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)

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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 iPad

Video of the Day –

Kate Moss YSL commercial 2009

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February 14, 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.
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February 15, 2013

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
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September 22, 2014

September 22nd 2014

Bell baits Bieber again –
The Justin Bieber vs Drake Bell fans battle moved up a gear today with Bell baiting one of Justin’s fans on Instagram with ‘You [sic] idol doesn’t even do anything but cause trouble anymore. No music no movies he’s just an idiot’. This one will run.
Drake Bell

And the coolest brand is… –
Apple has been named the coolest brand in the UK for the third year running while Netflix broke into the Top 20 for the first time securing 10th place. The results are from a poll of over 2,000 British consumers and opinion including musicians Ella Eyre and models Jodie Kidd and Sophie Dahl.
Ella Eyre
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October 22, 2014

October 22nd 2014

Gunman kills soldier in Ottawa –
In Ottawa, Canada a gunman kills a soldier at the tomb honouring Canada’s fallen soldiers. The gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, shot corporal Nathan Cirillo before storming into the nearby parliament building on Parliament Hill and exchanging fire with police and security guards. The gunman was shot dead. Two days previously in Quebec two soldiers had been run down by a man in car who was also shot dead. One of the soldiers died the other was injured.
Parliament Hill

U2 album lacklustre launch –
U2’s new album “Songs of Innocence” comes in at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was automatically downloaded by everyone who has an Apple iTunes account for free (whether they want it or not) leading to complaints over storage use and an apology from lead singer Bono.
Bono from U2
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December 4, 2014

Top News Stories –

The Obama’s light up –
President Barack Obama, wife Michelle and their daughters, Malia and Sasha switch on the lights of the Christmas Tree at the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington DC.
2014 National Christmas Tree

Psy’ched out –
Psy’s Gangnam Style video has been watched so many times that the YouTube’s counter is being upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit. The old 32-bit system only counted up to 2,147,483,647 views with Gangnam Style hitting 8,000 more than that. The mew 64-bit system will count up to 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 views (around 9 quadrillion). (See Video of the Day and List of the Day below)

Apple accused of wiping competitors tunes –
A US district court has heard lawyers accuse Apple of “deleting” songs from rival services from some iPods in 2007-09. Users with non-iTunes music received a message telling them to restore devices to their factory settings when they tried to sync them. Apple said that the move was a legitimate security measure. The case has been going on for more than a decade and could result in Apple paying out $1bn in damages.

Nobel Prize medal sells for $4.75m –
The Nobel Prize medal of American geneticist James Watson sold for $4.75 million at auction in New York today. It is the first time a Nobel Prize of a living laureate has been sold and almost doubled the estimate price. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Dr Watson in 1962 for his discovery of DNA’s double helix structure in 1953.
Dr James D Watson

Video of the Day –

Gangnam Style – Psy

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December 6, 2014

Top News Stories –

Typhoon Hagupit hits the Philippines –
Typhoon Hagupit is sweeping across the eastern Philippines, threatening coastal areas with a powerful sea-surge. Roofs have been blown off in the city of Tacloban, where thousands were killed by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago and more than half a million people have fled coastal villages.

Slice of Prince William and Kate’s wedding cake sells for $6,000 at auction –
A wedding cake slice from the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been sold at an auction in Beverly Hills for $6,000 (£4,000).
The buyer of this romantic slice of history was bought by Gee Chuang, the CEO of online marketplace Listia.com, who plans to give away the piece of wedding cake on the company’s website in April of next year to celebrate the royal couple’s fourth wedding anniversary. The eight-tiered wedding cake, made by pastry chef Fiona Cairns and her team, was adorned with icing flowers, petals and leaves. [Daily Telegraph]

iPhone crash landing protection –
Apple Inc was granted a patent last week on an innovation that can detect when a handset is falling – and rotates it to avoid the screen hitting the ground. If sensors calculate the screen or camera will hit the ground, a motor is instantly activated within the phone which moves an internal weight fast enough to affect the ‘rotational velocity’ of the device and spin it around so that it lands on a reinforced area. The idea could also work with iPads and other devices.

Al-Qaeda hostage killed during rescue mission –
Luke Somers, a US journalist who was being held captive in Yemen since 2013, has been shot by his captors during a a military operation to rescue him and later died. A video was released earlier this week showing a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) threatening to kill Mr Somers unless unspecified demands are met.

Video of the Day –

I’ve fallen and I can’t get up – Crowd dynamics test using Miarmy for Maya

I've fallen, and I can't get up! from Dave Fothergill vfx on Vimeo.

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January 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Broken Bono –
U2 lead singer Bono says that a crash on his bicycle last November resulted in multiple left arm fractures, a broken should and hand and a fractured eye socket. He now has a titanium elbow and fears that he may never play guitar but his band-mates have reminded him “that neither they nor western civilization are depending on this.”

Cancer due to bad luck –
A new piece of research by a team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US has found that most types of cancer can be put down to bad luck rather than risk factors such as smoking. The research printed in the journal “Science”, showed 66% of the cancer types analysed were caused just by chance mutations rather than lifestyle.

Taking a bite out of Apple –
Miami residents Paul Orshan and Christopher Endara are suing Apple over the amount of storage space the Apple iOS 8 uses on mobile devices.They claim it uses up such a large amount that it forces owners to pay for iCloud storage. They are suing in California for millions of dollars.

Prince Andrew named in court papers –
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been named in Florida court papers by a woman who says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by his fried Jeffrey Epstein when she was a minor. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”.

Video of the Day –

This is my product from Matthijs_Vlot on Vimeo.

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January 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Who’s the daddy? –
A Cuban man convicted of spying in the US and committed to a double life sentence in 1998 has become a father a month after his release. Gerardo Hernandez, who was released last month by the US as part of a diplomatic thaw with Cuba, requested to have his wife artificially inseminated with his sperm while he was still in jail.

Imran bowled over –
Sportsman-turned-politician Imran Khan has married his fiance, Reham, at a small wedding ceremony at his home in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan was Pakistan’s most successful cricket captain, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and leading them to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Team Wiggo launched –
Former Tour de France champion and Sky Team member Sir Bradley Wiggins launches his own cycling team to help preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The four-time Olympic champion will try to break the individual world hour record as part of his build-up to Rio2016. Team Wiggins will operate independently of British Cycling but the governing body has given its backing to the team.
Bradley Wiggins

App designers golden year –
Apple revealed today that app developers earned more than $10 billion in revenue in 2014, partly due to a 50 percent rise in billings. The App Store has grown to 1.4 million apps since launching in 2008, with 725,000 designed for the iPad.

Russia says drivers must not have ‘sex disorders’ –
The Russian government is tightening medical controls for drivers because the country “has too many road accidents”. Transsexual and transgender people are among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences and fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as “mental disorders” now barring people from driving.

Job for life but don’t turn up –
A.K. Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, India, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990. Even after an inquiry found him guilty of “wilful absence from duty” in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.

Video of the Day –

When you say you’re a swimmer –

“When You Say You’re a Swimmer” from Chris Shimojima on Vimeo.

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January 13, 2015

Top News Stories –

Beer with balls –
The Stedji brewery in Iceland has announced its new beer will be flavoured with smoked fin whale testicles. The Hvalur 2 beer is being sold for a limited period to mark the Icelandic midwinter month of Thorri. The fin whale is the second-largest living mammal after the blue whale and can grow up to 27m (88ft).

Trevor “Dozy” Ward-Davies dies –
Trevor Ward-Davies, best known as Dozy from the 60s pop group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, died today at the age of 70 after a short illness. The bass guitarist was a founder member of the band that had hits in the 60s with “Hold Tight!”, “Bend It!” and the legendary UK number one “The Legend of Xanadu” complete with whip-crack sound effects. Between 1965 and 1969, the group spent more weeks in the UK singles charts than the Beatles.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich in 1967

Model restaurant –
A restaurant in Zhengzhou, central Henan province, China, can get their meal for free if they are selected by staff from a cosmetic surgery as one of the best-looking within a group of diners. People have their photos taken on arrival and the five diners judged most attractive get a free meal.

Video of the Day –

Tall Tales Part 2 from Kilogramme on Vimeo.

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January 28, 2015

January 28 2015

Top News Stories –

Luis Figo enters FIFA presidential race –
Luís Figo the former Portuguese football who famously played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona has entered himself to stand for the FIFA presidential election and claims to have the required five nominations from among FIFA’s 209 members. He joins Prince Ali of Jordan, the Dutch FA president Michael van Praag, Jérôme Champagne and David Ginola facing up to current president Sepp Blatter.Luis Figo

Apple now have enough money to own the largest navy in the world –
Apple the tech company reports the biggest quarterly profit of any company in the world ever with revenues of $74.6bn and a net profit of $18bn. It’s cash holdings are now $178bn which according to The Guardian newspaper “is enough to commission 40 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, giving Apple more force capability than every other navy in the world – combined”.USS Nimitz (planes not included in price)

Cat survives car crash and burial –
A cat in Florida that was buried in a shallow grave after being apparently killed by a car has managed not only to survive but to dig its way out of the grave. Bart the zombie cat as he is now known was found by a neighbour and is now recovering after surgery on a broken jaw and damaged eye.

Video of the Day –

Sommersby Cider – The Somersby Store

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January 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Russian planes buzz UK airspace –
Britain’s Foreign office have said that two Russian Tu-95 Bear H aircraft came within 25 miles of UK airspace in the last 24 hours. They travelled from the north, past the west coast of Ireland and to the English Channel before turning and going back the way they had come. British typhoon fighters were scrambled after the the bombers did not file a flight plan, did not have their transponders switched on and “weren’t talking to air traffic control”.

Taylor Swift trademarks lyrics –
Taylor Swift has trademarked phrases from her current album, 1989 in the United States. The phrases include “this sick beat” and “we never go out of style”, and the trademark ruling stops the use of the lyrics on merchandise. Rihanna successfully sued Topshop earlier this month for using her image on a t-shirt.

Murray’s girlfriend tells it like it is –
Tennis player Andy Murray’s fiancé Kim Sears is caught on camera apparently swearing about Murray’s semi-final opponent Tomas Berdych’s. Lip readers allege she said “Take that you flash Czech fucker”, when Murray won a crucial point. Murray later defended Sears, saying: “In the heat of the moment, you can say stuff that you regret.”

Video of the Day –

Taylor Swift – Shake it off

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January 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

Suge Knight arrested after fatal car incident –
Marion “Suge” Knight who founded Death Row Records with Dr Dre in 1991, gives himself up for arrest after a fatal hit-and-run incident in Compton, Los Angeles. Police and witnesses said Knight drove his truck over two men in the car park of a restaurant killing one (his friend Terry Carter, a record label owner in Compton) and injuring the other (Cle “Bone” Sloan). Bail is set at $2m. In 1996 Knight was driving a BMW in Las Vegas in 1996 when gunmen in another vehicle shot his passenger, the rapper Tupac Shakur who later died.
Suge Knight

Jay Z takes on Dr Dre in world of streaming –
Rapper and entrepreneur Jay Z who earned over $60 million in 2014 places a $56m bid for Scandinavian company Aspiro, the company behind streaming services WiMP a direct rival to Spotify in Scandinavia. Aspiro also have a higher-resolution version called WiMP HiFi that was rebranded as Tidal when it launched in the UK and US in October 2014. If Jay Z succeeds in the bid he will be competing with Dr Dre’s Beats Music, the streaming service bought by Apple as part of a $3bn acquisition of its parent company Beats Electronics in 2014.
Jay Z

Out of the woods but into a cactus –
Tiger Woods records the worst round of his professional career with an 11-over-par 82 in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Woods carded six bogeys, two double bogeys, a triple bogey and two birdies and left the ball in the middle of a cactus.
Tiger Woods

David Ginola pulls out of the Fifa presidential election –
David Ginola fails to secure the backing of five football associations, a requirement for standing in the FIFA presidential election and hpulls out of the challenge. Ginola was paid £250,000 by betting firm Paddy Power, which denied the campaign was a publicity stunt.
David Ginola

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February 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Super Bowl gets super viewing figures –
Yesterday’s Super Bowl saw America’s highest-ever overnight ratings with New England Patriots late win over Seattle. The Nielsen ratings company said that 49.7 percent of the homes in the nation’s largest media markets were watching the game, up four percent over last year’s game which was seen by 111.5 million. Later information revealed viewing figures of 114.4 million on NBC, the largest audience for a U.S. television program in history.

Apple feeling a bit broke –
Apple is issuing bonds today which are expected to raise at least $5bn (£3.3bn) mainly to be used to help the company return more than $130bn to shareholders by the end of this year. Despite the company sitting on a cash pile of $142bn almost 90% of the cash is held outside the US, and it would have to pay a corporate tax rate of 35% if it returned the money from abroad, so it is borrowing the money instead.

The there’s muck there’s… gold –
Staff cleaning unused dirty lockers at a school in the city of Ahmedabad, western India, uncover 2kg in gold bars and 10m rupees in cash ($160,000; £108,000). The clean up was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Clean India” campaign. Two unused lockers in the staff room had no keys, so staff broke into them and made the discovery. According to police, the solid gold is worth nearly 6m rupees. No-one has claimed ownership.

My BMW has a virus –
BMW patches a security flaw that meant 2.2 million cars fitted with BMW’s ConnectedDrive software, including Rolls Royces and Minis, were open to hackers. The software operated door locks, air conditioning and traffic updates and although no cars have actually been hacked, the flaw was identified by German motorist association ADAC.

Video of the Day –

Top 10 Superbowl commercials

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April 7, 2015

Top News Stories –

American Pie lyrics sell for $1.2m –
The original manuscript of Don McLean’s American Pie has sold for $1.2m (£806,000) at a New York auction. The 16-page draft had been expected to fetch as much as $1.5m (£1m) at the Christie’s sale. McLean had hinted in February the original manuscript would reveal the song’s lyrical meaning – which had always been kept a mystery. “The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge,” he said. The 69-year-old previously acknowledged the beginning of the song is about the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper – Jiles P Richardson – in a plane crash, but has remained elusive about the rest of the track. (See List of the Day) [BBC]

Lindsay Lohan Attempts to “Break the Internet” With Her Clothes On in Racy Jumpsuit –
Step aside, Kim Kardashian, there’s another former Hollywood party girl looking to effectively “break the Internet.” On Saturday, March 7, Lindsay Lohan posted a shot of herself in Paris on Twitter, wearing a revealing black lace jumpsuit and hat. [US Magazine]
Lindsay Lohan Tweet – copyright @LindsayLohan Twitter

US judge strikes out Prince Andrew sex claims –
Claims that a woman was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are to be struck from the record of a civil case in the US, a judge has said. The Duke of York was named in court papers in Florida by a woman alleging financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times. But Judge Kenneth Marra said the “lurid” claims were “unnecessary” to decide the civil case. Buckingham Palace has previously “emphatically” denied the allegations. [BBC]

Rand Paul announces 2016 White House bid –
Senator Rand Paul has announced he is launching a 2016 presidential election campaign on the Republican ticket. “Today begins the journey to take America back,” he said in a campaign event in Kentucky. Mr Paul, a Kentucky senator, stands out from the Republican pack because of his comparatively libertarian views. He becomes the second Republican to enter the contest that concludes in November 2016.

Apple wants to stop fans queuing outside stores for its watch –
Internal memo urges staff to tell customers to order Apple Watch online instead of waiting outside stores. Apple wants to stop hundreds of people queuing outside stores when its smartwatch goes on sale later this month. The technology giant has adopted a “significant change in mindset” and urged staff to tell customers to order the Apple Watch online, an internal memo stated. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Dark Horse: An all-electric ’68 Mustang’s quest to shatter records from The Verge on Vimeo.

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April 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

South Carolina policeman charged after black man shot dead –
A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting a black man, running away from him. State investigators arrested North Charleston police officer Michael Slager on Tuesday after viewing the mobile phone video of the shooting. Authorities say victim Walter Lamer Scott was shot after the officer had already targeted him with a stun gun. #WalterScott is top trending hashtag Worldwide and UK (See Top Twitter Trends) [BBC]

The Interview: Activist ‘sends DVDs into N Korea by balloon’ –
A South Korean activist says he has flown thousands of copies of controversial Sony film The Interview over the North Korean border. Sony initially pulled the film after a hacking attack and threats to attack cinemas which were screening it.Lee Min-bok said he had carried out the launches at night four times since January, most recently on Saturday. Mr Lee, a defector from the North, said he had tied the DVDs to balloons along with bundles of US dollars and leaflets criticising Mr Kim’s regime. He told AFP news agency: “I launched thousands of copies and about a million leaflets on Saturday, near the western part of the border.” [BBC]

Narendra Modi: Bus tours to India PM’s Vadnagar tea stall –
A private tour operator in India plans to lay on daily bus trips to the town where PM Narendra Modi was born and worked at his father’s tea stall.
The day-long tour of Vadnagar in western Gujarat state has run once a week since starting in February and has proved a big draw with visitors.
The operator expects tens of thousands to sign up for the tour this summer. Mr Modi was Gujarat chief minister for more than a decade before his landslide general election win last year. The tour of the BJP leader’s birthplace includes visits to the street where he once lived, his former school, the railway station where he sold tea and a local lake where, according to reports, he once “caught a baby crocodile” [BBC]

Hatton Garden raiders plunder jewels worth up to £200m from safety deposit boxes –
Jewels worth tens of millions of pounds were stolen during a raid on hundreds of safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden, London’s most exclusive jewellery district. Burglars are believed to have used heavy cutting equipment to cut through the roof before abeiling down a lift shaft to access the vault over the Easter weekend. They disabled the alarm system, leaving them four days to plunder around 300 boxes in the vault over the Bank Holiday. Former Flying Squad chief Roy Ramm said he “would not be surprised” if the stolen gems were worth £200 million, although he said the figure would probably never be declared in full. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]

Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud –
Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online. The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage. Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device. But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple’s storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.
The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device. It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out – starting with the oldest images first – while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

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April 24, 2015

Top News Stories –

Android peeing on Apple logo spotted on Google Maps –

Rivalry between Google and Apple has always been fierce, but now Google Maps appears to have been emblazoned with the image of the Android mascot urinating on an Apple logo. The image, discovered by a Hacker News user, appears on a patch of land just south of the city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan, at coordinates 33°30’52.5″N 73°03’33.2″E. The origin of the image is unclear. Some have suggested it could be Google’s idea of an Easter Egg (hidden joke), while others claim it was added by a user. The image is most likely a result of a user abusing Map Maker, the tool that allows users to contribute to Google Maps. One Hacker News user claims to have tracked down the culprit – a user called nitricboy. [Daily Telegraph]

Native American actors walk off Adam Sandler film set over ‘insults’ –
Nearly a dozen Native American actors have walked off the set of a Hollywood film starring Adam Sandler complaining that the script was offensive to their culture. The actors had been hired to take part in filming of The Ridiculous Six, a satirical Western based on The Magnificent Seven. They said the script, which was co-written by Sandler, included offensive names for female Native American characters such as “No Bra”. [Daily Telegraph]
Adam Sandler

Drop Dead Sexy –
During this year’s Spring Festival holidays, a man surnamed Zhang watched a strip show somewhere he didn’t expect, at a funeral in his hometown in Cheng’an county, Hebei Province. “Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15. They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece. Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side.”Behind the stripper, an electronic screen hung from a backdrop showed a picture of the deceased. Text at the bottom of the screen read, “we offer profound condolences for the death of Mr Chang.” Zhang said that the show cost 3,000 yuan ($480) as it was held during the Spring Festival holidays, saying that the shows are cheaper at other times of the year. During the performance, the host also announced to the public that the show was sponsored by Chang’s daughter, “as a way to show off his large family,” said Zhang. [Global Times]

‘Embryologic twin’ tumour discovered in student’s brain –
Doctors in California have removed a tumour they have described as an “embryologic twin” deep inside the brain of a young woman. Yamini Karanam, 26, a PhD student in Indiana, had been experiencing difficulties with drowsiness, reading and concentration. The discovery was made when doctors performed a newly-developed form of surgery to remove the tumour. The growth, known as a teratoma, had bone and hair. Ms Karanam, a student at Indiana University, jokingly described the tumour to KNBC, a California TV station, as her “evil twin sister who’s been torturing me for the past 26 years”. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Five Stages of Watching A Marvel Movie – HISHE Features: OnlyLeigh

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April 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple says tattoos can cause watch problems –
Apple has said some of the functions on its new smartwatch may not work properly when its worn over tattoos. Darker-coloured artwork and even changes in darker coloured skin types can fool the light sensors on the back of the watch. The problem is not exclusive to the Apple Watch, which performed well in independent tests. But it does show the manufacturer has not solved the sensor problem. “Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can… impact heart rate sensor performance,” Apple said on a support page on its website. “The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.” [BBC]
The Apple Watch range

Tesla’s $3,000 Powerwall Will Let Households Run Entirely On Solar Energy –
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk unveiled ‘Tesla Energy’ — a new business arm that is focused on ending our dependence on grid power and switching instead to solar energy. The first Tesla Energy product is ‘Powerwall Home Battery,’ a stationary battery that can power a household without requiring the grid. The battery is rechargeable lithium-ion — it uses Tesla’s existing battery tech — and can be fixed to a wall, removing much of the existing complexity around using a local power source. For one thing, the company’s batteries cost $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh. They are open for pre-orders in the U.S. now; the first orders will be dispatched “in late summer.” [Techcrunch.com] On March 31 2015, Musk tweeted about a new product and shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters.
Elon Musk

Messenger’s Mercury trip ends with a bang, and silence –
Nasa’s Messenger mission to Mercury has reached its explosive conclusion, after 10 years in space and four in orbit. Now fully out of fuel, the spacecraft smashed into a region near Mercury’s north pole, out of sight from Earth, at about 20:00 GMT on Thursday. Mission scientists confirmed the impact minutes later, when the craft’s next possible communication pass was silent. Messenger reached Mercury in 2011 and far exceeded its primary mission plan of one year in orbit. That mission ended with an inevitable collision: Messenger slammed into our Solar System’s smallest planet at 8,750mph (14,000km/h) – 12 times quicker than the speed of sound. The impact will have completely obliterated this history-making craft. And it only happened because Mercury has no thick atmosphere to burn up incoming objects – the same reason its surface is so pock-marked by impact craters. [BBC]
Artist’s rendering of the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury Date Source

Video of the Day –

Biggest Trick In Action Sports History – Triple Backflip – Nitro Circus – Josh Sheehan

CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

June 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple reveals new Music app to rival Spotify –
Apple has announced [at their Worldwide Developers Conference (#WWDC15 – see Top Twitter Trends)] a new app that combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and a way for artists to share unreleased tracks and other material. It includes a recommendation system that uses both human curators and computer algorithms to suggest songs. The [Apple Music] service is set to challenge Spotify, Tidal and other music apps. Apple also announced several new features that will appear in the next version of its Mac operating system, called OS X El Capitan. [BBC]

Fifa film flops at the box office –
A vanity film about the history of Fifa has flopped in the US, taking just $607 (£397) in its opening weekend. United Passions was funded by about £17m of Fifa cash, and was completed before corruption charges were made against 14 of its officials in May. Starring Tim Roth as Sepp Blatter and Gerard Depardieu as Jules Rimet, the hagiography of football’s governing body has had damning reviews. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the FilmBar cinema in Phoenix reported takings of just $9, meaning only one person bought a ticket. [BBC] See List of the Day
Tim Roth

Video of the Day –

Ares 3: Farewell

List of the Day –

Biggest film losses adjusted for inflation (according to Wikipedia)

Biggest box office bombs adjusted for inflation
Rank	Title	Estimated losses (constant $)	Year
1	The 13th Warrior	$97,896,514—182,838,584	1999
2	47 Ronin	$151,923,973	2013
3	Cutthroat Island	$137,346,554	1995
4	Mars Needs Moms	$136,816,444	2011
5	The Adventures of Pluto Nash	$126,461,993	2002
6	The Fall of the Roman Empire	$126,417,784	1964
7	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	$125,776,050	2001
8	The Lone Ranger	$95,926,537—121,237,251	2013
9	Sahara	$121,194,169	2005
10	Heaven’s Gate	$120,953,664	1980

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#confessionnight	#NationalBestFriendsDay	#MondayMotivation
2	#NationalBestFriendsDay	#WorldOceansDay	#WorldOceansDay
3	PREP	#WWDC15	#CarersWeek
4	#BuSeçiminSonucu	#MondayMotivation	Kate Moss
5	#TonyAwards	#USWNT	Sol Campbell
6	El FMI	#DADDYDALLASLAX	#McKinney
7	#WWDC15	Alex Morgan	#NationalBestFriendsDay
8	#اين_كنت_الساع�…	#HAPPYBIRTHDAYMAMAWHITESIDES	#WWDC15
9	#BuenLunes	#confessionnight	#confessionnight
10	iOS 9	#YoureNotInvitedBecause	Ten Walls

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- Seven Pakistani army soldiers and 19 Taliban fighters are killed in overnight fighting in North Waziristan near the Afghanistan border. (Al-Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Apple Inc. announces a new music streaming service called Apple Music. (Endgadget)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Sabah earthquake
- The number of people found dead on Mount Kinabalu rises to 16 with two Singaporean climbers still missing. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- The Singaporean government declares June 8 be a national remembrance day with the Singaporean flag being flown at half-mast and a minute of silence being observed at the beginning of all 2015 SEA Games venues. This is as a mark of respect for the eight people who were killed in the earthquake, which consists of six Primary 6 students, one teacher and their adventure guide. (Straits Times) (Today)
Sinking of Dong Fang Zhi Xing
- The death toll from last week’s sinking on China‘s Yangtze River rises to 434 with eight people missing and 14 survivors. (CNN)

Health

2015 South Korean MERS outbreak
- The number of deaths from MERS in South Korea rises to six with 23 new cases reported. (AFP via Straits Times)

Law and crime

The Supreme Court of the United States strikes down a law passed by the United States Congress allowing people born in Jerusalem to list Israelas their birthplace in their passports, on the grounds that it is the President’s prerogative to extend recognition of sovereignty in matters of foreign affairs.(CNN) (The Times of Israel)

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July 24, 2015

Top News Stories –

WWE Cuts Ties With Hulk Hogan Amid Report That He Used Slurs –
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. has severed ties with Hulk Hogan amid a report that one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling history used racial slurs in a conversation caught on a sex tape. The company deleted most references to Hogan on its website and issued a statement Friday saying it had terminated its contract with him. WWE did not give a reason, but issued a statement saying it is “committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide.” On Friday, a joint report from RadarOnline.com and The National Enquirer said that Hogan had used racial slurs in a conversation caught on a sex video that is the subject of an invasion of privacy lawsuit. [NY Times]
Hulk Hogan in 2014

Converse launches first Chuck Taylor update in 98 years –
Converse has announced it is launching a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II – the first update to the iconic canvas shoe in nearly a century. The update is made of durable Tencel canvas, as opposed to the cotton kind, with higher tech shock absorption in Nike Lunarlon for the footbed. The idea is to make the show [sic – sole] more comfortable. Jim Calhoun, the 48-year-old chief executive of Converse, said many customers had complained that the original Converse was not supportive enough. The easily recognisable rubber toe cap will remain. The new shoe goes on sale on July 28 in black, white, red and blue. [Daily Telegraph]
The new Converse red

Apple patents Apple TV remote with Touch ID –
Entering passwords to log into Netflix could become a thing of the past after a patent for an Apple TV remote complete with fingerprint scanner emerged. Apple has been granted a patent for an Apple TV remote with inbuilt Touch ID sensor, allowing users to use their biometric data to enter TV passwords, created personalised profiles or controlling connected devices. The patent, filed in January 2014, explores how biometric information collected through fingerprint sensors could be harnessed to personalise user profiles and access accounts without the need for ‘annoying and/or burdensome’ logins. Data could also be supplied through retinal or facilia images, palm, toe or hand prints, voice samples and gesture patterns, according to the filing. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Janet Jackson – “No Sleeep” Feat. J. Cole

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Hulk Hogan	Hulk Hogan	Hulk Hogan
2	#ZaynIsComingBackOnJuly26	#NationalTequilaDay	#FridayFeeling
3	#QueLindoMeVendria	#ZaynIsComingBackOnJuly26	#CalibraskaEP
4	#CalibraskaEP	Dennis Rodman	lord harris
5	土用の丑の日	#LafayetteShooting	#NationalTequilaDay
6	次の漢字の読み	#ClearedMyHistoryBecause	#Lafayette
7	#5anos1DRadioTalent	#APositiveMessage	#UberIceCream
8	#TodaviaSigoEsperandoQue	#Lafayette	#GetStupidOutNow
9	tsunami	#CalibraskaEP	#ZaynIsComingBackOnJuly26
10	#Tomorrowland	#fridayreads	DJ Derek

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- Turkish warplanes strike ISIS positions in northern Syria following an exchange of gunfire on the Turkish-Syrian border which left one Turkish soldier dead. The airstrikes are said to have killed as many as 35 ISIS militants. (Yahoo)

Business and economy

Health insurance company Anthem Inc. agrees to buy Cigna in a deal worth $48 billion. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

A large explosion, which triggers other explosions and a fire (which threatens a nearby forest) at a fireworks factory in southeastern Italy(Modugno, Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia Region) kills 7 people and injures several more, some seriously. Emergency vehicles were on the scene and the cause is being investigated; it is the peak season for fireworks in Italy because of the summer festivals there. (BBC)

Law and Crime

The United States Department of Transportation opens an investigation into whether airlines engaged in price gouging by raising ticket prices in the Northeastern United States following the 2015 Philadelphia train derailment in May. (AP)

Politics and elections

Burundian presidential election, 2015
- The President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, is elected for a third consecutive term. (BBC)
Anti-corruption campaign in China:
- Zhou Benshun, the Communist Party chief of China’s Hebei province, is detained for investigation by the party’s anti-graft body. He is first incumbent provincial leader to be investigated since the anti-corruption campaign began in 2013. (WSJ)

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September 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

Bridge cheating scandal grows as top German players admit ‘ethical violations’ –
Three weeks after a fellow bridge professional threatened to name and shame those he believed were cheating, German bridge partners Josef Piekarek & Alex Smirnov have publicly confessed to “ethical violations”. In apparent attempt to jump before they were pushed, the pair even suggested their own punishments for their behaviour, saying in a statement: “We are aware of the “whispers” circulating about our ethical conduct, and we are sorry to say there is some truth to them. We have voluntarily agreed never again to play competitive bridge together and to take two years off from playing competitive bridge.” The German Bridge Federation and the World Bridge Federation have yet to respond to the admission by Smirnov & Piekarek, [Daily Telegraph]

Apple’s iOS App Store suffers first major attack –
The company [Apple] disclosed the effort after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps. It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple’s stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, a total of just five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.N). The hackers embedded the malicious code in these apps by convincing developers of legitimate software to use a tainted, counterfeit version of Apple’s software for creating iOS and Mac apps, which is known as Xcode, Apple said. [Reuters]

Greek elections: Alexis Tsipras emerges as clear winner in shock result –
Greece’s radical former prime minister Alexis Tsipras returned to office on Sunday night after his far-left Syriza party won a clear victory in Greece’s general election. Despite a tepid campaign that saw Mr Tsipras’s personal popularity fall sharply, preliminary results showed the 41-year-old’s far-left Syriza party had won sufficient seats to form a coalition government in the coming days. After a tight race, Syriza ran out comfortable winners, with initial projections showing them falling only five or six seats short of the 151 seats needed to govern. [Daily Telegraph] Tsipras announced he was resigning has called an early election on August 20, 2015
Alexis Tsipras winning tweet
Alexis Tsipras

Video of the Day –

Agostina Gálvez captures three Olympic gymnast hopefuls in action from NOWNESS on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Primetime Emmy Award winners [Reuters]

BEST DRAMA SERIES – “Game of Thrones”

BEST COMEDY SERIES – “Veep”

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Viola Davis, “How To Get Away With Murder”

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Uzo Aduba, “Orange is the New Black”

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Tony Hale, “Veep”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Allison Janney, “Mom”

VARIETY TALK SERIES – “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”

VARIETY SKETCH SERIES – “Inside Amy Schumer”

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM – “The Voice”

LIMITED SERIES – “Olive Kitteridge”

ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Richard Jenkins, “Olive Kitteridge”

ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE – Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jackie Collins	#Emmys	Jackie Collins
2	#AlgoQueMeVendriaReBien	#3YearsSinceLWWY	#6hCOTA
3	Ole Miss	Ole Miss	#MOTD
4	Metallica	#WATTBA	#WALvURU
5	#ALDUBLoveteamOnKMJS	#WWENOC	#NZLvARG
6	#3YearsSinceLWWY	Richard Dawkins	#XFactor
7	#DespedidaGigante	#iHeartJackandJack	Martial
8	Tevez	Bills	#SingaporeGP
9	#TerörBahaneMitingŞahane	#ATLvsNYG	#AskZoella
10	#TeröreKarşıTekSes	#WeCanOnlyGetAlongIf	Match of the Day

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- At least 14 people are killed as rebels shell a neighborhood in western Aleppo. (AP via ABC News)
Yemeni Civil War
- Houthi rebels release six foreign hostages; three Americans, two Saudis, and a Briton. (BBC)

Arts and culture

67th Primetime Emmy Awards
- The Emmy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California with Game of Thrones winning the Emmy for best drama series. (ABC News Australia)

Business and economy

Volkswagen halts sales of its 4-cylinder diesel vehicles in the United States following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency citation that their cars violated U.S. emissions standards. (Auto Guide), (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- Some 26 migrants are feared missing after a dinghy carrying them sinks off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard rescued 20 people who were spotted in the water by Frontex, EU’s border agency. (RTE), (AP via WSB-TV2)
- At least 13 migrants died when a ferry and their inflatable dinghy collided off the northwestern Turkish port of Canakkale. Twenty people were rescued while another 13 are still missing. (BBC), (i24 News)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that the United States will accept 85,000 refugees from the world in 2016, up from this year’s 70,000 refugees, and will increase to 100,000 refugees in 2017. (Washington Post)
- Austrian officials report 11,000 migrants crossed into the country from Hungary on Saturday, and another 7,000 are expected today. Seven trains are scheduled to transport 3,500 of these travelers to Germany. (CBS News)

Law and crime

Apple‘s iOS App Store suffers its first major cyber attack. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Greek legislative election, September 2015
- Voters in Greece go to the polls for the third time this year with Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) again winning a plurality in the Hellenic Parliament. (The Guardian), (The Globe and Mail via Worldwide Herald)
- Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, whose resignation last month as prime minister mandated this snap election, says a coalition government will again be formed with the right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL) party. (Sputnik Media), (The Telegraph)
Constitution of Nepal
- A new constitution comes into effect in Nepal establishing it as a modern secular state. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

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October 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple loses patent lawsuit to University of Wisconsin, faces hefty damages –
Apple Inc could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices. The jury in Madison, Wisconsin also said the patent, which improves processor efficiency, was valid. The trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages. WARF used the patent to sue Intel Corp in 2008, but the case was settled the following year on the eve of trial. Last month, WARF launched a second lawsuit against Apple, this time targeting the company’s newest chips, the A9 and A9X, used in the just-released iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as the iPad Pro. [Reuters]

Volkswagen faces €40bn lawsuit from investors –
Volkswagen is set to be pushed deeper into crisis after it emerged that the carmaker is facing a record-breaking €40bn (£30bn) legal attack spearheaded by one of the world’s top law firms. Quinn Emanuel, which has won almost $50bn (£32bn) for clients and represented Google, Sony and Fifa, has been retained by claim funding group Bentham to prepare a case for VW shareholders over the diesel emissions scandal, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Bentham has recently backed an action by Tesco shareholders over the retailer’s overstating of profits. The pair are attempting to assemble a huge class action following what they call “fundamental dishonesty” at the German auto giant, which plunged the carmaker into crisis after it admitted using “defeat devices” to cheat pollution tests. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Jupiter in 4K

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDUBTheBigSurprise	#1980sIn4Words	#LFC
2	#telethon7	#telethon7	#1980sIn4Words
3	ICFES	#MSUvsMICH	#juniorcontract
4	FlyNoRaulGil	Ole Miss	Howard Kendall
5	Howard Kendall	#FallBakingWithAlly	#RSAvWAL
6	#ShowtimeLovesCebu	#LFC	#BBC4
7	#FPtauromaquia	#MakeAMovieDeadly	#MakeAFilmPrimAndProper
8	#ATodosNosPasoEsoDe	Boise State	Oasis
9	#FindConfidentBR	Howard Kendall	#telethon7
10	#FallBakingWithAlly	#ALDUBTheBigSurprise	Watford

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Henriette Reker, a candidate in Cologne‘s mayoral race, is stabbed in the neck by a man claiming to be angry over Germany’s refugee policies. Reker is in serious condition, as is an aide. Three others suffered minor injuries. (BBC) (Today)
Syrian Civil War
- A top Al-Qaeda commander is killed in an airstrike in Syria. (USA Today)
- Battle of Aleppo (2012–present), Iranian involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  - The Syrian army, backed by Iranian fighters, captures several villages south of Aleppo. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
- A gunman from the Islamic State opens fire on a Shiite meeting hall in Saudi Arabia, killing five people. (Reuters)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Three Turkish troops, including a lieutenant colonel, are killed following clashes with PKK insurgents around Dağlıca vlliage, in the southeastern Hakkâri Province. At least 17 PKK insurgents were also reportedly killed in the fighting. (Today’s Zaman)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- A Saudi-led coalition airstrike targeting Houthis in the southern Taiz Governorate mistakenly hits a Hadi-loyalist position, killing at least 20 fighters. (BBC)
- Hundreds of Sudanese troops arrive in the southern port city of Aden to reinforce coalition forces. (CBC News)
Mexican Drug War
- Fugitive drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán suffered injuries to his leg and face as he escaped Mexican authorities who were closing in on him in the mountains in Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico. (CNN) (Yucatan Times)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli security forces kill four Palestinians and critically wound another who attempted to stab either police officers or a member of the public today. This is the latest in a month of similar attacks where 17 Palestinians, labelled as the attackers, and eight Israelis have been killed. (UPI) (Abu Dhabi National)

Arts and culture

Stephen Glass, author, former journalist and attorney, will repay Harper’s Magazine and other outlets because works he authored were found to have been fabricated. (New York Times)
The Writers’ Revolt: Nayantara Sahgal, is one of the latest authors in India who will return that nation’s highest award from the National Academy of Letters in protest against what Salman Rushdie has characterized as “thuggish violence” creeping into Indian life under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (New York Times)

Business and economics

The United States cancels two potential Arctic lease sales off Alaska’s northern coast, and announces Shell and Statoil current leases will not be extended because of “current market conditions and low industry interest.” (NPR) (BBC)
US Airways final flight, Flight 1939 — named for the airline’s founding year, landed at Philadelphia International Airport at 5:54 a.m. Saturday. Future flights will fly under the American Airlines banner, completing the merger announced in 2013. (Christian Science Monitor) (AP via WSAW)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Koppu (Lando) heads towards the Philippines island of Luzon where it is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm, linger and deposit up to 50 inches of rain in some areas. (Mashable)
At least 15 people are killed in a wedding bus crash in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India. (AAP via News Limited)
At least 16 people are killed near Odessa in the Ukraine after a passenger boat sinks in bad weather. (RT)

Law and Crime

Ardit Ferizi, a 20-year-old hacker from Kosovo and computer student in Malaysia, is arrested for hacking into a Phoenix, Arizona computer system and stealing the names and personal information of thousands of U.S. military personnel. Ferizi is accused of giving the information to ISIS. The U.S. is seeking Ferizi’s extradition. (CNN)
A shooting just before midnight at the ninth annual Fort Myers, Florida, Zombicon kills one person and injures four others, none with life threatening injuries, and causes pandemomium on the city’s downtown streets. Police ask attendees to share smartphonevideo from the incident. (USA Today) (Reuters)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The first migrants reach Slovenia after the border between Hungary and Croatia is closed. (Reuters)
- Turkey‘s Anadolu Agency reports that 12 migrants have drowned in the Aegean Sea while trying to get to Europe. (AP)

Politics and elections

Egyptian parliamentary election, 2015
- Egyptians residing abroad begin casting votes in the country’s first parliamentary election since the 2013 military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi. Embassies and consulates in 139 countries will be open for two days of voting. (AP via Florence TimesDaily) (Gulf News)
Guinean presidential election, 2015
- The Guinea electoral commission reports that the President of Guinea Alpha Conde has won the election with 58 per cent of the vote. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Researchers from the University of Washington report an unusually large number of methane gas plumes detected off the Washington and Oregon coasts may be due to warming ocean waters a third of a mile below the surface, the exact depth at which frozen pockets of methane “ice” change over from a dormant solid to a greenhouse gas. (The Market Business) (Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

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October 19, 2015

Top News Stories –

Nasa predicts near-miss with asteroid on Halloween –
An asteroid is due to pass by Earth on Halloween and miss us by a whisker, according to Nasa. Well, if whiskers were 499,000km long, at any rate. The asteroid was spotted by Nasa a fortnight ago and is set to fly past the Earth on Halloween at over 78,000mph. It will cross by Earth at the closest it’s been since 2006. The space agency explained why they spotted it at such short notice, despite constantly monitoring the size. They said: “The asteroid is on an extremely eccentric and a high inclination orbit.” We won’t be able to see the asteroid with the naked eye, but anyone with access to a telescope will be able to see it as it passes by. “This is the closest approach by a known object this large until 1999 AN10 approaches within 1 lunar distance in August 2027,” said Nasa. [Daily Telegraph]

Q Awards 2015: Foals beat Ed Sheeran and Blur to win Best Act In the World Today –
The Oxford band Foals confirmed their elevation to music’s biggest stages after being voted Best Act In the World Today at the Q magazine awards. Foals, who combine indie rock with electronic beats and African-inspired rhythms, beat Blur, Noel Gallagher and Ed Sheeran to the award, previously won by the likes of Radiohead and Coldplay. Ed Sheeran beat Kanye West, Taylor Swift and Sam Smith to the Solo Artist award, capping a year in which the strummer sold out three nights at Wembley Stadium, performing with just his guitar and a loops pedal. However Sheeran lost out to the Brighton drums and bass rock duo Royal Blood for the Best Live Act prize. [The Independent] See List of the Day
The Foals

Hundreds Of Apps Banned From App Store For Accessing Users’ Personal Information –
Hundreds of iOS applications have been pulled out of the App Store, following a report from analytics service SourceDNA, which uncovered a group of applications that were extracting users’ personally identifiable information, including email addresses associated with their Apple IDs, devices and peripheral serial numbers, as well as a list of apps installed on their phone. The applications in question had been using an SDK from a Chinese advertising company called Youmi which was accessing this information by way of private APIs, the report found. Nearly all of the developers were located in China so, for now, this appears to be an isolated incident. However, the larger concern here has to do with how long this activity had been taking place – and what that means in terms of Apple’s App Store review process, given that it hadn’t caught this suspect activity until being alerted to it by a third party. [Tech Crunch]

Video of the Day –

DRIVING from Nate Theis on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

The Q Awards 2015 Winners

Q Best New Act

James Bay

Best Track

The Libertines – Gunga Din (Winner)

Q Best Album

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday

Q Best Video

Florence + The Machine – Ship To Wreck

Q Hero

Mark Ronson

Q Best Live Act

Royal Blood

Q Classic Album

Soul II Soul – Club Classics Vol. One

Q Best Solo Artist

Ed Sheeran

Q Innovation in Sound

Gary Numan

Q Best Act In The World

Foals

Gibson Les Paul Award

Tony Iommi

Q Outstanding Contribution to Music

New Order

Q Classic Single

Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Q Icon

Duran Duran

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#DiaContraelCancerdeMama	#mondaymotivation	#FourWordsToLiveBy
2	#FelizLunes	#FourWordsToLiveBy	#mondaymotivation
3	Colts	Anthony Mackie	Foreign Office
4	#ALDUBRoadToForever	#MotivationMonday	#TheOuijaBoardSaid
5	#MeGustaMuchoQue	#MakeLifeBetterInAWord	Jamie Oliver
6	#DemiNoBrasil	#MyResumeDoesntMention	#lufc
7	Boca	#BoycottStarWarsVII	Seahawks
8	LuanetesSupportBeliebers	Weight Watchers	Leeds United
9	#FourWordsToLiveBy	Jay Carney	Colts
10	#MasterChefMX	Barry Zito	Star Wars

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- 19-year-old soldier Omri Levy was killed and nearly a dozen injured in a shooting and stabbing attack in the central bus station in the southern city of Beersheba carried out by an Israeli Bedouin Arab, 21-year old Mohind al-Okbi, who was killed after a gun battle. (Washington Post) (NBC News)
- Israeli hospital officials announce an Eritrean migrant, Haptom Zerhom, mistakenly shot by an Israeli security guard and then attacked by bystanders who thought he was involved in the Beersheva bus station attack, has died of his wounds. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahsho said this latest incident seemed to capture the current climate of ratcheted-up tensions. Police are looking to identify and locate members of the crowd who beat and fatally wounded the man; the security officer whose shot incapacitated the victim will not be investigated. (AP) (Yediot Ahronot – Ynet)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present): Kunduz hospital airstrike
- Afghanistan’s acting defense minister has stated that the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz bombed on 3 October by U.S. forces was being used as a safe haven by insurgents. MSF has repeatedly denied the allegation, stating “Every staff member in Kunduz working for MSF has repeatedly reported to us that there were no armed people in the hospital at the time of the bombing”. (AP)

Business and economics

China’s economy expanded 6.9% in third quarter over last year’s growth, just slightly better than forecast. (New York Times)
Shareholders from both companies overwhelmingly approve Aetna’s acquisition of Humana for $37 billion. (Louisville Courier-Journal) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Rising floodwaters are causing problems in the northern Philippines as Typhoon Koppu (Lando in the Philippines) is set to linger over the island of Luzon until Wednesday. Eleven people have died so far. (BBC) (AP via Fox News)
Seven hikers are killed by a raging forest fire while climbing Indonesia‘s Mount Lawu. (The Telegraph)

International relations

The United States Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force held a triennial fleet review off Tokyo Bay. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the first sitting Japanese leader to board a U.S. aircraft carrier when he visited the USS Ronald Reagan.(USA Today) (Japan Times)
Pope Francis encourages bishops from around the world to sign an appeal to world leaders, meeting in Paris next month, for crucial climate change talks. In a major teaching document in June, the encyclical Laudato Si’ (Latin: Praised be), Francis denounced what he called the “structurally perverse” fossil fuel-based world economy that exploits the poor and destroys the habitability of the Earth for humans. (AP via Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- Croatia reopens its border with Serbia allowing thousands of refugees to cross. (Irish Times)
Elements from the maritime forces of India, Japan, and the United States engage in joint military exercises in the Bay of Bengal. (Military Times)
South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov announces South Ossetia intends on holding a referendum on joining the Russian Federation. Tibilov said reuniting with Russia “is a century-long dream of the South Ossetian people”. (Radio Free Europe)

Law and crime

Spencer Stone, primarily responsible for thwarting an August terrorist attack on a train en route to Paris from Amsterdam and later stabbed in downtown Sacramento has undergone open heart surgery. The wounds from the most recent altercation were more serious than previously reported. (Air Force Times)
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is released from prison to serve the rest of his sentence for culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp under house arrest. (The Guardian)
Following 21 days of deliberation the deadlocked jury in Manhattan declared a mistrial in the case against three former senior attorneys from the “once large and prominent law firm” Dewey & LeBoeuf. The three had been charged with “plotting to manipulate financial records in an attempt to defraud bank lenders and insurance companies during the financial crisis.” (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Canadian federal election, 2015
- Voters in Canada go to the polls, to elect the 42nd Canadian Parliament. (CBC) (AP) In the United States, C-SPAN 2 aired complete CBC coverage of the event. [1]
- The Liberal Party of Canada performs very strongly in Atlantic Canada achieving over 60% of the vote and leading in all of the 33 seats. (The Guardian)
- Projections show that the Liberal Party of Canada led by Justin Trudeau is poised to form a majority government. (The Star)
- The Canadian Liberal party has won the federal election with 184 seats. (CBC)
The Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits, Allison Hickey, at the beleaguered United States Department of Veterans Affairs resigned. She held the post since June 2011. (Military Times)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced that all unmanned aircraft, i.e. drones, will be required to be registered with the government just as manned aircraft are. DOT is forming a task force of government leaders and diverse stakeholderswho will determine the specifics of which drones will be covered and how the registration process will work. (Forbes) (Reuters) (NBC News) (DOT)
War in Donbass
- Portraits of former dictator Joseph Stalin go up in the city of Donetsk as the Donetsk People’s Republic adopts more Soviet era policies. (The Guardian)
Eric Chu, KMT party chairman, has replaced Hung Hsiu-chu as Taiwan’s ruling party candidate just months ahead of elections. (The Diplomat)

Science and technology

Apple pulls hundreds of iOS mobile applications from its App Store which, the company discovered, includes software that was secretly sending users’ personal information to an advertising firm in China. (NBC News) (TechCrunch)

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October 28, 2015

Top News Stories –

Google’s Project Loon internet balloons to circle Earth –
Google believes it is on course to have enough internet-beaming balloons in the stratosphere to form a ring over part of the world next year. It told the BBC the move would let it trial a continuous data service to people living below the balloons’ path. The declaration coincides with the announcement that three of Indonesia’s mobile networks intend to start testing Project Loon’s transmissions next year. One expert said the plan had benefits over other solutions. Sri Lanka previously signed a separate agreement signalling its wish to be another participant in the giant helium balloon-based scheme. [BBC]

Biscuit that survived the Titanic sells for $23,000 –
A cracker that survived the Titanic and lives on, unmunched, today has been sold for $23,000 (£15,034). The biscuit was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia vessel that saved Titanic passengers at sea, and was kept intact in a Kodak film envelope by Fenwick along with the following notation: “Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912.” The 103-year-old biscuit was used as part of a survival kit on one of the Titanic lifeboats. [Daily Telegraph]

Apple reports biggest annual profit in history with net income of $53.4bn –
Apple has recorded the biggest annual profit in corporate history, with record sales of the iPhone helping it to make $53.4bn (£35bn) in the last 12 months. The world’s biggest company surpassed the $45.2bn made by ExxonMobil in 2008, after the release of its latest smartphones increased profits by 31pc in its fourth quarter. However, Apple warned that growth is likely to slow down significantly in the crucial Christmas period, and sales of the iPad fell by a fifth to their lowest level since 2011. The company predicted that sales in the current quarter would be between $75.5bn and $77.5bn – as little as 1pc up on the same period last year – partially due to a strong dollar. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

HOW I CRASHED THE SPECTRE PREMIERE AND AFTER PARTY JAMES BOND STYLE

Top Twitter Trends –

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1	#NATIONALILOVEYOUDAY	#GOPDebate	#NATIONALILOVEYOUDAY
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4	Selamat Hari Sumpah Pemuda	Raven Symone	Jarrett
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6	LeBron	Jerry Kill	Tokyo Sexwale
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8	#MasterChefBR	Jarrett	#WorldSeries
9	Phil Collins	#blimp	Bob Mortimer
10	Steph Curry	#5SOSTODAY	Phil Collins

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Taliban insurgents seize the Darqad District in the northeast Takhar Province near the border with Tajikistan. At least six Afghan troops are killed in the fighting. (Reuters) (AP via The Daily Mail)
- Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence for the United Kingdom, announces that over 400 troops will remain in Afghanistan through 2016. The military personnel will train Afghan toops and support NATO operations in Kabul. (Military Times)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Suspected Boko Haram militants kill 14 civilians in the southeast Diffa Region of Niger near the Nigerian border. The Nigerien government recently approved a law prolonging a 15-day state of emergency for the Diffa region by three months in a bid to boost security. (Reuters)
2015 Ankara bombings
- Ankara’s Chief Prosecutor’s office says it has “strong evidence” that an Islamic State group — based in Gaziantep, near the Syrian border — is behind the bombings at this month’s Ankara peace rally that killed 102 people, as well as four previous attacks in Turkey since May that have mainly targeted supporters of a pro-Kurdish party. (AP) (AFP via NDTV)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Hindu Kush earthquake
- Aid workers warn that survivors of the earthquake are at risk of dying of exposure as temperatures in Pakistan and Afghanistan fall to near freezing levels. (Time)
- The death toll from Monday’s quake rises to 385. (AP via the Southern Illinoisan)
A military JLENS blimp from the United States Army broke loose from its moorings at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and drifted over 16,000 ft above Pennsylvania. F-16 Fighter jets were scrambled to track the blimp that has since deflated, causing widespread power outages from a long cable it dragged along the ground. (NBC) (Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- The Greek coastguard says they rescued 242 migrants whose wooden boat sank north of the island of Lesbos, but at least three drowned, including two small boys. (Reuters) (AP via CBS News)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Slovenia‘s prime minister, Miro Cerar says Slovenia is ready to build a fence on its border with Croatia if an EU plan to stem the flow of migrants across the Balkans fails. (AP via ABC News)
- Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, when discussing management of the flow of migrants with the press, talks about “technical security” measures but insists there will be “no fence” at the Slovenian border. This, in contrast to Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner who earlier spoke of plans for a “fence” on the border to Slovenia. Austria has been one of the more vocal countries criticizing Hungary’s decision to build a fence along its border with Serbia. (AP) (BBC)
Japan’s central government in Tokyo invalidated the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga’s, decision to halt the expansion of a U.S. military base on the island, a decision Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga termed “illegal.” (Bloomberg Business)

Health and medicine

The World Health Organization reports tuberculosis has surpassed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as the leading cause of global death, despite the death rate from tuberculosis having been cut in half over the last 25 years. Most deaths from tuberculosis could be prevented, researchers said, but detection and treatment aren’t happening fast enough. (UPI)

Law and crime

Censorship in Turkey
- Turkish police storm and shut down both Kanaltürk TV and Bugün, TV stations that have been critical of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of a general election on November 1. Baris Yarkadas, a lawmaker with the main-oppositionRepublican People’s Party (CHP), said “We are witnessing the police entering news organizations, delivering declarations and taking over journalists’ seats—just like junta periods, this is called a police state”. (The Wall Street Journal) (Today’s Zaman)
In Aberdeen, Scotland, one student has died of injuries, and another has been arrested, after a stabbing at Cults Academy (Independent)
Dennis Hastert, former United States Speaker of the House of Representatives (1999–2007), pleaded guilty to a federal financial crime in a hush money case stemming from sexual misconduct allegations. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 29, 2016. The crime carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and $250,000 fine. Prosecutors recommend zero to six months imprisonment. (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)

Politics and elections

Ivorian presidential election, 2015
- Official results from the presidential election held on Sunday show that President of the Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara has been reelected. (AFP via Daily Mail)
In the Netherlands, the Undersecretary for Infrastructure and Environment Wilma Mansveld resigns following the publication of a damning report about the problems with the international high-speed rail service Fyra. (DutchNews)
Members of the Republican party in the United States House of Representatives nominate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to replace John Boehner of Ohio as Speaker of the House. There will be a formal vote Thursday on the House floor. (New York Times)
Tanzanian general election, 2015
- Tanzania’s opposition Chadema party presidential candidate Edward Lowassa calls for a recount of Sunday’s election for the presidency before official results are announced tomorrow. Meanwhile, the election commission chief of semi-autonomous Zanzibar nullifies their results, which opposition presidential candidate Seif Sharif Hamad of the Civic United Front announced he won on Monday. The United States said it’s “gravely alarmed” and called for reversal of the annulment. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters) (Mail & Guardian Africa)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- A United Nations rights investigator raises concern whether Myanmar’s election, scheduled for November 8, 2015, could be considered free and fair because dozens of candidates have been disqualified and hundreds of thousands of people denied theright to vote. (Reuters) (Council on Foreign Relations)
Elections in Nepal
- The Nepalese Parliament elects the country’s first female president, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) vice-chairperson Bidhya Devi Bhandari, by a vote of 327 to 214. (The Guardian)

Science

The Cassini probe makes a close flyby of Saturn’s sixth-largest moon, Enceladus, coming within approximately 49 km (30 mi) of the surface and passing through the icy plume above the south pole. The transit of the plume was the deepest to date. Photographs and other data from the mission are expected within 48 hours. (BBC Online) (JPL Press Release)
An article published in Nature reports high levels of molecular oxygen found by the Rosetta space probe on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This discovery could have implications for theories of the origin of the solar system. (Radio New Zealand Online) (BBC Online) (Nature Press Release) (Nature Article Synopsis)

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January 22, 2016

Top News Stories –

It Cost Google One Billion Dollars to Keep its Search Bar on iPhones –
Google’s search bar has been a fixture on Apple devices for years, something that’s always seemed counter-intuitive, what with Android being iOS’s only real competitor. According to Bloomberg, Google’s search engine is only exists there because of a $1 billion payment made to Apple in 2014. Bloomberg found the details in court proceedings from an Oracle vs Google lawsuit. Oracle has been fighting Google since 2010 over the search giant’s use of Oracle’s Java software in the development of Android. Somewhere along the way, Oracle’s lawyers got their hands on internal Google finances, which were brought up in open court, before Google’s attorneys pleaded to have the transcript redacted and sealed. According to Oracle’s lawyers — and neither confirmed nor denied by Google’s side — Google paid Apple $1 billion (that equates to around £701,000,000) in 2014 to keep its search bar on Apple devices. The two companies then have a revenue-sharing agreement to split any profits Google makes from Apple’s devices, although the breakdown is not known. [Gizmondo]

Video of the Day –

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
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3	#WelcomeBabyTomlinson	Macklemore	Macklemore
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7	#PraNamorarComigoÉPreciso	#DevuelvanLosReales	#SquirrelAppreciationDay
8	#BuenViernes	#Roe43	#DateMyMum
9	#يوم_الجمعه	#ChaseTheDay	#FlashbackFriday
10	#AsAChildIUsedToThink	Jalen Rose	#10000BC

Other News Stories –

Arts and culture

Douglas Borough Council announces that the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, at Douglas, Isle of Man, ran for the last time at the end of the 2015 season. (BBC)

Business and economy

Steve Zadesky, who has been running the electric car project for Apple Inc. for two years, will leave that company soon for personal reasons, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

January 2016 United States winter storm
- Millions of people in the Mid-Atlantic states brace for a winter storm. (BBC)(CNN)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The United States government implements new restrictions to its visa waiver program which now requires, with limited exceptions, European, Japanese and Australian travelers to the United States who either have been visitors in the last five years to or are dual-citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan to obtain a travel visa. The new visa policies were mandated by legislation which was passed, in the aftermath of November 2015 Paris attacks, by Congress on the grounds of national security. (CNN), (NYT), (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Law and crime

La Loche Community School shooting
- A former La Loche Community School student shot and killed two brothers at home, and two females, one a teacher, at the school in La Loche, Saskatchewan, Canada, while injuring others. A suspect has been arrested. (CBC) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Wei Hong resigns as Governor of Sichuan province in China after it was revealed that he was undergoing investigation for “breaching party discipline.” Former World Health Organization executive committee member Yin Li becomes acting governor. (SCMP)

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February 1, 2016

Top News Stories –

Alphabet – owner of Google – takes top spot from Apple –
Alphabet- Google’s parent company- has surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable company after its latest earnings report. The company made a profit of $4.9bn (£3.4bn) for the fourth quarter, an increase from $4.7bn a year ago. The announcement sent its share price up as much as 9% in after-hours trading.
That means that Alphabet is now worth around $568bn, compared with Apple, which has a value of $535bn. [BBC] Alphabet was launched in August 2015
Structure of Alphabet companies

Zika-linked condition: Rio Olympics ‘to go ahead’ despite virus –
There is no chance that the Rio Olympics will be cancelled because of a Zika virus outbreak, Brazil has said. The authorities said there was no risk to athletes and spectators – except pregnant women – at the August event. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned a disease linked to Zika posed a global public health emergency requiring a united response. The infection has been linked to cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with underdeveloped brains. Experts are worried that the mosquito-borne virus in Latin America is spreading far and fast, with devastating consequences. Meanwhile, WHO Director General Margaret Chan called Zika an “extraordinary event” that needed a co-ordinated response. The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola. It means research and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Flight Over Dwarf Planet Ceres
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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9	#هل_تتزوجين_سع�…	#DeadlineDay	#ontopictalkshow
10	#ShawnWorldTourPresale	Infinite Jest	#emojinal

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

PKK Rebellion (2015–present)
- Two Turkish Army soldiers are killed in a Kurdistan Workers’ Party ambush in the southeast Diyarbakır Province. (Anadolu Post)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A Taliban suicide bomb attack outside a police office in central Kabul kills at least 9 people. (AFP via Times of India) (Sky News) (AFP via Straits Times)

Disasters and accidents

February 2016 United States blizzard
- A snow storm in the United States is affecting multiple regions in Colorado, California and elsewhere, with more than 70,000 people in southern California losing power. (AccuWeather)

Health

Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present)
- The World Health Organization declares the spread of the Zika virus a global public health emergency requiring an urgent, united response. (BBC)
The United Kingdom Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority gives licensing rights to the Francis Crick Institute to genetically modify human embryos to study the early stages of embryo development though still needs the approval of a local research ethic board. (BBC) (Nature)

Law and crime

Chinese authorities arrest 21 people involved in the Ezubao online finance scheme accused of allegedly defrauding 900,000 people of 50bn yuan ($7.6bn; £5.3bn) in a Ponzi scheme. (BBC)
Two men are sentenced to death for the murder of Tibetan religious leader Akong Rinpoche, his nephew and his driver in 2013. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

The Assembly of the Union for Myanmar meets with Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy having the majority for the first time. (Time)
United States presidential election in Iowa, 2016
- Voters in Iowa go to Democratic and Republican Party caucuses in the first formal stage of the U.S. elections. (Yahoo! politics)
- Republican candidate Mike Huckabee suspends his campaign. (ABC Go) (CNN)
- Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley suspends his campaign following a very poor performance in the caucuses. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a virtual tie with a majority of precincts reporting. (The Washington Post) (CNN)
- Ted Cruz wins the Republican caucus with 28% of the vote followed by Donald Trump with 24%, Marco Rubio with 23%, and Ben Carson at 9%.(CNN)

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February 17, 2016

Top News Stories –

DON’T set your iPhone to 1 January 1970 or you’ll break it –
Apple is warning iPhone users not to fall for an internet hoax that leaves handsets useless and irreparable. A fake advertisement claims that changing the date on your iPhone to 1 January 1970 will give you a retro Apple design – it doesn’t. And the date change will cause your phone to become permanently stuck while rebooting if it’s switched off or runs out of battery. The bug affects the likes of the iPad Air, Mini 2 and any iPhone 5s onwards. The glitch was discovered last week, but a fake photo has been circulating on social media encouraging people to switch the date on iPhones 5s and upwards. Users were meant to be able to discover an Easter egg in the form of a 1970s-style multicoloured Apple logo and design. Unfortunately, going retro on your iPhone won’t change the design. Instead, when the phone is turned off and turned on again, it refuses to reboot, displaying the Apple home screen and going no further. [BBC Newsbeat]

Apple ordered to help FBI break into San Bernardino gunman’s phone –
An American judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation break into a phone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the killers in the December shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California. Sheri Pym of the US District Court in Los Angeles ruled Apple must provide “reasonable technical assistance” to investigators seeking to unlock the data on Farook’s iPhone 5C. This includes bypassing its auto-erase function and passcode protection so investigators can try an unlimited number of passcode guesses. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The company has five business days to contest the order if it believes compliance would be “unreasonably burdensome,” Ms Pym said in her decision. [Daily Telegraph]

World’s largest lottery winners come forward to claim share of $1.58bn jackpot –
The winners of the world’s largest ever lottery have finally come forward to claim their ticket, more than a month after the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot sent America into a frenzy. David Kaltschmidt, 55, and his wife Maureen Smith, 70, won a $528.7 million (£370m) share of the jackpot – splitting their winnings with John and Lisa Robinson, who purchased their winning ticket in Tennessee, and a California winner who has yet to come forward. But the Florida pair, who announced their win at a press conference on Wednesday, said they did not even tell their children at first. “That was hard,” said Ms Smith. Her husband said they were determined the win wouldn’t change them. They decided to take the $327.8m lump sum rather than receiving the $528m sum in instalments. The odds of winning the $1.58 billion jackpot were 1 in 292.2 million. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

The Chicken Test

Top Twitter Trends –

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10	#ALDUBStronger	#YoungMindsMatter	#NMEAwards

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Three Americans abducted last month in Baghdad are freed by the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. (AP via Orange County Register)

Arts and culture

The jewels of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos are to be auctioned. Valued at $21 million (USD), they were seized by the government when her husband Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown.(CNN), (BBC)
After more than 200 years, Mozart’s and Salieri’s lost cantata Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia is discovered in Prague. (Reuters), (The Independent), (BBC)

International relations

Cuba–United States relations
- The United States and Cuba sign an agreement restoring commercial air traffic between the two countries for the first time in 50 years. The U.S. Department of Transportation immediately opened bidding for as many as 110 U.S.-Cuba flights per day to Havana and nine other destinations. Travel from the U.S. is permitted in 12 authorized categories, which does not include tourism. (AP) (AFP via The Jamaica Observer)

Law and crime

Four American journalists are charged by Bahrain for “unlawful obstruction of vehicles and attending unlawful gatherings.” The state-run Bahrain News Agency said all were released “pending further investigations.” Freelance reporter Anna Day and a film crew, who were covering the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring uprisings, are scheduled to fly to Dubai tonight. (NBC News) (New York Daily News)

Politics and elections

Philippine Senate election, 2016
- Filipino Senate candidate and boxer Manny Pacquiao calls LGBT people “less than animals” when asked about his opposition to same-sex marriage, prompting condemnation from prominent Filipino LGBT figures such as Aiza Seguerra, John Lapus and Vice Ganda. Pacquiao later apologizes. (NPR) (The New York Times) (Rappler)

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February 21, 2016

Top News Stories –

Salesmen warned not to knock on George Clooney’s door –
Doorstep traders have been ordered to stay away from the luxury country mansion home of Hollywood star George Clooney. Residents in the River Thames-side village of Sonning have decided to put a stop to unwanted door-to-door salesmen by becoming a No Cold Calling Zone. Sonning-on-Thames is the first village in Berkshire to be declared a designated No Cold Calling Zone after families living there joined forces with Wokingham and West Berkshire Trading Standards officers and Thames Valley Police. Clooney, 54, and his human rights lawyer wife Amal paid £10 million for the 17th Century Grade II-listed Georgian mansion 15 months ago and workmen have been busy adapting it to their specifications. [Daily Telegraph]
Clooney is set to run the London Marathon 2016 after losing bet with model Christy Turlington.
George Clooney

Samsung brings back water resistance and microSD with the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge –
As expected (thanks to numerous leaks in the weeks leading up to Mobile World Congress), Samsung revealed the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge today in Barcelona. This time around, though, the standard and curved screen variants of Samsung’s flagships are two different sizes. The Galaxy S7, like last year’s GS6, has a 5.1-inch Quad HD screen. The Galaxy S7 edge, though, is at least as much of a sequel to the Galaxy S6 edge+ phablet as it is to the smaller Galaxy S6 edge. The S7 edge has a 5.5-inch QHD display – the same screen size as (but with sharper resolution than) Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge go up for pre-order on February 23, ahead of a March 11 US release date. Early orders will get a free Gear VR along with a six-game bundle, along with the phone purchase. [Gizmag]

Denny Hamlin beats Martin Truex Jr. in closest Daytona 500 finish ever –
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin made a daring late-race pass, moving from fourth to first in the final two turns to beat Martin Truex Jr. to the checkered flag by 0.010 seconds (or about a foot) to win the Daytona 500. It’s the closest finish in the 58-year history of the historic race. The four Joe Gibbs Racing cars, plus the affiliate car of Truex, were the class of the field throughout Sunday’s race. Hamlin led the most laps, but had ceded the lead to teammate Matt Kenseth, who led the field for 40-straight laps. He paced the field down the backstretch on the final lap. That’s when Hamlin made his move. After sitting in line as the laps ticked off, Hamlin moved to the outside in front of Kevin Harvick. Hamlin passed teammate Kyle Busch for third as the field entered Turn 3. As Kenseth went up to block, Hamlin darted to the middle. Kenseth’s car started to slide but he saved it, leaving Hamlin and Truex to battle for the win. Truex looked to have the advantage as the two headed to the tri-oval but Hamlin inched ahead at the finish line. [Yahoo News]
Denny Hamlin

Video of the Day –

Samsung S7 and S7 Edge launch

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- February 2016 Homs bombings
  - Twin bomb blasts hit the Syrian city of Homs with at least 57 people reportedly killed and more than 100 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility. (Reuters) (AFP viaDaily Mail) (BBC)
- February 2016 Sayyidah Zaynab bombings
  - At least 83 people are killed and 178 injured in a series of bombings in the Damascus suburb Sayyidah Zaynab, Rif Dimashq Governorate. ISIL again claims responsibility. (AFP via Yahoo! News)(CNN)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- The Libyan National Army says it has taken control of the town of Ajdabiya and several areas of Benghazi following heavy clashes with Islamist militant groups. (Reuters)
2016 Pampore stand-off
- A group of Islamic terrorists exchange fire with Indian Armed Forces troops for the second consecutive day in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir, India. At least five soldiers and one civilian have been killed.(ABC News) (UPI)
A Hindu priest is hacked to death and two devotees, who tried to intercede, are wounded in a temple in the Panchagarh District in northern Bangladesh. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility. (BBC) (AP)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- Cyclone Winston
  - At least five people are reported dead and entire villages have been flattened after Cyclone Winston hits Fiji. (New Zealand Herald)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Greece claims that Macedonia has closed its borders to migrants from Afghanistan. (AP via New York Times)
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- Germany is considering sending troops to Tunisia to help train the Tunisian Army in the fight against Islamist militants, particularly ISIL who control territory in neighboring Libya. (FRANCE 24)
Syrian Civil War peace process
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says a tentative ceasefire agreement reached with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is now being presented to the opposing forces. (CBS News) (Reuters viaThe Australian Financial Review)
Japan–United States relations
- Thousands protest outside the Japanese parliament in Tokyo against the relocation of a U.S. military base on Okinawa Island. Residents cite noise, pollution, and crime as reasons for not wanting a new base built. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2016 Kalamazoo shootings
- Kalamazoo County, Michigan authorities say last evening’s shooting spree resulted in six deaths with two others seriously wounded. Each victim was shot multiple times. Police acknowledge that an earlier report that a 14-year-old girl died is incorrect; she is alive, but “severely, gravely” injured. The suspect, a 45-year-old man who is a Uber driver without a prior criminal record, was taken into custody without a struggle. (USA Today) (CNN)
Terrorism in Malaysia
- Australia issues a security alert, warning that terrorists may be planning attacks in and around the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. It also recommended that Australians avoid travel to the coastal region of eastern Sabah, where the beaches and islands are popular with foreign tourists. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
Pope Francis calls for a worldwide ban on the death penalty and urges Christian leaders to work to stop executions as part of the church’s Holy Year of Mercy. (UPI)

Politics and elections

Comorian presidential election, 2016
- Voters in Comoros go to the polls for a presidential election with 25 candidates standing. (Mail and Guardian)
Nigerien general election, 2016
- Voters in Niger go to the polls for a general election. (France 24)
North Korean state media confirms that Ri Myong-su is the new chief of the General Staff Department of the Korean People’s Army replacing Ri Yong-gil who was executed. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016
- In what is seen as a major boost for the “Vote Leave” campaign, Mayor of London Boris Johnson announces he will be campaigning for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. (Sky News)
Ashraf Rifi resigns as the Minister for Justice for Lebanon in protest at Hezbollah domination of the government which he claims is harming relations with Arab nations. (AP)
Macedonian parliamentary election, 2016
- The European Union and the United States advise interim Macedonian Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev to postpone elections scheduled for April 24, 2016. (Balkan Insight)
Bolivian constitutional referendum, 2016
- According to exit polls, Bolivian voters reject a constitutional amendment that would have permitted President Evo Morales to stand for a fourth term in office. His current term expires in 2020. (BBC)
Philippine presidential election, 2016
- The debate series, PiliPinas Debates 2016, kicks off in Cagayan de Oro. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Sports

Denny Hamlin wins the 2016 Daytona 500 by 0.011 seconds, the closest margin in the history of the race, and the 13th-closest in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history. (Yahoo! News)

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March 11, 2016

Top News Stories –

Progressive rock legend Emerson dies –
Keith Emerson, the co-founder and keyboardist of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died aged 71, according to his former band mates. “We regret to announce that Keith Emerson died last night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles,” read a statement on the band’s Facebook page. Yorkshire-born Emerson was one of the top keyboardists of the prog rock era. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Santa Monica police confirmed to the BBC. His death was being investigated as a suicide, police added. [BBC]
Keith Emerson performs on his Hammond and Moog synthesizer during the Emerson & Lake Tour 2010.

Apple customer goes to the top for iPhone battery answer –
The head of Apple’s operating system iOS confirmed that open but unused apps do not affect iPhone battery life after a customer emailed boss Tim Cook. The customer from Ohio, known as Caleb, asked Mr Cook whether closing down “multitasking apps” improved battery life and whether it was something the chief executive did himself. Senior vice-president Craig Federighi replied “no and no”. However, other smartphone batteries can benefit from app closure. While many Apple users do shut down apps in the belief it extends the iPhone battery this is not advice explicitly given by the firm itself. It only recommends disabling apps from carrying out background refreshes in a list of tips about saving power. [BBC]

Rafael Benitez: Newcastle United appoint Spaniard as Steve McClaren’s successor –
Rafael Benitez has been named as Newcastle’s new manager, following the sacking of Steve McClaren. The former Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Valencia boss takes over with the Magpies a point from safety with 10 games left. The Spaniard, 55, has signed a three-year contract, which is understood to contain a break clause should Newcastle be relegated at the end of the season. “C’mon Toon Army. The club and I need your total involvement,” he said. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez

Video of the Day –

Drawcard from Antonio Oreña-Barlin on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Clubs Managed by Rafael Benitez [Wikipedia]

Teams managed
1993–1995	Real Madrid B
1995–1996	Valladolid
1996	Osasuna
1997–1999	Extremadura
2000–2001	Tenerife
2001–2004	Valencia
2004–2010	Liverpool
2010	Internazionale
2012–2013	Chelsea (interim)
2013–2015	Napoli
2015–2016	Real Madrid
2016–	Newcastle United

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	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#SextaDetremuraSdv	#FridayFeeling	#MemeHistory
2	#OMundoSeriaMelhorSe	#FlashbackFriday	#IWillSmileTodayBecause
3	#BerkinElvan	#IWillSmileTodayBecause	Ben Carson
4	#MemeHistory	#SnapchatDay	#FridayFeeling
5	#ALDUBAngPagdalaw	#SSAC16	#FlashbackFriday
6	#MeDuele	#SXSW2016	#bbcqt
7	#IWillSmileTodayBecause	Joe’s Crab Shack	#newmusicfriday
8	#يوم_الجمعه	Dog Whisperer	#BuyDangerousWomanOniTunes
9	#GloboGolpista	#LIKEIWOULDTONUMBER1	Archbishop of Canterbury
10	#東日本大震災	#TLConf2016	LGBT FANS DESERVE BETTER

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- The Algerian Army kills three suspected Islamist militants near the eastern city of El Oued and seizes a large quantity of weapons, including six anti-aircraft missiles. (Reuters)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- More than 50 people have died in fighting in the Yemeni city of Taiz. (Al-Arabiya)

Business and economics

American veterans’ nonprofit charity The Wounded Warrior Project board of directors removes chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operation officer Al Giordano after an independent investigation confirms earlier news reports about lavish spending on employee perks, high overhead, and other perceived malfeasance. (The New York Times)
Bangladesh Bank money laundering case
- Bangladeshi bank officials say unknown hackers installed malware in the bank’s computer systems in last month’s attempt to steal nearly $1 billion from the central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Reuters via Business Insider)
General Motors acquires Cruise Automation, a three-year old software company that’s been testing self-driving cars on the streets of San Francisco. (AP via Business Insider)

Disasters and accidents

Japan’s emperor and prime minister attend a memorial service marking the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in which 15,894 people died and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Many people remain displaced and recovery efforts are ongoing. (The New York Times)
At least 15 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain. (Reuters via Channel News Asia)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, orders the country to conduct more tests of nuclear weapons to improve its capacity. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
South Sudanese Civil War
- A new United Nations report on South Sudan describes one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world, in particular by Government forces, including use of rape as a widespread weapon of war and recommends the U.N. Security Council consider imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan and referring the matter to the International Criminal Court. (Newsweek (AP viaThe Washington Post)
The Arab League declares the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah a terrorist organization. (Reuters)
Syrian peace process
- The High Negotiations Committee, Syria’s main opposition group, will attend Monday’s U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, a day shy of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict, and two-plus weeks into the ceasefire agreement. Although fighting continues, a significant drop in violence has been seen during the truce. The first round of Geneva talks collapsed on Feb. 3 during agovernment offensive against rebels in Aleppo. .(CBS News) (Reuters) (Deutsche Welle)
- UN envoy Staffan de Mistura says new elections should be held 18 months from the start of talks, i.e., in September 2017. (AFP via Firstpost)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016, Donald Trump presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
- Retired American neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate Ben Carson formally endorses Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago landmark estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Fox News)
- Donald Trump postpones a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago due to security issues amid fights between protestors and supporters. Five people are arrested, and two officers injured, according toChicago police. (AFP vis ABC News Australia) (CNN) (NBC News)
  - Rival Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio state Mr. Trump bears some responsibility for the disturbance. (Los Angeles Times)
  - Thirty-two people are arrested, all but one charged with general peace disturbance, at an earlier Trump event at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri. (Chicago Tribune)
  - A Donald Trump supporter is charged with assault after social media videos show him sucker punching a protester at Wednesday’s campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. [(The Washington Post) (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Marco Rubio OK’s supporters voting for John Kasich in Ohio since the state’s former governor, “… is the only one who can beat Donald Trump in Ohio.” (The Washington Post) (Politico)

Science and technology

A report by a team of Japanese scientists, published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science, has identified bacteria — isolated from outside a bottle recycling facility — that can break down and metabolize plastic. The microbe appears to have evolved a pair of enzymes it uses to break down polyethylene terephthalate or PET, the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in consumer products. (LiveScience via CBS News) (The Washington Post) (Science)
Astronaut Scott Kelly announces his retirement from NASA effective April 1. Kelly holds the record for the American who has spent the most time in space. (NASA)
A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states climate science progress makes it possible to accurately detect global warming’s fingerprints on certain extreme weatherevents. There is “high confidence” in studies looking for climate change connections between extreme hot and cold temperatures, while efforts trying to attribute droughts and extreme rainfall has medium confidence. (AP via Business Insider) (USA Today via WLTX) (National Academies)

Sport

Newcastle United F.C. (NUFC) appoint Rafael Benítez as manager on a three-year deal after sacking Steve McClaren. (The Telegraph)

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April 17, 2016

Top News Stories –

Messi scores 500th career goal –
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has scored his 500th career goal. The Argentine forward netted in the 63rd minute of Sunday’s Liga clash with Valencia to bring up the landmark. Messi, who was making his 525th appearance for Barca, has now scored an incredible 450 goals for the Liga champions, while he has a total of 50 for Argentina from his 107 caps for the national team. [Goal.com] In January Messi won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for the fifth time.
Lionel Messi

Apple recovered one tonne of gold by recycling iPhones last year –
Apple has revealed it reclaimed almost one metric tonne of gold by recycling its own products in 2015. At current prices, that’s equivalent to around £28 million worth of gold. The figure was revealed in Apple’s recently-released Environmental Responsibility Report, which details the results of the company’s eco-friendly efforts in the last financial year. As well as the gold, Apple recovered three tonnes of silver (worth around £1.1 million at current prices), and over 1,300 tonnes of copper. These valuable materials were reclaimed through the Apple Renew scheme, which lets customers hand in their worn-out Apple devices in exchange for money off future Apple purchases. [The Independent]

Video of the Day –

How To Hide You’re Out Of Shape

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide	USA
#ImpeachmentDay	Axl Rose
#lluviasantiago	#2YearsSinceMagconBrokeUp
#2YearsSinceMagconBrokeUp	#StarWarsHalf
Axl Rose	#FoodCity500
#FelizDomingo	#NotAMeeting
#الابتعاث_افسد…	#EcuadorEarthquake
#BattiQuorum	#BuyLetMeLoveYouOniTunes
#DomingoDetremuraSdv	Ecuador
#TagueirosPelaInternetJust…	#IWillCallYouDaddyIf
Ecuador	#SundayFunday

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Heavy fighting continues in the north of Afghanistan as Taliban fighters intensify their attacks in several districts around Kunduz in their bid to retake the city. According to a police chief, militants overnight attacked several police checkpoints in the southwest outskirts of the city while government forces repelled a major attack to the east of Kunduz. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Ecuador earthquake
- The death toll from Saturday night’s earthquake in Ecuador rises to 262 with more than 2,500 people injured. (AP via Fox News) (BBC) (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia) (AP² via Miami Herald)
A bus carrying members of the Bharati Gananatya opera troupe crashes into a gorge in India‘s Odisha state resulting in 25 people killed and 11 injured. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
A drone collides at London’s Heathrow Airport with an Airbus A320 carrying 132 passengers and five crew, with no injuries reported. (Sydney Morning Herald)

International relations

Members of OPEC meet in Doha, Qatar, amid uncertainty in the markets and the outcome of the meeting. Since 2014, the price of oil has dropped dramatically. Analysts hope that an agreement to freeze output will reassure global energy markets that the recent recovery in prices is sustainable. (Al Jazeera)
Israel–Syria relations
- The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu vows that the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, recognized as part of Syria, will forever stay in the country’s hands and called on the international community to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area. (BBC)
- The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemns the Israeli cabinet meeting held on occupied Syrian-territory and, in letters to both the Security Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, calls on the U.N. to condemn Israel’s action. (The Daily Star)
Russia-United States relations
- A Russian Su-27 jet intercepts a United States Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane while in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says, “We condemn this kind of behavior. It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous.” (AFP via The Strait Times)

Law and crime

Human rights in Myanmar
- The President of Myanmar Htin Kyaw pardons 83 political prisoners. A total of 282 people accused of political crimes have been released or had charges dropped since the new National League for Democracy government gained power on April 1. (Reuters) (Deutsche Welle,)

Politics and elections

Philippine presidential election, 2016
- Presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte jokes about an Australian woman being raped and murdered in Davao City. (Rappler) (ABC News Australia) (Sydney Morning Herald) (BBC News)
Italian oil drilling referendum, 2016
- The Italian referendum proposes repealing the law that allows oil drilling concessions extracting Hydrocarbon within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast to be prolonged until the exhaustion of the useful life of the fields. (Euronews)
Aftermath of the 2016 Brussels bombings
- At least 7,000 people take to the streets of Brussels, Belgium, in a march “against terror and hate.” However, turnout was less than half of what was hoped for by organizers. (BBC)
Protests continue in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, against President Gjorge Ivanov‘s decision to suspend an investigation into the alleged corruption of a number of politicians. (The Sofia Globe)
Impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff
- Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies votes overwhelmingly (367-137) in favor of impeachment procedures against President Dilma Rousseff. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

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The 2010s

The story of a decade

Tag Archives: Apple

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