are concerned about the spread of the Zika virus in Haiti, which suffered the worst epidemic of cholera in recent history following the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there are 2,214 suspected cases as of April 23. But new research indicates the virus has been present since 2014. The actual infection rate remains unknown since the poor, densely populated nation lacks routine data systems that can track and document disease outbreaks. (AP)
Judge Barry Williams finds Baltimore, Maryland, Police Officer Edward Nero not guilty of all charges. Nero was accused of second-degree intentional assault, two counts of misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. Community leaders and elected officials appeal for calm. (CNN)
DemocraticGovernor of VirginiaTerry McAuliffe is being investigated by federal prosecutors over campaign contributions, including a foreign contribution from a Chinese businessman, and what they consider to be "suspicious personal finances", as part of a public integrity probe that has lasted for more than a year, according to officials. The United States Department of Justice would not confirm or deny the investigation. (The Washington Post)
Facebook to update Trending Topics -
Facebook has announced changes to the way it runs its Trending Topics feed, following an internal investigation. There will be more training for staff and the feed will no longer rely on a list of news organisations, including the BBC, Washington Post and Buzzfeed News, to validate subjects. The feed, which lists popular headlines along with a brief description, has been accused of political bias. However, Facebook's report found no evidence of this. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch said the investigation analysed 3,000 reviewer decisions following allegations that conservative issues were being suppressed. [BBC]
Google's Paris HQ raided in tax probe -
French finance officials have raided the Paris offices of US internet giant Google as part of a tax fraud investigation. Reports say about 100 tax officials entered Google's offices in central Paris early in the morning. Police sources confirmed the raid. Google said: "We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions." Google is accused of owing €1.6bn ($1.8bn; £1.3bn) in unpaid taxes. [BBC]
New satellite imagery from Stratfor appears to reveal the destruction of four Russian attack helicopters and 20 lorries at the Tiyas military airbase after a reported attack which was conducted last week by the ISIL. (BBC)
Reports claim that an Egyptian forensic official says that body parts recovered from EgyptAir flight 804 indicate that the crash was caused by an explosion. (Daily Mail)
Google's offices in central Paris are raided by French finance officials as part of a tax fraud investigation. Google is accused of owing €1.6bn ($1.8bn; £1.3bn) in unpaid taxes. (BBC)
'Beauty and the Beast' Teaser Tops 'Star Wars: Force Awakens' in First Day -
The first teaser trailer for Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast was viewed a record 91.8 million times in its first 24 hours — besting previous champ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron (each of them Disney films as well). The second teaser trailer for Force Awakens garnered 88 million views, followed by 61 million views for Captain America: Civil War, 55 million views for the second teaser for Force Awakens, and 34 million views for Avengers: Age of Ultron, according to Disney. [Hollywood Reporter] See Video of the Day
Norway consumer body stages live app terms reading -
Norwegians have spent more than 30 hours reading out terms and conditions from smartphone apps in a campaign by the country's consumer agency. The average Norwegian has 33 apps, the Norwegian Consumer Council says, whose terms and conditions together run longer than the New Testament. To prove the "absurd" length, the council got Norwegians to read each of them out in real time on their website. The reading finished on Wednesday, clocking in at 31:49:11. [BBC]
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in marriage split -
Film star Johnny Depp and his actress wife Amber Heard are to divorce, US court documents have revealed. Heard, 30, filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court citing irreconcilable differences. They married 15 months ago and have no children. They have recently been embroiled in a legal case in Australia after Heard took two dogs into the country illegally. She pleaded guilty in April to a charge of falsifying documents. Depp, 52, and Heard met while co-starring in the 2011 film The Rum Diary. [BBC]
Amber Heard
Trump sews up delegates to seal GOP nomination -
Triumphantly armed with a majority of his party's delegates, Republican Donald Trump unleashed a broadside attack Thursday on Hillary Clinton's prescriptions for energy, guns, the economy and international affairs, shifting abruptly toward the general election with his likely Democratic opponent locked in a divisive primary contest. The New York billionaire shrugged off signs of discord in his party hours after sewing up the number of delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination, a feat that completed an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign. [AP]
Donald Trump
Python in Thai toilet gives man nasty shock -
A Thai man is recovering in hospital after a 3m (10ft) python emerged from a squat toilet and sank its fangs into his penis. Attaporn Boonmakchuay said the python was "yanking very hard" as he and his wife tried to wrestle it off. Doctors said Mr Attaporn, who lost a lot of blood in the ordeal, was making a good recovery. Workers dismantled the toilet and extracted the python which had slithered through domestic plumbing. It was released back into the wild. The incident happened as Mr Attaporn, 38, went to the toilet at his home in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, before leaving for work on Wednesday. As he used the toilet he said he suddenly felt a sharp pain. "I felt as though my penis had been severed. The snake was yanking very hard," he said, according to the Bangkok Post. As the python tried to pull him down, he called for his wife and neighbours to help him, the post reported. Mr Attaporn told Thai TV that his wife tied a rope around the snake and he pried its jaws open before passing out. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
THE SIMPSONS | Build Your Own Couch Gag by Michal Socha | ANIMATION on FOX
Archaeologists announce the discovery of a 2,400-year-old tomb which they believe to be that of Aristotle based on its grandiosity, and its location atop a hill in Stagira, the city of his birth. (UPI)(The New York Times)
South Korean PresidentPark Geun-hye, during her state visit to Ethiopia to work toward full-scale defense cooperation, pledges $1 million in aid for drought recovery. Park is expected to continue toUganda and Kenya after this visit. (UPI)
Ken Starr, the president of Baylor University, is stripped of his title after an investigation revealed the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against its football players. The university's football coach, Art Briles, is also fired. (The New York Times)
UK Royal Mail unveils stamps to mark 50 years of Pink Floyd -
A set of stamps celebrating 50 years of British rock group Pink Floyd have been unveiled by Royal Mail. Ten stamps will be on sale on 7 July, marking five decades since the band turned professional. The collection include the band's most famous album covers as well as live performance shots. Pink Floyd became known for its innovative album covers, which were made in collaboration with leading graphic designers and photographers. [BBC]
Royal Mail Pink Floyd stamps
Jose Mourinho: Man Utd confirm former Chelsea boss as new manager -
Jose Mourinho has been officially confirmed as Manchester United manager and has signed a three-year contract. He replaces Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who was dismissed on Monday, two days after the club's FA Cup win. "Jose is quite simply the best manager in the game today," said United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. Mourinho, 53, said: "To become Manchester United manager is a special honour in the game. It is a club known and admired throughout the world." Mourinho has been out of work since being sacked as boss of Premier League rivals Chelsea in December. [BBC]
Jose Mourinho
Video of the Day -
Does Having A “Wingman” Actually Help You Get A Date?
Republican candidate for U.S. President Donald Trump urges U.S. senator Marco Rubio to run for re-election after Rubio stated he would speak on Trump's behalf at the Republican Convention, if asked.(Business Insider)
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Real Madrid lift Champions League on penalties -
Real Madrid were crowned champions of Europe for the 11th time after beating Atletico Madrid in a dramatic penalty shootout in Milan. Sergio Ramos' controversial finish put Zinedine Zidane's side ahead before Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann missed a penalty. However, substitute Yannick Carrasco sent the Champions League final into extra-time with a close-range finish. Cristiano Ronaldo struck the winning penalty after Juanfran had missed. Zidane, a Champions League winner with Real as a player in 2002, replaced Rafael Benitez as manager at the Bernabeu in January, with Real still reeling from a bruising 4-0 hammering by Barcelona earlier in the season and facing the prospect of a second successive campaign without major silverware. The 43-year-old finishes it as the seventh different manager to deliver a European Cup to Real. [BBC]
Zinadine Zidane
G. Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Bayern Munich won the penalty-shootout 5–4.
H. Score was 0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time. Milan won the penalty-shootout 3–2.
I. Score was 3–3 after 90 minutes and extra time. Liverpool won the penalty-shootout 3–2.
J. Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Manchester United won the penalty-shootout 6–5.
K. Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Chelsea won the penalty-shootout 4–3.
L. Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Real Madrid won the penalty-shootout 5–3.
Brazilian Police say they have identified and are searching for four of the more than 30 men suspected in last Saturday's gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro. The assault came to light after several men posted about the attack online. (AP via New York Daily News)
Anti-government protests erupt across Papua New Guinea against Prime MinisterPeter O'Neill, calling on him to resign. Papua New Guinea has been in a state of political turmoil since 2014 when the Prime Minister was accused of fraud and corruption. (Radio New Zealand)
Indy 500: Rookie Alexander Rossi wins 100th running -
Running on fumes on the final laps of the race, rookie Alexander Rossi ran out of fuel coming out of Turn 4 — and still managed to win the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Rossi, a 24-year-old native of California, coasted to the line ahead of Carlos Munoz, Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan as late-race fuel strategy led to a wild and tense finish. It was perhaps one of the more unlikely Indy 500 victories, as Rossi has almost no experience in racing on oval tracks after spending several years pursuing a career in Formula One. Rossi couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I have no idea how we pulled that off,” he said, in a television interview immediately after the race. [USA Today]
Alexander Rossi
Video of the Day -
The force is still strong for Boogie Storm | Grand Final | Britain’s Got Talent 2016
At least three people are missing after heavy rains caused flooding in the U.S. states of Texas and Kansas. So far, four people have died in the flooding. (AP)
A fire at a home for elderly people near the Ukrainian capital Kiev kills at least 16 people. (BBC)
Masked Gary Barlow stuns Bristol shoppers with surprise concert -
Take That star Gary Barlow surprised shoppers in Bristol with an impromptu concert - which started with him wearing a disguise... as himself. The star wore a Gary Barlow mask as he began playing Could It Be Magic on a piano at Cabot Circus shopping centre. Shoppers watching the mystery performer were astonished when he revealed his true identity and sang the hit song. [BBC]
Gary Barlow in Bristol (Tweet by Marjolein Nap)
Cheese-rolling spectators gather for Cooper's Hill tradition -
Thousands of people lined a steep hill in Gloucestershire to watch crowds of thrill-seekers fling themselves down in pursuit of a wheel of cheese.The 8lb (3.6kg) Double Gloucester is chased 200 yards down the 1:2 gradient Cooper's Hill at Brockworth every year. Chris Anderson, 28, won the first two downhill races - his 16th and 17th Cheese Rolling victories in total. "It's brilliant, I'm really happy," said the soldier from Brockworth who serves with 1 Rifles. Competitors travelled from across the world to take part in the races with TV crews from across Europe also in attendance. Warning signs are put up around the site warning spectators and competitors that they are attending entirely at their own risk. In 2010 the official event was cancelled over safety fears when more than 15,000 people turned up the previous year to watch the competition. Since then it has been held unofficially with roads closed up to 2.5 miles (4km) around the slope. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Floods in Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany following heavy rain that started Sunday night kill at least four people. (Sky News)
Law and crime
Hissene Habre, ex president of Chad, is sentenced to life in prison for ordering rape, sexual slavery and killings during his rule from 1982 to 1990. (BBC)
Chief Syrian opposition negotiator of the High Negotiations Committee Mohammed Allush resigns over the failure of the UN-backed peace talks. Allush said that without any of the opposition demands met, peace talks were a "waste of time". In April, the HNC suspended talks with the Syrian government's delegation in Vienna. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A special verification panel recommends throwing out the results of the Haiti presidential election on October 25 2015 because it appeared to be tainted by significant voter fraud. (AP via US News and World Report)
Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood becomes father to twins, aged 68 -
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has become a father again at the age of 68. His wife Sally, who is 38, gave birth to twin girls late on Monday evening, Wood's publicist confirmed. A statement said: "Ronnie & Sally Wood are delighted to announce the birth of their twins Gracie Jane (6lb) & Alice Rose (5.7lb). "The girls arrived on 30 May at 22:30 and all are doing brilliantly. The babies are perfect." The twins are Wood's fifth and sixth children, but the first for him and his wife, who is a theatre producer. [BBC]
Ronnie Wood in 2012
MySpace and Tumblr hit by 'mega breach' -
Hundreds of millions of hacked account details from social networks MySpace and Tumblr have been advertised for sale online. In both cases, the logins appear to have been stolen several years ago but only recently came to light. The incident comes the same month it emerged that a four-year-old database containing more than 167 million LinkedIn IDs had been traded online. One expert said it was "intriguing" all had emerged in such a short period. Security researcher Troy Hunt also said millions of IDs from adult dating site Fling - which had been breached in 2011 - had been offered on a hacking forum at the start of the month. [BBC]
In an interview with the German broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine, the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama says that Germany has taken too many refugees and "from a moral standpoint" refugees should "only be accommodated temporarily" — with the goal of them returning home to rebuild their countries. (NBC News)
A recent Global Slavery Index report estimates the number of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, in debt bondage, or forced labour to be 45.8 million. India is reported to have the highest number at an estimated 18.4 million slaves, and North Korea the highest ratio, 4.4 percent of its population. (Reuters)(Bloomberg)
Association football icon Pelé announces that he will sell 1,500 lots of his possessions via Julien's Auctions, which will include his medals, trophies, jerseys, and diplomatic gifts. (BBC)
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European leaders open world's longest rail tunnel in Switzerland -
The world’s longest rail tunnel, running for 35 miles (57km) under the Swiss Alps, has officially opened. The Swiss president, Johann Schneider-Ammann, said the tunnel, which it is hoped will ease transit through the heart of the continent, would “join the people and the economies” of Europe at a time of rising nationalism and border closures. He spoke before European leaders made a ceremonial first journey through the Gotthard base tunnel. Passengers included the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. While the tunnel was entirely funded by Switzerland, a non-EU member, the bloc’s transport commissioner, Violeta Bulc, hailed it as “a godsend” for the continent. It runs from Erstfeld in the central Swiss canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton. [The Guardian]
The longest railway tunnel excluding urban metro lines with intermediate stations.
Two tubes (East 57,091 m (35.5 mi), West 57,017 m (35.4 mi)), 8.8–9.5 m (29–31 ft) diameter, (71m2 cross section)
Greg Abbott, the Governor of the US state of Texas, declares a disaster in 31 counties due to floods which have claimed several lives in recent days. (KVUE)
A convoy carrying much-needed nutritional and medical aid reaches the besieged town Darayya, the first time since 2012. The only food delivered was baby milk. A 48-hour ceasefire for the town came into force today. (Reuters)(NPR)(BBC)
A man in Plano, Texas, stabs his girlfriend and posts her dead body to Facebook; the social media website does not remove the photograph for 36 hours. (The New York Times)
German police are investigating 26 sexual assault reports from this weekend's Schlossgrabenfest music festival near Darmstadt. In one case, three women reported being groped by groups of men Saturday. Police have detained three Pakistani immigrants, and expect more reports following this announcement. (CNN)(UPI)(The Independent)
Richard Huckle, dubbed "Britain's worst ever paedophile" after being convicted of 71 cases of rape and other sexual offences against up to 200 children, is being sentenced at The Old Bailey in London in a hearing expected to last 3 days. Huckle is facing up to 22 life sentences once the hearing concludes.(Sky News)
Dagger in Tutankhamun's tomb was made with iron from a meteorite -
A dagger entombed with King Tutankhamun was made with iron from a meteorite, a new analysis on the metal composition shows. In 1925, archaeologist Howard Carter found two daggers, one iron and one with a blade of gold, within the wrapping of the teenage king, who was mummified more than 3,300 years ago. The iron blade, which had a gold handle, rock crystal pommel and lily and jackal-decorated sheath, has puzzled researchers in the decades since Carter’s discovery: ironwork was rare in ancient Egypt, and the dagger’s metal had not rusted. Italian and Egyptian researchers analysed the metal with an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine its chemical composition, and found its high nickel content, along with its levels of cobalt, “strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin”. They compared the composition with known meteorites within 2,000km around the Red Sea coast of Egypt, and found similar levels in one meteorite. That meteorite, named Kharga, was found 150 miles (240km) west of Alexandria, at the seaport city of Mersa Matruh, which in the age of Alexander the Great – the fourth century BC – was known as Amunia. [Evening Standard]
24 people are killed and 368 arrested in the Indian city of Mathura as police attempt to clear members of a radical religious group from land they are occupying. (The Times of India)
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74 -
Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, a family spokesman has said. The former world heavyweight boxing champion, one of the world's best-known sportsmen, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, after being admitted on Thursday. He was suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Nicknamed "The Greatest", the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions. He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights. Crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC, Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring. But he was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality. Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer. I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was." [BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Muhammad Ali in 1967
Muhammad Ali's best quotes [Evening Standard]
"Hey Floyd - I seen you! Someday I'm gonna whup you! Don't you forget, I am the greatest!" - To then-world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson during the 1960 Olympic Games.
"Why are all the angels white? Why ain't there no black angels?" - In a sermon at apostolic church in 1983.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." - The man who captured not only his boxing style but his attitude in life.
"Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can't talk. The man can't fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he's gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons." - Before fighting world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in February 1964.
"I'm king of the world! I'm pretty! I'm a bad man! I shook up the world! I shook up the world! I shook up the world!" - February 25 1964, after defeating Sonny Liston.
"I had a good time boxing. I enjoyed it - and I may come back." - On being crowned Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC in 1999.
"Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name, and I insist people using it when speaking to me and of me." - On his conversion to Islam.
"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Vietcong ever called me nigger." - On his refusal to answer a call up to fight in Vietnam.
"It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."
"They did what they thought was right, and I did what I thought was right." - On the government's long effort to send him to prison after his refusal to go to Vietnam.
"You serious? I got to stay here and lead my people to the right man - Elijah Muhammad" - When asked why he does not flee the country, in an interview by Robert Lipsyte of The New York Times on April 26 1967, two days before refusing induction into military service.
"I've done my celebrating already. I said a prayer to Allah" - June 28 1971, on being told his conviction for draft evasion was overturned by the US Supreme Court.
"I told you all, all of my critics, that I was the greatest of all time. Never make me the underdog until I'm about 50 years old" - October 1 1974, after knocking out George Foreman to become heavyweight champion for the second time, in Kinshasa, Zaire.
The flood waters for the Seine River are expected to peak at six metres above its normal level. Flooding in France and Germany has so far claimed at least 11 lives. (BBC)
Bodies of 117 people, including 75 women, 36 men and six children, are recovered from a beach near Zuwarah, Libya, possibly from yesterday's capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. (CNN)
Greek authorities rescue 340 people from a boat carrying around 700 migrants that capsized 75 nautical miles off the Greek island of Crete. So far nine bodies have been recovered. (U.S. News & World Report)(CNN)
FIFA shares results of their investigation with legal authorities showing former president Sepp Blatter and two others gave themselves nearly $80 million over the past five years via annual raises and World Cup bonuses. (NPR)
French Open: Novak Djokovic completes grand slam collection -
The first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four straight grand slams. The eighth man to complete the career grand slam. The first man to claim the first two majors in a calendar year since Jim Courier in 1992. Novak Djokovic made plenty of history Sunday when he beat Andy Murray 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 in the French Open final. Djokovic, especially in the past two seasons, never hid how desperately he wanted to win the world's premier clay-court tournament. He had lost three finals, including last year to Stan Wawrinka. When Murray sent a backhand into the net on a third match point, Djokovic fell to the court on his back. Finally the Coupe des Mousquetaires was his. [CNN]
Novak_Đoković
Video of the Day -
How Mosquitoes Use Six Needles to Suck Your Blood | Deep Look
English/American comedian John Oliver buys and then forgives $15,000,000 (USD) in medical debt to about 9,000 people, making it the biggest ever giveaway in television history. (CNN)
Firefighters have contained about 80 percent of the 516-acre brush fire in Calabasas, California. Evacuation orders affecting at least 5,000 people in the Los Angeles area are being lifted. The fire started yesterday when a pickup truck struck a power pole. (CNN)(NBC News)
Amid frustrations with the ongoing economic crisis, Puerto Rican Democrats vote in the Commonwealth's primary with front-runner Hillary Clinton forecast to win following yesterday's sweep in the Virgin Islands' caucus, moving even closer to locking up her party's presidential nomination. There are 60 pledged delegates at stake. (AP via U.S. News & World Report), (CNN)
Hillary Clinton wins Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary and, according to the Associated Press, is now less than 30 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination. (AP)(NPR)
Playboy mansion bought by Hugh Hefner's neighbour -
The Playboy mansion, home to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, is being sold to a private equity boss who lives next door. Daren Metropoulos, 32, is buying the 200,000 sq ft ((1,858 sq m) property, which was on the market for $200m (£138m). He bought the neighbouring property from Mr Hefner in 2009 for $18m. Mr Metropoulos is a principal at Metropoulos & Co, which is run by his father Dean. "The heritage of this property transcends its celebrity and to have the opportunity to serve as its steward would be a true privilege," Daren Metropoulos told The Wall Street Journal. The mansion was built in 1927 and purchased by Playboy in 1971 for a reported $1.1m, making it the most valuable real estate deal in Los Angles at the time. It features a tennis court, free-form swimming pool, wine cellar, home theatre and games house but needs renovating to meet the same standards as other Beverly Hills homes. Neither party has confirmed what the mansion was sold for. Mr Hefner, 89, has the right to remain living in the property until his death. The LA estate eventually replaced the original Playboy Mansion, which opened in 1959 in Chicago. [BBC]
Hugh Hefner in 2010
A soldier is killed and another injured after a fire spread to an ammunition dump at the Salawa army camp near Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. Thousands of people in the area were evacuated. The fire is under control, according to a military spokesman. (AP)
Florida GovernorRick Scott declares a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Colin's rain and gusty winds pelt the state's west coast. Maximum sustained winds at 1:00 p.m. EDT are 50 mph (85 kpm). Between three and five inches of rain are forecast for northern Florida, with some areas getting up to eight inches. (Miami Herald)(NHC)
With more than 92% of the vote counted, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is ahead of Keiko Fujimori by just over 103,000 votes, 50.3 percent to 49.6 percent, in the electorate of 23 million citizens. Ballots ofPeruvians living abroad will begin to arrive tonight. Mariano Cucho, the head of the electoral office, says the count may not be finalized until Thursday or Friday. (CNN via WFXP)(Reuters)(Fox News Latino)
Haiti will redo its presidential election after findings of widespread voter fraud in last years voting. Additional measures will be put in place for the first round in October this year. (Fox News)
Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro settles dismissal case -
Former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro has settled her dismissal claim against the club on confidential terms. Dr Carneiro, who claimed constructive dismissal against Chelsea, also reached a discrimination settlement against the club's former manager Jose Mourinho. Chelsea said it apologised "unreservedly" to the former first team doctor for the distress caused. On Monday it emerged Chelsea had offered Dr Carneiro £1.2m to settle her claims, which she had rejected. Dr Carneiro claimed she was sexually discriminated against after she went on to the pitch to treat Chelsea player Eden Hazard during the opening day of the Premier League season last August. She claimed that Mr Mourinho shouted the Portuguese phrase "filha da puta" at her, which means "daughter of a whore", as she ran on to the pitch. Dr Carneiro left the club in September after being demoted. [BBC]
Eva Carneiro in 2014
Seven police officers and four civilians are killed, and 36 people are wounded, three critically, by a car bomb explosion near the main tourism district in Istanbul, Turkey. The explosives, detonated by remote control, wrecked a passing police bus, reports CNN Türk. There is no immediate claim of responsibility. (Reuters)(AP)
Turkish police detain four people for interrogation. (The Daily Star)
Kazakhstan police report the death toll from Sunday's attack in Aktobe is now 19 — three civilians, three National Guard servicemen, and 13 attackers. (Reuters)
A pickup truck reported to be driving erratically mowed down a group of nine bicycle riders, killing five and injuring four near Kalamazoo, Michigan. The driver was arrested after fleeing. Authorities have not established any contributing causes of what is being called the worst bicycle accident in the county. (Atlantic)(CTV News)
Health and medicine
Johns Hopkins University researchers report, in the journal Health Affairs, that media reports about people accused of committing violent crimes having mental illnesses rarely discuss successful treatment of patients, and thereby overstate the problem. Most people exhibiting the types of psychological conditions the media mention are not generally violent. The researchers suggest coverage reinforces fear of mental illness and the people who have it, and, because of the social stigma, discourages people from seeking treatment. (UPI)(Health Affairs)
Maria Sharapova banned for two years for failed drugs test but will appeal -
Maria Sharapova has been banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation for using a prohibited drug. The Russian was provisionally banned in March after testing positive for meldonium at January's Australian Open. The heart disease drug, which 29-year-old Sharapova says she has been taking since 2006 for health issues, became a banned substance on 1 January 2016. The five-time Grand Slam winner said she "cannot accept" the "unfairly harsh" ban - and will appeal. Sharapova will challenge the suspension, which is backdated to 26 January 2016, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). [BBC]
Maria Sharapova
Two Palestinian gunmen open fire in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv killing at least four people and injuring at least 18 others. The two gunmen are arrested. (AP)
Airstrikes in rebel-held districts of Aleppo kill at least 15 people and wound dozens while three hospitals are hit including one of the few that still provides pediatric services. UNICEF says medics had to take babies out of incubators. It is unclear who was responsible, though government forces, backed by the Russian Air Force, have run operations to regain control of the divided city. (BBC)(Deccan Chronicle)
A United Nations commission of inquiry says that Eritrea should be referred to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity committed in the country, including the enslavement of between 300,000 and 400,000 people through military conscription. (AP)
A Papua New Guinea court grants an injunction barring university students from protesting on campus. Thousands of students across the nation have been protesting and boycotting classes for weeks calling for Prime MinisterPeter O'Neill's resignation over corruption allegations. (Reuters)
Eritrean Mered Medhanie, aka The General, leader of one of the largest criminal operations unsafely smuggling migrants from Africa to Europe for up to €5,000 (£3,900; $5,680), is extradited to Italy. Police say in one attempt at least 359 migrants died when their boat sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013. (BBC)
Experiment 'turns waste CO2 to stone' -
Scientists think they have found a smart way to constrain carbon dioxide emissions - just turn them to stone. The researchers report an experiment in Iceland where they have pumped CO2 and water underground into volcanic rock. Reactions with the minerals in the deep basalts convert the carbon dioxide to a stable, immobile chalky solid. Even more encouraging, the team writes in Science magazine, is the speed at which this process occurs: on the order of months. "Of our 220 tonnes of injected CO2, 95% was converted to limestone in less than two years," said lead author Juerg Matter from Southampton University, UK. "It was a huge surprise to all the scientists involved in the project, and we thought, 'Wow! This is really fast'." [BBC]
New Zealand Prime MinisterJohn Key visits Fiji, the first time a Kiwi leader has done so since the 2006 coup d'état. Key is hoping to improve relations between the two countries though it's clear their political tensions don't have easy solutions. (AP)
Law and crime
Papua New Guinea student protests
Papua New Guinea student protest leader Noel Anjo says demonstrations will continue despite the court order barring protests. "The students are not going to give up until and unless the prime ministerresigns or surrenders himself to police and is arrested and charged," Anjo said. (BBC)(Reuters)
Venezuelan opposition lawmaker, Julio Borges, is left bloodied after being hit in the face with a pipe in downtown Caracas. He spoke at a press conference after the attack with blood streaming down from his nose and mouth, and bloody stains on his button-down shirt, accusing the attackers of being supporters of PresidentNicolás Maduro. (AP via ABC News)
California'sright to die law, that allows physicians to prescribe medicines to terminally ill patients to hasten their deaths, goes into effect. California is the fifth state in America where this practice is legal. Opponents sue to overturn the law as unconstitutional because it denies terminally ill patients protections afforded other citizens. (Los Angeles Times)
Election officials announce all ballots have been processed and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski wins the closest presidential contest in five decades with 50.1 percent of the votes versus 49.9% for Keiko Fujimori. Fujimori has yet to concede defeat. As many as 50,000 ballots still need to be reviewed, but experts say Fujimori can not make up the difference of roughly 40,000 votes separating her from Kuczynski.(BBC News)(ABC News)(AP)
Science and technology
Researchers in Iceland report, in the journal Science, that carbon dioxide emissions can be pumped into the earth and changed chemically to stone — significantly faster than expected. (Phys.org)(Science)
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Spanish town's giant dog dropping goes walkies -
A town in Spain is facing an unexpected bill after thieves apparently made off with a giant dog dropping being used as part of a local campaign. Torrelodones, a municipality just outside the capital Madrid, is 2,400 euros ($2,726; £1,885) out of pocket after the three-metre high inflatable bought as part of a campaign to encourage pet-lovers to pick up after their dogs went missing, El Pais newspaper reports. The bizarre inflatable disappeared after it had been packed away in its carry-case and the police are now on the trail of the 30 kilogramme dog poop, town officials say. Speaking to the ABC newspaper, town councillor Angel Guirao said staff were shocked and perplexed by the theft, and a replacement excrement was already on order because "we know that the campaign has been a great success". The inflatable is not the only symbol of the municipality's "Lay an egg" campaign. Torrelodones has also left a number of concrete dog poops around the town bearing the message "This is a big blockage to living together. If you have a dog, help us". People taking the time to engage with the campaign by posting photos on social media can win "Lay an egg" T-shirts, tastefully illustrated with a picture of a hen's egg. [BBC]
The bankruptcy auction for the company gets underway when Gawker accepts techpublisherZiff Davis's bid for all seven of its brands and other assets, reportedly for $90 million to $100 million. (CNN)
The U.S. Department of Commerce approves service by six commercial airlines from five U.S. cities, including Miami and Philadelphia, to nine international airports in Cuba. Approval for routes to the capital Havana are still pending. Most of the carriers plan to begin their new service this fall and winter. (Miami Herald)
Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on The Voice and, at that point, a singer with Before You Exit, is shot by an unknown male assailant. She was hospitalized in critical condition and pronounced dead hours later due to her injuries. The band was signing autographs following a concert at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida, when the assault occurred. The shooter killed himself while attempting to flee. (NBC News)(WCAU)(Daily News)
In a substantial swing, the "Leave" camp is 10 points ahead of "Remain" with less than two weeks to go before Britain's referendum on whether to stay in the European Union, according to a poll by ORB.(The Independent)
Bicycle thief suspect lassoed by rancher in Oregon -
A rancher in the US state of Oregon has used his lassoing skills to nab a would-be thief, police say. Robert Borba told local media he reacted when he heard a woman scream that someone was trying to steal her bicycle from a bike rack outside a Walmart store in Eagle Point. Mr Borba said he got his horse out of its trailer and cornered the suspect before lassoing him around the legs. He said he got on his horse and rode over to the man who was apparently struggling with the bike gears and then decided to flee on foot. "I just roped him and the rope went down around his feet and I just rode off like I would if I'd roped a cow or something by myself". The rancher said the would-be thief then tried to grab a tree and escape, but he managed to keep the rope tight until police arrived and arrested the suspect. [BBC]
Orlando shooting: At least 50 killed in Pulse nightclub mass shooting -
A heavily armed gunman has killed at least 50 people, with another 53 injured, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The mass shooting is the worst in US history and US President Barack Obama has branded it "an act of terror and an act of hate".
At least 50 people killed, 53 injured in mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida
Gunman Omar Mateen took hostages, killed when police stormed building
Mateen was armed with an assault rifle and handgun, police say
US President Barack Obama brands shooting an act of terror and hate
Armed man arrested in LA had assault rifles in car, said he was going to the LA Pride festival, police said
In the Third Battle of Fallujah, ISIL militants attack a military barracks east of Fallujah, killing more than 50 government soldiers and militia members. At least 12 militants were also killed in the assault. (Al Jazeera)
Missiles, fired from a U.S. drone, strike a four-wheel drive vehicle in southern Yemen, killing two and injuring another suspected militant. (Press TV)
Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, says, "We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. This had nothing to do with religion." Seddique says that during a recent outing in Miami, his son got very angry when he saw men kissing and touching each other. According to the elder Mateen, Omar said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.' (NBC News)
The City of Orlando requests, via Twitter, citizens, "... hold off on vigils — they represent a serious strain on our limited resources, which we need to dedicate to law enforcement and victims." (The New York Times)
The scheduled L.A. Pride parade is held in West Hollywood Park in California. A 20-year-old man, whose car was filled with explosive materials and weapons, is arrested before he reached the parade area. He is misquoted as saying he wanted to harm people at the event. (Los Angeles Daily News)
Lawyers for former President of ChadHissène Habré, who was recently found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison, appeal the verdict. However, a tribunal spokesman said the appeal process is not expected to be done before April 2017. (Al Jazeera)
UEFA opens an inquiry into the Russian Football Union after massive fights between Russian and English hooligans during and after the match between Russia and England in Marseille. Dozens of injuries, including at least one Briton in critical condition, and multiple arson attacks occurred throughout the city. (BBC)
Microsoft to buy LinkedIn in $26.2 billion deal -
The networking site for white-collar workers will be acquired by technology titan Microsoft for $26.2 billion in an all-cash deal, the companies said Monday. LinkedIn Chief Executive Jeff Weiner will continue at the helm of the company but will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, according to a joint statement. LinkedIn will keep its "distinct brand, culture and independence," the companies said. Over the past year, LinkedIn has been striving -- and struggling -- to grow beyond its roots as a resume-on-the-web service and become more of a daily hub for professionals, much as Facebook has become more than simply a site for sharing family photos. Steps in that direction include last year's $1.5 billion acquisition of online training site Lynda.com and a thorough upgrade of its mobile app. The 13-year-old service has 433 million users worldwide. It's free to use, but charges for features such as advanced search and the ability to send messages to strangers. [CNET]
Jeff Weiner
Video of the Day -
Are You More Forgetful Than A Fish? - ASAP Science
City officials in Orlando, Florida, continue to identify the bodies of the victims in yesterday's attack. So far, 33 of the reported 49 victims have been identified and their families notified. (City of Orlando)
Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau says his government has "compelling reason to believe" that Robert Hall, who was held hostage in the Philippines, has been killed by his captors, presumably the same Abu Sayyaf militants who beheaded another Canadian, John Ridsdel, on 25 April 2016. (AP)
A car bomb injures at least nine people, three in serious condition, in the mainly-Kurdish southeast region in Turkey'sTunceli Province. The explosion occurred close to housing for courthouse employees in the town of Ovacik. There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (Al Jazeera)(AP)
A senior French police commander is killed by a knife-wielding 25-year-old man outside his home in Magnanville near Paris, France. The attacker, who retreated inside the house, is also killed when elite police commandos storm the residence after negotiations failed. The commander's partner, a female administrative police official, is found dead inside the home, while a young boy is rescued physically unharmed. The Islamic State, via its Amaq News Agency, claims responsibility for the attack. (BNO News)(Le Parisien)(Huffington Post)(Reuters)
Police in northern Greece move more than 400 Syrians and Iraqis by bus from a makeshift camp near the Macedonian border to a shelter near the northern city of Thessaloniki. More than 50,000 migrants remain stranded in Greece following European border closures, and the European Union's agreement with Turkey. (AP)
Eleven Turkish-German members of Germany's Parliament, the Bundestag, who voted in support of declaring the Ottoman Turks slaughter of Armenians in 1915 a genocide, are under police protection. The legislators have faced heavy criticism from Turkish officials, as well as from Turkish Germans. (UPI)(UPI²)
A 22-year-old Dutch woman held in Qatar for nearly three months after telling police she had been raped is released following the court ruling of a one-year suspended prison sentence. The Associated Pressreports it isn't clear "[...] what sentence was given to the man she accused of rape." (AP)
The United States Supreme Court strikes down a Puerto Rican law that would have allowed it to restructure the debts of its public utilities over the objections of creditors. Puerto Rico's agencies have a $2 billion debt payment due July 1 and has already defaulted on a $370 million debt payment for its Government Development Bank back on May 1. (Bloomberg)
Iceland strengthens road signs to stop thefts -
Iceland has strengthened its road signs in order to stop tourists stealing them to take home as novel souvenirs, it's reported. The most popular signs to be pinched are the sort rarely found in other countries, specifically those marking fords that cross rivers, blind rises and gravel tracks, according to Iceland's RUV national broadcaster. Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson of the Road and Coastal Administration says they are now "using bolts that can't be dismantled with an ordinary car toolkit", and making the signs too heavy to carry off easily. Mr Ingolfsson, who is also a noted crime novelist, designed some of the signs. He tells RUV that the international Vienna Road Traffic Agreement "simply doesn't provide for our topography", and this makes unique Icelandic signs particularly appealing to memento-hunter. [BBC]
Afghan and Pakistani soldiers clash at the Torkham border crossing between the two countries, leaving one Afghan soldier and a Pakistani major killed. At least 22 other people were also injured. Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have grown since the latter's attempts to build a gate at the crossing. (Al Jazeera)
The attacker is identified as Larossi Abballa, a 25-year-old man who, according to police sources, was a neighbor of the murdered couple. Abballa was one of eight men convicted in Paris in 2013 for making plans to travel to Pakistan for terrorist training, and then to commit terrorists acts. Abballa was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released after the trial as six months of the sentence was suspended, and he had already spent two years in jail awaiting trial. (The Telegraph)(The New York Times)
Abballa was recording the attack and posting it on Facebook Live, according to French officials. (CBSNews)
Turkey's EU accession process has been stalled over the EU's requirement that Turkey reform its counter-terrorism laws concerning their application against intellectuals, Kurdish sympathizers, and critics of Erdoğan. Tomorrow, EU envoys are scheduled to formally agree to open negotiations on financial and budget issues. (Reuters)
Law and crime
An armed man, holding two people hostage in a Walmart in Amarillo, Texas, is shot and killed by a police SWAT unit. No other injuries are reported. (Reuters)
Alleged Russianhackers have penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and have gained access to the entire database of research on Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to committee officials and security experts. The DNC says that no financial, donor or personal information appears to have been accessed or taken, suggesting that the breach was traditional espionage, and not the work of criminal hackers. (The Washington Post)
An Egyptian Misdemeanor Court acquits 52 people charged with taking part in anti-government demonstrations in April. Thousands rallied on April 25 to protest the transfer of Red Sea islands Tiran andSanafir to Saudi Arabia. Police arrested nearly 300 demonstrators; government reports indicate all have been released from prison. (AP via ABC News)
Los Angeles, California, police arrest a 21-year-old homeless man after five bodies of apparent transients are found in the wreckage of a vacant former medical building that burned down Monday night. Firefighters had been able to rescue three people. (Los Angeles Times)(LA Weekly)(UPI)
Rupert Murdoch-controlled tabloid The Sun, Britain's second biggest selling newspaper, endorses Brexit, saying that the people of UK should "Take back control and BeLeave in Britain". (The Guardian)
In ice hockey, ESPN reports that the NHL will place an expansion team in Las Vegas, provided the team's backers can pay a US$500 million expansion fee. The team, which would enter the league no earlier than the 2017–18 season, would be the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas. The league's board of governors is scheduled to hold a formal vote on the expansion on June 22. (ESPN)
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Duke of Cambridge: Attitude magazine features first royal cover star -
The Duke of Cambridge has become the first member of the Royal Family to appear on the cover of a gay magazine. He spoke to Attitude about the issue of homophobic bullying, saying: "No-one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason." The duke invited the magazine to bring members of the LGBT community to Kensington Palace to discuss bullying and its mental health repercussions. Kensington Palace said William had been "moved" by the stories he heard. The nine people who attended the meeting last month spoke of low self-esteem, suicide attempts, drug addiction and depression. William said that "no-one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured in their lives". [BBC]
Prince William Attitude cover [Image copyright ATTITUDE/LEIGH KEILY/PA]
Video of the Day -
American Ninja Warrior - T. Rex on American Ninja Warrior
Turkey fails to meet the criteria set forth by the European Union in order to obtain visa-free travel to its member states. The EU promised to grant Turkey visa-free travel only if it met specific conditions on border security and human rights. (The Guardian)
Israel announces plans for construction of a three-story residential building for Jews in the Silwan neighborhood near the City of David in east Jerusalem. (Reuters)
The Canadian House of Commons approves a bill to make the lyrics in the country's national anthem gender neutral. The bill would change the words in O Canada from "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command." (Reuters)
Police arrest at least 36 people in Lille following clashes between French police and football fans at the tournament. French authorities report 16 people were taken to hospital. (BBC)
Russian 'runaway robot' causes traffic jam -
A robot escaped from a science lab and caused a traffic jam in one Russian city, it's reported. Scientists at the Promobot laboratories in Perm had been teaching the machine how to move around independently, but it broke free after an engineer forgot to shut a gate, says the local edition of the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper. The robot found its way to a nearby street, covering a distance of about 50m (164ft), before its battery ran out, the daily says. An eyewitness video posted online shows a vaguely humanoid machine standing in the middle of a busy road, guarded by a traffic policeman. It is then wheeled off by a human, presumably an engineer from the company that developed the robot. Russian Channel 5 TV also showed footage of the incident, and said that the robot spent about 40 minutes at large. But not everyone is convinced that the robot's escape was accidental: some in the Russian media have argued that it's all a ploy devised by Promobot to draw attention to its creation. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Simon's Cat Logic - Why Do Cats Sleep in Unusual Places?!
Dozens of American diplomats send a memo, via the State Department’sdissent channel, critical of U.S. policy in Syria. The memo was signed by 51 mid- to high-level State Department officers involved with advising on Syrian policy, and calls for airstrikes against PresidentBashar al-Assad's government to stop its persistent violations of the United Nations-sponsored February ceasefire. (New York Times)(Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
Flooding in southern Ghana caused by heavy rain leaves at least 10 people dead and the streets of Accra under water. (Al Jazeera)
France deports twenty Russian football fans including Alexander Shprygin, the leader of the All-Russia Supporters Union, following violence at the England–Russia match in Marseille. (BBC)
Nigerien authorities discover the bodies of 34 migrants, mostly children, left behind in the Sahara desert by people smugglers who were taking them to Algeria and then to Europe. (The Guardian)
A Ugandan soldier kills at least seven people in a shooting spree at a military police barracks in the capital, Kampala. The soldier, Sgt Isaac Obua, was then shot dead himself. He is reported to have been drunk. (BBC)
New Zealand pays people to leave Auckland -
New Zealand is offering cash to people in its largest city who need social housing - if they're willing to move to another part of the country. The scheme launches in Auckland on Monday, and is part of efforts to tackle the city's housing crisis, the New Zealand Herald reports. Anyone willing to up sticks will get a grant of up to NZ$5,000 ($3,500; £2,500), as long as they're currently eligible for social housing. The government is stressing that it's a voluntary scheme aimed at removing the "cost barrier" that could prevent people from moving to less-populated areas, where they may already have family or other connections. Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says 130 have voiced an interest in the scheme so far, and that the scheme will help people deal with "a very tight housing market". Auckland has seen house prices boom in recent years, and a shortage of affordable housing has left some families living in dire conditions. In May, a Salvation Army spokesman said some streets in South Auckland had people living in every garage. Other families have been found living under bridges and one had taken refuge in a shipping container. [BBC]
Armed conflicts and attacks
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL, Third Battle of Fallujah
The Iraqi government recaptures the main government compound in Fallujah. (AFP via Daily Mail)
Kurdish separatism in Iran
2016 West Iran clashes
Kurdish rebels and Iranian Revolutionary guards clash in Oshnavieh, killing 12 rebels and three guards. There is dispute over who the rebels were. Iranian authorities claim it was the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan movement while a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan claimed their group was responsible for the fighting. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Boko Haram insurgency
Boko Haram militants attack a funeral in the village of Kuda in the Adamawa State of Nigeria, killing 18 women, with more reportedly still missing. (Al Jazeera)
Insurgency in the North Caucasus
Four Russian security officers and six militants are killed in an anti-terrorism operation in Dagestan. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Business and economy
The U.S. Justice Department has decided against an action against Angelo Mozilo, former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, arising out of the issuance of mortgage backed securities during his tenure there. (Reuters).
Disasters and accidents
EgyptAir Flight 804
The second flight recorder from the wreckage of ill-fated EgyptAir Flight 804 is recovered from the crash site in the Mediterranean Sea. (Channel News Asia)
A wildfire in Santa Barbara County, California doubles in size overnight to 4,000 acres. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office says mandatory evacuations remain in effect for areas such as El Capitán State Beach. The blaze is currently 5% contained, according to Los Padres National Forest officials. (Los Angeles Times)
Law and crime
2002 Gujarat riots
A court in India sentences dozens of people to prison, some of them for life, for their roles in riots that killed 69 Muslims in the city of Ahmedabad in 2002. (BBC)
Sport
2016 Summer Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) upholds its ban on Russian track and field athletes participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro due to various doping scandals. IOC officials plan to gather next Tuesday to discuss the matter further. (BBC)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
UK astronaut Tim Peake returns to Earth -
UK astronaut Tim Peake is back on Earth after a historic six-month stay on the International Space Station. A Soyuz capsule carrying Major Peake and two other crew members touched down in Kazakhstan at 10:15 BST. He called the journey back "the best ride I've been on ever", adding: "The smells of Earth are just so strong." Maj Peake is the first person to fly to space under the UK banner since Helen Sharman in 1991 and made the first spacewalk by a UK astronaut. During the 186-day mission, Maj Peake also remotely steered a robot on Earth and ran the London Marathon. Just before 15:00 BST, Maj Peake landed by helicopter on the runway at Karagandy airport. [BBC]
Timothy Peake
Twelve people are arrested and three men are subsequently charged with terrorism offences in Belgium after dozens of raids were carried out mainly in the Brussels region. (BBC)
A 73-year-old gunman shoots dead a police officer, and seriously wounds another before shooting himself dead in Vihti, Finland. Finnish broadcaster Yle reports it is the first time a police officer in Finland has been killed in the line of duty since 2007. (AP via Daily Mail)
Apple Inc. notifies the GOP that this year it will not fund or provide other support for the party’s 2016 presidential convention, citing Donald Trump’s controversial comments about women, immigrants and minorities. (Politico)
Cavaliers become first team to rally from 3-1 series deficit in NBA Finals -
LeBron James cradled the shiny gold trophy and struggled to sum up what might be his sweetest championship yet, the one he is so proudly bringing home to his native northeast Ohio just as he promised to do when he returned to the Cavaliers two summers ago. Later, flanked by his three children on Father's Day, a cigar between his lips and winning net as a necklace with the lingering stench of champagne, James began to understand the magnitude of his accomplishment for Cleveland after a half-century wait. James and his relentless, never-count-them-out Cavs pulled off an improbable NBA Finals comeback, and Cleveland is title town again at long last. James delivered on a vow to his home state and brought the Cavs back from the brink as they became the first team to rally from a 3-1 Finals deficit, beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89 on Sunday night to end a 52-year major sports championship drought in Cleveland. [ESPN]
LeBron James
Clashes between the Mexican police and members of the radical Mexican teachers union National Coordinator of Education Workers in Oaxaca leaves at least six people dead. (AP via Fox News)
Thousands of people are reported to have spontaneously marched in southern China's village of Wukan in Guangdong province over the arrest of the village's democratically elected leader, 70-year-old Lin Zuluan, who had been planning meetings and protests about corruption, illegal land grabs, and the government's failure to return land to the people, per the 2011 agreement. (AP)(South China Morning Post)
City of Lufeng prosecutors said in a statement that Lin was being held on suspicion of taking bribes. Renmin University's Zhang Mingin, a political science professor, says the bribery charge was "strange" since a village chief does not have the authority to approve projects that could result in kickbacks. (U.S. News & World Report)
Plainclothes policemen and policemen in riot-control gear establish checkpoints, guard government buildings, and increase patrols on the streets of Wukan. The earlier operation to arrest Lin included hundreds of police. (South China Morning Post)(The Scotsman)
Finding Dory breaks US box office record -
Finding Dory has taken $136.2m (£93.3m) on its opening weekend - making it the most successful launch for an animated film in US box office history. The sequel to Finding Nemo has unseated Shrek the Third - which took $121.6m (£83.1m) on its release in 2007. It is also the second most successful opening weekend of 2016, behind Marv el's Captain America: Civil War. Ellen DeGeneres voices the lead character in Finding Dory. [BBC]
Ellen DeGeneres (and others)
Video of the Day -
Why Don't We Ever See Baby Pigeons? | Dolan Life Mysteries
A minibus carrying private security guards explodes in Kabul resulting in the death of at least 12 people and injuring several others. (Reuters and NBC News)
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed an appeals court ruling that would have narrowly interpreted the auto salesman's exemption from overtime pay rules mandated by statute under rules promulgated by theU.S. Labor Department, remanding the matter for further consideration. (slip opinion).
Bahraini authorities strip Isa Qassim, the kingdom's most influential Shia cleric, of his citizenship after they accused him of promoting "sectarianism and violence". (BBC)
According to an environmental report by Global Witness, 2015 was the deadliest year ever for environmental activists, with the reported deaths of 185 activists, as a result of falling commodity prices prompting forceful land grabs by mining and foresting companies. (Deutsche Welle)
Croatian MPs vote to dissolve the Parliament, setting the stage for snap election, which are expected to take place in early September. This comes as Croatia is facing an escalating political crisis following thelast election in November 2015. (Al Jazeera)
Albania football win brings team diplomatic passports -
Albania says it will reward its national footballers with diplomatic passports for having beaten Romania 1-0 at the Euro 2016 tournament. The country has never played before in a major football competition. But it is not yet clear whether Albania will qualify for the next round in France. The team will get €1m (£770,000; $1.1m) in extra funding as well as the new passports, the government said. Albania lost their other two matches, coming third in their Euro 2016 group. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama captured the nation's excitement on Sunday by tweeting "Goooooooooool...." when Armando Sadiku headed the winning goal against Romania in the first half. The award of diplomatic passports is mainly symbolic, as many of the Albanian players are already with clubs elsewhere in Europe and Albanians enjoy visa-free travel to the EU. They will not enjoy diplomatic immunity, as that is reserved for official diplomats, but they will benefit from easier international travel. [BBC]
A car-bomb explodes near a Jordanian Armed Forces outpost in the extreme north-eastern point of Rukban, a makeshift Syrian refugee camp, leaving 6 soldiers dead and 14 injured. (BBC)
A 15-year-old Palestinian teen is shot and killed by Israel Defense Forces while traveling in his family's car through an area where stones had been thrown that injured two tourists and an Israeli. The IDF says an official investigation has been opened. Preliminary results indicate Mahmoud Rafat Baderan, the teen who was shot, was not involved in any stone throwing on the highway. (Haaretz)
Democrats stage sit-in on House floor to force gun vote -
Dozens of House Democrats staged a sit-in on the House floor Wednesday in protest of the GOP leadership’s refusal to allow a vote on a gun control measure following the Orlando massacre. Led by Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, and John Larson (D-Conn.), more than 40 Democrats walked into the chamber just before noon and pledged to “occupy” the House floor until GOP leadership allowed a vote. In one hour, their numbers more than tripled — even as Republicans recessed the House, turning off C-SPAN cameras and the video feed to the public. Democrats countered the TV camera blackout by streaming everything on their cellphones, which ended up on C-SPAN anyway. [Politico]
Mark Zuckerberg masks Mac webcam and microphone -
A photograph of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg shows tape has been used to cover his MacBook Pro's webcam and mic. Facebook has not responded to requests for comment about the picture, shared to celebrate Instagram reaching its 500 million monthly user milestone. FBI director James Comey has previously said he also covers his laptop's webcam to prevent hackers spying on him. And digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said it regularly sold its webcam "stickers". [BBC]
Mark Zuckerberg
Gunmen kill a Nigerian driver and kidnap seven people near Calabar, Nigeria. The group, which was escorted by a security pickup that reportedly had four armed policemen, includes five expatriate and two Nigerian contractors working for Macmahon Holdings' United Cement Company plant in the Akpabuyo district. Police report two of the workers escaped. Police commissioner Jimoh Ozi-Obeh says no ransom has been received. (Times Media Group)(Daily Post)
The European Central Bank reinstates the waiver that enables Greek banks to use the country's bonds as collateral for regular loans, for the first time in more than a year. (AP)(Reuters)
BRITAIN VOTES FOR 'BREXIT' IN HISTORIC REFERENDUM -
Britain has voted to leave the European Union in a referendum, defying its prime minister and confounding most analysts’ expectations. The result raises questions over the future of Prime Minister David Cameron, and over the future of Scotland within the United Kingdom. The results expose a British electorate deeply divided by age, class and geographical location. Most large urban centers elected to stay part of the European Union, particularly in London, where many local authorities delivered vast majorities for the pro-EU campaign. Polls completed before the vote suggested the young were significantly more likely to back EU membership than the old, and that poorer, less-educated voters were likelier to be Brexiters. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Wales surprised many observers by voting in favor of a “Leave” vote, with just over 850,000 Welsh voters choosing to leave the bloc, and a little more than 770,000 voting to Remain. [Newsweek] See List of the Day
Solar plane lands in Spain after three-day Atlantic crossing -
An airplane powered solely by the sun landed safely in Seville in Spain early on Thursday after an almost three-day flight across the Atlantic from New York in one of the longest legs of the first ever fuel-less flight around the world. The single-seat Solar Impulse 2 touched down shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time in Seville after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 2.30 a.m. EDT on June 20.
The flight of just over 71 hours was the 15th leg of the round-the-world journey by the plane piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. [Reuters] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
Solar Impulse Airplane - Leg 15 - Flight New York to Seville
List of the Day -
How the home nations voted in the EU Referendum [BBC]
Pope Francis's visit to Armenia this weekend may stress relations with Turkey. The Pope is seeking to avoid reigniting the diplomatic dispute that arose last year when he described the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as a genocide. The Vatican prefers the Armenian phrase "Medz Yeghern," which roughly translates as "the great evil or calamity." (Reuters), (PanARMENIAN.Net)(NBC News)
The United Nations announces that peacekeepers in the country will be sent home over a "lack of responsiveness" during an attack on a UN-run refugee camp last February in Malakal that killed at least 40 people. (Al Jazeera)
The United Nations Security Council condemns North Korea's most recent ballistic missile launches as a grave violation of the international ban, and urges all countries "to redouble their efforts" to fully implement the March sanctions. (Reuters)(AP)
An unidentified man who had been reported to have fired shots inside a theater has been shot dead by police in Viernheim, Germany. No other fatalities were reported. (BBC)
A federal district judge, in a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, rules Cleveland's regulations governing protests and marches during next month's Republican National Convention infringe on the right of free expression. Judge James Gwin orders both sides into mediation to begin negotiating new rules with another federal judge overseeing those talks. (AP)
Science and technology
Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered only by the sun, lands safely in Seville, Spain, shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time after a flight of just over 71 hours. The 15th leg of the round-the-world journey had been expected to take up to 90 hours. (Reuters)(Reuters²)
Brexit fallout, Cameron quits, markets rocked -
Britain has voted to leave the European Union, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing the biggest blow since World War Two to the European project of forging greater unity. Global stock markets plunged on Friday, and the British pound saw its biggest one day drop in history, as results from a referendum defied bookmakers' odds to show a 52-48 percent victory for the campaign to leave the bloc Britain joined more than 40 years ago. The United Kingdom itself could now break apart, with the leader of Scotland, where nearly two-thirds of voters wanted to stay in the EU, saying a new referendum on independence from the rest of Britain was "highly likely". In an emotional speech on Friday, UK Prime Minister Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in Europe to defeat, after promising the referendum in 2013, said he would leave office by October. Lawmakers from the opposition Labour Party launched a no-confidence motion to topple their leader, leftist Jeremy Corbyn, accused by opponents in the party of campaigning tepidly for its Remain stance. The British pound fell as much as 10 percent against the U.S. dollar on Friday to levels last seen in 1985 on fears the decision could hit investment in the world's fifth-largest economy, threaten London's role as a global financial capital, and usher in months of political uncertainty. The euro slid 2.0 percent against the U.S. dollar. [Reuters] In February Cameron secured a deal with the EU to try to avoid an exit vote.
David Cameron
Video of the Day -
Brexit: UK prime minister David Cameron addresses British voters on leaving the EU
The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 5.5 magnitude earthquake in north Chile, 116 miles (187 km) from the city of Copiapó at a depth of 80.8 miles (130 km), in the country's copper mining area. Chile is the world's largest producer of copper. (Reuters)(USGS)
South Korea issues an arrest warrant for a Korean-based Volkswagen AG executive in relation to the emissions scandal which is the first warrant issued for a Volkswagen executive anywhere in the world.(Reuters via Daily Mail)
Los Angeles glass slide opens 1,000ft up skyscraper -
A glass slide fixed 1,000ft (305m) along the outside of a skyscraper in Los Angeles opens to the public on Saturday. The Skyslide spans 45 ft from the 70th to the 69th floor of the US Bank Tower in the city. Despite being made of glass just one inch thick, it is built to withstand hurricane-force winds and earthquakes. Tickets cost $25 (£18) each. It is part of the Skyspace renovation that also includes an observation deck. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Greenpeace holds a historic performance with pianist Ludovico Einaudi on the Arctic Ocean
Five Indian paramilitary soldiers are killed and another 20 injured when suspected rebels ambush their convoy in the outskirts of Srinagar in the Indian portion of Kashmir. Two of the attackers are killed by return fire; the others escape. (AP via ABC News)
The Kanawha County sheriff's office reports the death toll is now 26—three more victims were found overnight. It is the third-deadliest flood in West Virginia history. (USA Today)
Two women and seven men of the Extra Young Ohangla band die and eight other band members survive after their boat sinks in Lake Victoria at Kenya's Lihunda beach. The 15-member band was headed to Ndeda Island. (Kenya Star)(The Standard)
Venezuelan opposition leaders say they have now secured enough signatures on a petition to move to the next stage in a recall referendum of PresidentNicolás Maduro. The process must now be validated by electoral officials. (BBC)
Lionel Messi announces international football retirement after Argentina loses Copa America final -
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi says he is finished with the national team after the side's loss to Chile in the Copa America final. The five-time world player of the year announced as much in the immediate aftermath of Argentina's gut-wrenching loss to Chile, 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Monday. "The national team is done for me," Messi told reporters. The 29-year-old was booked for simulation and sent his attempt over the crossbar in the decisive shootout as he fell short for the fourth time in a major international final. "It's difficult, it's a hard moment for any analysis. In the dressing room I thought that the national team is not for me," he added. [ABC] In April Messi scored his 500th career goal.
Lionel Messi
Video of the Day -
Fastest time to pop 100 balloons by a dog - Guinness World Records
Fighting in various remote villages in the Borno State of Nigeria kill at least one civilian and six Boko Haram militants. According to the Nigerian Army, they've rescued more than 5,000 hostages from the militants. (Al Jazeera)
Voters in Spain go to the polls for a general election six months after an inconclusive election. Polls indicate that no party will be in position to form a government. (AP)
Euro 2016: Roy Hodgson resigns after England lose to Iceland -
Roy Hodgson has resigned as England manager after his side's 2-1 defeat by Iceland saw them knocked out of Euro 2016. The 68-year-old had been in charge for four years after replacing Italian Fabio Capello but has won just three of 11 games in major tournament finals. Iceland - with a population of just 330,000 - were among the lowest-ranked teams in France at 34 in the world. "I'm sorry it will have to end this way but these things happen," Hodgson said. "I hope you will still be able to see an England team in a final of a major tournament soon," he added. "Now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of a hungry and extremely talented group of players. They have done fantastically, and done everything asked of them." [BBC]
Roy Hodgson
Two men initially thought to have died when a camper was swept away in Greenbrier County are found alive, lowering the death toll from the disaster to 20 confirmed fatalities and three others missing and presumed dead. (AP via Fox News)
The Supreme Court of the United States strikes down a law that would have required abortion clinics in Texas to upgrade in order to meet new "hospital-like" standards. Supporters of abortion rights said that the proposed law would force nearly all abortion clinics in the state to shut down, while their opponents argued for women's health benefits. (CNN)
Peter Altmaier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, warns Britain of dire consequences of exit from the European Union, saying in a newspaper interview that UK leaders should not rule out the possibility of another referendum on the same issue. (Daily Mail)(Bloomberg)
Japan uses anime to target young voters -
Japanese cities are using manga and anime to persuade young people to vote in forthcoming elections. The popular formats feature in local electoral commission materials aimed at newly enfranchised 18- and 19-year-olds, which explain why going to the polls is important, The Japan Times website reports. Last year, Japan lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 - the first change in seven decades. An election on 10 July to choose members of the upper house of parliament will be the first national poll since the law changed. Officials in the city of Nara have created a five-minute-long anime video on the importance not only of voting, but of making an informed decision at the ballot box. It shows three girls celebrate turning 18, two of whom don't intend to use their votes. Other characters then warn the girls that it's never been more important to make their voices heard. It ends with what the paper describes as a "perky, off-key song" about nearing adulthood and thinking for yourself. [BBC]See Video of the Day
Video of the Day -
エンジェルは選挙権がお好き / 井上涼 【18歳選挙権】- Nara City Voting video
Volkswagen and the United States Justice Department agree on a $14.7 billion settlement for its emissions-cheating program. The breakdown: $10 billion to consumers to cover buybacks and fixes; $2 billion for green energy funds investment; and, $2.7 billion to offset diesel emissions. In addition, VW agrees on a settlement with 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that will cost at least $600 million. As for Europe, Volkswagen says its diesel vehicles don't violate European Union emissions standards. (Reuters)(Nasdaq)
IKEA is to recall 27 million Malm chests of drawers in North America due to the danger they pose to children. Since 2014, at least three children have died when the drawers toppled over on them. (BBC)
One of the flight recorders of EgyptAir Flight 804 has been fully repaired in Paris after being found in the Mediterranean Sea and will now be sent to Egypt to be analyzed. (Euronews)
Three crew members are missing and one worker is injured following the head-on collision of two BNSF Railway freight trains near the American town of Panhandle, Texas. Officials, concerned that flames from box car fires could cause a fast-moving grass fire, order an evacuation of some nearby areas. (AP via MSN)
A huge explosion completely destroys a house and damages 24 others in Mississauga, Canada. At least one person is dead and 13 others are injured, according to Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services. Thousands of residents are forced to evacuate and many spend the night at a local community shelter. (CBC News)(CP24)
The European Parliament's first debate on the UK's vote to leave is marked by bitter exchanges as prominent pro-Brexit figure Nigel Farage is booed and heckled by members of the European Parliamentand European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is heckled after saying that he is neither a robot nor a bureaucrat. (BBC)
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn refuses to resign after losing a vote of no confidence, with 80% of voting members of the Parliamentary Labour Party voting against him. Critics which include fellowMPs cite his failure to do more in the effort for the UK to remain in the EU as the main issue. (The Guardian)
Facebook gives friends higher priority in News Feeds -
Facebook is to give posts by users' friends and family greater prominence in their News Feeds. The social network said its members had expressed concerns that they were missing "important updates" from the people they cared about. The move reverses a trend towards giving more space to content posted by the news media and brands. One expert said it highlighted that newspapers and broadcasters' interests did not always match those of the firm. Facebook said that in several surveys it had carried out, users had told it they wanted to see more "friend content", and it was altering its algorithms to accommodate this. [BBC]
Vietnam capital sets target to ban motorbikes -
Officials in Hanoi are aiming to ban motorbikes from the city centre within 10 years, it's reported. The local government wants streets to be motorbike-free by 2025 as part of efforts to tackle congestion, the Thanh Nien News website says. The Vietnamese capital has notoriously chaotic roads, with around five million motorbikes vying for space alongside half a million cars. That situation is forecast to get worse in years to come: the authorities estimate that by 2020 there will be seven million motorbikes, and the number of cars will double. "This means the traffic situation in Hanoi will become extremely complicated in the next four to five years, so we really need a timely solution to this," says mayor Nguyen Duc Chung. The city's transport authority wants to reduce the number of individual vehicles and boost public transport instead, and its chairman wants the number of buses to double. Construction of a new urban rail system is already under way. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Watch NYers' Hearts Break As They JUST Miss The Subway Train
New Syrian Army rebels fail to capture the border town of Al-Bukamal from ISIL militants, with an ISIL affiliated news source claiming the group killed 40 rebels and captured 15 more in a counter-attack. (Reuters)
Toyota, which on Tuesday announced a recall of 1.43 million hybrids because of an airbag problem, today announces the recall of 2.87 million vehicles worldwide, produced between April 2006 and August 2015, because of a possible problem with their evaporative fuel emissions control unit. (Reuters)
The Lesedi La Rona diamond, the largest uncut diamond in the world, went on sale at an auction in Mayfair with it expected to sell at £52 million, or US$70 million. However, the diamond only managed to draw a high bid of US$61 million, falling short of the reserve price to sell it. (BBC)(CBC News)
The Vietnamese Ministry of Defense says eight bodies from a Coast Guard plane that crashed June 16, 2016, have been found. The search continues for the ninth crew member. The CASA C-212 Aviocarwas on a search and rescue mission for the then-missing pilot of a crashed Su30-MK2 fighter jet; the pilot's body was found on the 17th. (AP)(Tuổi Trẻ)
Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, two whistleblowers who revealed the Luxembourg Leaks financial scandal, are found guilty of leaking the documents and are given a 12 and nine month suspended sentence and fined €1,500 and €1,000 respectively, while Edouard Perrin, the journalist who was given the leaks, is acquitted of all charges. (BBC)
Boris Johnson rules himself out of Conservative leader race -
Ex-London mayor Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the race to be the next Conservative leader and prime minister. In a speech in London - billed as his campaign launch - Mr Johnson said he did not believe he could provide the leadership or unity needed. It comes after Justice Secretary and fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove's surprise announcement on Thursday morning that he would run for leader. Home Secretary Theresa May is among the candidates. Nominations closed at noon. Also in the running are Energy minister Andrea Leadsom and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox - who campaigned to leave the EU - and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who backed Remain. The contest was sparked after David Cameron announced he would resign following the EU referendum result, which saw the UK vote by 52% to 48% to leave the EU. Mr Johnson's unexpected - and dramatic - announcement that he would not stand for Tory leader or prime minister, positions he is long thought to have harboured ambitions for, has dramatically altered the race. Mr Gove and his team of advisors clearly did not believe Boris Johnson had the spine to fully divorce Britain from the EU. Nor did a number of Tory Mps trust Mr Johnson to deliver the promises he was making in terms of personnel and jobs. When Mr Gove made his move, hardened Brexit believers instantly went with him, sinking Boris Johnson. The irony of course is that Boris Johnson, who did so much to take Britain out of the EU, has seen his own ambitious crushed in the aftermath. It could be that the big winner from this vicious Tory drama is the woman in charge of law and order - Theresa May. [BBC]
Boris Johnson
An Afghan National Security Forces convoy outside Kabul was attacked in a coordinated ambush including suicide bombers and heavy machine guns resulting in over 40 deaths. (BBC)
According to reports, at least 250 ISIL militants were killed during fighting in the city of Fallujah while fighting Iraqi Army forces with assistance from U.S. airstrikes. (Reuters via Euronews)
Colombian, Italian, and U.S. police seize 11 tonnes of cocaine smuggled to various countries and arrest 33 people across Colombia and Italy after the discovery of seven laboratories in the Colombian jungle run by local organized criminal groups and 'Ndrangheta. (Reuters)
British home secretary Theresa May enters into the Tory leadership contest, saying that Article 50 of the EU Treaty should not be invoked before the end of this year, implying that formal Brexit negotiations with the EU institutions be put on hold until 2017 at the earliest. (Wall Street Journal)
Former Mayor of LondonBoris Johnson rules himself out of running in the Tory leadership contest, a move believed to be influenced by Michael Gove's announcement earlier in the day to run for the leadership. (BBC)
Bosnia and Herzegovina officially releases its first census report since the end of the Bosnian War after multiple delays, showing that the country had lost one fifth of its population from 4.4 million to 3.5 million between then and 2013. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
RussianDefense MinisterSergey Shoygu dismisses 50 high-ranking Navy officers, including Baltic Fleet Commander Viktor Kravchuk and Chief of Staff Sergei Popov, following a month-long inspection that found incompetence, deficiencies in training, and misinformation regarding the state of the fleet. (UPI)(Reuters)
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Lindsay Lohan set to turn on Christmas Lights in Kettering... after her furious tweet about Northamptonshire town went viral during EU referendum vote -
She took the internet by storm when her impassioned tweets about the EU referendum went viral. And Lindsay Lohan - who was staunchly in the Remain camp - appears to have made amends with the people of Kettering after angering MP Philip Hollobone with her comments during the results night when the town voted Leave by a margin of 61 to 39 per cent. But despite disagreeing with the Brexit result, the 29-year-old actress has now pledged her support to the Northamptonshire town by accepting to turning on their Christmas lights. A furious backbench Tory slammed the US star for criticising his home town of Kettering in a series of tweets Miss Lohan sent on the night of the referendum. Philip Hollobone demanded that the actress should visit the Midlands town - while a Cabinet Minister suggested that a trip to Kettering could boost the career of the troubled A-lister. [Daily Mail]
Lindsay Lohan
Battle of the Somme: Royals at Somme centenary commemoration -
Thousands of people, including members of the Royal Family, have attended a ceremony in France to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry were at the Thiepval Memorial for the event. Earlier, a UK-wide two-minute silence at 07:28 BST marked the start of the World War One battle on 1 July 1916.
More than a million men were killed or wounded on all sides at the Somme. The Battle of the Somme, one of WW1's bloodiest, was fought in northern France and lasted five months, with the British suffering almost 60,000 casualties on the first day alone. The British and French armies fought the Germans in a brutal battle of attrition on a 15-mile front. [BBC]
At least six people are shot and killed and several people wounded by suspected Al-Shabaab militants who ambushed two buses in Mandera, Kenya, near the Somalian border. (Al Jazeera)(AP)
In response to violence in the Hebron area, including the killing yesterday of a 13-year-old Jewish girl asleep in her home in the Kiryat Arba settlement by a Palestinian assailant, the Israel Defense Forcesplaces a closure on Hebron, brings additional troops to the area and announces a cut to tax funds it collects for the Palestinian Authority, saying it would deduct the amount the Palestinian leadership pays to the families of militants. (Al Jazeera)(The Times of Israel)
A 63 year old Palestinian man dies during a clash at the Qalandiya checkpoint; Palestinian sources claim his death was due to tear gas inhalation while Israeli sources say the man suffered a fatal heart attack. (Ma'an)(The Times of Israel)
Rabbi Michael Mark is murdered and his two children badly injured when terrorists shoot at his car on the highway south of Hebron.(The Jerusalem Post)(The Times of Israel)
Palestinian militants fire two rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip; one explodes outside a preschool in the town of Sderot, causing damage to property but no injuries, and the second rocket exploded in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev region. (The Times of Israel)
The European Union extends economic sanctions on Russia until 31 January 2017 over Moscow's continued support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters)
Yanghee Lee, the United Nations special human rights envoy to overwhelmingly BuddhistMyanmar, says more than 100,000 of the MuslimRohingya minority remain in squalid camps they were forced to four years ago by violence. The government does not recognize most of these people as citizens, and has treated even long-term residents as illegal immigrants. Lee is encouraged by last March's peaceful transition to a democratically elected and civilian-led government. (AP)
Paris, France, implements a pollution-reduction program that bans residents from driving cars built before 1997, and motorcycles built before 2000, on weekdays inside the city limits between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.(NPR)
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Five police officers shot dead at a protest in Dallas -
At least one sniper, who said he wanted to shoot white police officers, killed five officers and wounded seven others at a demonstration in Dallas on Thursday night against police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, officials said. The sniper was killed, and three other people are in custody, officials said. During an hours long standoff after the attack, in which two civilians were also wounded, the gunman told police negotiators that “he was upset about Black Lives Matter,” the Dallas police chief, David O. Brown, said on Friday. “He said he was upset about the recent police shootings,” Chief Brown said. “The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.” The police killed the suspect using an explosive delivered by a robot, he said, and arrested three other people. [New York Times]
Syrian government airstrikes in Damascus kill at least 30 people. According to the rebels, the airstrikes were revenge for the killing of a Syrian Air Force pilot by Al-Nusra Front yesterday. The airstrikes reportedly targeted a medical centre and a school. (The Guardian)
New Zealand record cocaine seizure in horse's head -
New Zealand police say they have made their biggest ever seizure of cocaine, hidden inside a novel kind of drug mule. They intercepted the $10m (£7.6m) worth of cocaine inside a huge diamante-encrusted statue of a horse's head. The shipment of 35kg (77lb) bricks was air-freighted from Mexico to the city of Auckland in May. An American and two Mexicans were arrested over the weekend following a six-week investigation. The horse's head weighed 365kg and was 1m (3ft) tall, the New Zealand Herald reported. "This is a significant win for New Zealand," said Det Supt Virginia Le Bas. "We should proud to have detected it at the earliest of stages." [BBC]
Libya's National Oil Corporation agrees to merge with the rival company of the same name in the east of the country after being split by the two rival governments. (Reuters)
Rescue workings in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast discover the remains of a Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane which went missing last Friday after going on a firefighting mission. Six people have been killed in the crash.(Reuters)
The European Union warns Switzerland that it will lose access to its single market if it goes through with its plan to impose restrictions on the free movement of EU citizens. In a referendum held back in February 9, 2014, Swiss voters approved limiting the movement of economic migrants from the EU in the country. Current laws allow migrants to enter Switzerland without visas. (The Guardian)
UKIP leader Nigel Farage stands down -
Nigel Farage says he is standing down as leader of the UK Independence Party. Mr Farage said his "political ambition has been achieved" with the UK having voted to leave the EU. He said the party was in a "pretty good place" and said he would not change his mind about quitting as he did after the 2015 general election. Leading UKIP was "tough at times" but "all worth it" said Mr Farage, who is also an MEP. He added that the UK needed a "Brexit prime minister". Mr Farage announced his decision to stand aside in a speech in London, saying: "I want my life back, and it begins right now." He has been leader of UKIP for most of the past eight years, standing down briefly in 2009 and being re-elected the following year. He said he would quit after failing to win his seat at last year's general election, but stayed on after the party rejected his resignation. [BBC]
Nigel Farage
Standard Life Investments suspends trading in its UK property fund, in response to increased withdrawal calls since the vote, to protect the interests of all investors in the fund. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
Flooding caused by torrential rain in China kills at least 180 people, mostly along the Yangtze river. (BBC)
A Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip docks at the Israeli port city of Ashdod, the first warming move between the two countries since relations began to improve. Relations betweenTurkey and Israel were tense since the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid but ended last week when Turkey agreed to normalize ties in a diplomatic treaty. (The Guardian)
Ling Jihua, former top aide to paramount leaderHu Jintao, is sentenced to life in prison for illegally obtaining state secrets and taking over $11 million in bribes. Ling's misfortunes started when he was accused of trying to cover up a scandal connected to his 23-year-old son's deadly crash in a Ferrari in 2012. (UPI)
Zhejiang governor Li Qiang is transferred to neighbouring Jiangsu province to serve as party chief. He is succeeded as Zhejiang governor by Xinjiang deputy party chief Che Jun. (Sina)
Xian Hui is named acting Chairwoman of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, succeeding Liu Hui. It is the first time in the history of the People's Republic that a woman has succeeded another woman in a provincial government leadership position. (Sina)
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Juno probe enters into orbit around Jupiter -
The US space agency has successfully put a new probe in orbit around Jupiter.
The Juno satellite, which left Earth five years ago, had to fire a rocket engine to slow its approach to the planet and get caught by its gravity. A sequence of tones transmitted from the spacecraft confirmed the braking manoeuvre had gone as planned. Receipt of the radio messages prompted wild cheering at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "All stations on Juno co-ord, we have the tone for burn cut-off on Delta V," Juno Mission Control had announced. "Roger Juno, welcome to Jupiter." Scientists plan to use the spacecraft to sense the planet's deep interior. They think the structure and the chemistry of its insides hold clues to how this giant world formed some four-and-a-half-billion years ago. Engineers had warned in advance that the engine firing was fraught with danger. No previous spacecraft has dared pass so close to Jupiter; its intense radiation belts can destroy unprotected electronics. One calculation even suggested the orbit insertion would have subjected Juno to a dose equivalent to a million dental X-rays. [BBC]
The United Nations reports a mortar attack on a camp for displaced Iraqis south of Baghdad kills three people, including two children, and injures 13 others, two critically. (The New York Times)
A suicide bomb explosion in Kurdish-controlled Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria kills at least 16 people, including three children and two women. ISIL claims responsibility. (Reuters)
Dozens of petty criminals and alleged drug addicts die in the Philippines within a few days after Rodrigo Duterte took the presidency. He actively encouraged extrajudicial killing of drug addicts and petty criminals before and after the election. (Al Jazeera)(The Guardian)
Hungarian Prime MinisterViktor Orbán announces that the country will hold a referendum on October 2 where voters will get to choose whether or not to accept European Union-imposed quotas on the distribution of migrants. (BBC)
Cybersecurity software maker Check Point reports HummingBadmalware has infected at least 10 million Android devices, mostly in China and India. Check Point says a team of developers based in Beijing is behind HummingBad which gives hackers administrative-level access to infected devices. Apple devices have been hit by similar malware. (Time)
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Chilcot report: Tony Blair's Iraq War case not justified -
Tony Blair overstated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, sent ill-prepared troops into battle and had "wholly inadequate" plans for the aftermath, the UK's Iraq War inquiry has said. Chairman Sir John Chilcot said the 2003 invasion was not the "last resort" action presented to MPs and the public. There was no "imminent threat" from Saddam - and the intelligence case was "not justified", he said. Mr Blair apologised for any mistakes made but not the decision to go to war. Sir John, the ex-civil servant who chaired the inquiry, describes the Iraq War as an intervention that went "badly wrong" with consequences still being felt to this day - and he set out lessons to be learned for future conflicts. His report, which is 2.6 million words, does not make a judgement on whether Mr Blair or his ministers were in breach of international law. [BBC]
Tony Blair in 2014
Video of the Day -
Explore Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park in Two Minutes
List of the Day -
Chilcott Report - errors in political and military decision-making in going to war in Iraq:
UK military commanders made "over-optimistic assessments" of their capabilities which had led to "bad decisions"
There was "little time" to properly prepare three military brigades for deployment in Iraq. The risks were neither "properly identified nor fully exposed" to ministers, resulting in "equipment shortfalls"
Policy on the Iraq invasion was made on the basis of flawed intelligence assessments. It was not challenged, and should have been
Mr Blair overestimated his ability to influence US decisions on Iraq; and the UK's relationship with the US does not require unconditional support
Twenty Philippine Army soldiers are under investigation after they are suspected of mutilating the body of a New People's Army member. The communist militant's eyes were gouged, his tongue was cut off and his throat was slit. (GMA News)
Business magnate and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi sells leading football club A.C. Milan to a Chinese consortium for an eventual €400 million. (BBC)
A report about the United Kingdom's involvement in the Iraq War is released. The chairman of the inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, said that the invasion was not a "last resort" and was based on "flawed intelligence and assessments". The inquiry was announced on 15 June 2009 by then-Prime MinisterGordon Brown. The final hearing was held on 2 February 2011. (The Guardian)(BBC)(BBC²)
Marion Bartoli: Former Wimbledon champion 'fears for life' over unknown virus -
Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli says she "fears for her life" after contracting an unknown virus that has caused her dramatic weight loss. France's Bartoli was barred from playing in an invitational event at Wimbledon this week after doctors expressed fears over her health. Bartoli, who insists she is not anorexic, says the virus is so rare medical experts have no name for it. "This is not life. I am just surviving," said the 31-year-old. Bartoli says she can only eat organic salad leaves and cucumbers without skins, and has to wash with mineral water rather than tap water. [BBC]
Marion Bartoli
The final image sent by doomed Japanese Hitomi satellite -
A doomed Japanese satellite managed to capture a view of a galaxy cluster 250 million light years away just before it died, scientists have revealed. Launched in February, the Hitomi X-ray satellite began tumbling out of control in March when contact was finally lost. Just before its demise, scientists managed to extract data measuring X-ray activity in the Perseus galaxy cluster. Hitomi, which translates as the pupil of the eye in Japanese, was meant to spend years studying the formation of galaxy clusters and the warping of space and time around black holes. It cost more than a quarter of a billion dollars - the research was an international collaboration involving the American space agency Nasa, and teams in Japan and many other countries, including one at Cambridge University in the UK. Hitomi was lost thanks to a sensor incorrectly detecting a roll in the spacecraft. In trying to correct it, on-board systems sent the craft into a spin until finally the solar panels that powered it are thought to have broken off. [BBC]
Hitomi Perseus image [HITOMI COLLABORATION/JAXA, NASA, ESA, SRON, CSA]
Typhoon Nepartak is expected to make landfall on mainland China on Friday and will make flooding worse. Nearly 200 people have died in flood waters in China in the past week with 41 people missing, 1.6 million relocated and almost 50,000 houses collapsed. (The Telegraph)
Germany's parliament passes a new law saying that it is rape to have sex with a person who says "No" to the sex. Under the previous law, sex was not considered rape unless the victim fought back. The new law also classifies groping as a sex crime, makes it easier to deport migrants who commit sex offences, and makes it easier to prosecute assaults committed by a large group. (BBC)
In a so-called VatiLeaks case, a Vatican City Court dismisses charges of publishing confidential information against two Italian journalists stating it lacked jurisdiction in this case. Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi wrote books on the inner workings of the Vatican. The court did convict a Vatican priest to 18 months, and assessed a 10-month suspended sentence on an Italian communications expert, for conspiring to pass documents to the journalists; a fifth defendant was cleared of all charges. (AP)(The Guardian)(Catholic News)
Gov. Dayton says, "Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and the passengers, were white? I don't think it would have. So I'm forced to confront, and I think all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront, that this kind of racism exists." (NPR)(Wall Street Journal)
Eleven police officers are shot, with five dying of gunshot wounds in Dallas, Texas during a protest against two black men killed within a day of each other. Police kill the shooter with a bomb delivered on a bomb defusing robot. (New York Post)(KTLA)(NBC DFW), (ABC News Australia)
Scientists manage to extract one last image from the Hitomi x-ray spacecraft, which broke up last March while orbiting Earth. Before it died, the spacecraft captured an image which measured the X-ray activity of the Perseus cluster. (BBC)
Christina Estrada: Former supermodel wins £53m divorce settlement -
A former supermodel has been awarded a £53m ($69m) lump sum after a divorce battle with her billionaire ex-husband. Berkshire-based Christina Estrada, 54, had wanted £196m from Saudi businessman Sheikh Walid Juffali, 61, to meet her "needs" - including £1m a year on clothes - the High Court was told. The total settlement, which takes into account her own assets, is about £75m. Her lawyers said this makes it "by more than £50m, the largest needs award ever made by an English court". Ms Estrada, who is is currently living at the matrimonial home bordering Windsor Great Park, had rejected an offer that, when added to her own assets, would have given her £37m to live on. Ms Estrada was cross-examined in court on her needs, which she said included:
£40,000 a year for fur coats
£109,000 a year for haute couture dresses
£21,000 a year on shoes
£60m to afford a luxury London home
A £4.4m countryside home in Henley-on-Thames
£495,000 for five cars - three in London and two in the US
According to a Nigerian Army spokesman, a Boko Haram suicide bomber kills six people inside a mosque in the town of Damboa, Borno State. A second suicide bomber attempted to enter the same mosque but failed to gain entry and detonated his belt, killing only himself. (Reuters)
Typhoon Nepartak hits eastern Taiwan causing three deaths so far, 124 injuries, thousands of people to be evacuated, disrupting transport and power supplies. (Reuters)(CNN)
The death of an elderly Utah woman with a Zika virus infection in late June is the first reported Zika-related death in the continental United States. The woman had traveled to an area where Zika is spreading. The exact cause of death has not been determined; the lady had an underlying medical condition. (NBC News)(Time)
Police kill Micah X Johnson, the gunman believed responsible for the killing of five police officers and shooting of seven more in Dallas, Texas following a standoff. (Los Angeles Times)
#ThisFlag protest leader Pastor Evan Mawarire says the movement, which uses WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, will hold a two-day strike next week if demands, that include sacking corrupt ministers, payment of delayed salaries, lifting of roadblocks that residents say are used by police to extract bribes, etc., are not met. A drought has aggravated the country's situation as have banks that have a daily withdrawal ceiling as low as $50. (Reuters via CNBC Africa)(Ventures Africa)
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Matador Victor Barrio killed by bull in Spain -
A matador has died after being gored by a bull in Spain - the first bullfighter to die in the ring in Spain this century. Victor Barrio, 29, a professional bullfighter, was killed when the bull's horn pierced his chest. The fight, in the eastern town of Teruel, was being broadcast live on TV. Also on Saturday, a 28-year-old man died after being gored by a bull during a bull run through the village of Pedreguer, near Valencia. The last matador to die in a bullfight in Spain was Jose Cubero, or Yiyo, in 1985. Television footage shows the bull throwing Barrio into the air before goring him on the right-hand side of his chest and violently throwing him. [BBC]
At least three people are killed and dozens more are wounded when protesters clash with Indian Army soldiers. The protesters defied an army curfew and took part in the funeral of a top rebel commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
This week, the Gambia and Tanzania outlawed child marriages. Friday, the Tanzanian High Court — in a case filed by the Msichana Initiative, a lobbying group that advocates for girls' right to education — ruled in favor of protecting girls from the harms of early marriage. And during a feast ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Wednesday, The GambianPresidentYahya Jammeh announced that child and forced marriages are banned. Jammeh called on the National Assembly to quickly take up the issue. (AP)(BBC)(Human Rights Watch)
Andy Murray wins Wimbledon by beating Milos Raonic -
Britain's Andy Murray became Wimbledon champion for the second time with a superb performance against Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic in the final. The Scot, 29, dismantled the Raonic serve in a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) victory to repeat his triumph of 2013 and claim a third Grand Slam title. Murray is the first British man to win multiple Wimbledon singles titles since Fred Perry in 1935. "I'm proud to have my hands on the trophy again," said Murray. [BBC]
Andy Murray
Euro 2016: Portugal beats France 1-0 in extra-time through Eder wondergoal to claim first title -
A dramatic wondergoal from striker Eder has won Portugal its first European championship, breaking French hearts with a 1-0 win at the Stade de France. After a goalless 90 minutes, most notable for an early injury to Cristiano Ronaldo and the influx of moths that took over the stadium, Portugal began to take over the match in extra-time and substitute Eder proved the match-winner. After cutting inside past two French defenders, the Lille striker unleashed on his right boot past Hugo Lloris, stunning the vocal home crowd and sending the Portugal bench into euphoria.
Eder (R)
An estimated 272 people have been killed between rival Sudan People's Liberation Army factions as clashes in the capital, Juba, continue. According to a spokesman for rebel leader and Vice PresidentRiek Machar, South Sudan is "back to war" despite a peace deal being reached last April. (Al Jazeera)(BBC)
Protests continue in multiple cities across the United States following the death of two black men by police. Numerous confrontations and arrests have been reported. (Reuters)
Prime Minister-in-waiting Theresa May promises 'a better Britain' -
Theresa May promised to build a "better Britain" and to make the UK's EU exit a "success" after she was announced as the new Tory leader and soon-to-be PM. Speaking outside Parliament, Mrs May said she was "honoured and humbled" to succeed David Cameron, after her only rival in the race withdrew on Monday. Mr Cameron will tender his resignation to the Queen after PMQs on Wednesday. Mr Cameron, who has been UK prime minister since 2010, decided to quit after the UK's Brexit vote. It follows another day of dramatic developments in the political world, when Andrea Leadsom unexpectedly quit the two-way Conservative leadership contest, saying she did not have the support to build "a strong and stable government". Her decision left Mrs May - the front runner - as the only candidate to take over leading the party and to therefore become prime minister. [BBC]
Theresa May
Video of the Day -
The Foley Artist sees a master of sound at work on a fashion film. If you’ve ever wanted to see the chasm between the finished product and the extraordinary lengths taken to produce it, this short is for you.
The Foley Artist from Feast Films on Vimeo.
Rebels in Aleppo launch an assault on government-controlled areas in the city. This comes after the Syrian Army blocked off the only road leading into opposition-controlled areas. According to state media, at least eight people have been killed and dozens more are wounded. (BBC)
Hitler house: Austria moves to stop Neo-Nazi 'cult site' -
Austria's government is to seize the house where Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 to prevent it becoming a site of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis. The owner, a retired local woman, has refused repeated offers to buy the house in Braunau am Inn in the past. However, there is disagreement over what to do with the house next. The interior minister wants it demolished but others say a museum or even a supermarket would more effectively "depoliticise" it. [BBC]
A car bomb explodes at an outdoor market in Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and injuring 20 more. Bombings elsewhere in Iraq kill five more people. (Al Jazeera)(AP)
AMC Theatres is purchasing London-based Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group in a deal valued at about £921 million ($1.21 billion). AMC has 385 theaters with 5,380 screens, most in the United States. Odeon & UCI has 242 theaters and 2,236 screens in the U.K. and Ireland. AMC noted its $1.1 billion (£835 million) acquisition of Columbus, Georgia'sCarmike Cinemas (276 thrs/2,954 scrs) is still in the works. (AP)(USA Today)
The court unanimously says that China has "no historical rights" based on the so-called "nine-dash line" map. (CNN), (BBC)
China rejects the tribunal's ruling, declaring it null and void. Chinese PresidentXi Jinping reiterates the South China Sea has been Chinese territory since "ancient times." (AP)
Evan Mawarire, the most visible leader of the protests in Zimbabwe, is arrested and charged with "inciting public violence and disturbing peace." (BBC)
Citibank notifies the Venezuelan government it will close the accounts of the Venezuelan Central Bank and the Bank of Venezuela in 30 days after conducting a "periodic risk management review." Venezuela relies on Citibank to conduct foreign currency transactions due to the country's strict currency controls. (UPI)
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Theresa May becomes new British Prime Minister -
The former home secretary, 59, becomes the UK's second female prime minister in the wake of David Cameron's resignation after the EU referendum. She had previously served in the Home Office for more than six years. In her first cabinet she appointed David Davis to the new cabinet position of secretary of state for exiting the European Union - or "Brexit secretary". David Davis has been appointed to the new cabinet position of secretary of state for exiting the European Union - or "Brexit secretary". In the post of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson succeeds Philip Hammond at the Foreign Office. [BBC] See List of the Day for full cabinet list
Theresa May
Marvel kills off Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner -
Marvel has killed off The Hulk's human alter ego Bruce Banner in its latest comic. The character is seen dying as a result of an arrow to the head from Hawkeye, his Avengers teammate, in the third issue of Civil War II. Banner has been the Hulk's alter ego since the character's creation in 1962. However, for the last year, readers have seen Banner medicating himself to keep his anger management issues under control. During that time, a Korean-American teenage genius named Amadeus Cho has taken over as the new human alter-ego of The Hulk. [BBC]
The death toll from anti-government protests in the Indian state rises to 36 with over a thousand more being treated for injuries. Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti has called for calm. (BBC)
In a report by Amnesty International, the group documents findings of Egyptian officials forcibly making hundreds of people disappear and face torture in the past year in an attempt to crack down on dissent in the country. (BBC)
Terror fiend tricked police to get death truck onto busy Nice promenade, kill 84 -
Cars and trucks were barred from the Promenade des Anglais during Thursday's Bastille Day festivities, but the terrorist who plowed a 19-ton truck into a mile-long crowd of revelers - killing at least 84 - reportedly got past police by telling them he had ice cream to hand out. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old divorced loner, petty criminal and Tunisian national began his route of carnage by slowly moving onto the packed, seaside walkway around 10:40 p.m. local time. Then, say witnesses, he gunned the engine and weaved through the horrified crowd for nearly a mile, leaving a wake of dead and broken bodies. Police killed him in a shootout minutes later. Bouhlel, who shot at revelers after driving through the crowd and was then killed by police, was reportedly known to police prior to the attack although his rap sheet included just one arrest, for a road rage incident in March French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said. [Fox News]
A suspected militant of Al-Shabaab shoots and kills four Kenyan police officers at a police station in Kapenguria, Kenya, where he was being held. The militant was later killed following a shootout with police. (Reuters)
The French government calls on former European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso not to take a job with investment bank Goldman Sachs, after some EU politicians demanded Barroso be sanctioned for accepting the new position that raises questions about the EU's conflict of interest rules. (BBC)
Frankie Dettori reaches 3,000 winners with victory at Newmarket on Predilection -
Jockey Frankie Dettori secured his 3,000th British winner at Newmarket on Friday. He brought up the landmark with his second winner of the night at his local track - on Predilection, trained by John Gosden. The 45-year-old Italian is the sixth jockey to reach the landmark in Flat racing. He follows Sir Gordon Richards, Doug Smith, Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Willie Carson. Three-time champion jockey Dettori, who earlier won on Ghayyar, said: "It's special. I'm very emotional because my family are here as well. "I'm very pleased for it to have happened at Newmarket because this is where I landed 30 years ago. "It's not a big meeting, it's not a Royal Ascot - it's a mundane Friday night with 20,000 people. I'm relieved and very humble." [BBC]
Frankie Dettori
A series of coordinated bombings across Thailand, mostly at sites popular with tourists, leaves at least four people dead and dozens wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. (The New York Times)
Suspected Syrian government or Russian airstrike hits the Kafr Hamra children's hospital in a village on the outskirts of Aleppo, killing a nurse and a technician and rendering the hospital's facilities unusable. (The Telegraph)
Sexual abstinence, post-Zika infection, may need to be extended to six months. (BBC)
Law and Crime
Brendan Dassey, the subject of Netflix's hit drama Making a Murderer is found to have been wrongly convicted of murdering the photographer Teresa Halbach. A federal judge orders that he must be released from prison within three months. (People)
Gary Lineker pants: Match of the Day presenter keeps Twitter promise -
Gary Lineker kept his promise and introduced the opening Match of the Day of the new season in his underpants. Former England captain Lineker, 55, pledged to "do the first MOTD of next season in just my undies" if former club Leicester won the Premier League. The Foxes went on to win their first top-flight title by 10 points. "It is a one-off and a sporting miracle that has landed me in my underwear," said Lineker, who scored 95 goals in 194 appearances for Leicester. "When I tweeted that silly bet back in December, I categorically knew there was zero chance of Leicester winning the league. Zero chance. It happened but it was magical, it was great." Lineker managed to keep a straight face, while MOTD pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright giggled in the background, as he opened the programme. Lineker stayed in his underwear as Shearer and Wright analysed Leicester's opening-day defeat by Hull. But as the programme moved on to the second match, he told viewers: "Enough of this nonsense - I'm going to get dressed!" [BBC]
Gary Lineker on MOTD with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright(BBC)
At least 10 children are killed and 28 injured in an air attack on a school in northern Yemen. The Houthi group claims that the Saudi Arabia led coalition is responsible. (Reuters via ABC News)
The death toll from Thursday's explosion in a Silver Spring, Maryland, apartment building rises to three with others still missing. The cause of the blast has not yet been officially determined. (Reuters)
A lone gunman shoots a Muslim cleric and an associate to death in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Both were still wearing religious garb following afternoon prayers. No arrests have been made. (Reuters)
Violence breaks out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, following a fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old male criminal armed with a handgun earlier in the day. The Milwaukee Police Department says an officer was injured after being struck in the head by a brick, while a police car and gas station were set on fire. (NBC News)
Wayde van Niekerk wins Olympic 400m gold in a new world record! -
The South African produces an absolutely astonishing run to wrestle the Olympic title away from Kirani James, who comes second. Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record is finally beaten! He looked to have set out far too quickly but, incredibly, got faster around the top bend and then sustained that top speed down the final stretch. The 2008 Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt, gets the bronze. To give you an idea of how incredible of an athlete Van Niekerk is; he's the only athlete in history to run 100m under 10 secs, 200m under 20 secs, and 400m under 44 secs. [CNN] See List of the Day
Wayde van Niekerk
Volkswagen gets approval from Germany's motor vehicle authority for technical fixes on 460,000 cars. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
A wedding bus carrying over 50 passengers falls into a ravine in Azad Kashmir, killing at least 25 people and wounding 20 more. Many people are critically injured, with the death toll expected to increase.(Anadolu Agency)
HEI Hotels & Resorts, a firm that operates hotels for Hyatt, Intercontinental, Marriott, and Starwood, reports that malware designed to collect payment information was discovered on computers at 20 of their locations across the United States. (Reuters)
Sage, a British accounting software firm, reports a data breach; it is presently unclear what data was viewed or taken. (BBC)
A marriage proposal at the Olympics medal ceremony -
Chinese diver He Zi had just received a silver medal for the women's three-metre springboard at the Rio Olympics on Sunday. But she ended up with another prize when her boyfriend Qin Kai, in front of a global TV audience, went down on one knee. Luckily for Qin, who himself won bronze in the men's three-metre synchronised springboard last week, He Zi said yes. "We've been dating for six years, but I didn't expect him to propose today," she said. "He said a lot of things, made a lot of promises, but I think the thing that touched me the most is I think this is the guy I can trust for the rest of my life." [BBC]
Rio Olympics: Seven injured when aerial camera, cables fall in Olympic Park -
Seven people suffered minor injuries when an aerial camera and its cables fell about 65 feet in the Olympic Park on Monday afternoon. Flavio Oliveira was just getting out of a handball match with his nephew when he heard the wires come crashing to the ground. He said the cable whipped against two girls, hitting one of them in the neck. A statement from the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), which provides TV feeds for countries around the world outside NBC, said, "According to local medical authorities, there were seven minor injuries that have received medical attention. A full investigation has been launched." [USA Today]
An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition which hit a hospital in northern Yemen run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) kills at least 11 people. (BBC)
Without alluding to a possible motive, New York authorities charge a man with second-degree murder in the deaths of a New York Muslim imam and his assistant. (Reuters)
Chinese drivers fashion rat-proof car 'skirts' -
Residents of a city in southern China have been attaching "skirts" to their cars to protect them from rats. Locals in Nanning, in the Guangxi autonomous region, came up with the unusual solution after rodents were found to be clambering inside the vehicles and gnawing through the wiring. Parked cars have been spotted around the city sporting the makeshift, wraparound shields - dubbed "car maxi skirts" in the Chinese media - some fashioned from fabric and chicken wire, others using bamboo. Many social media users are amused by the curious sight, with one person writing on the popular NetEase web portal: "I like this elevated Guangxi humour." Some share the locals' frustrations, but others think they're overreacting. "Are they preparing against a large-scale rodent invasion?" one user asks. [BBC]
US ready to 'hand over' the internet's naming system -
The US has confirmed it is finally ready to cede power of the internet’s naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the internet's governance. The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the internet’s most important components. It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses - like bbc.com - with their relevant servers. Without DNS, you’d only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as "194.66.82.10". More by circumstance than intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled - but not for much longer. It will give up its power fully to Icann - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - a non-profit organisation. The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasn’t until now that the US said it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change. Icann will get the “keys to the kingdom”, as one expert put it, on 1st October 2016. From that date, the US will lose its dominant voice - although Icann will remain in Los Angeles. Icann was created in 1998 to take over the task of assigning web addresses. Until that point, that job was handled by one man - Jon Postel. He was known to many as the “god of the internet”, a nod to his power over the internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the systems that underpin networking. [BBC]
Jon Postel in 2008
A Malaysian oil tanker, MT Vier Harmoni, is hijacked off the coast of Malaysia and is believed to have been taken to Indonesian waters near the island of Batam, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. The identity of the hijackers is not yet known. (BBC)
Judge Keyla Blanc, of Brazil's Special Tribunal for Fans and Major Events, orders Brazil police to question U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte over inconsistencies describing the armed robbery of himself and three other US Olympians. Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger are later removed from a plane returning to the United States. (Reuters), (Daily Telegraph)
Disasters and accidents
Eight people are seriously injured when a passenger train collides with a tree that had fallen across the railway line at Saint-Aunès, Hérault, France. (BBC News Online)
Zika in Florida: Pregnant women warned to avoid Miami Beach -
Pregnant women have been warned to avoid the international tourist destination Miami Beach, amid cases of the Zika virus. Authorities had previously thought the virus was limited to Wynwood, a small area west of Miami Beach. Health officials now say five people in Miami Beach have been infected. Florida health officials have been aggressively spraying pesticides there. Zika, often spread by mosquitoes, can cause life-threatening birth defects. [BBC]
Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt completes sprint double -
Usain Bolt completed a Rio 2016 sprint double by winning the 200m; he has already won the 100m in Rio. Bolt's eighth Olympic title came in a time of 19.78 seconds, and the Jamaican has one final chance to win gold in Friday's 4x100m relay final. Bolt, the overwhelming pre-race favourite, once again dominated a 200m Olympic final. The Jamaican has now won the Olympic sprint double three times, having repeated his exploits from Beijing in 2008 and London four years ago. Bolt said he was not happy with his time and added it was unlikely he would compete in the event at the World Championships in London next year - his career swansong. "I said it would be 100m and that's it," he told BBC Sport. "My coach has a way of trying to convince me, but personally I believe this is my last one." [BBC] See List of the Day
Usain Bolt
Rio Olympics 2016: USA's Ryan Crouser breaks 28-year record to win shot put gold -
Ryan Crouser broke a 28-year Olympic record to win gold for the United States in the men's shot put final. Crouser, 23, threw 22.52m with his fifth throw to break East German Ulf Timmermann's record of 22.47m set in Seoul in 1988. Joe Kovacs, the 2015 world champion, made it a USA one-two with a best throw of 21.78m, as New Zealand's Tomas Walsh took bronze with 21.36m. Poland's Tomasz Majewski, who won gold in 2012, finished sixth with 20.72m. [BBC]
Video of the Day -
Man solves Rubik's Cube faster than Usain Bolt can win 100 meter race
List of the Day -
Usain Bolt International competitions results [Wikipedia]
U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentences former NFL player Darren Sharper to 18 years in prison in rape and drugging case involving as many as 160 women in several U.S. states. (BBC)
The Obama Administration will phase out the use of privately-owned federal prisons. The move will affect private prisons which house 220,660 federal inmates, out of a total of nearly 2,000,000. (BBC)
Science and technology
Twitter announces 2,035,000 terror-linked accounts have been suspended over the past six months amid increasing pressure on tech companies from the White House to censor extremists from groups likeISIL. (CBS News)
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Glass bridge: China opens world's highest and longest -
The much-heralded "world's highest and longest" glass-bottomed bridge has opened to visitors in central China. It connects two mountain cliffs in what are known as the Avatar mountains (the film was shot here) in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Completed in December, the 430m-long bridge cost $3.4m (£2.6m) to build and stands 300m above ground, state news agency Xinhua reported. It has been paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass. And according to officials, the 6m-wide bridge - designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan - has already set world records for its architecture and construction. [BBC]
Derrick Dearman a 27-year-old Mississippi man kills five people in the U.S. town of Citronelle, Alabama then kidnaps his pregnant ex-girlfriend from among the victims. Nearby, the Greene County, MississippiSheriff's office takes the surrender and confession of the suspect. (Reuters)
Rio Olympics 2016: Team GB beat China to finish second in medal table -
Great Britain have finished second in the medal table at the 2016 Olympics - above sporting powerhouse China. One of the event's dominant nations, China have won more than 200 golds since returning to the Games in 1984. Britain ended the Rio Games with 27 golds from 15 sports, one ahead of China, as they finished with a total of 67 from 19 sports, beating the 65 at London 2012. Since the modern Olympic era began in 1896, no country has increased its medal tally at the summer Games immediately following one it hosted. GB have also smashed their pre-Games target of at least 48 medals, which was set by UK Sport. That means Rio 2016 is the nation's most successful 'away' Games in history. China, with a population of 1.357bn to Britain's 64.1m, have amassed more medals (70) than Team GB in Brazil, achieving notable success in table tennis, diving and weightlifting. However, GB are ahead on golds, which is what the rankings are based on. [BBC] See List of the day
Windows 10 update stops webcams working -
A Windows 10 update has stopped many popular webcams from working. The update, released earlier this month, stops many cameras being used for Skype or to broadcast and stream footage. The cause seems to be a change in the way Windows 10 handles video so it can be used by more than one program at a time. Microsoft said it was working on a fix but has not given any date for when the patch will be available. Soon after Windows Update 1607 was distributed in early August, many people started reporting webcam problems to Microsoft via its support site. The trouble affected both webcams connected via USB cables or on the same network and meant either that footage could not be streamed, or that images froze after a while. The problems even affected webcams working with Skype and Lync - both companies owned by Microsoft. [BBC]
At least 40 people are killed and hundreds of thousands are evacuated due to flooding caused by days of heavy rain in central and eastern India. (ABC News)
Iran confirms that Russia will stop using its Hamadan Airbase to launch attacks in Syria, saying Russia's use of Hamadan Airbase was "temporary, based on a Russian request," and that Russian operations are "finished for now". Iranian Defence MinisterHossein Dehghan earlier criticized Russia's announcement of its use of the base in Iran, saying "There has been a kind of showing-off and inconsiderate attitude behind the announcement of this news." (The Washington Post)
Virgin challenges Jeremy Corbyn train footage -
Virgin Trains has questioned footage showing Jeremy Corbyn sitting on the floor of a "ram-packed" service. In a film shown on The Guardian, the Labour leader said he was experiencing a problem "many passengers face every day" on the London to Newcastle train. But Virgin said CCTV showed Mr Corbyn and his team walking past available seating before starting filming. It says the crew helped him to a carriage where seats were available and he sat for the rest of his journey. On one level, this is a story that appears trivial - about whether a politician could find a seat on a train. But it is fast developing into a political row between the leader of the opposition and one of Britain's biggest rail firms. [BBC]
Jeremy_Corbyn
Video of the Day -
"DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION" — A Bad Lip Reading
In a raid on Boko Haram Islamists' northeast heartland, Nigeria’s air force kills senior militants and possibly fatally wounds their leader, Abubakar Shekau. (Reuters)
A U.S. service member becomes the first U.S. military combat casualty in Afghanistan since January 2016 when he is killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) while on patrol near the city of Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province. Another American service member and six Afghan soldiers were also injured in the blast. (NBC News)
Two bombs explode at the Southern Hotel in Pattani killing one person and injuring 30. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
Philippine officials believe they may have recovered biggest natural giant clam pearl in the world — weighing 34kg. Officials are awaiting confirmation from gemologists that the find is indeed the world's largest pearl. If confirmed, it will beat the current record holder, the Pearl of Lao Tzu, which weighs 6.4kg. (BBC)
Italy earthquake: Death toll rises to at least 159 -
At least 159 people have been killed and 368 injured in an earthquake that hit a mountainous area of central Italy, civil protection officials say. The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, not far from Perugia. At least 86 of the dead were in the historic town of Amatrice, where the mayor said three-quarters of the town was destroyed, and in nearby Accumoli.
Many people are still believed to be buried under rubble. [BBC]
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits central Myanmar, 25km west of the town of Chauk, and was also felt in Thailand, Bangladesh and India, according to reports. At least three people are killed. (BBC)
North Korea launches a missile from a submarine off the port city of Sinpo in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. and South Korean officials. This missile, the third sub-based attempt this year, flew about 500 kilometers (311 miles) and landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The first test exploded and the second traveled 30 km (18½ miles). (NBC News)(AP)
One British woman is killed and two others are wounded in a stabbing attack on a North Queensland backpacker hostel, Australia. (News.com)(ABC News Australia)
A police officer from Bethel, Alaska, will be sentenced to prison for charges related to police brutality in a 2014 case involving an intoxicated man. The charges followed an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations civil rights division. The former officer, Andrew Reid, was found to have used excessive force and lying on official police reports. The victim suffered a separated shoulder and other injuries.(Alaska Dispatch News)
Recruitment agency criticised for job ads specifying bra size -
A recruitment agency has been criticised for advertising jobs only for "attractive women", as well as specifying bra size. Matching Models in London describes itself as "an international temp agency for beautiful and talented people". It advertised for a personal assistant with "a classic look, brown long hair with b-c cup". The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) called it "appalling, unlawful and demeaning to women". The agency's founder Nathalie Jansen said: "Our clients are important to us - and looks are important." Another job advert on the agency's website asks a "sexy female driver" to drive a Porsche Cayenne two days a week for between £40,000 and £50,000-a-year for a Knightsbridge-based businessman and polo team owner. [BBC]
Hurricane Matthew: At least 100 people killed in Haiti devastation -
Hurricane Matthew has left at least 108 people dead in Haiti, the country's interior minister says. Some 50 people were reported to have died in the southern town of Roche-a-Bateau alone. New images from remote and cut off areas in the south-west of the country show scenes of devastation. The hurricane has again been upgraded to a Category Four storm, the second highest hurricane classification, as it heads for the US state of Florida. [BBC]
Hurricane Matthew image by NASA
Video of the Day -
Underwater Explosions at 120,000fps - The Slow Mo Guys
Pakistan's government removes a loophole allowing those behind so-called honor killings to go free with the new legislation instead requiring a mandatory life sentence. (BBC)
Americans finally break through to end Ryder Cup frustration -
This was not eight years in the making. It was two decades. Two decades worth of frustration was pent up inside the American team room when it arrived to Hazeltine National this week for the 41st Ryder Cup. And two decades worth of relief was released with the force of popping champagne corks when the Americans put the finishing touches on a 17-11 rout of the Europeans Sunday, capturing the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008 and only the third time since 1999. After eight losses in the last 10 Ryder Cups, including the last three, the Americans decided enough was enough. [New York Post] [See list of the day]
Hurricane Matthew, at Category 4 strength with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), temporarily stalls as it heads towards Jamaica and Haiti. Weather forecasters expect tropical storm conditions today with landfall tomorrow. Further, they expect rainfall of 20 inches, with up to 40 inches in some parts of southern Haiti. (BBC), (NBC News), (The National Hurricane Center)
Voters in Hungary go to the polls for a referendum on whether to accept mandatory European Union quotas on relocating migrants. While an overwhelming majority of voters reject the EU's migrant quotas, turnout was too low to make the poll valid. (BBC), (Reuters)
Designs unveiled to light London bridges on River Thames -
Six teams have been shortlisted for a design competition to permanently light up 17 of London's bridges along the River Thames. The Illuminated River project will see the pedestrian, road and rail crossings between Albert and Tower Bridge lit. More than 100 international groups entered the competition which has raised £10m so far in private funding. The designs are on display at the Royal Festival Hall during November with the winner announced on 8 December. According to the organisers, the Illuminated River Foundation, the project will be funded "from private and philanthropic sources rather than the public purse". The project has been backed by Sadiq Khan who said it would be a "wonderful celebration" of the river and "a major contribution to the growing importance of London's night-time economy". The foundation said they hoped to install the winning design in 2018 depending on whether they could raise more funds and following consultation with local councils and the people who own the bridges. [BBC] See List of the Day
The Jubilee Bridge by London Timelapse
Toblerone triangle change upsets fans -
A decision to space out the distinctive triangular chocolate chunks in two Toblerone bars sold in the UK has upset fans who say that they do mind the gap. The product's makers, US-based Mondelez International, said it had changed the design to reduce the weight of what were 400g and 170g bars. Some consumers have described the move as "the wrong decision" and said the bigger spaces looked "stupid". Mondelez said the move was down to a rise in the cost of ingredients. In a statement on the Toblerone Facebook page, the company said it had to make a decision between changing the look of the bars or raising the price. [BBC]
The old shaped Toblerone
Video of the Day -
The Flying Frenchies Surf and BASE Jump From a Zipline
List of the Day -
How many peaks in a bar of Toblerone?
According to Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany the sizes and number of peaks for Toblerones are as follows:
US election 2016 result: Trump beats Clinton to take White House -
Donald Trump will become the 45th US president after a stunning victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Republican nominee's victory came down to a handful of key swing states, despite months of polling that favoured Mrs Clinton. The battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina cleared the way for his Brexit-style upset. Global markets plummeted, with the US dollar diving and gold prices surging. Mr Trump's shock victory in Wisconsin put him over the 270 out of 538 electoral college votes needed to win the White House, after a gruelling and rancorous campaign. The US president-elect took to the stage with his family at his victory rally in a New York hotel ballroom and said: "I just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us on our victory." [BBC]
President elect Donald Trump
At least seven people have been killed and 51 hospitalised after a Tramlink light rail vehicle derailed and overturned close to Sandilands tram stop in the London Borough of Croydon early on Wednesday. It is believed to be the first tram accident involving fatalities on the tram in the United Kingdom since 1959. (BBC News)
International relations
The immigration website of Canada crashes due to overflow, coinciding with the election in the United States. (CNN)
Cuba announces military exercises following Trump's win -
The Cuban government has announced it will hold five days of nationwide military exercises to prepare for "a range of enemy action". Cuba did not link the exercises to the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential election. But analysts say such exercises have in the past been held at times of tension or to send a signal to the US. During his campaign, Mr Trump said he would reverse the recent thaw in relations between Cuba and the US. Cuba's Ministry of Defence announced the move in the government-run newspaper Granma. [BBC]
Stolen statue of beloved Istanbul cat returned -
A statue honouring one of Istanbul's most famous felines which went missing earlier this week has been returned after a social media outcry. The bronze sculpture is of Tombili, a tubby cat who became the subject of countless internet memes when a photo of him reclining on the pavement went viral. The statue immortalising his famous pose vanished on Monday night, only a month after being unveiled. Perhaps the guilt was too much for whoever took it, as on Thursday the statue reappeared. Sculptor Seval Sahin shared a photo of herself with it, thanking everyone on social media and the press and TV coverage which she says helped bring about the happy ending. [BBC]
The Tombili cat sculpture
Video of the Day -
GoPro: Epic Lines: Speedflying with Jamie Lee — Line 1
New Balance trainer wearers bin and burn their shoes over Trump -
New Balance wearers are binning and burning their trainers after the company's vice president appeared to praise Donald Trump's trade plans. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Matt LeBretton said Barack Obama had "turned a deaf ear" to US business. "Frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction," he said. Since then some Americans have been filmed setting their shoes on fire. Others have been returning used trainers to New Balance shops. [BBC Newsbeat]
Burnt New Balance Shoews (@milftears twitter)
Video of the Day -
John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 - #BusterTheBoxer
New Zealand earthquake: Two dead following powerful tremor -
A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake has struck New Zealand's South Island, killing at least two people. The quake hit just after midnight on Monday (11:02 GMT on Sunday), north-east of Christchurch. It was felt as far afield as the capital Wellington on the North Island, 120 miles (200km) away. A tsunami arrived about two hours later. Officials warned everyone along the eastern coast to head inland or for higher ground. Police said one person died in the town of Kaikoura on the eastern coast, which has been cut off by road and where electric power is out and phones are down. Another died in Mount Lyford, a ski resort nearby. It is not yet clear how they were killed. [BBC]
Eight people are killed and 36 are arrested in clashes between the Myanmar Army and what are believed to be Rohingya insurgents in Rakhine State. (Reuters)
Voters in Moldova head to the polls in the country's presidential runoff between two opposition candidates, Igor Dodon, from the pro-RussiansocialistPSRM, and Maia Sandu, from the pro-EUliberalPAS, with Dodon expected to win. Preliminary results, in this first Moldovan election where the president is chosen by national votes rather than by parliament, will be announced Monday. (ABCNEWS)(Voice of America)
A South Korean official says prosecutors will question PresidentPark Geun-hye, no later than Wednesday, about the political corruption scandal. This will be the first time a sitting president is questioned by prosecutors in a criminal case. (Reuters)
'Fart' in parliament: Row blows up in Canada -
A row has blown up in the Canadian parliament - over the word "fart". When Conservative MP Michelle Rempel accused the government of treating the province of "Alberta like a fart in the room" over jobs, Green Party leader Elizabeth May took exception. However, it was not the accusations of inaction which riled Ms May. "I heard her say a word I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it," the shocked Ms May said. "The word was f-a-r-t," she continued, spelling it out clearly so as not to repeat the offending term. Ms Rempel, who has represented Calgary Nose Hill since 2011, became equally incensed. "Is my colleague actually serious? I just gave an impassioned speech about Alberta jobs, and that's what the leader of a political party has to say? No, I don't withdraw it." Ms May was not letting it go, however. "Decorum is important, and respect is important in this place," she scolded. Unsurprisingly, the row has caused great hilarity on social media - especially in light of the political upheaval taking place just across the border. "With all eyes on Trump's destruction of US politics and civil society, a silent but deadly political scandal in Canada," tweeted Josh Greenberg, director of one of Canada's leading journalism schools. [BBC]
Josh Greenberg tweet
Video of the Day -
STOMP makes rhythm with the Harlem Globetrotters -
Eight performers from the international sensation STOMP took to an outdoor basketball court in New York City’s Greenwich Village with four stars from the world famous Harlem Globetrotters to celebrate the team’s 90th year.
In NASCAR, Daniel Suárez wins the season's final race in the second-tier Xfinity Series, the Ford EcoBoost 300, claiming the season title in the process. The Mexican becomes the first foreign driver ever to win a season championship in any of NASCAR's three U.S.-based national touring series. (ESPN)
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Zsa Zsa Gabor: Hollywood legend dies at 99 -
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has died at he age of 99 after suffering a heart attack, her husband has confirmed. On the point of tears, Frederic von Anhalt told the AFP news agency his wife had passed away at home, surrounded by her friends and family. "Everybody was there. She didn't die alone," he said. Born in Hungary, she emigrated to the United States during World War Two and made her Hollywood debut in 1952. She was married nine times. She appeared in more than 70 films, but was more famous for her celebrity lifestyle. She first married at the age of 20 and for the last (and longest) time when she was nearly 70 to the man who outlived her. By her own reckoning she was only married eight-and-a-half times - she said she didn't really count a Spanish duke in 1982. [BBC]
Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1959
Rebels attack and burn several buses en route to evacuate ill and injured people from the besieged Syrian villages of Al-Fu'ah and Kafriya. (The Guardian)
An explosion outside a military camp in southern Yemen kills at least 49 people and injures many more. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest. (AP)(BBC)
Carrie Fisher heart attack -
Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher is currently in intensive care after suffering a massive heart attack on a plane from London to Los Angeles.Passengers performed CPR on the 60-year-old after she went into cardiac arrest on the United Airlines flight yesterday, TMZ reported. Actress Anna Akana was on board the aircraft when Carrie went into medical distress and she described the upsetting scene in a series of tweets. Akana wrote that the actress wasn't breathing "for 10 minutes or so" and CPR was administered until the plane landed at LAX. Carrie's daughter, Billie Lourd, and her beloved dog Gary were both spotted at the UCLA Medical Centre as the star received treatment. [Mirror]
Fisher with fellow Star Wars actors Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, July 2015
The bodies of over 100 Syrian ArmyPOWs are reportedly found in what was the last rebel held territory of East Aleppo. Syrian Army officers claim they were executed by rebel forces. (Al-Masdar News)
An Afriqiyah Airways flight originating from Sabha, Libya, is hijacked and forced to make an emergency landing in Malta. Hijackers threaten to blow up the aircraft with grenades, but the standoff ends peacefully with all hostages released and both hijackers surrendering. (Chicago Tribune)
Arts and culture
Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, suffers a massive heart attack while on a flight and is rushed to a hospital near Los Angeles International Airport in critical condition. (Mirror)
Business and economy
As new Libyan production comes on line, the world price of crude oil falls below $55 a barrel. (Reuters)
Bonanza Creek Energy says it plans to file for bankruptcy on or by January 5, 2017 and hopes to exit the process quickly, within the first quarter. (Reuters)
Ex-Wham! singer George Michael dies -
Singer George Michael has died aged 53, his publicist has said. The star, who launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, is said to have "passed away peacefully at home". Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT. Police say there were no suspicious circumstances. Michael, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London, sold more than 100m albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades. Earlier this month it was announced that producer and songwriter Naughty Boy was working with Michael on a new album. In a statement, the star's publicist said: "It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period. [BBC]
Michael performing on stage on the Faith World Tour in 1988.
Bezeq, an Israeli telecoms company, says that it has received word from the country's telecoms regulator that it will be allowed to end the "structural separation" of its business operations by product (i.e. mobile phone, internet, land lines). (Reuters)
Medical research reveals shrinkage in women’s brains as a result of pregnancy. Loss of gray matter in certain regions of the brain may make the brain more efficient and specialized for child-rearing. There is also evidence of links to long-term changes in brain. (ScienceNews)(Nature)
Carrie Fisher, Star Wars actress, dies aged 60 -
US actress Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, has died aged 60, days after suffering a cardiac arrest. Fisher was taken ill on a flight from London to LA on Friday and was taken to hospital when the plane landed. But a family statement said with "deep sadness" she died on Tuesday morning. As well as starring in other films such as The Blues Brothers and When Harry Met Sally, Fisher also wrote four novels and three memoirs. The daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher made her film debut opposite Warren Beatty in 1975's Shampoo. But far greater fame was to follow when she played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, a role she reprised in last year's reboot The Force Awakens. She endured a difficult private life, and has often discussed her years of mental illness and drug addiction. [BBC]
Fisher with fellow Star Wars actors Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, July 2015
Government forces push to capture a Houthi enclave in Bayhan District, on the border between Shabwa and Marib provinces, resulting at least 28 Houthi militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers killed. (Dunya News)
The Philippine Coast Guard looks for 18 missing sailors from a ship sunk by Typhoon Nock-ten (Nina). At least seven people are confirmed to have died in the storm. (AP via Daily Mail)
The cheetah faces extinction after it is discovered that only 7,100 specimens are left alive in the wild as a result of a sudden crash in population. (BBC)
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Mariah Carey stormed out of 2016 with a technical meltdown -
Mariah Carey had a very public and very embarrassing end to 2016. She had a massive technical meltdown during her performance at a New Year's Eve party. And it wasn't exactly an intimate gig - it was the New Year's Eve party in Times Square in New York. Thousands of people watched there, millions more saw it on American TV. She said: "We're missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is. "We didn't have a sound check, but it's New Year's baby. That's ok." It didn't look ok though. She half-heartedly mimed a few bars and then decided not to bother. "I'm going to let the audience sing, OK?" she said. Her male dancers carried on, as she diva-strutted across the stage. At one stage she asked "I wanted a holiday too, can I not have one?" As the song ended, she said "That was.... amazing." Finally, she told the audience: "It just don't get any better", and walked off stage. [BBC]
Mariah Carey
A suicide car bomb explosion and gunmen attack in Iraqi al-Qadisiya town situated in west of Najaf, kills at least 7 people and injures more than 17 others. Yesterday, 29 people were killed in a bomb explosion at a busy market in Iraq’s capital Baghdad. ISIS claims responsibility. (Reuters), (Tasnim News Agency)
Gambian PresidentYahya Jammeh accuses the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, of "declaring war" after it said it was putting forces on alert in case he refused to step down at the end of his mandate on January 19. (Reuters)
Spanish and Moroccan authorities clash with migrants on the Moroccan-Spanish border along Ceuta, as they attempt to climb and rush the border fence. (Express UK)
Police arrest Anthony K. Boisvert after a foot chase in Lebanon, New Hampshire, charging him in the setting a fire which destroyed an abandoned building on January 2016, and two other fires, one which destroyed the historic First Baptist Church on December 2016 and stabbing two at a condominium complex December 29. (The New Hampshire Union Leader)
Authorities seek three men after they rob $6 million on New Year's Eve from the offices of high-end jewelry designer Gregg Ruth in New York City. (ABC NYC)
Argentina: Uproar as new year message omits disputed Falklands -
A new year's message by Argentina's social development ministry has caused uproar after it excluded the disputed Falkland Islands from the country's map. Former combatants and social media users said the message was offensive to those who died in the 1982 war. The ministry has apologised, saying it was a mistake by the design team. The islands are a British territory in the Atlantic claimed by Argentina, where they are known as the Malvinas. President Mauricio Macri, who took office in December 2015, promised a "new kind of relationship" with the UK, a step seen as aimed at boosting Argentina's flagging economy. [BBC]
A series of attacks kill at least 70 people and injure more than 100 others in mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, Iraq. (The Huffington Post)
Disasters and accidents
In Texas, four children die with an additional six others injured after they are poisoned by phosgene gas sprayed in an inappropriate attempt as a pesticide. (Fox News)
In New Haven Connecticut, two men are suspected of approaching a man claiming to have a gun, took his cellphone and wallet. Then they stole his SUV and apparently lost control as they were killed when their stolen SUV accidentally crashed into and seriously damaged a synagogue (Hartford Courant)
In Dearborn Michigan the driver and passenger of a minivan being pursued by police for missing plates were killed when they struck a car, lost control and hit several parked vehicles. (Huron Daily Tribune)
In Detroit, Michigan an African American man was shot in the head driving a car which crashed, police are searching for two men who ran from the car after the crash (WXYZ)
A first-year New Rochelle Police officer crashed his Jeep into a tree, killing passenger Isaac "Hooshie" Ward. He will be charged with vehicular manslaughter as his Blood Alcohol Content was above the legal limit (newrochelletalk)
Huzaifa Shafeeq was arraigned on burglary charges after police say the stole from a Long Island mosque charity box on Christmas and New Years Day. Islamic Center board member said the amount taken wasn't large, but called police as the thief needed help. (ABC7NY)
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Anchor Megyn Kelly to join NBC after 12 years with Fox News -
Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, who has worked at the channel for 12 years, is leaving the network to join NBC, her publicist has confirmed. Ms Kelly will host her own daytime news and discussion program at NBC, as well as presenting an in-depth Sunday night news show. The move deprives Fox News of its second most-popular host after Bill O'Reilly. Ms Kelly's contract with Fox was due to end later this year.
She was pushed into the international spotlight in 2015 when she accused Donald Trump of misogyny during a Republican presidential debate. She later said that she would "not apologise for doing good journalism", following criticism from Mr Trump's supporters. [BBC]
Megyn Kelly
Other News Stories -
Business and economy
Ford announces that it has cancelled plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, long criticized by U.S. President-electDonald Trump, and will invest $700 million in its Michigan plant in Flat Rock, potentially creating 700 new jobs from the investment and expansion of the plant. (CNN), (Fox News)
The U.S. Commerce Department announces that construction spending increased 0.9 percent to $1.18 trillion in November 2016, the highest level since April 2006. (CNBC)
French cyclist Robert Marchand sets new record aged 105 -
He may not be the fastest cyclist round a velodrome, but he is easily one of the oldest. Robert Marchand has clocked up 105 years and now a new record for the furthest distance cycled in one hour. The French cyclist managed 22.547km (14 miles) at the national velodrome, taking the top spot in a new category - for riders over 105. Mr Marchand already holds the record for those aged over 100 - 26.927km - set in 2012. He "could have done better", he says, but missed a sign showing 10 minutes to go. "My legs didn't hurt," he told BFMTV. "My arms hurt but that's because of rheumatism." [BBC]
Robert Marchand (centre) in 2012
Trump nominates Joe Hagin, former Deputy Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush, as Deputy White House chief of staff for operations.
Trump nominates Rajiv Shah, former RNC Deputy Research Director, as White House research director.
Trump nominates Rick Dearborn, United States Attorney General designee and Senator Jeff Sessions' former chief of staff, as head of the White House legislative affairs office.
Crash was economists' 'Michael Fish' moment, says Andy Haldane -
The failure to predict the financial crisis was a "Michael Fish" moment for economists, the Bank of England's chief economist has said. Andy Haldane compared financial forecasts to the famously inaccurate forecast by the BBC weatherman, ahead of the UK's great storm of 1987. He said the profession was "to some degree in crisis" following the 2008-09 crash and the Brexit vote. The Bank denies claims it gave gloomy forecasts to support the Remain side. [BBC]
Andy Haldane
A shootout in İzmir kills two gunmen while another one escapes. During the shootout a car bomb explodes, killing a police officer and court employee. (The Guardian)
Business and economy
Following a start-of-year hike to the price of gas, widespread riots and looting mostly targeting gas stations, supermarkets and department stores take place in several cities in Mexico. Over 250 people are said to have been arrested so far while blockades to PEMEX installations potentially lead to critical situations in some states. (Reuters)
Intel report says Putin ordered campaign to influence US election -
A declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering a campaign to influence the U.S. election and hurt Hillary Clinton’s candidacy – findings made public after officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump. The report said: “We assess with high confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election, the consistent goals of which were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” [Fox News]
Vladimir Putin
Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire soldiers launch mutinies in three cities across Ivory Coast. The Defense Minister Alain Donwahi says talks are ongoing with the soldiers, calling for all troops to return to their barracks. (Reuters), (AP)
Business and economy
The Limited announces the closing of all of its brick-and-mortar stores and will begin operating only online after January 8. (Dayton Daily News)
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi writes choral music for Birmingham Cathedral -
Black Sabbath founder Tony Iommi has swapped his heavy metal roots for an ecclesiastical project by writing and producing a piece of choral music. The five-minute acoustic arrangement for Birmingham Cathedral was a huge departure for the musician once accused of being a Satanist. The 68-year-old said the song, How Good It Is, was to give something back to the city he hails from. He said the track was "just a little bit different to Sabbath". The project was born out of his friendship with the Dean of Birmingham, the Very Reverend Catherine Ogle, which developed when he was battling cancer in 2012. The lyrics for the piece were inspired by Psalm 133 which talks about people living together in unity which "is what Birmingham is all about", Dean Ogle said. [BBC]
Tony Iommi
Free University of Berlin chemists confirm that carbon can bond with more than four atoms, previously seen as its limit because carbon has only four shareable electrons. The researchers used X-rays to, for the first time, map the molecule — a carbon atom bonded to six other carbon atoms. (Science News), (ZME Science)
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Meryl Streep rallies Hollywood while 'La La Land' scores big at the 2017 Golden Globes -
The 74th Golden Globe Awards were held Sunday and "La La Land" was the top winner in the motion picture categories, while "The Night Manager," "The Crown" and "Atlanta" claimed top awards on the television side. One of the evening's most memorable moments was Meryl Streep rallying her colleagues during her very political speech when accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. "Take your broken heart, make it into art," she said, quoting Carrie Fisher. [Los Angeles Times]
Meryl Streep
Best motion picture - (musical or comedy) - La La Land
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture - Casey Affleck - Manchester By The Sea
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture - Isabelle Huppert - Elle
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture - (musical or comedy) - Ryan Gosling - La La Land
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture - (musical or comedy) - Emma Stone - La La Land
Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture - Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Nocturnal Animals
Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture - Viola Davis - Fences
Best director - Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Best original screenplay - La La Land
Best motion picture - foreign language - Elle - France
Best motion picture - animated - Zootopia
Best original song - City Of Stars - La La Land
Best original score - Justin Hurwitz - La La Land
Television
Best television series - drama - The Crown
Best television series - musical or comedy - Atlanta
Best performance by an actor in a television series - Billy Bob Thornton - Goliath
Best performance by an actress in a television series - Claire Foy - The Crown
Best performance by an actor in a television series - musical or comedy - Donald Glover - Atlanta
Best performance by an actress in a television series - musical or comedy - Tracee Ellis-Ross - Black-ish
Best performance by an actor in a limited series or motion picture made for television - Tom Hiddleston - The Night Manager
Best performance by an actress in a limited series or motion picture made for television - Sarah Paulson - The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television - Olivia Colman - The Night Manager
Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television - Hugh Laurie - The Night Manager
A truck rams into a group of Israeli soldiers in a deliberate attack in East Jerusalem, killing four and wounding 21. The perpetrator was previously convicted of terrorism and was jailed for 10 years. (CNN)(The Guardian)
Pakistan has decided to impose official prohibition on Jundallah and splinter groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks. (The News)(Daily Times)
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Women’s March, demonstrations held throughout the world on January 21, 2017, to support gender equality, civil rights, and other issues that were expected to face challenges under newly inaugurated U.S. Pres. Donald Trump. The march was initially scheduled to be held only in Washington, D.C., but “sister marches” arose throughout the United States and numerous other countries. According to some estimates, as many as 4.6 million people attended the various events in the United States, and it was widely believed to be the largest single-day demonstration in that country’s history.
The demonstrations were held on January 21, 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration. The turnout far exceeded expectations. According to organizers, more than 670 events were held on seven continents. Although estimates varied, it was believed that between 3.3 million and 4.6 million people attended the marches in the United States, while total worldwide participation was reported to be about 5 million. The central demonstration in Washington, D.C., swelled to approximately 500,000 people, which was thought to be double the attendance of the presidential inaugural celebration.
A car bomb attack occurs in the Rakban refugee camp near the Jordanian border. Casualty counts are currently unknown and no one has yet taken credit for the attack. (Al Jazeera)
Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives during a firefight with Saudi security forces in Jeddah. (Al Jazeera)
Eight people are killed in Rafah, Egypt, after a shell lands on the home in which they were staying. (Reuters)
Brazilian police enter the Alcacuz prison outside the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, after a week of fighting leaves 26 inmates dead. At least 126 people have been killed in Brazil's prisons since the beginning of the year. (AP)
Marches occur across the U.S. and throughout the world, with 408 reported marches in the U.S. and 168 marches reported in other countries. (The New York Times)
Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th President of the United States -
There is some dispute to the size of the inauguration crowd, starting an acrimonious war of words between the new president and the press.
The President and First Lady at the Liberty Ball on Inauguration Day
Video of the Day -
How did The Mall in Washington fill up in 2009 compared to 2017 - Daily Mirror
An airstrike kills more than 40 Jabhat Fateh al-Sham fighters at a jihadist camp west of Aleppo. It is currently unknown whether American or Russian planes carried out the attack. (Reuters), (FOX News)
Italian emergency crews rescue 10 people, including four children, from 16½ feet of snow and wreckage from the luxury Hotel Rigopiano following yesterday's Gran Sasso mountain avalanche. Searchers find four bodies, while families of at least 16 people still missing wait for news. (CBS News)
Some protesters of the inauguration smash windows, damage cars, and clash with the police. Six police officers and at least one civilian are injured. DC police say 217 protesters have been arrested. (CNN)
Oscars 2017: Moonlight wins best picture after announcement mix-up -
Moonlight has won best picture at the Oscars - but only after an error saw La La Land initially declared the winner. The La La Land producers were in the middle of their acceptance speeches when the mistake was discovered. PriceWaterhouseCooper, the accountancy firm responsible for counting the ballots, apologised for the mix-up. La La Land still ended up the biggest winner of the night, taking home six Oscars including a best actress award for Emma Stone. [BBC]
Emma Stone (By Disney / ABC Television Group (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons)
List of the Day -
89th Academy Award Winners (Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ())
A Sabal Trail Transmission Pipeline protester who was seen firing a high powered rifle at the pipeline construction site in Florida was chased by police until his car crashed. The suspect was shot and killed by a deputy after he tried to engage police in a gunfight (CBS News)
Millions of residents in the Chilean capital Santiago are left without access to running water after the Maipo River is contaminated by flooding and landslides. At least four people have died in the floods. (BBC)
16 people dead in northern India after a truck carrying villagers to church overturned on a mountain road. (DW)
Philip Bilden, nominee for Secretary of the Navy, withdraws his name from consideration. Mr. Bilden says his business interests created complications. (CNN)
Oscars mistake: Moonlight wins best picture after announcement mix-up -
Moonlight has won best picture at the Oscars - but only after Faye Dunaway initially said La La Land had won. Warren Beatty was handed the previous winner's envelope, containing a card saying "Emma Stone, La La Land", resulting in the error. The team from La La Land was in the middle of its acceptance speeches when the mistake was discovered. Stone said backstage afterwards: "Is that the craziest Oscar moment of all time? Cool! It's going to be history." PriceWaterhouseCooper, the accountancy firm responsible for counting the ballots, said in a statement: "We sincerely apologise to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for best picture. "The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred." [BBC]
Video of the Day -
La La Land as directed by David Lynch - Trailer Mix
Millions of residents in the Chilean capital Santiago are left without access to running water after the Maipo River is contaminated by flooding and landslides. At least four people have died in the floods. (BBC)
16 people dead in northern India after a truck carrying villagers to church overturned on a mountain road. (DW)
Philip Bilden, nominee for Secretary of the Navy, withdraws his name from consideration. Mr. Bilden says his business interests created complications. (CNN)
The wait is over for April the giraffe and her legions of fans. Before an online audience of more than a million viewers, April gave birth to a healthy male calf Saturday at the Animal Adventure Park in New York. The 15-year-old giraffe delivered her calf shortly before 10 a.m. EDT in an enclosed pen at the zoo in rural Harpursville. The newborn stood up on his wobbly legs about 45 minutes after he was born. He began nursing not long after. At least 1.2 million people watched the Adventure Park's YouTube streaming of the event. Zoo owner Jordan Patch says both mom and calf are doing fine. [Business Insider]
Video of the Day -
Animal Adventure Park's April the Giraffe - Live Birth - Archive footage
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
Nine people are injured in a shooting at the J&R Party Hall after-hours club in Columbus, Ohio. Two are in critical condition. (CNN)(Daily Mail)
At least 22 killed, 59 injured in suicide attack at Manchester Arena
At least 22 people, including children, have been killed and 59 injured in a suicide bombing at a crowded pop concert in Manchester, the most deadly attack in Britain in a decade.
The horror unfolded at about 10.30pm on Monday at the end of a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande, whose music is popular with children and teenagers.
The attack, which took place in the foyer, caused hundreds of people to flee in terror, with young people at the concert separated from their parents in the chaos. It left a scene of carnage inside the concert venue, where medics described treating wounds consistent with shrapnel injury.
Greater Manchester police have confirmed that they believe the bombing was the responsibility of one man armed with an improvised explosive device. The man, named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, is among the dead.
Police raided a number of properties in south Manchester in the wake of the attack, including one address in Fallowfield where a controlled explosion was used to gain entry.
The chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said: “We have been treating this as a terrorist incident and we believe that while the attack last night was conducted by one man, the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network.”
The investigation into the attack involves the police counter-terrorism network and Britain’s domestic security service, MI5.
The death toll would make it the worst event of its kind in Britain since the 7/7 bombing in 2005, which hit London’s transport network, killing 52 people.
The GMP confirms at least 19 people have been killed and 50 others injured and is treating the incident as a terrorist attack. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility. (The Northern Echo)(NBC News)(The Washington Post)
Turkey summons United States AmbassadorJohn R. Bass to protest alleged "aggressive and unprofessional actions" by American security personnel against Turkish bodyguards, calling for the United States to conduct a full investigation on the May 17 clashes. The American ambassador told Turkey's government that its guards violated U.S. laws. Last week, the U.S. summoned Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kılıç to discuss about Turkish security officers hitting and kicking peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. (ABC News)(NPR)
Japanese scientists discover that mouse sperm held on the International Space Station for 9 months is able to produce healthy mice. (AP via The New York Times)
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Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico may be months without power -
Hurricane Maria has knocked out power across the island of Puerto Rico, home to 3.5m people, officials have said. Flash flood warnings cover the entire island, which continues to be lashed by heavy rain in the storm's wake. Meanwhile more pictures are emerging of widespread destruction on the small island of Dominica, hit on Monday. Maria, now a category three storm, is now lashing the Dominican Republic further west and heading towards the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the second devastating storm to hit the Caribbean this hurricane season - the first being category five Irma earlier in September. [BBC]
NASAFacebook Russian ads that influenced election released to Congress -
Facebook has agreed to disclose ads to Congress that were purchased by Russians on the social media platform in that country's effort to influence the 2016 election, the company announced Thursday. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the brief announcement in a live video update on his Facebook page. "I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity," he said. "I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy -- that's not what we stand for." [CBS]
Top Video -
Zuckerberg says Facebook will work to protect election integrity
Casualty reports indicate at least 15 people have been killed on Dominica and two on Guadeloupe. The casualty report for Puerto Rico is now two deaths, including a man from a capsized boat near Vieques, Puerto Rico. Power remains out for an estimated 3.4 million Puerto Ricans as the energy grid is all but destroyed. Guajataca Dam in Puerto Rico will experience an "imminent dam break" according to the National Weather Service which will threaten 70,000 residents. In addition, more than 95 percent of the island’s wireless cell sites are out of service. (The New York Times)
Puerto Rico is forecast to get an additional 4 inches (10 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) of rain through Saturday, on top of the several feet of rain that has fallen on parts of the island. Caguas has received the most, 37.9 inches (96 cm). The NHC expects 8 inches (20 cm) to 16 inches (41 cm) rain for the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and Mayaguana in the southeast Bahamas. (National Hurricane Center)(The New York Times)
Rescuers are focusing on 10 collapsed buildings where people may still be alive. Mexico City MayorMiguel Ángel Mancera reports the death toll is now at least 273, with 50 people still missing. (Reuters)
Russian-bought Facebook ads 'seen by 10 million in US' -
An estimated 10 million people in the US saw Facebook adverts bought in Russia before and after the US presidential election. The company published the numbers in a blog post as it turned over 3,000 Russian-bought ads to federal investigators on Monday. It said most ads focused on "divisive social and political messages" on issues like immigration and gun rights. Russia has denied trying to influence the election. The ads violated Facebook's policies because they came from inauthentic accounts. Facebook said that many did not violate its content policies. The tech giant used modelling to estimate the number of users who had seen the Russian-bought ads, which it said appear to have come from a Russian entity called the Internet Research Agency.
It said that 44% of the ads surfaced before the US election. [BBC]
Other News -
The U.S. House of Representatives passes legislation (Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act) which would criminalize abortions made 20 weeks into a pregnancy, except for cases endangering the mother's life, rape, or incest. (CNN)
Harvey Weinstein: Film producer says 'I have caused a lot of pain' -
Film producer Harvey Weinstein has issued an apology as a newspaper reported a number of sexual harassment allegations against him. "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it," said the movie mogul's statement. But he later disputed a New York Times report that claimed he harassed female employees over nearly three decades. The newspaper reported he had reached at least eight settlements with women. Mr Weinstein, a married father-of-five, said he planned to take a leave of absence from his company and had hired therapists to deal with his issue. "My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons," the 65-year-old's statement on Thursday said. [BBC]
Harvey Weinstein in 2011
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Jaysh al-Islam Islamist rebels launch a successful counter-attack in the East Ghouta region of rural Damascus, targeting the points they lost to the Syrian government over the course of seven days near the town of Hawsh Dawahra, and recovering all of the lost territories. (Al Masdar News)
Spain's third largest bank, CaixaBank, announces it is moving its legal base out of Catalonia to Valencia. This follows a similar move yesterday by Catalan banking group Banco Sabadell who announced they are moving their headquarters to Alicante in response to growing political insecurity in Catalonia. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
A train hits a bus on a crossing in Vladimir, Russia, killing at least 19 people on the bus. No train passengers were injured. (BBC)
Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades -
An investigation by The New York Times found previously undisclosed allegations against Mr. Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades, documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers, as well as legal records, emails and internal documents from the businesses he has run, Miramax and the Weinstein Company. In a statement to The Times on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Weinstein said: “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.” He added that he was working with therapists and planning to take a leave of absence to “deal with this issue head on.” [NY Times]
Harvey Weinstein (By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
A South Korean lawmaker claims that in 2016, North Koreanhackers stole classified military documents detailing joint operations between the South Korean and United States military forces in the event of war with North Korea. (The Financial Times)
Multinational U.S. conglomerate Honeywell announces plans to spinoff its Homes, ADI Global Distribution, and Transportation Systems businesses into two separate, publicly-traded companies by the end of 2018. (PR Newswire)
U.S. President Donald Trump declares the 17 Northern California wildfires a major disaster. The fires have destroyed 180 square miles in California's wine country where mass evacuations are underway. The fires have killed at least 15 people with more than 150 others missing and at least 2,000 homes and businesses destroyed. (NBC), (The Weather Company)
According to The Guardian, the September disclosed hack attack at United Kingdom accounting firm Deloitte compromised a server with emails of some 350 clients, including U.S. government agencies and large corporations. Deloitte disputes the story, saying "very few" clients were affected. (Reuters)
Questions arise against Noah Oppenheim, who Fox News alleges blocked NBC'S own reporter, Ronan Farrow, from detailing a story about Harvey Weinstein while at the same time Oppenheim owns a film screenwriter company which has done business with Weinstein's company. (Fox News)
In an unprecedented move, Kenya's presidential aspirant, Raila Odinga, pulls out of a repeat presidential election just 15 days before the election. This action comes after the supreme court nullified the elections run on August 8 as being unconstitutional. (Business Daily Africa)
Kevin Spacey apologises over Anthony Rapp 'sexual advance' claim -
Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has made an apology after being accused of making a sexual advance toward a child actor. Anthony Rapp, who was 14, said Spacey invited him to a party and seemed drunk when the alleged incident happened. Spacey, who was 26, said: "I honestly do not remember the encounter... but if I did behave then as he describes I owe him the sincerest apology." Spacey also revealed he was now living as a gay man after years of refusing to address rumours about his sexuality. The US broadcaster, Netflix, said it was ending its popular political drama, House of Cards, which stars Spacey, after the forthcoming sixth season. [BBC]
Kevin Spacey (By MARVEL (Original photo by Yvwv.) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
The IDF destroys a partly-completed tunnel from the Gaza Strip border near the town of Khan Yunis that crossed into Israeli territory, killing seven Hamas militants. Several more died in the rescue efforts. (Reuters)
George Papadopoulos, who worked as a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, is also revealed to have plead guilty on October 5 to making false statements to FBI agents about contacts that he had with the Russian government during the campaign. (Los Angeles Times)
A Spanish government source says that Carles Puigdemont and part of his cabinet has fled to Belgium to escape prosecution. International media agree the situation in Catalonia—under direct Spanish rule—is quiet. (Reuters), (El Diario)
Starting in 2018, women will be allowed to attend sports events in stadiums in Saudi Arabia for the first time in the country's history, officials say. (BBC)
German police find 'WW2 bomb' was big courgette -
A German man feared a monster courgette he found in his garden was an unexploded World War Two bomb and called the police. The 5kg (11-pound) courgette had probably been thrown over a hedge into the 81 year old's garden, police said. Luckily no evacuation was required in Bretten, a town near Karlsruhe in south-west Germany. The 40cm (16-inch) vegetable - also called zucchini - "really did look like a bomb", police said. Once police had reassured him following the early morning call-out, the pensioner disposed of the courgette himself. [BBC]
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Top News Stories -Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of ultra-rich exposed -
A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens. Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US. The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance. [BBC]
Other News Stories -
Emmerson Mnangagwa is fired as Vice President by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. The public and the media widely perceives Mugabe's wife Grace as his likely successor after his death with Mnangagwa having been seen as her rival. (The Guardian)
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Twitter is giving everyone longer tweets, but you probably won’t use them -
The test is over — 280-character tweets are here for good. Twitter announced on Tuesday that it’s rolling out longer tweets to virtually* all of its users, doubling the traditional 140-character limit to 280 characters. Twitter has been testing longer tweets since September, and claims the test proved out the company’s theory — that giving more people room to tweet results in more engagement. Twitter has been thinking about longer tweets for years, but got cold feet the last time it considered expanding the limit in early 2016. When Twitter first announced that it was testing longer tweets this fall, the service’s users freaked out, worried that giving people more room to write would ruin the brevity that makes Twitter Twitter. Shockingly, it looks like that reaction was overblown. Twitter says that just 5 percent of tweets sent by users in the test group were longer than the traditional 140-character limit. Only 1 percent of those tweets actually used all 280 characters. [Recode]
Paddington swear? Marks & Spencer Christmas advert raises eyebrows -
Marks & Spencer has been forced to defend its Christmas advert starring Paddington Bear after complaints it contains bad language. In the 90-second ad, Paddington And The Christmas Visitor, the duffle coat-wearing bear unwittingly thwarts a burglar stealing presents on Christmas Eve. After forcing the thief to return the gifts, Paddington gives him a marmalade sandwich and receives a hug in return. But the response he gets from actor Mark Benton has been heard by some viewers as less than polite. Thirlwall 14 wrote on Instagram: "Something doesn't sound right in this new M&S advert." Rob Souza tweeted: "I swear the burglar says "F*** you little bear" to @paddingtonbear." As festive adverts jostle for attention, both on the screen and on social media, it is unlikely to be the sort of reaction the family-friendly retailer was hoping for. But a Marks & Spencer spokesperson told Sky News: "He's saying, 'thank you little bear'. We think it's really clear. We wouldn't change the ad." [Sky News]
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M&S Christmas TV Ad 2017 | Paddington & The Christmas Visitor #LoveTheBear
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Former millionairess Chisako Kakehi (also known as Japan's "Black Widow") is sentenced to death for the murder of 3 men which included a husband. The case had been considered high-profile in the country. (AFP via MSN), (BBC)
Royal wedding planned as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle announce engagement -
One of the world’s most eligible bachelors is officially off the market. Britain’s Prince Harry is engaged to American actress Meghan Markle, royal officials announced Monday. After the announcement, Harry confessed he had long known he would propose to Markle. "When did I know she was the one?" Harry said in response to a reporter's question during a photo op at Kensington Palace. "The very first time we met." [NBC News]
Meghan Markle (By Genevieve [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
A passenger train collides with a car on a level crossing at Morlanwelz, Hainaut, Belgium, and is damaged by the subsequent fire. During recovery operations, it breaks free from the train hauling it, runs away for 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) and collides with a passenger train at Strépy-Bracquegnies. Two people are killed, seven are injured. (The Brussels Times)
Authorities in Beijing evict thousands of its migrant population in wake of a fire that left 19 people dead earlier this month, leaving many homeless in sub-zero temperatures. (Radio Free Asia)(Quartz)
Crypto-currency Bitcoin has hit a record high of $17,300 on the Bitstamp platform - The decentralised currency has spiked since Chicago-based derivatives exchange Cboe Global Markets launched Bitcoin futures late on Sunday. This was the first time investors could get exposure to the bitcoin market via a large, regulated exchange. [BBC Business Live]
South Korea beats North Korea 0–1 in Tokyo. The Japanese authorities gave the North Korean players a special visa to enable their participation in the event that was formerly known as the East Asian Cup. (Sporza)
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have become husband and wife in a moving ceremony at Windsor Castle.
An emotional-looking prince and his smiling bride exchanged vows and rings before the Queen and 600 guests at St George's Chapel.
Ms Markle, wearing a white boat-neck dress by British designer Clare Waight Keller, was walked down the aisle by Prince Charles.
At the altar, Prince Harry told her: "You look amazing."
After the service the couple - who will now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - kissed in front of cheering well-wishers on the steps of the chapel.
Thousands of members of the public turned out in bright sunshine to see them driven around Windsor in a horse-drawn carriage.
Later, Prince Harry drove the couple to their reception in a 1968 silver blue Jaguar that has been converted to run on electric power, with a registration plate that referenced the date - E190518. [BBC]
Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation says Russian-led militants have mounted 43 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas in the past 24 hours, using artillery systems and 120mm and 82mm mortars 10 times, with no casualties among the Ukrainian servicemen. According to intelligence data, two militants are killed and three others wounded. (UNIAN)
The United States and China say through a joint statement that they will not impose new tariffs on each other after reaching an initial agreement on the trade framework. (CNN)
The state security of Saudi Arabia arrests seven women's rights activists, whom the pro-government media presented as "traitors to the fatherland," for allegedly working with foreign entities. These arrests take place a little more than a month before the driving ban for women is lifted. (The Independent)
The Islamic Association of China, a government-affiliated and the country's top Islamic regulatory body, announces through a letter on its website that all mosques should raise the national flag; the letter comes in light of the country's newly revised Regulations on Religious Affairs which intensifies punishments for unsanctioned religious activities and increases state supervision of religion. (The Times of India)
China says it has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, the first ever such attempt and landing.
At 10:26 Beijing time (02:26 GMT), the un-crewed Chang'e-4 (Chinese: 嫦娥四号; pinyin: Cháng'é Sìhào; literally: 'Chang'e No. 4') probe touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, state media said.
It is carrying instruments to analyse the unexplored region's geology, as well to conduct biological experiments.
The landing is being seen as a major milestone in space exploration.
There have been numerous missions to the Moon in recent years, but the vast majority have been to orbit, fly by or impact. The last crewed landing was Apollo 17 in 1972. [BBC
The death toll of an explosion caused by a gas leak that devastated a block of flats in Magnitogorsk, Russia, rises to 39. Rescuers end their search efforts at the collapse site as there are no more missing people. (The Moscow Times)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces that a complete shutdown of the 14th Street Tunnel in New York City, proposed to allow for subway repairs caused by damage from Hurricane Sandy, has been halted. Cuomo says that engineers will use a new technology from Europe to make critical repairs to the tunnel without having to close it entirely. The complete shutdown would have closed the tunnel, which is used by nearly 225,000 people each weekday, for an expected 15 months. (New York Times)
The newly sworn U.S. House of Representatives passes a major spending bill to fund most shuttered departments and agencies through September 30 and a stop-gap measure to restart the Department of Homeland Security. The proposals will now move on to the Senate which has indicated they will not take up any spending bills that aren't supported by President Trump. (The New York Times)
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants assault several Syrian Army positions in the northern Aleppo Governorate, killing 17 soldiers and wounding 30 others. HTS say the attacks were in response to recent Syrian government and Russian airstrikes on rebel-held areas. (Al Jazeera)
The death toll in cyclone-hit northern Mozambique has risen to 38, as aid workers struggle to reach the worst-affected areas. Seven people were also killed by the cyclone in Comoros. (BBC)(ReliefWeb)
Floods sparked by torrential rains have killed 31 people in Indonesia while 13 others are missing. (Bangkok Post)
North Carolina authorities have ordered evacuations covering a half-mile radius because of air quality, possibly including harmful sulfuric acid, from a massive fire at a metal recycling plant in Mooresboro. Officials say the blaze has been extinguished, as of 7:15 a.m. (BBC)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has decided to relocate the nation's capital from Jakarta, on the northwest coast of Java island. The new location and timing are not yet known. Jakarta, home to over 10 million people, is sinking at one of the fastest rates in the world; almost half of its area is below sea level. (BBC)(NPR)
Theresa May quits: UK set for new PM by end of July
Theresa May has said she will quit as Conservative leader on 7 June, paving the way for a contest to decide a new prime minister.
In an emotional statement, she said she had done her best to deliver Brexit and it was a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to do so.
Mrs May said she would continue to serve as PM while a Conservative leadership contest took place.
The party said it hoped a new leader could be in place by the end of July.
It means Mrs May will still be prime minister when US President Donald Trump makes his state visit to the UK at the start of June.
Asked about the prime minister's announcement, Mr Trump said: "I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She's a good woman. She worked very hard. She's very strong." [BBC]
A bombing at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the capital of the restive province of Balochistan, kills three people, including the prayer leader, and wounds at least 28 worshippers. (Al Jazeera)
Three people, including a senior Muslimpreacher, are killed and at least 20 wounded after an explosion in a mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan capital, Kabul. (Al Jazeera)
During a police raid, six children are found unconscious inside a residential property in the Shiregreen suburb of Sheffield, England. The eldest two children, aged 13 and 14, subsequently died at Sheffield Children's Hospital; the other four children remain hospitalised. (BBC)
Two people – a 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman – have been arrested under suspicion of murder at the property in Sheffield where six children were found. They remain in police custody. A murder investigation has been opened. (Evening Standard)
In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, Jake Thomas Patterson is sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the murders of her parents. (NPR)
Though Cori Gauff is only 15, tennis people in the know have been speaking in hushed tones about her talent for years.
With her precocious blend of power, athleticism, court savvy and competitive drive, Gauff was the youngest United States Open junior girls finalist in history at age 13 and the second youngest French Open junior girls champion at age 14.
But even if potential is abundantly clear, it is never clear how a teenager will handle the moment when she takes the court at the highest level against an established champion.
On Monday, tennis got an emphatic answer as Gauff, displaying remarkable poise, upset Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of Wimbledon.
It was the first Grand Slam singles match of Gauff’s career, and it made quite an impression on those who watched from near and far, including Williams, a five-time Wimbledon singles champion. Two of those titles came before Gauff was born on March 13, 2004, in Delray Beach, Fla.
“I think the sky’s the limit, it really is,” said Williams, who was unseeded at age 39.
Later, she also thanked the Wimbledon organizers, who offered her a wild card into the qualifying tournament despite her world ranking of 313th at the time. She and her father and coach, Corey, got word of the offer by phone when they were on their way to southern France to train during Wimbledon at the academy near Nice operated by Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’s coach.
Taliban militants overran the Qush Tepa district of Jowzjan Province, resulting in the deaths of over 50 Afghan soldiers. Many others were captured. (ATNNews)
A stray Syrian S-200 missile fired in response to the Israeli strikes crashes and explodes on a mountain near Vouno in Northern Cyprus, located 20 km (12 miles) northeast of Nicosia, causing no injuries but starting a fire. (Reuters)
Iran announces that it has enriched more than 300 kilograms (660 lb) of uranium to 3.67%, contrary to previous agreement. This is still highly insufficient to produce one nuclear weapon. (Deutsche Welle)
France's interior minister, Christophe Castaner, has asked the Paris police chief to provide explanations about a video that went viral on social media, where law enforcement officers are seen spraying with pepper spray and dragging protesters from the Extinction Rebellion anti-climate change movement. Although the police needed to evict the protesters, who obstructed a transit route, the mechanisms that they used generated negative reactions. (The Guardian)
Climate change: Heatwave made 'at least' five times more likely by warming
Last week's record breaking heatwave across much of Europe was made "at least five times" more likely to happen by climate change, say scientists.
Their rapid attribution study says that rising temperatures "super-charged" the event, making it more likely to happen than through natural variability alone.
Heatwaves in June are now about 4C hotter than they used to be, the researchers said.
Globally, the average temperature for June was the highest on record.
The immediate cause of the heatwave was the weather, with hot air drawn in from northern Africa, caused by high pressure over central Europe and a storm stalling over the Atlantic.
By lucky coincidence, the authors of this new study happened to be in Toulouse, France, at a conference on climate change and extreme events.
The researchers, members of the World Weather Attribution Group decided to use the opportunity to analyse the link between human-induced climate change and the heatwave.
They defined the heatwave as the highest three-day averaged daily mean temperature in June, arguing that this is a better indicator of health impacts than maximums or minimums.
The researchers compared the observations of temperatures recorded during the month of June with climate models that can show how the world would be without the human influence on the climate.
They found that, over France, the probability of having a heatwave had increased by at least a factor of five. However, the researchers say that this influence could be much higher still, by a factor of 100 or more.
"We are very confident that this lower boundary of factor five is valid - but we are not confident we can say much more than that," said Dr Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, senior researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
"The reason we are fairly careful is because we found fairly large discrepancies between the modelled properties of heatwaves and the observed properties of heatwaves. They all show stronger heatwaves but the trend in the observations is much larger than in the trends in the model."
According to those involved with this study, this trend in heatwaves is likely to get worse.
"We experienced a heatwave whose intensity could become the norm in the middle of the century," said Dr Robert Vautard, Senior Scientist, CNRS, France.
"The new record of 45.9C set in France last Friday is one more step to confirmation that, without urgent climate mitigation actions, temperatures in France could potentially rise to about 50°C or more in France by the end of the century."
The researchers believe that if global warming continues to the 2C level envisioned in the Paris climate agreement, heatwaves like the one experienced last week will become the norm in June.
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Armed conflicts and attacks
Islamist militants attack a Niger Armed Forces base in the village of Inates, near the border with Mali, with two car bombs and gunmen, killing 18 soldiers. They also kidnapped four Nigerien soldiers and stole dozens of vehicles. (BBC)
Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs Adel al-Jubeir says his country will work with Japan and other nations to come up with a plan to ensure that ships can safely transit the Persian Gulfregion. Jubeir also calls for "action" on Iran. (NHK)
China warns the United Kingdom that "no country has the right to intervene on the issue of mass protests in Hong Kong", as it considers the problems of this self-governed city an "internal problem". For China, the agreement by which the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong is nothing more than "a historical document of no practical importance" and "that European country no longer has any responsibility over Hong Kong". The British chancellery, for its part, dismissed the Chinese opinion, and has said that "it is the right and obligation of the United Kingdom to work to enforce the agreement", which, in theory, guarantees a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong for 50 years until 2047 without Chinese interference. (Sky News)
There has been a shake-up within the campaign organization of former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, which includes the departure of the manager of Hickenlooper's presidential campaign, Bradley Komar. Komar and other departing staffers reportedly believe that Hickenlooper should quit the race as he has no realistic prospect of victory. (Reuters).
A fire in Kentucky destroyed a warehouse containing about 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam bourbon after officials let the blaze run its course to avoid ethanol contamination in a nearby creek that runs into the Kentucky River.
The fire started around 11 p.m. in Woodford County on Tuesday and was completely out by noon on Wednesday, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.
“The biggest issue we are dealing with is the environmental aspect,” said Drew Chandler, the Woodford County emergency management director. “If we put the fire out, we are going to dump a lot of water on it and that water will be contaminated.”
He said fire officials did not know what had caused the fire, but a spokeswoman for Jim Beam said she believed lightning had sparked it.
A mass grave containing over 200 bodies is discovered in Raqqa, Syria. The victims, who were shackled and shot in the head, are believed to have been killed by ISIL militants. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
Over one million people in the Japanese prefectures of Miyazaki and Kagoshima are ordered to evacuate their homes due to torrential rainfall. An elderly woman in Kagoshima city died after a mudslide hit her home. (BBC)
The parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died in North Korean custody after allegedly being tortured, file a claim for a seized North Korean cargo ship in an attempt to collect on a $501 million judgment they received after suing the country. (Associated Press)
Egypt earlier called on auction house Christie's to cancel the sale of the relic depicting ancient boy-king Tutankhamun.
The country's foreign ministry says that the bust was probably stolen from an Egyptian temple during the 1970s.
Christie's says Egypt has not expressed concern about the bust in the past, despite it being exhibited publicly.
The brown quartzite, 28cm (11in) relic comes from a private collection of ancient art that Christie's last sold for £3m in 2016.
In a statement, Christie's said: "The object is not, and has not been, the subject of an investigation." The auction house said it would never auction an object over which there were legitimate concerns.
Christie's also published a chronology of the relic's owners for the past 50 years. The bust is understood to have been acquired from German aristocrat Prinz Wilhelm von Thurn between 1973 and 1974.
The auction house also said that the bust's existence had been known for a considerable time and it had been on display for a number of years.
Egypt's former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass told AFP news agency: "We think it left Egypt after 1970 because in that time other artefacts were stolen from Karnak Temple."
Egypt introduced laws in 1983 banning the removal of artefacts from the country.
Tutankhamun died over 3,000 years ago aged 19. His remains were found in 1922.
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Lightsource BP, a solar energy developer headquartered in London, has announced that it will acquire utility-scale solar projects in Brazil, 1.9 gigawatts of projects, for an undisclosed sum. This is a major expansion for Lightsource, which is 43% owned by the energy giant BP. (Reuters)
An Australian student who had been detained in North Korea on June 25 is freed thanks to diplomatic talks between Australia and North Korea via Swedish officials. (Reuters)
Amid a deterioration in relations, Kosovo bans all Serbian officials from entering the country, in response to "constant propaganda and false news about the country and our citizens" from Belgrade. (RFERL)
Sevnica has become a tourist magnet ever since Donald Trump was elected US president in 2016, and Ms Trump - a famous former resident - became the first lady.
New text messages between Brazilian judge Sérgio Moro and Operation Car Wash's prosecutors are leaked by The Intercept Brasil and Veja. In the messages, Judge Moro illegally advises the prosecutors in including pieces of evidence against defendants of cases presided by him and suggests dates for Federal Police operations. The messages also suggest that Moro withheld evidence to prevent cases being transferred out of his jurisdiction to the Supreme Federal Court. (Veja)
He later added that there were a number of "minor to moderate level" injuries, and said there were "no reports of any fatalities, so I think we're very lucky there".
The SNHR says at least 544 civilians (including 130 children) have been killed, and another 2,117 people injured since a Russian-led Syrian government assault on the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria began two months prior. (Al Jazeera)(Reuters)
At least 2 company employees are confirmed killed and two more are critically injured in the explosion at the industrial waste processing plant owned by Monotaro due improper handling of spray cans.(nikkei.com)
Law and crime
American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is arrested and faces new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors. (ABC News)
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U.S. Wins Record Fourth Womens World Cup Soccer Title
Dominating yet another opponent in yet another final, the United States women’s soccer team claimed its fourth Women’s World Cup title on Sunday, beating the Netherlands, 2-0, in Lyon, France, to repeat as world champions.
Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle scored second-half goals for the United States, which needed more than an hour to solve a tenacious Netherlands defense but eventually, rush after rush, found a way through. Rapinoe broke the dam with a penalty kick in the 61st minute, and Lavelle sealed the victory with a driving run up the center in the 69th.
“It’s surreal,” said Rapinoe, who was named the tournament’s outstanding player. “I don’t know how to feel. It’s ridiculous.”
It was the second straight World Cup title for a dozen of the American players, who claimed their first championship in Canada four years ago. It also cemented their status as the gold standard in women’s soccer, even as Europe — led by teams like the Netherlands — mounts a sustained assault on their crown.
“They put their heart and soul into this journey, and I can’t thank them enough,” United States Coach Jill Ellis, hoarse and on the verge of tears herself, said minutes after the game. Ellis became the first coach to win consecutive Women’s World Cup titles; her team has not lost a game in the event since 2011 (13-0-1), and will be favored to reclaim its Olympic championship next summer in Tokyo.
Iran announces plans to begin enriching uranium beyond the limit set in its 2015 nuclear deal, with world powers pressing Europe to salvage the accord after the United States withdrew from it last year. (Al Jazeera)
New leaked messages between Brazilian judge Sérgio Moro and prosecutors of Operation Car Wash show that Moro suggested they leak confidential information concerning Odebrecht's activities in Venezuela to members of the Venezuelan opposition. Some prosecutors even entertained the possibility of provoking a civil war in Venezuela over the leaks. (The Intercept Brasil)
The troubled German lender unveiled its long-awaited reorganization plan yesterday, which involves eliminating thousands of jobs and severely reducing its global ambitions. But is it too little, too late?
The bank plans to cut 18,000 jobs and shrink its global equities business. Top executives will leave, including its investment banking chief, and $300 billion worth of assets will be hived off in a “bad bank” to be sold off over time. The layoffs have already begun.
The firm will refocus its efforts on serving European companies and retail-banking customers, pulling back from nearly two decades of trying to compete with Wall Street giants. But its C.E.O., Christian Sewing, said this morning that the U.S. remains a core market for the bank.
The plan will cost the lender 7.4 billion euros, or $8.3 billion, in severance payments and other expenses through 2022. Dividends will be suspended for 2019 and 2020.
But experts are unsure whether it will work. Shrinking means reduced revenue, potentially creating a vicious circle of declining income and profits. Mohamed El-Erian of the German insurer Allianz tweeted, “Big question that’s now on the table is whether DB can shrink itself to heightened competitiveness and sustainable profitability without a merger of some sort.”
The United Arab Emirates announces a partial withdrawal of its forces from Yemen as part of a "strategic redeployment". (CNN)
Disasters and accidents
Flash flooding in Washington, D.C. delivers a month's worth of rain on the local area in the span of an hour. The torrential rain leaves commuters stranded on car rooftops, floods several metro stations and causes flooding in the White House. (CNET)
Researchers have found the earliest example of our species (modern humans) outside Africa.
A skull unearthed in Greece has been dated to 210,000 years ago, at a time when Europe was occupied by the Neanderthals.
The sensational discovery adds to evidence of an earlier migration of people from Africa that left no trace in the DNA of people alive today.
The findings are published in the journal Nature.
Researchers uncovered two significant fossils in Apidima Cave in Greece in the 1970s.
One was very distorted and the other incomplete, however, and it took computed tomography scanning and uranium-series dating to unravel their secrets.
The more complete skull appears to be a Neanderthal. But the other shows clear characteristics, such as a rounded back to the skull, diagnostic of modern humans.
The U.S. women's national soccer team's day started with a parade through New York City's Canyon of Heroes, included a flight to Los Angeles and then saw Alex Morgan and the USWNT shine as the big winners at The ESPYS on Wednesday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Morgan earned the ESPY for best female athlete, beating overall women's World Cup Alpine skiing champion Mikaela Shiffrin, Breanna Stewart of the WNBA's Seattle Storm and gymnast Simone Biles.
The two ESPYS wins were the latest reasons for the USWNT to celebrate after it captured its second consecutive World Cup title by beating the Netherlands 2-0 on Sunday.
Morgan joked that her ESPY for best female athlete was the second-best trophy she earned this week.
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Armed conflicts and attacks
Assailants raid a village in Papua New Guinea's Hela province, killing and dismembering 16 women and children, and burning buildings. (The Guardian)
Three or five of Iran's IRGC Navy gunboats unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of British oil tanker British Heritage in the Persian Gulf, according to UK's Ministry of Defense as well as two anonymous U.S. officials. The Royal Navy's HMS Montrose reportedly warns the boats to back away from the BP Shipping-owned tanker, which they do. The incident is allegedly captured on a U.S. aircraft's camera. (CNN)
Business and economy
Three large shipbuilders in the People's Republic of China announce that they are in talks to merge. This is part of an ongoing shake-up and consolidation of that industry in the face of high operational costs and sluggish new orders. (Caixin Eng.)
Disasters and accidents
An unexpected violent storm hits the Greek region of Halkidiki with heavy rain, hail, and strong winds, killing six foreign tourists. (BBC)
Sir Kim Darroch, the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States, resigns his appointment amid public disagreements with U.S. PresidentDonald Trump initiated by a series of leaked diplomatic cables in which the ambassador criticized the president, and will leave the post upon the appointment of his successor. (BBC)
Seven people, including six foreign tourists, are killed and 100 others injured during a violent storm that swept across Thessaloniki, Greece. (BBC)
Law and crime
British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson is sentenced to nine months in prison for contempt of court — minus time served equals about another 10 weeks in prison. Supporters attacked police and journalists following the court proceedings. Police say no new arrests were made. (BBC)
Facebook 'to be fined $5bn over Cambridge Analytica scandal'
US regulators have approved a record $5bn (£4bn) fine on Facebook to settle an investigation into data privacy violations, reports in US media say.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been investigating allegations that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained the data of up to 87 million Facebook users.
The settlement was approved by the FTC in a 3-2 vote, sources told US media.
Facebook and the FTC told the BBC they had no comment on the reports.
The consumer protection agency the FTC began investigating Facebook in March 2018 following reports that Cambridge Analytica had accessed the data of tens of millions of its users.
The investigation focused on whether Facebook had violated a 2011 agreement under which it was required to clearly notify users and gain "express consent" to share their data.
The $5bn fine was approved by the FTC in a 3-2 vote which broke along party lines, with Republican commissioners in favour and Democrats opposed.
The Venezuelan government arrests two members of disputed Interim President Juan Guaidó's personal security. The government claims that the pair were trying to sell weapons stolen from the national army and organising the failed coup attempt on 30 April. The opposition denies the weapons charges. (Reuters)
New York's power is coming back after Manhattan spent hours in the dark
Power was starting to come back to parts of New York on a warm Saturday night as ConEdison restored electrical service on the west side of Manhattan after widespread power outages canceled shows and sent tens of thousands of people onto darkened streets, officials said.
There were 16,000 customers without power in Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side, utility company ConEdison said.
At its peak, the number was about 72,000, it said. The company estimated most customers will have power restored by midnight. As he spoke to reporters, the lights came on in buildings behind him and the crowd cheered loudly.
Just before the lights and air conditioners began to come back on, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the numbers of customers without power had soared from 20,000 right after the blackout started because transformers kept tripping.
Four policemen kill a suspect attempting to attack an ICE immigrant detention center in Tacoma, Washington. The perpetrator was armed with a rifle and incendiary devices, and had left a three-page manifesto advocating political violence (BBC)(Heavy)
Three days of heavy rain in Nepal trigger floods and landslides resulting in at least 67 deaths. India was also affected by heavy floods, resulting in the death of 34 people, while 29 others died in Bangladesh. (BBC)
U.S. Vice PresidentMike Pence says the conditions under which asylum seekers are being held in facilities along the U.S. border with Mexico are unacceptable, after visiting two federal detention centers in Texas, remaining the highest-ranking member of the Trump administration to say so. He calls upon the U.S. Congress to act. (CNN)
Simona Halep defeats Serena Williams (6–2, 6–2) to win the 2019 Wimbledon women's singles championship, her first Wimbledon victory and her second Grand Slam singles title. Williams was attempting to equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. (The Guardian)
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Epic final tied, Super Over tied, England win World Cricket Cup on boundary count
New Zealand 241 for 8 (Nicholls 55, Woakes 3-37) tied with England 241 (Stokes 84*, Buttler 59, Neesham 3-43) Super overEngland 15 beat New Zealand 15 on boundaries scored
It was never going to be easy, was it? Two teams without a World Cup title between them in 44 years of the men's competition. After 100 overs, the last couple of which contained almost as much drama as a few previous finals in their entirety, nothing could separate England and New Zealand. For the first time in World Cup history, a Super Over was required to determine the winner.
Asked to score 16 from six balls, Jimmy Neesham coolly struck Jofra Archer's second legitimate delivery way back into the Mound Stand, making the equation seven off four. A brace of twos followed, before Archer's bumper took Neesham off strike. Martin Guptill, at the end of a tournament of personal trial, needing to hit two more otherwise England would take the trophy on boundaries scored. Archer found a yorker, Guptill found deep midwicket and Jason Roy's throw found Guptill short; Jos Buttler completed the run-out at full stretch to end all those years of hurt and an afternoon of exquisite agony.
The European Union's Galileosatellite navigation system suffers a major outage due to a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure," taking all active Galileo satellites offline. (BBC)
The origins of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa are in both the mind and the body, according to an international study.
Anorexia is seen as a serious psychiatric disease.
But doctors at King's College London showed changes hardwired into some people's DNA altered the way they processed fats and sugars and may make it easier to starve their bodies.
The eating disorder charity Beat said the findings were groundbreaking.
The researchers looked at 16,992 people with anorexia and 55,525 people without the disease, from 17 countries.
All their DNA - the blueprint for the human body - was analysed to find mutations in genetic instructions that were more common in anorexia patients.
The study, published in Nature Genetics, found some mutations also presented in other psychiatric disorders such obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
But they also found mutations in the instructions that control the body's metabolism, particularly those involving blood sugar levels and body fat.
"There is something in those systems that has gone awry," Prof Janet Treasure, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, told BBC News.
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Law and crime
A police raid on a neo-Nazi group in northern Italy results in the arrest of three people. Sophisticated weaponry, including a Matra Super 530F air-to-air missile, are seized during the operation. (BBC)
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Asteroid 2006 QV89, a small object 20 to 50 metres in diameter, was in the news lately because of a very small, one-in-7000 chance of impact with Earth on 9 September 2019.
In the first known case of ruling out an asteroid impact through a "non-detection," ESA and the European Southern Observatory have concluded that asteroid 2006 QV89 is not on a collision course this year—and the chance of any future impact is extremely remote.
Asteroids come and go, quite literally, often frustrating astronomers. You can catch sight of a hurtling space rock, take some measurements to narrow down its orbit, and days later it's gone—potentially remaining unobservable for decades.
In general, when an asteroid is found to have even a tiny chance of impacting Earth, further observations and measurements are taken. These "astrometric" data refine our understanding of the asteroid's path, improving our understanding of the risk it poses and often excluding any chance of collision altogether.
However, the case of asteroid 2006 QV89 is peculiar. The object was discovered in August 2006 and then observed for only ten days. These observations suggested it had a 1-in-7000 chance of impacting Earth on 9 September 2019.
Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is sentenced to life in prison plus thirty years, and is ordered to forfeit US$12.6 billion. He accused the U.S. government of "torture and corruption" during his sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. He will likely be sent to ADX Florence in Colorado to serve his sentence. (CNBC)
Representatives of Sudan's military and the civil opposition sign the first of two parts of a power-sharing deal which is supposed to last until free elections in 2022. (DW)
Trump Twitter row: US House condemns 'racist comments'
The row over US President Donald Trump's tweets attacking four Democratic congresswomen shows little sign of abating. The House of Representatives has passed a motion denouncing "racist comments that have legitimised fear and hatred of New Americans and people of colour".
The motion got through the Democrat-controlled House by 240 votes to 187. It follows Mr Trump tweeting that Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib - who are all US citizens - should "go back" to their own countries.
After the House's decision, the president has come out fighting on Twitter again, writing that there is not "a racist bone in my body".
BBC
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Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is sentenced to life in prison plus thirty years, and is ordered to forfeit US$12.6 billion. He accused the U.S. government of "torture and corruption" during his sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. He will likely be sent to ADX Florence in Colorado to serve his sentence. (CNBC)
Representatives of Sudan's military and the civil opposition sign the first of two parts of a power-sharing deal which is supposed to last until free elections in 2022. (DW)
Astronomers rule out the chances of ~30-meter asteroid2006 QV89's impacting Earth in September 2019 by eliminating the possibility of its passing through an area where it would have to be if it were on an impacting orbit. Prior to this, the asteroid had been given a one-in-7,000 chance of impacting Earth. (phys.org)
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One senior EU figure describes the realisation of this in Brussels: "Oh my God, they haven't got a plan… it's like Lance Corporal Jones."
Nato chief calls on Russia to save missile treaty
We have to be prepared for a world... with more Russian missiles." So says Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who tells the BBC that time is running out to save the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, signed by the US and USSR in 1987, which bans short and medium-range missiles. Both the US and Russia have suspended their obligations under the treaty, amid concern over Moscow's plans for new weapons systems. Mr Stoltenberg says the Russian missiles are in "clear violation of the treaty", being nuclear capable, mobile, very hard to detect, and able to reach European cities within a few minutes.
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Iran confirms its seizure of a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker traveling from the United Arab Emirates, and its 12 crewmembers, in the Persian Gulf last week. The tanker is being held at Qeshm Island, and is accused by Iran of smuggling oil. The United Arab Emirates denies owning or operating the tanker. (USA Today)
A 41-year old man sets fire to the main offices of Kyoto Animation, an animation studio based in Kyoto, Japan. At least 34 people are confirmed dead and 35 injured. Many of the victims are in their 20s and 30s, as well as being mostly female. (The Guardian)
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'Avengers: Endgame' passes 'Avatar' to become the highest-grossing film ever
"Avengers: Endgame," the Disney and Marvel blockbuster, will move past "Avatar" on the list of all-time highest grossing films on Sunday in its 13th weekend of release, Disney reported Saturday night."Avatar," James Cameron's science fiction film set on the planet of Pandora, held the record for 10 years.
The latest "Avengers" film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, has made more than $2.789 billion worldwide."A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted 'Avengers: Endgame' to these historic heights," Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement.
To get to the top spot, "Endgame" passed some of the biggest blockbusters in film history such as "Titanic," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and its predecessor, "Avengers: Infinity War.""
'Endgame' has cemented the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a cornerstone of modern mythos that will be passed down to generations of fans," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, told CNN Business. "That would have been true regardless of its monetary position relative to 'Avatar.'"Robbins added that the title of highest-grossing film of all time is "the cherry on top for Marvel's first decade."
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Business and economy
British Airways halts flights to Cairo for at least seven days, citing security concerns. Lufthansa also halts all flights, although only for one day. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
An explosion at a gas factory in China's Henan Province kills at least 15 people and leaves 256 injured. (DW)
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- Shane Lowry made the 68 years between Open Championships in Northern Ireland worth the wait.
The silver claret jug is staying on the Emerald Isle.
Lowry, the 32-year-old Irishman with stout nerves and a soft touch around the greens, endured the worst weather of the week and the Sunday pressure of a sellout crowd cheering him along to win The Open by six shots at Royal Portrush.
Even as the rain stopped, the tears began flowing.
"I can't believe this is me standing here," Lowry said as he cradled golf's oldest trophy. "I can't believe this is mine."
It was never really in doubt.
Lowry closed with a 1-over 72, the first time since 1996 the Open champion was over par in the final round, and it was no less impressive. More difficult than the rain was wind strong enough to break an umbrella. Lowry began making bogeys in the middle of the round without losing ground. No one from the last 12 groups broke par.
The Venezuelan military reports that on Friday, an American Naval reconnaissance plane entered its national airspace, threatening flights to Maiquetia Airport; the United States asserts that their aircraft was over international waters in the Caribbean on an approved mission. The US plane was followed for a prolonged time by a Venezuelan fighter. (Bloomberg)(The Guardian)
A mob of suspected masked triad members dressed in white and armed with batons attack commuters indiscriminately at Yuen Long station, injuring 45, including a pro-democracy legislator and a pregnant woman. Hong Kong police have been accused of allowing the violence to happen due to their delayed response and decision to limit emergency services in the area. (The Guardian)(SCMP)
Pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho applauds the assailants for their actions, saying they should be "pardoned for defending their homes" and calling them his "heroes". (HKFP)(SCMP)
A former Venezuelan state oil executive at PDVSA, Juan Carlos Márquez Cabrera, is found hanged in an apartment in Madrid during a trial for which he was testifying of corruption in PDVSA and money laundering of the former Spanish ambassador. (BBC)
Marvel Phase 4: A new era for diversity in Hollywood?
Comic book fans have been left giddy with anticipation by the bumper crop of superhero offerings unveiled by Marvel Studios at this year's Comic Con.
Details of Marvel's so-called "Phase 4" have also raised hopes about a real step forward for diversity in Hollywood.
The next stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will feature its first deaf superhero, its first Asian-American superhero and an openly gay superhero.
It will also see more women than ever taking the directorial reins.
The casting of deaf actress Lauren Ridloff as superhero Makkari in 2020 release Eternals has been particularly applauded on social media.
Other social media users praised Marvel for casting the black actress as a character who has always been depicted as a white male in its comic books.
On Saturday, Ridloff herself expressed delight at the prospect of co-starring with Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and others under Chloe Zhao's direction.
Meanwhile, Hawaiian director Destin Daniel Cretton revealed that Canadian star Simu Liu will play the MCU's first Asian-American superhero, in Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.
Boris Johnson has been elected new Conservative leader in a ballot of party members and will become the next UK prime minister.
He beat Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival's 46,656.
The former London mayor takes over from Theresa May on Wednesday.
In his victory speech, Mr Johnson promised he would "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn".
Speaking at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, he said: "We are going to energise the country.
"We are going to get Brexit done on 31 October and take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring with a new spirit of can do.
"We are once again going to believe in ourselves, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self doubt and negativity."
A competition helping to drive development of the futuristic hyperloop transport system has been won by engineering students from Munich.
The hyperloop idea involves passengers in pods travelling at very high speeds down sealed tunnels.
The team's pod hit 457km/h (290mph) on a 1.2km (0.75 mile) test track.
Run by the SpaceX aerospace company, the competition aims to refine the technologies that could underpin the super-fast transport system.
The win is the third in a row for the Technical University of Munich team.
The competition saw student teams from universities around the world gather in California to put their prototype pods through their paces.
The idea for hyperloop, which would see pods speed through a sealed tunnel to reduce friction or air resistance, has been around for decades and was fleshed out by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2012.
He suggested that pods could travel along the system's tunnels at speeds in excess of 1,000km/h.
Critics have voiced concerns about the potential cost of building a large hyperloop and whether its technical demands can be met.
Mr Musk's SpaceX company has run a series of competitions to drive development of the concept.
In the latest round of the competition, the Munich team, Warr Hyperloop, outpaced rival capsules, which could manage speeds of only 88mph (Delft University) and 55mph (EPF Loop, from Switzerland), to beat its own record speed, 323km/h, set in the second competition, in September 2017.
Hezbollah condemns Argentina over its designation of their group as a "terrorist organization", saying Argentina did so under "United States pressure". (Itón Gadol)
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Climate crisis blamed as temperature records broken in three nations
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have recorded their highest ever temperatures as the second extreme heatwave in as many months to be linked by scientists to the climate emergency grips the continent.
The Dutch meteorological service, KNMI, said the temperature reached 39.2C(102.5F) at the Gilze-Rijen airbase near Breda on Wednesday afternoon, exceeding the previous high of 38.6C set in August 1944.
In Belgium, the temperature in Kleine-Brogel hit 38.9C on Wednesday afternoon, fractionally higher than the previous record of 38.8C set in June 1947, and then subsequently rose to 39.9C. Forecasters said temperatures could climb further on Thursday.
Germany’s national weather service, DWD, said it believed a new all-time national high of 40.5C – 0.2C higher than the record – had been set in the town of Geilenkirchen near the Dutch and Belgian borders, but had still to confirm it.
“The most extreme heat will build from central and northern France into Belgium, the Netherlands and far western Germany into Thursday,” said Eric Leister of the forecasting group AccuWeather.
The latest heatwave, caused by an “omega block” – a high-pressure pattern that blocks and diverts the jet stream, allowing a mass of hot air to flow up from northern Africa and the Iberian peninsula – follows a similar extreme weather event last month that made it the hottest June on record.
A suicide bomber detonates inside the office of Mogadishu's mayor Abdirahman Abdi Osman, killing six government officials. Osman is seriously injured in the attack and his condition is critical. (BBC)
Boeing reports its largest-ever quarterly loss, of US$2.9 billion, as a result of the grounding of its 737 MAX series, with the company saying that it could halt its production. (The Guardian)
U.S. Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr resumes the federal usage of the death penalty. Five inmates are expected to be executed between December 2019 and January 2020. If carried out, these would be the first federal executions in the United States in sixteen years. (CNBC)(The New York Times)
At least four people are killed and two wounded in a shooting spree that spread across multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods. Police tackled and arrested the suspect, Gerry Zaragoza, after a 12-hour manhunt. (CNN)(Reuters via AOL.com)
Algerian interim presidentAbdelkader Bensalah appoints a six-member panel to set a presidential election date. The previous date of July 4 was cancelled due to lack of candidates amid mass protests. (Reuters)
US Supreme Court gives go-ahead for Trump wall funding
The US Supreme Court has said that President Donald Trump can use $2.5bn (£2bn) of Pentagon funds for a section of wall on the southern border.
The court ruled by five votes to four to block a ruling by a federal judge in California that barred the president from spending the money on the wall.
The wall, dividing the US and Mexico, was Mr Trump's major campaign promise during the 2016 election.
It is fiercely opposed by Democrats.
The decision by the Supreme Court means that the money will be used for wall projects in California, Arizona and New Mexico.
The court in California had argued that Congress had not specifically authorised the funds to be used for constructing the wall.
In a tweet, Mr Trump described the ruling as a "big victory".
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'Mass brawl' breaks out on P&O cruise ship Britannia
Plates and furniture were reportedly used as weapons after a mass brawl broke out on a British cruise ship.
Six people were hurt as P&O's Britannia sailed to Southampton after a week-long trip to Norway's fjords, police said.
A man, 43, and a 41-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of assault.
Good Morning Britain journalist Richard Gaisford, who was on board, said an emergency tannoy summoned security staff to the ship's restaurant in the early hours of Friday.
Writing on Twitter, he said: "Witnesses told me they were so frightened they had to hide, as family groups fought," he said.
A police spokeswoman said: "The incident took place during the early hours of Friday, 26 July, on board P&O's Britannia while it was en route to Southampton from Bergen."
She said three men and three women were assaulted, with their injuries including significant bruising and cuts.
The man and the woman arrested, both from Chigwell, Essex, are in police custody.
Japan warns on Saturday that the new North Korean projectiles have trajectories that are not typical for conventional ballistic missiles, making them difficult or impossible to intercept en route to Japan. (Al-Manar)
Several thousand people attend a rally in Moscow organized by opposition members due to several opposition candidates being disqualified from regional elections. The protests turned violent and policedetained about 1,000 people, including politician Alexei Navalny. (BBC)
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A US teenager has won a record-breaking $3m (£2.4m) to become world champion of the computer game Fortnite.
It is the largest prize pool in the history of e-sports, with $30m shared amongst the winners.
Kyle Giersdorf, 16, won the solo event of the competition in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which hosts the US Open tennis tournament.
Jaden Ashman - a 15-year-old from Hornchurch, London - won almost £1m for coming second in the duos event.
And another British teenager - 14-year-old Kyle "Mongraal" Jackson from Sidcup, Kent - also walked away with a major prize.
Mr Giersdorf, known online as Bugha, stood laughing and shaking his head as the crowd erupted when his name was announced.
He told the BBC he wants to save most of his prize. "All I want is a new desk and maybe a desk for my trophy," he said.
The final game was described by the commentators as a "ridiculous victory lap" as the winner played with a smile on his face whilst beating his rivals.
Gunfire and an explosion kills 20 and injures over 50 in an attack at the Kabul office of the vice-president candidate Amrullah Saleh who was slightly injured in the attack. (BBC)
An airstrike kills five doctors in a hospital in the southern outskirts of Libya's capital Tripoli. (BBC)
During conflicts in the state of Amapá in northern Brazil, armed miners invade a native reserve and stab to death an indigenous man. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
At least 36 people die in a landslide striking a village in southern China. (BBC)
Heavy storms across central Italy kill three people and cause damages. One death was caused by lightning, one by a tornado, and one by getting caught in a flood. (Il Messaggero)
During protests, Hong Kong groups organize to put pressure on the United Kingdom, asking for help to uphold the city-state's legal rights. The Joint Agreement of 1997 signed by the UK and China outlines that Hong Kong will have legislative and judiciary independence, based on systems implemented there under British rule. (The Guardian)
In road cycling, Colombia's Egan Bernal wins the Tour de France by 1:11 on general classification over his BritishteammateGeraint Thomas. The 22-year-old Bernal is the first Colombian and first Latin American rider to win the Tour, and the youngest rider to do so since 1909. (BBC)
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India's tiger population rises to 3,000 despite cities expanding
India's tiger population has grown to nearly 3,000 and has been described by the country's prime minister as a "historic achievement".
India estimates its tiger population every few years and the number for 2018 was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The tiger population was 2,226 in 2014 and just 1,400 about 15 years ago.
Mr Modi said the number of protected areas for tigers rose from 692 in 2014 to 860 last year while the number of community reserves went from 43 to 100 over the same period.
"With around 3,000 tigers, India has emerged as of one of the biggest and safest habitats for them in the world," he said.
Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, based in New Delhi, said India "still has a long way to go to secure a long-term future for wild tigers".
But she also said India should, nevertheless, be pleased with the results of what was the largest and most thorough estimation of the tiger population.
An Indian man who was bitten by a snake got his revenge on the reptile by biting it back and killing it, the man’s father said on Monday.
The man, Raj Kumar, was relaxing at home, enjoying a drink on Sunday, when a snake slithered into his house in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and bit him, said his father.
“A snake bit him. So, in turn, he bit it and chewed it into pieces,” said the father, Babu Ram.
The man’s family took him to hospital where media said his condition was critical. The snake that bit him was reported to have been a rat snake, which experts regard as usually not venomous.
“This is definitely weird,” said Raj Kumar’s doctor, N.P. Singh.
“I’ve seen people coming in with snakebites, but never somebody who bit a snake and then brought it with him in a bag.”
Capital One announces that a major data breach occurred on July 19, 2019, by one individual who compromised the data of about 106 million people in the United States and Canada. The Federal Bureau of Investigation have a made an arrest after the alleged hacker, 33-year-old Paige Thompson from Seattle, boasted about her actions online. (BBC)
Law and crime
An eight-year-old boy is killed and his mother injured after being pushed by a man into the path of an oncoming train at Frankfurt's main station, in Hesse, Germany. The attacker, a 40-year-old immigrant Eritrean man, also attempted to knock a third person onto the tracks. The suspect and the victims did not appear to have known one another. (Sky News)
At least 57 people are killed, including sixteen who were beheaded, during prison riots in Pará, Brazil, which saw rival gangs battle for five hours. (BBC)
The Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office condemns protests in Hong Kong as "evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements", saying that Hong Kong's top priority is to "punish violent and unlawful acts in accordance with the law". Hong Kong legislators and journalists reject the statement from Beijing, expressing concern that this will worsen tensions. (BBC)
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Chinese vlogger who used filter to look younger caught in live-stream glitch
Fans of a popular Chinese video blogger who called herself "Your Highness Qiao Biluo" have been left stunned after a technical glitch during one of her live-streams revealed her to be a middle-aged woman and not the young glamorous girl they thought her to be.
The revelation has led to discussions about standards of beauty across the country's social media platforms.
China's Global Times said she had been "worshipped" as a "cute goddess" by some members of her loyal audience with some fans even giving her more than 100,000 yuan ($14,533, £11,950).
The Global Times reports that all was as normal and that her fans urged her to show her face and remove her filter but she refused, instead apparently saying: "I can't show my face until I receive gifts worth 100,000 yuan ($11,950). After all, I'm a good-looking host."
Followers began to send her donations with the largest reported to be 40,000 yuan ($5,813, £4,780) during the session.
However, at some point, it seems the filter being used by the vlogger stopped working and her real face became visible to her viewers.
She is reported to have noticed only when people who had signed up to her VIP access room started exiting en masse.
Many of her original followers - especially men - are said to have stopped following her and withdrawn their transactions after seeing her true identity.
Your Highness Qiao Biluo's real appearance (left) and her filtered face (right) on Douyu
At least 18 people, including thirteen civilians and five crew members, are killed and 12 others injured after a small military plane crashes into a residential area near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. (BBC)
RomanianInterior MinisterNicolae Moga resigns just six days into office amid outrage and protests over the slow response by police to the disappearance, rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl near the city of Caracal. (RFERL)
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In an interview with MediaKix in 2017, Thompson explained how he was bullied at school but eventually became a pilot. After flying planes for more than a decade, he went into real estate, became "semi-retired" and started his YouTube channel.
"I started making videos on YouTube showing people what I was tinkering with and what I was coming up with," he said at the time.
The popular picture of the Milky Way as a flat disc is based on the observation of 2.5 million stars out of a possible 2.5 billion. The artists' impressions are therefore rough approximations of the truer shape of our galaxy, according to Dr Dorota Skowron of Warsaw University.
"The internal structure and history of the Milky Way is still far from being understood, in part because it is extremely difficult to measure distances to stars at the outer regions of our galaxy," she said.
The town of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, England, is evacuated after heavy rain and flooding causes structural damage to the nearby dam at the Toddbrook Reservoir amid fears the dam could collapse. A severe flood warning has been issued for communities situated along the River Goyt. (BBC)
Lionel Messi Suspended 3 Months and Fined $50,000 for CONMEBOL Criticism
The Argentine star Lionel Messi was barred on Friday from playing for his national team for three months and was fined $50,000 by CONMEBOL, the South American soccer governing body, after he heavily criticized the organization during the Copa América.
Messi, 32, accused CONMEBOL of corruption after he was sent off against Chile in the third-place playoff match during the tournament in Brazil, which ended last month.
Messi was angered by two incidents during the Copa.
Argentina was denied two penalty claims in its 2-0 semifinal loss to the hosts, after which Messi claimed Brazil was “managing a lot in CONMEBOL these days.” And when he was harshly dismissed in the next game, which Argentina won, 2-1, he could not contain his anger.
“Corruption and the referees are preventing people from enjoying the football, and they’re ruining it a bit,” Messi said.
He was given his marching orders after a first-half scuffle with Chile’s captain, Gary Medel, although television images suggested he had done little wrong.
In a statement on its website, CONMEBOL did not specify why Messi was being punished but said the punishment was related to articles 7.1 and 7.2 of the organization’s disciplinary regulations.
A gunman opens fire in the home of his ex-wife in Zagreb, Croatia, killing six, including a ten-year-old child. He later committed suicide after a manhunt. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia grants women the right to travel without permission from a male guardian, and expands their marriage and custodial rights in a series of royal decrees. (Reuters)
Japan carries out the first executions this year, hanging Koichi Shoji, 64, who killed two women in 2001, and serial killer Yasunori Suzuki, 50, who killed three women between 2004 and 2005 in Fukuoka Prefecture. (Kyodo News)
RomanianPrime MinisterViorica Dăncilă sacks Minister of EducationEcaterina Andronescu for her controversial comments in a television interview about murdered 15-year-old girl Alexandra Macesanu, saying she was "taught not to get in cars with strangers". A 65-year-old man has since admitted killing Alexandra Macesanu and another teenage girl who has been missing since April. (BBC)
El Paso Shooting: Massacre at a Crowded Walmart in Texas Leaves 20 Dead
A 21-year-old gunman armed with a powerful rifle turned a crowded Walmart store in this majority-Hispanic border city into a scene of chaos and bloodshed on Saturday, stalking shoppers in the aisles in an attack that left at least 20 people dead and 26 others wounded, the authorities said.
For several minutes late on Saturday morning, the packed Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall on the city’s East Side filled with gun smoke and the echo of gunfire. Workers and customers, some bloodied, fled out the doors. Others huddled in the aisles or on the ground.
“Texas grieves for the people of El Paso today,” the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, told reporters. “On a day that would have been a normal day for someone to leisurely go shopping, turned into one of the most deadly days in the history of Texas.”
The authorities identified the gunman as Patrick Crusius, from a Dallas suburb. He was taken into custody after he surrendered to the police outside the Walmart. The authorities said they were investigating a manifesto Mr. Crusius, who is white, may have posted before the shooting, which described an attack in response to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
Indian authorities issue evacuation orders for thousands of people, including tourists and Hindu pilgrims heading to the Amarnath Temple for yatra (which has been cancelled) to immediately leave Jammu and Kashmir because of security alerts about possible militant attacks. Also, the pilgrimage to Machel Mata for yatra, which also began on 01 July, has been suspended. (BBC)(CNN-News18)
The African Union announces the Sudanese military council and the opposition agreed to a constitutional declaration that will pave the way to a new transitional government. It calls for the new government to be headed by six citizens and five generals, and formally places the Rapid Support Forces under military command. (BBC)
Several hundred people are detained by Russian police at opposition protests in Moscow, because several opposition candidates were disqualified from running in the upcoming Moscow City legislative election. (RT)
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The 12,000-calorie burger: why one pub is offering a meat feast – and cash towards your gravestone
‘It’s just 10 burgers piled up on top of each other between mounds of cheese and 25 rashers of bacon.’ The Big Ben Number 10. Photograph: Craig Harker/SWNS.COM
Name: The Big Ben Number 10.
Price: £28.95.
Appearance: 12,000 calories of possible death.
Jesus Christ, what is that thing? Oh, you mean that towering stack of charred meat, cheese, bacon and grease? That’s the Big Ben Number 10. Fancy a bite?
No! Oh, come on, try some. I know it looks like a still from a documentary about a zoo that burned down, but what have you got to lose?
I don’t know, my basic artery function? Listen, sure the Big Ben Number 10 is a big burger. Sure it’s just 10 burgers piled up on top of each other between mounds of cheese and 25 rashers of bacon. Sure, it weighs 1.5kg. Sure, you might actually die trying to eat it. But it’s OK because they have thought of that.
Who’s thought of what? The George Pub and Grill in County Durham has thought of this burger actually killing someone. It comes with advice that customers eat it at their own risk, plus the owner has promised to pay £500 towards the headstone of anyone who drops dead during the challenge.
Seems like a nice guy. He’s got a big heart. And so will you once you’ve clogged your entire circulatory system with damp wads of half-chewed meat.
Has anyone actually attempted this? Apparently so. Competitive eater Kyle Gibson recently took on the Big Ben Number 10, and polished the whole thing off in just under 22 minutes. He claimed it was the best burger he’d ever tasted, which very possibly means he enjoys gorging to the point of nausea on food that went cold 15 minutes previously.
Do you get anything if you finish it? The owner of the George says you get “bragging rights”. Because your friends love nothing more than when you waddle up to them and boast about how you’ve become the unofficial poster boy for the sort of uncontrolled consumption that will almost certainly result in the end of humanity itself.
And how many calories did you say it had? 12,000.
Can you put that into perspective? Well, the NHS states that a healthy adult male should aim to eat about 2,500 calories a day. So this burger isthe equivalent of eating everything you should normally eat in a working week.
I still don’t get it. Can you put it in Guardian terms for me? Oh, fine, it’s like eating 10kg of quinoa.
Six police officers are shot, sustaining non-life threatening injuries, by a gunman in Philadelphia; a seventh officer is injured in a related automobile accident nearby. (CNN)(NBC News)
Dying for a better life: South Koreans fake their funerals for life lessons
A South Korean service is offering free funerals - but only to the living.
More than 25,000 people have participated in mass “living funeral” services at Hyowon Healing Center since it opened in 2012, hoping to improve their lives by simulating their deaths.
“Once you become conscious of death, and experience it, you undertake a new approach to life,” said 75-year-old Cho Jae-hee, who participated in a recent living funeral as part of a “dying well” program offered by her senior welfare center.
Dozens took part in the event, from teenagers to retirees, donning shrouds, taking funeral portraits, penning their last testaments, and lying in a closed coffin for around 10 minutes.
Funeral company Hyowon began offering the living funerals to help people appreciate their lives, and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with family and friends, said Jeong Yong-mun, who heads the healing center.
Jeong said he is heartened when people reconcile at a relative’s funeral, but is saddened they wait that long.
“We don’t have forever,” he said. “That’s why I think this experience is so important - we can apologize and reconcile sooner and live the rest of our lives happily.”
Twenty gunmen open fire around a border checkpoint between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, killing a border guard and a policeman. Fifteen assailants are killed and five others captured. (Al Jazeera)
A knife-wielding man launched a random assault wounding eight people, including four foreign tourists and four locals, before being arrested in Jerash, Jordan. A Mexican tourist and a Jordanian tour guide are seriously injured. Among the injured there is a bus driver stabbed while trying to stop the assailant from entering a cafeteria full of tourists. (BBC News)
Gunmen kill 15 people and injure five at a security checkpoint in Yala Province, Thailand. The attack is the most deadly in years. (Reuters)(Bangkok Post)
At least three people are killed, and a further 17 wounded, when security forces fire at protestors trying to block a bridge in Baghdad. This is in spite of the government announcing the military was banned from using live rounds. (Al Jazeera)
Israel releases two Jordanian citizens it held in detention since August, after the Jordanian government successfully negotiated for their release on Monday. (Al Jazeera)
Dutch police evacuate passengers and crew onboard an Air Europa flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to investigate reports of a "suspicious situation". The airline later tweets it was a false alarm. (BBC News)(NL Times)
Regional prosecutor for East Santiago Manuel Guerra announces his intentions to investigate 14 police officers for allegedly torturing protestors. (Reuters)
'The ducks have won' - French court says they may keep on quacking
The ducks on a small French smallholding may carry on quacking, a French court ruled on Tuesday, rejecting a neighbour’s complaint that the birds’ racket was making their life a misery.
The court in the town of Dax ruled that the noise from the flock of around 60 ducks and geese kept by retired farmer Dominique Douthe in the foothills of the Pyrenees, southwestern France, was within acceptable limits, broadcaster France 3 said.
“The ducks have won,” Douthe told Reuters after the court decision. “I’m very happy because I didn’t want to slaughter my ducks.”
The complaint was brought by Douthe’s neighbour who moved from the city around a year ago into a property about 50 metres (yards) away from the enclosure in the Soustons district where Douthe keeps her flock.
The dispute is the latest in a series of court cases that have pitted the traditional way of life in rural France against modern values which, country-dwellers say, are creeping in from the city.
In a court ruling in September, a rooster named Maurice was allowed to continue his dawn crowing, despite complaints from neighbours who had also moved in from the city.
AfghanPresidentAshraf Ghani claims victory over ISIL, citing the surrender of over 600 of their fighters in the past weeks as an example that the group has given up. (Reuters)
At least three people are killed and 22 injured after Bolivian police and military forces use armored vehicles and helicopters to unblock access to a major fuel plant that had been blockaded by supporters of former president Evo Morales. (The Guardian)
Bolivia's congress, controlled by lawmakers from Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, said it would cancel a contentious vote in the legislature that had been expected to reject Morales' resignation. (Reuters)
Japan and South Korea have failed to narrow their differences over Japan's export controls in the second round of bilateral talks. (NHK World-Japan)
Amid continuing fallout over rape allegations against Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and controversy over his close friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, several businesses—including British banking group Standard Chartered, KPMG, Aon and drug giant AstraZeneca—cut ties with the Prince. Pitch@Palace, an initiative founded by Prince Andrew to support entrepreneurs, removes its entire web page listing its supporters. (Yahoo! News)(CNN)
Health and environment
Fifteen children are confirmed (and three more suspected) dead from measles in Samoa as the illness epidemic continues within the country. (Radio New Zealand)
15 year old Greta Thunberg takes a stand for climate change at COP24
15 year old Greta Thunberg made headlines last month through her uncompromising - and uncomfortable! - presentation to the United Nations' COP24 Climate Change conference in Poland. For Greta, it's as simple as this: climate change is a threat to our survival, and the world is not doing enough about it. Each Friday since August 2018, Greta has missed school to go on strike outside of the Swedish Parliament Building. She is demanding change, and has encouraged kids around the world to do the same until world leaders take serious action to reduce emissions and fulfil the mandates of the Paris Agreement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkQSGyeCWg
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
The alleged boss of the Cosa Nostra mafia clan is arrested along with 45 suspected accomplices in the province of Palermo, Italy. They are accused of aggravated extortion. (Euronews)
Following large protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's planned increases on fuel taxes, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announces that these plans will be suspended for at least six months. (Bloomberg)
In ice hockey, the National Hockey League announces that its board of governors unanimously approved a new franchise for Seattle. The new team will start play in the 2021–22 season, bringing the league's membership to 32 teams. (ESPN)
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Election results 2019: Tories on course to win majority - exit poll
The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
The survey taken at UK polling stations suggests the Tories will get 368 MPs - 50 more than at the 2017 election - when all the results have been counted.
Labour would get 191, the Lib Dems 13, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.
The Green Party will still have one MP and Plaid Cymru will lose one seat for a total of three, the survey suggests.
The first general election results are due before midnight, with the final total expected to be known by Friday lunchtime.
A trial date has been set for September 2021, after families of the victims sue Remington for the "company’s reckless marketing of the Bushmaster AR-15", the gun used by the perpetrator in the rampage. (Reuters)
Thousands of protesters flood the streets of Algiers to protest the presidential election currently underway. As all five candidates have ties to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, protesters call the election a sham and demand that the military withdraw its influence from political life. (Al Jazeera)
The impeachment process against President Sebastián Piñera is defeated by 79 votes against 73 in the Chamber of Deputies. The impeachment process was initiated after several human rights violations have been reported against protestors. (Al Jazeera)
The Conservative Party has won a big majority after sweeping aside Labour in its traditional heartlands.
Boris Johnson - new British Prime Minister
What's happened?
The Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 78, its biggest general election victory since 1987
With one constituency left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, the SDLP 2, the Green Party 1, the Alliance Party 1
The Conservatives increased their vote share in many areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.
By contrast they lost votes in strong Remain constituencies such as those in Scotland and London. But Labour lost votes in both strong Remain and strong Leave areas.
Strong Leave and strong Remain constituencies are those where an estimated 60% or more of the electorate voted for that option at the EU referendum.
These estimates of constituency Brexit votes were modelled by Professor Chris Hanretty, as the 2016 referendum result was only recorded by local authority and not by Westminster constituency.
The Conservatives were clear winners in constituencies estimated to have voted majority Leave in 2016. They won almost three quarters of all these seats.
By contrast, there was no clear winner among Remain backing constituencies, with a crowded field of parties all winning substantial numbers of seats.
Both countries announce an initial deal where new tariffs to be mutually imposed on December 15 would not be implemented. China says it "will buy more high quality of American agricultural products", while the United States says it will halve the existing 15% tariffs. (The Guardian)
Zambia legalizes the production and export of cannabis for economic and medicinal purposes, but recreational use of the drug remains illegal. (Reuters)
Wanted criminal Ridouan Taghi has been arrested in Dubai. He was wanted by the Netherlands for large scale cocaine trafficking and multiple murders. (The Guardian)
On the twelfth day of the strike, Jean-Paul Delevoye resigns. Delevoye, who was in charge of the proposed pension reform, failed to disclose private posts and income in his asset declaration. (The Guardian)
New Year Honours: Publication of addresses a 'complete disaster'
The online publication of the addresses of more than 1,000 New Year Honours recipients was a "complete disaster", a former cabinet minister has said.
Iain Duncan Smith, who was knighted, said ministers needed to ask "very serious questions" about how it had happened, while a former civil service chief called it a "serious failure".
The Cabinet Office has apologised and says it is investigating.
Details of celebrities, senior police officers and politicians were released.
Most of the entries in the spreadsheet included full addresses - including house numbers and postcodes. The Cabinet Office said the document was visible for about an hour.
Elton John By David Shankbone - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79809947
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
Iraqi Prime MinisterAdil Abdul-Mahdi condemns the unilateral American bombings inside Iraq, saying the U.S. strikes are a "violation of Iraqi sovereignty", and a "dangerous escalation that threatens the security of Iraq and the region." (USA Today)
Iran warns of consequences after the airstrikes. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi stated it was "illegal" and "the United States must accept responsibility of the attack." (CNN)
Over 19 flights are cancelled as a three-day strike at Lisbon Airport comes to an end. The strike was instigated when airport owner Vinci refused to unfreeze wages for the employees. (Reuters)
Actress Sharon Stone blocked from dating app Bumble
Actress Sharon Stone says she was blocked from the dating app Bumble.
The online platform said there had been several reports of a fake profile, the 62-year-old posted on Twitter.
"Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary?" the star of the 1992 film Basic Instinct asked the online app, which matches those looking for romance based on location.
Bumble say they have now unblocked Stone's account so she can get "back to Bumbling".
"Trust us, we *definitely* want you on the Hive," said Bumble's editorial director Clare O'Connor.
Bumble is a dating app that connects users looking for romance, friendship or anything in between.
Users can filter who they want to meet according to gender, age range and the distance they are willing to travel.
If two users "like" each other, they "match" and can start communicating.
Bumble is different to other dating apps as the woman must initiate contact by sending the first message.
The founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements she wanted to empower women in the dating realm by giving them the opportunity to make the first move.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports that He Jiankui, who last year announced the birth of babies with modified DNA, was sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine of 3 million yuan, for "illegal medical practice". Two other defendants are given lesser sentences. (CNN)
The court in Shenzhen confirms his claim that a second woman was impregnated, and reveals that three gene-edited babies were born instead of the previously believed two. (New Scientist)
A Sudanese court sentences 29 people to be hanged for the killing of a teacher in detention in February during protests that led to the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir. (BBC)
A Yemeni man, suspected to be an Al-Qaeda militant, is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for a November 11 terror attack against a group of Spanish theatre actors in Riyadh, wounding three of them. An accomplice is sentenced to 12 years of jail. (BBC)
So we made it. The world didn't implode, explode or get hit by a devastating meteorite - we survived. But despite the opinion of the incumbent USA president most educated people agree that the world is in trouble due to the way humanity is treating it. We are like a bully who doesn't realise the damage he is doing to a sensitive subject. It may have taken a 15 year-old from Sweden to finally wake up the rest of us.
Throughout the decade there have been a huge amount of major news stories with 119 covered here. This website, although far from complete (it proved a bigger task than expected), has covered many of the minor, but in some ways, no less interesting stories.
But one question has not been answered - the name the decade will forever be known as. The rather dull "the 2010's" seems to be the phrase chosen by the daily press, but that is, of course, the title of this website so maybe that was the right answer all along. We still prefer "the Onesies"
This website will continue to expand with new dates added, old stories discovered and hopefully will become a useful place of research.
Severe drought conditions continue in Zimbabwe where close to 7 million people are facing food shortages, according to a Catholic aid agency. Because of repeated droughts over the past five years, many of Zimbabwe’s small farmers are unable to feed their families. Catholic Relief Services is working with farmers teaching soil and water conservation methods. The agency offers drought-resistant crops to farmers and is cooperating on a notification system warning farmers about threats to their harvest. (Catholic News Agency)(Bloomberg News)
Police arrest six people in connection with a mass shooting last month in Fresno, California, that left four people dead and another six injured. (USA Today)
News from Wikipedia - please support this
valuable resource
- The world's financial markets are in the middle of the worse recession since the Twenties.
- Barack Obama is President of the US and Gordon Brown is Prime Minister of the UK.
Barack Obama
- Pamela Anderson suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" in Hollywood and David Tennant hands over Doctor Who's screwdriver to Matt Smith. Stephen Fry (temporarily) quits Twitter.
Pamela Anderson
- Scientists at Kings College, London reveal that the G-spot doesn't actually exist.
It's not a great start to the decade but, as D:Ream sang 6 years earlier, things can only get better... can't they? Read on...
The Tan Hill Inn
Top Video -
Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.
Top List -
Twitter’s top Trending Topics in 2009
News Events
1. #iranelection
2. Swine Flu
3. Gaza
4. Iran
5. Tehran
6. #swineflu
7. AIG
8. #uksnow
9. Earth Hour
10. #inaug09
People
1. Michael Jackson
2. Susan Boyle
3. Adam Lambert
4. Kobe (Bryant)
5. Chris Brown
6. Chuck Norris
7. Joe Wilson
8. Tiger Woods
9. Christian Bale
10. A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez)
Movies
1. Harry Potter
2. New Moon
3. District 9
4. Paranormal Activity
5. Star Trek
6. True Blood
7. Transformers 2
8. Watchmen
9. Slumdog Millionaire
10. G.I. Joe
TV Shows
1. American Idol
2. Glee
3. Teen Choice Awards
4. SNL (Saturday Night Live)
5. Dollhouse
6. Grey’s Anatomy
7. VMAS (Video Music Awards)
8. #bsg (Battlestar Galatica)
9. BET Awards
10. Lost
Sports (Teams, Events, Leagues)
1. Super Bowl
2. Lakers
3. Wimbledon
4. Cavs (Cleveland Cavaliers)
5. Superbowl
6. Chelsea
7. NFL
8. UFC 100
9. Yankees
10. Liverpool
Technology
1. Google Wave
2. Snow Leopard
3. Tweetdeck
4. Windows 7
5. CES
6. Palm Pre
7. Google Latitude
8. #E3
9. #amazonfail
10. Macworld
Top News -
Armed conflicts and attacks
Avatar Poster (copyright 20th Century Fox)
Top Video -
Monogrenade: Ce soir from Monogrenade on Vimeo.
Top List -
Highest-grossing films of 2009 in the United States
British Isles under snow
Google launches its own smart phone, the Nexus One in a bid to widen the popularity of its Android operating system.
The Nexus One
Top Video -
Katy Perry and Russell Brand
Top Video -
Making a designer font using a car
iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from Tom Galle on Vimeo.
Top News -
Bernie Ecclestone
Our multi-dimensional savior -
On the first day of CES in Las Vegas, TV manufacturers state that 3D could be the savior of the industry estimating around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year.
Top Video -
555 KUBIK | facade projection
555 KUBIK | facade projection from URBANSCREEN on Vimeo.
Top News -
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Forget eating an apple, wear eye-shadow -
A French study, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, suggests the heavy eye make-up worn by ancient Egyptians such as Cleopatra may have had medical as well as aesthetic benefits.
Top Video
Rush Hour London from Chris Searson on Vimeo.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 1 - 100-91
RodStewart
Get your skates on -
Parts of Amsterdam's historic canal system freeze over for the first time in over a decade, with skaters taking to the ice.
Top Video -
Fixed
"Fixed" 2010 from Jeffrey M. Thompson on Vimeo.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 2 – 90-81
Palin to significance -
Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin signs up to be a contributor on the Fox News Channel, 2 years after she gained fame as the presidential running mate of Republican John McCain.
Sarah Palin
Top Video -
Top Video -
Modern Warfare 2 Trailer
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 5 – 60-51
Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Top Video -
Beyoncé - Halo
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 6 – 50-41
Swooner -
Author Jackie Collins has revealed that screen legend Marlon Brando had sex with her at a party when she was only 15, days after she had been expelled from a school in England.
Jackie Collins
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 7 – 40-31
I've Bin Photoshopped -
The US government withdraws an age-enhanced image of Osama Bin Laden after admitting it was partly based on a photo of a Spanish politician found on Google.
Top List -
Top 100 films of the Noughties (2000-2009)
List from Daily Telegraph By David Gritten, Tim Robey and Sukhdev Sandhu
Part 8 – 30-21
HP Tablet PC
Top Video -
Baby by Justin Bieber
Released today - the rest is history.
Top News -
Scott Brown
Snug as a bug -
Orlando Bloom's model girlfriend Miranda Kerr appears naked in the US edition of GQ magazine. Not news but a great picture.
Miranda Kerr
My password is "PleaseHackMe" -
According to a new analysis by Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.
Top Video -
Acceleration from Odwick on Vimeo.
Top List -
Top ten most popular computer passwords based on a leak from RockYou.com
Top News -
Conan O'Brien
Wolf in wolf's clothing -
The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model". The 2009 winning image, dubbed the storybook wolf, was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez.
The car in front... won't slow down -
Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars in the US to correct sticking accelerator pedals. In August of last year, Toyota recalled 690,000 cars in China due to faulty electrical window switches.
Top Video -
Videotape - A Pixilation Sci-Fi Short Film about an old man's haunted VCR.
Videotape from The Old Mill on Vimeo.
Top News -
Felix Baumgartner
Top Video -
Joe Kittinger's record breaking skydive
Top News -
Giselle Bundchen
Itchy and scratchy -
Research carried out by the University of Worcester has discovered that Britons are likely to be sleeping under duvets which are full dust mites and dead skin. Tests carried out on 10 duvets at the University of Worcester found they held up to 20,000 live house dust mites.
House dust mite - dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
One in the eye -
The Black Eyed Peas were the victims of an error when they were mistakenly named best international group at France's top music awards, the NRJ Awards in Cannes. The stars were originally declared winners but it was later revealed that an error had been made and German band Tokio Hotel were announced as the real victors.
The Black Eyed Peas
Tokio Hotel
Top Video -
Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
Top List -
Winners List of 2010 NRJ Music Awards:
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Pirate's plunder blunder -
Single-mum Jammie Thomas-Rasset found guilty of sharing 24 songs over the internet has had her fine slashed from $2m (£1.23m) to $54,000 (£33,420) following an appeal. The American was accused of pirating almost 2,000 tracks but the record companies sought damages for only 24 of them.
X-files factor -
Lord Rees, the president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, says the chance of discovering life on other worlds is greater than ever. He says "Were we to find life, even the simplest life, elsewhere that would clearly be one of the great discoveries of the 21st Century."
Top Video -
Mr and Mrs Smith Trailer
Top News -
Top Video -
Avatar movie trailer
Top List -
10 biggest movies in China
Steve Jobs with the iPad
Throw out the running shoes -
Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University reveals that running barefoot is better than wearing running shoes. The researchers found that people who run barefoot tend to land on the ball or the middle of the foot, moving smoothly, but those who run in shoes tend to land on the heels, sending shockwaves through the body.
Bubble Wrap hits middle age -
Bubble Wrap is 50 years old. It was first invented by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding as textured wallpaper and there are more than 250 dedicated Facebook pages. Sealed Air who owns the patent and manufactures Bubble Wrap makes more than $4bn a year.
Top Video -
The first Mackintosh commercial (1984)
Top List -
Ten best things Apple have invented
John Terry
The car in front… still won’t slow down -
Toyota is now recalling up to 1.8 million cars across Europe following an accelerator problem. The car maker will recall eight models including the Yaris, the Corolla (the biggest selling car ever - see list below) and the RAV4 sports utility vehicle. Last week it recalled 2.3 million cars in the US with faulty pedals.
Mais oui - the G-spot does exist -
French researchers have disagreed with English researchers at King's College London who announced on New Years Day that the G-spot is a fallacy and does not exist. But French doctors the "G-Day" conference in Paris insist the G spot - supposedly a cluster of internal nerve endings - is far from a myth. "The English study is barking up the wrong tree," said Sylvain Mimoun, France's best-known gynaecologist.
Dog survives 24km trip on ice -
A dog stranded on an ice floe that had drifted 24km out to sea was rescued by the crew of a research boat off the coast of Gdynia in Poland. He is being called Baltic after the ship while a search is launched for his owners.
Top Video -
Tome Lowe - Mountain Light
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe on Vimeo.
Top List -
Best selling car models in history
1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford F-Series
3. Volkswagen Golf
4. Volkswagen Beetle
5. Ford Escort
6. Honda Civic
7. Honda Accord
8. Ford Model T
9. Volkswagen Passat
10. Chevrolet Impala
Top News -
Rip Torn
AC/DC win first Grammy of career -
The band won the best hard rock performance statuette for the song War Machine, beating the previous winners Metallica and Linkin Park as well as Nickelback and Alice in Chains. Beyoncé took an early lead in the Grammys, winning four trophies during a non-televised ceremony in Los Angeles.
The Black Eyed Peas were right behind her with three awards, including best pop vocal album in the pre-telecast announcement of 100 of the 109 Grammy categories. Taylor Swift, the runner-up for the most Grammy nominations with eight, won her first trophy of the night, best female country vocal for White Horse. She also won best country song for White Horse with the songwriter Liz Rose. Lady Gaga was also among the double-winners, along with the rock group Kings of Leon, the rappers Jay-Z and Eminem, and Maxwell. See List of the Day [Daily Telegraph]
AC/DC
Cat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home
A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book. Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death. When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days. [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
CIA allows agents to moonlight -
The CIA is allowing operatives to moonlight by selling their espionage expertise to financial firms, according to a new book. In one instance, agents worked at a New York hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to draw on their skills in "deception detection" - the art of picking up clues in body language and conversation to ascertain when executives might be lying. Officials said that the out-of-hours work did not compromise national security and was only allowed once CIA officers had submitted full details of the work and been granted permission. [Daily Telegraph]
Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter -
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged on Groundhog Day to see his shadow – meaning winter will last another six weeks. German tradition holds that if the hibernating animal sees its shadow in Pennsylvania on Feb 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas – winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early. The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Pittsburgh. Phil's announcement came before hundreds of onlookers who huddled as temperatures hovered around 15 degrees (-9 Celsius). The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Mel Gibson
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle to cross Australia on foot -
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle are to embark on their latest risky adventure, retracing a Victorian expedition to cross Australia which ended in death. After rowing the Atlantic and walking to the South Pole, this time they are planning on walking 4,000 miles across the heart of Australia in the height of summer. They will be following in the footsteps of Irishman Robert Burke and Englishman William Wills, who set out in August 1860 to cross from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. The pair made the 2,000 mile south-north leg across what was called the "ghastly blank" without too much trouble, heading an entourage that comprised 19 men, 23 horses, 26 camels and 12 tons of equipment, which included four enema kits and 12 dandruff brushes. But on the way back they perished as their support team deserted them. [Daily Telegraph]
Ben Fogle and James Cracknell just before the start of the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005
Tom Watson
Trial off, football on -
A New Orleans judge, Michael Bagneris, postpones a trial because he is believes that everybody in the city will be too distracted by New Orleans Saints forthcoming performance in the Super Bowl. It will be the Saints's first ever Super Bowl appearance on Sunday, when they play the Indianapolis Colts.
Tom Kite
Sergio García
Ernie Els, 
Thomas Bjørn, 
Colin Montgomerie
Italians spend £5 billion a year on fortune tellers and astrology -
Italy's worst recession since the Second World War has prompted Italians to spend a staggering £5 billion a year seeking financial advice not from banks and brokers but fortune tellers and astrologers. Tarot card readers and pavement fortune tellers are doing a roaring trade, with about 30,000 Italians paying between 20 and 600 euros a day looking for advice to help them out of their financial woes. [Daily Telegraph]
Jazz star Johnny Dankworth dies aged 82 -
Tributes have been paid to British jazz legend Sir John Dankworth after his death at the age of 82. The saxophonist, whose career spanned more more than half a century, died on Saturday in King Edward VII hospital, London. He had been ill for several months. His death was announced last night by his jazz singer wife, Dame Cleo Laine, during a star-studded concert marking the 40th anniversary of the entertainment venue they set up together at their Buckinghamshire home. Dame Cleo broke the news to the artists before the concert began, but did not tell the 400-strong audience until just before the finale. [Daily Telegraph]
Johnny Dankworth
Kate Moss with photographer Mario Testino
Sarah Palin caught with crib notes on her hand -
Sarah Palin mocked President Barack Obama as 'a charismatic guy with a Teleprompter' during a speech only to be photographed with crib notes written on the palm of her hand. A close examination of the former vice-presidential candidate speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville at the weekend revealed she had the words "Energy", "Tax," and "Lift Americans Spirits" scrawled in ink on the inside of her left hand.
"Budget cuts" was written and then crossed out. She surreptitiously glanced at the words during a question and answer session afterwards when she was asked what should be the top three things a Republican majority in Congress would focus on. [Daily Telegraph]
A European Hedgehog
Chinese police admit enormous number of spies -
A Chinese police chief has said he uses more than 12,000 spies to inform on a remote county of just 400,000 people, an admission that lays bare the enormous scale of China's surveillance network. Liu Xingchen, the 56-year-old assistant to the head of Kailu County, a farming region in Inner Mongolia, said his vast network of informants meant he could be "very sensitive" to any signs of dissent and protest. In an interview with Xinhua, the government-run news agency, Mr Liu described how he was able to "quickly and accurately discover all sorts of information that might destabilise society". "Every policeman and auxiliary policeman, no matter their division or particular police station, has to establish at least 20 informants in their community, village, work unit and so on. Altogether, these add up to 10,000 spies. "Then the actual criminal units, the economic crimes unit, the Domestic Security Department, the Public Information Security Supervision and so on will establish a further five 'eyes and ears'.
"At the latest count, our bureau has established 12,093 informants," he said. [Daily Telegraph]
Google Buzz takes on Facebook and Twitter -
Google has launched a new tool that will allow users of its email service to share their feelings with other users, in an effort to take on social networking giants Facebook and Twitter head-on. Google Buzz, as the new application is called, essentially allows Gmail users to write status updates which other users can see, but goes further by allowing them to aggregate other services in an attempt to make it easier to operate in the increasingly frustrating information-heavy online environment. Buzz goes a number of steps further, however, by allowing users to create a Google profile page, which can be seen not just by friends but by the entire web if so desired, and will guide users to follow the people they email and chat with the most. It will also allows posts to include links, YouTube videos, pictures from Google's Picasa hosting service. (See Video of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Alicia Keys
Alexander McQueen
Dark matter 'seen for first time' -
Scientists may have caught their first glimpse of dark matter, the mysterious hidden substance believed to give structure to the universe. After nine years of searching, detectors buried 2,000ft underground in an old US iron mine registered two "hits" by what could turn out to be dark matter particles. Both bear the hallmarks of "weakly interacting massive particles" or "Wimps", one of the most likely dark matter candidates.
But frustratingly, two detections are not quite enough to clinch the discovery. There is still a one in four chance that the results, published by the journal Science, are due to accidental background "noise". The scientists say five detections would be sufficient to confirm the presence of Wimps. [Daily Telegraph]
Dutch police find Valentine's Day roses stuffed with cocaine -
Dutch police found more than £1 million worth of cocaine in a shipment of 20,000 Valentine's Day roses that arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Colombia. Prosecutors said eight kilogrammes of cocaine was hidden in cardboard boxes containing the roses. It was packaged into 20-gramme cellophane parcels hidden in false panels in 200 flower boxes on a plane from Bogota. Three alleged smugglers were arrested in the Netherlands after the discovery, including the importer. [Daily Telegraph]
Her Majesty the Queen
Camera dropped in the ocean is returned by fisherman 18 months later -
A woman is to be reunited with a camera her husband dropped off the edge of the QM2 cruise ship after a fisherman caught it in his net and put the photographs online. Barbara and Dennis Gregory, 65, from Johannesburg, South Africa, thought they would never see the Nikon P90 again after it fell into the ocean en-route from New York to Southampton in 2008. But 16 months later Benito Estevez, a fisherman from Spain, found the camera in his nets with the photos still intact on the memory card. He decided to trace the owners and posted five pictures online which showed Mrs Gregory posing on the deck of the ship and her husband wearing a woolly tourist hat from Oxford. The story was picked up by the British media and Laura De Klein, a friend of the couple who lives in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, recognised them and got in touch. [Daily Telegraph]
Chilean mint spells country's name wrong on coins -
The general manager of the Chilean mint has been fired after thousands of coins were issued bearing a howling error. On the 2008 batch of 50 peso coins, which are worth about 6p, the country's name was misspelt. Instead of C-H-I-L-E, the coins had C-H-I-I-E stamped on them, the BBC reports.
If that wasn't bad enough, no one noticed the spelling mistake until late 2009. The coins have since become collectors' items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation. Locals have even been hoarding the coins in the hope they will rise in value. However, the mistake has cost the mint's general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs. [Daily Telegraph]
Antigua and Barbuda
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Grenada
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
Geri Halliwell
What on Earth was that? Mystery space object whizzes past our planet -
It made its closest pass at 12.46pm (GMT) streaking past just 76,000 miles away, which is a third of the distance to the Moon. Amateur astronomers were able to track it in the United States. The object was discovered by MIT's Linear survey on January 10 and astronomers are divided about what it is. A spokesman from Nasa said: 'The object's orbit reaches the orbit of Venus at its closest point to the Sun and nearly out to the orbit of Mars at its furthest point. 'It crosses the Earth's orbit at a very steep angle and this means it is unlikely to be a rocket stage.' The space agency spokesman added that the trajectory would not fit with any recent rocket launch. 'It seems more likely that this is a near-Earth asteroid about 10-15 metres across,' he concluded. The rock has now been labelled 2010 AL30. There are two million such objects streaking around near-Earth space, with one passing near our world about once a week. [Daily Mail]
Kevin Smith
Tiger Woods is 'being treated for sex addiction' in U.S. clinic, new reports claim -
Tiger Woods is being treated for sex addiction at a clinic in Mississippi, according to US reports. The shamed golfer has checked into the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic in the town of Hattiesburg, according to RadarOnline.com. Woods, who admitted cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren last year, has not been seen since his infamous November car crash outside his home in Florida. [Daily Mail]
Tiger Woods
Katherine Jenkins
Stephen Fry
Pub landlady takes on Sky -
The landlady of a pub in Portsmouth has won a legal battle to show Premier League football in her pub without a Sky TV subscription. Karen Murphy's imported a Greek decoder to show the games rather than paying Sky TV, which holds the rights in the UK. She has fought the case all the way to the highest European court.
Times Square to become smoker free -
New York city councillors voted 36 to 12 to stop smokers lighting up on municipal beaches and pedestrian areas of Manhattan such as Times Square. The city council banned smokers from restaurants and bars in 2002. Offenders will be fined $50 when the rules come in later this year.
The Costa Concordia
Warner hits 5th fastest test century -
Australian left-hander batsman David Warner hits the 5th fastest test century in the first day of the test against India. He reached his second test century in just 69 balls. Faster test centuries are:
Viv Richards, West Indies v England, St John's 1986 - 56 balls
Adam Gilchrist, Australia v England, Perth 2006 - 57 balls
Jack Gregory, Australia v South Africa, Johannesburg 1921 -67 balls
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies v Australia, Georgetown 2003 - 69 balls
David Warner, Australia v India, Perth 2012 - 69 balls
David Warner
IBM get a "bit" better -
Researchers from IBM successfully store a single data bit in only 12 atoms - currently it takes about a million atoms to store a bit on a modern hard-disk, so they believe this is the world's smallest magnetic memory bit. The groups of atoms were arranged using a scanning tunnelling microscope which means the density of data on hard drives can be increased but below 12 atoms the researchers found that the bits randomly lost information, owing to quantum effects.
Facebook launch music sharing button -
Facebook launch a new 'listen with' button which appears when a person is listening to Spotify, Rdio or another music streaming service below the update in the news feed, allowing others to listen to the same thing at the same time. The catch is that your friend needs to have an account with the same service to ‘tune in’ simultaneously.
Don't hit the return key too hard -
Dutch computer experts Erik de Nijs and Tim Smit create a prototype pair of jeans with a built-in keyboard, mouse and speakers, allowing the wearer to remain connected to their computer through a wireless USB dongle. The designers call the trousers "beauty and the geek" and will cost around £250 if they go into production.
Keeper killed by lion in SA -
A zoo keeper who had worked at Johannesburg Zoo for nearly 40 years is killed by one of the lions he looked after. Joe Ramonetha, 63, had recently come out of retirement to continue working at the zoo was killed by a 10-year-old female white lion named Nyanga, meaning "witch doctor", after it appears a gate was left open as he prepared the animals' food.
The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider
Tom Cruise to file rival divorce case against Katie Holmes -
Tom Cruise will file a rival divorce case against Katie Holmes, his lawyer has said, adding that they were letting the "other side play the media until they wear everyone out". Bret Fields told BBC Radio 1 that for the moment Cruise's camp is content to let Holmes have the spotlight. "We are letting 'the other side' (Katie and her team), play the media until they wear everyone out and then we'll have something to say," he said.
"Tactically we can't say where Tom will file a divorce case and if he'll be seeking joint custody of [daughter] Suri."
Tom Cruise with Katie Holmes in 2009
Sacha Baron Cohen
Duchess of Cambridge
Frankie Dettori banned for six months after failing drugs test -
Jockey Frankie Dettori has been given a six-month ban from racing after failing a drugs test in France. The 41-year-old, who has more than 3,000 career wins, tested positive for a banned substance on 16 September 2012. The suspension imposed by French racing authority France Galop will run until 19 May 2013, and will apply worldwide for the three-time champion jockey. [BBC]
Frankie Dettori
Oscar Pistorius competing
Apple gives cider shop a bad name -
A family run shop In Norfolk, England that sells cider is forced to change its name after 20 years because it is called The Apple Shop. Geoff Fisher, who runs the Wroxham Barns shop said it received up to 24 calls a week from people wanting them to fix broken Apple devices. From Easter The Apple Shop will be known as The Norfolk Cider Shop instead.
Sesame Street hits 1 billion YouTube views -
The Sesame Street channel should today pass 1 billion views on YouTube, the first time a a non-profit channel has achieved this on YouTube. The channel is posting a new video featuring the character Telly Monster, urging viewers to click the show past the final 20 million views and unlock a "top secret video."
Trending -
Oscar Pistorius
#CandyHeartRejects - alternative candy sweet messages 
iMac, iPad and now a Blue Peter Badge -
Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, is given a special gold Blue Peter badge in a special edition of the children's programme that has been running on the BBC since 1958.
The original Blue Peter Badge
Sir Jonathan Ive
Burglar spooked by giant rabbit -
A burglar fled a family home in the middle of the night in Plymouth, Devon after encountering their giant pet rabbit. The 4.5kg, two-feet long pet called Toby began stamping loudly on the floor apparently panicking the thief who still managed to keep hold of a laptop and iPad.
Samsung look like entering the smart watch battle -
Leaked images appear to show Samsung is working on a smart watch called the 'Galaxy Altius' in a bid to compete with Apple who are expected to release an "iWatch" soon. The pictures suggest that the Altius runs a modified version of the Google Android operating system.
Trending -
#RussianMeteor
#метеорит - Rare that Russian text trends on Twitter. This means meteorite.
Sandhurst
Boko Haram takes foreign hostages in Nigeria -
Terrorist group Boko Haram attack a construction company at Jama'are in north Nigeria killing a security guard and abducting 7 foreign workers. The site is run by Setraco who is building a major road in the area. Boko Haram wants to impose Sharia (Islamic law) across Nigeria.
Trending -
#WaysToMakeMeMad
#HappyBirthdayBillieJoeArmstrong - Green Day's guitarist's birthday
Billy Joe Armstrong
Roberto Mancini
Before and after images of the area.
Are you Gender Questioning? No problem -
Facebook users can now choose up to 50 gender options when they sign up to an account in the US from "agender" and "two-spirit". The fifty options are shown below.
Indonesian volcano erupts -
The Kelud volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia starts to erupt spewing ash over an area of 500 km in diameter forcing 76,000 inhabitants to evacuate their homes. In 1919 an eruption killed around 5,000 people but no casualties were reported this time.
Ash falling in Yogyakarta
Order it, eat it but don't photograph it -
Two Michelin-starred chefs are trying to stop customers taking photographs of their food in France. Gilles Goujon, who runs the three-starred L'Auberge du vieux puits restaurant in Fontjoncouse believes it is poor etiquette to take photos of food and every time his creations appear on social networks and says it "takes away a little bit of my intellectual property". Alexandre Gauthier of the Grenouillere restaurant in the town of La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil in north France has added a no-camera logo on his menus.
Trending -
Happy Valentines Day - of course
#PrayForKelud - see volcano story above
Facebook gender options -
Agender
Androgyne
Androgynes
Androgynous
Bigender
Cis
Cis Female
Cis Male
Cis Man
Cis Woman
Cisgender
Cisgender Female
Cisgender Male
Cisgender Man
Cisgender Woman
Female to Male
FTM
Gender Fluid
Gender Nonconforming
Gender Questioning
Gender Variant
Genderqueer
Intersex
Male to Female
MTF
Neither
Neutrois
Non-binary
Other
Pangender
Trans
Trans Female
Trans Male
Trans Man
Trans Person
Trans*Female
Trans*Male
Trans*Man
Trans*Person
Trans*Woman
Transexual
Transexual Female
Transexual Male
Transexual Man
Transexual Person
Transexual Woman
Transgender Female
Transgender Person
Transmasculine
Two-spirit
Renaud Lavillenie
Tom Perkins new voting system idea -
Outspoken Tom Perkins says the rich should be given more votes than the less well off and those who pay no tax should not have a vote at all. He went further at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to say “What I really think is it should be like a corporation, if you pay a million dollars in taxes you get a million votes.”
Tom Perkins
Skier breaks her back at Olympics -
Maria Komissarova, one of Russia's ski cross competitor breaks her spine during training at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She sustained a fractured vertebrae with a dislocation and was transported to a hospital close to Rosa Khutor Extreme Park where she underwent an emergency six-and-a-half hour operation.
Trending -
Ellen Page - The Inception actress reveals she is a lesbian
Ellen Page
Jennifer Lopez in 2004
Self-hijacking to Switzerland -
Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn the co-pilot of a plane flying from Addis Ababa to Rome hijacks his own plane and flies it to Geneva, Switzerland. He shut the pilot out of the cockpit, told air traffic control that he had a problem and needed to fill up with jet-fuel in Switzerland. He set off a distress signal indicating the plane was hijacked, before saying he had engine trouble. A few minutes after landing at the Swiss airport, he climbed down a rope he had thrown out of the cockpit window and gave himself up to authorities.
Jimmy Fallon takes over from Jay Leno in the Tonight Show. Leno has been in the interviewers chair since May 1992.
Jimmy Fallon
Flappy Bird impersonators blocked -
Despite Flappy Birds no longer being available on the iStore or Google Play Apple and Google are apparently rejecting new apps with the word 'Flappy' in the title, following a glut of copycat Flappy Bird games. Flappy Bird was developed by Vietnam-based developer Nguyễn Hà Đông but he removed it because he felt guilty about its addictive nature and overuse. 
Mark Zuckerberg
Kiev protesters shot by snipers -
Protesters against the Russian backed government in Ukraine have been killed by police snipers in Maidan Square in Kiev in the deadliest day of the protest so far. At least 77 people have been killed in the last three days, and another 577 were injured.
Ice hazard from above -
Daggers of ice have been falling from the new 1,776 feet high 1 World Trade Center in New York, the USA's tallest building at 1,776 feet high. Several streets around the nation's tallest building were closedwhen wind-blown sheets of ice hit the pavement near the building.
1 World Trade Center
Trending -
#NotersTimelineParty
#WhatsApp
Chris Moyles
Stockbroker sues film-makers for making him look bad -
Former Wall Street stockbroker Andrew Greene is sueing the producers of The Wolf of Wall Street for $25m (£15m) claiming he has been depicted as a "depraved" drug-fuelled criminal by the character Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff in the film.
Trending -
#ColombiaUsaHuaweiAscendP6
#forevernoters
Brian O'Driscoll
Bitcoin "inventor" denies it -
Dorian S Nakamoto, the Japanese-American man named as Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, has denied any link to the digital currency despite being named as such by Newsweek earlier this week.
Boko Haam on the rise in Nigeria -
Boko Haram has killed over 130 people in Nigeria in the last week and is believed to be responsible for killing at least 1,300 people in the past two months. The sect claims ties to al-Qaida and has ambitions to impose sharia law on Nigeria's 170 million people.
Actor Jimmy Ellis dies -
The actor Jimmy Ellis who played the role of Bert Lynch in the popular police drama Z-cars died early yesterday at the age of 82 following a stroke.
>Petra Kvitova
Eugenie Bouchard
Sexy tennis dress sold for £15,000 -
Items featured in the 1970s Tennis Girl poster that sold over 2 million copies have been auctioned for £15,000. The tennis racquet from the photo, the dress, a 1979 poster and a 1980s limited edition canvas print had a guide price of just £2,000. The picture of Fiona Butler lifting her tennis dress to reveal her bare bottom was taken by her then boyfriend Martin Elliot at Birmingham University in 1976 and sold by Athena.
[caption id="attachment_696" align="alignnone" width="263"]
The original Tennis Girl image. Copyright is owned by Martin Elliott [/caption]
Alfredo Di Stefano dies -
Alfredo Di Stefano, regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, dies aged 88. The Real Madrid legend was honorary president of the club and with them the forward won five straight European Cups (the predecessor to the Champions League), scoring in every final between 1956 and 1960. He played international football for Spain and Argentina, twice managed Real Madrid and had the nickname "Saeta rubia" ("blonde arrow").
Alfredo Di Stefano
Trending -
#NEDvsCRC - Netherlands defeat Costa Rica on penalties in World Cup quarter finals (Final score 0-0)
Sony question FIFA Qatar decision -
One of FIFA's main sponsors, Sony, have asked football's governing body to carry out an "appropriate investigation" into the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The announcement that Qatar was to hold the tournament was made in 2007.
Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Announcement in 2007
BA requires battery backup -
British Airways has stepped up boarding security measures by issuing a notice that mobile phones and other electrical devices that cannot be switched on to prove they are not carry explosives will be confiscated. Passengers whose devices run out of power during a stopover may be bumped from their flight.
Kidnapped Nigerian women escape -
Over 60 Nigerian women and girls from a group of over 250 abducted by Boko Haram extremists in Chibok, Nigeria have escaped their captors. The women were kidnapped on April 15th 2015 and Boko Haram is demanding the release of some of their imprisoned fighters for the Chibok women but Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to consider a prisoner exchange.
Goodluck Jonathan
Trending -
#HarryDontLickAnything
#5YearsOfOneTime
#HappyBirthdayAshtonIrwin
Scottish referendum takes place -
Scotland independence referendum takes place with the result looking very uncertain. Tennis player Andy Murray used Twitter to back the Yes vote along with actor Sean Connery. Those backing the No vote and wanting Scotland to remain part of the UK include Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Mick Jagger, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, comedian Eddie Izzard, actresses Helena Bonham-Carter and Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell, and Stephen Hawking all of whom signed a letter urging Scotland to stay in the union. The result will be known tomorrow.
Andy Murray tweet.
Ig Nobel prizes announced -
The annual Ig Nobel prizes awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research have picked out some classic scientific investigations again. Researchers who measured the slipperiness of banana peels, why pork strips appear to stop nosebleeds, and how reindeer react to humans in polar bear suits were among the winners.
Brazil's Ronaldo challenges Spain's Nadal to poker match -
Brazilian football World Cup winner Ronaldo challenges Rafael Nadal to a live head-to-head poker match and the Spanish tennis champion has accepted the duel with the game scheduled to take place on November 6 in London. The last time the two met in a poker tournament £79,000 was raised for charity at the European Poker Tour Prague Charity Challenge.
R&A Golf Club to accept women members -
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in Scotland votes to allow female members to the club for the first time in 260 years. Women have been allowed to play the courses at St Andrews but not be members. The first members will be announced next year.
Trending -
#WhenIHearAmnesia
iOS 8 [or] iOS 8.0
Drake Bell
And the coolest brand is... -
Apple has been named the coolest brand in the UK for the third year running while Netflix broke into the Top 20 for the first time securing 10th place. The results are from a poll of over 2,000 British consumers and opinion including musicians Ella Eyre and models Jodie Kidd and Sophie Dahl.
Ella Eyre
iPhone 6 sells fast -
Just to emphasise their official cool status Apple sold more than 10m of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones in the first three days of their release, surpassing its own forecasts and setting a new record for the American technology.
Burberry's big following -
Fashion house Burberry is the leading FTSE 100 company in the Twitter follower lists with over 3 million followers ahead of Coca Cola (2.6m) and Marks and Spencers (0.5m). Some of the less well known companies have a single Twitter follower.
Trending -
#ThoseThreeWords
#TagMyCRUSH
Max Verstappen
CIA Starbucks is the weirdest Starbucks -
Nestled in the heart of CIA's high security Langley, Virginia headquarters is a branch of Starbucks. Its day-to-day operation runs a little different to that of a mall-based coffee shop however, for starters, baristas aren't allowed to write customers' names on their cups. Such is the level of secrecy at the agency that receipts for the café simply say "Store Number 1", with staff affectionately calling it "Stealthy Starbucks". There are no frequent customer reward cards – officials fear the data they contain could be mined by marketers and compromise undercover agents' identity – and baristas have to go through thorough background checks before starting and be escorted on and off the work area by "minders". [The Independent]
Ricardo Rodriguez
Esteban Tuero
Daniil Kvyat
Sebastian Vettel
Amal Clooney
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 system with Start Menu -
Microsoft has disclosed the first details of Windows 10 - its next operating system (OS). The name is a surprise, bearing in mind it represents a jump from the last version - Windows 8. The software will run on a wide range of devices, from phones and tablets to PCs and Xbox games consoles, with applications sold from a single store. It also marks the return of the Start Menu, which had been removed from Windows 8. [BBC] See Video of the Day and List of the Day below.
Fine-free week for Belgian road hogs -
Speeding motorists and road hogs will get off scot free in Belgium this week as the country’s police refuse to levy roadside fines in a protest against increases to their retirement age. Instead of asking drivers to pay up with an on-the-spot fine if they have broken the law, police officers will instead “educate” them about traffic rules and road safety. The protest, by officers opposed to plans to raise the police retirement age to 62, is expected to cost the Belgian government over £5million (€7m) over the next week. [Daily Telegraph]
Malala Yousafzai
Barack Obama gets a job offer at Paltrow fundraiser -
A technology entrepreneur has offered President Barack Obama a job for after he leaves the White House. With speculation mounting abut what Mr Obama will do when he exits the presidency Ariel Jalali became the first employer to make an offer of a new post. The offer was made during a fundraising event at actress Gwyneth Paltrow's house in Los Angeles. Paltrow told the crowd she was one of the president's "biggest fans, if not the biggest" and gushed: "You're so handsome that I can't speak properly." [Daily Telegraph]
Gwyneth Paltrow
Volkswagen to recall over 580,000 cars in China: government -
Volkswagen AG told China's quality watchdog that it planned to recall more than 580,000 cars in the country, after the agency launched an investigation in August. Volkswagen AG's joint venture in China, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co Ltd, will recall 563,605 New Sagitar models produced between May 2011 and May 2014 due to a problem with the rear axle arm of the cars, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website. Volkswagen is also recalling 17,485 imported Beetles due to the same axle problem. [Reuters]
Parisian vandals destroy 24ft art sculpture that resembled a 'giant sex toy' after claims it 'humiliated' the city -
Vandals today destroyed an art sculpture in central Paris ‘because it looked like a giant sex toy’. Looming above the city's Place Vendome, the 24ft tall piece, created by American artist Paul McCarthy, was meant to look like a green inflatable Christmas tree. But the artwork, simple entitled 'Tree', raised eyebrows in the French capital because of its uncanny resemblance to a certain type of sex toy. Today it was left as a giant pile of deflated plastic after vandals apparently took a number of sharp objects to it overnight. The incident came after claims that it 'humiliated' the French capital. [Daily Mail] See Video of the Day
Parliament Hill
U2 album lacklustre launch -
U2's new album "Songs of Innocence" comes in at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was automatically downloaded by everyone who has an Apple iTunes account for free (whether they want it or not) leading to complaints over storage use and an apology from lead singer Bono.
Bono from U2
I can kill a lion but I can't eat one
A study by academics from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and the University of Bern in Switzerland hypotheses that Roman gladiators had a diet that was mostly vegetarian, according to an analysis of bones from a cemetery where the arena fighters were buried.
Trending -
#IfICouldTimeTravel
#OttawaShooting
Bob Geldof
Bubbles the chimp delayed Jacko and Freddie's duet by nearly 30 years... as he drove the Queen frontman ape -
It has been billed as a rare moment in music history – the release of the only song ever recorded by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson together. The unfinished track, which is going on sale tomorrow, was discovered only by chance after languishing for nearly 30 years at the bottom of a vault – and has been reworked by the surviving members of Mercury’s band Queen. There Must Be More To Life Than This, was never completed back in the 1980s due to the increasingly erratic behaviour of Jackson and the antics of his pet chimp Bubbles. Mercury, then at the height of his powers as a performing artist, complained that Bubbles was a bizarre distraction because Jackson insisted on bringing the animal into the studio and asking for its views on their singing. The Queen frontman, who was famed for his tempestuous nature, finally stormed out of the recording after telling friends: ‘I’m not performing with a f****** chimp sitting next to me each night.’ [Daily Mail]
Artist's impression of the Philae lander
Rik Mayall
The Colosseum
First £1 million Lucozade bottle? -
Tommy Rose who has already made £14,000 in a black-market tuck-shop business is about to sell a single bottle of Lucozade for more than £1 million on eBay despite criticism from his head teacher. The 15 year old from Buile Hill High School in Salford faces suspension for his black market enterprise but he is now offering a soft drinks bottle bearing his signature for sale on eBay and the current top bid is £1,000,100 with bidding due to end in less than 24 hours.
Trending -
#MTVStars
#AMAs2014
Angelina Jolie
Peruvian man gets married to tree for second time on ‘green tour’ -
A Peruvian man has married a tree for the second time in a bid to raise awareness about man-made environmental problems around the world. Serial tree-hugger Richard Torres tied the knot in front of a small crowd at a national park in Bogota, Colombia. After the symbolic ceremony, involving the placing of fruit offerings at the base of the tree, the environmental activist called for rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces to plant trees instead of starting war. The actor also called for Colombians to care more their green surroundings and promised to keep spreading the message in other Latin America countries. Mr Torres married his first tree bride in Argentina in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
Phillip Hughes in 2010
Twitter misrepresents the real world, computer scientists warn -
Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook should not be used to gauge human behaviour or trends because they are too biased, scientists have warned. Increasingly, social researchers and media organisations use sites to glean information about public views and interests. But computer scientists at McGill University in Montreal and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh warn that the data omits the opinion of large portions of the population who are either under-represented, or who choose not to engage in social media. [Daily Telegraph]
Sheep flock to Eiffel Tower as French farmers cry wolf -
French farmers flocked to the Eiffel Tower on Thursday, sheep in tow, to express their frustration over increasing attacks by wolves which some say have been "overprotected" by the government. Sheep lazily grazed at the foot of the French capital's most famous monument as the farmers gathered under grey skies to demand an effective plan to stop the wolf attacks. "Today farmers, tomorrow unemployed," read one banner, while one of the protesters dressed as a wolf carried around a lamb. [Daily Telegraph]
The Eiffel Tower
Entrant in the Hot Selfie Competition
Thierry Henry
Prince Harry confession for charity -
Prince Harry has revealed that he gets extremely nervous before making any public speech. He made the revelation as part of a campaign run by his Sentebale charity to help reduce the stigma associated with HIV on World Aids Day. The prince co-founded the charity in 2006 in Lesotho after travelling around the southern African country which has the third highest HIV/Aids prevalence in the world.
Prince Harry
Brand protest -
Russell Brand joins around 400 residents of Hackney’s New Era estate to protest against US property owner Westbrook, which is threatening 93 families with eviction before marching to 10 Downing street where a petition signed by 294,000 was handed in.
Russell Brand
Cyber Monday breaks records -
Today is Cyber Monday and in the US $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion) is expected to be spent. In the IMRG Experian predicts that UK consumers will spend £649.6 million today or £451,000 a minute showing a 26 per cent increase on last year.
Stephen Hawling
Scarlett gets secretly married -
Scarlett Johansson has revealed that she and her partner Romain Dauriac got married in secret on October 1st 2015 in Philipsburg, western Montana.
Scarlett Johansson
Strike that off the list -
The UK Government has introduced legislation banning sex acts like spanking and caning from online porn videos filmed in the UK. A list of sex acts are now on a list of 'harmful' content that has been prohibited and paid-for online porn videos must now stick to the same rules as content produced for sex shop-type videos. (See List of the Day)
Boris Johnson
Pope dismissing head guard -
Colonel Daniel Anrig, the commander of the 110 Swiss Guards that protect the pontiff is losing his job when his commission ends at the end of January 2015. Although no official reason has been given, Pope Francis is apparently unhappy at the officer's strict authoritarian style.
2014 National Christmas Tree
Psy'ched out -
Psy's Gangnam Style video has been watched so many times that the YouTube's counter is being upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit. The old 32-bit system only counted up to 2,147,483,647 views with Gangnam Style hitting 8,000 more than that. The mew 64-bit system will count up to 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 views (around 9 quadrillion). (See Video of the Day and List of the Day below)
Apple accused of wiping competitors tunes -
A US district court has heard lawyers accuse Apple of "deleting" songs from rival services from some iPods in 2007-09. Users with non-iTunes music received a message telling them to restore devices to their factory settings when they tried to sync them. Apple said that the move was a legitimate security measure. The case has been going on for more than a decade and could result in Apple paying out $1bn in damages.
Nobel Prize medal sells for $4.75m -
The Nobel Prize medal of American geneticist James Watson sold for $4.75 million at auction in New York today. It is the first time a Nobel Prize of a living laureate has been sold and almost doubled the estimate price. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Dr Watson in 1962 for his discovery of DNA's double helix structure in 1953.
Dr James D Watson
Diana, Princess of Wales
Two-headed cat lives to be 15 years-old -
A cat that was born with two faces has died at the age of 15 in North Grafton, Massachusetts. Called Frank and Louie - 'Frankenlouie' the birth defect is known as a Janus cat, named for a Roman god with two faces and expected to die very young due to congenital defects. While blind in his center eye, both his outer eyes worked fine, and while he had two noses and mouths, Frankenlouie had only one brain.
Orion capsule successful first mission -
The US space agency's new Orion crew capsule has completed its maiden, unmanned voyage with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Orion is designed to take humans to destinations such as the Moon and Mars. The flight was intended to test its critical technologies and took four and a half hours.
Orion capsule
iPhone crash landing protection -
Apple Inc was granted a patent last week on an innovation that can detect when a handset is falling – and rotates it to avoid the screen hitting the ground. If sensors calculate the screen or camera will hit the ground, a motor is instantly activated within the phone which moves an internal weight fast enough to affect the ‘rotational velocity’ of the device and spin it around so that it lands on a reinforced area. The idea could also work with iPads and other devices.
Al-Qaeda hostage killed during rescue mission -
Luke Somers, a US journalist who was being held captive in Yemen since 2013, has been shot by his captors during a a military operation to rescue him and later died. A video was released earlier this week showing a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) threatening to kill Mr Somers unless unspecified demands are met.
Carl Fogarty
LA Galaxy win MLS again -
Californian soccer team LA Galaxy have won a fifth Major League Soccer (MLS) title with a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution in the championship-deciding MLS Cup. LA have won three of the last four league titles and Irish striker Robbie Keane grabbed an extra-time winner to give the Galaxy the victory after New England's Chris Tierney had cancelled out Gyasi Zardes' opener for LA. (See List of The Day)
Robbie Keane
Royal US visit starts -
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in New York for a tour of the east coast of the United States during which Prince William will meet President Barack Obama. The Royal couple previously met the Obama's after their wedding in 2011.
The Royals meeting the President and Mrs Obama in London in 2011
Not out of the woods yet -
Tiger Woods return to competition golf ends badly as he finishes last in the 18 player Hero World Challenge tournament in Florida and is physically sick on the fairway. He has not played competitively for four months due to back pain.
Tiger Woods
Heathrow Terminal 5
Amazon beefs up Prime
Amazon Prime launches 4K (UHD) streaming for its Amazon Prime service following Netflix into the 4K market.
Oz helping out Global Warming issues
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia will contribute A$200 million over four years into a U.N. fund to help poor nations cope with global warming.
Tony Abbott with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi
In the club (sandwich)
The British Sandwich Association has named chicken and bacon has been named the nation's favourite sandwich filling - overtaking the BLT. (See List of the day)
A chicken and bacon sandwich aka a club sandwich
Boston time-capsule discovered -
A time capsule thought to have been buried by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere in 1795 has been discovered in Massachusetts, USA. The container was found during repair work at the state house in Boston. See video of the day.
Christiano Ronaldo
New female boss of Santander -
Baroness Shriti Vadera is appointed chair of Santander UK, making her the first woman to chair a major British bank. Vadera, a former Labour minister, will receive £650,000 a year for a three-day week. She will also continue her roles as a non-executive of drugs group AstraZeneca and mining company BHP, two of the largest companies in the FTSE 100.
Baroness Shriti Vadera
No returns accepted -
US firm Astobiotic launches the first postal service to send items to the moon - with prices ranging from $460 to $26,000.
The firm, which calls the service MoonMail, says it can give over entire missions for larger items that need more shipping space and hopes to fund the development of its lunar landing by offering to take items. (See video of the day)
Oscar Issac
World's longest ship launched -
Shanghai-based marine-shipping company China Shipping Container Lines has launched the world's largest container ship, the "CSCL Globe". The ship is more than 400m (1,312ft or a quarter of a mile) long, 56.8m (186ft) wide, 73m (240ft) high and 186,000 tonnes gross. The ship, which is longer than four football pitches, is making its maiden voyage from Shanghai to Europe.
The CSCL Globe
Marriage proposal fail -
A Dutchman's attempt at a romantic wedding proposal using a mobile crane has resulted in the crane falling over and smashing into a neighbour's roof. The man had rented a crane in the central town of Ijsselstein to descend in front of his girlfriend's bedroom window, play her a song and ask her to marry him. Despite the disaster in which no-one was hurt, his girlfriend agreed to marry him.
Pope avoids Dalai Lama meeting -
Pope Francis will not meet the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China, according to the Vatican. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet and China describes him as a separatist. The Vatican does not want to jeopardise improving relations between itself and China.
Pope Francis
Mel B
FIFA dismiss complaints over report -
A complaint by US lawyer Michael Garcia who spent two years investigating World Cup corruption claims for Fifa has been dismissed by football's governing body. Garcia's findings were released as a 42-page summary by FIFA-appointed independent judge Hans-Joachim Eckert. Garcia said his summary was "incomplete and erroneous". There have been calls to release the full report in the wake of Garcia's complaint, but FIFA president Sepp Blater has said it cannot do so for legal reasons.
Uruguay
Italy
France
Brazil
Switzerland
Sweden
Chile
England
Italy
Colombia (cancelled)
South Korea / 
Japan
Qatar
Lewis Hamilton
Petsmart sells for $8.7bn -
The pet supply company PetSmart has signed a deal to sell itself to an investment group led by BC Partners for about $8.7 billion in the largest buyout of a US company in 2014.
Penultimate climate ultimatum -
United Nations members have reached an agreement on how countries should tackle climate change by setting national pledges for a summit due to be held in Paris in 2015. The document was signed after a two week meeting took place in Lima, Peru, hosted by Peru's environment minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal. Environmental groups criticised the document, saying the proposals were nowhere near drastic enough.
Crowds outside the sieged building
Ultimate fare-dodger -
A commuter in London who avoided paying for his train fares has been banned for life from working in any regulated financial industries. Jonathan Paul Burrows has paid back the £42,550 he is estimated to have avoided paying, plus £450 in legal costs. He was a director with financial services company BlackRock.
Denmark claims north pole -
Denmark makes a claim to the UN that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory. Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard says it is a "historic and important milestone" for Denmark. In 2008, a US Geological Survey report estimated that as much as 22% of the world's undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle, but the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters. Canada and Russia have already tried to assert their sovereignty over Arctic territory.
Nuclear icebreaker Arktika
Alan P. Gross
Smelling the money -
Fragrances from stars such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Jay Z are outselling established fragrance brands such as Hugo Boss and Gucci in some UK stores. Britney's perfumes outsell DKNY by three to one at UK store Superdrug, and Hugo Boss by two to one. Jay Z's Gold is the best selling celebrity fragrance.
Britney Spears
Interview cancelled -
"The Interview" the film that is possibly the catalyst in the Sony Pictures hacking scandal has had its Christmas Day release cancelled after major cinema chains decided not to screen it in the US.
Michael Garcia resigns from FIFA -
Fifa's independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia has quit in protest over the handling of his report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Garcia said he lost confidence in the independence of judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, an ethics committee colleague after his report was summarised.
Vladimir Putin
Closed lot -
Sony have cancelled tours of their Los Angeles studios after it was found pass codes were part of the hack recently discovered and blamed on North Korea.
Republican dig heels in on Cuba -
Republicans in Congress are trying to find a way to stop or at least slow President Barack Obama's plan to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba. The biggest obstacle to normal ties with Cuba is the 1996 embargo and with Republicans due to take control of both houses of Congress in January, the chances of changing this look unlikely.
Mandy Rice-Davies dies
Mandy Rice-Davies the woman who was at the centre of the so-called Profumo spy/sex scandal (along with her friend Christine Keeler) that threatened to topple Harold Macmillan's government has died at the age of 70. Rice-Davies lived with Keeler, whose affair with war minister John Profumo prompted his resignation in 1963. She also claimed to have an affair with Lord Astor, but he denied it in court to which Rice-Davies famously replied "Well he would, wouldn't he."
Extreme deep sea fishing -
The Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor, on an international expedition to the Mariana Trench has discovered a strange-looking creature, new to science, 8,145m beneath the waves, beating the previous depth record by nearly 500m.
Rotten to the core -
Senior Apple executive Jeff Williams says the company is "deeply offended" by a BBC Panorama investigation into conditions for workers involved in manufacturing its devices. Rules on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were routinely breached, the programme witnessed.
Ticking the boxes -
Real Madrid have beaten San Lorenzo 2-0 to win the Club World Cup which means that Cristiano Ronaldo has now won the same eight trophies with two different teams Real and Manchester United. He became the first player to achieve the feat and his manager Carlo Ancelotti equalled the record for the most European and international club competitions won by a manager.
Elton John
Billie Whitelaw dies -
Actress Billie Whitelaw has died aged 82. Her film career started in 1954 in The Sleeping Tiger and last appeared in 2007 in the iconic Hot Fuzz alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Sony hack an act of terrorism? -
President Barack Obama says the US is considering putting North Korea back on its list of terrorism sponsors after the hacking of Sony Pictures.
Joe Cocker
Total indulgence -
Costa Coffee in the UK is selling 100,000 sticky toffee latte a week during the festive season. The largest ‘massimo’ size has around 598 calories, contains up to 75g of sugar – nearly 19 teaspoons, or twice the amount in a can of Coke.
Beep-beep -
Google launch the second version of their self-driving car which has been described a toy police car.
Tit-for-tat attack? -
North Korea internet shut down for 9 hours and just days after the state was accused of a major hack on Sony Pictures in the state. Speculation is that the US government caused the outage in retribution.
Ruth Jones & James Corden
Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton separate -
Helena Bonham Carter has announces that she has split from the film director Tim Burton after 13 years together and having 2 children.
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter
Gloves off -
In the US Amazon and Walmart sell out of DVDs of Team America which parodied the former North Korea leader Kim Jong-il. The reason? Another film - The Interview - is about to get its cinema release after a major hacking situation at Sony. President Obama apparently approves of the delayed Christmas Day premiere. Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, called the movie an 'unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader.'
Cash grab -
In Hong Kong a van carrying HK$35m - about $4.5m or £3m - in used notes crashed on a motorway - cue dozens leaving their cars and grabbing a bundle. About HK$15 disappeared.
You'd let him win wouldn't you? -
Prince Harry led his Sandringham workers team to a 7-2 victory in a football (soccer) match against local villagers in Scotland sponsored by the Black Horse Inn. Top royal endorsement.
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Sony hit again -
Hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad take down Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox servers following threats to do so if the film was released.
Putin cancels Christmas -
Russian President Vladimir Putin cancels Christmas, at least for his government, but setting a meeting on Christmas day.
Vladimir Putin
Justin Bieber and Drake Bell
Fernando Torres
Taxing issue -
The UK overtakes France as the fifth largest economy in the world after the money made from prostitution and drugs was counted in the GDP figure for the first time.
Britain's economy is expected to be worth a total £1.86 trillion in 2014 - up from £1.63 trillion the previous year.
First manager sacked in EPL -
Neil Warnock is the first English Premier League manager to be sacked this season after Crystal Palace dispensed with his services for a second time. It is the latest a manager has been fired in the season since 1996 (January 2nd)
3 wheels on my airliner -
A Virgin Atlantic passenger plane landed safely at London's Gatwick Airport after discovering a problem with part of its main landing gear. Virgin flight VS43 was travelling from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it had to return and land on slightly less than the full number of wheels.
No such thing as bad publicity -
The Interview, the film about the spoof assassination of the North Korea Leader becomes Sony's biggest download film ever. It's been downloaded more than two million times since its release on 27 December, making back a third of its $44m (£28m) budget.
Dingdong Yantes and Marian Rivera
WBA knock out -
Alan Irvine becomes the second managerial casualty of the English Premier League season as West Bromwich Albion fire him after 7 months in charge.
Alan Irvine
Bad pirates -
Figures from TorrentFreak.com show that Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV in 2014 with over 8.1 million illegal downloads. See list of the day.
Peter Dinklage
Nut incident exec arrested -
Cho Hyun-ah, a former Korean Air executive who delayed a plane over how nuts were served has been detained shortly after a court in South Korea granted a warrant for her arrest. [see original story December 8th 2014]
Andy Carroll
Coding error? -
Silicon Valley security firm Norse has said the massive hack on Sony earlier this year may not have been made by North Korea but by a disgruntled group of former employees headed by a person called Lena who was laid off last May.
More thumb action for 2015 -
New fashion app Grabble works like Tinder but with fashion items instead of potential dates being "thrown" or grabbed".
2015 will be...? -
2015 was year in which the film Back to the Future was set, so expect hoverboards and DeLorean cars to be big this year. October 21st is the magical day.
Very fast wedding -
Formula 1 driver Jenson Benson, who has retained his seat for McLaren in 2015 tweeted that he has married his partner of 7 years, lingerie model, Jessica Michibata in Hawaii.
Captain Fantastic -
Steven Gerrard captain of Liverpool FC announces he is leaving the club to play overseas at the end of the English Premier League season. Gerrard who is 34 made his debut for the club in 1998 is likely to go to MLS club LA Galaxy.
Rouble to Euro -
Lithuania becomes the nineteenth state to join the Euro and in doing so gets its fourth currency in 25 years - after the Soviet rouble, the talonas and the litas.
Cancer due to bad luck -
A new piece of research by a team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US has found that most types of cancer can be put down to bad luck rather than risk factors such as smoking. The research printed in the journal "Science", showed 66% of the cancer types analysed were caused just by chance mutations rather than lifestyle.
Taking a bite out of Apple -
Miami residents Paul Orshan and Christopher Endara are suing Apple over the amount of storage space the Apple iOS 8 uses on mobile devices.They claim it uses up such a large amount that it forces owners to pay for iCloud storage. They are suing in California for millions of dollars.
Prince Andrew named in court papers -
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been named in Florida court papers by a woman who says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by his fried Jeffrey Epstein when she was a minor. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue".
Worth its weight in gold -
A fish owner in Norfolk, England paid £300 in vets' fees when his pet goldfish became constipated. He took his fish to Toll Barn Veterinary Centre in North Walsham where vet Faye Bethell used anaesthetised water to knock out the goldfish before removing the blockages.
Elvis' planes under the hammer -
A pair of jets that Elvis Presley called "Lisa Marie" and "Hound Dog II" are being auctioned off in Beverley Hills, California. The Convair 880 and Lockheed Jetstar were owned by Presley from 1975 just two years before he died. Neither can fly but the successful bidder has an option to buy a few acres of land by Graceland to display them.
Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor loses power in darts final -
Gary Anderson beats 16 time world champion Phil "The Power" Taylor in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship 7 sets to 6 at Alexandra Palace in London. Nicknamed The Flying Scotsman it is Anderson's first World Championship.
Breaking Bad not so fictional -
Seizures of methamphetamine has risen at the US-Mexico border with a 300 percent increase in meth seizures at California ports of entry from 2009 to 2014. Meth seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's San Diego field office accounted for nearly 63 percent of all the meth seized at all ports of entry nationwide in the year ending September 30 2014.
Google extends Chromecast to audio -
The Chromecast dongle is now able to plug into amplifiers and powered speakers to "cast" music from any music app. Similar to the video service, users use their phone to control the music, which is then played directly through the speaker from a wi-fi router. Apps already compatible include Deezer, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, NPR One, Pandora, Rdio and TuneIn. Spotify is currently included.
Ghost in the Shell -
Scarlett Johansson to play Motoko Kusanagi in the film version of Ghost in the Shell
Scarlett Johansson
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein
This is Quite Interesting -
QI presenter Stephen Fry is to marry his partner, Elliott Spencer. The 57 year-old has given formal notice to wed Mr Spencer, 27, at a registry office in Dereham, Norfolk, near where he grew up. He confirmed it to his 8 million plus followers on Twitter (@StephenFry) after The Sun newspaper revealed the marriage plans. Fry said: "Oh. It looks as though a certain cat is out of a certain bag. I’m very very happy of course but had hoped for a private wedding. Fat chance!"
Footballing giant -
His football (soccer) team lost 2-1 to Liverpool in yesterday's FA Cup but Adebayo Akinfenwa (@daRealAAkinfenwa), Wimbledon FC centre forward not only scored but set Twitter alight with over 39,000 related tweets. The 5'11", 16 stone (224lb) striker known as the Beast is the world's strongest player according to the FIFA 15 game. Before the match, the man who can bench press 180kg (392lb) warned team-mates "I want Steven Gerrard's shirt," he said before the match. "I've told the boys that if anyone gets his shirt before me we are going to have a problem." He got Gerrard's shirt.
Lance Percival dies -
Actor Lance Percival, who starred in British hit comedy in Up Pompeii, has died at the age of 81.
Nike shoes accepted as bail -
A man in the US state of Massachusetts has avoided jail for failing to pay court fees by leaving a pair of $85 (£55.94) Nike trainers as a bail bond. Judge Douglas Stoddart offered Jason Duval, who is charged with drug offences, the chance to "be creative". He can get the shoes back by paying $100 or doing 10 hours of community service.
Stephane Charbonnier
Second shooting in Paris -
Possibly connected with the Charlie Hebdo attack, a gunmen has killed a policewoman and seriously injured a civilian in the south of Paris.
LA Galaxy get their man -
Los Angeles Galaxy have confirmed that Liverpool FC captain Steven Gerrard will the club in July 2015. The former England midfielder, 34, will play for the Major League Soccer club after his contract at Anfield expires. Gerrard, is the second England captain to join LA Galaxy, after David Beckham played for them between 2007 and 2012.
Imran bowled over -
Sportsman-turned-politician Imran Khan has married his fiance, Reham, at a small wedding ceremony at his home in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan was Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and leading them to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Team Wiggo launched -
Former Tour de France champion and Sky Team member Sir Bradley Wiggins launches his own cycling team to help preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The four-time Olympic champion will try to break the individual world hour record as part of his build-up to Rio2016. Team Wiggins will operate independently of British Cycling but the governing body has given its backing to the team.
Bradley Wiggins
App designers golden year -
Apple revealed today that app developers earned more than $10 billion in revenue in 2014, partly due to a 50 percent rise in billings. The App Store has grown to 1.4 million apps since launching in 2008, with 725,000 designed for the iPad.
Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders' -
The Russian government is tightening medical controls for drivers because the country "has too many road accidents". Transsexual and transgender people are among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences and fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving.
Job for life but don't turn up -
A.K. Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, India, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990. Even after an inquiry found him guilty of "wilful absence from duty" in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.
Dizzee Rascal
AirAsia tail section recovered -
The tail section of AirAsia flight QZ8501 that crashed while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore has been recovered from the seabed using inflatable devices. Although the flight recorders are positioned in the tail it appears that the "black boxes" have been separated from it and the search continues.
The Indonesian navy has retrieved from the seabed the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed two weeks ago.
Lucky he was a Dolphin -
Former Miami Dolphins running back Rob Konrad swam nine miles to shore after falling off his boat while fishing and his boat, which was on auto pilot, drifted away from him off the South Florida coast. Konrad, who played 82 games for the Dolphins between 1999-2004, was treated for hypothermia after it took 12 hours to swim to shore.
Saturn centre pinpointed -
Scientists have located the centre of the planet Saturn to within just 2 miles using ten antennae, known as the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), spread over an area from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. The antenna assembly uses signals sent by the Cassini probe to monitor the position of the gas giant. Previously estimates of the positions of Saturn and its satellites used data received by tracking Cassini's radio signal during its communications with Earth but the new calculations are about 20 times more accurate.
Dart attack -
Rioting fans in fancy dress brawled and threw chairs and tables, stopping play at an Australian darts competition. Dutchman Michael 'Mighty Mike' van Gerwen was playing Australia's Simon 'The Wizard' Whitlock in an invitational tournament at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne when chaos broke out. Images show a man dressed as Batman's sidekick Robin wrestling with an English knight, while security guards try to calm the situation down.
Boyhood wins Golden Globe Awards -
At the Golden Globe ceremony "Boyhood" won best drama movie with Patricia Arquette getting best supporting actress in the film.
Winners of all categories at the bottom of the post.
Patricia Arquette
Actress Anita Ekberg dies -
The actress Anita Ekberg,has died aged 83. A former Miss Sweden, she was branded a "sex goddess" for her performance in Federico Fellini's 1960 movie La Dolce Vita. The scene where Ekberg walks through the waters of Rome's Trevi Fountain in a black strapless dress is considered one of cinema's most iconic scenes. A quote attibuted to her in her later years is: "I don't know if paradise or hell exist, but I'm sure hell is more groovy."
First woman president in Croatia -
In elections in Croatia, opposition challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has become the first female president of the country. The voting was extremely close with Grabar-Kitarovic receiving more than 50% of the vote for her Croatian Democratic Union party, with more than 49% for Ivo Josipovic who had been president since 2010.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
Christiano Ronaldo
Branson rescues sailor -
Four-time Olympic sailing champion Sir Ben Ainslie and his new wife Georgie Thompson have been rescued by Sir Richard Branson. The couple, who were sailing around Branson's Necker Island, got into trouble when their boat developed a problem with the sail.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich in 1967
Model restaurant -
A restaurant in Zhengzhou, central Henan province, China, can get their meal for free if they are selected by staff from a cosmetic surgery as one of the best-looking within a group of diners. People have their photos taken on arrival and the five diners judged most attractive get a free meal.
Pub Landlord takes on Nigel Farage -
British comedian Al Murray will stand against UKIP leader Nigel Farage at the general election in May using his character the Pub Landlord as a front. Murray, who has formed the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP), will stand for election in Thanet South in Kent but said "Let it be known that like many of the parliamentary hopefuls in the forthcoming election, I have no idea where South Thanet is. But did that stop Margaret Thatcher from saving the Falkland Islands? No."
Samsung launches Tizen -
Samsung's first smartphones powered by its Tizen operating system have gone on sale. The Z1 handsets are only available in India and cost 5,700 rupees ($92 or £60) and have faster boot times and longer-lasting battery life than many budget-priced rivals. All other Samsung phones use the Android operating system.
Yosemite's Dawn Wall finally scaled -
Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, become the first climbers to successfully scale Yosemite National Park's El Capitan mountain's without bolts or climbing tools. The men have been 'free-climbing' the Dawn Wall to the 3,000-foot summit for 17 days, using only ropes only to prevent falling.
Google glaze over -
Google announce that they are to stop making the $1500 Google Glass smart glasses and start developing "future versions of Glass". Google Glass was originally launched in the US in 2013.
Ginola for President? -
Former French football international and hair product model David Ginola announces he will run for the presidency of FIFA against Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein but he will need the support of 5 football associations to enter the race. Ginola is being paid £250,000 by betting firm Paddy Power, who deny the campaign was a publicity stunt.
David Ginola
Date a Neanderthal -
A science centre in Bristol, England is to host a "Neanderthal speed dating" event and is looking for two actors to improvise "early hominids" and will supply "suitable wigs and fur". The adult-only Valentine's evening would give visitors a chance to think about whether they would date "homo neanderthalensis".
Replica of Beagle 2 at the London Science Museum
Britain's oldest person dies age 114 -
Ethel Lang has died at the age of 114. She was believed to be the last person living in the UK who was born in the reign of Queen Victoria. The oldest person in the world is thought to be Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman who celebrated her 116th birthday in March 2014.
Elon Musk proposes 700 mph test track in Texas -
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) the billionaire founder of PayPal tweets that he will build a test track for his "Hyperloop" transport system that could theoretically travel at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour. He tweets the most likely location for the test track that works in a partial vacuum using magnets is in Texas, USA.
Elon Musk in 2013
His "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" comedy partner and star of House M.D. Hugh Laurie responded with his own tweet:
Plans for the wedding at Dereham Registration Office in Norfolk were revealed on January 6th 2015
New running on water record -
Shi Liliang, a monk from Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian province, has broken his own record for running on plywood sheets floating on water. He managed a distance of 120 meters in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province breaking his previous best of 118 meters that he had kept.
AB de Villers gets fastest ODI ton -
A new record for the fastest 100 in a one-day international (ODI) by South Africa batsman AB de Villiers who hit a century off 31 balls during an innings of 149 against the West Indies in Johannesburg. Including 8 fours and 10 sixes to beat the previous ODI record of 36 balls by New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson against West Indies on January 1st 2015 but doesn't match Chris Gayle's 100 from 30 balls in the Indian Premier League on April 23rd 2013. See List of the Day below.
Vonn's record causes Tiger to lose a tooth -
American skier Lindsey Vonn (@lindseyvonn) has won her 63rd World Cup downhill title with a win in the super-G race in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy overtaking the record set by Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell over 35 years ago. Vonn's boyfriend is golfer Tiger Woods who surprised her by being at the podium after the event. In the media scrum to get pictures of the skier a hand-held camera knocked out one of Wood's front teeth. She celebrated with this tweet:
Lindsey Vonn
Actress Anne Kirkbride dies -
She played Deidre Barlow in the British soap Coronation Street since November 20th 1972 and died at the age of 60.
Takes a hack to spot a hack -
Two newspapers, The New York Times and Germany's De Spiegel report that the US knew North Korea was behind the Sony Pictures hack because it had secretly infiltrated the country's computer networks in 2010. The NY Times believe that software planted by the US intelligence in North Korea's computers alerted them to hacking activity on Sony.
Sun drops Page 3 topless images -
For 44 years the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun has by synonymous with a large topless picture of a model but that has come to an end today when a picture of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wearing lingerie appeared. The paper is reported to be planning to reinstate the topless feature if sales drop. Among those who found fame were Linda Lusardi, Jilly Johnson and Samantha Fox.
Samantha Fox
The HoloLens
Most dangerous sexual position -
Researchers in Brazil report that the woman-on-top position during intercourse is responsible for half of all penile fractures sustained during sex in cases recorded at three hospitals. Positions involving the woman on all fours was involved in 29 per cent of fractures and the safest position in the bedroom is the man-on-top ‘missionary position’. See List of the Day below.
No s**t Sherlock -
Australia's National Rugby League has apologised after publishing players' favourite swear words on its website. Shaun Johnson, Kurt Gidley and Sam Thaiday were among those asked to reveal their chosen profanities as part of their player profiles, but they were quickly removed.
Shaun Johnson
Liam Neeson criticised by gun company -
PARA USA the firearms company that provided the guns for Liam Neeson's movie Taken 3 has said they have "regrets" about working with him after he said that there are "too many... guns out there, especially in America." The company will cut ties with the Taken franchise and recommended other companies to do the same. Leeson also said the gun problem was not connected to Hollywood's action movies.
Liam Neeson
Madonna hacking arrest -
An Israeli man who appeared on one of the country's talent shows has been arrested on suspicion of hacking into singer Madonna's computers and selling unreleased songs online. Madonna had to release some new songs early in December 2014 after demos from her new album Rebel Heart were discovered online.
Shazam worth $1 billion-
Shazam, the mobile music recognition service, has raised $30m in a funding round that pushes its valuation to $1bn. The $30m investment takes equity raised to $125m over the past eight years, during which its revenue has risen from £2.5m in 2007 to £31m in 2013. But the company has not made a profit in that period and in 2013 it lost £2m.
Rick puts dicks on the runway -
Rick Owens the American designer sent four of his models down the catwalk at his Paris fashion show wearing clothes with peepholes that showed full-frontal male nudity underneath. His possibly unique idea earned him the Instagram hashtag: #dickowens.
Rick Owens
Rihanna wins court case over t-shirt-
Rihanna wins her long running legal challenge against Topshop over selling a t-Shirt with a picture from her Talk That Talk album promotional work.
Singer Rihanna has won a legal battle against high street store Topshop over a t-shirt bearing her image. Rihanna sued Topshop's parent company Arcadia for $5m (£3.3m) back in 2013 and the Court of Appeal in London upheld a ban on the store selling the t-shirt.
A man's right to pee stands up in court -
A German court has ruled in favour of a man's right to urinate while standing up after his landlord demanded €1,900 (£1400; $2,200) for damage to the marble bathroom floor caused by urine. But the Duesseldorf judge ruled that the man's method was within cultural norms, saying "urinating standing up is still common practice" even though some public toilets in Germany have signs forbidding the standing position - but those who choose to sit are often referred to as a "Sitzpinkler", implying it is not masculine behaviour.
Stars out against Tescos in Haverstock Hill -
Damian Lewis, Old Etonian star of Homeland has joined up with Emma Thompson, James Corden and Tom Conti and other residents of Belsize Park in London to attempt to stop Tesco building an Express branch in Haverstock Hill. This follows Russell Brand campaigning to stop building work in Hackney, London on December 1st 2014.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The new King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman
Tennis player asked to do the twirl -
Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen has asked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard "to give it a twirl" to show off her outfit after her second-round win over Kiki Bertens in the Australian Open causing upset. Bouchard who lost in the final at Wimbledon in 2014 said "... I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles and stuff."
It's teleporting Jim, but not as we know it -
Scientists from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany have invented a real-life teleporter system that can scan in an object and “beam it” to another location. Not quite the level of sophistication seen in Star Trek, the system uses destructive scanning, digital transmission and 3D printing.
Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe
Where are the richest 1% in the world? -
According to Credit Suisse anyone who has assets worth over $798,000 (£530,000) is one of 1% of the richest people in the world. 18 million of the top 47 million richest people are in the US, 3.5m in France, 2.9m in the UK and 2.8m in Germany. Ten percent of Swiss residents, a total of 800,000, are in the top 1%.
50 years since the death of Winston Churchill -
Sir Winston Churchill, prime minister of England through World War II died 50 years ago today. He was Conservative prime minister from 10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945 and again in 26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955.
Winston Churchill
FA Cup upsets return -
In England and Wales the fourth round of the FA Cup sees some of the most surprising results for many years. Premier League leaders Chelsea are beaten on their own ground 4-2 by Bradford City after leading the League One team 2-0. Manchester City who are second in the Premier League also lose at home to Championship side Middlesborough. This followed Cambridge United holding on for a 0-0 draw against Manchester United yesterday.
Jose Mourinho
Warren Buffett
Michael Bloomberg
Carl Icahn
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
George Soros
Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Mikhail Prokhorov
Alexey Mordashov
Alexis Tsipras
Prime Minister, call on line hoax -
A hoax caller pretending to be GCHQ director Robert Hannigan today managed to get through to the British Minister on the phone; David Cameron quickly realised it was not the GCHQ head and ended the call.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan
Proposal racquet down under -
At the Australian Open tennis tournament a man in the crowd proposed to his girlfriend during Novak Djokovic's third round match against Fernando Verdasco. When the woman accepted the proposal the crowd and players burst into applause.
Rihanna new single rocks Twitter with #FourFiveSeconds -
Rihanna releases her new single Four Five Seconds, the first release from her new album and it features Kanye West and someone called Paul McCartney who has worked with a few stars before (see List of the day).
Rihanna
Panos Kammenos, leader of the Greek Independents
Greek F-16 crashes at Spanish airbase -
A Greek F-16 jet "lost power" during take-off at the Los Llanos airbase in Albacete in central Spain and crashed into a number of parked planes and ground crew. Ten people have died including the two pilots of the plane.
Demis Roussos dies -
Demis Roussos, a Greek singer who sold more than 60 million albums worldwide most during the 1970s and 1980s has died aged 68 in Athens. He was best known for solo hits including Forever and Ever, Goodbye and Quand je t'aime as well as writing the soundtrack to the film Abigail's party.
Auschwitz remembered -
70 years since the day that the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland was liberated in 1945 sees ceremonies performed at the camp and around the world.
Birkenau Gate, Auschwitz
Twitter gets video and group DM -
Twitter launch a video function so 30 second mobile video uploads can be played directly in timelines. The platform is also adding a group direct messages function. The video function uses the devices build in camera to produce Vine style clips but longer.
And Snapchat become a "news" outlet -
Snapchat is making content from the news sevices of Vice Media and CNN available to its users and DailyMail.com will offer Snapchat users 10 to 15 of its “highly addictive stories” news, showbiz and lifestyle stories selected by a special editorial team. Each edition will be available for 24 hours.
Luis Figo
Apple now have enough money to own the largest navy in the world -
Apple the tech company reports the biggest quarterly profit of any company in the world ever with revenues of $74.6bn and a net profit of $18bn. It's cash holdings are now $178bn which according to The Guardian newspaper "is enough to commission 40 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, giving Apple more force capability than every other navy in the world – combined".
USS Nimitz (planes not included in price)
Cat survives car crash and burial -
A cat in Florida that was buried in a shallow grave after being apparently killed by a car has managed not only to survive but to dig its way out of the grave. Bart the zombie cat as he is now known was found by a neighbour and is now recovering after surgery on a broken jaw and damaged eye.
Taylor Swift trademarks lyrics -
Taylor Swift has trademarked phrases from her current album, 1989 in the United States. The phrases include "this sick beat" and "we never go out of style", and the trademark ruling stops the use of the lyrics on merchandise. Rihanna successfully sued Topshop earlier this month for using her image on a t-shirt.
Murray's girlfriend tells it like it is -
Tennis player Andy Murray's fiancé Kim Sears is caught on camera apparently swearing about Murray's semi-final opponent Tomas Berdych's. Lip readers allege she said "Take that you flash Czech fucker", when Murray won a crucial point. Murray later defended Sears, saying: "In the heat of the moment, you can say stuff that you regret."
Suge Knight
Jay Z takes on Dr Dre in world of streaming -
Rapper and entrepreneur Jay Z who earned over $60 million in 2014 places a $56m bid for Scandinavian company Aspiro, the company behind streaming services WiMP a direct rival to Spotify in Scandinavia. Aspiro also have a higher-resolution version called WiMP HiFi that was rebranded as Tidal when it launched in the UK and US in October 2014. If Jay Z succeeds in the bid he will be competing with Dr Dre's Beats Music, the streaming service bought by Apple as part of a $3bn acquisition of its parent company Beats Electronics in 2014.
Jay Z
Out of the woods but into a cactus -
Tiger Woods records the worst round of his professional career with an 11-over-par 82 in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Woods carded six bogeys, two double bogeys, a triple bogey and two birdies and left the ball in the middle of a cactus.
Tiger Woods
David Ginola pulls out of the Fifa presidential election -
David Ginola fails to secure the backing of five football associations, a requirement for standing in the FIFA presidential election and hpulls out of the challenge. Ginola was paid £250,000 by betting firm Paddy Power, which denied the campaign was a publicity stunt.
David Ginola
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009
Cumberbatch and Fry sign petition to pardon gays -
Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry sign an open letter requesting the government to pardon 49,000 men who were prosecuted for being gay. Family members of the World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 (and later committed suicide in 1954) also signed the petition. Cumberbatch played Turing in the film "The Imitation Game".
Benedict Cumberbatch
Balloon flight record broken -
Balloon pilots American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev complete their crossing of the Pacific in a helium filled balloon with a sea landing off Mexico after 6 days flying from Japan. They claim to have beaten the world distance and duration records by flying for more than 137 hours and travelling more than 5,209 miles (8,383km).
Serena Williams wins 19th grand slam title -
Serena Williams beats fellow American Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open tennis title. Williams' 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory gives here a 19th grand slam crown out of 23 finals - the best percentage performance in either the men’s or women’s game.
Serena Williams
Tom Brady
Djokovic defeats Murray to win Aussie Open again -
Novak Djokovic wins his fifth Australian Open, beating Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. Andy Murray's fiancee Kim Sears laughed off the controversy over her colourful language caught on camera during Murray's semi-final against Tomas Berdych on January 29th 2015 in Melbourne by wearing a 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content' t-shirt at the Australian Open final.
Adding insult to injury -
Democratic Republic of Congo footballer Gabriel Zakuani is run into by the stretcher buggy during his team's semi final against Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations. The defender was already injured when the buggy hit him. DR Congo went on to win 4-2 without Zakuani who also plays for Peterborough United in the UK, but he was not badly hurt.
16) Darius Vassell - DIY surgery (2003) Former England striker Vassell picked up an infection and had to have a portion of his nail removed after attempting to drain a blood blister on his foot with a power drill. He finally saw sense and sought proper medical attention after realising he wasn't a surgeon. 15) Julio Arca - Jellyfish (2004) Tough Argentinian Arca was stung by an exotic jellyfish when he went swimming in England's north east during a Sunderland team training session. He broke out in a severe rash and was rushed to hospital. Rumours that the jellyfish was a Newcastle fan remain unconfirmed. 14) Norbert Nigbur - Standing up (1980) All set to be West Germany's number one for the European Championships, the shot stopper went out to celebrate with his fiancee. After the meal he tried to stand up and shrieked in pain after tearing his meniscus and locked his knee. Harold Schumacher took over and just to rub it in West Germany went and won the tournament. 13) Kevin Kyle - Boiling Water (2006) Forget Golden Balls, Scottish player Kevin Kyle was christened 'Scaldin Balls' after injuring his private parts with a jug of boiling water. The proud dad was warming up a bottle of milk for his new son when the toddler slipped and hit the jug in Kyle's direction, inflicting burns to his testicles and inner thigh. The then Premier League player missed his club's next game and a Sunderland spokesperson said he was walking like John Wayne for a few days! 12) Chic Brodie - Sheepdog (1970) Brentford goalkeeper Brodie collided with a sheepdog which raced onto the pitch. The dog got the ball while Brodie shattered his knee cap and never played again. "The dog might have been a small one, but it just happened to be a solid one," he said years later. 11) Juan Carlos Silva - Shot in 'left gluteus' (2010) Silva was the second Club America star to be shot in a week after team-mate Salvador Cabanas amazingly survived a gunshot wound to the head. The Mexican was a victim of gunfire after being shot during a carjacking. "He was shot in the gluteus, but the bullet went in and came out, which did not cause major damage," said Edwin Victoria, Club America's press officer.
10) Ivano Bonetti - Chicken Wings (1996) Talented Italian Ivano Bonetti fell 'fowl' of coach Brian Laws after Grimsby Town lost 3-2 to Luton. During a demonstrative team talk Laws aimed a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, who was left with a fractured cheekbone. 9) Emerson - Playing in goal (2002) Had he not being playing the clown, Emerson - and not Cafu - would have lifted the World Cup in 2002. Instead the midfielder missed the tournament after dislocating his shoulder after volunteering to play in goal and strained himself trying to save a Rivaldo shot.
8) Svein Grondalen - Moose (1970s) Norwegian international Grondalen was forced to miss a game for his country after being the victim of a hit and run with a stray moose when he was out on his morning run. 7) Ramalho - Swallowing Suppository Brazilian player Ramalho was laid up in bed for three days after swallowing a giant pill he had been prescribed for a dental infection. Unfortunately for the player it was supposed to be administered anally. 6) Milan Rapaic - Boarding Pass (1990s) Modern footballers are used to the jet-set lifestyle. Erm... not quite, as former Hajduk Split stalwart Milan Rapaic missed the start of the Croatian season after sticking his boarding pass into his eye at the airport. 5) David Beckham - Football Boot (2003) Becks was given the boot out of Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson after the Reds limped out of the FA Cup against Arsenal in 2003. Fergie flipped after the game and kicked a stray boot which caused a cut just above the then England captain's eye. Refusing to apologise, the Manchester United boss quipped: "If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could, I would have carried on playing!" Becks was booted out for good a few months later to Real Madrid.
4) Ronaldo - Microphone (2009) Brazilian legend Ronaldo expected some rough treatment when he returned home. Trouble was it happened off the pitch too as he was left with a black eye after being struck by a microphone during a media scrum following his debut for Corinthians.
3) Santiago Canizares - Aftershave Bottle (2002) Along with Emerson, World Cup 2002 was a vintage year for freak injuries. Spain's number one shot stopper Canizares was forced to watch Iker Casillas take his place after accidentally smashing a bottle of aftershave and a shard of glass severed a tendon in his big toe.
2) Diego Maradona - Dog Bite (2010) If you're wondering why Diego Maradona was sporting a Fidel Castro-style beard this summer you can blame his dog. The former Argentina coach was attacked by his beloved Shar Pei pet, who bit the great No. 10 on the face. El Diego had to undergo surgery and receive tetanus and rabies vaccines.
1) Paulo Diogo - Wedding Ring (2004) Newly wedded bliss and celebrating a goal is the ultimate combination surely. Not so for ex-Servette player Paulo Diogo, who ran into the joyous crowd to lap up a goal against Schaffhausen only to catch his wedding ring on a fence and rip off the top half of his finger. With Diogo writhing in agony, the match had to be temporarily stopped as stewards looked frantically for the remaining part of his finger. The unsympathetic referee promptly booked Diogo for celebrating too wildly! Things didn't get any better back at the hospital when surgeons were unable to re-attach the finger and advised the player to amputate the rest of it. Ouch!
Zoe Sugg A.K.A. Zoella
AKB48 proposed to open Olympic ceremony in 2020 -
The big debate in Japan today is whether to allow J-pop group AKB48 to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Their creator, Yasushi Akimoto, proposed choosing the best of the 48 girls (who rotate according to social media popularity) to appear but the idea was ridiculed by Japanese TV celebrity and columnist Matsuko Deluxe, who said the group (named after the Akihabara district of Tokyo) would be “an embarrassment”. The group have sold more than 30m records and had sales exceeding $128m (£85m) in 2013.
Big United beat little United -
Despite the support of 6,000 away fans Cambridge United are finally beaten by Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Man Uniteds starting 11 cost £231m in transfer fees, Cambridge's cost £0. By forcing a repeat two weeks ago the small club will get around £1 million for their share of the attendance fee which the chairman intends to spend on upgrading the toilets at their ground.
Cut down on your jog life -
A report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that people who jog at a steady pace for less than two and a half hours a week were least likely to die over a 12-year period that was studied. Those who ran more than four hours a week or did no exercise had the highest death rates.
Kim Kardashian
Scherzinger and Hamilton split for fourth time -
The on-off romance between Pussycat Doll's lead singer Nicole Scherzinger and Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton is officially over... again. The have been together for about 7 years and this is the fourth time they have split up, this time apparently over Hamilton's refusal to settle down with her and start a family.
Nicole Scherzinger
I don't want a guinea pig, I want a Josephoartigasia monesi -
Researchers from York in the UK and Montevideo in Uruguay reveal that a 1000kg bull-sized cousin to the guinea pig known as Josephoartigasia monesi had huge front teeth like tusks and its bite was as strong as a tiger. Named Josephoartigasia monesi it died out around two million years ago, so you can't have one as a pet.
Josephoartigasia monesi
Google starts to search tweets -
Twitter has done a deal with Google to make tweets part of the results from a web search. Tweets will immediately be included in searches as Google will have access to Twitter's firehose the datastream of tweets created by Twitter's 284 million users.
![presidencia.gov.ar [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) or CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://absoluteonesies.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/256px-Cristinakirchnermensaje20101.jpg)
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Painting sells for $300m, a world record -
One of French artist Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings showing to Tahitian ladies is sold for $300m (£197m), making it the most expensive work of art ever sold. Entitled Nafea Faa Ipoipo, or When Will You Marry?, was painted in 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist and has apparently been sold to a museum in Qatar.
Phantom of the Opera apprehended -
Austrian police arrest a 63-year-old man who has become known as the Phantom of the Opera at the Vienna State Opera House. Security guards have been trying to catch the man, who buys a cheap ticket and then sits in expensive seats, for months. When he was seen in the best seat in the house, the police were called, but he made a run for it and then punched one of the police officers after he was cornered in the Gustav Mahler Hall. He was arrested and given a ban from all future performances at the State Opera.
![By Morgaledh at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons](https://absoluteonesies.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/WSO-Interior.jpg)
Left shark designer hit with cease and desist order -
Fernando Sosa who is selling the design for a 3D-printer model of the "Left Shark" dancer from Katy Perry's Super Bowl half-time show has received a letter from Perry's lawyers saying, "Your unauthorised display and sale of this product infringes our client's exclusive rights." Left Shark became a viral hit after forgetting its steps during the performance of Teenage Dream and California Gurls.
Paulina Vega
NBC Nightly News anchor embarrassment -
Brian Williams, "the most-watched" news presenter in the US temporarily steps down from his NBC Nightly News anchor role after he admitted his story about being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq was false. He revealed that he was actually in an aircraft following the one shot down after veterans who were in the helicopter recalled he wasn't on the flight. Williams blamed a "fog of memory" for the lapse.
Brian Williams
Price gets it right -
Katie Price formerly known as the model Jordan wins UK TV Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother despite only being in the "house" for 10 days when other contestants had been in for a month. She beat ex-Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins into second place; Calum Best came third.
Katie Price
Classic Ferrari sells for $16 million -
A classic California Spyder Ferrari found in a French farmhouse under a load of magazines is sold at a Paris auction for €14.2m (£10.5m; $16.2m). Only 37 of the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB were made and this dark blue one had been owned by French actor Alain Delon but was hidden for over 50 years. In May 2008 British DJ Chris Evans paid a reported £5.6 million for a 1961 250GT short-wheelbase California Spyder that once belonged to Hollywood actor James Coburn.
A 1961 250 GT California Spyder
Alain Delon in 2013
Puerto Rico
Eddie Redmayne
Ivory Coast win AFCON (eventually) -
The final of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament ends in a 0-0 draw after extra time between Ghana and Ivory Coast (or Cote d'Ivoire). It got more exciting in the penalty shoot-out with the Elephants (Ivory Coast) missing their first two penalties but then scoring their next 9 in a row to beat Ghana 9-8. Ivory Coast's goalkeeper Boubacar Barry scored the winner.
Boubacar Barry
He later tweeted:
Dr Who is expert on exiting when being chased by a bear -
British actor David Tennant makes a successful debut as a contestant on BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute making it through a full 60 seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. The former Doctor Who and Broadchurch star talked for one minute on the subject of “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” without once being interrupted on his very first appearance on the show and it is thought to be the first time in nearly 50 years of the show that a debutant has made it through the 60 second challenge.
David Tennant
DIY store prepares for Fifty Shades of Grey specialist advice -
With the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey about to open, Britain's biggest DIY store B&Q have told their staff to prepare for a big rise in demand for rope, cable ties and tape. It is also providing copies of the book to all 359 stores which can be lent out to staff so they can be ready for "sensitive" questions about the products.
Samsung TVs are listening in -
Samsung warns that it's smart TV voice activation feature could be recorded by Samsung or the developers of the software. Because the TV is always "listening" for instructions in voice mode and is likely to be connected to the internet any conversations could in theory be recorded.
Manuel Pellegrini with the Barclay's Premier League trophy
R&A reveals first women members -
The first seven female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club are announced. Princess Anne receives an honorary membership despite her well known dislike of the game, while former golfing champions Laura Davies, Swede Annika Sörenstam, Americans Louise Suggs and Renee Powell, France's Lally Segard and Scotland's Belle Robertson make up the exclusive club. For 260 years the Royal and Ancient golf club also known as St Andrews has not accepted female members, but this was overturned on September 18th 2014.
Annika Sörenstam
Mugabe punishes bodyguards for his slip-up -
The Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe allegedly suspends 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps at the country's Harare airport last week. The 90-year-old was apparently unhurt physically but upset by the media humiliation.
President Robert Mugabe
The Costa Concordia after the accident
Korean Air nut rage ends with jail sentence -
A South Korean court finds Cho Hyun-ah (aka Heather Cho) a former executive of Korean Air guilty of breaking aviation law. She forced her Seoul-bound plane to turn back to the gate at JFK airport in New York and offload a steward because she did not like the way she had been served nuts. Cho, the daughter of Korean Air president, was found guilty of obstructing aviation safety and jailed for one year, much less than the possible maximum sentence of 10-years.
Smoking in private cars with child passengers banned in England -
The British government votes 342 to 74 to ban smoking in cars when there are children in the vehicle in England and Wales, but doesn't apply to convertibles with the roof down. Anyone stopped for breaking the law can be fined £50 on the spot when it becomes law in October 2015 but Scotland is not included. Bans on smoking in cars when children are present already exist in some US states as well as in parts of Canada and Australia.
Jamie Dornan at the world première of "Fifty Shades of Grey"
Double decker bus saves naked man from fire -
A man trapped in a house fire in Braintree, Essex UK may have had his life saved after a bus driver managed to manoeuvre his double decker bus close enough for the man to jump onto the roof. The man had been taking a shower and jumped from the third-floor window naked onto the bus. After throwing him some clothes the man managed to climb down with minor injuries.
Bonham Carter strips for fish -
Helena Bonham Carter has also got naked and hugged a 27kg tuna between her legs despite claiming to have a fish phobia. The photoshoot was in aid of a Blue Marine Foundation campaign against over-fishing. Bonham Carter separated from her partner Tim Burton on December 24th 2014.
Helena Bonham Carter
No post today?
Demonstrators in Tokyo have marched against capitalism, chocolates and St Valentine's Day in a demonstration against the commercialisation of February 14 by men who are unable to find a partner. The protest was organised by a group called Kakuhido, which translates roughly as the Revolutionary Alliance of Men that Women Find Unattractive.
Michele Ferrero dies -
Michele Ferrero, whose chocolate product company made him Italy's wealthiest man, dies aged 89. His company makes Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder eggs, Tic Tac sweets and hazelnut Nutella spread. Mr Ferrero's father, a pastry manufacturer, developed the forerunner to Nutella in 1946, called Giandujot, combining cocoa and hazelnuts to make a spreadable paste.
Gerry Adams
Russian hackers steal £650 million -
Investigators from Kaspersky Lab uncovers what is thought to be the biggest ever cybercrime with more than £650 million ($1 billion) going missing from banks around the world. A group of Russian hackers spent two years infiltrating the internal computer systems of over 100 financial institutions world-wide using malware.
Ski jump 250m barrier broken twice in two days-
The world ski jump record has been broken by Slovenian jumper Peter Prevc by travelling 250m (274 yards) at a World Cup event in Vikersund, Norway. But this is beaten by Anders Fannemel who travels 251.5m (276.14 yards). See Video below.
Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort
Amazon drones off -
The Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) sets draft rules for the use of drones in US airspace which state that pilots must remain within eyesight of their unmanned crafts. This would not allow Amazon to launch its Amazon Air delivery service which the firm said last year it had the technology in place to launch as soon as regulations were in place.
Sony SmartEyeglass
Apple Watch not that exclusive -
Apple orders between 5 and 6 million Apple Watches to be produced in time for their release in April 2015. The Apple Watch is the first unique product Apple has launched since the iPad in 2010. There are 3 versions - Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.
And Australian former Red Bull driver Mark Weber added -
The Boston Blizzard Challenge -
The mayor of Boston Martin Walsh has asked the public to stop jumping out of first floor windows into piles of snow left by the record levels of snow that has fallen in February. Bostonians are stripping down to their underwear and leaping into the snowdrifts in a trend called the Boston Blizzard Challenge, all for social media's delight - a perfect Vine.
The Queen Victoria pub
Niagara falls freezes -
Parts of the Niagara Falls freeze over after a fourth winter storm in a month blew through the area. One of the coldest winters on the US eastern seaboard has seen people in Boston jumping into snowdrifts in their underwear.
Niagara Falls
Pat Martin MP
Rihanna hits 27 -
Robyn Rihanna Fenty hits late thirties. She has sold over 30 million albums and 120 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time
Cameron Diaz
Eike Batista
Internet brought to it's knees by a dress and it's not worn by Kim Kardashian-
Social media has been sent into spasms over the colour of a dress - is it black and blue or white and gold? Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill posed the question on Tumblr. What followed was an internet storm. Thousands took to Twitter to fight aggressively in either camp and even some celebrities stepped in on the debate. See Video of the Day.
Harrison Ford
Round hens egg sells for £480 -
A "perfectly spherical" chicken egg has sold for an "unbelievable" £480 on the internet auction site eBay. Kim Broughton found one of her hens - now renamed Ping Pong - had laid the round egg in her garden in Latchingdon, Essex, on 17 February - Pancake Day. She decided to auction the egg in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust after a friend's son died from the disease. Ms Broughton, 44, said she imagined the buyer was interested in preserving, rather than eating, the unusual egg. [BBC] The round egg
[Daily Telegraph] 8ft coffin for Britain's tallest man - A bespoke coffin for the funeral of a former Britain's tallest man has been made measuring 8ft-long. Christopher Greener, who grew to 7ft 6ins before surgical intervention stopped him growing, will be laid to rest in a casket carried by 10 pallbearers. Funeral directors have calculated that 30st Mr Greener's coffin will just about squeeze into the hearse before he will be buried in a double-sized plot of land on Monday. Mr Greener, who held the record for being the UK's tallest man for more than four decades, died aged 71 on February 11 and will be buried near his home in Bromley, south-east London. [Daily Telegraph]
New image for Queen on coins of the realm -
A new portrait of the Queen to appear on coins has been unveiled, but it might be some time before the new money starts appearing in people's wallets. The effigy, designed by Jody Clark, is only the fifth definitive coin portrait to have been created during the Queen's reign and the first since 1998.
The new coin
The new portrait is revealed at a ceremony in London's National Portrait Gallery. Coins carrying the design will now begin being struck, the Royal Mint said. [Daily Telegraph]
New Zealanders confiscating bad drivers keys -
Police are urging motorists not to take matters into their own hands, following the latest removal of car keys from drivers allegedly driving dangerously. While police are encouraging the use of *555 calls, the growing trend of motorists confronting bad drivers and removing keys is on the rise nationally - almost one a day during the past week. [New Zealand Herald]
Putin and stormtrooper version
Finnish man fined €54,000 for speeding -
A Finnish man has been handed a 54,000-euro fine for speeding in his car. Finland's speeding fines are linked to income, with penalties calculated on daily earnings, meaning high earners get hit with bigger penalties for breaking the law. So, when businessman Reima Kuisla was caught doing 103km/h (64mph) in an area where the speed limit is 80km/h (50mph), authorities turned to his 2013 tax return, the Iltalehti newspaper reports. He earned 6.5m euros (£4.72m) that year, so was told to hand over 54,000 euros. The scale of the fine hasn't gone down well with Mr Kuisla. "Ten years ago I wouldn't have believed that I would seriously consider moving abroad," he says on his Facebook page. "Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth." [BBC]
American footballers to donate brains to science -
Two American Football stars say they will donate their brains for medical research after their deaths. New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford and former Seattle Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice want to support studies into brain injuries. Many former players in the sport suffer degenerative brain disease. "There are a lot of issues that stem from brain injuries and it's not just professional athletes. This affects everybody," Weatherford said. Rice won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks last year before retiring - at the age of 27 - over fears for his long-term health after absorbing so many blows to the head. Both he and Weatherford said they hoped their commitment could persuade others to support research into brain injuries. [BBC]
Seattle Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice
The Dawn probe (by NASA)
"25 0" licence plate sells for £518,000 -
When the auctioneer's hammer came down, classic car dealer John Collins was looking at a bill of £518,000. But it was not a rare Ferrari that he had bought. It was a number plate. The registration plate "25 O" is the most expensive ever bought at a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) auction. Even so, Mr Collins, who owns classic Ferrari dealer Talacrest, says he would have bid more at the auction for the plate which matches the 250 model. [BBC]
Franchesca Ramsey
Parking's fine for driver -
A driver who was trying to pay to park got a surprise £32 "windfall" when the ticket machine "cascaded" coins at her like a fruit machine jackpot payout. Stephanie Corder, from Rayleigh, Essex, was in the town's Castle Road, where it costs £5 to park a car for a whole day. "I had to scoop the money up to stop it falling on the floor," Ms Corder said. She took the cash to the police and Rochford District Council has rewarded her with a day's free parking as a "little thank you" for her honesty. [BBC]
Camille Muffat
Solar powered plane still on target -
Solar Impulse is back in the air on the second leg of its historic attempt to fly around the world. After the briefest of lay-overs, the prop-driven plane took off from Muscat in Oman at 06.35 (02:35 GMT). It is heading across the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad in India. Project chairman, Bertrand Piccard, is now at the controls, having taken over from Andre Borschberg, who flew the first leg on Monday from Abu Dhabi to Muscat. The second leg will cover about 1,465km (791 nautical miles), and should take about 16 hours.
Jeremy Clarkson
Berlusconi cleared of under-age sex -
Italy's top court has confirmed the acquittal of Silvio Berlusconi on charges that he paid for sex with an under-age dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up. After nine hours of deliberations, the judges at the Court of Cassation delivered a ruling that brings to an end a lengthy legal saga centred on the billionaire media tycoon's infamous "bunga bunga" sex parties. It also leaves the 78-year-old free to resume a central role in Italian politics. Berlusconi has just finished serving a community service order for tax fraud and remains embroiled in several other legal cases. [Daily Telegraph]
Silvio Berlusconi
"Blurred Lines" was plagiarised from Marvin Gaye track -
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams plagiarised their monster hit Blurred Lines from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give It Up and have been ordered by a court to pay $7.4 million to the late Motown singer's children for infringement of copyright. The ruling followed a two week case at the The US District Court in Los Angeles and some experts said the outcome could have a detrimental effect on an industry in which many artists are heavily influenced by those who went before. Thicke, who performed the song, and its producer Williams, made Blurred Lines into the biggest song of 2013 in the US, where it stayed at number one for 12 weeks, and a familiar tune across the world. A jury of five women and three men decided unanimously that they had infringed copyright and must pay damages to Gaye's children Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III, who were in court. [Daily Telegraph]
Pharrell Williams
McLaren MP4-12c
Highwaymen steal €9m jewels and art on motorway in France -
A manhunt is underway to catch a group of armed robbers who successfully trapped two armoured vans at a motorway toll booth in Burgundy, escaping with €9m (£6.3m) of jewels and art. French police said the heist was carried out by around 15 “heavily armed and battle-hardened” individuals, all masked, who arrived in four cars and surrounded the vans on the A6 motorway around 125 miles south east of Paris. “The group carried out the attack around midnight,” said Cristophe Crépin, a spokesman for the police, adding that the robbers had forced the drivers out, emptied the vans, and then set them on fire a short distance from the toll booth. A local prosecutor said no one had been hurt. The local newspaper said the men had made a getaway towards Paris, in four high-speed cars. [Daily Telegraph]
Google has opened its first-ever branded shop, choosing the Currys PC World on London’s Tottenham Court Road as the location. The store, to be called The Google shop, will sell the company’s range of Android phones and tablets, Chromebook laptops, and Chromecast TV services. The shop will hold tutorials showing consumers how to use the devices and hold demonstrations showing off key Google apps. It is the first time that Google has opened a shop under its own name and highlights how online companies are increasingly exploring ways to open physical stores. Amazon is thought to be considering opening a shop in a standalone location in New York. [Daily Telegraph]
Terry Pratchett
Spider that can give men four-hour erections found in Tesco bananas -
A mother was scared stiff after opening a bunch of supermarket bananas and finding rare spiders whose bite can give a man a painful four-hour erection. Maria Layton, 43, spotted the arachnids after opening the bag of yellow fruit she bought from Tesco. She found the bananas, shipped from Costa Rica, were infested with eggs from the Brazilian Wandering Spider - the most deadly in the world. [Daily Telegraph]
The Brazilian Wandering Spider
Rumours are swirling in Moscow over the health of Vladimir Putin after the Russian president disappeared from view and put off a foreign visit.
Mr Putin has not been seen in public for a week and an official in Kazakhstan told reporters that he postponed a visit to the central Asian country on Wednesday because he had fallen ill. He will also not appear at an annual meeting of high-ranking officers from the Federal Security Service on Thursday, which he has attended in past years. Reporters last saw the president when he met Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, on March 5.
Alina Kabaeva [attribute www.kremlin.ru]
Dermot O'Leary dances for 24 hours straight -
The X-Factor UK presenter Dermot O'Leary has danced for 24 hours straight in aid of Comic Relief, and raised a staggering £643,336. The 41-year-old completed his epic challenge in aid of Red Nose Day, at 7.20pm on Friday after showing off his moves outside BBC Broadcasting House in London for his Day of Dance. The X Factor presenter fought tiredness and pain to boogie his way to the finish life with help from celebrity pals along the way.
[Daily Mail]
Dermot O'Leary
World's first successful penis transplant carried out in South Africa -
South African scientists have announced the world's first successful penis transplant, helping a 21-year-old who suffered an amputation following a botched traditional circumcision three years ago. Professor Andre van der Merwe, head of Stellenbosch University's Division of Urology, announced details of the "ground-breaking" operation at Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville, Cape Town. The nine-hour operation, which involved the attachment of a penis taken from a donor who had died, was carried out in December. The results were announced on Friday after doctors confirmed that the recipient of the donor organ has made a full recovery and is sexually active. [Daily Telegraph]
Mums offer breast milk after formula scare -
Nw Zealand mothers have offered to supply breast milk after letters were sent to a national farming body and the dairy giant Fonterra threatening to contaminate formula with a pesticide. About 30 women in the Northland region, on New Zealand's North Island, say they'd be happy to contribute, and some women have already started expressing their milk for babies who are ordinarily fed formula. [BBC]
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff
Vladimir Putin reappears in public for first time in 10 days -
President Vladimir Putin has made his first public appearance for over ten days, scotching rumours of a Kremlin coup and even his own death. All eyes were on the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Monday as Mr Putin met with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, for talks as planned. Commenting on suggestions that he had been forced to lie low because of ill health, Mr Putin said that life without rumours would be boring. "It would be boring without gossip," Mr Putin, 62, said in his first public appearance since March 5. [Daily Telegraph]
Benjamin Netanyahu
Never slip on ice again with glass shard shoes -
Slipping on ice need never happen again after scientists invented a new type of rubber sole for shoes which allows the wearer to walk easily, even up treacherous slopes. Canadian researchers have developed a new material which contains microscopic glass fibres which act as tiny spikes, gripping the ground in even the most nerve-jangling icy weather. [Daily Telegraph]
Kylie Minogue
Boris' Dad bets on him being next PM -
Boris Johnson’s father has bet £20 on his son becoming the next prime minister. Stanley Johnson, 74, said his son is the “best man for the job” and predicted he would beat other rivals to become the next Tory leader. Bookies would have to pay out if the London Mayor entered Number 10 after Mr Cameron steps doing - potentially as early as 2017 - following an election victory next May. “Next Prime Minster After Cameron. Boris Johnson. 5/1,” read the betting slip seen by The Sun. [Daily Telegraph]
Philippe Lellouche
Zayn Malik leaves One Direction tour after being signed off with stress -
Zayn Malik has left One Direction's tour of Asia and has returned to the UK after being signed off with stress. A statement said: "Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. "The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta." On Wednesday the singer declared his love for his fiancee, Little Mix star Perrie Edwards, after photos emerged of him with his arm around another woman. [BBC]
Zayn Malik
Russia: Gold found in roadside socks lands man in court
A Russian man has been found guilty of illegally possessing more than a dozen pieces of gold he found in some socks by the roadside, it's been reported. Bagaudin Estermirov, from the Amur Region in Russia's Far East, found 18 ingots of gold worth 10.5 million rubles ($171,000; £116,184), wrapped in three black jersey socks in bushes in the town of Zeya last October. A Russian district court on 17 March handed down a two-year suspended sentence for "illegal possession of a precious metal" after Estermirov fully admitted his guilt. The gold, which weighed about 8kg, was handed over to the state. [BBC]
Charlie Sheen hurls racist Twitter rant at Barack Obama -
Charlie Sheen, once the highest paid actor on US television before his career unravelled because of his drug addiction, has launched an attack on Barack Obama. The son of Martin Sheen and former star of Two and a Half Men, posted a garbled attack on the US president in the early hours of the morning on Twitter. “Barry Satera Kenya u won’t attend a soldier’s funeral uhkros da street that u kild yet u hav time 4 brackets? s a d.” Sheen’s anger appeared to be a reference to the funeral of Major General Harold Greene, a two-star general killed in Afghanistan. [Daily Telegraph]
Tag Heuer teams up with Google and Intel for Android watch -
Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has announced it is to build an Android Wear-powered smartwatch. The firm - which is part of the luxury goods-maker LVMH Group - is forming a partnership with Google and the chipmaker Intel to create the device. Switzerland dominates the high-end watch sector. This marks the first of its companies to join Google's wearable tech ecosystem. [BBC]
Martin Guptill
@JonahFisherBBC
Six Nations 2015: Ireland title glory delights coach Joe Schmidt -
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said he is "delighted and relieved" after his side retained the Six Nations title. A 40-10 win over Scotland gave Ireland the title on points difference ahead of England and Wales on a thrilling final day of the championship. Wales briefly led the Six Nations standings after hammering Italy 60-21 in Rome, resulting in Ireland needing to defeat the Scots by 21 points to go top. England required a 26-point winning margin over France to deny the Irish back-to-back titles for the first time since 1949, but they came up just short in a 55-35 victory to complete a dramatic triple-bill of action. See List of the Day. [BBC]
Ireland
Wales
Steven Gerrard sent off 38 seconds after coming on -
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was sent off 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute as Manchester United retained their grip on a top-four place with a vital win at Anfield. Gerrard was introduced for Adam Lallana at the start of the second half with United deservedly leading through Juan Mata's early goal - but was gone almost as quickly after following up a thunderous tackle on the goalscorer with a reckless reaction to a challenge with a clear stamp on Ander Herrera. See List of The Day. [BBC]
Chinese state company agrees to buy Italy's Pirelli -
China's biggest state-owned chemical company said Monday it plans to buy Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli, adding to a string of high-profile Chinese corporate purchases in Europe. ChemChina said it has agreed to buy a 26.2 percent stake in Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. from its biggest shareholder, Camfin S.p.A., which is controlled by the family of Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera. The company said it would offer to buy the remaining outstanding shares. [AP] The fate of the famous Pirelli calendar is unknown.
Pirelli Calendar November 2015 - Gigi Hadid [From Vogue.com]
French businessman awarded compensation after police mistook soap for cocaine -
Spain’s Ministry of Justice has awarded a French businessman €8,400 (£6,136) in compensation for doing jail time after Spanish police mistook his van-load of soap for a cocaine shipment. Jacques Benoit Fiocconi spent more than two months in a Spanish prison waiting for forensic scientists to correctly identify the fragrant cargo and clear his name. Mr Fiocconi had asked the Spanish Ministry of Justice for €83,000 to cover financial losses and moral damages resulting from his incarceration. The Corsica-based cosmetics entrepreneur was arrested in November 2012 when driving along the AP-7 motorway in Catalonia with his father, Laurent Fiocconi, himself a former drug trafficker who was at one time associated with Pablo Escobar. [Daily Telegraph]
Vin Diesel reveals he has named his daughter after Paul Walker -
Vin Diesel has named his new daughter after Paul Walker, his co-star in The Fast and the Furious series of action films, who died in a car crash in 2013. Diesel told Natalie Morales on the US programme, The TODAY Show: "I named her Pauline. There's no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting the umbilical cord. I knew he was there." [Daily Telegraph]
Largest-ever meteorite crater found in Australian outback -
Scientists have discovered two deep scars in the earth's crust in outback Australia that are believed to mark the remains of a meteorite crater with a 250-mile diameter – the largest ever found.The scars are each more than 120 miles in diameter and are believed to mark the spot where a meteorite split into two, moments before it slammed into earth. The impact is believed to have occurred more than 300 million years ago. Scientists discovered a scar from the meteorite five years ago – it was then thought to be from the third largest crater ever found – but now say there are two sets of remains. [Daily Telegraph]
Germanwings A319 plane
Nash Grier offer ignites Twitter -
Nash Grier asks for selfies to be posted on his Twitter feed with the hashtag #BartAndNashsContest for a chance to be in his next Vine video. Result is top trending for the hashtag. (see Top Twitter Trends).
Nash Grier Twitter
Jaguar Launches the XF on a high wire -
The new lightweight Jaguar XF tackles a London water crossing via a 28mm wide high-wire suspended 18 metres above the city. Movie stuntman, Jim Dowdall was at the wheel in an attempt at the world's longest high-wire water crossing by car. (See Video of The Day)
China orders square dancers to walk the line -
Chinese officials say they will introduce guidelines to regulate square-dancing in the country. The dance is wildly popular with elderly Chinese women and is performed en masse at night in public squares. However, Chinese authorities say the "over-enthusiasm of participants has dealt it a harmful blow, with disputes over noise and venues". Fitness authorities plan to introduce 12 authorised routines and also permissible times and music volume. [BBC]
Zayn Malik is leaving One Direction and group continues as four-piece -
Zayn Malik has left One Direction, the band said in a statement today. They will continue as a four-piece for their world tour and to record their fifth album later this year. Malik said: "My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band. "I'd like to apologise to the fans if I've let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right." Malik quit the band's world tour last week after being signed off with stress. [BBC]
Zayn Malik
Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Twitter launches live-streaming video app Periscope -
Twitter has launched its own live-streaming video app for iOS, on the same day that similar service Meerkat received $12m (£8m) in venture capital funding. Once you have installed Periscope you can begin live-streaming video footage from your camera to anyone who wishes to view it online.
As soon as you start a broadcast an optional alert can be sent to all of your Twitter followers. They can then watch your video live, comment on it and send “hearts”. It is also possible to "lock" a broadcast so that only certain people are able to view it.
George Clooney
Facebook completes first drone flight above UK, Mark Zuckerberg confirms -
Solar powered drones which provide internet access to rural and remote areas have been trialled in UK for first time by Facebook. They “have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 737 but will weigh less than a car”, according to the social network's chief Mark Zuckerberg. The drones, developed by Somerset-based company Ascenta which Facebook bought last March, will beam down laser-guided internet signals to those below. Solar panels attached to the wings of the drones mean that they will be able to keep going at altitudes of 60,000 ft for months at a time.
Zoella birthday party
Lady Gaga
Eiffel Tower goes dark in symbolic move for Earth Hour
The Eiffel Tower has gone dark briefly to mark Earth Hour, the campaign to raise awareness about climate change.The five-minute dark-out on Saturday night was a symbolic gesture in the City of Light. Cities around the world also marked the event, with other landmarks like the Kremlin and the Empire State Building going dark.France has been preparing for months to host an international climate conference in Paris at the end of the year, pressing nations to set attainable goals for reducing greenhouse gases and mobilizing international finances to fight climate change. [Daily Mail]
Andreas Lubitz planned spectacular gesture that would go down in history, claims ex-girlfriend -
Airbus crash pilot Andreas Lubitz had been planning a spectacular gesture to make everyone "remember" who he was, it has been claimed. An ex-girlfriend of the Germanwings pilot who crashed his plane in the French Alps, killing all 149 others on board, described him as "tormented" and able to hide secrets. Maria, 26 (not her real name), told Bild newspaper that when she heard about the crash she remembered that he had said he was going do something "that would change the system" and "make everyone remember" him. [Daily Telegraph]
Sebastian Vettel
The idealised faces (according to those living in the UK)
Louis' tweet
Top Gear: Richard Hammond and James May no longer work for the BBC -
James May and Richard Hammond are out of contract with the BBC from midnight, after declining to sign new deals to present the next series of Top Gear. The pair are now free agents, meaning rival broadcasters can approach them with job offers. Hammond has tweeted that he is "not ready for retirement". May does not seem in a great hurry to find new employment, he is making a shepherds pie. [Daily Telegraph]
Google Maps launches PacMan on real streets -
Google has launched an April Fool's Day version of Google Maps that allows users to play the classic arcade game Pac-Man on real streets. Google Map users can access the Pac-Man version by clicking on the icon in the bottom corner of the screen and then using their keyboard to play the game. The game is accessible on desktop computers and on the Google Maps app. It allows users to play the famous game around the world's most recognisable streets or your own neighbourhood. At some famous locations, such as the area around the Taj Mahal and the Arc de Triomphe, Google has added a Pac-Man marker that also launches the game because the areas appear perfectly matched to the original Pac-Man layout. [Daily Telegraph]
Elon Musk's $1bn tweet: news of secret product line sees Tesla shares soar -
Elon Musk, the billionaire technology entrepreneur, has announced a "major" new Tesla product line that is "not a car", in a cryptic tweet which has left millions guessing. The CEO's news sparked the hashtag #TeslaNewProductGuesses, with guesses ranging from a time machine to a real-life Iron Man suit. Shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters. The tweet went out to his 1.9 million followers and had thousands of retweets within an hour. [Daily Telegraph]
Ferrari 599 GTO
Justin Bieber’s New Album Leaked? Fans Freak Out Over New Music -
Justin Bieber lovers woke up to a very exciting surprise on April 1 — the pop star had released his first new album in nearly three years! #JustinYourAlbumLeaked immediately began trending on social media, but it didn’t take long for fans to figure out what was really going on.(See Top Twitter Trends) [HollywoodLife.com]
Justin Bieber
India police seek cow ‘mugshots’ to enforce beef ban -
Police in a west Indian township have asked cattle owners to supply photographs of their animals to help enforce the state’s tough new ban on beef, an officer said yesterday. Nearly 100 farmers and other owners in Malegaon have so far complied with the request for mugshots along with a dossier on the cows, said Sunil Kadasne, additional superintendent of the city. “After the new law, commercial slaughter has largely stopped but this programme will help us to stop all killing by helping trace any animal thefts faster,” Mr Kadasne told AFP. The Maharashtra state government introduced a tough ban in March on killing and selling cows, while even possession of beef could land you in jail for five years. [AFP/Daily Telegraph]
CERN discovers Star Wars "The Force" but it is April 1st -
The Force - the mysterious energy field used by the Jedi in Star Wars - has been discovered by researchers at the Cern laboratory. The European research centre announced its spoof discovery with pictures showing its scientists using The Force in everyday life. It was one of many April Fools jokes seen on websites around the world. Smartphone maker Samsung produced a spoof page for a Blade edge version of its Galaxy smartphone that, it claimed, was designed for cooks. The limited edition handset incorporates a diamond-edged blade so the phone can also be used to chop food when it is not being used for calls, texts, or browsing the web.
HTC joined in with fake product pages for the Re-Sok - the "world's first truly smart sock". The technology-enhanced footwear is engineered with GPS so pairs of socks can easily find each other and have an automatic hole warning system to alert owners when their intelligent footwear is running thin. For its April Fools parody, Motorola went to the trouble of making a lavish video showing two craftsmen producing selfie-sticks out of wood and leather. New York-based footwear maker Miz Mooz joined in and produced a pair of shoes that have smartphone docking ports in each toe so each one can be used to take selfies.
Other parodies included cab-calling firm Hailo introducing piggy-back rides around cities; Domino's pizza introducing a driverless pizza delivery systemusing autonomous scooters; BMW making the ultimate rugby mouth guard and Sony making a wearable add-on for the PlayStation so players can take part in games when they are swimming. [BBC]
Gadget which turns all traffic lights green trialled in UK -
The pioneering technology is being tested ahead of trials of driverless vehicles. A device which switches all red traffic lights to green has been launched in Newcastle to prevent cars from ever needing to stop. The pioneering technology is being tested ahead of trials of driverless vehicles, which would be linked to traffic lights so that fully-automated convoys could pass quickly through urban areas. The new gadget, which attaches to the windscreen like a Sat Nav, detects traffic lights from around 100 metres away and requests priority so that they switch to green as soon as the car arrives. It also tells drivers of the speed they should be driving to make sure they always hit a green light in the event of traffic. [Daily Telegraph]
Paris aims to become 'world bike capital' -
Paris's mayor has announced plans to double the number of cycle lanes. Paris is to double the number of cycling lanes by 2020 as part of its Socialist mayor's push to turn the city into “the world’s bike capital". The 150 million-euro project will increase the number of safe bike lanes from the current 700 kilometres (435 miles) to 1,400 kilometres within five years. Paris town hall hopes the new lanes will help triple the number of journeys made on a bike from five per cent to 15 per cent in that time.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Lindsay Lohan Tweet - copyright @LindsayLohan Twitter
US judge strikes out Prince Andrew sex claims -
Claims that a woman was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are to be struck from the record of a civil case in the US, a judge has said. The Duke of York was named in court papers in Florida by a woman alleging financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times. But Judge Kenneth Marra said the "lurid" claims were "unnecessary" to decide the civil case. Buckingham Palace has previously "emphatically" denied the allegations. [BBC]
Apple wants to stop fans queuing outside stores for its watch -
Internal memo urges staff to tell customers to order Apple Watch online instead of waiting outside stores. Apple wants to stop hundreds of people queuing outside stores when its smartwatch goes on sale later this month. The technology giant has adopted a “significant change in mindset” and urged staff to tell customers to order the Apple Watch online, an internal memo stated. [Daily Telegraph]
Hatton Garden raiders plunder jewels worth up to £200m from safety deposit boxes -
Jewels worth tens of millions of pounds were stolen during a raid on hundreds of safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden, London's most exclusive jewellery district. Burglars are believed to have used heavy cutting equipment to cut through the roof before abeiling down a lift shaft to access the vault over the Easter weekend. They disabled the alarm system, leaving them four days to plunder around 300 boxes in the vault over the Bank Holiday. Former Flying Squad chief Roy Ramm said he "would not be surprised" if the stolen gems were worth £200 million, although he said the figure would probably never be declared in full. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud -
Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online. The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage. Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device. But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple's storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.
The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device. It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out - starting with the oldest images first - while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen. [BBC]
Alex Jones
Sandra Bullock's 911 call from inside closet as she hid from stalker -
The emergency call made by Sandra Bullock as she hid in a wardrobe from a stalker, has emerged after it was played in court. Joshua Corbett, the man accused of breaking into the Oscar-winning-actress' Los Angeles home, appeared in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing on felony charges of burglary, stalking and possession of a machine gun, and 19 additional felony weapons charges. The audio played in court was taken from her June 8, 2014, call to police. In it, a frantic and fearful Bullock is heard describing the events. "Someone has broken into my house. I'm hiding in the closet," says Bullock, in the recording. "I'm locked in my closet. I have a safe door in my bedroom, and I've locked it, and I'm locked in the closet right now," she adds.
Sandra Bullock
Chinese GP: Man arrested after running on to track -
A man who ran across the track during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix has been arrested. He crossed the main straight shortly before a car, climbed the fence and ran into the pits before trying to enter Ferrari's garage. He is reported to have said he wanted to try a car, before being apprehended by security and handed to police. Formula 1 bosses will investigate how the tight security measures, which are imposed at all races, were breached. A Ferrari spokesperson said the man headed straight for the team's garage, but did not make it inside after he was stopped on the threshold by two mechanics. He was then handed over to security and then the police. [BBC]
Hatton Gardens heist: Metropolitan Police could have to pay millions in compensation -
Scotland Yard could face compensation claims running into millions of pounds after admitting that officers failed to respond to a burglar alarm during the Hatton Garden heist, insurance experts warned. Angry jewellers who fear they may have lost a fortune when 70 safe deposit boxes were looted during a daring raid last weekend have warned they may sue the Metropolitan Police over alleged incompetence. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Sears and Andy Murray (Photo by Stirling Council)
Grand National 2015: Many Clouds wins as McCoy finishes fifth -
Many Clouds won the 2015 Grand National to give jockey Leighton Aspell his second consecutive victory in the race. Champion jockey AP McCoy was denied a fairytale Aintree farewell, finishing fifth on favourite Shutthefrontdoor. The Northern Irishman had said he would retire immediately if he had won, but the 40-year-old could now race on until the Sandown meeting at the end of April. [BBC]
A P McCoy
Boat Races 2015: Oxford women and men beat Cambridge -
Heavy favourites Oxford beat Cambridge to win the historic first staging of the Women's Boat Race on the same course and same day as the men. They finished six-and-a-half lengths ahead over the four-mile, 374-yard stretch from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge in London on Saturday. The Dark Blues were half a length up after the first minute and pulled away ruthlessly to finish 19 seconds clear. Oxford also won the men's race for the sixth time in eight years. In doing so, president Constantine Louloudis became just the 15th man to triumph for a fourth time. [BBC]
Capitol Building on lockdown after shots fired -
Shots were fired near the front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, according to police. The seat of Congress was immediately put on lockdown.
It later emerged that a man had committed suicide by shooting himself, sparking the alert. "The suspected shooter has been neutralised but the US Capitol Building has been locked down as a precautionary measure," said Lt Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Police, adding that no-one was being allowed to enter or exit. Police said they were also investigating a suspicious package on the lower West Terrace of the building, believed to be the man's suitcase. [Daily Telegraph]
Hilary Clinton
Game Of Thrones season five leaked online -
The first four episodes of Game of Thrones season five have been leaked online a day before its official release. The copies were spotted on IPTorrents, The Pirate Bay, RARBG and KickassTorrents. The US TV network has yet to comment on the pirated episodes. [BBC]
Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones)
Masters 2015: Jordan Spieth wins first major with dominant display -
Jordan Spieth equalled the lowest winning score in Masters history to cap a record-breaking display at Augusta and win his first major. The 21-year-old American, second on his debut last year, shot a two-under 70 to triumph on 18 under. England's Justin Rose hit 70 to finish 14 under, joint second with three-time champion Phil Mickelson (69) who ended runner-up in a major for the 10th time. World number one Rory McIlroy tied for fourth on 12 under after a 66. Spieth, the new world number two, dominated the headlines on each day, equalling Tiger Woods's winning score of 18 under in 1997, when the former world number one won his first Green Jacket. Spieth also became the second-youngest Masters champion, winning the tournament at the age of 21 years and 259 days, 155 days older than Woods when he recorded his 1997 win. He also became the first player in 39 years to lead a Masters from start to finish, and the first to shoot 28 birdies at the tournament. [BBC]
Jordan Spieth
Bad move: Grandmaster caught cheating at chess in a lavatory -
A disgraced chess Grandmaster faces a 15-year ban from the game after being caught pretending to be desperate for the loo so he could use a mobile phone to cheat. Georgian champion Gaioz Nigalidze was expelled from the Dubai Open on Saturday after his opponent Tigran Petrosian, became suspicious about the amount of times he nipped to the lavatory. A complaint followed and Nigalidze was challenged. Tournament organisers then found Nigalidze had stored a mobile phone in a cubicle, behind the pan and covered in toilet paper. The device was found to be logged into Nigalidze's social networking account and had one of his games being analysed by a smartphone chess app.
Gaioz Nigalidze
Madonna
Robbie Williams abandons basement plans to appease Jimmy Page -
Robbie Williams has scaled back plans to revamp his multi-million pound home following a public spat with neighbour Jimmy Page. The 41-year-old star has ditched the proposal for a two-storey basement extension under the garden and glass studio at the top of his house. The Take That singer angered the veteran rocker with ambitious proposals for the 46-room mansion, which was previously owned by the late film director Michael Winner. [Daily Telegraph]
Robbie Williams
Marco Rubio 'announces US presidential bid' -
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has told donors that he will run for the Republican nomination for US president in 2016, US media report. Mr Rubio, 43, said on a conference call he was "uniquely qualified" to bring the party into the future. He is the third Republican to officially announce a candidacy after Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. Mr Rubio is expected to make a formal announcement at a political rally in Miami later on Monday.
It comes a day after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would stand for the Democratic nomination. [BBC]
Marco Rubio
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, win University Challenge -
255-105: The Cambridge college beat Magdalen College, Oxford, in the BBC's quick fire quiz's grand final. Ted Loveday wearing a cream cable-nit jumper proved the star resulting in tweets like this-
Gisele Bunchen (Instagram - giseleofficial)
Unpaid spaceport workers appeal to Vladimir Putin with giant graffiti -
Construction workers at a £9 billion cosmodrome in eastern Russian have resorted to extreme measures to appeal to Vladimir Putin after going four months without pay. Employees of TMK at the Vostochny spaceport were so exasperated at failing to receive their money that they painted a message to the Russian president in huge white letters on top of their construction huts. The giant letters read, "Dear Putin, V.V.", "Save the workers", "Four months without pay" and "We want to work". [Daily Telegraph]
Record dive rescues $50m wartime silver from ocean floor -
A British-led team has recovered a $50m (£34m; €47m) trove of silver coins that has lain on the seabed since the steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942. The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km (480 miles) south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m. The 100 tonnes of coins, recovered in the deepest salvage operation in history, belonged to HM Treasury. The coins have now been melted down in the UK and sold, with the undisclosed sum divided between the treasury - which technically owns the coins - and the salvagers, who take a percentage of the sale. The salvage was completed in September 2013, but DOS has only now been given permission by the Ministry of Transport to announce it. [BBC]
©Red Bull UK
Gwyneth Paltrow fails $29-a-week food challenge -
Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she failed in an attempt to feed herself and her family for a week on $29. When she accepted the challenge recently the Oscar-winning actress turned lifestyle guru was ridiculed on social media for her low calorie choices including seven limes and a bunch of coriander. Now, she has conceded that the food didn't last and she only made it to four days before giving in and tucking into a bag of licorice. [Daily Telegraph]
©Twitter @GwynethPaltrow
Time 100: Emma Watson makes first appearance in the world's most influential list -
Emma Watson has been recognised as one of the world’s 100 most influential people together with Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, the former Argyll salmon farmer who founded the charity, Mary’s Meals. The actress has recently won praise for her United Nations campaign on women’s rights. The former Harry Potter child star is one of four Britons named in the new Time magazine list of the world’s most influential people in for 2015. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Emma Watson
The SCMaglev test track in the Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
James Anderson breaks Sir Ian Botham's England wicket record -
English cricketer James Anderson surpassed Sir Ian Botham as England's highest Test wicket-taker with his 384th dismissal in his 100th match. Anderson, 32, had West Indies' Denesh Ramdin caught at first slip on the final day of the first Test in Antigua. The seamer, who began the Test on 380 wickets, was mobbed by his team-mates as his family celebrated in the crowd. [BBC]
Tony Abbott
Kate Middleton's friend holds orgies in sharia hotel -
Emma Sayle, owner of Killing Kittens, a members-only sex-club, said the Bermondsey Square hotel in London is one of her preferred destinations for the self-styled ‘sexual elite’. The Duchess of Cambridge's friend has been staging sex parties in the country's first sharia hotel. A friend of Kate Middleton's, Miss Sayle, 36, who attended Downe House boarding school with Prince Michael's daughter, Lady Gabriella Windsor, has used the four loft suites on the seventh floor of the hotel for her parties. According to Miss Sayle, who is a member of Kate's rowing crew, The Sisterhood, the rules at Killing Kitten events state men can’t approach women at parties unless they know them, everyone wears a mask and single men aren't allowed. [Daily Telegraph]
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Zayn Malik collects Asian Award and thanks bandmates -
Zayn Malik has taken a step in a new direction, showing off a new look for his first public appearance since quitting One Direction. He was in London for the fifth annual Asian Awards, where he picked a gong for his contribution to music and paid tribute to his former bandmates. Malik also thanked God and his parents, "for making me Asian". [BBC] He also had a radical change of look with an almost shaved head compared to the long hair he used to sport.
Zayn Malik (image - thecount.com)
Ben Affleck
Miley Cyrus Recounts Wanting to Have Sex with Joan Jett, Inducts Her Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -
Miley Cyrus isn’t one to shy away from shock factor, not even if she’s on stage to induct her idol Joan Jett at the 30th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Last night in Cleveland, Cyrus started off her speech to induct Jett and the Blackhearts into the Hall of Fame by going back in time and reminiscing: "Thank you guys so much. I’m going to start off this induction with the first time I wanted to have sex with Joan Jett. We were doing Oprah together, and I went up to Joan’s hotel room. Joan opens the door, and I come in, and Kenny Laguna is laying in bed. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. There’s towels shoved underneath all the door cracks, shower caps around all the smoke detectors. Joan is running around spraying orange-smelling cleaner to mask the smell of the pot (that’s what you guys call it)".
Miley Cyrus
25 pregnant Navy sailors airlifted from ships -
More than two dozen female sailors have been airlifted home from Royal Navy warships after becoming pregnant in the past nine years, official figures show. A total of 25 expectant women were forced to leave on emergency flights, though the actual number who have gone home because of pregnancy is thought to be higher. The figures reported in The Sun were released under the Freedom of Information Act and follow the disclosure last year that 200 women were flown home from the Iraq and Afghan conflicts after commanders were told they were pregnant. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said the Navy operates a strict "no touching" rule at sea, even for those already in a relationship and sources said most of the women are likely to have conceived before setting sail, or while on leave. [Daily Telegraph]
Benedict Cumberbatch commissions Kick Ass 2 replica sculpture -
Benedict Cumberbatch has commissioned the celebrity artist Schoony to reproduce a sculpture that appeared in Kick Ass 2. The Imitation Game star paid £7,000 for a gold rendering of Boy Soldier by his friend, the Hertfordshire-born artist Schoony. The original artwork appeared in Hollywood blockbuster Kick Ass 2, starring Jim Carrey and Chloe Moretz, and was located in the villain's lair. [Daily Telegraph]
Russia: Police stage mayor's disappearance to thwart killing -
Police in Russia have staged the disappearance of a city mayor to prevent his contract killing, it's reported. Pavel Plotnikov, the mayor of Yoshkar Ola in central Russia, was reported missing on Saturday, after apparently failing to meet his wife as planned a day earlier. "All police patrols, criminal investigators - practically all police in Yoshkar Ola" were looking for the mayor, the city's police spokeswoman Olga Plotnikova told the media at the time. But early on Monday, the mayor's own website issued a statement saying that his disappearance had actually been staged. "The mayor's 'disappearance' was necessitated by operational activities of Russia's Interior Ministry staff," the statement says. "They implemented measures to prevent a planned killing of the mayor and his family." Later in the day, Mr Plotnikov gave a news conference to shed more light on what had happened. Because of his "principled position", the mayor said, he was supposed to have been killed in a forest some time between Friday night and Saturday morning. Thanks to swift action by the security services, the would-be killers and those who took out a contract on the mayor have been arrested, Mr Plotnikov told the news conference, adding: "Many thanks to the police for saving my life." The police have simply said that the mayor "has been found" and that "he's alive and well, and is currently with his family". [BBC]
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal over Arizona 'fish pedicures' -
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by the owner a Phoenix-area spa that ran afoul of Arizona state regulations that barred her from providing pedicures in which clients have their feet nibbled by small fish to remove dead skin. The high court's action, made without comment by the justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, which have become a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers in recent years but are banned in some U.S. states for health and safety reasons. In 2009, Vong was told by the Arizona Board of Cosmetology that the treatment violated the agency's safety standards, and that she could face criminal charges. The board said any tool or equipment used in a pedicure must be stored and disinfected in a specific way, and that she could not disinfect the fish coming in contact with clients' skin. [Reuters]
Garra Rufa - the pedicure fish species
Traffic Scotland later tweeted that the dog was OK.
@Traffic Scotland on Twitter
Man shoots computer in Colorado Springs alley, gets revenge he wanted - and a citation -
When ctrl + alt + delete doesn't work, just shoot the darn thing. That's what one man did on Monday night, according to Colorado Springs police. Lucas Hinch, 37, was cited for discharging a weapon within city limits after he took the fight with his computer outside and got the revenge most of us only dream about. "He got tired of fighting with his computer for the last several months," Lt. Jeff Strossner said. "He was having technology problems, so he took it out in the back alley and shot it." Strossner tweeted Hinch "executed" his computer in an alley on the 2200 block of West Colorado Avenue. The penalty for the citation will be up to a judge, police said, adding that Hinch was good-natured about the citation and hadn't realized he was breaking the law when he went Wild West on that useless piece of technology. Hinch shot it eight times, Strossner said, "effectively disabling it." The computer is not expected to recover. [The Gazette]
The shot computer - Image from the Colorado Gazette
Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network -
Google has detailed its plan to run a mobile phone network in the US. The firm will rent voice and data capacity from two existing operators - Sprint and T-Mobile - and use existing wi-fi hotspots, rather than build new infrastructure from scratch. Initially, Project Fi will only be offered to Nexus 6 handset owners. Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's Android platform, first mentioned the company's plan to create a phone network in February, but provided little detail at the time. The company has now revealed that its subscribers will be automatically switched between 4G signals provided by Sprint and T-Mobile, depending on whichever is stronger at the time. They will also be able to make calls over wi-fi without having to use a special app, similar in nature to the Wi-fi Calling facility recently introduced by EE in the UK. [BBC]
Sundar Pichai
Hatton Garden road sign
Student continues Sahara marathon on broken leg but still beats Sir Ranulph Fiennes -
A student broke his leg while competing in the 'toughest race on earth' - but still kept going for another 100 miles to overtake the explorer Ranulph Fiennes. James Tuffnell, 20, stumbled down a sand dune on the fourth day of the six-day Marathon Des Sables, a 155 mile ‘ultramarathon’ across the Sahara desert, shattering his ankle and fracturing his tibia. Despite his injuries he carried all his own supplies including food, water and sleeping materials for the length of the race in 50 degree heat. [Daily Telegraph]
James Tuffnell [@JamesTuffnell - Twitter]
Japan: Low-level radiation in drone found on PM's roof -
A drone carrying a tiny amount of radioactive material has been found on the roof of the Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo. The four-propeller device was found on top of the building on Wednesday morning [22 April], and was carrying a container of liquid which was marked with a radiation warning symbol, the public broadcaster NHK reports. The 50cm (20in) wide drone was also equipped with a small camera. Police say "minute" levels of radiation were detected on the drone, which they think is likely to be radioactive caesium, but that the amount is too low to be harmful to human health. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wasn't in the building at the time, as he's currently in Indonesia. [BBC] In January 2015 the prime minister called the footage of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto apparently holding a photograph showing the body of fellow captive Haruna Yukawa “outrageous and unacceptable”.
Native American actors walk off Adam Sandler film set over 'insults' -
Nearly a dozen Native American actors have walked off the set of a Hollywood film starring Adam Sandler complaining that the script was offensive to their culture. The actors had been hired to take part in filming of The Ridiculous Six, a satirical Western based on The Magnificent Seven. They said the script, which was co-written by Sandler, included offensive names for female Native American characters such as “No Bra”. [Daily Telegraph]
Adam Sandler
Drop Dead Sexy -
During this year's Spring Festival holidays, a man surnamed Zhang watched a strip show somewhere he didn't expect, at a funeral in his hometown in Cheng'an county, Hebei Province. "Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15. They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece. Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side."Behind the stripper, an electronic screen hung from a backdrop showed a picture of the deceased. Text at the bottom of the screen read, "we offer profound condolences for the death of Mr Chang." Zhang said that the show cost 3,000 yuan ($480) as it was held during the Spring Festival holidays, saying that the shows are cheaper at other times of the year. During the performance, the host also announced to the public that the show was sponsored by Chang's daughter, "as a way to show off his large family," said Zhang. [Global Times]
'Embryologic twin' tumour discovered in student's brain -
Doctors in California have removed a tumour they have described as an "embryologic twin" deep inside the brain of a young woman. Yamini Karanam, 26, a PhD student in Indiana, had been experiencing difficulties with drowsiness, reading and concentration. The discovery was made when doctors performed a newly-developed form of surgery to remove the tumour. The growth, known as a teratoma, had bone and hair. Ms Karanam, a student at Indiana University, jokingly described the tumour to KNBC, a California TV station, as her "evil twin sister who's been torturing me for the past 26 years". [BBC]
Nepal
3-Olympian Bruce Jenner makes transgender history by identifying as a woman -
Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said on Friday that he identifies as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender. The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, nearly 40 years after his record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that gave him the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete." At the outset of the taped interview, Sawyer asked "Are you a woman?" and Jenner responded, "Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman." [Reuters]
Bruce Jenner
Couple plan to be oldest newlyweds -
Two elderly lovebirds from East Sussex, England are set to become the world's oldest newlyweds when they tie the knot in June.
George Kirby, who is 102, finally proposed to 91-year-old Doreen Luckie after they had lived together for 25 years. [BBC]
Roman Abramovich - Owner of Chelsea FC and 10th richest man in Britain
Paula Radcliffe runs the London Marathon for the last time -
Briton Radcliffe, 41, ran the 26.2-mile course in two hours 36 minutes 55 seconds, less than three years after surgery on a serious foot injury.
"It was just amazing the whole way round," the world-record holder said. "I wore the sunglasses to keep a lid on my emotions and they definitely hid some tears along the way," she added. Radcliffe won the London Marathon in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and her 2003 winning time of 2:15:25 remains the world record.
Paula Radcliffe
Hilary Clinton Twitter (April 28 2015)
Baltimore police enforce curfew -
Police fired gas to enforce a curfew on the streets of Baltimore, a night after violence and arson rocked the city. After an evening of largely peaceful protests, a few hundred people defied the (local time)deadline of 22:00. But in the face of thousands of troops on the city streets, the remaining crowds later dispersed and police said the curfew was working. The protests have gone on daily since the death of Freddie Gray in police custody on 19 April. [BBC] (See Top Twitter Trends)
Sam Smith cancels Australian tour and Logie Awards show -
Sam Smith has been forced to pull out of his Australian tour due to bleeding on his vocal cords. The singer is just half way through an eight-date tour. He was also due to perform at the TV Week Logies, the annual Australian television industry awards. Writing on the tour website, Sam said having to cancel the tour "killed" him, but that he was on doctor's orders to rest.
Sam Smith
Victoria's Secret unveils 10 new models -
Victoria’s Secret added 10 new models to its roster, which had recently been whittled down to five (Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, and Lily Aldridge). The lingerie company provided a 15-second clip introducing their new employees, and handy dandy summary of each new model's bona fides, which include, variously, racket sports, salsa dancing, and trying new meals. [Fox News] (See Video of the day and List of the day)
© @RustyRockets/Twitter
Russian spacecraft Progress M-27M 'out of control' -
A Russian spacecraft delivering supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) is out of control and will fall back to Earth, officials say. The unmanned cargo ship was launched from Kazakhstan on Tuesday, but contact was lost with it soon afterwards. Russia's space agency says Progress M-27M is now orbiting in an uncontrolled spin. It cannot reach the ISS and is likely to break up on re-entering Earth's atmosphere. [BBC]
How one tweet wiped $8bn off Twitter's value -
Twitter was due to announce its earnings for the first quarter of the year after close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where the company is listed. Announcing results after the markets close gives investors a chance to digest the news, sleep on it, and then start trading again the next day. Except it turns out that somebody thought it would be a good idea to release this information early, on the technology-led Nasdaq-run investor relations page for Twitter. Initially it seemed no-one really noticed the error, until a well-placed tweet highlighted the mistake and revealed Twitter's disappointing results. The markets were still trading, and Twitter had not had the chance to formally present its results in a statement that would have bathed them in a more flattering light. At one point in the final hours of trading, the stock had lost more than $8bn (£5bn), or 25% of its opening price. Selerity is a tech start-up [...] that automatically scans all sorts of documents, press releases, and social media online and looks for anything that could prove useful to investors. Selerity then tweeted its source, adding to Twitter's embarrassment by making it clear that the results had been neither leaked or hacked.
Selerity tweet © @Selerity/Twitter
The Apple Watch range
Tesla’s $3,000 Powerwall Will Let Households Run Entirely On Solar Energy -
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk unveiled ‘Tesla Energy’ — a new business arm that is focused on ending our dependence on grid power and switching instead to solar energy. The first Tesla Energy product is ‘Powerwall Home Battery,’ a stationary battery that can power a household without requiring the grid. The battery is rechargeable lithium-ion — it uses Tesla’s existing battery tech — and can be fixed to a wall, removing much of the existing complexity around using a local power source. For one thing, the company’s batteries cost $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh. They are open for pre-orders in the U.S. now; the first orders will be dispatched “in late summer.” [Techcrunch.com] On March 31 2015, Musk tweeted about a new product and shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters.
Artist's rendering of the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury Date Source
Bruno Mars
TV star Sofia Vergara in battle over frozen embryos -
Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara is in a legal battle with her former fiance, who wants to have children from the couple's frozen embryos.
Nick Loeb said he wants a surrogate to carry and give birth to two embryos he and Vergara created through in vitro fertilisation before they split up. He said the actress, who plays Gloria in the ABC comedy, has refused. Vergara, who has been named the highest-earning actress on TV for the last three years, declined to comment. [BBC]
Sofia Vergara
Ben E King: R&B legend dies at 76 -
Ben E King, the soul and R&B singer best known for the classic song Stand By Me, has died aged 76. His publicist confirmed to The Telegraph that he died of natural causes on Thursday. The singer, loved around the world for the 1961 hit, rose to fame in the late 1950 with The Drifters, with songs including There Goes My Baby and Save The Last Dance For Me. The R&B singer went on to further success with Spanish Harlem, I (Who Have Nothing), and Don't Play That Song (You Lied). [Daily Telegraph] (See List of The Day)
Floyd Mayweather
Best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell dies -
The best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell [pen name Barbara Vine] has died aged 85, her publisher has said. The celebrated British author was best known for her series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Wexford. Her publishers announced that Rendell passed away in London at 8am today. Paying tribute, they said they were "devastated by the loss" of one of their best-loved authors. The Labour peer was admitted to hospital in January in a critical but stable condition after suffering a serious stroke. Her crime novels gained her committed fans for decades and covered a range of issues from racism to domestic violence. [Daily Telegraph]
Ruth Rendell in 2007
In January Vonn won her 63rd World Cup downhill title and Woods lost a tooth in the media scrum.
Jose Mourinho
And how should you officially great [sic] the new princess, should you ever be so lucky to meet her in person? [Celebuzz]
World Snooker Championship: Bingham beats Murphy 18-15 -
Stuart Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a gripping final at the Crucible to win his first World Championship. Bingham began the final session with a 14-11 lead and won an epic 64-minute frame at 15-15 to close in on victory. The 38-year-old made a break of 65 to go 17-15 in front and clinched the title with a brilliant 88. Bingham, from Basildon, becomes the oldest snooker world champion since Welshman Ray Reardon won the title aged 45 in 1978. [BBC] (See List of the Day)
Stuart Bingham
Salman Khan
Django Unchained actress to apologise to police -
An actress investigated by police after a report she had sex in a car in public must apologise to officers, after admitting disturbing the peace.
Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts had initially claimed police actions last September were racially motivated. Watts was handcuffed and briefly detained during the incident, after LA Police responded to a call about "indecent exposure". Prosecutors made a deal to drop charges of committing a lewd act in public. The pair had been facing up to six months in jail and a $1,000 (£659) fine if convicted of committing a lewd act in public. [BBC]
Kitchen microwaves baffle Australian space scientists -
After 17 years of fruitlessly searching the galaxy, Australian scientists have discovered the source of mysterious radio signals hitting a telescope. It turns out the source was their own kitchen microwaves. PhD student Emily Petroff made the discovery at the Parkes telescope, after noticing that the signals were only received during business hours. The rays, known as "perytons", were emitted when impatient staff opened the microwave door prematurely. [BBC]
50 Shades of Subterfuge: Rape charges as 'male model' offering sex in dark turns out to be balding 68-year-old -
A Frenchman masquerading as a 37-year old "male model" offering women 50 Shades of Grey-type sex dates in the dark is facing rape charges after they belatedly discovered he was a short, fat and balding 68-year old. A man calling himself Anthony Laroche attracted much female interest on several dating websites after depicting himself as a young, mysterious prince charming with a photo highlighting his smouldering gaze, square jaw and designer stubble. Adding spice to the proceedings, "Anthony" proposed a "blind" date in which the two total strangers had sex in the dark on their first encounter at his flat in Nice, southern France. [Daily Telegraph]
© @Louis_Tomlinson & @NaughtyBoyMusic / Twitter
Spanish domestic football to be suspended-
The Spanish football federation says it is suspending indefinitely all end-of-season games in disputes with the government, including over TV rights. A federation statement said it was also unhappy with receiving only 4.55% of pools revenue, though it said it was still open to dialogue. All matches will be suspended from 16 May, including the domestic cup final. In the top division, Barcelona lead La Liga rivals Real Madrid by two points, with only three games left to play. In the statement, the RFEF federation said it had acted after three months of talks with the government had failed to resolve the dispute. It said more than 600,000 players and 30,000 matches across the country would be affected by the suspension. [BBC]
Japan: Zoo sorry for naming monkey after new princess -
The Takasakiyama Zoo, in southern Japan, was inundated with complaints after announcing the female macaque monkey's name on Wednesday, the Kyodo news agency reports. The zoo says the name was chosen after a public vote, a tradition for their first newborn macaque monkey each year. Charlotte received the most votes, although it wasn't exactly a runaway winner, with 59 out of 853 people choosing it. But other members of the public felt that it was disrespectful to the British royal family to name a monkey after a princess. The zoo faced a "barrage" of complaints from people wanting them to re-name the macaque, with some noting that the Japanese people might not be best pleased if a British monkey were named after one of their own royal family, Kyodo reports. The zoo has apologised in a statement on its website. [BBC]
Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown dies, aged 71 -
Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown has died aged 71, his manager said. The singer, famous for hits including You Sexy Thing and It Started With A Kiss, died at home in the Bahamas. His manager, Phil Dale, said he had suffered from liver cancer. [Daily Telegraph] (See Video of the Day and List of the Day)
BBC Exit Polls
Putin's new tank designed to 'outclass the West’ breaks down -
A new Russian tank announced with much fanfare as superior to Western machines stalled during a dress rehearsal for Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on Thursday. The T-14 Armata, making only its second public appearance, ground to a halt on Red Square, opposite Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minster, was reportedly forced to approach the tank to find out what had happened; servicemen then tried to hook it up to another military vehicle and tow it away. [Daily Telegraph]
Sam Smith to have surgery on vocal cords -
Singer Sam Smith has told his fans he needs "surgery" on his vocal cords. The 22-year-old singer pulled out of the rest of his Australian tour last week, after doctors discovered a haemorrhage on the vocal cords. Smith has since flown to the United States to see a specialist. In a post on Twitter, he said: "I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better [over] the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven't recovered and I'm going to need surgery." [Daily Telegraph]
[BBC]
Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions -
Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the "last version" of the dominant desktop software. His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an "ongoing manner". Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said. [BBC]
The International Space Station
Nigella Lawson: US show The Taste axed by ABC -
Nigella Lawson's US cookery show The Taste has been axed by TV network ABC after two series, following a dramatic ratings slump. The cooking competition lost more than half its viewers, falling from highs of seven million to less than three million viewers on New Year's Day. Channel 4 axed the UK version of The Taste last year after just one series. [BBC]
Nigella Lawson
Freddie Flintoff shops his wife for driving off without paying for fuel -
England cricket hero Andrew Flintoff was contacted by police about driving off without paying for fuel - before revealing to the world the culprit was actually his wife. The 37-year-old - known by his nickname Freddie - received a letter from police in Wilmslow, Cheshire, to say someone using his car had left a petrol station without paying. After bailing his wife out by paying the unknown amount, Flintoff then told his 1.6m Twitter followers who was behind the incident, on Monday. Explaining his wife, Rachael, had forgotten to settle the fuel bill while paying for shopping, he even joked that police should "feel free to come round and take her!" [Daily Telegraph] Flintoff won the Australian version of "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" in March.
© Flintoff11
Picasso's Women of Algiers
Ukip rejects Nigel Farage's resignation as party leader -
Nigel Farage is to stay on as leader of the UK Independence Party after the party’s ruling board rejected his resignation. Mr Farage quit as Ukip leader last Friday, delivering on a pledge to resign if he failed to be elected as leader of South Thanet. The news risks making Ukip into a laughing stock because Mr Farage had raised the stakes about his future by insisting he would resign. Mr Farage's decision to stay on also raises questions over whether Douglas Carswell, Ukip's only MP, will quit the party to become an independent MP after he suggested Mr Farage should not lead Ukip again. Mr Carswell later repeatedly refused to endorse Mr Farage's return to the Ukip leadership after speaking at an event in central London. [Daily Telegraph]
Nigel Farage
James Corden can't believe the Late Late Show is still on the air -
James Corden's appearance at the Bafta TV awards was just a flying visit. In fact, his time on home soil (19 hours) was less than the time he spent in the sky travelling to and from Los Angeles for it (23 hours). "I've genuinely had some of the best nights of my life at this event," he told us on the red carpet. Since he took over the Late Late Show in March, America's latest chat show host has been grabbing headlines with his big name guests and viral videos. But he admitted to Newsbeat that it's "mostly mystifying" as to why the show is still on the air. "No-one could have predicted the show would be received in such a manner. It's beyond all of our wildest dreams." [BBC]
James-Corden
David Cameron unveils 'blue collar' Cabinet -
David Cameron has unveiled his “blue collar Cabinet” as he promoted the son of a milkman, the daughter of a garage-owner and the Tory Party’s “champion of the people” to senior Government roles. In a bid to put making the Conservatives “the real party for working people” at the centre of the next five years of Government, Mr Cameron promoted Robert Halfon, Sajid Javid, Greg Clark and Priti Patel to senior ministerial roles. It means that 43 per cent of Cabinet ministers were educated in comprehensive schools – a rise from 21 per cent in Mr Cameron’s first Coalition Cabinet in 2010. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day for the complete Conservative cabinet.
Arianna Huffington co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post
Prince Charles
Calista Flockhart who plays Supergirl's boss
Swiss freediver breaks world record for holding breath underwater -
Peter Colat, a Swiss freediver, has held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, smashing the world record. Colat, 38, performed the feat in a water tank in St Gallen, Switzerland. The previous Guinness World Record for oxygen-assisted static apnea was 19 seconds shorter and was set by an Italian, Nicola Putignano, last May. Colat, an experienced diver from Zurich, said the first 12 minutes was no problem. He said: "I felt the first need to breathe very late, but because of this it was even stronger." Under the Guinness rules he was allowed to inhale pure oxygen 10 minutes prior to his attempt. See List of the day
B.B. King in 2009
Geri Halliwell marries Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner -
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has married Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner in a wedding attended by a string of celebrities from showbiz and motor racing worlds. The 42-year-old singer wed in St Mary's Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire. She arrived at the parish church, just off the High Street, in a vintage Rolls Royce ahead of the wedding to Horner, who she first met in 2009. She was accompanied by her daughter Bluebell, who was her bridesmaid. [BBC] In February 2010 Geri Halliwell apparently made then boyfriend Henry Beckwith feel like Duke of Edinburgh according to his father
Janet Jackson
Boston bombing trial: Death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -
A US jury has sentenced Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by lethal injection. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women came to its decision. Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Tsarnaev, now 21, and his brother placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Victims and their family members sobbed as the sentence was read. Tsarnaev bowed his head but showed no emotion. [BBC]
Sadio Mané
David Lynch rejoins Twin Peaks cult classic revival -
Film Director David Lynch has announced that he will direct the sequel of the cult classic Twin Peaks after a month-long deadlock over budget concerns. The surrealist filmmaker made the announcement on Twitter. The US television network Showtime said last year that the series, based on a small-town murder in Twin Peaks, would return as a limited series in 2016, 25 years after its last airing. Correspondents say that Mr Lynch's apparent about-turn has been celebrated by diehard fans - and by Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan, - who played FBI Agent Dale Cooper in the original series and is tipped to reprise his role.
© @Kyle_MacLachlan/Twitter
American Pharoah wins Kentucky Derby for Espinoza & Baffert -
Favourite American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby to give jockey Victor Espinoza back-to-back wins in the race before a record crowd of 170,513.
The Bob Baffert-trained horse had won four times on the trot coming into the 'Run for the Roses' at Churchill Downs. American Pharaoh went to the front just past the final turn and finished ahead of Firing Line, trained by Englishman Simon Callaghan. Another Baffert-trained horse, Dortmund, finished third.
Victor Espinoza
Lionel Messi
Texas bikers in deadly shootout at Waco restaurant -
Police in the US state of Texas say nine people have been killed and at least 100 arrested after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco. The incident happened at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place. Police said eight had died at the scene and a ninth in hospital - all were bikers. At least 18 others were hurt. Waco police said the shooting happened shortly after midday when rival gangs got into a fight, apparently over parking space near the restaurant. Up to five gangs were involved. Police spokesman Sgt W Patrick Swanton said the fight started with punches and then escalated to chains, clubs, knives and finally firearms.
Blizzard tackles World of Warcraft 'cheats' -
Thousands of World of Warcraft accounts have been shut down by Blizzard as it moves to stop people using "bots" to play the game Blizzard announced it had banned a "large number" of accounts in a message posted to the game's online forums. The accounts had been discovered using programs, called "bots", that automate gameplay, said Blizzard. Blizzard did not reveal how many accounts had been shut down. However, a widely-shared screengrab of a conversation between a player and a customer service rep suggested that about 100,000 accounts had been closed. The ban will be in force for six months, said Blizzard.
Simon Cowell wants trap door and fire at next leaders' debate -
Britain's Got Talent boss Simon Cowell has offered his services for future party leaders' debates, saying he would "love" to produce them. "I'd do it in a heartbeat! 100%. I'd have walk-ons, music, fire... and a trap door if people didn't like what they said," he said. "And I'd definitely have a clap-o-meter. I am deadly serious. I really would love a chance to do that!" Last month's seven-way party leaders' TV debate got seven million viewers. Cowell, whose TV talent show became the highest-rated entertainment programme on television last month, was keen to get audiences more involved in the debates. [BBC]
Taylor Swift
Cate Blanchett
Prostitute pleads guilty in Google executive heroin overdose death on yacht -
A high-end prostitute who pleaded guilty to killing a Google executive with an overdose of heroin aboard his yacht has been jailed for six years. Alix Tichelman, 27, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of Forrest Hayes, 51, a father-of-five, who was found on his 50ft boat in Santa Cruz, California in November 2013. Surveillance cameras on the yacht recorded Tichelman gathering her belongings, including heroin and needles, finishing a glass of wine, and stepping over Mr Hayes as she left. Following her arrest she was dubbed the "call girl killer" and the "harbour hooker". [Daily Telegraph]
'Australian Hugh Hefner' criticised for posting photo of his wife on a leash -
A tobacco tycoon labelled "Australia’s Hugh Hefner" has been accused of creating a poisonous cult in his waterside mansion after he posted images of his wife on a leash and of his children attending raucous poolside parties. Travis Beynon, who calls himself The Candyman, lives on a £1.9 million estate in Queensland’s Gold Coast and publishes a constant stream of images of his antics on his Instagram account. But the former Australian Football league player has been criticised for his lifestyle, particularly after he posted a photo of himself leading his wife Taesha and another woman on a leash, with the caption “Candyman's interpretation of ‘Doggy Style’”. [Daily Telegraph]
David Letterman
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
Kit Harrington
Thousands of new words added to Scrabble dictionary -
Thousands of new words - including slang terms lolz, shizzle and obvs - have been added to the latest Scrabble word list, its publisher has said.
About 6,500 words have been added to the latest Collins Scrabble Word List, including a number of slang terms used on social media and in text messages. New words include twerking, emoji, bezzy and ridic - short for ridiculous. One the highest scoring new entries is quinzhee - an Inuit snow shelter - which scores 29 Scrabble points. Other new words now acceptable in the board game include onesie, devo - short for devolution - vape, and shootie, meaning a fashionable shoe that covers the ankle. [BBC]
Kim Jong-un's 'brat pack' brother jets in to London for Eric Clapton concert -
Kim Jong-chol, allegedly passed over as heir to the North Korea regime because he has a weak character, was seen entering the Royal Albert Hall with a female companion and wearing a leather jacket. Wearing a leather jacket, T-shirt and sunglasses, Kim Jong-chol was caught on film by a camera crew from Japan's TBS channel entering the venue with an unidentified woman. South Korean media reported that Kim was staying at The Chelsea Harbour Hotel and was scheduled to board a flight from London to Moscow on Friday. Rooms at the hotel cost up to £2,184 a night. Mr Kim, 33, was passed over by his father, Kim Jong-il, as heir to the North Korean regime because he has a weak character, according to South Korean intelligence reports. To compensate, he has taken on the mantle of the unofficial leader of the North's "brat pack" of children of the regime's elite.[Daily Telegraph]
Måns_Zelmerlöw from Sweden
Ireland becomes first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote -
Ireland has voted by a huge majority to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so by popular vote in a move hailed as a social revolution and welcomed around the world. Some 62% of the Irish Republic’s electorate voted in favour of gay marriage. The result means that a republic once dominated by the Catholic church ignored the instructions of its cardinals and bishops. The huge Yes vote marks another milestone in Ireland’s journey towards a more liberal, secular society. Out of an electorate of more than 3 million, 1,201,607 backed gay marriage, while 734,300 voters said No. The result prompted a massive street party around the gay district of central Dublin close to the national count centre. [The Guardian]
Spanish La Liga ends with Barcelona on top but Cristiano Ronaldo with 61 goals -
Cristiano Ronaldo finished with a season's best goals tally of 61 as his first-half hat-trick helped Real Madrid end their season by hammering Getafe 7-1. The Portuguese forward's haul is one more than the 60 he scored in 2011-12. Barcelona had already won the title and said adios to their captain Xavi Hernández who has won eight La Liga titles with the side after joing the club aged 11 in 1991. See List of the Day 2
Xavi Hernández
Banned number plates revealed: VA61ANA banned but PEN15 allowed -
The DVLA has revealed its entire catalogue of forbidden car number plates - including some amusing selections as well as surprising omissions. It seems motorists can drive a PEN15, but not a VA61ANA, and while BL03 JOB is forbidden ORG45M is fine. The list of personalised plates the DVLA believes to be in poor taste runs to 46 pages and includes religious or homophobic words. [Daily Telegraph]
Banned number plates - how they might look
Steven Gerrard
Indy 500: Juan Pablo Montoya wins race for second time -
Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya recovered from the back of the grid to win his second Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Montoya fell back to 30th place after his car's rear wing was damaged during a caution period, but recovered and with three laps left overtook Penske Racing team-mate Will Power to win. The 39-year-old was last victorious in the 200-lap 2.5-mile race in 2000 before spending six years in Formula 1 and eight years in Nascar.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Sean O'Brien aka Dancing Man
Galapagos volcano erupts for first time in 30 years -
A volcano in the Galapagos Islands erupted for the first time in more than 30 years on Monday, spilling streams of bright orange lava and raising fears for the world's only colony of pink iguanas. The Galapagos National Park warned on Twitter that Isabela Island, where Wolf Volcano erupted at dawn, holds "the world's only population" of the critically endangered Conolophus marthae, also known as the Galapagos rosy iguana. [Daily Telegraph]
Wolf Volcano
Galapagos pink iguana (Conolophus marthae)
Instagram spams users with 'highlights' from their friends' feeds -
Instagram has started sending unsolicited emails to users with a selection of posts from their friends' news feeds, in an attempt to re-engage people who have drifted away from the social network. Like Twitter, Instagram presents updates in reverse-chronological order, meaning that the posts people see when they log on are simply the most recent – not necessarily the most relevant. While this is an effective way of keeping people's news feeds fresh, it also creates the risk that users miss the most interesting content, due to the constant stream of updates cascading through their news feeds. Instagram's email updates are designed to offer a more curated experience, presenting users with only the most popular content from their network of contacts, TechCrunch reports. [Daily Telegraph]
Red-Arrows-and-seagull (Photo - SWNS Group)
Taylor Swift enters Forbes 100 most powerful women list -
The 25 year old singer and songwriter has become the youngest woman ever to be included on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
She's included at number 64 in the list released on Tuesday because, Forbes says, she 'has not only broken record sales and captivated the world with her fantastically honest lyrics, but she has proven herself as an impressive businesswoman.' [Daily Mail] See List of the Day
Greg Dyke
Arsene Wenger
Barcelona wins Copa del Rey -
Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 with goals from Lionel Messi (2) and Neymar. Along with fellow striker Luis Suarez, the trio have scored 120 goals this season, the most by three players in the history of first class football.
Lionel Messi
Wolfsburg win German Cup final -
Wolfsburg win the German Cup for the first time beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1. Luiz Gustavo, Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost scored Wolfsburg's Goals. It was Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp's final match in charge of the team.
Jurgen Klopp
Paris St Germain win French treble -
Paris St-Germain became the first French team to win a domestic treble beating Auxerre 1-0 in the French Cup final. Laurent Blanc's side also beat Bastia 4-0 to win the French League Cup and were crowned Ligue 1 champions for a third successive year. Edinson Cavani scored the only goal in the final.
Edinson Cavani
Alastair Cook: Captain becomes England's leading Test run scorer -
Alastair Cook has passed Graham Gooch to become England's leading Test run scorer. In reaching 32 on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley, he overtook Gooch's mark of 8,900, which has stood since 1995. England captain Cook, 30, is playing his 114th Test, having made his debut in 2006. [BBC] See LIst of the Day 2
Enrique Iglesias
John Kerry breaks leg in bicycle crash in France -
The US Secretary of State John Kerry has broken his leg in a biking accident in the French Alps. Mr Kerry, 71, was in a stable condition in hospital in nearby Geneva, Switzerland, a spokesman said. He was expected to make a full recovery after breaking his right femur and was in good spirits, said John Kirby. It appeared Mr Kerry hit a kerb and there was no vehicle involved in the accident, a state department official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. [BBC]
John Kerry
Harriette Thompson, 92, sets marathon record in San Diego -
A 92-year-old cancer survivor has become the oldest woman to finish a marathon. American Harriette Thompson ran the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego in seven hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Having survived three bouts of oral cancer, Thompson crossed the line accompanied by her son Brenny, 56. Aged 92 years and 65 days, Thompson took the record of 92 years and 19 days set by Gladys Burrill in the Honolulu Marathon in 2010.
Front cover of Vanity Fair July 2015 featuring an Annie Leibovitz photograph of Caitlyn Jenner.[/caption]
British tank crushes learner driver's car in Germany -
There's a lot to remember when you're a learner driver but a pretty good rule is: don't pull out in front of tanks. That's what happened to an 18-year-old driving this Toyota Yaris in the Lippe district of Germany today. According to local police she pulled out in front of a column of British military vehicles travelling on a ring road around the town, often used by British forces stationed nearby to transport tanks and other armoured vehicles. The driver of the tank, a 24-year-old British serviceman, wasn't able to bring his Challenger 2 tank to a stop in time.
Inevitably, in a battle between 62-tonnes of armour and a one-tonne hatchback, there was only going to be one winner. Luckily the driver of the car was completely unharmed in the incident, and the tank crew pulled her free. The car, however, suffered 12,000 euros (£8,600) worth of damage.
The tank, not entirely surprisingly - was unscathed. [BBC]
Kim Kardashian Instagram
Four teenagers air-lifted to hospital with serious injuries on roller-coaster crash at Alton Towers -
Five people were hospitalised and a further eleven required medical attention yesterday following a crash on an Alton Towers roller-coaster that the theme park described as the worst in its 35-year history. Two men aged 27 and 18 and two women aged 19 and 17, were airlifted to hospital after suffering serious leg injuries and another man aged 20 was treated for neck and abdominal injury before being taken to hospital by land ambulance. A dozen riders were released one at a time over four hours after being stranded 25ft in the air at an angle of 45 degrees when a carriage carrying 16 people crashed into an empty carriage on The Smiler ride, which has a top speed of 50mph. [Daily Telegraph]
Sam Smith with Doctor Zeitels © Samsmithworld/Instagram
Tricky GCSE maths exam sees pupils take to Twitter -
Actor, Sir Christopher Lee dies, aged 93 -
See full story on June 11, 2015 when his death was announced.
Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015)
Tim Roth
Naked rambler Stephen Gough appears nude via video link from prison -
A man known as the naked rambler made legal history after appearing nude via prison video link at the Court of Appeal. Stephen Gough lost an appeal against a conviction for the breach of an Asbo. He appeared from Winchester Prison where he is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for breaching the order banning him from being naked in public. His counsel Matthew Scott argued Gough should have been allowed to appear naked at the original trial. Lady Justice Rafferty refused Gough's appeal. Clive Coleman, the BBC's legal affairs correspondent, said Gough, 56, almost certainly made legal history by appearing in his natural state.
New York Post headline April 15, 1083
Chinese actress Zhao Wei sued for 'staring' at man through his TV set -
A Chinese actress is being sued after a man claims she "stared at him too intensely" through his TV set. The lawsuit was filed by a man in Shanghai after he watched Zhao Wei in a series called Tiger Mom, which debuted last month. A new law making it harder for courts in China to reject lawsuits has led to concerns of a rise in the number of frivolous claims being made. The rules came into force on 1 May with a 29% rise in cases reported in China. The Supreme People's Court says there were just over a million cases filed compared with same period last year. [BBC Newsbeat]
Zhao Wei
Dusty Rhodes
Spain Princess Cristina loses title amid fraud inquiry -
King Felipe VI of Spain has removed the title "Duchess of Palma" from his sister, Princess Cristina, who is to go on trial charged with tax evasion. She was granted the title in 1997 when she married Inaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who is also accused of tax evasion. Princess Cristina had asked the king to remove her title, her lawyer said. But the royal palace said the king made the decision before seeing her request. She denies the tax fraud charges. [BBC]
Princess Cristina
White woman 'posed as black civil right leader' in years-long deception -
The name of a local civil rights leader in the US northwest is trending worldwide after her parents told the media that she is a white woman who has been passing herself off as black for years. [BBC Trending] See Top Twitter Trends.
Rachel Dolezal, 37, has been the head of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, or NAACP, in Spokane, Washington, since January. But her parents said Ms Dolezal is of German, Czech, and Swedish descent with a smattering of Native American ancestry. Mr and Mrs Dolezal said their daughter had black siblings who were adopted and that she went to school in Mississippi, where the family were part of a mainly black community. But they said she only began to claim African descent after divorcing her husband, who was also black, in 2004. Her mother, Ruthanne, said Ms Dolezal began to “disguise herself” in 2006 or 2007. [Daily Telegraph]
Sofia Hellqvist
Gunman killed by police snipers after attack on Dallas police headquarters -
A police sniper has shot and killed an armed suspect in Texas hours after the gunman opened fire on Dallas police headquarters before fleeing in an armoured van. The getaway vehicle was pursued by police to a fast food restaurant parking lot in the nearby city of Hutchin, where officers disabled the vehicle, in the incident early on Saturday morning. Some hours later, police said the suspect was killed. Two explosive devices, including one described as a pipe bomb, were found earlier on outside the Dallas police building. They have both been cleared. One detonated when a bomb disposal robot attempted to move it, but nobody was injured. [Daily Telegraph]
Queen's birthday honours list: knights outnumber dames five to one -
Men outnumber women by almost five to one in the highest honours announced for the Queen’s birthday, which sees knighthoods for comedian Lenny Henry, trade unionist Paul Kenny and singer-songwriter Van “the Man” Morrison. For only the second time in honours history, more women received awards – 51% of all recipients – but just seven are made dames, compared with 33 knighthoods for men, reflecting a gender imbalance at the highest levels of industry, business, politics and academia. [Guardian] See List of the Day
The Magna Carta (originally known as the Charter of Liberties) of 1215
Jess Glynne to have vocal surgery after pulling out of Isle of Wight Festival -
Jess Glynne has revealed she will undergo vocal cord surgery next week. The singer was forced to pull out of the weekend's Isle of Wight Festival after consulting a doctor. She tweeted: "I am so so sad to tell you that I'm having to have vocal surgery next week" "I'm so sorry and it kills me but I have to cancel some forthcoming shows and festivals. I'm a little scared but I will be back singing better than ever very soon! Love hugs and kisses Jess." Sam Smith had to pull out half way through his Australian tour in April after suffering haemorrhages on his vocal cords. [BBC Newsbeat]
Chicago Blackhawks take Stanley Cup in front of jubilant home crowd -
The Chicago Blackhaws defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 Monday night to win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. Chicago are the only team since the National Hockey League lockout in the 2004-05 season to win three Stanley Cups, tempting the modern ‘dynasty’ label. That will be left to history to decide for certain, but there was little question Monday night where the Cup belonged. It all amounted to the first Chicago Stanley Cup win on home ice since 1938, when the Cup itself wasn’t even present for the victory, as the league at that time didn’t think the Blackhawks could win. Despite a weather delay, the Cup finally made it to the United Center this time around, and was hoisted once again by captain Jonathan Toews.
Jonathan Toews
Chris Evans (L) with Joss Stone
Foo Fighters cancel Glastonbury gig -
Rock group Foo Fighters have cancelled their headline slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival. The announcement comes four days after frontman Dave Grohl fell off stage at a concert in Sweden, fracturing his leg. June dates in Belgium, and at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium and London's Wembley Stadium have also been cancelled. Grohl apologised to fans, saying it was "just not physically possible" for him to perform at the moment.
The Eton College Coat of Arms
Star Wars: The Force Awakens second trailer sets YouTube world record -
The second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is officially the most viewed film trailer on YouTube in a 24-hour period. Guinness World Records says the clip, released in April, was watched more than 30 million views in a day. The trailer sees the return of Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford again, alongside co-pilot Chewbacca. The Force Awakens, the first instalment of the franchise's new trilogy, will be set 30 years after Return of the Jedi. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day and List of the Day
Holly Willoughby
Heinz ketchup customers directed to porn website -
Heinz has apologised after a QR code on a tomato ketchup bottle directed customers to a pornography website. The error was caused because the QR code had hosted a competition that ended and expired, allowing an adult entertainment firm to buy it. The fault was spotted by Daniel Korell, from Germany, who flagged up the error to Heinz. "I happened to scan it during lunch and I was a bit surprised where I got redirected to," Mr Korell told the BBC. "I found it rather funny and thought it was worth [sharing] on Heinz's Facebook page." “We really regret the incident,” a Heinz representative said on Facebook. [Daily Telegraph]
Shane Warne
The Simpsons say divorce rumours are 'baseless' -
They are one of TV's longest married couples, but of late there have been rumours that it's divorce-ville for Homer and Marge Simpson. Not true, says the animated couple. In a video posted online, called Together Forever, Marge says: "Homie and I are here to address baseless rumours that we are going to split up." The rumour-mill kicked in after Al Jean, one of the original writers of the show, said that there could be a legal separation for the pair. He made the comments in an interview with Variety magazine, which discussed various future storylines. Marge and Homer have been married for 26 series of the cult TV show. See Video of the Day [BBC Newsbeat]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Taylor Swift pulls 1989 album from Apple Music -
Taylor Swift has pulled her hit album 1989 from Apple's new streaming music service and criticised the company. In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers. "I'm not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months," she wrote. She said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost. "I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company," the 25-year-old said, describing Apple as one of her "best partners in selling music". "These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much," she continued. "We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period - even if it is free for the fans trying it out. "Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing." She ended her letter by calling on Apple to change its policy, suggesting she would reinstate her album on the service if the company changed its mind. "We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation." Apple has yet to comment on the issue.
Eddie Cue Tweet
Skinny jeans given health warning -
A 35-year-old woman had to be cut out of a pair after her calves ballooned in size, they described in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. She had spent hours squatting to empty cupboards for a house move in Australia. By evening, her feet were numb and she found it hard to walk. Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans. Compartment syndrome is a painful and potentially serious condition caused by bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles - in this case, the calves. The condition caused the woman to trip and fall and, unable to get up, she then spent several hours lying on the ground. [BBC]
Vine's Carter Reynolds pressures his ex for oral sex in leaked video -
An x-rated video of Vine star Carter Reynolds leaked Sunday that purportedly shows him pressuring his ex-girlfriend for oral sex, raising issues of consent and spurring Internet backlash. The video is filmed from Reynolds' point of view, with his pants pulled down and his erect penis exposed. His ex-girlfriend, Instagram celeb Maggie Lindemann, tells him "I don't think I can" and repeatedly stresses "I am really uncomfortable." Reynolds tells her to "do it," and "just pretend (the camera) isn't there." Lindemann eventually curls up and stops looking at the camera. It ends with Reynolds saying, "Oh my gosh, Maggie." Lindemann is 16 years old, and Reynolds recently turned 19, leaving issues of consent and statutory rape on the table depending when and where the clip was filmed, as well as child pornography issues depending on how old Reynolds is in the video. [Daily Dot] "Carter" tops Twitter trends Worldwide - See Top Twitter Trends below
Carter Reynolds Tweet @Carterreynolds
Tom Holland
Titanic composer James Horner dies in plane crash -
The composer James Horner, who won Oscars for the theme song and score for the film Titanic, has died in a plane crash in California. He was 61. His credits included numerous other high-profile films, among them Avatar, Braveheart and Aliens. He was alone in his two-seater plane when the accident happened. [BBC]
Formula 1: US-Qatari investors 'to bid for sport' -
The Miami Dolphins American football team owner Stephen Ross is reportedly working with investors from Qatar to buy a stake in Formula 1 racing. RSE Ventures and Qatar Sports Investments plan a bid for CVC Capital Partners' 35.5% stake in the holding company that owns F1. The Financial Times and Reuters said the deal could be worth up to $8bn, and help build F1's presence in the US. [BBC]
@SOS Twitter
An end to email shame? Gmail's 'Undo Send' comes to the masses -
“Today we’re adding ‘Undo Send’ as a formal setting in Gmail on the web,”explained Google in a blog post as the change went live. The feature, which can prevent massive social embarrassment and help avoid long chats with the HR department about what you just mistakenly sent to a colleague, is to be a standard part of Google’s webmail. It can be turned on from within Gmail’s settings menu and enables people to set a “cancellation period” of five, 10, 20 or 30 seconds after sending any email, during which they can call it back. The feature has been available in Gmail’s experimental Labs settings for some time, and was recently added to the company’s Inbox mobile email app – so many of Gmail’s more tech-savvy users will have set it up already. [The Guardian]
Reddit celebrates its 10th birthday with a ton of wacky stats -
It’s been 10 years since Reddit first launched – basically an eternity in Web time – and it’s celebrating its birthday by looking back at its history, as well as some statistics on where the platform is today. In the ten years since its inception, Reddit has garnered over 16 billion upvotes, compared to ‘just’ 2.6 billion downvotes. It’s kind of nice to know that in a platform often infamous for its trolls, more feedback has been positive than negative. There have also been 190 millions posts, 64 percent of which are links. On these posts, there have been 1.7 billion comments, of which 0.36 percent have mentioned cats. That’s over 6 million cat comments. [The Next Web] See List of the Day
Patrick Macnee in Lobster man from Mars
Clint Dempsey gets two-year US cup ban for outburst -
Clint Dempsey has been banned from the US Open Cup for two years after ripping up a referee's notebook during a game. The Seattle Sounders forward, 33, flicked the notebook out of Daniel Radford's hand, picked it up off the pitch and then tore it into pieces after a team-mate had been sent off. The ex-Fulham and Spurs man was duly sent off, as Seattle ended with seven men in a 3-1 loss to Portland Timbers. The US captain is banned for six games or two years - whichever is longer. [BBC]
Clint Dempsey
France cracks down on Uber service after protests -
France's interior minister has ordered a ban on the low-cost car-sharing service UberPOP after a day of nationwide protests by taxi drivers. Bernard Cazeneuve said the service was "illegal" and ordered police and prosecutors to enforce its closure. His announcement followed a day of sometimes violent protests by French taxi drivers, who say the US-based firm Uber is stealing their livelihoods. [BBC]
US spy chief James Clapper says China lead suspect in cyber hack -
China is the "leading suspect" in the massive hack of a US government agency holding the personnel records of millions of Americans, US intelligence chief James Clapper has said. He is the highest-ranking US official to publicly implicate Beijing since news of the data breach emerged. China always dismissed suggestions that it was behind the hacking. The statement comes after three days of high-level talks in which China and the US agreed to a "code of conduct". "China remains the leading suspects," said Mr Clapper at a conference in Washington DC, but "the US government continues to investigate" he added, according to his office.
James_R._Clapper, US intelligence Chief
The White House Facebook Page official photo today
Hilary Clinton made a similar change to her logo when the Supreme Court was earlier ruling in April.
2 Charged in Confederate Flag Removal at South Carolina Capitol -
A protester climbed a 30-foot flagpole and removed the Confederate battle flag from its perch outside the South Carolina State House early Saturday, before she was arrested and the flag replaced, the police said. The protester, an African-American woman, was nearly halfway up the pole when a State Capitol police officer on routine patrol ordered her to come down. The authorities said the woman, who was wearing climbing gear, had ignored the command. She continued her climb to the top of the flagpole and unhooked and removed the flag before descending. An officer from the Bureau of Protective Services arrested her and a white male who had aided her. [NY Times] See Video of the Day
Nicki Minaj
SpaceX Rocket Falls Apart on Way to Space Station -
An unmanned cargo ship destined for the International Space Station disintegrated minutes after being launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday morning, NASA said, raising questions about how the agency and its partners will continue keeping the station supplied. It was the third loss of a cargo ship headed to the space station in the past eight months. However, NASA officials said they had prepared for such a mishap, and do not anticipate any major disruptions to the operations of the space station. The countdown had proceeded without a hitch or worries about weather, and the 208-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket, built by Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, lifted off at 10:21 a.m. But 2 minutes, 19 seconds later, just as George Diller, the commentator during a NASA television broadcast said, “Data coming back shows vehicle on course, on track,” a white cloud emerged from the rocket’s midsection. Moments later, a rain of debris started falling toward the Atlantic Ocean more than 20 miles below. [NY Times] See Video of the Day
Greek debt crisis: Banks to remain shut all week -
The Greek government has confirmed that banks will be closed all week, after a decision by the European Central Bank not to extend emergency funding. In a decree, it cited the "extremely urgent" need to protect the financial system due to the lack of liquidity. Cash withdrawals will be limited to €60 (£42; $66) a day for this period, the decree says. Talks between Greece and the eurozone countries over bailout terms ended without an agreement on Saturday, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras then called a surprise referendum on the issue to be held on 5 July. Greece risks default and moving closer to a possible exit from the 19-member eurozone. [BBC]
Avril Lavigne
Ben Affleck
Apple Music Makes Debut With D.J. Carrying the Flag -
“Into the unknown we go,” the D. J. Zane Lowe said just after noon on Tuesday, as he began his first show on Beats 1, the Internet radio station that is a big feature of Apple’s new music service. As Apple Music opened on Tuesday — most listeners found it as part of an update of Apple’s mobile operating system — much of the attention turned to Beats 1, a live radio feed that in some ways functions as marketing for the entire service. Led by Mr. Lowe, who was born in New Zealand and became a top announcer on the BBC station Radio 1, Beats 1 is in some ways an old-fashioned radio station, with D. J.s, promotional recordings — “carts,” as they are in industry parlance, after the tape cartridges they used to fit on — and teases about new songs.
Zane Lowe tweet [@zanelowe]
Donna Karan Steps Down as Head of Iconic Brand -
In a major shift for American fashion, Donna Karan, the 66-year-old founder and chief designer of Donna Karan International, a brand that defined the way American working women dressed for decades, announced on Tuesday that she was leaving the helm of the house that bears her name. Ms. Karan will remain as an adviser to Donna Karan International, but devote more time to her Urban Zen line, which centers on wellness and artisanal goods, and its foundation. [NY Times]
Katy Perry
Hottest July day ever recorded in UK -
The UK has seen the hottest July day on record, with temperatures hitting 36.7C (98F). The Met Office said the reading had been registered at Heathrow - breaking the previous record set in 2006. 38.5C (101.3F) is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK in Faversham, Kent in August 2003. A level 3 "heatwave action" heat-health alert has been declared for all parts of England. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends
Billy Joel Bests Elton John, Sets New Record at MSG -
Billy Joel set a record for most performances by a single artist at Madison Square Garden with his 65th show Wednesday night, besting Elton John. "I didn't know I'd be here 65 times, amazing," Joel said. "I want to thank you very much for making this possible." A banner rose to the top of the stage in honor of Joel's 65th show. Actor-comedian Kevin James came onstage to help the veteran musician celebrate. [Elton] John, 68, previously had the MSG record with 64 performances. Joel sang John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" as yellow lights beamed from the stage.
Billy Joel
Dustin Brown
Selfies to replace passwords in Mastercard online payments trial -
Mastercard is testing new app that could allow customers to make purchases online by taking a selfie rather than entering a password. Currently, Mastercard customers use a system called SecureCode to verify their identity while shopping online. This requires them to enter a password at the point of sale. Participants in Mastercard's trial will be prompted to snap a photograph of their face using the Mastercard app on their smartphone at the online checkout point, rather than entering a password. This app then converts the photo into 1s and 0s using facial recognition technology, and transmits it over the internet to MasterCard, which compares it with a stored code representing the cardholder's face. If the two codes match up, then the purchase will be approved. [Daily Telegraph]
Solar Impulse
Music streaming reaches a record high in 2015 -
Music streaming has reached a record high in the UK, with the number of songs played rising by 80% compared to this time last year. New figures from the British Phonographic Industry show there have been 11.5 billion streams in the first six months of 2015. That's compared to 14.8 billion for the whole of 2014. Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk is the most streamed track of the year, with 45 million plays. [BBC Newsbeat]
Mark Ronson
BP reaches £12bn record settlement over Gulf oil spill -
British Petroleum has agreed to pay the largest settlement by a single company in US history over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. deal, which is still awaiting approval, will be worth $18.7bn (£12bn). Over 125 million gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf after an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010. [BBC]
Joey Chesnut
Chile beat Argentina on Penalties to win Copa America -
Chile secured the first major trophy in their history on home soil courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Argentina in the Copa America final.
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez slotted in the winning spot-kick after Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain fired over and Ever Banega was denied by Claudio Bravo.
Higuain had earlier missed from close range after 90 minutes of few chances. Sanchez came closest in extra time for Chile, who scored all four of their penalties in the shootout. [BBC]
Alexis Sanchez (playing for Arsenal)
England finish third in the Women's World Cup beating Germany 1-0 -
Fara Williams's extra-time penalty ensured England beat Germany for the first time in 31 years to finish third at the Women's World Cup. The performance was the second best by an England team following the 1966 win by the men's side and eclipsed the 1990 men's team, who finished fourth in Italy. The Lionesses had not beaten two-time World Cup winners Germany in 20 attempts but they more than matched their opponents and won the spot-kick in the second period of extra-time after substitute Lianne Sanderson was brought down by Tabea Kemme. Williams, who is England's record cap holder and was homeless at one point in her England career, beat retiring German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer for her third penalty of the tournament. [BBC]
Carli Lloyd
United States
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Rory McIlroy Instagram
Astronomers discover 'monster black holes' -
Five monster black holes that were previously hidden by dust and gas have been uncovered by astronomers. The British-led discovery suggests there may be millions more "supermassive" black holes in the universe than were previously thought. Supermassive black holes are powerful cosmic "drains" sucking material into a point of infinite density formed from the compressed mass of hundreds of thousands to billions of suns. High energy X-rays emitted from around the newly identified black holes revealed their presence at the centre of five galaxies. [Daily Telegraph]
Bill Cosby in 2011
World's oldest man dies in Japan aged 112 -
The world's oldest man, Sakari Momoi, has died in Japan at the ripe old age of 112. Momoi, born months before the Wright brothers made their first successful flight, passed away late on Sunday, said the official at Saitama City, north of Tokyo, where he had lived for many years. The supercentenarian, recognised as the world's oldest male at the age of 111 last year, died of kidney failure in a care home in Tokyo. [Daily Telegraph]
The Redskins logo © Washington Redskins
Silvio Berlusconi found guilty of bribing Italian senator -
[Former Italy president] Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to three years in prison for bribing a senator in 2006 as part of a plot to topple the then-centre-left government. But Berlusconi, 78, will not have to serve the sentence because the statute of limitations in the corruption case will lapse in the autumn, before appeals can be completed. The Italian justice system dictates that two levels of appeals must be exhausted before a defendant begins a sentence. [Daily Telegraph]
Silvio Berlusconi
Anne Hidalgo
French police allowed to sport beards and tattoos -
French policeman are finally going to be allowed to let their hair down a little after unions won a battle to relax rules on officers sporting beards and tattoos. While London recently went wild over a “hipster cop” spotted policing a far-Right march, there have been no known sightings of any Gallic equivalents, with policemen in France famous for their short-cropped hair and clean-shaven look. That could all change, however, after the force’s Left-wing Force Ouvrière trade union representatives won a campaign for the right to grow beards and have tattoos. However, there are restrictions. Beards, the union stipulated, must remain “short-cropped”, “neat and compatible with the wearing of equipment”. Tattoos, meanwhile, “must not be racist, political, religious or xenophobic.” [Daily Telegraph]
Paris to allow cyclists to skip red lights -
Cyclists in Paris are to be allowed to ride through some red lights in a bid by the mayors office to get more people on their bikes. At several junctions there will be separate signals for cars and bikes, and while cars will be held by a red light, cyclists will be permitted to turn right or go straight ahead. In such scenarios, they would have to give way to pedestrians and other road users where necessary. The new road rules will be rolled out from the end of July, the mayors office said, adding in a statement that the new rules will "help improve the flow of cycle traffic". [Daily Telegraph]
Omar Sharif
Greece’s Parliament Approves Prime Minister’s Bailout Plan -
Setting the stage for a pivotal deal with Europe, the Greek Parliament early Saturday approved Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s proposal for a three-year, $59 billion rescue package with harsh austerity terms that was remarkably similar to the one Greek voters rejected in a referendum less than a week ago. With a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on the bailout, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro currency zone, the plan passed by an overwhelming margin. [NY Times] Alexis Tsipras was elected on January 25, 2015 and vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010.
Serena Williams
Earth heading for 'mini ice age' within 15 years -
The earth is 15 years from a "mini ice-age" that will cause bitterly cold winters during which rivers such as the Thames freeze over, scientists have predicted. Solar researchers at the University of Northumbria have created a new model of the sun's activity which they claim produces "unprecedentedly accurate predictions". They said fluid movements within the sun, which are thought to create 11-year cycles in the weather, will converge in such a way that temperatures will fall dramatically in the 2030s. Solar activity will fall by 60 per cent as two waves of fluid "effectively cancel each other out", according to Prof Valentina Zharkova. [Daily Telegraph]
Kylie Jenner's hair causes Instagram race row -
Kylie Jenner's been accused of "appropriating black culture" in a row on Instagram. Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg made the claim after the reality star posted a picture of her hair in cornrows. The 16-year-old argued Kylie wasn't using her fame to help black people. She accused her of "directing attention towards wigs instead of police brutality or racism". Kylie replied: "Mad if I don't, Mad if I do…. Go hang w Jaden or something." Amandla went to a prom with Jaden Smith in May. [BBC Newsbeat]
©KylieJenner/Instagram
Manhunt for escaped Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman -
The Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, says he has faith that the security forces will recapture one of the world's most powerful drug lords, who has escaped from a high security prison. Mr Pena Nieto said he wanted a full investigation into Joaquin Guzman's escape. Guzman, known as El Chapo, or "Shorty", is believed to have made his way through a tunnel more than a kilometre long from showers near his cell. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Novak_Đoković
Woman, 30, changes name to log in to Facebook -
A woman has told how she has been forced to change her name by deed poll to match her "ridiculous" Facebook pseudonym after being locked out of her account. Jemma Rogers, 30, a holistic therapist, from Lewisham, south-east London, set up a profile on the social network in 2008. Wanting to avoid annoying friend requests from old friends and strangers, she created the profile under the pseudonym Jemmaroid Von Laalaa. But last month she got a message from Facebook asking her to send identification to prove it was a genuine name and account. In a desperate bid to get the profile back, she changed her name by deed poll and is now officially Ms Von Laalaa. What's more, despite her extreme efforts, she's still locked out of her account even after sending over her new ID to Facebook. [Daily Telegraph]
$1 million reward offered for Judy Garland's stolen ruby slippers -
An anonymous donor has offered a $1 million reward for credible information leading to the recovery of a pair of Judy Garland's sequined, ruby red slippers stolen from a museum in her Minnesota hometown. The late actress wore the slippers in "The Wizard of Oz." Three other pairs still exist, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. John Kelsch, executive director of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, says the donor is from Arizona and is a huge fan of Garland and the 1939 movie. The reward offer requires the exact location of the slippers and the perpetrator's name.
©Lewis Hamilton/Instagram
FIFA Turns Down Request for Blatter to Attend U.S. Senate Panel Hearing -
A U.S. Senate panel invited FIFA President Sepp Blatter to answer questions at a hearing this Wednesday about the corruption scandal that has badly tarnished soccer's global governing body but FIFA declined on his behalf, a congressional official said. FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Blatter's legal representative in the U.S. declined to comment. Blatter said last week in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that he "won't take any travel risks until everything has been cleared up". [NY Times]
Sepp Blatter
Pluto by the New Horzons spacecraft - from NASA
Raheem Sterling: Manchester City sign Liverpool winger in £49m deal -
Manchester City have signed Liverpool and England forward Raheem Sterling for a fee that could reach £49m. City will pay an initial £44m for the 20-year-old, making him the most expensive English player ever. Sterling had asked to leave Anfield and was the subject of two bids from City in June, both of which were rejected. City boss Manuel Pellegrini described Sterling, who has signed a five-year deal, as "one of the best attacking players in world football". Sterling, who is only behind Gareth Bale on the list of most expensive British players, will wear the number seven shirt. [BBC] See List of the Day
Raheem Sterling
Rolling Stone magazine cover
Donald Trump declares personal wealth of more than $10 billion -
Donald Trump, the property mogul turned US presidential candidate, has declared his personal wealth to be over 10 billion dollars (£6.4bn) in his official forms submitted to the US government’s election commission. In a typically flamboyant statement extolling his own vast wealth, Mr Trump complained that the Federal Election Commission forms did not have sufficient boxes to accommodate a man of his stature. “This report was not designed for a man of Mr. Trump's massive wealth,” said a statement issued by Trump campaign headquarters. [Daily Telegraph]
Tom Selleck
Bernard Tomic charged with trespassing and resisting arrest at Miami Beach hotel party -
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been charged with trespassing and resisting arrest following complaints over a noisy penthouse party at a Miami hotel, police said on Thursday. Security guards were called to a £4,500-a-night penthouse in the W Hotel in South Beach early Wednesday following multiple noise complaints. Tomic was described as “aggressive and belligerent” by a Miami police report. The 22-year-old tennis player, ranked 25th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, refused to turn down the music and slammed the door in the guards' faces, according to an arrest affidavit. [Daily Telegraph]
Bernard Tomic
Jules Bianchi
Kim Jong-un (sketch)
Bratz are back after Barbie owner fails to kill franchise -
After almost a decade of a back-and-forth legal battle between Mattel and Bratz-owner MGA, the spunky dolls are back and ready to take on an already weak Barbie. Years before toys of Frozen characters knocked Barbie off her perennial perch, a gaggle of ethnically-diverse fashionistas known as Bratz temporarily toppled the word-famous doll – and now they’re back after winning a protracted legal battle with Barbie-owner Mattel.
Bratz, which first came to market in 2001, is relaunching this weekend with a revamped look, an extra character and new range of accessories in an attempt to regain its place at the top of toytown. [Daily Telegraph]
Mick Fanning
Little Mix's Jesy gets engaged to Rixton's Jake on stage with Ed Sheeran -
Jesy from Little Mix has got engaged to Jake from Rixton. It happened on stage with Ed Sheeran and it seems that Ed helped out as a favour to Jake. Jake tweeted to Ed: "Travelled 5 hours to sing our favourite song on his day off. I will never ever be able to repay you. Love you pal." It seems that Ed gave up one of his rest days to play an acoustic version of Tenerife Sea at a Little Mix sound check. During the song Jake went down on one knee to pop the question.
Jesy Nelson
Zach Johnson
Lee Nelson showers Fifa president Sepp Blatter with dollar bills -
Fifa president Sepp Blatter was showered with fake banknotes by a notorious prankster at a press conference in his Zurich headquarters. The comedian Lee Nelson - real name Simon Brodkin - managed to infiltrate the press conference, which was being held to announce reforms planned to world football's governing body, and a date for the presidential election. The press conference was delayed by around 10 minutes as organisers cleaned up the notes. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Canadian-Owned Infidelity Dating Site Suffers Cyber Attack -
A Canadian-owned dating website for married people seeking affairs says it has suffered a cyberattack after hackers claimed to have stolen confidential customer information, threatening to publish it unless the company is shut down. Avid Life Media, which owns Toronto-based site AshleyMadison.com, said Monday that it had taken steps to secure its sites. Ashley Madison, whose slogan is "Life is short. Have an affair," claims it has more than 37 million anonymous worldwide members. Online security blog KrebsOnSecurity.com posted what appeared to be a screenshot of the site's home page on Sunday bearing a message from the hackers, who said they acted to expose alleged lies Ashley Madison told customers about a service that allows members to erase profile information. [NY Times]
©NASA, 2015
Khloe Kardashian to Host 'Hybrid' Talk Show on FYI Channel -
The FYI channel says Khloe Kardashian will host and produce a "hybrid" talk series titled "Kocktails With Khloe." Kardashian will be joined in the kitchen and at the dinner table by celebrity guests and friends for conversation, cooking and party games, FYI said Tuesday. She's been part of her family's TV empire in shows including "Keeping up With the Kardashians" and "Khloe and Lamar," which featured NBA player Lamar Odom. Odom and Kardashian were married, but she filed for divorce in 2013. "Kocktails With Khloe" is set to debut in late 2015. [NY Times]
Khloe Kardashian
Hulk Hogan in 2014
Converse launches first Chuck Taylor update in 98 years -
Converse has announced it is launching a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II – the first update to the iconic canvas shoe in nearly a century. The update is made of durable Tencel canvas, as opposed to the cotton kind, with higher tech shock absorption in Nike Lunarlon for the footbed. The idea is to make the show [sic - sole] more comfortable. Jim Calhoun, the 48-year-old chief executive of Converse, said many customers had complained that the original Converse was not supportive enough. The easily recognisable rubber toe cap will remain. The new shoe goes on sale on July 28 in black, white, red and blue. [Daily Telegraph]
The new Converse red
Apple patents Apple TV remote with Touch ID -
Entering passwords to log into Netflix could become a thing of the past after a patent for an Apple TV remote complete with fingerprint scanner emerged. Apple has been granted a patent for an Apple TV remote with inbuilt Touch ID sensor, allowing users to use their biometric data to enter TV passwords, created personalised profiles or controlling connected devices. The patent, filed in January 2014, explores how biometric information collected through fingerprint sensors could be harnessed to personalise user profiles and access accounts without the need for 'annoying and/or burdensome' logins. Data could also be supplied through retinal or facilia images, palm, toe or hand prints, voice samples and gesture patterns, according to the filing. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Kardashian Twitter fix with Jack Dorsey
Chris Froome
Bobbi Kristina Brown dies after coma -
Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, has died aged 22, a family representative has said. Kristen Foster said she passed away on Sunday surrounded by her family and was "finally at peace in the arms of God". [BBC] She fell into a coma after she was found in a bathtub on January 31, 2015.
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Norwegian court orders bank to cover man's £23k lap-dance and drinks bill -
A Norwegian court has ordered a bank to cover a £23,400 drink and lap-dance bill run up by one man during a night at a Polish strip club. The court made the decision after it concluded he had been drugged and could not be held responsible for his actions. Sparebank 1 will now have to make up for its client’s losses even though an investigation by Polish police into the incident at the club in the up-market seaside town of Sopot has been discontinued. The court rejected Sparebank's argument that the man was responsible for how he spent his money, saying all the evidence suggested he was doped, and therefore a victim. [Daily Telegraph]
Gerard Depardieu
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Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics -
Beijing has been chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, beating the bid of Kazakhstan's Almaty. Having hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese capital will be the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. Beijing and Almaty were considered outsiders when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago. But after a host of European cities withdrew for political or financial reasons, the Chinese bid beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 with one abstention. [BBC]
Cilla Black in 1970
Hitchiking robot 'killed' in Philadelphia -
A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide has met its demise in the US.
The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment say someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday, ending its brief American tour. The robot was trying to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada last year and parts of Europe. It set out from Marblehead, Massachusetts, two weeks ago in July with the goal of reaching San Francisco, but never made it off the East Coast. The creators were sent an image of the vandalised robot but cannot track its location because the battery is dead. [Daily Telegraph]
hitchBOT displayed at an exhibition
Jorge Mendes
Trader jailed for 14 years over Libor rate-rigging -
Former City trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty at a London court of rigging global Libor interest rates. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud. The 35-year old is the first individual to face a jury trial for manipulating the rate, which is used as a benchmark for trillions of pounds of global borrowing and lending. Many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark. The jury found Hayes guilty on all eight charges of conspiracy to defraud. Hayes, a former star trader originally from Fleet in Hampshire, rigged the Libor rates daily for nearly four years while working in Tokyo for UBS, then Citigroup, from 2006 until 2010. [BBC]
Tom Rainey and Lawrence Walters ©Ocean-Valour
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale file for divorce -
After almost 13 years of marriage, Gwen Stefani has filed for divorce from Gavin Rossdale. The No Doubt musician cited irreconcilable differences for their split. Stefani filed her petition for divorce on Monday 2 August, Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman Mary Hearn said. The former couple, who married in 2002, have three sons together, and are seeking joint custody of their children Zuma, Kingston and Apollo. [The Guardian]
Gwen Stefani
Pierce Brosnan
Mormons reveal Seer Stone for first time -
The Mormon Church released photographs on Tuesday of a so-called "seer stone" that members believe was used by the Utah-based faith's founder, Joseph Smith, to write the Book of Mormon, its principal sacred text. Photos of the egg-shaped, chocolate-brown rock are in a new publication that also carries images of the first printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, which Smith said was based on ancient records and include an account of a visit to America by Jesus Christ. The LDS Church teaches that Smith found gold plates engraved with ancient Egyptian symbols in upstate New York 185 years ago. [Daily Telegraph]
Natalia Molchanova: Freediving champion feared dead -
Russian freediving champion Natalia Molchanova is feared dead after going missing on Sunday. The 53-year-old was diving for fun off Formentera, a Spanish island near Ibiza, when she failed to surface. Search efforts have been continuing but it is feared she may have been caught up in strong underwater currents. She became "the most decorated competitive freediver in the world", with 41 world records, said her family and the global freediving federation AIDA in a joint statement. [BBC] See List of the Day. On May 14, 2015 Peter Colat, a Swiss freediver, held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, smashing the world record.
Natalia Molchanova in 2009
Jimmy Iovine
One Direction in 2013 before Zayn left
North Korea sets up own time zone in rebuke to 'wicked Japanese imperialists' -
The hermetic communist state of North Korea is often said to be locked in a Stalinist time warp. But it is now turning the clocks back - by 30 minutes a day - by official decree. The state news agency has announced the creation of a new Pyongyang time zone as a rejection of the legacy of “wicked Japanese imperialists”. North Korea will step back in time by half an hour on Aug 15th – the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese rule at the end of the Second World War. [Daily Telegraph]
Bruce Dickinson
Google unveils Alphabet... but that's already trademarked by BMW -
The general reaction to Google's announcement that it would create a new holding company called Alphabet, of which Google would be a subsidiary, was one of surprise and approval.
But perhaps the most surprised recipient of the news was BMW, which already runs a registered business called Alphabet. The German carmaker told WirtschaftsWoche, the German business magazine, that it will be "necessary to examine the legal trademark implications" of the name of Google's new parent company. BMW also said it had not been contacted by Google before the surprise restructuring on Monday. In his announcement, Google co-founder Larry Page said Alphabet's website would be http://abc.xyz, a decision that may have been influenced by the fact that alphabet.com is owned by BMW's subsidiary, which operates in 18 countries and supplies 530,000 vehicles to corporate customers. [Daily Telegraph]
Wireless Armour underwear
Modern Family's Ariel Winter has had a breast reduction -
Modern Family star Ariel Winter has revealed she has undergone breast reduction surgery. The 17-year-old said she made the decision after suffering with back and neck pain as a result of her 32F cups. "It's amazing to finally feel right," she told Glamour magazine. The actress, who plays young teenager Alex Dunphy in the TV series, had the surgery in June and reduced the size of her chest to a 34D. [BBC Newsbeat]
Ariel Winter
Prince George of Cambridge with his parents in 2014
Michael Sam on Twitter
Jason Day
Heidi Klum on Twitter
Museum brings in security for Nicki Minaj waxwork -
Madame Tussauds has brought in extra security to monitor a waxwork of Nicki Minaj. The figure is based on the rapper's iconic pose in her Anaconda video - where she's posing in heels on her hands and knees. Since the Las Vegas museum unveiled it earlier this month, fans have been rushing to be photographed with it. Some visitors have been getting a bit too excited and taking "inappropriate" pics. [BBC Newsbeat]
Sebastian Coe and Oscar Pistorius in 2011
Charlie Watts
Daniel Ek
One Direction release space-themed Drag Me Down video -
One Direction have released their first music video without Zayn Malik and it's out of this world, kind of. Niall, Liam, Louis and Harry play astronauts in their video for Drag Me Down. Astronauts. Drag Me Down. Gravity. Space. Get it? Anyway, Nasa let 1D film the video at their headquarters in Houston, Texas. Libby Jackson, an astronaut flight education programme manager for the UK Space Agency, reviewed the promo for Newsbeat. "The guys went out to Nasa's Johnson Space Centre and filmed at their facilities there - so it's a fairly accurate portrayal of some of the elements of human spaceflight. "It's obviously impossible to fit an entire astronaut's training into a three minute video, but they've certainly given a flavour. "You see One Direction trying out a prototype Mars rover, which astronauts would need to learn drive for their missions," she said. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day and Top Twitter Trends.
Malala celebrates string of top GCSEs -
Among those celebrating exam success is girls' education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai who gained a string of As and A*s in her GCSEs. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, took to Twitter to list Malala's grades which include A*s in GCSE and iGCSE maths. "My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child," wrote Mr Yousafzai. Malala was shot by the Taliban after writing a diary about life under their rule in North-West Pakistan. Last year, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. [BBC]
Usain Bolt
Banksy’s ‘Dismaland’ in England: It’s a Strange World, After All -
WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England — Rain pelted down for much of Sunday afternoon on this drooping beachside resort town where “Dismaland,” the gloomy anti-Disneyland created by the artist Banksy, opened this weekend. “Dismaland,” a satirical take on a theme park, features grumpy guards, funereal theme park games and art by about 60 artists — including Banksy, Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer. The exhibition had a “locals” day on Friday and opened to the public on Saturday; it runs through late September. The exhibition came largely as a surprise: Members of the British news media had spotted construction at the exhibition site — the abandoned grounds of a former family swimming pool — early last week, and had begun to speculate on what was taking place there. The exhibition includes new and old artwork by Banksy, including a pool with mobile boats full of figurine immigrants in what apparently is the English Channel, and a mural-style work in the his signature silhouette style, which shows a fat cat in a suit gorging himself while a gaunt woman with children stands across from him. [NY Times]
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Met Office loses multi-million pound BBC weather contract -
The Met Office has lost its lucrative weather forecasting contract with the BBC after nearly a century of providing the service. Negotiations to renew the deal hit a dead end and a new firm is expected to take over next year. The BBC said it was legally required to open up the contract to outside competition and secure the best value for money for licence fee payers. Dutch and New Zealand firms are said to be in the running for the contract, which is believed to make up a sizeable share of the £32.5 million a year the Met Office receives from commercial organisations, according to the Mail on Sunday. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends
Mel Gibson accused of pushing female photographer -
Oscar-winning actor Mel Gibson has been accused of pushing a female photographer in Sydney. The Daily Telegraph's Kristi Miller told Australian media she was pushed and verbally abused while taking pictures of Gibson and his girlfriend. She alleges Gibson's tirade ended when his partner, 24-year-old US equestrian vaulter Rosalind Ross, intervened. "I thought he was going to punch me in the face," Ms Miller said. "He was spitting in my face as he was yelling." Police confirmed they are investigating reports a female photographer was pushed outside a cinema on Sunday night. [BBC] Gibson swore at a TV journalist in February 2010.
Justin Wilson in 2008
China's 'Black Monday' sends markets reeling across the globe -
China has been a major contributor to economic growth and low global inflation for more than two decades. But tonight, investors around the globe are catching their breath after one of the worst day’s trading in many years. They’re now pondering whether today marks the start of a new and alarming phase of the crisis which began some eight years ago. And while today’s losses are sizeable, they’re not among the worst losses in market history. For all the talk of Black Monday in China,and gloomy photos to match, this was more of a correction in Western markets. [The Guardian]
Windows 95 turns 20 -
Windows 10 might be the current OS of choice for many, but 20 years ago today (August 24) the world of home computing underwent a seismic shift as Windows 95 rolled off the production lines and into people's lives. The basis for many consumers' first computing experience, Windows 95 revolutionised the computing space not only on the surface, but beneath it too. From an all new graphical user interface to a switch to 32-bit foundations, it's hard to overstate the impact this Start menu introducing software has had on the world. If you can even remember the days of floppy disks then you'll know how much of a nightmare the Windows 95 update must have been to install, compared to today when waiting 17 seconds for a film to buffer on Netflix seems outrageous. For those without a CD-ROM drive, each of the 3.5-inch cartridges held a measly 1.44MB of data. Later updates, for those refusing to accept CDs had taken off, jumped to 26 floppy disks. [Digital Spy] See Top Twitter Trends
Cindy Crawford Instagram with Rande Gerber and George Clooney
International bridge champions accuse teammates of cheating -
Two Israeli men, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz, have been accused by their team mates of cheating in three matches including the Spingold tournament - one of the most famous of all.
A triumphant team of bridge players has been ripped apart by accusations that would, in the words of the whistleblower, “even make a Hollywood movie surreal.” Two Israeli men, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz, have been accused by their team mates of cheating. Quite how they cheated is unclear, but Norwegian bridge professional Boye Brogeland, one of the world’s highest-rated bridge players, said the other four members of the team were handing back three titles they had won together. [Daily Telegraph]
Alison Parker and Adam Ward
Theater shooter Holmes gets 12 life sentences, plus 3,318 years -
A Colorado judge formally sentenced James Eagan Holmes to multiple life terms plus thousands of years in prison for the Aurora movie theater massacre that killed 12 and wounded 70. Holmes, a 27-year-old former grad student, received one life term for each person he killed, plus 3,318 years for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives. He is not eligible for parole. Prosecutor George Brauchler said he believed the sentence was the fourth longest in U.S. history. He described the judge's command to promptly remove Holmes from the courtroom as "the right exclamation point" to bring a painful, difficult trial to a close. [CNN]
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Burger King is trying to make the McWhopper happen -
Lovers of fast food burgers are in for a treat: why choose between the Big Mac and the Whopper when you can have both in one mouthful and save the world at the same time? Burger King has approached McDonald's about combining their star burgers for one day only, in a bid to raise awareness of Peace Day, the day of global unity recognised by the United Nations held annually on September 21. The McWhopper would be six parts Big Mac (top bun, all-beef patty, cheese, lettuce, special sauce and middle bun) and six parts Whopper (tomato, onion, ketchup, pickles, flame-grilled patty and bottom bun). The limited edition burger would be available in a co-branded pop-up restaurant in Atlanta, the mid-way point between McDonald's headquarters in Chicago and Burger King HQ in Miami. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Mark Zukerberg tweet
Although Mr Zuckerberg did not specify what had caused the rise in the number of users, the website has consistently attracted more followers. Last month Mr Zuckerberg revealed Facebook had 1.49bn monthly active users, up 13pc from a year earlier. [Daily Telegraph]
Ashton Eaton tweet
Mo Farah completes the 'triple-double' with 5,000m at the athletics world championships in Beijing -
Mo Farah is the first athlete to win the 5,000 and 10,000m races at successive world championships. The ‘triple-double’: it is a coinage usually confined to basketball, but in Beijing it belongs to the extraordinary Mo Farah, who for a record third successive global championships has completed twin triumphs over 5,000 and 10,000 metres. None of the distance icons – not Emil Zatopek, not Lasse Viren, not Kenenisa Bekele – managed it, but Farah streaked into history at the Bird’s Nest stadium with another exquisitely controlled performance over 12½ laps. [Daily Telegraph]
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Oliver Sachs in 2009
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Isil 'blows up Temple of Bel' in ancient Syrian city of Palmyra -
Violent jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have partially destroyed the the most famous landmark in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The Temple of Bel was damaged on Sunday, according to messages posted on the Twitter account of a local activist group, the Palmyra Co-ordination Council. Although the extent of the destruction was unclear, a Palmyra resident, Nasser al Thaer, said that a huge blast had echoed through the area on Sunday afternoon. [Daily Telegraph]
Temple of Bel in 2011
Kanye West
Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger announce split -
Avril Lavigne has announced that she's separating from Chad Kroeger after two years of marriage. The singer posted a statement on her Instagram account alongside a happy photo of the couple on their wedding day. "It is with a heavy heart that Chad and I announce our separation today," she wrote. "Through not only the marriage, but the music as well, we've created many unforgettable moments." The 30-year-old married the Nickelback frontman in July 2013.
Avril Lavigne
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Man invents 'Nutella Lock' to stop people stealing -
Daniel Schobloch has invented the "Nutella Lock" to keep chocolate spread thieves out. Schobloch says the product started off as a joke and was inspired by a friend: "One of my friends was always getting worked up because his children were stealing his Nutella." Eventually, word got out that someone had finally created a solution to all our Nutella woes, and demand began to rise. As of the end of August, Schobloch as sold nearly 1000 units. He hopes to bring the device, which he warns shouldn't be used as a "serious security" measure, to the open market soon. In the meantime, you can put an end to Nutella thievery by purchasing a lock on eBay for 10 euros (£7.30). Though judging by the response on Twitter, you'll have to be quick. [Daily Telegraph]
French farmers kidnap Alps park chiefs, demanding protection from wolf attacks -
A group of 50 farmers are holding hostage the president and director of a national park in the Alps, demanding they take urgent action to stop wolves attacking their livestock. French farmers have kidnapped the head of a national park in the Alps, demanding stronger measures against wolves that are attacking their flocks. Around 50 farmers took the law into their own hands on Tuesday evening by taking hostage Guy Chaumereuil, president of the National Park of Vanoise in the French Alps, along with the park’s director, Emmanuel Michau. France has become accustomed to “bossnapping” over the years during labour disputes, but this is thought to be the first time an official has been held over a wolf dispute. [Daily Telegraph]
imgur - Added a shortcut to parents phone everytime they type "No"
Naguib Sawiris tweets
Hatton Garden jewelry heist: Four men admit part in £10m Hollywood-style robbery of 'impenetrable' London vault -
Four men have admitted their involvement in the £10m Easter weekend Hatton Garden Safety Deposit raid, at Woolwich Crown Court. John Collins, Daniel Jones, Terry Perkins and Perry Reader all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden deposit. The admission does not mean the men carried out the burglary but that they participated in an agreement or encouragement of the offence. The pleas come after Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company went into liquidation after falling into insolvency. A law firm representative said the company owed money "to companies and people". The dramatic raid of Hatton Garden Safety Deposit, near the City of London, happened over the Easter Weekend when a masked gang used power tools, including an angle grinder, concrete drills and crowbars to break into the facility on Thursday, 2 April. [International Business Times]
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Sam Smith tweets Bond theme tease featuring mysterious 'Spectre ring' -
Sam Smith has all but confirmed that he will sing the theme tune for the new James Bond film, Spectre. The singer tweeted a picture of a finger with a ring featuring the movie's logo. He had been tipped for the soundtrack several times but previously denied any involvement in the project.
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'Biggest' Stonehenge site discovered -
Archaeologists have found around 100 huge standing stones buried near Stonehenge. Experts think the discovery could be the 'biggest' prehistoric monument ever built in Britain. Using special equipment to scan below the Earth's surface experts were able to find evidence of seventeen previously unknown wooden or stone structures. The results suggest Stonehenge - which is 5,000 years old - did not stand alone. Scientists think the newly discovered sites were related to Stonehenge. One big surprise the research found was traces of up to 60 huge stones or pillars - part of an ancient "super henge", about 1.5km wide.[BBC]
Wayne Rooney
British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas -
A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides. Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off. The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out. Flight 2276 was bound for London's Gatwick airport. There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board. [BBC]
Sam Smith blows his cover: Spectre theme song singer confirmed -
Sam Smith would make an excellent secret agent. After months of speculation, the singer has confirmed that he has recorded the theme song for the next James Bond film, Spectre. Smith has co-written the title song, Writing's On The Wall, with Jimmy Napes. It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965. Smith confirmed the news on Twitter, calling the opportunity "one of the highlights of my career". The identity of the theme song’s singer had been an impressively well-kept secret. Smith, whose 2012 collaboration with Disclosure brought him to fame, gave particularly mixed messages: when pushed on the subject by Radio 2 last week, he flatly denied involvement with the film’s soundtrack. But yesterday he dropped a heavy hint to the contrary, tweeting a teaser picture of a ring imprinted with the Spectre logo.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day 1
Earlier this week Smith's album In the Lonely Hour stayed in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row - a new record.
Queen ELizabeth II in March 2015
iPad Pro, new Apple TV and iPhone 6S handsets unveiled -
Apple has unveiled a larger iPad tablet, a TV box with its own app store and new iPhones that can detect how firmly their screens are being pressed. The firm suggested the iPad Pro was suited to work tasks, video games and both editing and watching movies. Sales of the company's earlier iPads had been on the decline. Apple said the "3D touch" feature of its new phones "transformed" the experience of using them by making it easier to use and switch between apps. The iPad Pro has a 12.9in (32.8cm) display, making its shortest edge the length of its earlier iPad Air 2's height. In addition, the firm announced a stylus called the Apple Pencil, which has sensors in its tip to help mimic the effect of using a real pencil on paper. The announcement is notable since the firm's ex-chief executive Steve Jobs said in 2010: "If you see a stylus, they blew it." [BBC]
Pope emojis by Swyft Media
Giant Lenin 'head' unearthed 24 years after burial in Berlin -
The giant head of a statue of Russian revolutionary Lenin has been unearthed, 24 years after it was buried in a German forest. Workers dug up the granite structure from woodland outside Berlin, following a campaign by historians. The head was once part of a 19m (62ft) monument to the communist leader, which towered over the east of the city. It was dismantled in 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the pieces were buried in a secluded forest. [BBC]
Masjid al-Haram in 2014
Jeremy Corbyn
Russian Cosmonaut Returns From Record-Breaking Space Mission -
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka's safe return from months aboard the International Space Station has put him in the record books for spending more time in space than any other human — the equivalent of nearly two and a half years on five different flights. Padalka, whose latest 168-day stay on the ISS gives him a total of 879 days in space, has smashed the previous record, which was set by fellow Russian Sergei Krikalev in 2005, by two months. [NPR]
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Floyd Mayweather beats Andre Berto to make it 49 straight wins -
Floyd Mayweather made it 49 straight wins with a wide points victory over Andre Berto in Las Vegas. The challenger was game but his fellow American, defending his WBC and WBA welterweight titles, was simply too difficult to hit at the MGM Grand. Mayweather, 38, was awarded the verdict 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. Mayweather was adamant it was his last fight, but having equalled Rocky Marciano's career record of 49-0, he might decide to have one more. "My career is over, that's official," said five-weight world champion Mayweather, widely regarded as the greatest fighter of his generation. Mayweather made $34m (£22m) for his latest outing but few expect him to fulfil his promise to retire. [BBC] In June Mayweather topped the Forbes Celebrity rich list
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Taylor Swift is being sued because she accused a radio host of touching her bottom -
Taylor Swift is being sued by a former Coloradoan radio DJ who claims that he lost his job because of claims the singer made about him allegedly grabbing her bottom. In June 2013, David Mueller, who is known on the radio as "Jackson", went to a meet-and-greet with Taylor Swift, and brought along his girlfriend. Mueller and his girlfriend had their photo taken with Ms. Swift, and this is where things got ugly. Ms. Swift allegedly claimed that at this point he "lifted up her skirt and grabbed her bottom". After this, he was escorted from the premises by security. Then, after a series of calls between Taylor Swift's team and his radio station, he was fired. Mueller denies the claims that he touched her inappropriately. [Daily Telegraph]
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Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe delivers wrong speech in parliament -
Zimbabwe's 91-year-old president Robert Mugabe read the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of parliament on Tuesday, repeating an address he gave to the legislature last month. The veteran leader read the 25-minute-long speech through to the end, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month. "There has been a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where... the president delivered the wrong speech," said George Charamba, the presidential spokesman. "The mix-up happened in his secretarial office," Mr Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper's online edition. "The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered." [Daily Telegraph] In February 2015 Mugabe allegedly suspended 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps.
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Dislike button: Why Facebook wants to know what makes you sad -
It has finally happened. “Today is a special day” declared Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a live "in-person townhall" event. Almost casually, he dropped a bombshell that has ignited technology commentators overnight: Facebook is getting a new button. Yes, alongside "like" will be something else. It almost certainly will not be a "dislike" button. The widespread news is that Facebook will twin "like" with "dislike", long one of the most popular suggestions from Facebook users. However, if you actually listen to what Zuckerberg said, he rules this out: “we didn’t wanna just build a dislike button…[where] people were voting up or down people’s posts…what they really want is an ability to express empathy”. [Daily Telegraph]
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Sperm banks attract customers by offering them enough cash to buy a new iPhone -
Chinese sperm banks have been saying that there is no need to sell a kidney to afford an iPhone, just your bodily fluids. Renji Hospital in Shanghai is one among several facilities offering enough money to buy an iPhone if men donate sperm. The hospital wrote in an online posting: "No need to sell your kidneys - you can easily have a 6s," which refers to cases where people actually sold their organs to be able to afford Apple products. The advert says that if a man passes a health test and then regularly donates his sperm, he can earn enough money to purchase an iPhone. This amounts to 6,000 yuan (£610) which is enough to buy the new iPhone 6s. [Daily Telegraph]
Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army -
President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services. Fanning, 47, has been a specialist on national security issues for more than two decades and has played a key role overseeing some of the Pentagon’s biggest shipbuilding and fighter jet programs. Fanning’s nomination, which must go to the Senate for confirmation, reflects a major shift for the Pentagon, which only four years ago prevented openly gay troops from serving in the military. The policy didn’t extend to civilian leaders, such as Fanning. [Washington Post]
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Japan shocks the rugby world and Twitter erupts -
80-1 outsiders to beat South Africa, Japan's win over the two-times world champions has sent Twitter into a frenzy. Japan’s utterly well-deserved conquering of the mighty Springboks [32-34] has, unsurprisingly, made Twitter’s rugby community quite excited.The bookmakers usually know a thing or two about these things, yet more than a few people would have thought this morning that even 40-1 for the Brave Blossoms to win against the Boks was rather generous. For those who don't understand how big a shock this was, @Burgerboxx provided an interesting, and somewhat useful, analogy. [Daily Telegraph]
Guinness World Record judicator hit in head by robot at giant Belfast Meccano bridge opening -
Engineering students have set a new world record with a 100ft footbridge made from Meccano. The temporary structure - weighing in at approximately 1,300lbs - has been built 100 feet long across Belfast's Clarendon Dock and was unveiled at an event on Saturday. Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to confirm it had set a record for the world's largest ever Meccano construction. However the event did not go quite as smoothly as organisers hoped, with a giant Meccano robot believed to have malfunctioned and swiped a Guinness World Record judicator round the head.Dr Danny McPolin from the school of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, who led the project, said: "If you count all the nuts and bolts and washers, there is approximately 70,000. "In terms of the longer pieces, if they're all laid out end-to-end I think it would be about 3.8kms - approximately 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. [Daily Telegraph]
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Volkswagen CEO: 'We have totally screwed up' -
The President and CEO of Volkswagen's US group has admitted that the company "totally screwed up" in using software to rig emissions tests. Michael Horn told an audience in New York that Volkswagen had been "dishonest" and that their actions went against their own "values". Last Friday, US regulators said VW diesel cars had much higher emissions than tests had suggested. Some other governments have announced they will also investigate. [BBC]
Heist havoc: US bank robber shot by customer -
A US bank robber has ended up in hospital after his heist went spectacularly wrong and he was shot by a customer of the bank he was trying to hold up. The drama unfolded in the Michigan city of Warren. The robber was in the middle of holding up the bank and was about to be given money by the teller when he was shot in both arms and a leg by a bank customer, according to the Local 4 news station. The robber fled the bank but was later found by police lying on the street, bleeding. The bank robber is now in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The customer, who had a concealed weapon licence, is co-operating with police. [Daily Telegraph]
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Switzerland bans sale of Volkswagen diesel cars -
Switzerland is banning sales of Volkswagen diesel engine cars which could be fitted with ‘cheating’ devices in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal. Authorities said all VW models with diesel engines suspected of being able to trick emissions tests are affected. Other makes in the VW group, including Seat and Skoda, are also being banned from sale. In all, the move is expected to affect 180,000 cars, not yet sold or registered in Switzerland. Cars sold and already on the road will not be subject to the ban. [Daily Telegraph] On September 22 the CEO of VW's American company admitted that they had "screwed up" and subsequently resigned.
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Kanye says he's serious about becoming president -
Kanye West says he's totally serious about becoming US president in 2020.
In an interview with Vanity Fair he says he's had lots of support since announcing plans to run for election. He says people are "really into the idea" because they think he's "extremely thoughtful" and "probably the most honest celebrity we have". One possible spanner in the works of his political ambitions, though: he "hates politics". "I'm not a politician at all. I care about the truth and I just care about human beings. I just want everyone to win, that's all I can say, and I think we can," he says. [BBC Newsbeat]
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Record number of guns found in U.S. airport searches -
U.S. airport security agents discovered a record 67 firearms in luggage passengers intended to carry on to airplanes during one week in September, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Of the 67 firearms found during the week ended Sept. 17, 56 were loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms found during a week in May 2013, TSA said. Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year. [Reuters]
Martian salt streaks 'painted by liquid water' -
Scientists think they can now tie dark streaks seen on the surface of Mars to periodic flows of liquid water. Data from a Nasa satellite shows the features, which appear on slopes, to be associated with salt deposits. Crucially, such salts could alter the freezing and vaporisation points of water in Mars's sparse air, keeping it in a fluid state long enough to move. Luju Ojha and colleagues report the findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. There are implications for the existence of life on the planet today, because any liquid water raises the possibility that microbes could also be present. And for future astronauts on Mars, the identification of water supplies near the surface would make it easier for them to "live off the land". [BBC]
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Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal -
Nepalese officials say they will introduce regulations banning inexperienced climbers from attempting Mount Everest in an attempt to improve safety and maintain the “glory” of the summit. Permits to climb Everest will only be given to those who can prove they have already scaled mountains that are higher than 6,500 metres, officials said. Disabled, old and very young people also face bans. The permits cost thousands of dollars and are a key source of revenue for Nepal. It is unclear how the demand for “proof of competence” might be enforced. [Guardian] An earthquake hit the region on May 12, 2015 killing 18 climbers and guides on the mountain.
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Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in fatal car crash: prosecutors -
Former Olympic champion and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner will not be charged in connection with a crash in Malibu earlier this year that killed a 69-year-old woman, Los Angeles prosecutors said on Wednesday. Based on the facts in the case, prosecutors lacked evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Jenner's conduct was unreasonable, according to documents provided by Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Jenner, 65, was driving a Cadillac Escalade along Pacific Coast Highway and towing a trailer carrying a dune buggy when she slammed into two other cars, according to authorities. During the crash, a white Lexus being driven by 69-year-old Kim Howe was shoved by Jenner's sport-utility vehicle across a center divider and into oncoming traffic, where it was struck head-on by a Hummer. [Reuters]
Janet Jackson
Switzerland 'could house 50,000 refugees in Cold War bunkers' -
Switzerland can accommodate up to 50,000 refugees in nuclear bunkers, the country’s defence minister has said. During the Cold War, Switzerland began a policy of building enough fallout shelters that the entire country could safely retreat underground if there was a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the West. Today, while theoretically still available in a doomsday scenario, many of the bunkers are put to other uses. One in the small town of Sevelen was run as a “zero-star hotel” for some years, while the city of Geneva has used its bunkers as homeless shelters. Mr Maurer said around one-third of Switzerland’s public bunkers were currently in a position to take in refugees, with space for 50,000. [Daily Telegraph]
American wingsuit flier Johnny Strange dies in Switzerland accident -
Johnny Strange, an American adventurer who was the youngest person to climb the world's seven tallest summits, has died in a wing suit accident in the Alps, Swiss police confirmed on Friday. The 23-year-old, who crashed shortly after jumping from Mount Gitschen in central Switzerland, is the latest casualty in what is regarded as one of the world’s most deadly extreme sports. He died on impact with the ground, likely after losing control mid-jump, according to authorities in the Swiss canton of Uri. Mr Strange, from Malibu, California, became the youngest person to scale the tallest peaks on each of the world's seven continents in 2009, when he was 17. [Daily Telegraph]
J. K. Rowling
Denis Healey dies aged 98 -
Denis Healey, a towering figure in the Labour Party and perhaps the most recognisable politician for a generation, has died. His family said the 98-year-old died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning at his home in Sussex after a short illness. The retired Labour politician, often described as "the best prime minister the party never had", served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 under the premierships of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. [Daily Telegraph]
Denis Healey in 1974
England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13 -
England are out of the World Cup after being torn apart by a superb Australia display at a stunned Twickenham. Two converted first-half tries and four penalties from Wallaby fly-half Bernard Foley in a virtuoso display brought a richly deserved win on a black night for England's men in white. The result means both Australia and Wales are into the quarter-finals. It is the first time that a host nation has gone out at the group stage of the tournament. And to complete their humiliation, it is also the first time England have failed to make the knockout stages. [BBC]
Brendan Rodgers
Dick Advocaat: Sunderland boss quits Premier League strugglers -
Dick Advocaat has resigned as Sunderland boss, with the team yet to win in the Premier League this season. The 68-year-old Dutchman was appointed in March, when the Black Cats were one point above the relegation zone.
He guided them to safety and was due to leave the club in the summer, only to sign a new one-year contract. [BBC]
Dick Advocaat
Woolly mammoth skeleton unearthed by Michigan farmers -
Two farmers in Michigan made an astonishing discovery when they unearthed the remains of a woolly mammoth while digging in a soybean field. Experts say it is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state. University of Michigan researchers say there is evidence the mammoth lived 11,700-15,000 years ago. [BBC]
How rugby star daughter's doll captivated Australia -
North Queensland swept to victory in Australia's National Rugby League final on Sunday, but it was a little girl's doll which stole the limelight. Cameras captured the moment a crying Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston celebrated his team's win with his daughter who was clutching a dark-skinned doll. For the first time in NRL history, both teams in the final had been skippered by an Indigenous Australian, and the moment was seen by many as a moment of inclusion and diversity. [BBC]
Johnathan Thurston
Apollo 11 Magazine 40/S - (Color) / EVA; NASA photographs; unprocessed 1800 dpi Hasselblad film scans by Johnson Space Center, circa 2005
Extreme phone pinching is the strangest trend of 2015 -
Back in 2013 there was the Harlem Shake. In 2014, we had the Ice Bucket Challenge. Since then, social media trends have taken a bizarre turn, via some goats. Extreme phone pinching is the latest trend sweeping social media networks, and it involves holding your expensive phone over perilous locations. The only rule appears to be that you can only hold onto your gadget using only your thumb and forefinger. Photos and videos have been flooding the internet of phone users dangling their precious handsets over cliffs, toilets and drains. [Daily Telegraph]
Jungle Carpet python
Instagram says @music is just the start for music on the app -
The boss of Instagram has said "it's just a matter of time before music becomes even more dominant" on the app. Kevin Systrom's social media site has just turned five. But he told Newsbeat: "We never knew music would take off in the way it did but now 25% of our top [most followed] accounts are music related". In April, Instagram launched @music, which Kevin explained set out to "feature off-the-beaten path, hard-to-find accounts." [BBC Newsbeat]
Author jailed for flashing after prostitute disputes small penis claims -
A serial flasher has been jailed after a woman appeared in court and gave a detailed description of his penis. Hinton Sheryn, 68, had denied he would get his penis out in public - because he was embarrassed it was "unusually small". But officers managed to find a prostitute he used who came to court at the last minute and contested his claims. The female sex worker described his manhood and told Plymouth Crown Court it was a "normal" size. Her late intervention helped convict the successful author, who has now been jailed for 17 years after being convicted of 18 crimes. The former pop promoter was so notorious for exposing himself in the village near Plymouth, Devon, where he lived in the 1970s and 1980s he was known as "the flasher". [Daily Telegraph]
Structure of Alphabet companies
Daniel Craig: 'I would rather slash my wrists than do another Bond film' -
Daniel Craig has said he would rather "slash my wrists" than do another James Bond film. The star, who will reprise his role as the British spy for the fourth time in the forthcoming SPECTRE movie, told Time Out magazine he wanted to "move on" from the franchise. But he added if he were to do another 007 film it would "only be for the money". When asked whether he could imagine doing another Bond movie, he said: "Now? I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on." [Daily Telegraph] In March 2015 Bond stars Daniel Craig and Roger Moore teamed up for a special 007 sketch for UK's Comic Relief
Daniel Craig
France Train Hero Stabbed -
Spencer Stone suffered what police described as "significant" injuries during a street brawl while out with friends in Sacramento, California. The US airman is in a stable condition in hospital after reportedly being stabbed four times in the chest.The incident, which took place at 12.45am (local time) on Thursday morning, is not thought to be connected to terrorism. Mr Stone - along with friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler - was hailed as a hero in August after subduing a heavily armed gunman on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris. [Sky News]
Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, President Hollande, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos after their Legion of Honor ceremony at the Élysée Palace on August 25, 2015
Justin Bieber
One Direction announce new single "Perfect" and release date -
One Direction's next Made in the A.M. single's accidentally been announced as 'Perfect' thanks to a classic tweet-and-delete scenario from those crazy critters at Apple Music. Awkies. Yup - we already knew the Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson-penned tune had been registered; but now it looks like the track's gonna be the second proper single off of the fifth album following 'Drag Me Down.' And 'Infinity,' if you wanna count that. [Sugarscape]
Shia Labeouf
Japan: Citizens clamour for Tokyo disaster manual -
A manual to help people in Tokyo prepare for disasters has proved so popular that local officials have complained that they are being sold on the internet for profit. The 340-page Tokyo Bousai ("Disaster Preparedness Tokyo") appears in a startling yellow cover, and 7.5m copies are being distributed free of charge to Tokyo residents. It's currently available to download in Japanese and English from the city government's website, but for those who still crave a physical copy of the manual, the Tokyo government is considering selling it at cost price. [BBC]
Tokyo Disaster Manual
Steven Tyler
Bearded Villains
Hikaru Nakamura
Playboy Magazine abandons nudity -
Playboy magazine is stopping publishing pictures of totally nude women because the internet has made them outdated, its US owners say. It's a break with a 62-year format that has had a significant impact on American culture. Every month since 1953, fold-out spreads of fully nude women have filled Playboy. The glossy adult men's magazine boasts a plethora of celebrity conquests in its portfolio. Madonna, Sharon Stone and Naomi Campbell were photographed at the peak of their fame. Kate Moss posed for its front cover in a bunny outfit. Lindsay Lohan and Pamela Anderson have also graced it. [BBC] Coincidentally today is international "No Bra Day" - See Top Twitter Trends
Facebook Briefly Bans The Phrase 'Everyone Will Know' -
Facebook blocked the phrase "everyone will know" for more than a day, but users are now once again able to post the seemingly innocuous three words. "This was a mistake with our spam filter and our engineers have resolved the issue," Melanie Ensign of Facebook security communications told The Huffington Post. HuffPost also independently confirmed that the phrase can now be posted. "We're constantly updating the rules used by our spam-fighting engine and this particular phrase erroneously got caught in the mix," she explained. Ensign didn't know exactly how long the phrase had been banned. On Friday, someone asked on Question.com, “Why can't you post 'everyone will know' on Facebook?” Another user replied they also were unable to post the phrase as a status. On Sunday, a Reddit thread was filled with people claiming they were unable to post the phrase as a status or in a comment. [Huffington Post]
Muggle at Democrat conference?
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean both win three BET Hip Hop Awards -
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean were the big winners at this year's BET Hip Hop Awards. Both rappers won three prizes followed by Drake, J. Cole and Fetty Wap, who all won two. Lamar, who enjoyed success earlier this year with his third album To Pimp A Butterfly, was named lyricist of the year at the ceremony which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. He also won awards for impact track and hip hop video for his single Alright. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day for full winners list.
Kendrick_Lamar
Twitter down notice
Russia 'tried to cut off' World Wide Web -
Russia has run large scale experiments to test the feasibility of cutting the country off the World Wide Web, a senior industry executive has claimed. The tests, which come amid mounting concern about a Kremlin campaign to clamp down on internet freedoms, have been described by experts as preparations for an information blackout in the event of a domestic political crisis. Andrei Semerikov, general director of a Russian service provider called Er Telecom, said Russia’s ministry of communications and Roskomnadzor, the national internet regulator, ordered communications hubs run by the main Russian internet providers to block traffic to foreign communications channels by using a traffic control system called DPI. The objective was to see whether the Runet – the informal name for the Russian internet – could continue to function in isolation from the global internet. The experiment, which took place in spring this year, failed because thousands of smaller service providers, which Roskomnadzor has little control over, continued to pass information out of the country, Mr Semerikov said. [Daily Telegraph]
Porn during lunch breaks is OK but smoking cannabis can get you sacked, Italy's highest court rules -
Employees cannot be sacked for watching porn during their lunch breaks if it does not impact upon their ability to do their work, Italy’s highest court has ruled. According to Italian media reports, the Court of Cassation ruled against major car manufacturer Fiat after it sacked a factory worker in Termini Imerese, a town in Sicily. Bosses had caught the man watching adult films at work, but he argued that his viewing was limited to “catching a glimpse of a movie during his lunch break”. But it wasn’t all bad news for Fiat, as in a separate ruling on Wednesday the court found the carmaker was within its rights to sack a man caught smoking cannabis during his lunch break – presumably because its effects continued into his working hours. [The Independent]
Cleaning Big Ben in 2007
The Foals
Hundreds Of Apps Banned From App Store For Accessing Users’ Personal Information -
Hundreds of iOS applications have been pulled out of the App Store, following a report from analytics service SourceDNA, which uncovered a group of applications that were extracting users’ personally identifiable information, including email addresses associated with their Apple IDs, devices and peripheral serial numbers, as well as a list of apps installed on their phone. The applications in question had been using an SDK from a Chinese advertising company called Youmi which was accessing this information by way of private APIs, the report found. Nearly all of the developers were located in China so, for now, this appears to be an isolated incident. However, the larger concern here has to do with how long this activity had been taking place – and what that means in terms of Apple’s App Store review process, given that it hadn’t caught this suspect activity until being alerted to it by a third party. [Tech Crunch]
Fascine Coffee Lounge sign
© Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Nike Sending First 'Back to the Future' Self-Tying Shoes to Michael J. Fox -
Nike says that the future is here. The first person to receive a pair of the company's "Back to the Future" self-lacing shoes is the franchise's star Michael J. Fox, according to a Nike designer. Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield sent Fox a letter today that stated, "As the first, most celebrated wearer" of the Nike Mag shoes, "we wanted you to be the first to receive a living pair," according to a tweet from the actor. Earlier today, a spokesman for Nike would only say that a pair of the self-lacing Nike Mag shoes worn by Marty McFly in the 1989 film "Back to the Future II" is in New York City today -- but declined to comment further. [ABC News] The Michael J Fox organisation (that raises money for Parkinson's Disease charities) tweeted a picture of the actor wearing the sneakers.
Michael J Fox Tweet
Toyota celebrates ‘Back to the Future Day’ by building Marty McFly’s dream truck -
Toyota has recreated Marty McFly’s dream truck, just in the nick of time for ‘Back to the Future Day’ on October 21, 2015. The black 2016 Toyota Tacoma pick-up is a copy of the one Marty lusted after in the original film – and spoiler alert, things turned out so that his dream machine eventually made it into the McFly family garage. In total, Toyota has built three of these ‘Back to the Future’ Tacoma pick-up trucks events around the U.S. “The suspension has been beefed up and the truck rides on a special set of Toyota Racing Development [TRD] wheels and tires,” said Proffitt. The truck itself was in a plastic cocoon, looking all the world like a 1:1 scale Hot Wheels car. Note to BTTF fans looking for awesome swag: Toyota is handing out models of the this special-edition Tacoma throughout today in Times Square. [NY Daily News] See Video of the Day
The letter read: "We are instructed that you have either erected or allowed your sub-tenant to erect an offensive sign on the exterior of the buliding... without the permission or authority from our client to do so and this constitutes a trespass." According to the letter, the Bermondsey Street coffeeshop could face legal proceedings or the forfeiture of its lease if it does not remove the sign. It will also have to cover the costs of the legal steps taken so far. [Daily Telegraph]
Lenin statue given Darth Vader makeover -
A statue of Vladimir Lenin in the Ukrainian city of Odessa has been given a sci-fi twist - by being transformed into Darth Vader. The statue, in the grounds of a factory in the Black Sea port city, had been earmarked for removal under the country's "de-communisation" law. But instead, it now wears the instantly recognisable shiny black helmet and mask of the Star Wars villain, the local Dumskaya news website reports. "Everything flows and nothing abides," says warehouse manager Semyon Horbunov, taking inspiration from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. "New heroes replace old ones, and this is how the world goes round." But while the monument is Darth Vader on the outside, deep down it's still Lenin. "The bronze Lenin was left inside, so that the grateful or not-so-grateful descendants could exhume him, if needed," sculptor Alexander Milov is quoted is saying by Ukraine Today. [BBC]
Lewis Hamilton
Moto GP: Valentino Rossi penalised for kicking Marc Marquez -
MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi will start the final race of the season from the back of the grid after kicking Marc Marquez off his bike during the Malaysian Grand Prix.Rossi finished third but was given three penalty points following a post-race investigation. He later accused Marquez of "making me lose the championship". Honda's Dani Pedrosa won the race, with Jorge Lorenzo second. The final race takes place in Spain on 8 November. Rossi now leads Lorenzo by just seven points in the championship. [BBC]
Valentino Rossi
Halle Berry
Darth Vader supporter Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine -
It's a sentence we never thought we'd write, but here goes: Chewbacca has been arrested in Ukraine after police say they caught him campaigning for Darth Vader. A candidate, using the identity of the Star Wars Sith Lord has been running in local elections in the city of Odessa. It's claimed the man dressed as Chewbacca had broken election day rules by campaigning on voting day. It's being reported Chewbacca was fined the equivalent of a fiver. He'd arrived at a polling station along with the candidate when police stepped in. [BBC]
Dan Carter
One Direction play the final gig of their world tour in Sheffield -
One Direction have played the final gig of their world tour before their self-proclaimed extended break. After more than 80 shows across 20 countries, their On The Road tour came to an end in Sheffield. From this point on, the band only have a few one-off appearances at music awards shows before they go their separate ways in March 2016. But 1D insist they're not splitting up and instead want to focus on solo projects. [BBC]
One Direction
Adele's Hello is number one after smashing various chart records -
Adele is back at the top of the Official Singles Chart with her monster comeback single Hello. She's smashed records all over the place, with other artists basically competing for the scraps left in her wake. So, here are the numbers that put Adele firmly back on top of the music world.
Hello sold a whopping 333,000 in a week - That includes a staggering 259,000 downloads - and makes it the biggest number one single for... well, only three years actually.
But streaming was even more mind-bending - 7.32 million plays - That's almost double the previous record held by Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? which had 3.87 million plays in a week last month.
Her video got 27.7 million views in one day - That worked out as one million views an hour on YouTube in the first two days of it being released.
[BBC] See Video of the Day
Adele
New Zealand
Wales
Australia
Scotland
South Africa
Argentina
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
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]
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]
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
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]
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
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]
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
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
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]
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]
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]
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]
King Carl Gustaf
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]
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
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]
Jamie Vardy
Nico Rosberg
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David Cameron
Timothy Peake
Norway newspaper publishes Father Christmas 'obituary' -
A Norwegian newspaper has apologised to its readers after publishing a death notice for "Father Christmas". The fictional death announcement was for "Dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788", said to have died on 3 December in Nordkapp, Norway's northernmost point. The funeral was to be held on 28 December at the "North Pole Chapel". Norway's second-biggest selling newspaper blamed an error in its internal procedures. Aftenposten said it had removed the classified advertisement from its website after it was made aware of its error. [BBC]
Morgan Freeman
Vicky Pattison
Finland is considering giving every citizen €800 a month -
Authorities in Finland are considering giving every citizen a tax-free payout of €800 (£576) each month. Under proposals being draw up by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), this national basic income would replace all other benefit payments, and would be paid to all adults regardless of whether or not they receive any other income. Unemployment in Finland is currently at record levels, and the basic income is intended to encourage more people back to work. At present, many unemployed people would be worse off if they took on low-paid temporary jobs due to loss of welfare payments. [Daily Telegraph]
Fifa: FBI probing Sepp Blatter role in $100m bribery scandal -
The FBI is investigating the role played by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in a $100m (£66.2m) bribes scandal, a BBC investigation has discovered. Sports marketing company ISL paid a total of $100m to officials including former Fifa president Joao Havelange and ex-Fifa executive Ricardo Teixeira. In return, ISL was granted lucrative television and marketing rights throughout the 1990s. Blatter denied knowing about the bribes and took no action. He even allowed Teixeira to take part in the notorious vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. [BBC]
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Saint West: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West name their baby boy -
Many of her fans had been hoping she would choose "South" but Kim Kardashian West surprised them once again by calling her new baby "Saint". Saint West, who weighed in at eight pounds one ounce, arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday. But Mrs West, and rapper husband Kanye, waited for two days before announcing the name on Twitter and her app. The couple's first child, daughter North West, was born in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
Kuala Lumpur airport seeks owner of 'abandoned' jets -
Officials at Malaysia's main airport have taken out a newspaper advert seeking the owner of three Boeing 747 jets they say have been left unclaimed. The notice said if the owners "fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days..., we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft". It said fees for landing and parking were also owed. An airport official was quoted as saying they had tried to contact the jets' last known owners. He added that in the past decade a few other planes, mostly smaller aircraft, have been abandoned, with one that was left in the 1990s eventually being bought and turned into a restaurant in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. [BBC]
Angela Merkel Time Magazine Cover
Knightsbridge to fine boy-racers up to £1,000 if they rev their supercar engines -
For years they have infuriated residents in London's Knightsbridge with their incessant racing around the neighbourhood in noisy supercars. But boy-racers found guilty of wrecking the peace will now be fined £1000 after locals won a battle to make the uncouth behaviour a criminal offence. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which plays host to Harrods department store, has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which hopes to restore peace to the neighbourhood. [Daily Telegraph]
Denmark: Nature agency offers free ponds to landowners -
Denmark's nature agency is offering to pay for people to have ponds installed on their land in an effort to protect endangered wildlife. The government's AgriFish Agency is offering to foot the bill for creating water features up to 1,000 sq m (10,764 sq ft) in size, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reports. But such is the level of interest in the new scheme, officials say they probably won't be able to meet demand. So far there have been more than 100 inquiries by interested landowners, the report says. [BBC]
Donald Trump
Famous Moscow cemeteries to install free wi-fi -
Three of Moscow's most-visited cemeteries are about to enter the digital age, with the installation of full wi-fi connectivity. Visitors will be able to browse the internet for free at the Novodevichy, Troyekurovskoye and Vagankovo cemeteries starting from the first half of 2016, according to the Moscow city website. The head of the city's funerary services office, Artem Yekimov, says the aim is to help visitors find out more about famous people buried there and their graves - and make visiting the cemeteries more "comfortable". Telecommunications company YS System says it offered to install the wi-fi networks after hearing about plans to create rest areas - dubbed "zones of psychological comfort" - at the cemeteries. [BBC]
Hajj stampede killed three times Saudi Arabia's official number, says report -
The September Hajj stampede killed at least 2,411 pilgrims, a new count shows, three times the number of deaths acknowledged by Saudi Arabia. The figures establish the crush on September 24 as the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. Saudi's official death toll of 769 people has not changed since September 26, and officials have yet to address the discrepancy. The kingdom rebuffed criticism from its regional rival Iran and efforts by other countries to join a probe into the deaths. Saudi's King Salman ordered an investigation into the tragedy almost immediately, yet few details have been made public since and hundreds of pilgrims remain missing. [Daily Telegraph]
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan cleared over hit-and-run crash -
An Indian court on Thursday cleared Bollywood superstar Salman Khan of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run crash 13 years ago, acquitting him of all charges after he appealed his conviction. The Bombay High Court said a lower court had erred in finding Khan guilty of culpable homicide at the end of his trial in May, when he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. [Daily Telegraph]
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference logo
Elon Musk launches $1bn fund to save world from AI -
Elon Musk has unveiled his latest big-money project: saving humanity from destruction by artificial intelligence. The man who made his billions from PayPal and who has gambled a chunk of his fortune on the race for space, has warned frequently that AI represents humanity's greatest existential threat. He is joining forces with other tech entrepreneurs to establish a $1 billion investment fund for researchers to pursue applications with a positive social impact and to try to stay one step ahead of the technology. Along with his Paypal co-founder, Peter Thiel, and backing from Indian tech giant Infosys and Amazon Web Services, he has set up OpenAI, a nonprofit company that will back research into novel uses of AI and share the findings. [Daily Telegraph] In May 2015 Musk's firm SpaceX won long-waited approval from the US Air Force to launch military satellites
Conor McGregor
Barack Obama on Air Force One
Iceland grapples with volcano-naming responsibility -
Authorities in Iceland have decided on a name for a volcano a year after it started erupting. Council members in the rural district of Skutustadahreppur, which boasts a population of 371, took on the hefty responsibility to officially name the lava field known conversationally to locals as Holuhraun, the Iceland Review news website reports. After considering four names for the volcano - Flaedahraun, Holuhraun, Nornahraun and Urdarbruni - the vote was carried to officially use the name Holuhraun, despite only getting the backing of two of the five council members, Icelandic newspaper Visir said. [BBC]
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
Star Wars smashes box office records on opening weekend -
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" shattered box office records with an estimated $517 million (£350 million) in worldwide ticket sales on its opening weekend, a staggering debut that re-established the celebrated space saga as a global phenomenon. The first "Star Wars" film in a decade recorded the biggest domestic opening in Hollywood's history, collecting $238 million over the weekend in the United States and Canada. Global sales for "Force Awakens" finished second only to the dinosaur film "Jurassic World," which in its June opening garnered $525 million worldwide, including China, where the "Star Wars" film will not open for weeks. "Jurassic World" took $208.8 million at domestic cinemas in its first weekend. "Force Awakens" is the seventh installment in the epic science-fiction franchise created by George Lucas in 1977. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Martin Shkreli
Nicolas_Cage
SpaceX succeeds in historic rocket launch and landing -
SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket late on Monday night for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as planes. Its engines burning bright orange against the dark night sky, the Falcon 9 made a graceful arc back to Earth and touched down upright at Cape Canaveral, Florida, minutes after launching a payload of satellites to orbit, video images showed. "I still can't quite believe it," Musk said in a teleconference after the landing. "I think this is a revolutionary moment. No one has ever brought an orbital class booster back intact." Previous attempts to land the Falcon 9's first stage on a floating ocean platform have failed - with the rocket either colliding with the autonomous drone ship or tipping over. [Daily Telegraph] In June 2015 a SpaceX rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station exploded minutes after take-off. See Video of the Day
Marcel Hirscher
Madonna goes to court to force 15-year-old son to return to New York -
Madonna has gone to court to force her 15-year-old son Rocco to return to New York, after his father Guy Ritchie insisted that he wanted to stay in the UK for Christmas. The singer appeared before a judge in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, where she won her bid to have her son forced to board a plane from London. Mr Ritchie, a film director who has two children with Madonna, argued through his lawyer that Rocco preferred to spend Christmas with his father, the New York Post reported. Judge Kaplan ordered that Rocco should talk with Madonna, and then revisit the issue of which parent he prefers. The judge told a smiling Madonna that Rocco must also present himself to court in the United States for the case to be decided. “I’m directing the child to be returned to New York. If he wants to stay with his father, he must return to his mother.” [Daily Telegraph]
Madonna
Robert Downey Jr
Anti 'sweet tooth' hormone discovered by scientists -
A cure for sugar cravings is a major step nearer after scientists identified a hormone which suppresses a "sweet tooth". Researchers say their findings, published online in the journal Cell Metabolism, could improve the diet and help patients who are diabetic or obese. While sugar cravings are common, particularly at this time of year, the physiological mechanisms that trigger our "sweet tooth" were not well defined until now. But the new study in mice shows that a hormone produced by the liver, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), suppresses the consumption of simple sugars.[Daily Telegraph]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes fastest to take $1bn -
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has become the fastest film to take $1bn (£674m) at the global box office. JJ Abrams' film achieved the feat in 12 days, beating the previous record of 13 days set by Jurassic World in June.
But while Jurassic World had the benefit of record takings in China over the period, The Force Awakens has yet to open there. Star Wars also scored the biggest US Christmas Day box office takings in history with $49.3m (£33.2m). The film took $153.5m (£103.5m) in the US in its second weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $544.6m (£367m). [BBC]
Christmas time storms, tornadoes kill at least 43 in U.S. -
Storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time. The bad weather, or the threat of it, prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states. Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois. In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed. [Reuters]
British soldiers aid evacuation in flood-hit northern England -
British soldiers helped evacuate hundreds of people from rising floodwaters in the historic city of York on Sunday, after heavy rainfall inundated towns and cities across northern England. Prime Minister David Cameron pledged more military help for the region as the army was deployed to move 300 to 400 people from their homes in York, where the River Ouse was expected to continue rising until Monday, the local council said. Some 100 soldiers were also helping emergency services in the hardest hit areas of West Yorkshire, including Leeds, police said, after the region suffered its worst flooding in 70 years. [Reuters]
Lemmy in 2005
Game of Thrones tops list of 2015's most pirated shows -
For the fourth year running, fantasy series Game of Thrones has topped a list of the most pirated TV shows. According to Torrentfreak, the season five finale was illegally downloaded 14.4m times. More than half of those came in the week after its US premiere. The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory rounded up the top three, with 6.6m and 4.4m downloads respectively. Earlier this year, Game of Thrones broke a record when more than 258,000 users shared the show simultaneously. The HBO drama was mainly downloaded on BitTorrent. [BBC] Last year Game of Thrones was only downloaded 8.1 million times.
Vladimir-Putin
Russia 'unlikely' to return by Rio Olympics -
Russia are unlikely to return to international competition in time for next year's Rio Olympics, says European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen. Russia's athletics federation was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations for alleged involvement in widespread doping. An IAAF inspection committee is due to visit Russia in January. "For the moment they have to fulfil the conditions, but I cannot really see them competing in Rio," Hansen said. [BBC]
BBC Error 500
Dubai seeks cause of massive hotel fire at New Year -
The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused a spectacular fire to engulf a 63-storey luxury hotel in the city centre on New Year's Eve. Firefighters managed to subdue the blaze, but part of the Address Downtown Hotel is still smouldering. A BBC reporter says a significant fire is still visible on the 20th floor, where the blaze apparently started. The tower was evacuated and 16 people were hurt. But a fireworks show went ahead at the Burj Khalifa tower nearby. [BBC]
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Sachin Tendulkar tweet
'Anti-IS group' claims BBC website attack -
A group that says it targets online activity linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed it was behind an attack on the BBC's website. All the BBC's websites were unavailable for several hours on New Year's Eve after what a BBC source described as a "distributed denial of service" attack. The group, calling itself New World Hacking, said it had carried out the attack as a "test of its capabilities". In a tweet to BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, the group said: "We are based in the US, but we strive to take down Isis [IS] affiliated websites, also Isis members. "The reason we really targeted [the] BBC is because we wanted to see our actual server power." Earlier, New World Hacking had said: "It was only a test, we didn't exactly plan to take it down for multiple hours. Our servers are quite strong." [BBC]
Adam Robinson Tweet
Facebook wants to kill off your phone number -
The days of the phone number are, quite literally numbered, thanks to the inexhorable rise of the company's Messenger app, according to David Marcus, Facebook's vice president of messaging products. "Think about it: SMS and texting came to the fore in the time of flip phones. Now, many of us can do so much more on our phones; we went from just making phone calls and sending basic text-only messages to having computers in our pockets," Marcus wrote in a blog post. "With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more," he said. "Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number." [Daily Telegraph]
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Alan Rickman in 2011
Hatton Garden heist: Three men found guilty over £14m jewellery raid -
Three men have been found guilty of involvement in the Hatton Garden safe deposit raid, the largest burglary in British legal history. Jewellery and valuables worth an estimated £14 million were stolen when a gang of thieves carried out the "sophisticated" and meticulously planned break-in over the Easter weekend last year. The group used a drill to bore a hole 20in deep, 10in high and 18in into the wall of a vault in London's jewellery quarter, before ransacking 73 safety deposit boxes. Following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Carl Wood and William Lincoln were found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property, while Hugh Doyle was convicted of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property. [Daily Telegraph]
Jimmy Wales
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Twitter error page
Southern Horizon flag
PETA Tweet
Terry Wogan in 2005 receiving his Knighthood
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A-lister Naomi Watts links up with Anglesey football club -
A Hollywood A-lister has agreed to become the honorary president of a small Anglesey football club. Naomi Watts said she was "very excited" to take on the role for Glantraeth FC, based in Malltraeth, which has a population of 400 people. The English-born star of Mulholland Drive and King Kong spent time as a child on her grandparents' farm nearby. Glantraeth FC play in the third tier Welsh Alliance football league division one and get crowds of 40 people. After former president Sir George Meyrick stood down last August, secretary Stan Strickland suggested Ms Watts as a replacement. He sent a letter to her agent who is based on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, and received a positive response on Monday night. [BBC]
Naomi Watts
McVitie's chocolate digestive biscuit
Lord Lucan death certificate granted -
Lord Lucan is now presumed to be dead, a High Court judge has ruled. A death certificate has been issued 42 years after the peer vanished when his children's nanny Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in London. He was declared dead in 1999, despite dozens of unverified sightings, but the new ruling gives his son the right to inherit the family title. His son, Lord Bingham, said: "I am very happy with the judgment of the court in this matter." [BBC]
Maruice White 1982
Black tarantula named after Johnny Cash -
A new species of black tarantula that lives near Folsom Prison, California, has been named after Johnny Cash. The famously black-clad country singer wrote a song about the prison, and also played a historic series of concerts for inmates there in the 1960s. Aphonopelma johnnycashi is among 14 new tarantula species from the southern US which have been described by biologists in the journal ZooKeys. As part of his PhD research at Auburn University in Alabama, Chris Hamilton carefully whittled that down to 29. He eliminated a lot of double-counting, but also defined 14 species that were entirely new to science. "It's a perfect name. It fits the spider - it's found around Folsom and the males are predominantly all black, so it fits his image. "I have a Johnny Cash tattoo so I was very happy that it worked out that way." [BBC]
The cover art for the album At Folsom Prison by the artist Johnny Cash. Copyright Columbia Pictures
Dave Mirra in 2010
New York crane collapse kills at least one person -
A large construction crane has collapsed in lower Manhattan in New York City, killing one person and injuring at least two others. The Fire Department of New York confirmed the fatality and is on the scene responding to the accident. The collapse happened along West Broadway early on Friday morning in the Tribeca neighbourhood. The downed crane, which filled the street, fell onto numerous parked cars. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the victim was sitting in a parked car at the time of the accident, and that it was caused by high winds. Workers were in the process of lowering the crane due to the high winds when it collapsed. No workers were injured. [BBC] See Video of the Day
1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti breaks auction sale for racing car at $32 million -
A 1957 Ferrari driven by the great British motor racers of the 1950s broke the record for the world’s most expensive racing car sold at auction after fetching just over €32 million (£24.7 million) on Friday. Despite the stratospheric price at the Artcurial auction in Paris, the buyer cannot use the vehicle on the roads as it was designed purely for racing. Only four Ferrari 335 S Spider Scagliettis were ever produced, and this one had been in the hands of a private French collector for more than 40 years – hence the feverish excitement at the Rétromobile classic car show in Paris, where the auction took place. The 335S is purely a racing car, unlike the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was a dual purpose vehicle also homologated for road use.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Google boss becomes highest-paid in US -
The chief executive of Google, Sundar Pichai, has been awarded $199m (£138m) in shares, a regulatory filing has revealed. It makes him the highest-paid chief executive in the US.
Mr Pichai became chief executive of the search engine giant following the creation of its parent, Alphabet. The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have amassed fortunes of $34.6bn and $33.9bn, according to Forbes. Mr Pichai, 43, was awarded 273,328 Alphabet shares on 3 February, worth a total of $199m, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The new award of shares takes Mr Pichai's total stock value to approximately $650m. [BBC]
Sundar Pichai
Sophina DeJesus NY Times tweet
Star Wars prosecuted over Harrison Ford injury -
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg. The actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014. The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd - a subsidiary of Disney. Foodles Production said it was "disappointed" by the HSE's decision. Following the incident, Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery. [BBC] Harrison Ford received more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster and last year crashed his light aircraft for a third time.
Richard Branson tweet
Indonesia wants gay-themed emojis removed -
Bill Murray
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/12/bill-murray-throws-phones-carmel-restaurant/#ixzz40F2rItkn
This painting is 'too obscene' for Facebook -
This image is of the painting Ice Cream which was created in 1964 by one of the world's first pop artists, Evelyne Axell. It was uploaded last week by the Philadelphia Museum of Art however censors removed it shortly afterwards. The museum says Facebook told them it shows "excessive amounts of skin or suggestive content". Far from obscene, experts at the museum described the painting as "challenging typical standards by showing women...and their playful characteristics". [BBC Newsbeat]
Phila Museum of Art tweet
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Kanye West REALLY wants $1 billion from Mark Zuckerberg -
Kanye West has publicly asked Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1bn (£700m) into Kanye West ideas. He take his money, when he's a need. Yeah, he's a trifling friend indeed. In a series of tweets Kanye begs the co-founder of Facebook for help because he doesn't have "enough resources" to create what he "really can". It comes after he claimed to have a personal debt of $53m (£36m). Yes, that's FIFTY THREE MILLION DOLLARS. It's all because Kanye thinks he can make the world a better place. He also thinks tech companies in San Francisco should donate money to him rather than African school children. [BBC Newsbeat]
Kanye West begging tweets
Stephen Fry
Hollywood hospital held to ransom by hackers -
Ransomware is a growing menace for computer users - but when a hospital is targeted, it makes the disruption far more serious. Computer systems at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center have been offline for more than a week following a ransomware attack. According to local news sources, hackers were said to have demanded $3.4m (£2.4m) to provide the codes to unlock the stolen data. The hospital has confirmed the attack took place, but has not commented on the ransom. A voicemail message at the hospital reassures patients that medical records had not been accessed by the hackers. [BBC]
Sir Paul McCartney
Women hit their 'style peak' at 30 - six years before men -
Women hit their 'style peak' at 30 when they feel most fashionable and confident, but men must wait until they’re 36. The study found women aged 30 now own an average of 212 clothes, shoes and accessories worth an eye-watering £7,658. This huge collection includes 166 items of clothing - including seven high-fashion outfits worth £2,399 and seven pairs of designer shoes, costing £2,086. Meanwhile, women aged 30, such as actress Keira Knightley, typically own 24 pieces of jewellery worth £2,800, the study, carried out by home insurer MORE TH>N, found. The study found men own an average of £8,868 worth of 'stylish belongings', including 182 items of clothing, designer shoes, watches, bags and jewellery. The research suggests that women aged 30 and men aged 36 are more confident in their style sensibilities as well as owning more valuable items. Just one year later, the value of a person's style and their confidence decreases, the study of 2,000 UK adults found. [Daily Telegraph]
'Unauthorised trousers' kill Canadian zoo's otter -
A Canadian zoo is under scrutiny following the death of an otter which had been given a pair of trousers to play with in its enclosure. Logan, a 12-year-old American river otter, drowned at Calgary Zoo after being given the article of clothing as an "unauthorised enrichment item", the Calgary Sun newspaper reports. The zoo's general curator, Colleen Baird, says Logan got trapped in one of the trouser legs, and two employees have subsequently been disciplined following an investigation into the incident. "It was human error and we take animal deaths very seriously," she tells the paper, but refuses to be drawn on who was responsible. "It's irrelevant how exactly the pants got in there, it's more that the pants got in there in the first place." [BBC]
John McAfee
Viv Richards
South Africa
Denny Hamlin
Kesha
Jeb Bush drops out of presidential race -
A crestfallen Jeb Bush bowed to the inevitable on Saturday night and pulled out of the fight to win the Republican nomination. With the latest projections showing that Mr Bush was locked in a battle to win a distant fourth place in the South Carolina primary, the announcement was hardly a surprise. Fighting back tears he said: “Tonight, I am suspending my campaign, "I'm proud of the campaign that we have run to unify our country." [Daily Telegraph]
Elizabeth Line Roundel
Thai princess leaves $40,000 custom toilet 'unused' -
A toilet that cost an estimated $40,000 (£28,300) to custom-build for a Thai princess visiting Cambodia was left unused, officials say. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn reportedly just took photos of the toilet's building during her visit to Yeak Lom Lake, in north-east Cambodia. The toilet has now been removed and the hut will serve as a tourist office.
The story made headlines in Cambodia, where fewer than 40% of people in rural areas have access to toilets. The toilet, housed in a specially constructed air-conditioned hut, was set up for Ms Sirindhorn two-hour visit to the north-eastern lake on Monday, reportedly at her request. [BBC]
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
Michel Platini
Gianni Infantino
Peter Rabbit 50p
Blossom fans break into Chinese prison grounds -
A Chinese prison compound has been attracting hordes of visitors keen to see the site's blossoming trees in full bloom - with some scaling walls in order to get in, it's reported.
Members of the public had previously been allowed onto the site, in the southern city of Guilin, to wander among a huge grove of peach trees planted in an area housing jail staff. Guards say in past years they've only seen a trickle of visitors, but this year's spectacular display means thousands have turned up, forcing prison authorities to limit access to people visiting inmates or staff, the local Nanguo Zaobao newspaper reports. [BBC]
Kylie Minogue (L) and Kylie Jenner (R)
Sam Smith 'taking a break from Twitter' after Oscars row with Dustin Lance Black -
Sam Smith says he's taking a break from social media. It's after Dustin Lance Black criticised him on Twitter for claiming that he was the first openly gay man to win a prize at the Oscars. Sam Smith made the comment during his acceptance speech after winning the Academy Award for best song for the theme tune to James Bond movie Spectre. "I read an article... by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar," he said. "I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world. "I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day." But the comments didn't go down well with director Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar in 2009 for his film Milk. After all the online drama, the British singer said it was time to "log off for a while".
Sam Smith tweet
Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome
Spain's Princess Cristina denies role in tax fraud at 'trusted' husband’s company -
Princess Cristina of Spain denied any involvement in tax fraud on Thursday when she gave evidence in the first criminal trial held in the country with members of the royal family among the accused. King Felipe’s sister said that she had been completely unaware of the business operations at a company she owned jointly with her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who is accused of a series of crimes including embezzlement of public funds and money laundering. Asked by her defence lawyer why she became the co-proprietor of the company called Aizoon, Princess Cristina it had been Mr Urdangarin’s idea and she had agreed: “Out of trust. He asked me and I accepted.” The 50-year-old princess, who has been stripped of her aristocratic title of Duchess of Palma by King Felipe, said that Aizoon existed “to channel my husband’s income”. “He was the administrator and he took the decisions”, she added. The public prosecutor has requested a 19.5-year jail sentence for Mr Urdangarin, who, along with his business partner, is accused of diverting €4.5 million of public money from a non-profit organisation to private accounts. [Daily Telegraph]
Infanta Cristina Duchess of Palma de Mallorca
George Shelley
Royal Australian Navy facing calls to apologise after speeding warship damages boats in New Zealand -
A speeding Australian warship is being blamed for damage caused to boats and a fish farm inside a tranquil New Zealand waterway. HMAS Warramunga has been conducting advanced navigation training in New Zealand for Australian and Kiwi navy students. Last week, locals in the picturesque Marlborough Sounds said they spotted the Anzac Class frigate speeding through their sheltered harbour. Paul Keating from local advocacy group Guardian of the Sounds said several boats and a walkway were damaged. "Twelve people rang the harbour master that day to lay complaints and one of them was, I believe, from the salmon farm," he said. "Maritime hoonery would be a good way to describe [it]. "We haven't been given any reason why they chose to drive into the bays and then do very sharp turns." [ABC Australia]
Alan Shearer
Email inventor Ray Tomlinson dies at 74 -
Internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson, who is credited with the invention of email, has died at the age of 74. The US computer programmer came up with the idea of electronic messages that could be sent from one network to another in 1971. His invention included the ground-breaking use of the @ symbol in email addresses, which is now standard. Tomlinson died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday, according to reports. He sent what is now regarded as the first email while working in Boston as an engineer for research company Bolt, Beranek and Newman. [BBC]
Ray Tomlinson in 2004
Nancy Reagan in 1983
Leicester City fan cashes out £72,000 on Premier League bet -
A Leicester City fan, who stood to win £250,000 from a £50 bet on his team winning the Premier League, has cashed out for £72,000. The Warwickshire man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, bowed out of the 5,000-1 wager on Saturday. Hours later his stake would have been worth £91,000 after the Foxes beat Watford 1-0, said Ladbrokes. The winner said: "It will mean so much if we win, so there's no point in being greedy." [BBC]
Maria Sharapova
Peyton Manning: Denver Broncos quarterback retires from NFL -
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has announced his retirement, ending a sparkling 18-year career in the NFL. Manning struggled to hold back tears as he confirmed the news at a media conference in Denver on Monday. He said: "I fought a good fight. I finished my football race. After 18 years it is time." Manning, who turns 40 on 24 March, played his last game when he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in February. It was his second Super Bowl win, the first coming in 2007 during a 14-year spell with the Indianapolis Colts. [BBC]
Peyton Manning
George Martin in 2006
'Le burger' now top selling dish in French restaurants, new study reveals -
For the guardians of French gastronomy, the prospect of being served something as unsophisticated as a slab of mincemeat with a bap and slice of cheese would long have been considered sacrilegious. Today, however, the tables have turned. In a culinary revolution, three quarters of French restaurants now sell hamburgers and 80 per cent of these say it has become their top-selling dish, according to a new study. "Le burger" – as the French dub the quintessentially American invention to the despair of linguistic purists of the Académie Française – has become a feature of even the most illustrious eateries. Indeed, such is its success that sales are set to overtake those of the classic "jambon beurre" (ham and butter baguette), the nation's staple lunchtime sandwich. Last year, the French chomped their way through 1.19 billion burgers, an 11 per cent rise on the previous year, while "le jambon beurre" fell to 1.23 billion. [Daily Telegraph]
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Kim Jong-un says North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads -
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his scientists have successfully miniaturised thermo-nuclear warheads to place on a ballistic missile and create a "true" deterrent, state media said on Wednesday. While Pyongyang has boasted of mastering miniaturisation before, this is the first time Kim has so explicitly claimed a breakthrough that experts see as a game-changing step for the North's nuclear capabilities. Kim also stressed that the warheads were "thermo-nuclear" devices, echoing the North's claim that the fourth nuclear test it conducted in January was of a more powerful hydrogen bomb. "The nuclear warheads have been standardised to be fit for ballistic missiles by miniaturising them," Kim noted during a visit with nuclear technicians, the North's official KCNA news agency said. [Daily Telegraph]
Keith Emerson performs on his Hammond and Moog synthesizer during the Emerson & Lake Tour 2010.
Apple customer goes to the top for iPhone battery answer -
The head of Apple's operating system iOS confirmed that open but unused apps do not affect iPhone battery life after a customer emailed boss Tim Cook. The customer from Ohio, known as Caleb, asked Mr Cook whether closing down "multitasking apps" improved battery life and whether it was something the chief executive did himself. Senior vice-president Craig Federighi replied "no and no". However, other smartphone batteries can benefit from app closure. While many Apple users do shut down apps in the belief it extends the iPhone battery this is not advice explicitly given by the firm itself. It only recommends disabling apps from carrying out background refreshes in a list of tips about saving power. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez: Newcastle United appoint Spaniard as Steve McClaren's successor -
Rafael Benitez has been named as Newcastle's new manager, following the sacking of Steve McClaren. The former Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Valencia boss takes over with the Magpies a point from safety with 10 games left. The Spaniard, 55, has signed a three-year contract, which is understood to contain a break clause should Newcastle be relegated at the end of the season. "C'mon Toon Army. The club and I need your total involvement," he said. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez
Zlatan_Ibrahimovic
Mother Teresa in 1986
California homeless man receives $100,000 for spotting fugitives -
A homeless man from San Francisco is to be given a reward of $100,000 (£71,000) for helping police recapture two prison inmates who had escaped. Matthew Hay-Chapman had seen photographs of the two fugitives on the news and spotted them in a stolen van. They had broken out of Orange County Jail six days earlier, sparking a state-wide manhunt. The full $150,000 (£106,000) reward was split between four people, with Mr Hay Chapman getting the largest share. Mr Hay-Chapman spotted the fugitives in the stolen van next to a market in San Francisco and alerted officers in the area. [BBC]
Ben Nevis
Hulk Hogan
Sport Relief raises 'a record' £55m -
More than £55m has been raised so far for charity on Sport Relief's live TV show, ahead of a weekend of fundraising. David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Gary Lineker and Greg James were among those who hosted the BBC show, broadcast from London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Highlights included a Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em sketch featuring tennis siblings Andy and Jamie Murray. The total of £55,444,906 breaks the previous on-the-night record of £51m. [BBC] See List of the Day
Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes -
Iain Duncan Smith has dramatically resigned from the [UK] Government in protest at George Osborne's proposed cuts to benefits for the disabled. The former Conservative leader said that plans to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion were a "compromise too far" and said that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead. He added that they are "not defensible" when announced alongside a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers. Mr Duncan Smith [a former Conservative Leader] also accused the Chancellor of forcing through cuts to welfare for "political" rather than national economic reasons. [Daily Telegraph]
Iain Duncan Smith
Australia Senate passes reforms after farcical all-nighter -
Monty Python references, a colonoscopy analogy and a pyjama-clad senator featured during an all-night sitting of Australia's upper house. The Senate has finally passed changes to how its members are elected after 28 hours of debate. The changes will disadvantage so-called micro parties that have gained increasing power in the Senate. The ruling conservative Coalition formed an unlikely partnership with the Greens party to pass the reforms. But the opposition Labor Party and micro party senators, who opposed the laws, dragged out the debate with filibuster tactics and amendments. During the all-night debate, Labor senators consistently spoke off-topic to delay votes to the legislation giving voters greater control over where their preferences were allocated. The laws eventually passed by a margin of 36-24. [BBC]
Bruce Springsteen
Six Nations 2016: England win Grand Slam with France victory -
England have their first Grand Slam in 13 years after holding out to secure a historic victory in Paris. First-half tries from Danny Care and Dan Cole had given them a five-point half-time lead, only for the relentless penalty precision of Maxime Machenaud to keep France within touching distance. But a third try in three matches from Anthony Watson calmed rising nerves before a brace of late penalties from Owen Farrell allowed the travelling support to sing their heroes home. It marks a remarkable turnaround for new head coach Eddie Jones, coming just six months after the humiliation of a home World Cup exit at the group stages before he took control. [BBC] See List of the Day
Matt Damon
Eddie Izzard completes Sport Relief marathons challenge -
Comedian Eddie Izzard has completed his challenge in South Africa to run 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief. The 54-year-old needed to run a double marathon on Sunday to complete his challenge beneath a statue of Nelson Mandela, in Pretoria. Izzard attempted a similar feat in South Africa in 2012 but had to pull out for health reasons. The comedian's endurance feat raised more than £1.35m. The 2016 Sport Relief total stands at £56,984,007. "That was very, very tough," Izzard told reporters as he swigged from a celebratory bottle of sparkling white wine. The 27 marathons were intended to reflect the 27 years Mr Mandela had spent in prison before becoming South Africa's first black president. [BBC]
Eddie Izzard
Hatton Garden 'Guv'nor' Brian Reader jailed for six years -
The mastermind of the £14 million Hatton Garden jewellery raid has been jailed for six years and three months. Brian Reader, 77- the oldest member of the gang - suffered a stroke in Belmarsh Prison following what was the biggest burglary in English history. Appearing via video link at Woolwich Crown Court, Reader, who the court was told now uses a walking frame, was sentenced to six years and three months by Judge Christopher Kinch QC. James Scobie QC, Reader's defence barrister, previously said: “He has a history of prostate cancer, which may return. He has a mass in his face being tested for possible cancer. He has had a stroke and is blind in one eye.” [Daily Telegraph]
This real life cat burglar keeps stealing men's underwear -
A cat-owner from New Zealand has posted an apologetic note online after her pet cat went on a months-long crime spree, pinching various items of men's clothing from around her neighbourhood. Brigit, a six-year-old tonkinese cat, has been going out at night on the streets of Hamilton and entering into strangers' homes, where she'll pick up some socks or underwear and take it away with her. Brigit then brings the clothes home, often leaving them on her owner Sarah Nathan's bed. In the past couple of months Brigit has pinched around than a dozen pairs of men's pants and around 60 single socks. [Daily Telegraph]
2) Most followed person – Katy Perry
3) Most mentioned person – Justin Bieber
4) Most tweeted emoji – Face with tears of joy emoji
Dave Gohl
Formula 1 drivers warn success of sport could be jeopardised -
Formula 1 drivers have demanded change at the top of the sport, saying its decision-making process is "obsolete and ill-structured". Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) directors Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Alex Wurz have written a letter on behalf of the drivers. It "urges the owners and stakeholders of F1 to restructure its governance". Many issues can be traced back to F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, but the letter does not mention the 85-year-old. Some recent decisions are "disruptive", avoid "the bigger issues" and "could jeopardise F1's success", it adds. Writing the letter is an extraordinary step by the drivers, which reflects the strength of their feelings on the matter.
Jenson Button
Johan Cruyff
CGI deer in Grand Theft Auto
Microsoft chatbot is taught to swear on Twitter -
A chatbot developed by Microsoft has gone rogue on Twitter, swearing and making racist remarks and inflammatory political statements. The experimental AI, which learns from conversations, was designed to interact with 18-24-year-olds. Just 24 hours after artificial intelligence Tay was unleashed, Microsoft appeared to be editing some of its more inflammatory comments. The software firm said it was "making some adjustments". "The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement. As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We're making some adjustments to Tay," the firm said in a statement. [BBC]
Mick Jagger in 2014
Ronnie Corbett in 2010
George Clooney
Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson
Doncaster Rovers fans angry at 1D star Louis Tomlinson's competition win -
Doncaster Rovers fans have reacted angrily to One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and his grandfather winning a competition to design the football club's new away kit. The club revealed the 'Story Of My Life' singer was behind the design on Monday after the poll had closed. In the wake of the announcement some fans have criticised the club and questioned the credibility of the vote. Doncaster Rovers say the voting process "was all was fair and above board". Writing on Twitter one fan said: "I wonder if the vote was rigged or that shirt actually won??? #drfc." [BBC]
Louis Tomlinson
Samsung Contact Lens patent image
US university in Scalia law school acronym blunder -
Officials at a US university were left red-faced after their decision to rename a law school after late Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia prompted hilarity over its unfortunate acronym. George Mason University in Virginia said its law school would be called the Antonin Scalia School of Law. The eagle-eyed immediately took to Twitter to point out that the acronym would be ASSoL. The university has since renamed it as the Antonin Scalia Law School. [BBC]
Beyonce sues over 'Feyonce' label -
Singer Beyonce is suing a US company to stop it from selling merchandise branded "Feyonce". Texas firm Feyonce Inc sells clothing, and other items such as mugs with the label, on its website. The pop star claims the label is too near to her own trademarked name and confuses customers and fans and damages her reputation. The singer also claims in court papers filed in Manhattan that the company has ignored her requests to stop. Beyonce's complaint accuses the San Antonio company, and three individuals, of "brazenly" selling the Feyonce-labelled merchandise. [BBC]
Beyonce_Knowles
Danny Willett
Bryan Adams
Stephen Hawking in 1999
Entertainer and producer David Gest found dead -
Entertainer, producer and reality television star David Gest has died in a London hotel aged 62, a statement from his friend says. Gest, who is a former husband of singer Liza Minnelli, died at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf. His friend and ex-bodyguard Imad Handi confirmed the news in a statement. American Gest was best known in the UK for his appearances on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother. [BBC]
Kobe Bryant
Prince in 2008
Amber Heard
Three-day working week 'optimal for over-40s' -
Workers aged over 40 perform at their best if they work three days a week, according to economic researchers. Their research analysed the work habits and brain test results of about 3,000 men and 3,500 women aged over 40 in Australia. Their calculations suggest a part-time job keeps the brain stimulated, while avoiding exhaustion and stress. The researchers said this needed to be taken into consideration as many countries raise their retirement age. [BBC]
YouTube live-streams in virtual reality and adds 3D sound -
YouTube is introducing live-streamed 360-degree videos on its service. The Google-owned platform said select concerts from California's Coachella festival would be the first to use the virtual reality facility. In addition, it announced videos on its service could now be enhanced with "spatial audio", which simulates the effect of sounds coming from different directions and distances. One expert said the innovation could greatly enhance VR experiences. The announcements were timed to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, where several new virtual reality products are being launched. [BBC]
Victoria Wood in 2012
Solar plane slowly soaring from Hawaii to California -
A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it's California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that's documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, in about three days. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is flying this leg of the journey. [AP]
(Love Symbol Album) (1992)
Mark Zuckerberg
See Video of the Day
Craig Wright revealed as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto -
Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. His admission follows years of speculation about who came up with the original ideas underlying the digital cash system. Mr Wright has provided technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin's creator. Prominent members of the Bitcoin community and its core development team say they have confirmed his claims. By going public, Mr Wright hopes to put an end to press speculation about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. The New Yorker, Fast Company, Newsweek and many other media organisations have all conducted long investigations seeking Bitcoin's creator and named many different people as candidates. "I have not done this because it is what I wanted. It's not because of my choice," he said, adding that he had no plans to become the figurehead for bitcoins. [BBC]
Sadiq_Khan
China bans 'erotic' banana-eating live streams -
Chinese live-streaming services have banned people filming themselves eating bananas in a "seductive" fashion. New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output round-the-clock to ensure nothing untoward is going on, keeping an eye out for any "erotic" banana-eating, according to New Express Daily. It's not just fruit that's on their radar though - the paper adds that wearing stockings and suspenders while hosting a live stream is now also forbidden. The move is the authorities' latest attempt to clamp down on "inappropriate and erotic" online content, state-controlled CCTV reports. In April, the Ministry of Culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that "harms social morality". Despite the government's concerns, such sites are attracting more and more users in China. Particularly popular are webcam sessions where young women - and sometimes girls under 18 - entertain a predominantly male audience, often singing Chinese songs or chatting to their viewers. [BBC]
Mark Rylance
Fatma Samoura (R) in 2008 with George Clooney (L) and Marie-Sophie Reck (C)
Luis_Suarez
Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine's Jamala wins competition -
Ukraine's Jamala has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin. Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia - which was the favourite going into the competition - was third with 491 points. Jamala is the first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest and caused controversy ahead of the show over her political song. The song references the year when Stalin deported almost all of the ethnic group from its native region of Crimea in what was then Soviet Russia (later to become part of Ukraine). [BBC]
Max Verstappen
Magnetic Hyperloop pod unveiled at MIT -
A people-carrying pod designed to levitate and travel at extremely high speeds has been unveiled in Boston. A 30-strong team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of several groups and companies working on making the Hyperloop concept a reality. The idea, first envisioned by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, is to create a transport system that propels pods through airtight tubes. The MIT team said its pod design paved the way for "a mode of transportation that could change how we think about travel". Critics of Hyperloop say it is unlikely to succeed because of prohibitive costs. A white paper by Mr Musk published in 2013 proposed a Hyperloop tube connection from San Francisco to Los Angeles. At speeds of around 700mph (1,127km/h), Mr Musk predicted the journey time would be around 30 minutes. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Harry Kane
Hackers' website breached by hacker -
The email addresses and private messages of more than 470,000 members of a hacking website have been leaked online following a huge data breach. The Nulled website was a popular marketplace for stolen account details and hacking tips. The leaked data contained more than 5,000 purchase records relating to the exchange of stolen information. The site has been taken offline, stating it is undergoing "routine maintenance". [BBC]
Fireball captured on US traffic police officer's dashcam -
A bright fireball shot across the sky early Tuesday around 0500 GMT (0100 EDT), lighting up several north-eastern US states and parts of Canada. The bright flash was apparently left by a meteor burning up as it passed through Earth's atmosphere. The incident was caught on camera, including the dashcam of an officer from the Plattsburgh Police Department, which you can see here. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Coke
Google's conversation-based Assistant takes on Amazon -
Google has announced a conversation-based tool to control smartphones, smartwatches and other devices. Google Assistant can be used to find information, play media and carry out tasks - such as booking cinema tickets - via a back-and-forth chat between the user and the software. The firm also announced a voice-activated device with a built-in speaker called Google Home to deliver the tech to living rooms. It will compete with Amazon's Echo. Amazon launched its own dialogue-based smart home device in 2014, which is powered by the firm's proprietary virtual assistant Alexa. [BBC]
Google car fly paper patent diagram
German churches to get wi-fi 'Godspots' -
Worshippers at Protestant churches in central Germany will soon be able to access the internet via free wi-fi hotspots - billed as "Godspots" by the church. Wi-fi is being installed at 220 churches across the Berlin and Brandenberg region, with plans to expand coverage to all 3,000 churches in the region, the RBB broadcaster reports. Among the first to get connected will be Berlin's French Cathedral on the central Gendarmenmarkt square, and the city's iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. People will be able to access the "Godspots" both inside and outside, and the church is promising a secure network with no advertising. Users will first be greeted by a home page with information about the building, community and faith-related material, but then they'll be free to browse the wider web. [BBC]
Candace Payne - Chewbacca
India records its hottest day ever -
A city in India's Rajasthan state has broken the country's temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records began, the weather office says. The new record in Phalodi in the desert state comes amid a heatwave across India. The previous record for the hottest temperature stood at 50.6C in 1956. The heatwave has hit much of northern India, where temperatures have exceeded 40C for weeks. The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and increasing heat but life-threatening temperature levels topping 50C are unusual. [BBC]
Louis van Gaal
Anthony Bourdain tweet
Donald Trump
Python in Thai toilet gives man nasty shock -
A Thai man is recovering in hospital after a 3m (10ft) python emerged from a squat toilet and sank its fangs into his penis. Attaporn Boonmakchuay said the python was "yanking very hard" as he and his wife tried to wrestle it off. Doctors said Mr Attaporn, who lost a lot of blood in the ordeal, was making a good recovery. Workers dismantled the toilet and extracted the python which had slithered through domestic plumbing. It was released back into the wild. The incident happened as Mr Attaporn, 38, went to the toilet at his home in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, before leaving for work on Wednesday. As he used the toilet he said he suddenly felt a sharp pain. "I felt as though my penis had been severed. The snake was yanking very hard," he said, according to the Bangkok Post. As the python tried to pull him down, he called for his wife and neighbours to help him, the post reported. Mr Attaporn told Thai TV that his wife tied a rope around the snake and he pried its jaws open before passing out. [BBC]
Royal Mail Pink Floyd stamps
Jose Mourinho: Man Utd confirm former Chelsea boss as new manager -
Jose Mourinho has been officially confirmed as Manchester United manager and has signed a three-year contract. He replaces Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who was dismissed on Monday, two days after the club's FA Cup win. "Jose is quite simply the best manager in the game today," said United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. Mourinho, 53, said: "To become Manchester United manager is a special honour in the game. It is a club known and admired throughout the world." Mourinho has been out of work since being sacked as boss of Premier League rivals Chelsea in December. [BBC]
Zinadine Zidane
Alexander Rossi
Gary Barlow in Bristol (Tweet by Marjolein Nap)
Cheese-rolling spectators gather for Cooper's Hill tradition -
Thousands of people lined a steep hill in Gloucestershire to watch crowds of thrill-seekers fling themselves down in pursuit of a wheel of cheese.The 8lb (3.6kg) Double Gloucester is chased 200 yards down the 1:2 gradient Cooper's Hill at Brockworth every year. Chris Anderson, 28, won the first two downhill races - his 16th and 17th Cheese Rolling victories in total. "It's brilliant, I'm really happy," said the soldier from Brockworth who serves with 1 Rifles. Competitors travelled from across the world to take part in the races with TV crews from across Europe also in attendance. Warning signs are put up around the site warning spectators and competitors that they are attending entirely at their own risk. In 2010 the official event was cancelled over safety fears when more than 15,000 people turned up the previous year to watch the competition. Since then it has been held unofficially with roads closed up to 2.5 miles (4km) around the slope. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Ronnie Wood in 2012
MySpace and Tumblr hit by 'mega breach' -
Hundreds of millions of hacked account details from social networks MySpace and Tumblr have been advertised for sale online. In both cases, the logins appear to have been stolen several years ago but only recently came to light. The incident comes the same month it emerged that a four-year-old database containing more than 167 million LinkedIn IDs had been traded online. One expert said it was "intriguing" all had emerged in such a short period. Security researcher Troy Hunt also said millions of IDs from adult dating site Fling - which had been breached in 2011 - had been offered on a hacking forum at the start of the month. [BBC]
Muhammad Ali in 1967
Hugh Hefner in 2010
Eva Carneiro in 2014
Jeff Weiner
Prince William Attitude cover [Image copyright ATTITUDE/LEIGH KEILY/PA]
LeBron James
Ellen DeGeneres (and others)
![Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook]](https://the2010s.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mark-Zuckerberg-Facebook-e1466712162275.png)
Mark Zuckerberg
Roy Hodgson
Boris Johnson
Lindsay Lohan
Battle of the Somme: Royals at Somme centenary commemoration -
Thousands of people, including members of the Royal Family, have attended a ceremony in France to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry were at the Thiepval Memorial for the event. Earlier, a UK-wide two-minute silence at 07:28 BST marked the start of the World War One battle on 1 July 1916.
More than a million men were killed or wounded on all sides at the Somme. The Battle of the Somme, one of WW1's bloodiest, was fought in northern France and lasted five months, with the British suffering almost 60,000 casualties on the first day alone. The British and French armies fought the Germans in a brutal battle of attrition on a 15-mile front. [BBC]
Tony Blair in 2014
Marion Bartoli
The final image sent by doomed Japanese Hitomi satellite -
A doomed Japanese satellite managed to capture a view of a galaxy cluster 250 million light years away just before it died, scientists have revealed. Launched in February, the Hitomi X-ray satellite began tumbling out of control in March when contact was finally lost. Just before its demise, scientists managed to extract data measuring X-ray activity in the Perseus galaxy cluster. Hitomi, which translates as the pupil of the eye in Japanese, was meant to spend years studying the formation of galaxy clusters and the warping of space and time around black holes. It cost more than a quarter of a billion dollars - the research was an international collaboration involving the American space agency Nasa, and teams in Japan and many other countries, including one at Cambridge University in the UK. Hitomi was lost thanks to a sensor incorrectly detecting a roll in the spacecraft. In trying to correct it, on-board systems sent the craft into a spin until finally the solar panels that powered it are thought to have broken off. [BBC]
Hitomi Perseus image [HITOMI COLLABORATION/JAXA, NASA, ESA, SRON, CSA]
Eder (R)
Theresa May
Frankie Dettori
Gary Lineker on MOTD with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright(BBC)
Wayde van Niekerk
Jon Postel in 2008
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Hurricane Matthew image by NASA
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The old shaped Toblerone
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Burnt New Balance Shoews (@milftears twitter)
Josh Greenberg tweet
Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1959
Fisher with fellow Star Wars actors Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, July 2015
Michael performing on stage on the Faith World Tour in 1988.
Megyn Kelly
Robert Marchand (centre) in 2012
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The President and First Lady at the Liberty Ball on Inauguration Day
Emma Stone (By Disney / ABC Television Group (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons)
NASA
Facebook Russian ads that influenced election released to Congress -
Facebook has agreed to disclose ads to Congress that were purchased by Russians on the social media platform in that country's effort to influence the 2016 election, the company announced Thursday. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the brief announcement in a live video update on his Facebook page. "I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity," he said. "I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy -- that's not what we stand for." [CBS]
Harvey Weinstein in 2011
Other News -
Armed conflicts and attacks
Harvey Weinstein (By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
Kevin Spacey (By MARVEL (Original photo by Yvwv.) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
Meghan Markle (By Genevieve [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
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. Here's What You Should Know About Melania Trump's Official First Lady Portrait. Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. "[O]n Monday[,] . . . the White House released [Melania Trump's] first official portrait, which was taken by Belgian photographer Regine Mahaux."Laurent, Olivier (4 April 2017). The Story Behind Melania Trump's Official Portrait. Time. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. - whitehouse.gov/administration/first-lady-melania-trump (page) (archived)whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/flotus.png (direct link) (archived)whitehouse.gov/copyright (license) (archived), CC BY 3.0 us, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57696382){kind=link}
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