- 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”
- January 1, 2010
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 VegasList of the day -
Top Google searches in 2009: Entertainment - Michael Jackson People - Jade Goody Sports - Real Madrid Looking to buy - Windows 7 News - Ted KennedyOther News Stories -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- At least 18 FARC rebels are killed while celebrating the New Year in an air raid by the Colombian Air Force in the south of the country. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Al Jazeera)
- 2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing: At least 95 people are killed, more than 100 more are injured and 20 houses are destroyed after a suicide bomber blows himself up at a volleyball game in Lakki Marwat, northwest Pakistan. (The Times) (Express India) (BBC News)
- Arts and culture
- Russians are surprised by a cartoon "gently lampooning" Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin who are portrayed dancing, singing and playing musical instruments. (BBC) (France 24)
- Business and economy
- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launch a Free Trade Area. (New York Times)(Xinhua)
- Disasters and accidents
- At least 19 people are dead and five are injured as mudslide hits an island resort near Angra dos Reis, Ilha Grande. Large numbers also killed elsewhere in Brazil. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
- Health
- A study suggests that teenagers who go to bed late are more likely to develop depression and to have suicidal thoughts.(BBC News) (CBC) (Sleep)
- Researchers announce that the likely origin of devil facial tumour disease, a transmissible cancer which has caused the population of Tasmanian devils to collapse by 60% in the past decade, is Schwann cells. (BBC) (Time) (New York Times) (Science)
- International relations
- A Cambodian court issues an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy, for failing to turn up at court over a border dispute with Vietnam. (BBC) (Phnom Penh Post)
- North Korea calls for the end of hostilities with the United States and a nuclear free Korean Peninsula, to restart talks; in its annual New Year editorial. (Yonhap) (CNN) (Al Jazeera)
- Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden. (BBC News) (Deutsche Welle)(euronews)
- January 2, 2010
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 Rabbit Red Rabbit from Egmont Mayer on Vimeo. Top News -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- The Ugandan army announces it has killed Bok Abudema, a senior member of the Lord's Resistance Army, in theCentral African Republic. (AFP) (BBC)
- Piracy in Somalia
- Somali pirates seize an Indonesian chemical tanker with 24 crew in the Gulf of Aden and a British cargo ship with 26 cars 620 miles off the Horn of Africa. (Times of India) (RTT News) (BBC)
- The Israeli Air Force launches an attack against tunnels leading from Gaza into Israel in response to missile attacks and mortar fire. (Haaretz) (Al Jazeera)
- Arts and culture
- 19-year-old Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is confirmed as the youngest-ever world number one in the official January 2010 FIDE rating list. (Reuters) (TIME) (AFP) (Chessbase)
- Discoveries
- An Antarctic expedition finds remains of the first aeroplane brought to the continent, a single-propeller Vickers plane of explorer Douglas Mawson. (Reuters)
- Law and crime
- Police in Denmark shoot a 28-year-old male Somali after he breaks into the Viby J home of Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist at the centre of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy in 2005, and threatens his family with an axe. (BBC) (The Times) (Sky News)
- Politics and elections
- A quarter of voters in Iceland sign a petition asking President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson to veto a bill on repaying US$5 billion to foreign savers who lost their money when Icelandic banks collapsed. (ABC News) (Iceland Review)
- The Afghan Parliament rejects 17 out of 24 cabinet nominees proposed by President Hamid Karzai. (The Daily Telegraph) (Hürriyet) (Al Jazeera)
- Religion
- Atheist Ireland purposefully publishes the words of Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Salman Rushdie, Mark Twain and Pope Benedict XVI on its website despite a new law banning them on grounds of blasphemy. (BBC) (CNN) (Irish Times)
- January 3, 2010
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 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
- The Eritrean military claims at least 10 Ethiopian soldiers were killed and 2 captured when Ethiopia launched an armed incursion into Eritrea. The Ethiopian military claims 25 Eritrean soldiers were killed while attacking Ethiopian positions.(TVNZ) (AFP)
- At least 47 people are killed during heavy fighting in the Somali town of Dhuusa Mareeb. (BBC) (Gulf Times)
- Arts and culture
- Several British Muslim writers speak out about Prime Suspect writer Lynda La Plante's complaint against the BBCregarding how much more difficult it is to have her scripts commissioned than it would be for a "little Muslim boy". (The Independent) (Scotland on Sunday)
- Business and economy
- Japan doubles a state-sponsored credit line to troubled airline Japan Airlines to Y200bn (US$2.2bn). (Financial Times)(AFP)
- Disasters and accidents
- A 5.1 magnitude earthquake leaves 20,000 homeless and causes US$1.5 million in damage in eastern Tajikistan.(CNN) (UPI) (RIA Novosti)
- 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)
- A fire destroys one of Africa's most popular markets in Kumasi, Ghana. (My Joy Online) (BBC) (UPI)
- More than 1,000 people are evacuated after days of flooding in New South Wales, Australia. (ABC News Australia)(BBC)
- Two trains collide near the city of Bilecik in northwestern Turkey, killing one and injuring at least four others. (Hürriyet)(CNN)
- The Colombian volcano Galeras erupts, forcing the evacuation of 8,000 people. (Colombia Reports) (TVNZ)
- Mount Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo erupts, threatening rare wildlife in the Virunga National Park. (France 24) (BBC)
- Discoveries
- Remains of the first plane taken to Antarctica in 1912 are discovered by Australian researchers. (The Independent)(BBC) (AFP)
- Environment
- Hundreds of people attempt to control a large diesel leak into a major tributary of the Yellow River, the Wei River, inShaanxi, China. (Al Jazeera) (AFP) (China Daily)
- International relations
- The United States and United Kingdom close their embassies in Yemen, citing threats from Al-Qaeda. (CNN)(euronews)
- Law and crime
- The Supreme Court of Peru upholds a 25 year prison sentence for former President Alberto Fujimori, convicted of masshuman rights violations. (Andina) (AFP) (RTT News)
- Mexican police arrest alleged drug lord Carlos Beltrán Leyva in Culiacán, Sinaloa. (The Guardian) (People's Daily)(CNN)
- At least seven Iranian police and two drug traffickers die in a shootout between Iranian police and drug traffickers inSouth Khorasan Province. (BBC) (INO News) (Islamic Republic News Agency)[dead link](RIA Novosti)
- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces that full body scanners will be introduced at UK airports following the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. (BBC)
- Sport
- Lowly League One team Leeds United defeated Manchester United, 1-0 at Old Trafford, thanks to a great goal byJermaine Beckford, scored at the Stretford End to knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup in the Third Round. (The Guardian)
- January 4, 2010
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
Rank Title Studio Worldwide gross 1. Avatar Fox $2,749,064,328[2] 2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $934,416,487 3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Fox / Blue Sky $886,686,817 4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount / DreamWorks $836,303,693 5. 2012 Columbia $769,304,749 6. Up Disney / Pixar $731,342,744 7. The Twilight Saga: New Moon Summit $709,827,462 8. Sherlock Holmes Warner Bros. $524,028,679 9. Angels & Demons Columbia / Imagine $485,930,816 10. The Hangover Warner Bros. / Legendary $467,483,912 - Armed conflicts and attacks
- American media report that the attacker who killed eight people at a CIA base in Afghanistan was a Jordanian triple agent. (MSNBC) (AFP)
- A gunman opens fire in the lobby of the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada, containing the offices of Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign. A court security officer was killed and a U.S. Marshal injured before the assailant was shot dead. (NY Daily News) (KRSO)
- Arts and culture
- The Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure ever built, opens to the public in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Al Jazeera) (WAM Emirates News Agency)
- A representation of President of the United States Barack Obama is found hanging by a noose with the epitaph "Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President". (BBC)
- Disasters and accidents
- At least 500 homes are damaged after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hits the Solomon Islands. (AFP) (Washington Post)
- Large parts of northern China and South Korea are affected by the heaviest snowfall in 60 years, causing widespread disruption. (People's Daily) (BBC) (Korea Times)
- Met Éireann says Ireland is experiencing its most extreme cold spell of weather since 1963. (RTÉ)
- Discoveries
- Egyptian archaeologists discover the largest tomb yet discovered in the ancient Saqqara necropolis. (Discovery News)(AFP) (Xinhua)
- Environment
- A diesel fuel leak in Shaanxi, China reaches the Yellow River, a water source for millions of people. (China.org.cn)(Reuters)
- International relations
- The Government of Serbia sues Croatia for genocide before the International Court of Justice with historical account of the Holocaust. (B92) (BusinessWeek)
- Law and crime
- 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)
- Police search for a mystery man who goes missing after sparking a security alert at Newark Liberty International Airportin the United States, causing the airport to be completely locked down. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Politics and elections
- Johan Ferrier, first President of Suriname and the world's oldest living former head of state, dies in the Netherlands at the age of 99. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (Winnipeg Free Press)
- South African President Jacob Zuma marries his fifth and currently third wife. (Times LIVE) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Burmese military junta leader General Than Shwe urges people to make the "correct choices" in elections later this year.(Bernama) (BBC)
- Science and technology
- NASA's Kepler telescope detects its first five exoplanets. (BBC) (National Geographic) (New Scientist)
- January 5, 2010
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 -
The PEN Story from PENStory on Vimeo.
Top News -- Armed conflicts and attacks
- The Yemeni government launches campaigns in three provinces to battle Al-Qaeda fighters. (Al Jazeera) (Times of India)
- The suicide bomber from Jordan, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan, is reported to be an al-Qaeda triple agent. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- Arts and culture
- Facebook blocks a social network suicide website. (France 24) (The Guardian) (IOL)
- Business and economy
- The World Food Programme suspends its operations in southern Somalia due to rising instability in the region.(Bloomberg) (Xinhua)
- 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)
- Disasters and accidents
- As many as 1,000 people in the Solomon Islands are reportedly homeless following the two major earthquakes and tsunami which struck the country earlier this week. (Time Magazine)
- At least seven people are killed and 20 missing after a bridge collapse in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (China Daily) (IOL)
- The United Kingdom is once again deluged by heavy snowfall as the country endures its worst cold snap since 1979.(BBC)
- A Learjet cargo plane on approach to Chicago Executive Airport crashes into the Des Plaines River in Wheeling, Illinois.(Chicago Tribune)
- International relations
- Slovakia admits responsibility for a major bomb alert on Dorset Street in Dublin, Ireland, after planting explosives on a civilian as a test. (RTÉ) (The Belfast Telegraph) (BBC)
- 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)
- The US State Department announces that they are revamping how foreign delegations are handled, in response to aSecret Service report that a third man had crashed the state dinner for the Prime Minister of India. (Reuters)(Associated Press)
- The United States reopens its embassy in Yemen after strikes on al-Qaeda. (CNN) (BBC)
- Law and crime
- Andal Ampatuan, Jr., charged with 41 counts of murder in the Maguindanao massacre in November, pleads not guilty at the beginning of his trial in the Philippines. (Philippine Inquirer) (CNN) (AFP)
- Politics and elections
- The President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson announces a referendum during a live televised speech. (BBC)(RTÉ) (Iceland Review)
- Opposition parties in Nigeria raise their concerns over "missing" President Umaru Yar'Adua who has been at a hospital in Saudi Arabia for six weeks. (BBC) (Nigeria Guardian) (Afrique en ligne)
- January 6, 2010
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 -
Los Angeles: in motion from Michael Marantz on Vimeo.
Top News -- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Three soldiers are killed and 11 wounded in a bomb attack in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. (Press Trust of India)(Associated Press of Pakistan) (Xinhua)
- At least six police officers are killed and another 16 injured in a suicide car bomb attack in Dagestan, southern Russia.(Al Jazeera) (RIA Novosti) (BBC)
- Palestinians kill an Egyptian border guard and 50 people are injured in clashes between pro-Palestinian activists andEgyptian police as a Viva Palestina convoy nears the border with Gaza. (BBC) (Jerusalem Post)
- Arts and culture
- Iris Robinson, the wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister, admits having previously attempted suicide. Her husbandPeter Robinson gives an emotional interview in which he speaks of being "deeply hurt" after learning of her extramarital affair. (BBC) (RTÉ) (RTÉ)
- Business and economy
- China becomes the largest exporting country, pushing Germany from first place. (The Wall Street Journal)
- China's tourism revenue hits USD 185 billion in 2009. (Xinhua)
- Disasters and accidents
- 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)
- At least 25 people are killed and at least three others are trapped in a mine fire in Xiangtan County in Hunan. (Xinhua)(Reuters Africa) (Press TV) (Times of India)
- Environment
- Sea Shepherd claims that the Japanese Whaling Fleet's Shōnan Maru delibrately ram and sunk their ship; the Ady Gil.(euronews) (AFP)
- The Dauletabad – Salyp Yar gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Iran is opened. (Press TV) (Channel News Asia)
- International relations
- 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)
- Law and crime
- Yemen arrests three suspected Al-Qaeda members, including one leader, northwest of the capital Sana'a. (Yemen News Agency) (AFP)
- 50-year-old Chinese journalist Li Junqi is imprisoned for 16 years after accepting bribes for his part in a mass three-month cover-up of a coal mine disaster in Hebei in which 35 people, including a rescue worker, were killed prior to the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. (China Daily) (Press Trust of India)
- Politics and elections
- Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii resigns at the age of 77 due to ill health. (BBC) (Kyodo)
- Ex-Cabinet Ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt call for a secret ballot to settle the debate over the leadership of theLabour Party of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (BBC)
- Science and technology
- Computer scientist Fabrice Bellard claims he has computed π to almost 2.7 trillion digits. (BBC) (The Times of India)(The Daily Telegraph)
- January 7, 2010
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 -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Palestinians fire mortars and Katyusha rocket from Gaza, causing widespread panic in Ashkelon, Israel, in the first suchrocket attack on Israel in a year. (The Jerusalem Post)
- At least four militants are dead after a 23-hour gun battle at a hotel in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. (Sify) (New York Times) (Indian Express)
- Aid agencies warn of renewed violence in Southern Sudan unless there are attempts to save the 2005 peace agreement, as 140 people are killed in ethnic clashes. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Khaleej Times)
- At least six Coptic Christians are killed in a drive-by shooting at a church in Nag Hammadi, southern Egypt, with clashes later taking place between police and Copts. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (CNN)
- Arts and culture
- The Xinhua news agency responds to claims by The Guardian newspaper that China had tried “hijack” the Copenhagen summit's Accord by claiming that the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was not invited to secret US-initiated talks onDecember 17. (China Dialogue)
- James Cameron's film Avatar is expected to become the second-highest grossing movie of all time, just passing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (MTV)
- The BBC's Spotlight programme reveals that Iris Robinson, former UK MP and wife of the First Minister of Northern Ireland, helped a 19 year old male who she was having a relationship with receive funding for a business project.(BBC) (The Guardian)
- Business and economy
- The United States approves arms sales to Taiwan, amid opposition from China. (Radio Taiwan International) (BBC)(AFP)
- Disasters and accidents
- Extreme weather in Europe kills nine people in Germany, traps a Eurostar train in the Channel Tunnel, disrupts flights at international airports in Amsterdam, Dublin, Knock and Paris, shuts hundreds of schools in Ireland and disruptsNorway's bus service in Oslo. (BBC)
- Environment
- The governments of Australia and New Zealand announce an investigation into an incident where a boat belonging to the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was damaged in a confrontation with a Japanese ship in theSouthern Ocean. (Reuters)
- International relations
- A weekend killing in Australia has prompted the Indian government to issue an advisory for its college students studying in that country. (CNN) (Indian Express)
- Kenya deports to Gambia a radical Jamaican Muslim cleric who is on a global terror watch list. (KBC) (AFP)(AllAfrica.com)
- Nepal begins discharging child soldiers who fought for the Maoists as part of a process of national reconciliation.(Reuters) (The Rising Nepal) (The Guardian)
- United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston says three independent experts have confirmed that mobile phone video footage showing extra-judicial killings by the Sri Lankan military is authentic. (BBC) (Channel 4 News)
- Law and crime
- An ABB employee commits suicide after shooting eight people, three fatally, at the ABB Power building in St. Louis,Missouri in the United States. (CNN)
- 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)
- Politics and elections
- Guinea's interim leader, General Sékouba Konaté, proposes a unity government led by a Prime Minister from the opposition. (The Guardian) (African Press Agency)
- January 8, 2010
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 -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Several churches in Malaysia are attacked amid tensions over the use of "Allah" by non-Muslims in the country.(Malaysia Star) (The Times) (Al Jazeera)
- 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)
- One person is killed and several are injured after gunmen open fire on a bus carrying the Togo national football team to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. (BBC) (ESPN) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
- Arts and culture
- A large statue of the Pharaoh Taharqa is discovered deep in Sudan. (The Independent)
- Business and economy
- China Mobile, the world's largest mobile telephone operator, sacks its vice chairman Zhang Chunjiang. (The Washington Post)
- China becomes the number one automobile market in the world. (Reuters)
- Disasters and accidents
- Mehdi Karroubi's car is hit by fire in Qazvin, Iran. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (ABC News) (The New York Times)
- Environment
- The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's anti-whaling speedboat Ady Gil, which was damaged on Wednesday during a confrontation with the Japanese security vessel Shonan Maru 2, sinks in the Southern Ocean shortly before 3:30 a.m.AEDT as the Society's Bob Barker attempts to salvage the boat. (ABC News)
- Health
- Sékouba Konaté, the interim head of the junta in Guinea, is flown to Senegal after falling ill. (BBC) (Reuters South Africa)
- International relations
- A Georgian flight lands in Moscow, Russia, the first since the 2008 war. (RIA Novosti) (China Daily)
- British MP George Galloway is deported from Egypt. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Law and crime
- Police in England respond to a security alert on a Dubai-bound flight from London Heathrow Airport. (Reuters) (Sky News) (Toronto Star)
- Two people are arrested over a bomb plot in New York City last year. (BBC) (AFP)
- Two Burmese whistleblowers are sentenced to death for leaking details of secret government visits to North Korea. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The New York Times)
- Three people are arrested for their involvement in the killing of six Copts as they left a church in southern Egypt. (AFP)(BBC)
- Politics and elections
- The Portuguese parliament approves a bill to legalise same-sex marriage. (CBC) (RTÉ) (Deutsche Welle)
- The Ugandan death penalty for homosexuality may be declared "not necessary". (BBC) (The Philadelphia Enquirer)
- Science and technology
- French research in Analytical Chemistry suggests that the heavy eye make-up of Cleopatra could be medically useful.(BBC) (ANSAmed)
- January 9, 2010
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 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
- 100 Avatar
- 99 Together
- 98 Crash
- 97 Tropical Malady
- 96 Shrek
- 95 Michael Clayton
- 94 The Brown Bunny
- 93 Grizzly Man
- 92 The Wrestler
- 91 Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- The United States warns against an attack by "regional extremists" on an Air Uganda flight between Uganda and Sudan.(BBC) (New Vision) (Sudan Tribune)
- A bomb explodes outside the Greek Parliament in Athens with no casualties. (CNN) (China Radio International)
- A fourth church is attacked in Malaysia as a row over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims deepens. (Reuters)(Malayasian Star) (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Business and economy
- Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez announces that the national currency, the bolívar, will be devalued for the first time since 2005, by between 17% and 50%. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Disasters and accidents
- A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes offshore near Eureka, California, with reports of damage and local power outages.(CNN)
- Hundreds of flights are cancelled in Germany as the severe weather conditions across Europe continue. The government asks people to buy several days worth of food and retreat indoors for the rest of the week. (BBC)(Deutsche Welle)
- International relations
- Egypt bans all future aid convoys to Gaza, following recent clashes with Viva Palestina. (Al Jazeera) (AFP)
- Law and crime
- British MP and MLA Iris Robinson is expelled by the Democratic Unionist Party after further details emerge of her involvement in a political and sex scandal. (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Guardian)
- 30 people are injured after bottles of acid are thrown from a building into a busy street in Hong Kong. (Radio Television Hong Kong) (BBC)
- The Sri Lankan army releases over 700 former Tamil Tiger fighters after a rehabilitation program. (The Hindu) (AFP)
- An Indian man is set on fire in Melbourne, Australia, in the latest in a series of attacks on Indian nationals in the country.(Sydney Morning Herald) (Press Trust of India) (AFP)
- Politics and elections
- South African President Jacob Zuma urges party unity and warns economic recovery will be slow at a gathering celebrating the 98th anniversary of the African National Congress. (Times LIVE) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party wins all three seats in by-elections against the ruling Kuomintang.(Taiwan News) (Radio Television Hong Kong) (Reuters India)
- Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai resubmits his proposal for forming the cabinet after his previous selection was rejected by the National Assembly. (Press TV) (AFP)
- Sport
- Togo national football team bus attack:
- The Togo national football team withdraw from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations as a third member of the team is confirmed dead following the attack on their team bus. (BBC) (Angola Press) (IOL) (The New York Times)
- The Confederation of African Football announces that football matches will continue to be played in Cabinda Province where the attack took place. (The Daily Telegraph)
- The Togo national football team later decide to reverse their decision to pull out of the Africa Cup of Nations. (AP via ESPN) (L'Équipe, in French)
- The Togo government decides to pull them out anyway. (BBC Sport) (Philippine Times)
- January 10, 2010
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
- 89 Munich
- 88 The Pianist
- 87 The Child
- 86 Let the Right One In
- 85 Erin Brockovich
- 84 Sin City
- 83 Good Bye Lenin!
- 82 Monsoon Wedding
- 81 Milk
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Three Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives are killed while firing mortars into Israel from Gaza. (The Jerusalem Post)
- The Sunday Mirror 's defence correspondent Rupert Hamer is killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, becoming the first British journalist to be killed there and the first to be killed in a war zone since 2003. (BBC) (Channel 4 News) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Some more churches are attacked in Malaysia. (BBC) (News24)
- 15 people are killed and 15 are injured, five seriously, when a bus and truck collide on a major highway in the Sahara Desert in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. (Press TV) (Reuters)
- Arts and culture
- It is revealed that AHS Centaur, an Australian hospital ship dating from World War II, has been viewed for the first time since it was torpedoed by the Japanese in May 1943 killing 268 people. (BBC) (ABC News) (news.com.au) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Business and economy
- China overtakes Germany to become the world's largest exporter. (Xinhua) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Disasters and accidents
- Winter of 2009–2010 in Europe
- 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)
- Law and crime
- Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is acquitted of beating a former business partner in a videotaped attack. (Reuters) (The Daily Telegraph) (Al-Bawaba)
- 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)
- President of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams receives a death threat. (RTÉ) (Ireland Online) (The Irish Times)
- Politics and elections
- Ivo Josipović wins in the second round of the presidential election, and is elected third President of Croatia. (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010, the De-Ba'athification Commission recommends banning the leaders of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, the Coalition for Iraqi National Unity and 13 other parties for links to Saddam Hussein's banned Ba'ath Party. (The Washington Post)
- Sport
- With the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations due to get underway in Angola, confusion surrounds the participation of Togofollowing the fatal attack on their team bus. Their Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo sends a plane to bring them home.(BBC)
- January 11, 2010
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 -
Timefreeze Worx | 2009 from Real Creations 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 3 – 80-71- 80 The Return
- 79 Spider-Man
- 78 The Hurt Locker
- 77 Children of Men
- 76 Antichrist
- 75 The School of Rock
- 74 Los Angeles Plays Itself
- 73 Master and Commander
- 72 Uzak
- 71 A History of Violence
- Arts and culture
- People in 16 countries in 44 cities from Adelaide to Zürich cause "scenes of chaos and joy in public places" by removing their trousers in public, with 3,000 people doing it in New York alone. (BBC) (The Independent) (Ottawa Citizen)
- Business and economy
- The People's Republic of China conducts a land-based high-altitude anti-ballistic missile test. (SINA News) (Yahoo! News)
- The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reports that more than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age will be without spouses by the end of the decade, citing an uneven birth rate. (Global Times) (BBC)
- Health
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlines seven priorities for 2010 and urges a renewed focus on sustainable development, ending poverty, disease and hunger. (UN News Centre) (Sudan Tribune)
- Wolfgang Wodarg, the Council of Europe's head of health affairs, claims that the 2009 flu pandemic was a "false pandemic" orchestrated by the pharmaceutical industry to sell vaccines. (The Sun)
- The New York City Health Department seeks national reduction of salt in food. (CNN)
- The United Nations seeks to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Michel Sidibé visitedSauri in western Kenya, which is a village of the Millennium Villages Project. (UN News Centre)
- International relations
- North Korea proposes a peace treaty, replacing the Korean War armistice. (Yonhap) (AFP)
- The Low Couch diplomatic spat between Israel and Turkey. Turkey demands Israeli apology.[1]
- Law and crime
- Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a challenge to California Proposition 8 and likely a landmark case regarding same-sex marriage rights in the United States, begins in San Francisco. (The Associated Press)
- Hundreds of prisoners are transferred from the Ignacio Allende prison in Veracruz, Mexico, in preparation for a controversial Mel Gibson film shoot. Protests from relatives of the prisoners are ignored. (BBC) (Hindustan Times)(CBC News)
- Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson temporarily hands over his position to Arlene Foster in the wake of the ongoing political scandal surrounding his wife and fellow politician Iris Robinson.
- Politics and elections
- Thousands of supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather outside the home of a royal adviser accused of involvment in the 2006 coup that ousted the Prime Minister. (Thai News Agency) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- Science and technology
- Tombs discovered near Egypt's great pyramids reinforce the theory they were built by free workers rather than slaves.(BBC News)
- Sport
- Angola makes two arrests over an attack on the Togo national football team in Cabinda Province. (Angola Press)(CNN) (Xinhua)
- The 2010 African Cup of Nations continues without Togo as Malawi unexpectedly beat World Cup qualifiers Algeria by three goals. (BBC) (The Times) (Al Jazeera)
- January 12, 2010
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
- 69 The Class
- 68 Waltz with Bashir
- 67 Little Miss Sunshine
- 66 United 93
- 65 The Departed
- 64 Spirited Away
- 63 The Piano Teacher
- 62 The Devil Wears Prada
- 61 In This World
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- A bomb blast damages the Mozdok – Makhachkala – Kazi Magomed pipeline in Russia's Republic of Dagestan, leaving eleven towns in the republic without gas supply. (ITAR-TASS)
- China's top search engine Baidu is allegedly attacked by Iranian hackers, sparking a retaliatory attack by Chinese hackers on Iranian sites. (The Guardian) (People's Daily) (AFP)
- Masoud Alimohammadi, an Iranian nuclear physics professor, is killed in a bomb attack in the capital Tehran; Iran state media accuses Israel and the United States of involvement. (Press TV) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Mexican Drug War:
- Mexican authorities report the capture of Teodoro García Simental, one of the country's most notorious drug lords, in a raid in La Paz, Baja California Sur. (New York Daily News)
- Arts and culture
- 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)
- The first map in Chinese to show the Americas, created by Matteo Ricci at the request of the Wanli Emperor, goes on public display. (ABC News) (IOL)
- Business and economy
- Google says it may end its operations in China as it is no longer willing to continue censoring its search results.(Reuters) (BBC) (Google blog) (The Guardian)
- Disasters and accidents
- A severe 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti. Tsunami watches issued across the Caribbean. (CTV) (USGS)(BBC)
- International relations
- A United Nations investigation clears Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom in the murder of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, and rules that Rosenberg plotted his own murder. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera) (CNN)
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is ‘encouraged’ by recent developments in Guinean politics, and states the UN will continue working with the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other partners. (UN News Centre)
- Chile becomes the first South American country to be admitted to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (Santiago Times) (Al Jazeera)
- Law and crime
- The European Court of Human Rights rules that powers contained in the UK Terrorism Act 2000 violate the European Convention on Human Rights. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- The United Kingdom bans the Islamist organisation Al-Muhajiroun and an offshoot group, Islam4UK. (VOA)
- A gunman kills two people at a bar in Habikino, Japan, before turning the gun on himself. (Kyodo) (AFP) (BBC)(The Times of India)
- 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)
- Four men feature in the first Crown Court criminal trial to be held without a jury in England and Wales for more than 350 years. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC) (Ealing Times)
- 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)
- The 1980s Welsh popstar Michael Barrett (Shakin' Stevens) is convicted of assault and criminal damage at a court inBallymena, Northern Ireland. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Belfast Telegraph)
- Politics and elections
- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announces that Tamils will be given greater say in matters of governance, proposing power sharing agreements. (The Hindu) (AFP)
- 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 cricket pollinating a flower is caught on camera on the island of Réunion, contradicting the image of crickets destroying flowers. (BBC) (New Scientist)
- Sport
- The Confederation of African Football officially "disqualifies" and plans to punish the Togo national football team for failing to take part in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, despite the fatal machine gun attack on their team bus. (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Weather
- Australia experiences its hottest night since 1902, as a heat wave grips the country. (BBC) (Xinhua) (IBN Live)
- January 13, 2010
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
- 59 Wall-E
- 58 Donnie Darko
- 57 Sideways
- 56 Atonement
- 55 Bowling for Columbine
- 54 Talk to Her
- 53 No Country for Old Men
- 52 Hunger
- 51 Lagaan
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- A fatal attack on a tourist by a "dinosaur-sized" shark off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, prompts the closure of several beaches. (Discovery News) (IOL) (AFP)
- Business and economy
- Mercedes-Benz's 2009 sales rise 77% in the People's Republic of China. (Xinhua)
- The United States trade deficit rose 9.7% to 36.4 billion US dollars in November. (Xinhua) (People's Daily) (RTT News)
- The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) is held in Detroit, Michigan, US. Green vehicles are seen as a response to the late 2000s recession. Automotive News World Congress is held at the Renaissance Center. (Xinhua)(Merinews)
- Shares in Japan Airlines fall by 81%. (BBC) (The Straits Times)
- Disasters and accidents
- An Arkefly Boeing 767 flying from Amsterdam to the Netherlands Antilles is grounded at Shannon Airport after a man claims there is a bomb on board. All 242 passengers and crew are evacuated. (RTÉ) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (The Australian)
- International relations
- Guinea's junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara arrives in Burkina Faso after being hospitalised in Morocco. (Times LIVE)(BBC)
- Turkey threatens to recall its ambassador from Israel over a dispute involving Turkey's ambassador to the country. Israel apologized later. (Reuters) (Ha'aretz) (Today's Zaman)
- The Kiev Court of Appeal accuses Joseph Stalin and other leaders of the former Soviet Union and Soviet Ukraine of organizing mass famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. (Kyiv Post) (RIA Novosti) (RT)
- Law and crime
- Pope Benedict XVI meets and forgives the woman who attacked him at Christmas Eve Mass in 2009. (The Times)(Catholic News Agency) (Adnkronos)
- Politics and elections
- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urges the government to reconsider the anti-homosexuality bill being debated due to "foreign policy issues". (The Guardian) (New Vision)
- Science and technology
- Computer modelling shows that the Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, once described as a major "tipping point" for the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the embayment of the Amundsen Sea, has reached their own tipping points for eventual collapse, likely to lead to a sea level rise of up to 52 cm. (New Scientist)
- Venezuela announces an electricity rationing programme in which the entire country will be affected by four-hour blackouts every week. (El Universal) (China Daily)
- The Government of the People's Republic of China responds to Google's refusal to continue censorship of search results. (Xinhua) (BBC)
- January 14, 2010
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
- 49 Far from Heaven
- 48 Gladiator
- 47 Gosford Park
- 46 Y Tu Mamá También
- 45 District 9
- 44 Hidden
- 43 The Dark Knight
- 42 Ratatouille
- 41 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- India celebrates the Thai Pongal, Makar Sankranti and Magh Bihu harvest festivals in places around the country (Palayamkottai, Haridwar). (The Hindu)
- 40 people are killed after two buses crash head-on in one of Papua New Guinea's worst ever road accidents. (The National) (AFP)
- Seven people die in a stampede at a religious festival on the Ganges in West Bengal, India. (The Hindu) (BBC)(Press TV)
- 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)
- The head of Guinea's junta Moussa Dadis Camara and interim leader General Sékouba Konaté hold emergency talks with Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré. (AFP) (BBC)
- Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces a moratorium on the death penalty, calling for it to be abolished.(BBC) (Al Jazeera) (China Daily)
- A crew of eight Irish sailors is rescued after the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race competitor Cork Clipper hits a rock in Java, Indonesia. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Ireland Online)
- 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)
- Taoiseach Brian Cowen meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London for talks on the devolution process in Northern Ireland. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (BBC)
- A suicide bombing at a market in Afghanistan's Orūzgān Province kills 20 people. (BBC)
- January 15, 2010
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!
- 39 Casino Royale
- 38 Pan’s Labyrinth
- 37 Billy Elliot
- 36 An Inconvenient Truth
- 35 Knocked Up
- 34 Moolaadé
- 33 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 32 Oldboy
- 31 Pirates of the Caribbean
- Johnson & Johnson recalls more than 53 million bottles of over-the-counter products, including Tylenol, Motrin andRolaids, from the Americas, the United Arab Emirates and Fiji. (Reuters)
- President Faure Gnassingbé and national team captain Emmanuel Adebayor are among dignitaries to attend a funeral ceremony held in Lomé for the two football officials killed during the Togo national football team attack in Angola. (BBC)
- At least five people die and dozens are injured in Nairobi, Kenya, when police clash with protesters demanding the release of Jamaican Muslim cleric Abdullah al-Faisal. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
- President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali reshuffles his government, making 11 ministerial changes including the appointment of new finance, defence, tourism and foreign affairs ministers, and sends his condolences to Haiti. (IOL)(Reuters Africa) (Middle East Online) (Xinhua)
- Muslim fundamentalists kill two people, an army colonel and the military commander of Béjaïa in northern Algeria. (IOL)
- 23 security guards are detained after clashing over the care of a taxi rank in Sundumbili, KwaZulu-Natal. (IOL)
- Spain's government sees a video showing three aid workers who have been held hostage by Al-Qaeda in Mali since November 2009. (IOL)
- In the Kamsar area, north of Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, a Chinese road-building firm digs up a van containing 17 decomposed corpses which went missing during a 2005 earthquake. (BBC)
- Mr Gay China, said to be the first gay Chinese pageant, is shut down by police an hour before opening. (BBC) (The Times) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- Russia ratifies key European Court of Human Rights reform. Russia was the last of the 47 Council of Europe member-states to ratify Protocol 14. (Al Jazeera) (RT) (NY Times) (BBC) (ITAR-TASS) (FT) (RFERL)
- January 16, 2010
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
- 29 In the Mood for Love
- 28 The Queen
- 27 Star Trek
- 26 Être et Avoir
- 25 Up
- 24 The Gleaners and I
- 23 Shaun of the Dead
- 22 City of God
- 21 The Bourne Supremacy
- Previously unknown Florence Green, at 108, is believed to be Britain's oldest surviving UK-resident First World Warveteran, and the last known female First World War veteran, having served with the Women's RAF (WRAF) in 1918 (The Daily Telegraph)
- Aftermath of 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- A 4.5 magnitude aftershock strikes Haiti within days of the recent devastating earthquake. (Sky News)
- The United Nations says the earthquake is the worst disaster it has ever had to deal with in its history. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Spanish politician Gaspar Llamazares says the United States's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) use of his photo in its "shameless" digital manipulation of Osama Bin Laden for a wanted poster, has left him insecure and worried about travelling to the United States in future. (BBC) (Sky News) (The Daily Telegraph)
- The German government asks its citizens to stop using Microsoft's web browser Internet Explorer to protect their own security. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Daily Telegraph)
- The first detailed measurements of the melting point of diamond indicate that it behaves similarly to water in that the solid floats on the liquid. (Discovery News) (Popular Science)
- The Afghan parliament for a second time rejects most of President Hamid Karzai's cabinet nominees. (CNN) (The Hindu)
- India's National Security Advisor M K Narayanan steps down as part of an overhaul of security in the country. (The Times) (Times of India)
- China announces an increase of 28% in the number of internet users in the country, now at 384 million. (Times of India) (China Daily) (The Independent)
- Authorities in Cuba are investigating the death of 26 patients at a psychiatric hospital after a spell of unusually cold weather. (BBC) (Havana Times)
- Another church is attacked in Malaysia and a mosque also targeted for the first time in a row over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims. (Times of India) (AFP)
- Kenya will deport a radical Jamaican Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal after protests against his detention led to rioting.(Reuters) (Daily Nation)
- Australian police bust a $A18 million cannabis crop. The cannabis crop has been found growing on leased land in anational park in northern New South Wales. (Otago Daily Times)
- Japanese politician Ichiro Ozawa vows to stay on after the arrests of several of his aides in a growing funding scandal in the Democratic Party of Japan. (Xinhua) (Canadian Press)
- January 17, 2010
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
- 19 Capote
- 18 Mamma Mia!
- 17 4 Months, 3 weeks, and 2 days
- 16 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- 15 Before Sunset
- 14 Saw
- 13 West of the Tracks
- 12 Amelie
- 11 The Lives of Others
- A teacher and a student from Chung Ling High School were killed and four others were missing in the dragon boat tragedy in Penang. The Star
- Computer modelling shows that the Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, once described as a major "tipping point" for the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the embayment of the Amundsen Sea, has reached their own tipping points for eventual collapse, likely to lead to a sea level rise of up to 52 cm over the next century. New Scientist
- Aftermath of 2010 Haiti earthquake: Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade offers "voluntary repatriation" to each of his Haitian "sons and daughters of Africa". (BBC)
- Indian communist patriarch Jyoti Basu, the longest-serving Chief Minister of West Bengal who declined the post of Prime Minister in 1996, dies at the age of 95. (Reuters) (Indian Express) (The Hindu) (Hindustan Times) (The Canadian Press) (BBC)
- 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)
- Former Iraqi minister Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, is sentenced to death for the Halabja poison gas attack. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Pope Benedict XVI makes a controversial visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome. (BBC)
- Ukrainian voters go to the polls to elect a new president. (Kyiv Post) (BBC)
- Sebastián Piñera is elected President of Chile in the second round of the presidential election. (BBC) (UPI)
- Former Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, tells The Sunday Timesthat the conduct of his wife, politician Iris Robinson, with her young lover has led him to shake hands with deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) for the first time. (BBC) (Ireland Online) (RTÉ)
- Prince William of Wales arrives in New Zealand for a three-day tour, including the opening of its new Supreme Courtbuilding, his first official overseas trip representing Elizabeth II. (BBC) (The Independent) (The Daily Telegraph)
- A U.S. drone attack kills 15 alleged militants in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan. (BBC)
- January 18, 2010
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
- 9 The Passion of the Christ
- 8 Amores Perros
- 7 Borat
- 6 Memento
- 5 Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
- 4 There Will Be Blood
- 3 The Incredibles
- 2 Brokeback Mountain
- 1 Fahrenheit 9/11
- The 2010 Islamic Solidarity Games, scheduled to take place this April in Tehran, are canceled due to a dispute regarding the name of the Persian Gulf. (BBC)
- North Korea says sanctions against the country should be lifted before it returns to the six-party talks over its nuclear program. (Thai News Agency) (Joongang Daily) (BBC)
- Indian and Pakistani forces exchange fire over the border. (UPI) (Reuters)
- Mehmet Ali Ağca, the man who shot Pope John Paul II in May 1981, is released from a Turkish prison after almost 30 years behind bars. (Hong Kong Standard) (CNN) (Today's Zaman)
- Somalia sends a letter of protest to Kenya after the arrest of MPs and other officials, including Muslim leader Al-Amin Kimathi, over recent riots. (BBC) (Angola Press) (Africa News)
- Two dozen Afghan Taliban 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)
- A 3.4 Mw earthquake hits Guizhou Province, China, and kills seven people. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Burma's Supreme Court hears a last appeal against the house arrest of detained National League for Democracy leaderAung San Suu Kyi. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (ABS-CBN News)
- Ten Tibetans arrested after crossing into Nepal are handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeesin Kathmandu, reversing an earlier decision to deport them back to China. (Taiwan News) (Republica)
- Fidel Castro reports activities of 500 Cuban-trained doctors in Haiti. (Granma)
- China commences surveillance of text messages, with customers from the country's two largest operators being blocked for lewd messages. Meanwhile, text messaging returns to Xinjiang, after riots last July. (The Sydney Morning Herald)(Al Jazeera)
- Maria Sharapova crashes out of the 2010 Australian Open, losing in the first round against compatriot Maria Kirilenko, 6–7 (4–7), 6–3, 4–6. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- January 19, 2010
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 -
- 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- The United Nations Security Council increases the size of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti by 3,500.(UN News Centre)
- Scores of United States Navy troops land near the Haitian presidential palace, bringing food, water, and equipment.(BBC)
- Cadbury acquisition:
- British confectionery maker Cadbury is to be purchased by American company Kraft Foods for £11.5 billion (850 pence per share). (BBC)
- Cadbury chairman Roger Carr says layoffs will be an "inevitability" following the acquisition. (BBC)
- Iran rejects a deal offered by the International Atomic Energy Agency to exchange low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.(BBC)
- Massachusetts voters elect Republican Scott Brown to fill the vacant United States Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. (BBC) (CNN)
- The United States Supreme Court reverses a decision by the Philadelphia Court of Appeals that had blocked theexecution of former Black Panther Party member Mumia Abu-Jamal. (BBC)
- The United States Supreme 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)
- A United Nations survey reveals Afghans have paid about US$2.5 (or £1.5) billion in bribes in the last year. (BBC)
- At least 149 people are killed in two days of violence between Christians and Muslims in the Nigerian city of Jos. (BBC)
- Large quantities of oil still remain under beaches over 20 years after an Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound, Alaska. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Japanese air carrier Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy protection. (BBC) (Asahi Shimbun)
- Foreign journalists in China say their emails have been hacked, as Google pulls out of launching its Android mobile phones. (Times LIVE South Africa) (Washington Post)
- Bulgarian European Commission nominee Rumiana Jeleva steps down as candidate and minister. (BBC)
- Chinese senior judge Huang Songyou is sentenced to life in prison over corruption charges. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)(People's Daily)
- The Guinean junta appoints opposition leader Jean-Marie Doré as the new prime minister. (BBC)
- A powerful storm in California, United States, causes the evacuation of at least 200 homes in threat of mudslides, and knocks out power for 65,000 customers. One fatality is reported in Kern County. (CBS News)
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approves the establishment of the North Caucasian Federal District (from Southern Federal District) and appoints Alexander Khloponin as the Vice-Premier and Presidential Representative to the new federal district. (ITAR-TASS)
- The Number Resource Organisation warns the Internet is running out of IP addresses, with less than 10% of current-generation IPv4 addresses still available. (Daily Telegraph)
- 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- January 20, 2010
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 -
- Russian journalist Konstantin Popov dies after being beaten by police in Tomsk, Siberia. (Reuters)
- Malaysian police arrest eight people in connection with a firebomb attack on a church, in a row over the use of the word "Allah". (Bernama) (AFP) (Al Jazeera)
- Dutch politician Geert Wilders goes on trial for allegedly inciting racial hatred against Muslims. (The Times)(Dutchnew.nl) (CNN)
- The Nigerian Army regains control of the city of Jos after religious violence killed more than 200 people. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (NEXT)
- Christopher Speight, an American man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in Appomattox, Virginia, surrenders to police. (BBC)
- U.S. investment bank JPMorgan Chase is in talks to buy natural gas firm RBS Sempra for about US$4 billion. (CNBC)
- A 6.1 magnitude aftershock rocks Haiti a week after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. (BBC) (CBC)
- The Burmese Supreme Court announces it will return a verdict on the extended house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by next month. (CNN) (AFP)
- Vietnamese human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh is convicted on charges of subversion and sentenced to five years inprison. (BBC) (Vietnam News) (Bangkok Post)
- Microsoft issues a patch for a serious security hole in Internet Explorer 6 after France and Germany advised their citizens to change browsers. (BBC) (Xinhua)
- The 2D version of the film Avatar is pulled from theaters in China.(Times of India) (Haaretz) (BBC) (Malaysia Star)
- January 21, 2010
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 -
- Operation Aurora:
- Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister He Yafei downplays the government's row with Google, saying it does not affect relations with the United States. (BBC) (AFP) (China Daily)
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls on China to investigate the cyber attacks on Google. (BBC)
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates makes his first visit to Pakistan. (BBC)
- U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs reports a sharp increase in profits for 2009, beating analysts' expectations.(BBC) (The New York Times)
- The United States sends an additional 2,000 troops to Haiti to help with earthquake relief efforts. (BBC)
- Chinese economy grows 8.7% in 2009. (BBC) (China Daily)
- Virginia, United States shootings suspect Christopher Speight is charged with first degree murder. (BBC)
- United States Supreme Court overturns campaign spending limits by corporations and unions. (BBC)
- The Parliament of Angola approves a new constitution that abolishes direct presidential elections. (BBC) (Angola Press)
- Nigerian authorities relax a 24 hour curfew put in place in Jos due to recent religious violence. (Reuters Africa)(Afrique en ligne)
- General Motors confirms it will close an Opel factory in Antwerp, Belgium, cutting 2,300 jobs. (BBC)
- Yemen stops issuing visas at international airports to "halt terrorist infiltration" following the Christmas Day bomb plot.(Yemen News Agency) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- 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)
- Operation Aurora:
- January 22, 2010
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 -
- Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says he will resign if proven guilty of receiving illegal political fund donations.(Mainichi Shimbun) (UPI)
- Ten rhinoceros horns seized in recent weeks at Shannon Airport in Ireland are said to be "rare" and "of international significance". (RTÉ)
- Operation Aurora:
- China rejects criticism by the United States of its internet controls, saying it could harm relations between the two countries. (China Daily) (BBC)
- A White House spokesman says U.S. President Barack Obama is "troubled" by the cyber attacks and wants "some answers". (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
- U.K. Home Secretary Alan Johnson announces the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has raised the terrorist threat levelfrom "substantial" to "severe". (BBC)
- A U.S. Justice Department task force recommends 47 Guantanamo Bay detainees should be held indefinitely without charge. (BBC)
- Former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel James Fondren is sentenced to three years in prison for providing classified documents to Chinese spy Tai Shen Kuo. (BBC)
- A Nuremberg court issues an arrest warrant for former Argentine leader Jorge Rafael Videla, on suspicion of killing aGerman man. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle)
- The Electoral Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church meets in Belgrade and chooses Bishop Irinej of Niš as the newpatriarch. (B92) (BBC)
- European banking stocks drop sharply following U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to restrict activities of the biggestAmerican banks. (BBC)
- The Supreme Court of Nigeria gives the government 14 days to decide whether ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua is fit to rule the country. (BBC)
- Turkish police arrest 120 suspects in a major anti-terrorism operation against Al-Qaeda. (Today's Zaman) (BBC)
- A security alert is issued at all of India's airports after intelligence reports of a plot to hijack an Indian plane. (Indian Express) (Al Jazeera) (AFP)
- The home of an opposition activist is bombed in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo days ahead of the presidential election.(Press Trust of India) (BBC)
- Alexey Dymovskiy, the Russian policeman who became famous for denouncing police corruption on YouTube, is arrested on charges of fraud and corruption. (BBC)
- The internationally renowned Waterford Crystal tourist centre in Kilbarry, Ireland, ceases to function. (RTÉ)
- Conan O'Brien hosted the late night variety television show, The Tonight Show, on NBC for the final time.(tvbythenumbers.com)
- January 23, 2010
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 Wires Birds 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 -
- Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- The Haitian government declares earthquake rescue operations over. (BBC)
- The government announces a first precise death toll of 111,481. To date, it is the second-deadliest earthquake of the21st century (after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake). (CNN)
- Joe Biden's visit to Iraq:
- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden holds talks with Iraqi political leaders ahead of the March parliamentary election.(BBC)
- Biden says the U.S. government will appeal in the Blackwater Baghdad shootings case. (BBC)
- Thousands of protesters demonstrate in Venezuela for and against the polices of President Hugo Chávez amid a currency revaluation and energy shortages in the country. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- Eight people are killed and 13 missing after flash floods and landslides hit Sulawesi, Indonesia. (News Australia)(Jerusalem Post)
- Between 100 and 150 bodies are found stuffed in wells in the village of Kuru following religious clashes in Jos, Nigeria.(BBC) (AFP)
- A passenger train in Iran derails, killing at least eight people and wounding at least fifteen others. (Press TV) (ISNA)(Reuters) (RTÉ) (The Canadian Press)
- Japanese prosecutors question Representative Ichirō Ozawa over an alleged party funding scandal. (BBC) (Manilla Bulletin)
- The American Civil Liberties Union condemns a U.S. Justice Department report that suggested 47 Guantánamo Baydetainees should be held indefinitely without trial. (BBC)
- Jim McCormick, the director of the U.K. company manufacturing the controversial ADE 651 bomb detectors, is arrested on suspicion of fraud. (BBC)
- A new assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey says Venezuela may hold double the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.(BBC)
- Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra leaves Cambodia on the eve of anti-government protests in Thailand.(The Phnom Penn Post)
- A strong weather system leaves damage in the U.S. states of California and Arizona after producing flooding rains, strong winds, and a rare outbreak of tornadoes in the region. (Los Angeles Times) (San Francisco Chronicle) (ABC News)
- Canadians take to the streets to protest the prorogation of the 40th Canadian Parliament. (CBC) (Globe and Mail)
- Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- January 24, 2010
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 Feeling Top List - Winners List of 2010 NRJ Music Awards:
- Francophone Revelation of the Year: Florent Mothe
- International Revelation of the Year: Lady GaGa
- Francophone Female Artist of the Year: Sofia Essaidi
- International Female Artist of the Year: Rihanna
- Francophone Male Artist of the Year: Christophe Willem
- International Male Artist of the Year: Robbie Williams
- Francophone Group/Duo of the Year: Mozart l'Opera Rock
- International Group/Duo of the Year: Tokio Hotel
- Francophone Song of the Year: "L'Assasymphonie" - Florent Mothe (Mozart l'Opera Rock)
- International Song of the Year: "I Gotta Feeling" - Black Eyed Peas
- Francophone Album of the Year: "Cafeine" - Christophe Willem
- International Album of the Year: "One Love" - David Guetta
- Song Most Downloaded of the Year in France: "Ca m'enerve" - Helmut Fritz
- NRJ Award of Honor: Robbie Williams and Beyonce Knowles
- Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- Haiti is rocked by another earthquake. (CBC News) (RTÉ) (TVNZ)
- The Haitian government announces the death toll from the recent earthquake has reached 150,000 in the capitalPort-au-Prince alone. (BBC)
- A minute's silence is held before games in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. (CNN)
- France holds two fund-raising concerts in Le Zénith de Paris and the Bataclan. (France24)
- In the National Football League, the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints win playoff games to advance to Super Bowl XLIV. (AP)
- One person is killed and three more are injured when an explosion occurs at a thermo-electric plant near Gryfino,Poland. (Ynetnews) (The Irish Times)
- The Chinese government denies state involvement in the cyber attacks on Google, while the state-run China Dailynewspaper accuses the United States of hypocrisy. (BBC) (China Daily)
- A flight operated by Kolavia on behalf of Taban Air crashes on landing at Mashhad International Airport, Iran, injuring at least 46 people. (Press TV) (BBC) (The New York Times)
- The Venezuelan government takes six cable television channels off the air, including RCTV, after they refused to transmit government messages. (BBC) (The New York Times)
- Osama Bin Laden claims responsibility for the failed Christmas day bombing attempt in Detroit, USA, last year. (BBC)(The New York Times) (VOA)
- Afghanistan postpones its upcoming parliamentary elections to 18 September due to lack of funds and security concerns. (The Guardian) (The New York Times)
- North Korea says any attempt by South Korea to launch pre-emptive strikes against its nuclear facilities will be considered a declaration of war. (Yonhap) (BBC) (The New York Times)
- At the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France, hip hop band Black Eyed Peas are mistakenly presented with an award for best international group which was intended for Tokio Hotel, while Rihanna falls off the stage during a live performance of "Russian Roulette". (BBC)
- Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds wins the top prize at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards, with Jeff Bridgesand Sandra Bullock winning best actors. (BBC) (The New York Times)
- A spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama expresses the administration's support for a second term for the incumbent Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and says lawmakers would send a bad message by "playing politics in any way" with Bernanke's confirmation. (ABC News)
- Sri Lankan opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka receives the support of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 2010 presidential election. (BBC)
- The citizens of Nago, Okinawa, elect mayor Susumu Inamine, an opponent of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is crucial for Japan – United States relations. (The New York Times) (BBC News)
- Authorities in Wales arrest two people in connection with the abandonment at the cathedral in Carlow, Ireland of an 8-month-old baby taken from Nottinghamshire, England. (RTÉ) (Sunday Independent) (BBC)
- Ghana eliminate the hosts of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Angola following accusations of "intimidatory" tactics carried out by the country's security forces. (France24)
- James Cameron's Avatar becomes (not accounting for inflation) the second highest grossing movie in the United States and Canada and the best selling movie overseas. (Variety) (BoxOfficeMojo)(Reuters) (HollywoodReporter)
- January 25, 2010
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 -
- Live Nation and Ticketmaster complete their merger, following an agreement with the United States Department of Justice to divest some interests. (Reuters)
- Police in the Venezuelan capital Caracas disperse an opposition student protest over the closure of several television stations. Meanwhile, Vice President Ramón Carrizales resigns. (AFP) (El Universal)
- Houthi fighters in northern Yemen offer to leave Saudi Arabia after three months of fighting on the border. (Al Jazeera)(BBC) (Press TV)
- Representatives of the Dalai Lama head to Beijing for the first discussions with Chinese authorities in 15 months. (The Hindu) (AFP) (The Guardian)
- Voters in Saint Kitts and Nevis go to the polls in the 2010 general election. (Washington Post)
- New traces of melamine in milk products are discovered in China, more than a year after thousands of children became ill from a previous incident. (China Daily) (BBC)
- The European Union agrees to send a team to train up to 2,000 Somali troops to help fight insurgents in the country, as intense gun battles take place in the capital Mogadishu. (Reuters South Africa) (UPI)
- Environment ministers from the G4 bloc (IBSA Dialogue Forum & China) meet in New Delhi, India, to agree a common position ahead of future climate change talks, such as the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference ("COP-16") at Cancún, Mexico, to be held from 29 November 2010 to 10 December 2010 [2]. (AFP) (The Daily Star)
- Dutch football club HFC Haarlem, national champion in 1946, is declared bankrupt, becoming the first Dutch professional club to be disestablished since FC Wageningen and VCV Zeeland in 1992. (Telegraaf)
- Iraq:
- Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali", is executed. (BBC News)
- Three car bomb explosions in central Baghdad kill 36 people. (BBC)
- Burma's Home Minister General Maung Oo says Aung San Suu Kyi will be released by November this year. (Reuters)(Al Jazeera)
- The United States will reportedly "reconsider" Algeria's placement on its terror watch list, which requires Algerian citizens to undergo extra security screening. (Xinhua)
- Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, with 85 passengers on board, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea after taking off fromBeirut Airport, Lebanon. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- A Qantas terminal at an airport in Perth, Western Australia, is evacuated after police locate a "suspicious item". (The Age)
- An inquest into the deaths of five Afghan asylum seekers opens in Australia. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- A record-breaking half a million Australians take extra time off work "sick" as Australia Day approaches. (The Age)
- A senior Chinese Internet official says his country is now the largest victim of cyber attacks in the world. (China Daily)
- Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Prime Minister Gordon Brown meet at Downing Street to discuss the devolution deadlock inNorthern Ireland. (RTÉ) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the opening of an exhibition of Auschwitz concentration campblueprints in Yad Vashem. (The Washington Post)
- Gordon Park, convicted murderer in the Lady in the Lake trial, is found hanged in his prison cell in Garth prison, Lancashire, England, in an apparent suicide. (BBC)
- January 26, 2010
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
- Authorities in Peru begin evacuating over 2,000 tourists stranded by heavy rains on Machu Picchu. (BBC)
- A French parliamentary report backs a partial ban on the wearing of burkhas by Muslim women. (France 24) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
- The United States approves an arms sale to Taiwan, amid opposition from China. (Al Jazeera) (Radio Taiwan International)
- Petelo Vikena, King of the Kingdom of Alo in Wallis and Futuna, abdicates after reports of vandalism and arson against royal property. (RNZI)
- James Cameron's Avatar becomes the highest-grossing film of all time (not accounting inflation), surpassing his 1997Titanic. (Wall Street Journal) (The Hollywood Reporter) (New York Post)
- Voters in Sri Lanka go to the polls in a presidential election. (Daily News) (The Hindu) (Xinhua)
- January 27, 2010
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
- Apple II (1977)
- The first Macintosh – the 128J (1984)
- The iMac (1998)
- The iPod (2001)
- The iPod nano (2005)
- The iPod classic (2007)
- The iPhone (2007)
- iTunes (2001)
- The iPad (2010)
- Apple stores (2001)
- At least 20 people are injured after a five-storey apartment building collapses following a gas explosion in Liège,Belgium. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Canadian Press) (RTÉ)
- Machu Picchu mudslides:
- New Zealanders, Britons, Chinese and Irish tourists are among the thousands trapped after mudslides in the Incancapital Machu Picchu. (The New Zealand Herald) (Sky News) (China Daily) (RTÉ)
- Some wealthier tourists pay $500 to escape the devastation which has killed at least 10 people. (The Times)
- Aftermath of 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says seven-year-old Charlie Simpson, who rode five miles and raised more than £200,000 for the 2010 Haiti earthquake fund, is "truly inspirational" as his spouse Sarah Brown meets him in his absence at Downing Street. (BBC)
- Pop star Susan Boyle is "shocked but unharmed" after disturbing an intruder at her house in Scotland as she returns from recording her part for Simon Cowell's charity single for Haiti. (The Times) (CNN) (Washington Post)
- Incumbent President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa is declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election, defeatingopposition candidate Sarath Fonseka. (BBC)
- North Korea fires artillery shots into the sea near the disputed Northern Limit Line maritime border, with South Koreareturning fire. (Yonhap) (BBC) (Times of India)
- Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Taoiseach Brian Cowen leave Northern Ireland after three days spent discussing its future. (RTÉ) (BBC)
- The highest surface wind gust ever recorded of 220 kt at Barrow Island, Australia in 1996 is ratified by the WMO.(Arizona State University) (WMO).
- Ireland is hit by two earthquakes over a 24-hour period, described as "unusual" by experts. (RTÉ) (BBC) (The Irish Times)
- The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom overturns two Orders in Council that froze the assets of unconvicted suspects in terrorism cases. (BBC News)
- The Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S., Timothy Geithner, appears before a committee of the United States House of Representatives to discuss his actions in 2008, when he was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in the rescue of troubled insurance industry giant AIG. (New York Times)
- Steve Jobs unveils the Apple iPad, a tablet PC at a press conference in San Francisco. (Engadget)
- January 28, 2010
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 Reel Another Cloud Reel ... from Delrious on Vimeo. Top News -
- The U.S. Senate votes to give Ben Bernanke a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve. (AP)
- J. D. Salinger, author of the novel The Catcher in the Rye, dies at the age of 91. (BBC) (CBC) (RTÉ)(TIME)(The Times)
- Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- The International Monetary Fund loans US$114 million to Haiti following the recent earthquake devastation, with the full amount due to be transferred by the end of the week. (The Straits Times) (The Hindu)
- Teenager Darlene Etienne is pulled alive from the rubble of Port-au-Prince "happy but dehydrated" 16 days after being buried, having spent the time drinking Coca-Cola and water from a bath. (BBC) (Indian Express) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- 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)
- North Korea:
- North Korean vessels fire again across the Northern Limit Line maritime boundary with South Korea. (Yonhap)(RIA Novosti) (WSJ Europe)
- An American man is detained after crossing into North Korea from China. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- 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)
- Three players are dismissed during the semi-final football match between rivals Algeria and Egypt in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, months following their previous meeting which led to international violence and diplomatic skirmishes.(magharebia.com) (BBC) (USA Today)
- Colombia makes a formal diplomatic protest to Venezuela over the latter's alleged violation of Colombian airspace by a military helicopter. (BBC) (RIA Novosti) (Colombia Reports)
- Sudan's ruling National Congress Party endorses South Sudan President Salva Kiir in upcoming elections. (BBC)(Sudan Tribune)
- Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is cleared of charges of complicity to false denunciation in theClearstream affair. (France 24)
- Iran executes two opposition supporters for their role in the election protests in the country. (Al Jazeera) (The Times)(WSJ)
- January 29, 2010
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 -
- The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond goes on public display in Washington, D.C., United States. (The Irish Times) (BBC)(The Daily Telegraph)
- The United States approves a US$6 billion arms sales package to Taiwan. (The New York Times) (AFP) (Taiwan News)
- Haiti acknowledges the immediate international assistance it received from Cuba, the Dominican Republic andVenezuela following the recent earthquake and confirms the death toll has reached 150,000. (Granma)
- A state of emergency is declared in parts of Bolivia and rescue efforts continue in Peru amid heavy rain and floods in the region. (BBC) (Andina)
- The offices of defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka are raided by police. (Press Trust of India)(Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- A Nigerian court dismisses a call for an interim leader to be appointed while President Umaru Yar'Adua is in hospital inSaudi Arabia. (NEXT) (Reuters) (BBC)
- North Korea fires artillery towards South Korean territory at the Northern Limit Line for a third consecutive day.(Xinhua) (Yonhap)
- A 25-year-old employee of the Bank of Ireland is detained by authorities in connection with the largest bank robbery in the country's history. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ)
- First flight of the Russian stealth fighter Sukhoi T-50. (The Times) (BBC)
- Several people are killed in heavy fighting in the Somalian capital Mogadishu. (CNN) (Dawn) (Al Jazeera)
- Tony Blair appears at the Iraq Inquiry and is questioned in public for the first time about his decision to take the United Kingdom to war against Iraq. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- Vietnamese author Pham Thanh Nghien, who criticised the ruling Communist Party, is sentenced to four years in prison for spreading propaganda against the state. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Canadan Prime Minister Stephen Harper appoints five new Senators. (Globe and Mail)
- January 30, 2010
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 -
"Whale Song" for Modest Mouse from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo.
Top News -- Extreme weather, including snow and wind, leads to "chaos" and as many as three deaths in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. (Deutsche Welle) (BBC) (The Hindu) (Press TV)
- The Togo national football team is banned for two tournaments and fined $50,000 for withdrawing from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations after the fatal attack on their team bus in Angola. The Government of Angola and Confederation of African Football are both to be sued by the families of the dead. (BBC) (Xinhua)
- Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake:
- The United States suspends medical evacuations in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake due to a dispute as to who should pay for treatment. (New York Times)
- Several Americans have been charged with child smuggling for attempting to take Haitian children to the Dominican Republic. (BBC)
- Puerto Rico investigates a group of its doctors who took photographs of patients and performed operations in the earthquake zone while smiling, drinking and holding guns. (Primera Hora)(BBC) (CNN) (Miami Herald) (The Washington Post)
- Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, who criticised the country's leader and who is, according to Amnesty International, a "prisoner of conscience", loses his appeal against a six-month prison sentence for assault. (BBC) (France 24)(Taiwan News)
- 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)
- The leader of the Shia Houthi rebel group in northern Yemen, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, says they will accept a ceasefire if government actions against them cease. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (AFP)
- Judges across Italy stage a walk out over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's proposed judicial reforms. (Reuters)(euronews) (BBC)
- 12 people drown and least 20 others are missing after a boat accident in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh inIndia. (The Hindu) (RTÉ) (Sky News) (Taiwan News)
- The President of the Central Bank of Argentina resigns after a row with the country's President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. (Buenos Aires Herald) (The Financial Times)
- China suspends military exchanges and reviews cooperation on issues with the United States after the latter agreed to a proposed weapons sale to Taiwan. (The Hindu) (Xinhua) (BBC)
- Google begins to phase out its support for Internet Explorer 6 after it was identified as a weak link in cyber attacks on the search engine. (BBC) (CNET)
- Honda recalls 650,000 of the Honda Fit (also known as Honda Jazz) vehicles worldwide over potential electrical faults.(The Guardian)
- Publishing company MacMillan said that on-line retailer Amazon.com, Inc. has removed all MacMillan print and e-booksfrom its site due to a dispute over the pricing of books sold through Amazon's Kindle reader. (Wall Street Journal)
- January 31, 2010
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
Actor/Actress Character Total Matthew Fox Jack Shephard 113 Evangeline Lilly Kate Austen 108 Jorge Garcia Hugo "Hurley" Reyes 108 Josh Holloway James "Sawyer" Ford 104 Terry O'Quinn John Locke/Man in Black 101 Naveen Andrews Sayid Jarrah 98 Daniel Dae Kim Jin-Soo Kwon 92 Yunjin Kim Sun-Hwa Kwon 88 Emilie de Ravin Claire Littleton 72 Dominic Monaghan Charlie Pace 65 - Gunmen open fire on a student party in Ciudad Juárez, killing at least 13. (BBC) (Times of India)
- President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika becomes the Chairman of the African Union. (AFP)
- Roger Federer beats Andy Murray to win the men's singles title at the 2010 Australian Open. (BBC Sport)
- Egypt become African Cup of Nations champions for a record third consecutive title after beating Ghana 1-0 in Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola, in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations final. (BBC Sport)
- A Mw 5.2 earthquake in Sichuan province, China, kills one person and injures 11 others, destroying at least 100 homes.(BBC News) (Bangkok Post) (Times of India)
- The death toll from flooding in southern Peru rises to 20. (BBC News)
- The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group in the Niger delta region of Nigeria, announces the end of its unilateral ceasefire. (The Punch) (BBC News)
- Thirteen soldiers in Burundi have been arrested for allegedly plotting a coup to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza.(BBC News) (Afrique en ligne)
- The remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers who died in the Battle of Fromelles during World War I are reburied in the first new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery to be constructed in 50 years. (BBC News)
- A suicide bomber kills at least sixteen people in a market in Khar in north-western Pakistan. (Daily Times of Pakistan)(BBC News)
- Feb 2010
- February 1, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
LoopLoop from Patrick Bergeron on Vimeo.List of the day -
2010 Grammy Award winners -Record of the Year: "Use Somebody," Kings of LeonAlbum of the Year: "Fearless," Taylor SwiftSong of the Year: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it)," Beyonce KnowlesNew Artist: Zac Brown BandPop 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)
- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presses China to back Iran sanctions for its nuclear program. (WSJ)
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Cyprus to begin talks aimed at reuniting the country. (The Hindu) (Deutsche Welle) (UN News Centre)
- Nigerian militant group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta denies it attacked oil pipelines in the south of the country, after Shell closes three oil flow stations. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Envoys of the Dalai Lama return from Beijing after the ninth round of negotiations. (Times of India) (Xinhua) (RIA Novosti)
- A female suicide bomber kills 41 people and injures a further 106 in an attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (Al Jazeera) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Nine people are killed in a bus rampage in Tianjin, northern China. (BBC) (China Daily) (Taiwan News)
- 52nd Grammy Awards:
- Pop singer Beyoncé Knowles wins the most awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards, winning six of her ten nominationsincluding Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and becoming the first woman to win six awards in the same night. (BBC) (The Times of India) (Chicago Tribune)
- Rock band AC/DC win their first ever Grammy Award. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Seven performers, including Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin and Loretta Lynn, are awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards. (All About Jazz)
- Chinese state media voices its disapproval after the Obama administration unveils its first arms package for Taiwan, a move that prompted China to threaten sanctions on the firms involved. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Anti-government protests take place in cities across Russia, with 100 protesters detained at rallies in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. (BBC) (The Moscow Times) (Sify)
- February 2, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 TVList 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] 1943 No appearance (World War II) 1944–1949 "Long winter" 1950 "Early spring" 1951–1969 "Long winter" 1970 "Early spring" 1971–1974 "Long winter" 1975 "Early spring" 1976–1982 "Long winter" 1983 "Early spring" 1984–1985 "Long winter" 1986 "Early spring" 1987 "Long winter" 1988 "Early spring" 1989 "Long winter" 1990 "Early spring" 1991–1994 "Long winter" 1995 "Early spring" 1996 "Long winter" 1997 "Early spring" 1998 "Long winter" 1999 "Early spring" 2000–2006 "Long winter" 2007 "Early spring" 2008–2010 "Long winter" 2011 "Early spring" 2012 "Long winter" 2013 "Early spring" 2014–2015 "Long winter" Other News Stories -
- Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of espionage, while the latter detains one Russian and expels four others. (BBC) (RIA Novosti) (Kyiv Post)
- A hearing whether to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is held in the United States allowing the possibility of openly gay people to become active-duty members of the United States armed forces. (BBC)
- The World Food Programme announces the number of hungry people in Sudan has quadrupled since August 2009 to 4.3 million. (AFP)(Emirates News Agency) (Taiwan News)
- China says that relations will be undermined if U.S. President Barack Obama meets the Dalai Lama. (BBC) (China Daily) (CBC)
- Continental Airlines and five men go on trial for their alleged role in the crash of Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde flight, that killed 113 people in 2000. (Reuters)
- The Lancet medical journal issues a full retraction of a paper that caused a 12-year international controversy over alleged links between the MMR vaccine and autism. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Finance Minister of Germany Wolfgang Schaeuble says that the German government will buy stolen information on Swiss bank accounts, offered in a CD that contained 1,500 names in exchange for 2.5 million euros, to pursue tax evasion. (Bloomberg)
- 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)
- Paul Volcker testifies before the Banking Committee of the United States Senate about the so-called "Volcker rule," an administration proposal to separate banks from hedge funds and have them close down their risk-taking prop desks. (L.A. Times)
- February 3, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 2005Video of the Day -
MK12 // Swiss International Air: LX Forty English from MK12 on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- L'Homme Qui Marche I by Alberto Giacometti, a bronze sculpture sells in London for £65,001,250, a new world record auction price. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
- A major fireball is reported in the skies over Ireland, lighting up "the whole country". (RTÉ) (The Irish Times)
- Avatar becomes the highest grossing film in the U.S. and Canada while surpassing the 2 billion dollars mark in worldwide sales. (Reuters)(BoxOfficeMojo)
- Judges at the International Criminal Court rule that Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir could face charges of genocide over the War in Darfur. (The Guardian) (CNN)
- Pirates off the coast of Somalia seize a North Korean-flagged cargo ship south of Yemen. (AFP) (CNN)
- NASA and Cornell University have given up attempting to move the Spirit rover, currently stuck in sand near Home Plate, Gusev crater on the planet Mars, and are converting it into a stationary outpost. Its twin rover, Opportunity, remains mobile on Mars. (Space.com)
- Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim goes on trial in Kuala Lumpur, accused of sodomy. (Bernama) (BBC) (AFP)
- A man detonates a homemade bomb outside a shopping mall in Darwin, Australia, wounding 15 people. (Sydney Morning Herald) (The Australian)
- A bombing near a girls' school in Lower Dir, Pakistan kills seven, including three U.S. Marines, marking the first time U.S. soldiers are killed in that country. (CNN) (Al Jazeera)
- February 4, 2010
Top News Stories -
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.Video of the Day -
Iron Man vs Bruce Lee from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.List of the day -
Tiger Wood's Major Championship winsYear Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner(s)-up 1997 Masters Tournament 9 shot lead −18 (70-66-65-69=270) 12 strokes Tom Kite 1999 PGA Championship Tied for lead −11 (70-67-68-72=277) 1 stroke Sergio García 2000 U.S. Open 10 shot lead −12 (65-69-71-67=272) 15 strokes Ernie Els, Miguel Ángel Jiménez 2000 The Open Championship 6 shot lead −19 (67-66-67-69=269) 8 strokes Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els 2000 PGA Championship (2) 1 shot lead −18 (66-67-70-67=270) Playoff 1 Bob May 2001 Masters Tournament (2) 1 shot lead −16 (70-66-68-68=272) 2 strokes David Duval 2002 Masters Tournament (3) Tied for lead −12 (70-69-66-71=276) 3 strokes Retief Goosen 2002 U.S. Open (2) 4 shot lead −3 (67-68-70-72=277) 3 strokes Phil Mickelson 2005 Masters Tournament (4) 3 shot lead −12 (74-66-65-71=276) Playoff 2 Chris DiMarco 2005 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot lead −14 (66-67-71-70=274) 5 strokes Colin Montgomerie 2006 The Open Championship (3) 1 shot lead −18 (67-65-71-67=270) 2 strokes Chris DiMarco 2006 PGA Championship (3) Tied for lead −18 (69-68-65-68=270) 5 strokes Shaun Micheel 2007 PGA Championship (4) 3 shot lead −8 (71-63-69-69=272) 2 strokes Woody Austin 2008 U.S. Open (3) 1 shot lead −1 (72-68-70-73=283) Playoff 3 Rocco Mediate Other News Stories -
- A curfew is imposed in Srinagar, Kashmir, after protests over the death of a 15-year-old boy during a demonstration. (AFP) (BBC)(KashmirWatch.com)
- North Korea relaxes restrictions on the free market after a revaluation in 2009 led to unrest and worsened food shortages. (AFP) (BBC) (The Times)
- Switzerland agrees to accept two Chinese Muslim Uyghurs from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. (Swissinfo)
- Yahoo! sells HotJobs to Monster.com for US$225million. (PA)
- Debt-ridden emirate of Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, confirms the discovery of a new oilfield. (Gulf News) (Kyiv Post)
- Sumo grand champion Asashoryu announces his retirement, following allegations he attacked a man outside a Tokyo nightclub. (BBC)
- February 5, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
Los Angeles: in motion from Michael Marantz on Vimeo.
Other News Stories -
- At least 22 people are killed and more than 50 are injured in two separate bombings in Karachi. (The Hindu) (BBC) (euronews) (The Guardian)
- At least 40 people are killed and more than 140 are wounded in at least two explosions in Karbala during the final day of Arba'een. (Al Jazeera)(The Guardian) (The New York Times)
- A private helicopter crashes in the Dominican Republic, killing two. The helicopter was returning from relief work for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.(AP)
- Civil servants in Zimbabwe go on strike, demanding a wage increase. (Zimbabwe Times) (Business Day) (Press TV)
- Cyclone Oli hits Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia, killing at least one man. (AP) (BBC)
- The last native of India's Andaman Islands fluent in the Aka-Bo language dies, rendering the language extinct. (Daily Mail)
- Danish special forces storm a ship captured by armed Somali pirates and free the 25 crew on board. (Miami Herald)
- The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin agree to devolution from Westminster from 12 April 2010 after two weeks of discussions, the longest ever during the Northern Ireland peace process. (RTÉ) (BBC)
- Five Russian soldiers are killed and six injured in clashes with militants in Chechnya. (RIA Novosti) (Press TV) (News24)
- Four British politicians will face criminal prosecution over their expense claims in the ongoing expenses scandal. (BBC) (Washington Post)
- New images of the dwarf planet Pluto reveal rapid changes on its surface. (BBC) (National Geographic) (Xinhua)
- Uganda's deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem says the country's anti-homosexuality Bill "will be changed". (BBC)
- North Korea announces it will release an American man who entered the country on December 25, 2009. (The Guardian) (Yonhap) (Korea
- February 6, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.List of the day -
List of highest military honours throughout the world - [List from Wikipedia]Country Image Name Date first awarded Number awarded Notes Argentina Cross to the Heroic Valour in Combat 18 Last awarded in 1982 Australia The Victoria Cross for Australia 16 January 2009 3 Replaced The Victoria Cross Bangladesh Bir Sreshtho 15 December 1973 7 Canada The Victoria Cross of Canada 2 February 1993 0 Date established. Replaced The Victoria Cross China The Hero's Medal April 1951 Denmark The Valour Cross 18 November 2011 1 Estonia The Cross of Liberty 24 February 1919 3,156 None has been awarded since 1925 France The Legion of Honour 15 July 1804 India Param Vir Chakra 3 November 1947 21 Israel The Medal of Valor 19 January 1948 40 Replacement for the Hero of Israel. None has been awarded since 1975. Italy Gold Medal of Military Valour 21 May 1793 Luxembourg Military Medal 3 August 1945 Netherlands Military William Order 30 April 1815 5,875 New Zealand The Victoria Cross for New Zealand 26 July 2007 1 Replaced The Victoria Cross. Norway The War Cross with Sword 28 November 1941 285 A new sword is awarded each time a person, who already has the War Cross, distinguishes him- or herself in battle.[6] Pakistan Nishan-e-Haider (Left) Hilal-e-Kashmir (Right) 16 March 1957 11 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. Russia The Gold Star Spain Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand United Kingdom The Victoria Cross 26 June 1857 1357 1354 United States The Medal of Honor 26 March 1863 3468 3449 Different types from each of the branches of the US military.In the image, from left to right: The Army, the Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps, and the Air Force. Zimbabwe The Gold Cross of Zimbabwe 3 Replaced the Grand Cross of Valour Other News Stories -
- Jordan Queen's educational reform program lauded in Jordan. Rania Al Abdullah and Princess Hessa bint Salman were briefed on the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) by the organization's Director General Valentina Qussisiya. (zawya)
- The Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, one of the world's largest water projects, has been delayed by about five years due to problems associated with water pollution, officials in east China's Shandong province. (China Daily)
- Wang Jiarui, head of the Communist Party of China's liaison office, arrives in North Korea on a "goodwill visit" at the invitation of the Workers' Party of Korea. (AFP) (Tehran Times) (The Straits Times)
- Charles McArther Emmanuel, son of President of Liberia Charles Taylor, is ordered to pay more than $22 million (£14 million) to five people tortured during the Second Liberian Civil War. (BBC)
- The Group of Seven nations agree to write off Haiti's debts following a conference in Iqaluit, Nunavut. (BBC)
- The Bank of Spain announces that Spain’s economy fell 3.6% in 2009, the most in decades. (Mercopress) (Reuters) (Business Spectator)
- Thousands protest in Togo against a decision by the Confederation of African Football to ban the country from the next two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. (BBC) (Times of India)
- An Australian mining company signs a $70 billion deal to supply Chinese power stations with coal, in the country's biggest ever export contract.(BBC) (The Hindu) (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Mark Durkan, former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, resigns as leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Irish Times)
- French aid worker, Laurent Maurice, kidnapped in Chad last November, is released after 89 days of captivity, described as "tired but appears to be in good health". (BBC) (CNN) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (Reuters South Africa) (CTV News) (news.com.au)
- Afghan police admit they shot dead seven civilians, including two children, as they collected firewood in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, last Thursday.(Reuters) (Press TV) (France24)
- 23 Yemeni government soldiers are killed by the Houthis in two separate incidents: 15 are ambushed in Wadi al-Jabara, while the remaining 8 die in Sa'dah. (Press TV)
- The Taliban blow up a girls' school in Huwaid, Pakistan, killing no one. (AFP)
- February 7, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 DankworthVideo of the Day -
Megan Fox Super Bowl Motorola advertList of the day -
Super Bowl MVPs (from Wikipedia)Other News Stories -
- Sir Richard Branson warns that oil crunch is coming within five years. (Current TV) (thisismoney) (Telegraph) (theenergycollective)
- New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win Super Bowl XLIV. (Sports Illustrated)
- Laura Chinchilla is elected President of Costa Rica, the first woman to take the office, following the 2010 general election. (Reuters)(Tico Times) (RTÉ) (Xinhua)
- First Gentleman and former President Néstor Kirchner of Argentina undergoes emergency surgery to remove a blockage in his carotid artery.(BBC) (The Washington Post) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- In Nigeria, the Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, is controversially re-elected. (BBC) (Reuters South Africa)
- The Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Connecticut, explodes, killing at least five people and injuring at least 14 others. (BBC News)(The New York Times)
- 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)
- Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie defeats Alasdair McDonnell in an election to become leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) following Mark Durkan's resignation yesterday. She is the first woman to take charge of the party in its history and the first female leader of a major party in Northern Ireland. (The Belfast Telegraph) (BBC) (RTÉ)
- Voters in Ukraine go to the polls in the second round of the country's presidential election. (Al Jazeera) (The Independent)
- Australian Senator John Faulkner and Doctor Wayne Mapp attend a ceremony in Gallipoli to commemorate dead ANZAC and Turkish soldiers, laying wreaths at several locations. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Huang Yizhong is jailed for 13 years in Jiangmen, Guangdong, for copying and spreading pornographic material through his website. (The Washington Post)
- 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)
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad orders his country's atomic agency to begin enriching uranium to a higher level. (The New York Times) (Press TV)
- Libya bans YouTube, independent news sites and opposition web sites in crackdown on controversial subjects, including human rights abuses by the Libyan government. (The Jerusalem Post)
- February 8, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 iPadVideo of the Day -
Kate Moss YSL commercial 2009List 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 MillionOther News Stories -
- Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could still face charges of genocide in Darfur. (BBC)
- Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in pop singer Michael Jackson's death.(BBC)
- The sodomy trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is halted after his lawyers attempt to have the judge removed. (Bernama) (Al Jazeera) (UPI)
- Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych appears to win the 2010 presidential election, with 98% of the ballots counted. (Kyiv Post) (The New York Times) (The Hindu)
- At least 17 Indian soldiers are killed in an avalanche in Kashmir. (Indian Express) (BBC)
- Space Shuttle Endeavour launches successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 4:14 EST, marking the beginning of STS-130, a two-week mission to the International Space Station. (UPI)
- The World Health Organisation confirms that a cholera outbreak which has spread along the north coast of Papua New Guinea has hit more than 2,000 people, killing around 50 of them. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- A colony of Galapagos Islands sea lions relocate 1,500 kilometres, the first time they have set up a colony outside the islands. (BBC)
- The Boeing 747-8 takes its maiden flight, lasting just under four hours.
- A series of avalanches at the Salang tunnel in Afghanistan is presumed to kill 64 people, with at least 400 injuries reported. (The New York Times) (Toronto Sun)
- Reform of the banking system was one of the key themes at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. European Parliament Vice-PresidentSilvana Koch-Mehrin said "There was general disapproval of the disproportionate self-rewarding in the banking sector". (Gov Monitor)
- February 9, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 mobileList of the day -
Types of hedgehog (from Wikipedia) Subfamily Erinaceinae (Hedgehogs)[1]- Genus Atelerix
- Four-toed hedgehog, Atelerix albiventris
- North African hedgehog, Atelerix algirus
- Southern African hedgehog, Atelerix frontalis
- Somali hedgehog, Atelerix sclateri
- Genus Erinaceus
- Amur hedgehog, Erinaceus amurensis
- Southern white-breasted hedgehog, Erinaceus concolor
- European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus
- Northern white-breasted hedgehog, Erinaceus roumanicus
- Genus Hemiechinus
- Long-eared hedgehog, Hemiechinus auritus
- Indian long-eared hedgehog, Hemiechinus collaris
- Genus Mesechinus
- Daurian hedgehog, Mesechinus dauuricus
- Hugh's hedgehog, Mesechinus hughi
- Genus Paraechinus
- Desert hedgehog, Paraechinus aethiopicus
- Brandt's hedgehog, Paraechinus hypomelas
- Indian hedgehog, Paraechinus micropus
- Bare-bellied hedgehog, Paraechinus nudiventris
Other News Stories -
- Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor pleads not guilty in death of the star. (WSJ) (Washingtonpost) (FOX)
- The campaign period for the Philippine general election, 2010 begins. (BBC)
- The recently-elected President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolves his country's parliament one day after the arrest of Sarath Fonseka.(BBC)
- 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)
- Andal Ampatuan, Jr., former ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and 196 other people are charged with murder in the Philippines, in connection with the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009. (ABS-CBN News) (AFP)
- China sentences Tan Zuoren, who investigated poor construction after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, to five years in prison for "incitingsubversion of state power". (BBC) (The Washington Post) (Radio Television Hong Kong)
- Genus Atelerix
- February 10, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 KeysVideo of the Day -
HP - invent from Wriggles & Robins on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- 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)
- Frank Bainimarama, leader of the 2006 Fijian coup and current Prime Minister of Fiji, announces that he will retire in 2014. The report is denied by Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Information. (RNZI)
- The Court of Appeal of England and Wales rules that open air funeral pyres can be accommodated under the 1902 Cremation Act as amended.(BBC)
- A 3.8-magnitude earthquake strikes near Chicago, United States. No reports of major damage. (CNN)
- Officials in Haiti state that at least 230,000 people died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake, but that number may yet grow, approaching the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake as the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century thus far. (BBC)
- Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is appointed acting President of Nigeria in place of Umaru Yar'Adua. (NEXT) (AllAfrica.com) (BBC)
- 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)
- February 11, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
Polar Bear from Plane Stupid on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- A European Union summit takes place to discuss a possible bailout for Greece's economy. (Reuters) (The Guardian)
- The European Parliament rejects an agreement that would have granted the United States Terrorist Finance Tracking Program unlimited access to the SWIFT bank transactions database. (BBC News)
- Protests continue in Sri Lanka after the arrest of opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka. (AFP) (Bernama)
- British fashion designer Alexander McQueen is found dead at his home in London at the age of 40, on the eve of his mother's funeral, in an apparent suicide. (BBC News) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The New York Times) (Irish Independent) (The New Zealand Herald)
- A court in Beijing upholds a sentence against Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on charges ofsubversion. (Xinhua) (The Times) (Al Jazeera)
- Iran:
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran is now a nuclear state, following a successful 20% uranium enrichment. (New York Times)
- Reformists clash with police forces in Iran, during protests held at the 31st anniversary of the overthrow of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.(New York Times) (Al Jazeera)
- 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)
- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has two coronary stents implanted in his heart at the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, after chest pains. (New York TImes)
- Haiti announces that the 10 American missionaries accused of attempted kidnapping will be released from custody. (Sky News)
- A large eruption occurs at the Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat after a partial lava dome collapse, sending ash to a height of 50,000 feet.(Montserrat Volcano Obeservatory)
- February 12, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
Colorama - Makeover from UPPER FIRST on Vimeo.
List of the day -
Queen Elizabeth II current titlesAmericas
- Antigua and Barbuda
- 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
- 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
Other News Stories -
- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly called on the DPRK to re-engage in the Six-Party Talks that also involve the Republic of Korea,Japan, China, Russia and the United States. (UN)
- Police in Mtwapa arrest five men accused of being homosexuals, two of whom had wedding rings and were attempting to marry in a first forKenya. (BBC) (Daily Nation)
- Thousands of people flee Mogadishu after 24 people are killed and 40 people are wounded in two days. (BBC) (CBC)
- Russian security forces kill at least 20 people in Ingushetia. (BBC) (The Star) (The Scotsman)
- Togo appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over their ban from the next two Africa Cup of Nations in the aftermath of the Togo national football team attack. (BBC) (CNN) (The Guardian)
- Mexican President Felipe Calderón's visit to a community centre in Ciudad Juárez where 13 teenagers and two adults were shot dead at a school party on 31 January is disrupted by murders, riot police and dozens of protesters. (BBC) (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
- A shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States, leaves at least three persons dead. (CNN)
- 2010 Winter Olympics:
- The XXI Olympic Winter Games competitions begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (NBC Sports)
- Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili is killed after a crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre, during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics.(BBC) (The Times) (The Los Angeles Times)
- Nodar Kumaritashvili is remembered by the participants in the opening ceremony. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- The United States successfully shoots down a launching ballistic missile using the Boeing YAL-1, a military Boeing 747-400F aircraft mounted with a chemical oxygen iodine laser weapon. (Reuters)
- Thailand deports the five-man crew detained in the country since December after transporting weapons from North Korea. (AFP) (Thai News Agency)
- Campaigning for Iraq's parliamentary election begins. (Xinhua) (AFP) (Press TV)
- Indonesia's former anti-corruption chief Antasari Azhar is sentenced to 18 years for the murder of a businessman. (Jakarta Post) (CNN)
- A ceasefire is declared between Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government in northern Yemen. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera) (Press TV)
- Burma's leader General Than Shwe says the general elections will be held "soon". (Al Jazeera) (Press Trust of India)
- Chinese human rights activist Feng Zhenghu, stranded at Japan's Narita International Airport after being refused entry to China for three months, returns home. (Bangkok Post) (BBC)
- February 13, 2010
Top News Stories -
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]Video of the Day -
Geometric from Gwen Vanhee on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- U Tin Oo, the Vice-Chairman of the National League for Democracy was released today in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, after the expiration of his term of house arrest. (UN)
- Cyclone Rene approaches Manu'a at full force winds of 150 kilometres an hour. (Radio New Zealand International)
- A suspected terrorist attack in the western Indian city of Pune kills 9 people and injures more than 45 others. BBC news (The Times of India)(The Hindu) (The Times)
- Burma releases vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Tin Oo at the age of 82, after he has spent more than a decade in prison or under house arrest. (BBC)
- The Côte d'Ivoire government is dissolved with President Laurent Gbagbo saying on state television that the peace process has broken down. (Al Jazeera) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters)
- 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver:
- 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)
- The luge event goes ahead at the Whistler Sliding Centre a day after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. (BBC) (The Times) (ABC)
- Year of the Tiger:
- China prepares to celebrate New Year holidays with tens of millions of people travelling and fireworks anticipated. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Wen Jiabao delivers his New Year message in state newspapers. (Reuters)
- Clashes erupt in Dresden 65 years after the city was bombed at the end of World War II. (Al Jazeera) (CBC) (Press TV) (The Washington Post) (BBC)
- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki demands eight senior officials to resign due to corruption scandals in the education ministry and a maize scandal.(BBC)
- NATO forces in Afghanistan launch Operation Moshtarak against the Taliban-controlled village of Marja in Helmand Province. (The New York Times)
- At least 10 people are electrocuted to death when a power cable collapses onto a bus in Port Harcourt. (BBC)
- Three people die and others are seriously injured after a Danish bus en route from Berlin to Munich hits a barrier and flips over on theBundesautobahn 9 near Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt. The Autobahn is closed in both directions. (The Local) (IOL) (RTÉ)
- February 15, 2010
Top News Stories -
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 WoodsVideo of the Day -
J.O.B. First Look from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- An appreciation of the Chinese yuan will help US economic growth but it will not solve problems in its own economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist said Monday. (China Daily)
- The opposition Anguilla United Movement, led by former Chief Minister Hubert Hughes, wins a majority of seats in the 2010 general election, defeating the governing Anguilla United Front. (Anguilla News)
- Aid flights arrive on the island of Aitutaki, Cook Islands, where 90% of structures were damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Pat last week. (RNZI)
- Somalia's state minister for defence Yusuf Mohammed Siad survives an attempt on his life from a suicide bomber in Mogadishu. (BBC)
- A Naxalite attack on an army camp in West Bengal kills 24 Indian soldiers, with many more reported missing. (Hindustan Times)
- Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga accuses the President Mwai Kibaki of "overstepping" his powers after the latter re-appointed two ministers sacked by Odinga over a corruption scandal. (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) (BBC) (AP)
- The United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, arrives in the country on the first day of a five day visit to assess the progress onhuman rights. (Al Jazeera) (Global Times) (BBC)
- Halle train collision: 20 people die in a train collision in Halle, Belgium. (BBC) (Flanders News) (WSJ)
- Pope Benedict XVI begins a two-day meeting with all 24 Irish Roman Catholic bishops to discuss child abuse in a "quite unprecedented" move. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (RTÉ)
- Five men are imprisoned for up to 28 years, after being convicted over the 2005 Sydney terrorism plot. (BBC) (ninemsn)
- Cyclone Rene hammers Tonga with gusts of 160 kilometres an hour, isolating Tongans for several days. Widespread damage is reported in the capital, Nukuʻalofa, and contact is lost with the northern island of Vavaʻu. (TVNZ) (The New Zealand Herald)
- A joint NATO and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province. (BBC)
- 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver:
-
- Dario Cologna secures Switzerland's first ever Olympic cross-country gold medal and Norway delivers its poorest ever cross-country Olympic performance in the men's 15km freestyle cross-country competition (AFP) (AP)
- February 14, 2015
Top News Stories -
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 JenkinsVideo of the Day -
Berlin Block Tetris from Sergej Hein on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- NATO admits it killed 12 civilians when two misfired rockets hit a house in Marjah, Helmand. President Hamid Karzai calls for an explanation.(BBC) (news.com.au) (Reuters)
- Viva Leroy Nash, the oldest death row inmate in the United States, dies of natural causes at the age of 94. (BBC) (The New Zealand Herald)(Taipei News)
- Thousands of people collect in Beirut on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in a bombing alongside 21 other people, with his son and current Prime Minister Saad Hariri addressing the crowd. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Irish Times) (CBC) (The Independent)
- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki undoes the suspensions for fraud of the agriculture and education ministers handed out by his Prime Minister.(BBC)
- BMW Oracle win the 33rd America's Cup becoming the first American team to win since 1992. (BBC) (TVNZ) saling.org/wordcup/news
- Rafiq Husseini, a top aide of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is suspended following involvement in an alleged attempt to trade influence for sex. (MSNBC) (The Jerusalem Post)(The Guardian)
- Cyclone Rene heads for Tonga and Niue after brushing American Samoa. (The New Zealand Herald) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Nine Irish Roman Catholic bishops and Cardinal Seán Brady arrive in Rome to discuss the Murphy Report and Ryan Report into the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland with Pope Benedict XVI, the first such meetings there in eight years. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (Gulf Times) (The Irish Times)
- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemns the bomb blast in Pune, India, one day earlier, saying Pakistan is against terrorism and that his country wants better relations with India. (The Hindu)
- Iran detains five more members of the Baha'i minority, in addition to Baha'i leaders jailed since 2008, for alleged involvement in protests against the regime. (The Jerusalem Post)
- The death toll from yesterday's double bus electrocution in Port Harcourt rises to as much as 40, with more than 30 injured. (THISDAY) (The Punch) (Press TV) (The New York Times)
- Viktor Yanukovych is officially named winner of the Ukraine presidential election. (RIA) (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) (AP) (AFP)
- 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver:
- Alexandre Bilodeau scores first place in the men's freestyle skiing moguls, winning Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal on home soil.(BBC)
- Feb 2011
- February 4th 2011
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.
- Mar 2011
- March 11, 2016
Top News Stories -
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 DayVideo of the Day -
Japan Tsunami FootageList of the Day -
List of ten most powerful earthquakes [Wikipedia]Rank Date Location Event Magnitude 1 May 22, 1960 Valdivia, Chile 1960 Valdivia earthquake 9.5 2 March 27, 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States 1964 Alaska earthquake 9.2 3 December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake 9.1 4 March 11, 2011 Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan 2011 Tōhoku earthquake 9.0 5 November 4, 1952 Kamchatka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 1952 Kamchatka earthquakes 9.0 6 August 13, 1868 Arica, Chile (then Peru) 1868 Arica earthquake 9.0 (est.) 7 January 26, 1700 Pacific Ocean, USA and Canada (then part of the British Empire) 1700 Cascadia earthquake 8.7–9.2 (est.) 8 July 9, 869 Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan 869 Sanriku earthquake 8.9 (est.) 9 December 2, 1611 Pacific Ocean, Hokkaido, Japan 1611 Sanriku earthquake 8.9 (est.) 10 April 2, 1762 Chittagong, Bangladesh (then Kingdom of Mrauk U) 1762 Arakan earthquake 8.8 (est.) Other News Stories -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- European Union leaders gather in Brussels for an urgent summit. (BBC)
- Clashes continue to take place between rebels and Gaddafi loyalists at Ra's Lanuf. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Saudi Arabian protests:
- Protesters take to the streets of Hofuf and al-Ahsa in the east of the country. (Reuters) (Wall Street Journal)
- 2011 Kuwaiti protests:
- 2011 Bahraini protests:
- Security is increased as a large march takes place towards the royal court. (Reuters)
- India and Pakistan successfully conduct missile tests. (Sify India)
- Arts and culture
- American actor Mel Gibson is charged with misdemeanor battery for an alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva in January 2010. (Access Hollywood)
- Disasters
- 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hits offshore of Japan's Miyagi prefecture, producing tsunamis as high as 10 meters near the epicenter and reaching land throughout the Pacific ocean. (Japan Times)(Canadian Press via Google News), (AP via ABC News America)
- At least 1000 people have died in the earthquake and tsunami.(LA Times)
- The United States Geological Survey estimates that it is the fifth strongest earthquake since 1900. (USGS)
- Japanese television shows footage of flooding along Japan's northeastern coast. (AP via New York Times)
- A tsunami warning is also issued for Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the United States. (Market Watch), (Oregon Live)
- The Government of Japan evacuates thousands of residents living near the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following a radiation leak. (New York Times)
- The cooling system at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant also experiences problems. (RT)
- The Governor of California Jerry Brown declares a state of emergency in Del Norte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. (LA Times)
- The Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, declares a state of emergency in all 77 counties due to wildfires burning out of control in that state and Colorado. (CNN)
- A bus plunges into a ravine in the Xinjiang region in western China killing at least 16 people and with 24 people injured. (AP via MSNBC)
- Mount Karangetang erupts in Sulawesi, Indonesia, forcing local evacuations. (The Hindu)
- Law and crime
- A U.S. federal magistrate rules that prosecutors can demand Twitter account information in relation to Wikileaks. (AP)
- Two ex-Blackwater consultants are found guilty in the United States of the involuntary manslaughter of a civilian in the Afghan capital Kabul. (AP via NPR)
- Politics
- The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty enters into force, making the Union of South American Nations an international legal personality. (Telesur)(Télam)
- Taiwan's opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen launches her presidential bid. (Focus Taiwan) (Straits Times)
- Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai calls for an end to the country's unity government after one of his party members is arrested. (AllAfrica.com)
- Oct 2011
- October 20, 2011
Top News Story –
Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi killed, says NTC
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.
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syria says it will execute anyone who participates in "terrorist acts", under a new law. (CNN)
- Chinese police beat protesters and fire tear gas after demonstrators storm government buildings in Haimen (70km NNW from Shanghai), in protest against a local 'polluting' coal-powered electricity generation plant. (AFP via Google)
Arts and culture
- Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna condemns a court case in Russia that could see the Bhagavad Gita As It Is holy book banned there. (BBC) (Hindustan Times) (The Economic Times)(The Statesman)
Disasters
- The death toll from Tropical Storm Washi in the Philippines rises to nearly 1,000. (CBC)
- A Socata TBM-700 small plane crashes onto Interstate 287 in Northern New Jersey, killing 5. (New York Times)
International relations
- Diplomats from the European Union, Non-aligned Movement and the Arab States Group on the UN Security Council criticise Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (BBC) (The Jerusalem Post)
Law and crime
- Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan appears before the Leveson Inquiry via videolink from the United States to deny knowledge of hacking at the paper. (BBC)
Politics
- Death of Kim Jong-il:
- The body of Kim Jong-il lies in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang. (Al Jazeera)
- 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)
- Joseph Kabila is sworn in as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the presidency being contested by opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. (ABC)
- Thousands of Egyptian women demonstrate against abuses by military police. (New York Times)
Science
- 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)
- Two Earth-sized planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20d, are found orbiting a star 950 light-years away from Earth. (Wall Street Journal)
Sport
- The National Collegiate Athletic Association announces that it is penalizing the Ohio State Buckeyes football program with a one-year bowl game ban, among other penalties, as a result of a scandal at the program. Former head coach Jim Tressel is given a 5-year show-cause penalty as well. (ESPN)
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- Jan 2012
- January 13th 2012
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.
- Feb 2012
- February 14th 2012
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.
- Jul 2012
- July 4, 2012
Top News Stories -
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 2009Video of the Day -
Higgs Boson: The Inside ScoopOther News Stories -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- Syrian President Bashar al Assad accuses neighboring Turkey of supporting "terrorists" and contributing to the bloodshed in Syria. (Voice of America)
- 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)
- Arts and culture
- China accuses the Vatican of obstructing the development of Catholicism after the latter threatens to excommunicate new bishops ordained without papal approval. (Washington Post)
- British broadcaster George Entwistle is named as the next Director-General of the BBC, beginning in autumn 2012. (BBC)
- Archaeologists in Israel discover a mosaic floor depicting the biblical figure of Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in theGalilee region. (CNN)
- Business and economy
- Libor inter-bank interest rate:
- Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays, gives evidence to the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Treasury Select Committee on the bank's manipulation of Libor and Euribor interest rates. (RTÉ) (BBC)
- Chancellor George Osborne accuses ministers in Gordon Brown's government of attempting to manipulate interest rates during therecession. (The Guardian)
- Standard & Poor's raises the credit rating of the Philippines to BB+. (Reuters)
- International relations
- Egyptian officials deny that newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will visit Iran to attend a conference. (The Times of Israel)
- Law and crime
- Two Iranian suspects held by Kenyan police reportedly confess that they planned to detonate a series of 30 bombs simultaneously acrossKenya. (Kenya Standard Media)
- The Qatari-owned satellite channel, Al Jazeera, reports that traces of radioactive polonium-210 have been found in some personal effects of former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004; the PLO and Arafat’s widow agree to his exhumation to investigate if he had beenpoisoned. (Huffington Post) (CNN) (YNet News)
- 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)
- The European Parliament rejects the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in a session with more than 470 votes against the treaty. (CNet)
- Mexican general election, 2012: Over half of the ballot boxes in the Presidential election will have to be recounted following the discovery of voting irregularities. (AP via Fox News)
- Palestinians in Ramallah protest outside the offices of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against the 1993 Oslo Peace Accordsbetween Israel and the PLO. (The Media Line)
- Science and technology
- CERN scientists present recent results from CMS and ATLAS experiments consistent with the existence of a Higgs boson particle. (BBC)(CERN press release)
- Sport
- The Scottish Premier League refuses to admit Newco Rangers, the team that emerged from the ashes of Rangers F.C. following its disintegration. (BBC)
- July 20, 2012
Top News Stories -
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 CohenVideo of the Day -
The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- 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)
- Thousands of people flee the country. (Financial Times)
- Fighting continues in Damascus and other cities. (Al Jazeera)
- The United Nations Security Council extends the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria for 30 days. (Al Jazeera)
- A gunman opens fire at a movie premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, killing at least 12 people and injuring 59 others. (BBC) (CNN)
- Bomb and shooting attacks kill two people and wound four in southern Thailand. (Naharnet)
- At least 13 people are killed in clashes in Duékoué and a camp for displaced people in Ivory Coast. (IOL)
- Amnesty International says Muslim Rohingyas in western Burma have been subject to attacks and arbitrary arrests. (BBC)
- Arts and culture
- The Olympic Torch arrives in London for the final stages of the UK-wide relay ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics. (BBC)
- Business and economy
- Disasters and accidents
- 21 people were killed and 29 others were injured in bus accident in the Mexican state of Nayarit. (Fox News)
- Law and crime
- The custody of three anti-Putin protesters from the Pussy Riot group is extended for another six months before their trial begins. (RIA Novosti) (AP via Google News)
- 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)
- Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- Oct 2012
- October 22, 2012
Top News Story –
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".
The American overcame cancer to return to professional cycling, before winning the Tour de France for a record seven times in successive years from 1999 to 2005.
He has always denied taking performance-enhancing drugs but chose not to fight Usada's charges against him.
[BBC]
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- The Israeli air force strikes a rocket launching squad in the northern Gaza Strip, reportedly killing three, following rocket fire on southern Israel from Gaza and a mortar attack on an IDF patrol near the border. (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel)
- 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)
- 2011–2012 conflict in Lebanon: The Lebanese Army launches an operation to quell the sectarian violence in Beirut triggered by the assassination of Wissam al-Hassan. (Voice of America)
- Police authorities in South Africa admit the shooting of 34 miners by police "may have been disproportionate" to the danger faced by those in charge. (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- 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)
- France plans to use drones in Mali. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- 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)
- Peter Rippon, the BBC Newsnight editor responsible for dropping an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against Jimmy Savile, steps aside from his role with immediate effect. (The Independent) (BBC)
- 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)
Sport
- U.S. former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped by the International Cycling Union of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from participating in UCI-sanctioned events. (BBC) (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)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
- Nov 2012
- November 8, 2012
Top News Story –
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."
[CNN]
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejects an offer to safely leave Syria and vows to "live and die" in the country. (CBC)
Business and economy
- Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, confirms the overhaul of euro banknotes, beginning with the €5 note. (The Journal)
Law and crime
- Jared Lee Loughner, the perpetrator in the 2011 Tucson shooting, is given 7 consecutive life sentences. (Los Angeles Times)
Politics and elections
- 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)
- The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is opened in Beijing, during which current Paramount Leader Hu Jintao is expected to step down to make way for presumptive leader Xi Jinping. (BBC)
- Tibetans launch protests in response to the congress. (Los Angeles Times)
- U.S. President Barack Obama announces his intention to visit Burma later this month, which would make him the first U.S. President to visit the country. (BBC)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
- Dec 2012
- December 5, 2012
Top News Stories -
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 DettoriVideo of the Day -
Guangzhou'2012/CHINA from zweizwei |timelapse&hyperlapse| on Vimeo.Other News Stories -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- 2011–2012 conflict in Lebanon:
- The death toll from two days of clashes in the city of Tripoli reaches six, with dozens reported injured. (Al Jazeera)
- 2012 terrorist attacks in Kenya:
- 2012 Egyptian protests:
- Violent clashes occur in Cairo between supporters and opponents of the President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi. (ABC News)
- Arts and culture
- American jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck dies in Connecticut at the age of 91. (BBC)
- Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, best known for designing the main buildings of the capital Brasília, dies at the age of 104 in a Rio de Janeirohospital. (ABC News)
- Business and economy
- American bank Citigroup announces plans to cut 11,000 jobs worldwide. (AP)
- The European Commission fines Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI, Panasonic, Toshiba and Technicolor a total of €1.47 bn for fixing prices of TV cathode-ray tubes. (The Economic Times)
- Disasters and accidents
- Rescue crews head to areas of the Philippines severely affected by Typhoon Bopha. At least 283 are now believed to have died as a result of the storm, with 339 injured, hundreds more missing and over 87,000 evacuated. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Weather Channel) (New York Times)
- At least 8 people are killed and 12 others injured after a 5.6 earthquake strikes Iran's South Khorasan Province. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Vehicle carrier Baltic Ace sinks in the North Sea after collision with a container ship with at least four people dead and seven missing. (Reuters)(AP via The Australian)
- Law and crime
- 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)
- Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation rules that a ban on same-sex marriage in Oaxaca state is illegal. (The Washington Post)
- Media
- London's King Edward VII's Hospital says it is reviewing telephone protocol after two disc jockeys from a Sydney-based radio station, 2Day FMmade a prank call to the hospital in which they posed as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, and spoke with a member of nursing staff about the health of the Duchess of Cambridge. (BBC)
- Politics and elections
- The peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) resume in Havana, Cuba.(Chicago Tribune)
- Sport
- The New Orleans Hornets plan to change their nickname to the Pelicans (after the state bird of Louisiana) for the 2013–14 NBA season. (ESPN)
- The draw for the elite qualification round of the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship is held by UEFA. Title holders Spain faceCroatia, Poland and last season's runners-up Greece. (UEFA)
- Lionel Messi is carried off on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury as FC Barcelona are held to 0–0 by Benfica at Camp Nou in the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League. (Fox Sports)
- December 14, 2012
Top News Story –
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.
UPDATE - The shooter was confirmed as Adam Lanza
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- American admiral James G. Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe claims that Scud missiles fired by Syria at rebel forces have landed "fairly close" to the border with Turkey. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Kenneth Kendall, who became the BBC's first in-vision television newsreader in 1955, dies aged 88. (BBC)
- Gene Wolfe wins the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for "lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy". (The Guardian) (SFWA)
Disasters and accidents
- Cyclone Evan heads towards Fiji after causing at least three deaths and widespread damage in Samoa. (ABC Australia via Weatherzone) (TVNZ)
- Thirteen areas of south-west England and Wales have been warned of possible floods as the United Kingdom prepares for heavy rain. (ITV News)
Law and crime
- A shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, leaves 28 people dead, including 20 children, 6 teachers, the shooter, and his mother. (BBC) (Reuters) (CNN) (WABC) (The Boston Channel) (The Wall Street Journal) (The Washington Post)
- 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)
- The Crown Prosecution Service decides that computer hacker Gary McKinnon will face no charges in the United Kingdom over his activities. (BBC)
- Former British Labour Party MP Margaret Moran is given a two year supervision and treatment order after falsely claiming £53,000 in expenses. A judge had earlier ruled she was unfit to stand trial because of mental health issues. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans celebrate the successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 satellite in Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Square. (AFP via SBS News)
- Avigdor Lieberman resigns as the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister and as Deputy Prime Minister following an indictment for fraud. (BBC)
Sport
- FIFA announces Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium will stage both the opening match and the final at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Also FIFA chooses four cities for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup that will take place in the Russian cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi. (Reuters via Yahoo!) (RIA Novosti)
- The 2014 Tour de France will start in the northeastern English county of Yorkshire. A third stage will be held in southern England with a finish in London before the race moves into France. (ESPN) (AFP via Google) (Cycling News)
- Lionel Messi wins World Soccer's 2012 Player of the Year award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrés Iniesta. Vicente del Bosque is chosen as the Manager of the Year. (World Soccer) (Marca)
- Australian surfer Joel Parkinson wins the 2012 ASP World Tour at the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Oahu, Hawaii. (Courier Mail)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
- Syrian civil war:
- Feb 2013
- February 14th 2013
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
- February 15th 2013
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.
- February 17th 2013
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
- May 2013
- May 13, 2013
Top News Stories -
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 ManciniVideo of the Day -
Flying from Mt. Everest - The Mission - World Record BASE JumpTop Twitter Trends -
Other News Stories -
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Aftermath of the Libyan civil war:
- War in Afghanistan (2001–present):
- Three Georgian soldiers are killed and several wounded in a large-scale insurgent attack on an ISAF base in the Helmand Province. (Civil Georgia)
- Arts and culture
- A 2,300-year-old Mayan pyramid at Nohmul in Belize is destroyed by a construction company seeking road fill gravel. (Fox News)
- Veteran U.S. broadcaster Barbara Walters announces her 2014 retirement. (ABC News America)
- Business and economy
- 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)
- The search of the wreckage of the 2013 Savar building collapse in Bangladesh ends with 1,127 people found dead. (CTV News)
- International relations
- Myanmar state television announces that President Thein Sein will make the first official visit to the United States, the first by a leader of that country in nearly fifty years. (ABC News)
- Law and crime
- Attorney General Eric Holder, acting for the Obama Administration, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee that he was not party to the U.S. Justice Department's secret seizure of telephone records of the news agency the Associated Press. The Justice Department seized two months worth of telephone records from AP offices and reporters. (Fox News),(CBS News)(AP)
- In Mexico City, Mexico, two men are arrested in connection with the May 9 murder of 28-year-old American Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson and first male descendant of Malcolm X. (NPR)
- Iranian man Azim Aghajani is convicted in Nigeria of attempting to smuggle weapons to The Gambia. He is sentenced to five years imprisonment.(BBC)
- Kermit Gosnell, a U.S. abortion physician, is found guilty in Pennsylvania of three counts of murder of newborn infants, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and various other charges. (The Washington Post)(BBC)
- The U.S. Department of Treasury may probe why Bloomberg News reporters were monitoring how investment bank employees searched their site for financial information, including U.S. Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. (The New York Times),(BBC)
- Politics and elections
- The Senate in the U.S. state of Minnesota passes a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Governor Mark Dayton says he intends to sign it into law.(ABC News)
- Voters in the Philippines go to the polls for House of Representatives and Senate elections with police on heightened security. (ABS CBN)
- Siddaramaiah of the Indian National Congress party is sworn in as the 22nd Chief Minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. (Zee News)
- In Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador Province, Liberal Party's Yvonne Jones won a by-election to the province's Labrador electoral riding, formerly held by Conservative Party's Peter Penashue. The by-election was widely viewed as a crucial test for new Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau. (CBC News)(CTV News)
- Sport
- In association football, Premier League and FA Cup runners-up Manchester City sack manager Roberto Mancini. (BBC)
- Jul 2013
- July 7, 2013
Top News Story –
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.
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
1 #whatmakesmehappy 2 #FollowMeKendall 3 Wimbledon 4 #iRegret 5 Facebook 6 #4YearsOfOneTime 7 #wecantdateif 8 #uppers 9 #ufc162 10 #mentionperfection Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- A serial blast injures 5 people near Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, in the Indian state of Bihar. (TOI)
Disasters and accidents,
- A De Havilland Otter air taxi crashes near the Soldotna Airport in Soldotna, Alaska, killing all ten on board. (Associated Press via ABC News) (Peninsula Clarion)
Law and crime
- Abu Qatada, a Palestinian Muslim cleric allegedly affiliated with al-Qaeda, is deported from the United Kingdom to Jordan to face charges of terrorism. (BBC)
- Police in Sweden fatally shoot a knife-wielding man after he allegedly stabbed three people, an elderly woman fatally. (AP via News 24)
Politics and elections
- Opponents of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi call for demonstrations to be held today in the aftermath of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état (AAP via Herald Sun)
Sport
- Andy Murray of the United Kingdom wins the Men's Singles at Wimbledon, defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets. Murray becomes the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. (News Limited)
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- Dec 2013
- December 5, 2013
Top News Story –
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.
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from Worldwide
1 #HürBasınGerçekDemokrasi 2 Selena Gomez 3 #LaVerdadEsQue 4 Martin Bashir 5 Belmont and UAB 6 M&G 7 Türkiyeİçin AkpyiBiçin 8 #SEMİHVAROLtayfaylaSeriTa... 9 #NoEntiendoALaGenteQue 10 FENERBAHÇE Taraftarı Kar... Other News Stories -
Armed conflict and attacks
- 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)
- 2013 Central African Republic coup d'état:
- The United Nations approves the creation of the MISCA peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, initially led by the African Union with French military support, to help quell the ongoing civil war, as reports emerge of more than 100 people killed during recent clashes in the capital Bangui. (Reuters)
- Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
- Post-civil war violence in Libya:
- Unidentified gunmen shoot and kill a U.S. teacher at an international school in Benghazi, Libya. (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- Thalía is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Variety)
Disasters and accidents
- A major winter storm called Bodil hits the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, disrupting traffic and causing four people to be dead or missing and widespread damage amid fears of flooding along the North Sea coast. (BBC), (AFP via France 24)
International relations
- Australia and South Korea successfully negotiate a free trade agreement. (AAP via News Limited)
- Vice President of the United States Joe Biden criticizes the People's Republic of China for a recent crackdown of foreign journalists in the country. (The Washington Post)
- United States Secretary of State John Kerry meets with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to talk about many topics including the nuclear program of Iran. (U.S. Department of State)
- Myanmar's Thein Sein and the Philippines' Benigno Aquino III ink trade agreements including those that involve renewable energy, mass media, and visa-free travel. (GMA News)
Law and crime
- Indonesia jails 14 Rohingya asylum seekers for their role in a deadly brawl in a North Sumatra detention centre that claimed 8 lives. (AP via ABC News America)
- 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)
Politics and elections
- 2013 Thai protests:
- The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej calls for stability as he celebrates his 86th birthday. (AP via ABC News America)
- Nobel prize winner, anti-Apartheid activist, and former South African president, Nelson Mandela, dies at age 95. (World News) (BBC)
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- Feb 2014
- February 14th 2014
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
- February 15th 2014
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
- February 17th 2014
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.
- February 20th 2014
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
- February 21st 2014
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
- Mar 2014
- March 8th 2014
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.
- March 25, 2014
Top News Story –
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 statement coined a new phrase of "Consciously uncouple" [Ed]
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
1 #RuinAChildrensBook 2 Starbucks 3 Netflix 4 #rapecultureiswhen 5 #DownloadParallel 6 Cali 7 #oomf 8 #tcot 9 Chicago 10 #MH370 Other News Stories -
Arts and Culture
- A Girl Scout in Oklahoma City is reported as having sold 18,107 boxes of cookies, breaking the previous record of 18,000. (KRON)
- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott restores Knights and Dames to the Australian Honours System through the Order of Australia. (ABC)
Business and economy
- 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)
Disasters and accidents
- A bus in Tak Province, Thailand, plunges into a ravine, killing 30 people and injuring 22. (BBC)
- 2014 Oso mudslide:
- The death toll has risen to 16 with an additional 8 bodies located and scores missing. (AP via Washington Post)
Health
- The World Health Organisation estimates that air pollution contributed to seven million deaths in 2012. (The Telegraph)
Law and crime
- Garda phone tapping scandal:
- Martin Callinan resigns as Commissioner of Ireland's Garda Síochána (national police) over his "disgusting" comment about whistleblowers made to a parliamentary committee. Callinan had also been involved in controversy over the recent surveillance/bugging of GSOC. (BBC) (The Journal)
- 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)
- Post-coup unrest in Egypt:
- Mohammed Badie, the guide of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, will appear in court with 680 others to face charges of incitement to kill. (BBC)
- Four men are arrested after BASE jumping from the top of the World Trade Center in New York City. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- 2014 Ukrainian revolution:
- Oleksandr Muzychko, a prominent member of Ukraine's Right Sector nationalistic party, is killed under unclear circumstances. (Moscow Times) (AP via CBC)
- Ihor Tenyukh is discharged as Minister for Defence, to be replaced by Gen. Mykhaylo Koval following the loss of Crimea. (Washington Post)
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- May 2014
- May 24, 2014
Top News Story –
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian marry in Italian wedding
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have married at a fortress in the Italian city of Florence.
The E! network, which runs the Keeping Up With the Kardashians TV series, confirmed the news.
The rapper and reality TV star were joined by several hundred guests at the 16th-century Fort Belvedere.
It is the first marriage for West, and the third for Kardashian.
The rapper proposed to his wife in October on her birthday.
12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and Will Smith's son Jaden were among the celebrities spotted in Florence.
The celebrations included horses adorned with bright colours, riders wearing huge feathers in their hats, musketeers in wigs and drum rolls.
It's thought the wedding could earn the couple up to $21 million (£12.5m) thanks to sponsors and through the sale of exclusive photos of the ceremony.
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
1 Elliot Rodger 2 Isla Vista 3 #meteorshower 4 #YesAllWomen 5 #HappyBirthdayCarter 6 BELLievers 7 #YOUDIDITNIALL 8 #DearBestfriend 9 Waffle House 10 #Camelopardalids Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
- At least 27 people are killed in an al-Qaeda raid on the town of Seyoun in Hadramout province. (Reuters via Trust)
- Somali Civil War (2009–present):
- An al-Shabaab-led assault at the Parliament of Somalia in Mogadishu leaves at least 10 dead, including police and militants. (BBC) (IANS via Biharprabha)
- Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Boko Haram militants rampage through three villages in northern Nigeria killing 28 people. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Turkish film Winter Sleep directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan wins the Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. (France 24)
Disasters and accidents
- A magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey with reports of serious damage on the Turkish island of Gökçeada and the cities of Edirne and Çanakkale. (World Bulletin)
International relations
- Pope Francis arrives in Amman, Jordan, for the first day of a three day trip to the Middle East. (AP)
Law and crime
- Mahafarid Amir Khosravi is executed for masterminding the largest fraud case in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. (AP via USA Today)
- At least 3 people are killed in a shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, Belgium. (BBC)
- 2014 Isla Vista killings: The suspected gunman in the May 23 spree killing in Santa Barbara, California, is named as Elliot Rodger. (BBC)
- 2014 Thai coup d'état:
- The Thai military arrests 35 more individuals, including prominent academics. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- European Parliament election:
- 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)
- Jacob Zuma is sworn in for a second term as President of South Africa following his recent election victory. (BBC)
- Malawian general election:
- The President of Malawi Joyce Banda annuls the general elections in which she was a candidate because of claimed electoral irregularities. (BBC)
- 2014 Thai coup d'état:
- The military leaders announce the dissolution of the Thai Senate. (Al Jazeera)
Science
- North America experiences a meteor shower. (WRIC-TV)
Sport
- In football, Real Madrid defeat Atlético Madrid by a score of 4-1 in extra time in the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final played at Lisbon's Estádio da Luz. (BBC), (AFP via Yahoo! sports)
- In rugby union, Toulon defeat Saracens 23–6 in the last-ever Heineken Cup final, successfully defending their title from last season. (ESPN Scrum)
- In mixed martial arts, T.J. Dillashaw defeats Renan Barão to become the Bantamweight champion. (ESPN)
News from Wikipedia - please support this valuable resource
- Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
- Jun 2014
- June 4, 2014
Top News Story –
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.
And that woman is... Rachel Stevens.
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."
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine:
- Separatists capture two Ukrainian Military bases in Luhansk Oblast as fighting continues near the rebel-held town of Sloviansk. (BBC)
- A suicide car bomber detonates his vehicle at the residence of Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi, Libya, killing 4 of his guards and injuring another 3. (Washington Post)
- A suicide bomber detonates his explosives near a military vehicle in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 5 people. (Voice of America)
- Iraqi Civil War begins.
Arts and culture
- The master stylist John Banville wins this year's Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, announced in Oviedo, Spain. (euronews) (The Irish Times)
- Eimear McBride wins the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction with A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, beating the American Donna Tartt's 771-page opus The Goldfinch. (The Guardian)
Business and economics
- Japanese life insurance company Dai-ichi Life purchases financial service holding company Protective Life for $5.7 billion. (Bloomberg)
- American multinational private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts purchases American new media company Internet Brands for $1.1 billion. (Los Angeles Times)
Law and crime
- Mexico passes a law that increases the minimal sentence for kidnappers from 20 to 40, and the maximum from 50 to 140. (InSight Crime)
- Authorities in China crack down on dissidents on the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. (Human Rights Watch)
- 35 people, including Giorgio Orsoni, the Mayor of Venice, are arrested in Italy on corruption charges in connection with the MOSE Project. (BBC)
- The Attorney General of Germany, Harald Range, opens an investigation into the alleged NSA surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone. (BBC)
- The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague urges China to respond to Philippines v. China, the case filed by the Philippines regarding the Nine-dotted line. (Voice of America)
- Moncton shooting
- In the city of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, an armed gunman shoots five RCMP officers, killing three. (CBC)
Sports
- In basketball, the attorney for banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling tells ESPN that Sterling will drop his lawsuit against the NBA and will allow the sale of the team to Steve Ballmer to go through. (ESPN)
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- 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine:
- Jul 2014
- July 5th 2014
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)
- July 7th 2014
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
- Sep 2014
- September 1, 2014
Top News Story –
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.
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] - today from USA
1 Happy Labor Day 2 #IfMyPhoneGotHacked 3 Jennifer Lawrence 4 #embarraseyourbestfriendday 5 Falcao 6 #transferdeadlineday 7 Persona 5 8 #BackdoorFrankie 9 #MadeInAmerica 10 #WithoutMatt Other News Stories -
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Pakistan unrest
- Pakistani protesters armed with sticks and stones clash with police in the centre of Islamabad after protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif turn violent. All schools in the capital have been closed as a result of the clashes. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
- The Pakistan Television Corporation goes off air after protesters storm its headquarters. (BBC)
- 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- Ukrainian forces battle pro-Russian rebels near Luhansk International Airport. The area is encircled by the pro-Russian forces for over 3 weeks. (BBC)
- Valeriy Heletey, Ukraine's Defence Minister, accuses Russia of launching a "great war". (BBC)
- Four people are arrested after an attempted bombing in Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport. (CNN)
Law and crime
- 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)
- Mohammad Reza Rahimi, former Iranian vice president, is convicted to a prison term for his role in the 2011 embezzlement scandal. (Al Jazeera)
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- Pakistan unrest
- September 18th 2014
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 Euro