Top News Stories –

America’s longest-serving innocent prisoner receives $1m for 39 years in jail –
An Ohio man freed last year after spending 39 years in jail for a murder he did not commit will receive more than $1 million from the state for his wrongful imprisonment. Ricky Jackson, the longest-held US prisoner to be cleared of a crime, will receive just over $1 million (£680,000) following an order from an Ohio Court of Claims judge on Thursday. The 39 years Mr Jackson spent in jail was the longest time a prisoner had been held before being exonerated. [Daily Telegraph]

‘Breathtaking’ solar eclipse witnessed by millions –
Millions of people in the UK and northern Europe have glimpsed the best solar eclipse in years. A great swathe of the Earth’s surface was plunged into darkness as the Moon came between us and the Sun. From an aeroplane above the Faroe Islands, a BBC camera crew captured startling footage of the event reaching totality at 09:41 GMT. The deep shadow formed first in the North Atlantic and then swept up into the Arctic, ending at the North Pole. See video of the day [BBC]

Martin Guptill hits highest World Cup score in New Zealand victory –
New Zealand’s Martin Guptill smashed the highest score in World Cup history with 237 not out against West Indies to send his team into the semi-finals. The 28-year-old’s 163-ball innings featured 11 sixes and 24 fours and beat the 215 made by West Indies’ Chris Gayle earlier in the tournament. Guptill hit 137 from his last 52 balls to help his side post 393-6. Trent Boult then took four early wickets as New Zealand bowled out the Windies for 250 to seal a 143-run win. [BBC]
Martin Guptill

Video of the Day –

UK Solar Eclipse [Daily Telegraph]

List of the day –

Cricket World Cup Batting Records [from Wikipedia]

Record	First		Second
Most runs	Sachin Tendulkar	2278	Ricky Ponting	1743
Highest average (min. 20 inns.)	Viv Richards	63.31	Rahul Dravid	61.42
Strike rate (min. 20 inns.)	Brendon McCullum	116.29	AB de Villiers	116.05
Fastest double century	Chris Gayle v Zimbabwe(2015)	138 balls	Martin Guptill v West Indies (2015)	152 balls
Fastest 150	AB de Villiers v West Indies (2015)	64 balls	–	–
Fastest century	Kevin O’Brien v England(2011)	50 balls	Glenn Maxwell v Sri Lanka (2015)	51 balls
Fastest fifty	Brendon McCullum vEngland (2015)	18 balls	Brendon McCullum vCanada (2007) Angelo Mathews vScotland (2015)	20 balls
Most centuries	Sachin Tendulkar	6	Ricky Ponting Kumar Sangakkara	5
Most 50+ scores	Sachin Tendulkar	21	Kumar Sangakkara	12
Most ducks	Nathan Astle	5 out of 22	Ijaz Ahmed	5 out of 26
Most sixes	AB de Villiers	36	Ricky Ponting	31
Most sixes in an innings	Chris Gayle v Zimbabwe(2015)	16	David Miller v Zimbabwe(2015)	9
Highest score	Martin Guptill v West Indies (2015)	237*	Chris Gayle v Zimbabwe(2015)	215
Most runs through boundaries in an innings	Chris Gayle (2015)	136	AB de Villiers (2015)	116

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
  • Islamic State releases a video showing the execution of three Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq with threats to execute dozens more. (Reuters)
• Yemeni crisis
  • Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombings in Shiite mosques in Sanaa that kills 142 people. (AFP viaHindustan Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
  • Severe Tropical Cyclone Nathan makes landfall on Cape York Peninsula in far North Queensland as a category 4 (Australian system). (ABC Australia)
• The Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails near Bachhrawan Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh northern Indiaresulting in at least 30 deaths and 150 people being injured. (AP via Yahoo News), (Zee News)
• A Uruguayan Air Force Argentine turboprop aircraft crashes shortly after take-off from Laguna del Sauce airport, killing ten people. (AP via News24)

Health

• Biogen Idec Inc. reports that it has achieved the first experimental drug that demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in amyloid plaque as well as a slowing of clinical impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The antibody drug, aducanumab, blocked beta amyloid formation, a protein that forms toxic brain-destroying plaques, and significantly slowed cognitive decline. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Maurizio Lupi resigns as Italy‘s Minister for Infrastructure following the arrest of a key aide in a corruption probe. (AP via ABC News)

Science and technology

• A solar eclipse, vernal (for those living in the northern hemisphere) or autumnal (for those in the southern hemisphere)equinox, and a Supermoon will all occur today. (The Independent)
• The United States Food and Drug Administration approves genetically modified potatoes and apples. (Mercury News)

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