Australia - The 2010s

September 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Barack Obama ‘flouted secret service rules’ for Bear Grylls challenge –
Bear Grylls has spoken of how President Obama flouted the protocol of his secret service to take up every challenge thrown at him, when he appeared on the survival guru’s television show last month. The British ex-SAS soldier and television host said Mr Obama’s security team were on tenterhooks, as he and the president spent the day trekking through the Alaskan wilderness filming a special episode of “Running Wild”. “We ended up doing everything and he loved it. Afterwards, I thought I was going to get a special telling off from the secret service guys, but they all laughed and had a good time.” Grylls said he was warned by Mr Obama’s protocol staff that he could not give the president any gifts. But at the end of the filming he gave him his knife and said that the president should keep it “as a last line of defence if anybody ever got through the secret service”. “I had a great email a few days later from his team saying that he absolutely loves the knife and he keeps playing with it! Boys love their toys,” he said. [Daily Telegraph]
Bear Grylls

Australia: Council seeks cash for kangaroo-proofing –
A drought-affected district in eastern Australia is asking for government help to protect its villages against a “plague” of thirsty kangaroos, it’s reported. The mayor of sparsely populated Barcoo Shire, in the state of Queensland, says hordes of kangaroos are causing concern among local people because they’re coming into residential areas looking for food and water, the Brisbane Times reports. “The sheer numbers, you can drive around and you’ll see a mob of kangaroos and you lose count after 120 or 130, they are in plague proportions,” says Mayor Julie Groves. The council has now applied for federal government funding to pay for about 55km (34 miles) of fencing to keep the animals out of villages, sports parks, cemeteries, and off the local air strip used by the flying doctor. [BBC]

Edward Snowden (@Snowden) joins Twitter –
American whistleblower Edward Snowden has joined Twitter, asking in his first tweet, “Can you hear me now?”. The 32-year-old immediately began following the National Security Agency’s (NSA) official account, the only organisation he has followed so far. Snowden, who is currently living at an undisclosed location in Russia after being granted asylum, links to Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Twitter account in his bio. The bio adds: “I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public.” He gained 100,000 followers within an hour of joining Twitter and has also been given a ‘verified’ blue tick. The former CIA contractor leaked tens of thousands of files from systems at the NSA in 2013 from which the techniques and methods of it and GCHQ were then exposed. He faces charges in the U.S. for leaking details of the once-secret surveillance programs. [Daily Telegraph]
Edward Snowden’s first tweet

Video of the Day –

Do It For Mom (Do it for Denmark)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NationalCoffeeDay	#NationalCoffeeDay	Log Lady
2	#FelizMartes	MacArthur	#InternationalCoffeeDay
3	Aaron Rodgers	#HappyBirthdayHalsey	#AutumnIn3Words
4	#NoTeOdioPero	#AutumnIn3Words	#WorldHeartDay
5	Ronaldinho	#StandWithPP	#LondonUpAFilm
6	#الهلال_الاهلي	#BLIK	#nb2015
7	#MePoneDeMalHumor	Ralph Lauren	#LeadersSpeech
8	#AutumnIn3Words	Derrick Rose	Aaron Rodgers
9	#ALDUBTheVoiceWithin	Larry Brown	#charitytuesday
10	Jim Carrey	#BeatLA	Callum Wilson

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- At least four people are killed in a bombing attack on Baghdad. (Euronews)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present), Battle of Kunduz
- Afghan National Security Forces start efforts to recapture the city of Kunduz. (CNN), (The News Hub)
- The U.S. Air Force launches air-strikes on Taliban forces within Kunduz. (The Washington Post)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Two police officers are gunned down by suspected PKK militants on the streets of Adana, southern Turkey. (Middle East Eye)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- At least one rocket is intercepted over Ashdod by Israel‘s Iron Dome missile defense system, and is believed to have come from the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
2015 Burkinabé coup d’état
- After a tense standoff, Burkina Faso’s military crushed the elite presidential guard and seized the coup’s abandoned headquarters. The former head of the guard, Gen. Gilbert Diendéré, had called on his men to lay down their weapons to avoid a bloodbath. Diendéré told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he feared “many deaths and injuries” in the operation. It is unclear whether there are casualties. (The New York Times) (BBC) (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Dujuan hits mainland China in Fujian province after hitting Taiwan, where it caused two deaths and injured 300. (AP via ABC News)

International relations

Amnesty International designates Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado as a prisoner of conscience. (Reuters)

Law and crime

All 500 of the prisoners escape from the Ngaraba jail in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. (Reuters), (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Researchers discover a biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle, glowing bright red and green, near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. This is the first time scientists have found biofluorescence in a reptile in the wild. It is an critically endangeredspecies. (Live Science) (CNN)

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October 3, 2015

Top News Stories –

JK Rowling dismisses Harry Potter fan theories about time travel and werewolves –
JK Rowling has shut-down a theory that one of the Harry Potter characters was a time traveller. The author responded to fans who claimed they had put together evidence about Ronald Weasley being a time travelling Dumbledore. On Twitter, she said that this theory is “false.” Also, referring to the idea that Draco Malfoy could be a werewolf, she tweeted: “I’ve never seen that one before. Draco definitely isn’t a werewolf (and Snape’s not a vampire).” [BBC Newsbeat]
J. K. Rowling

Denis Healey dies aged 98 –
Denis Healey, a towering figure in the Labour Party and perhaps the most recognisable politician for a generation, has died. His family said the 98-year-old died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning at his home in Sussex after a short illness. The retired Labour politician, often described as “the best prime minister the party never had”, served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 under the premierships of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. [Daily Telegraph]
Denis Healey in 1974

England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13 –
England are out of the World Cup after being torn apart by a superb Australia display at a stunned Twickenham. Two converted first-half tries and four penalties from Wallaby fly-half Bernard Foley in a virtuoso display brought a richly deserved win on a black night for England’s men in white. The result means both Australia and Wales are into the quarter-finals. It is the first time that a host nation has gone out at the group stage of the tournament. And to complete their humiliation, it is also the first time England have failed to make the knockout stages. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

SPECTRE – Final Trailer (Official)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#UAAPCDC2015	#SaySomethingNiceAboutATweep	#ENGvAUS
2	#ALDUBmeetsTVJ	#MeanGirls	#ENG
3	#MeSacaUnaSonrisa	Doctors Without Borders	#MeanGirls
4	#LoMejorQueMePaso	#ldsconf	#WomenEd
5	#كلمه_اخيره_لل�…	Ohio State	Denis Healey
6	#NoSoporto	Amber Rose	#grahamnorton
7	#شي_طول_عمرك_ما…	#UFC192	Aguero
8	MATIAS GANADOR EN EL DEBATE	#AFLGF	#MSF
9	Aguero	Wedding Tux	#WBA
10	#AFLGF	#UAAPCDC2015	#BuyBritishDay

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- The Pentagon is reportedly weighing the option of using military force to protect the U.S.-backed rebels fighting the Assad regime. The Pentagon’s own reports show that most of the rebels sympathize, hand over weapons and money or even outright join extremist groups such as ISIL or the Al-Nusra Front (Fox News)
- British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says only 5 percent of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have targeted Islamic State extremists. Instead other Syrian rebel groups, including the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, have been attacked. “Our evidence indicates they are dropping unguided munitions in civilian areas, killing civilians,” Fallon added. (Voice of America) (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A prolonged series of American military airstrikes hit a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in Kunduz, killing twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, with 37 seriously injured and many more people still missing. (MSF) (Washington Post) (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIS claims responsibility for the killing of a 65-year old Japanese citizen in Bangladesh. This comes after the recent murder of an Italian, Cesare Tavella, in Bangladesh which was also claimed by ISIS. (Al Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

Hurricane Joaquin
- As Hurricane Joaquin, still a Category 3 storm, heads northeast, a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch are in effect for Bermuda. Winds will begin to strengthen early Saturday with thunderstorms and more significant showers around midnight. Joaquin should turn toward the north-northeast Sunday and pass around 125 nautical miles (232 kilometres; 144 miles) west of Bermuda that evening. (WCVB5 Boston) (NHC) (Bermuda Royal Gazette)
- Joaquin’s eastward turn away from the United States could send the storm across the Atlantic Ocean toward the United Kingdom. Current weather models predict Joaquin, powered by the jet stream, will reach the British Isles on the October 10 weekend.(Daily Mail) (Daily Express)
Two people are killed, including an eight-year-old boy, after a double-decker bus crashed into a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Coventry city centre; six others were also seriously hurt including the bus driver according to West Midlands Police. (BBC)

Sport

2015 Rugby World Cup
- England become the first host nation and first former finalist to be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup during the group stages following their defeat to Australia. (BBC)

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October 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Twitter goes down for 10 minutes, everybody panics –
Twitter went down for users in several parts of the world, causing widespread panic and much soul-searching across the UK, Japan and parts of America. The Twitter website, Tweetdeck – its service for power users, and its mobile apps were all down at 14:14 BST on Thursday. Service was restored roughly 10 minutes later. The website Down Detector, which registers reports of outages, registered a huge spike in queries for Twitter being down. Users in the UK, Japan, the US and the Middle East were among those affected. [Daily Telegraph]
Twitter down notice

Russia ‘tried to cut off’ World Wide Web –
Russia has run large scale experiments to test the feasibility of cutting the country off the World Wide Web, a senior industry executive has claimed. The tests, which come amid mounting concern about a Kremlin campaign to clamp down on internet freedoms, have been described by experts as preparations for an information blackout in the event of a domestic political crisis. Andrei Semerikov, general director of a Russian service provider called Er Telecom, said Russia’s ministry of communications and Roskomnadzor, the national internet regulator, ordered communications hubs run by the main Russian internet providers to block traffic to foreign communications channels by using a traffic control system called DPI. The objective was to see whether the Runet – the informal name for the Russian internet – could continue to function in isolation from the global internet. The experiment, which took place in spring this year, failed because thousands of smaller service providers, which Roskomnadzor has little control over, continued to pass information out of the country, Mr Semerikov said. [Daily Telegraph]

Porn during lunch breaks is OK but smoking cannabis can get you sacked, Italy’s highest court rules –
Employees cannot be sacked for watching porn during their lunch breaks if it does not impact upon their ability to do their work, Italy’s highest court has ruled. According to Italian media reports, the Court of Cassation ruled against major car manufacturer Fiat after it sacked a factory worker in Termini Imerese, a town in Sicily. Bosses had caught the man watching adult films at work, but he argued that his viewing was limited to “catching a glimpse of a movie during his lunch break”. But it wasn’t all bad news for Fiat, as in a separate ruling on Wednesday the court found the carmaker was within its rights to sack a man caught smoking cannabis during his lunch break – presumably because its effects continued into his working hours. [The Independent]

Video of the Day –

Back To The Future In ACTUAL 2015 – by College Humor

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ImPerfect	#SpiritDay	#SNP15
2	#FelizJueves	#ProblemsTechnologyCantSolve	#EducationDay
3	Primark	Master P	Die Hard
4	#EstariaNecesitando	The Drone Papers	Oscar Pistorius
5	#شخصيه_كويتيه_�…	#OceanCelebs	#kidscompany
6	#5SOSMNL	Oscar Pistorius	Fantastic Four
7	Oscar Pistorius	#IDontMeanToScareYouBut	#GlobalHandwashingDay
8	#Empire	Theranos	Boris Johnson
9	#DiaDoProfessor	Fantastic Four	Danny Ings
10	#曲名に無職だけど�…	Evan Peters	King Kong

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- President of the United States Barack Obama announces that he will keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan. (RT)
Internal conflict in Myanmar:
- The government of Myanmar signs a peace treaty with eight ethnic armed groups, although some powerful groups stay away. (AP via Star Tribune)
Yemeni Civil War (2015), Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Yemen‘s Sana’a-controlled forces fire a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Saudi “war crimes”. A spokesman for Yemen’s military allied with Houthi militants said the missile hit a Saudi airbase and caused “widespread destruction”. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi side. (Reuters)
- Thousands gather in Aden‘s Al Ouroudh Square to thank coalition forces and to celebrate victory three months after pushing Houthi militants out of southern Yemen. (Gulf News)
European migrant crisis
- At least one person is reportedly killed after Bulgarian border guards open fire on a group of illegal migrants after they attempted to cross the border from Turkey. The incident happened near the southeastern town of Sredets. (AFP via Channel News Asia) (Yahoo)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A twin bombing near a mosque kills at least 26 people in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri. (The Washington Post)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- An Israeli is stabbed by a fellow Israeli Jew, because he is mistaken for an Arab. (New York Times) (The Guardian)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions scandal
- The German automotive watchdog KBA orders Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million cars in that country after the emissions scandal becomes public knowledge. (Reuters via SBS Australia)

International relations

Vietnam says a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea. More than 20 Vietnamese fishing boats have been attacked by Chinese vessels this year causing tensions between both countries.(AP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

Hurricane Joaquin & SS El Faro
- The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) has asked the U.S. Navy to resume the search ended by the U.S. Coast Guard for the merchant vessel SS EL FARO believed lost on Oct. 7 during Hurricane Joaquin. The loss of the ship – with its crew of 33 hands – is regarded as “the worst U.S. merchant marine disaster of recent memory.” (USNI News)

Law and crime

2015 Parramatta shooting
- Rahan Alou and Talal Alameddine are charged with assisting Farhad Jabar to kill New South Wales Police Force accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta, Australia on 2 October 2015. (The Guardian) (ABC News Australia)
A cache of classified intelligence documents published from The Intercept, released by an anonymous whistleblower, highlight details surrounding post-September 11 attacks United States drone strikes in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen, alleging that theUnited States conducts these strikes under extremely unreliable information and faulty pretenses. (Al-Jazeera America) (U.S. News) (Vice News)
Five individuals — four men and a teenage boy — are arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl at a Sydney, Australia, house party. (CNN)
Scottish and U.S. prosecutors identify two Libyans as suspects in the Lockerbie bombing. (CNN) (The Guardian)
The Nevada Gaming Control Board rules that daily fantasy sports leagues are a form of gambling that requires a license to operate in the state, including being offered to state residents. Due to Nevada’s status as a major gambling center, the decision is seen as potentially influencing other U.S. states’ stances on the leagues. (CBS News) (ESPN)

Politics and elections

2015 United Nations Security Council election
- Egypt, Senegal, Uruguay, Japan, and Ukraine are elected to two-year, non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council for 2016-17, replacing Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, and Nigeria. (New York Times)

Science

Astronomers say they have observed bizarre light patterns using the Kepler Space Telescope from a star that appears old, but is shrouded in debris like a much younger star, roughly 1,500 light-years away. This has led to speculation that these are an “artificial extraterrestrial mega-structure”, orbiting the star known as KIC 8462852 in the Cygnus constellation. KIC 8462852 lies just above the Milky Way between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. It first attracted the attention of astronomers in 2009 when the Kepler Space Telescope identified it as a candidate for having orbiting Earth-like planets. (Independent) (Discovery News)

Sports

2015 MLB postseason
- In the U.S., the New York Mets defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3–2 in the deciding Game 5 of their National League Division Series. The Mets move on to face the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-seven 2015 National League Championship Series, which opens on October 17 at the Mets’ home of Citi Field. (AP via ESPN)

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October 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

New Zealand hails ‘phenomenal’ All Blacks –
New Zealand media toasted the All Blacks’ victory over Australia in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final, hailing the achievements of a “phenomenal” team many are calling the best of all time. Directed by the “magic” of flyhalf Dan Carter, the All Blacks fended off a gallant Australia 34-17 at Twickenham, a gripping final deservedly rated the tournament’s best ever. Carter was named man-of-the-match for his 19-point effort, a fitting swansong for one of the game’s finest flyhalves who was sidelined by injury when his team mates edged France to win the 2011 final on home soil. [Reuters] See List of the Day
Dan Carter

One Direction play the final gig of their world tour in Sheffield –
One Direction have played the final gig of their world tour before their self-proclaimed extended break. After more than 80 shows across 20 countries, their On The Road tour came to an end in Sheffield. From this point on, the band only have a few one-off appearances at music awards shows before they go their separate ways in March 2016. But 1D insist they’re not splitting up and instead want to focus on solo projects. [BBC]
One Direction

Adele’s Hello is number one after smashing various chart records –
Adele is back at the top of the Official Singles Chart with her monster comeback single Hello. She’s smashed records all over the place, with other artists basically competing for the scraps left in her wake. So, here are the numbers that put Adele firmly back on top of the music world.
Hello sold a whopping 333,000 in a week – That includes a staggering 259,000 downloads – and makes it the biggest number one single for… well, only three years actually.
But streaming was even more mind-bending – 7.32 million plays – That’s almost double the previous record held by Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? which had 3.87 million plays in a week last month.
Her video got 27.7 million views in one day – That worked out as one million views an hour on YouTube in the first two days of it being released.
[BBC] See Video of the Day
Adele

Video of the Day –

Adele – Hello

List of the Day –

Year	Host(s)	Winner	Score	Runner-up	3rd place	Score	4th place	Number of teams
Year	Host(s)	Final			Bronze Final			Number of teams
1987	Australia & New Zealand	New Zealand	29–9	France	Wales	22–21	Australia	16
1991	England, France, Ireland Scotland & Wales	Australia	12–6	England	New Zealand	13–6	Scotland	16
1995	South Africa	South Africa	15–12 (aet)	New Zealand	France	19–9	England	16
1999	Wales, England, France, Ireland Scotland	Australia	35–12	France	South Africa	22–18	New Zealand	20
2003	Australia	England	20–17 (aet)	Australia	New Zealand	40–13	France	20
2007	France	South Africa	15–6	England	Argentina	34–10	France	20
2011	New Zealand	New Zealand	8–7	France	Australia	21–18	Wales	20
2015	England	New Zealand	34–17	Australia	South Africa	24–13	Argentina	20

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#RememberOTRATour	#RememberOTRATour	#RememberOTRATour
2	#ALDUBBahayNiLOLA	Happy Halloween	Happy Halloween
3	#AKPyeOyVermemÇünkü	#TheNewBrokenScene	#RWC2015final
4	#DemiNoCaldeirao	#OTRASheffield3	Bucharest
5	Sinai	Happy Days	#MakeAQuoteShakespearean
6	Chelsea	Sinai	Dan Wootton
7	Египте	#Worlds	#OTRASheffield2
8	#OTRASheffield3	#ABC2020	Sinai
9	#Worlds	JT Barrett	#iHeartAriana
10	#زد_فرصتك1	#MySuspicionIs	#TheNewBrokenScene

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, American-led intervention in Syria
- A newly formed U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance, Democratic Forces of Syria, launches an offensive against Islamic State forces in the northeast province of Hasaka. (Reuters) (International Business Times)

Business and economics

Vodafone Group Plc announces criminals accessed customer account details, including phone numbers and some bank details. The British multinational telecommunications company of over 400 million subscribers says it is contacting about 1,800 affected customers. This is the second recent hacking of a U.K. phone carrier. Last week, TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc said its systems had been attacked. (Bloomberg) (Financial Times)

Disasters and accidents

Fifteen people are killed and 11 injured in a fire at the public markets at Zamboanga City in the Philippines. (CNN)
Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- A Russian Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 airliner crashes in Egypt‘s Sinai Peninsula with 224 passengers on board travelling from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg. (The News Hub) (BBC)
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliate in the Sinai claims responsibility for shooting down the aircraft, but the claim is disputed. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- The wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukachev says, in a call with their daughter before the flight, he complained that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired. According to Egyptian officials, while in the air, the pilot told traffic controllers the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and he intended to try and land at the nearest airport. (AP via New Jersey Herald)
A second round of storms and strong winds moves east across Texas in the American Southwest, with three radar-confirmed tornadoes damaging homes and causing injuries in the Houston area that got up to eight inches of rain since Friday night. Six people have been killed. (AP via USA Today) (AP update)
Colectiv nightclub fire
- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta declares three days of national mourning. (Reuters) (CBC)

International relations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retracts controversial comments he made about Nazi policies during World War 2, saying he never meant to claim that an Islamic leader persuaded Adolf Hitler to adopt a policy to kill European Jews. (CNN)
Syrian Civil War
- Syria peace talks in Vienna
  - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says new talks aimed to help end Syria’s war shouldn’t be held up by wrangling over whether President Bashar Assad stays or goes. (AP)
- American-led intervention in Syria
  - At the International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces the United States will contribute $100 million (£64.7 million) in fresh aid to support the Syrian opposition. (AP)

Law and crime

The Presidential Palace and the Philippine Senate investigate an extortion scam involving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. (Manila Bulletin) (BBC)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Faisal Abedin Deepan, a publisher of secular books, is hacked to death in Dhaka. (The Guardian)
- In a separate incident, another publisher and two writers are stabbed and shot in Dhaka. (The Guardian)
- A group identifying itself as Ansar al-Islam – Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) – claimed responsibility. (The Daily Star)
- The United Nations condemned the attacks expressing deep concerns over these threats to free speech. (Prothom Alo)
A man marching down a street in Colorado Springs, Colorado (U.S.), shot and killed three people before being fatally shot in a gunbattle with police. (AP) (Colorado Springs Gazette)
At least eleven people are killed in Pakistan in fighting between rival parties as voters go to the polls for local elections in Sindh province. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics and elections

Guinean presidential election, 2015
- Guinea’s constitutional court validates President Alpha Condé’s October 11, 2015, re-election victory. The court dismissed complaints lodged by opposition candidates. (Reuters) (Channel NewsAsia)

Science and technology

A large space rock 2015 TB145, thought to be a dead comet, passes close to the earth. (Time)
According to a new NASA (U.S.) study, ice sheet gains outweigh losses on the continent of Antarctica. An increase in snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago outweighs increased losses from the continent’s thinning glaciers. In 2013,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings suggested gains were not keeping up with losses. NASA glaciologist Jay Zwally said, “We’re essentially in agreement with other studies … (except) ice gain in East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica exceeds losses in the other areas.” (UPI) (NASA)

Sports

2015 Rugby World Cup Final
- In rugby union, New Zealand defeat Australia 34–17 to win the 2015 Rugby World Cup. (BBC)
In baseball, the 2015 Korean Series ends with the Doosan Bears beating the Samsung Lions by 4 games to 1 ending the Lions four straight consecutive Korean Series streak. (Yonhap News)
In horse racing, U.S. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah completes his racing career with a win in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic, becoming the first-ever “grand slam” winner in American horse racing. (New York Times), (ESPN)

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November 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

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

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

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

Video of the Day –

Alladin Magic Carpet Prank

Top Twitter Trends –

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

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

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

Disasters

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

International relations

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

Law and crime

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

Politics and elections

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

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

Science and technology

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

Sport

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

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

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

Video of the Day –

Kaleidoscope: See Things Differently

Top Twitter Trends –

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

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

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

Disasters and accidents

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

International relations

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

Law and crime

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

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November 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

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

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

Video of the Day –

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

Top Twitter Trends –

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

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

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

Business and economics

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

Disasters and accidents

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

International relations

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

Politics and elections

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

Sport

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

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

January 24, 2016

Top News Stories –

Tokyo police roll out 3D mug shots –
Tokyo’s police force is to start taking 3D mug shots of suspects being held in custody, it’s reported. The images will form part of a database which officers hope will make it easier to analyse CCTV footage, the the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports. All of the Japanese capital’s 102 police stations will be fitted with a 3D camera as part of the new process, which will begin in April. “As we can identify the suspects more quickly and accurately, our arrest rate is expected to become greater,” one senior officer tells the paper. Unlike regular two-dimensional mug shots, the 3D images can be adjusted to match the angle of security camera footage, which is often shot from above, rather than at face height. At the moment police only photograph suspects’ faces from the front and diagonally, making it difficult to match mug shots to CCTV images. Tokyo’s police force says it is the first to roll out the cameras across all of its stations – until now they have only been installed at some regional police headquarters in Japan. [BBC]

Australia makes ‘captain’s call’ on best words of 2015 –
Captain’s call – a phrase “plucked” from the cricket pitch and politicised by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott – has become the Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2015. Mr Abbott’s controversial choice to award Prince Philip a knighthood was one of his many “captain’s calls”. The noun is defined as “a decision made by a political or business leader without consultation with colleagues”. The dictionary said the word “perfectly encapsulates” Australia in 2015. [BBC] See List of the Day

Video of the Day –

Liquid Ping Pong in Space – RED 4K

List of the Day –

Australian Word of the Year runners-up

lumbersexual: a portmanteau of lumberjack and metrosexual – referring to urban men who adopt the style of an outdoorsman as a fashion statement.

deso: Colloquially refers to a designated driver, who refrains from drinking alcohol in order to drive others safely home. Also, deso driver.

open kimono: A business policy of sharing information freely with an outside party.

keyboard warrior: a person who adopts an excessively aggressive style in online discussions which they would not normally adopt in person-to-person communication, often in support of a cause, theory, world view, etc.

ghost plate: a clear plastic numberplate cover which becomes opaque when viewed from certain angles, thereby obscuring the registration number; designed to circumvent identification by speed cameras.

athleisure: clothing, shoes, etc., designed for both exercise and general casual wear.

tri-tip: a cut of beef, taken from the bottom of the sirloin.

digital disruption: Commerce the impact of digital technology in making various established industries and products obsolete.

abandoned porn: a genre of photography which romanticises abandoned buildings and urban areas in a state of decay. Also, ruin porn.

wombat gate: a swing gate installed in a ditch going underneath a fence, so that wombats, who follow very predictable patterns at night, can come and go without destroying the fence.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#growingupwithmyname	#growingupwithmyname	#PillowTalk
2	#TengoAltoVicioPor	SNOWBOARDING WITH THE NYPD	#GrowingUpWithMyName
3	#زد_رصيدك72	#RoyalRumble	#DespiteBeingTaughtInWelsh
4	#DomingoDetremuraSdv	Djokovic	#AustraliaUpAMovieOrActor
5	#FelizDomingo	#NEvsDEN	#InspirationalQuoteILiveBy
6	#UğurMumcu	#SelenaOnSNL	Mahrez
7	#PillowTalk	#ToBeManagementMaterial	#ToniBraxtonMovie
8	#MeGustasPeroDeberias	Sydney Rain	Norwich
9	#HappyBirthdayCalumHood	#NationalPeanutButterDay	#CongratulationsLouis
10	#congratsarzaylea	#DCDigOut	#TheVoiceUK

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Army takes control of the strategic Turkmen town of Rabia in Syria‘s Latakia Governorate. The town had been under rebel control since 2012. (AFP via Global Post)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy snowfall in western and central Japan leaves at least two people dead and over a hundred injured. Snowfall was also recorded for the first time in 155 years on Amami Ōshima, a subtropical island in Japan’s southern Kagoshima Prefecture. (The Japan Times)
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes southwestern Alaska, leaving 10,000 in the Anchorage area without power and forcing the evacuation of several homes on the Kenai Peninsula. The National Weather Service reported that there was no tsunami following the earthquake. (USGS) (ABC) (The Los Angeles Times)

Politics and elections

Portuguese presidential election, 2016
- Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is elected President of the Portuguese Republic. (ABC News)

Sports

In sumo, Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro wins his first makuuchi (top division) championship to end a decade-long drought of a Japanese-born championship winner. (Kyodo via Nikkei Asia Review) (Reuters via Daily Mail)
2015–16 NFL playoffs
- The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots 20-18 to win the AFC Championship and qualify for Super Bowl 50. (Washington Post)
- The Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 to win the NFC Championship and qualify for Super Bowl 50. (The Guardian)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

February 10, 2016

Top News Stories –

Gymnast Sophina DeJesus’s hip-hop routine wows the internet –
Video of an American student gymnast has gone viral after she threw in some hip-hop moves during a university competition. Sophina DeJesus’s floor routine has been watched millions of times online. The UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduate told Pac-12 Sports Report she had “no clue” it would get such a big reaction. “I wanted to think of something to end my senior year with a bang,” she said. Sophina was awarded 9.925 for her routine, despite the crowds cheering for the judges to give her a perfect 10. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day
Sophina DeJesus NY Times tweet

Video of the Day –

Sophina DeJesus UCLA Floor 2016 vs Utah 9.925

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QuartaCinzaDetremuraSdv	#JustinBieberBRITs	#ImGoingTheVampsNOTTINGHAM
2	Pangako Ng Kasagutan	#AshWednesday	#JuniorDoctorsStrike
3	#JustinBieberBRITs	#1linewed	#AshWednesday
4	#FelizMiercoles	#IAlwaysGetAnnoyedWhen	#JustinBieberBRITs
5	#AshWednesday	#FODTrumpMovie	#GreetTheAliensIn5Words
6	#وضعي_في_عيد_ال…	#IfIHadTrumpsMoney	Adam Johnson
7	#شي_يسعدك_	#SaySomethingSweetIn4Words	#NHPrimary
8	#مبتز_يطعن_4اعض…	#GreetTheAliensIn5Words	#HappyValley
9	#نصيحتك_لمدمن_�…	#OETC16	#GreatBritishBenefitsHandout
10	オフ会前	#My5WordCampaignPromise	Benteke

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Mali conflict
- Suspected Islamist militants attack a customs post in the town of Mopti, central Mali, killing two civilians and a customs officer. (Reuters)
A man shoots six people dead at an education centre in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia (BBC)
Four policemen are killed and another seven wounded when one of their colleagues opened fire on them in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Appeal Democrat)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Taiwan earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake rises to 59 with 76 missing. (AAP via News Limited)
At least 52 inmates are killed in a riot and fire that broke out in a prison in Mexico. (FOX News) (CNN)

Health

A yellow fever outbreak has killed 37 people in Angola since December 2015. (AAP via News Limited)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- South Korea starts withdrawing its nationals from the Kaesong Industrial Region in protest to recent actions by North Korea. (Yonhap)
- North Korea says it will freeze all South Korean assets and equipment at the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Park. (AP)

Law and Crime

Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- All four remaining occupiers leave the refuge and surrender. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Warren Truss, the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, announces his resignation as the leader of the National Party of Australia. Barnaby Joyce is elected as the new leader with Fiona Nash elected as the new deputy leader. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
Former Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault is named as the new Foreign Minister replacing Laurent Fabius who resigned earlier in the week. (BBC)

Sports

Sunderland A.F.C. terminate the contract of England international footballer Adam Johnson after he pleads guilty to two charges relating to child sexual abuse. (BBC)

Science

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration experiment announces the first direct observation of gravitational waves. (Nature), (Guardian), (New York Times) (APS Journals)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

February 11, 2016

Top News Stories –

Einstein’s gravitational waves found at last –
One hundred years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, scientists have finally spotted these elusive ripples in space-time. In a highly anticipated announcement, physicists with the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) revealed on 11 February that their twin detectors have heard the gravitational ‘ringing’ produced by the collision of two black holes about 400 megaparsecs (1.3 billion light-years) from Earth.“Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves,” David Reitze, the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, said at a Washington DC press conference. “We did it!” One black hole was about 36 times the mass of the Sun, and the other was about 29 solar masses. As they spiralled inexorably into one another, they merged into a single, more-massive gravitational sink in space-time that weighed 62 solar masses, the LIGO team estimates. [Nature] See Video of the Day

Star Wars prosecuted over Harrison Ford injury –
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg. The actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014. The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd – a subsidiary of Disney. Foodles Production said it was “disappointed” by the HSE’s decision. Following the incident, Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery. [BBC] Harrison Ford received more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster and last year crashed his light aircraft for a third time.
Harrison Ford

Video of the Day –

LIGO Gravitational Wave Chirp

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#SONA2016	#ReasonWhyIDoNotHaveAValen…	#SONA2016
2	#QuintaDetremura200kSDV	#WomenInSTEM	The Life of Pablo
3	#FelizJueves	#SONA2016	Adam Johnson
4	#YaCasiEs14YYo	Meryl Streep	#Sprint16
5	OLHA ELAAAAAAAAA	OK Go	#FastFoodBooks
6	#WomenInSTEM	#LIGO	#WomenInSTEM
7	#SiYoFueraCupido	John Lewis	#ImGoingTheVampsBELFAST
8	Pangako Ng Karma	#HealthPolicyValentines	Jeremy Hunt
9	#مالذي_لاتستطي…	#AAASmtg	#IAlwaysGetAnnoyedWhen
10	#TipicoDeSolteros	#TGIT	#IfIHadTrumpsMoney

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Mali conflict
- Suspected Islamist militants attack a customs post in the town of Mopti, central Mali, killing two civilians and a customs officer. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
- A man shoots six people dead at an education centre in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia. (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Four policemen are killed and another seven wounded when one of their colleagues opened fire on them in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Appeal Democrat)

Business and economics

Uber, in San Francisco, California (U.S.), federal court, says it will pay $28.5 million to settle two lawsuits over misleading background check information. Prosecutors settled a similar lawsuit with competitorLyft in 2014. (AP via ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Taiwan earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake rises to 59 with 76 missing. (AAP via News Limited)
Aliso Canyon gas leak
- Southern California Gas Company caps, at least temporarily, the natural gas leak that started last October and has forced thousands to flee their homes. (UPI) (Los Angeles Times)

Health

A yellow fever outbreak has killed 37 people in Angola since December 2015. (AAP via News Limited)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- South Korea starts withdrawing its nationals from the Kaesong Industrial Region in protest to recent actions by North Korea. (Yonhap)
- North Korea says it will freeze all South Korean assets and equipment at the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Park. (AP)
- South Korea shuts off the supply of electricity and water to the Kaesong Industrial Region. (Reuters)

Law and Crime

Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- All four remaining occupiers leave the refuge and surrender. (CNN)
Topo Chico prison riot
- At least 52 inmates are killed in a riot and fire at Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, Mexico. (FOX News) (CNN)

Politics and elections

José Ignacio Peralta is sworn in as Governor of Colima.(El Diario de Coahuila)
Warren Truss, the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, announces his resignation as the leader of the National Party of Australia. Barnaby Joyce is elected as the new leader with Fiona Nash elected as the new deputy leader. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
The French president François Hollande reshuffles his cabinet, bringing in three ministers from two green parties, Europe Ecology – The Greens and Écologistes !; former Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault is named as the new Foreign Minister replacing Laurent Fabius who resigned earlier in the week. (The Guardian), (BBC)
Democratic Party presidential debates, 2016
- Protesters demanding a $15 minimum wage stormed the venue in front of local and national media prior to the start of the sixth debate, this one between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. (UPI) (Fox 6 News)

Science

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration experiment announces the first direct observation of gravitational waves. (Nature), (Guardian), (New York Times) (APS Journals)

Sports

Sunderland A.F.C. terminate the contract of England international footballer Adam Johnson after he pleads guilty to two charges relating to child sexual abuse. (BBC)

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February 19, 2016

Top News Stories –

EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameron –
David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK “special status” and he will campaign with his “heart and soul” to stay in the union. The agreement, reached late on Friday after two days of talks in Brussels, gives the UK power to limit some EU migrants’ benefits. It also includes a treaty change so the UK is not bound to “ever closer union” with other EU member states, he said. EU exit campaigners said the “hollow” deal offered only “very minor changes”. [BBC]
David Cameron

John McAfee offers to unlock killer’s iPhone for FBI –
Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has said he will break the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. Mr McAfee made the offer to the FBI in an article published by Business Insider. Apple has refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device, dividing opinion over whether the firm should be compelled to do so. Mr McAfee said he and his team would take on the task “free of charge”. The offer came as Mr McAfee continues his campaign as a US presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. “It will take us three weeks,” he claimed in his article. Security expert Graham Cluley cast doubts on Mr McAfee’s idea that he could use “social engineering” to work out the pass-code of Farook’s locked iPhone. This is a process by which hackers try to find out login credentials by tricking people into giving them away. “In a nutshell, dead men tell no tales,” said Mr Cluley. “Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code.” “The FBI isn’t interested anyway, they want to set a precedent that there shouldn’t be locks they can’t break,” he added. [BBC]
John McAfee

Video of the Day –

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#TypeOfPeopleIAvoid	#FlashbackFriday	#EUSummit
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8	#FreeKesha	#AmericaTogether	#BUCSNationals
9	#FacebookMelhorQueTwitter	#BlackMenGreetings	#askjessica
10	#DeMexicanoEs	Tila Tequila	#SLFLNagoya

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan Civil War (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL
- United States Air Force warplanes carry out airstrikes on ISIL in western Libya, near the Tunisian border, reportedly killing at least 38 people. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Two suicide bombers kill at least 19 people and injure 50 others at a market in northern Cameroon. (Reuters)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present)
- Three Palestinian assailants are shot dead in separate attacks on Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank. (Channel News Asia)
Syrian Civil War
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) take control of Al-Shaddadah and a nearby oilfield in Syria‘s north-east Al-Hasakah Governorate following heavy clashes with ISIL militants. (The Independent)
- Adel Al-Jubair, Saudi Arabia‘s foreign minister, foresees to supply surface-to-air missiles to the “moderate opposition”, so changing the power balance “like they did in Afghanistan“. (Der Spiegel)

Business and economy

Yahoo Inc. says that it has created a committee of independent directors that will explore strategic alternatives, notably the sale of its core internet business. (Reuters)
William C. Dudley is reappointed as the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for another five years. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- Cyclone Winston heads towards Fiji at Category 5 strength. It is expected to make landfall on Saturday. (ABC News)

Health

Zika virus outbreak
- The first case of the Zika virus has been diagnosed in South Africa. (Times Live)
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission orders manufacturers of self-balancing scooters (hoverboards) to ensure their products meet safety standards or face recall, or seizure at ports. CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye tells NBC News no hoverboard currently on the market meets these standards. (NBC News)

International relations

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says his country is willing to accept some asylum seekers from the Middle East and Asia, currently in detention camps on impoverished Pacific island nations. Presently, 267 refugees in Australia for medical treatment, some accompanied by a relative, are set to be returned to Nauru’s detention camp. Australia is hesitant about the offer, concerned that it could encouragepeople smugglers. (AP via The Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- Serbia closes its southern border with Macedonia to migrants from countries not affected by war as part of measures to prevent illegal immigration. (RT)
United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
- European Union leaders unanimously agree on reforms aimed at keeping the United Kingdom in the 28-nation bloc before the country’s scheduled June 23, 2016, referendum on continuing EU membership. (Reuters) (USA Today)
Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, announces she will resign in July when her appointment ends. (BBC)

Law and crime

The United States Department of Justice files a motion to compel Apple Inc. to comply with a court order to help the FBI hack a phone used by an attacker in the 2015 San Bernardino attack. (CNBC)
John McAfee, creator of the anti-virus software McAfee, Inc. and former CEO, offers to unlock an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook for the FBI for free after Apple Inc. refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device. McAfee said “It will take us three weeks,” with access to a super-computer in an article published by the Business Insider. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Ugandan general election, 2016
- Opposition leader Kizza Besigye is arrested again just before a planned press conference. Police raid Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change party headquarters and fire tear gas at the FDC supporters. Partial results from the electoral commission show a lead for incumbent president Yoweri Museveni. (BBC)
Kosovo opposition lawmakers twice disrupt today’s session of parliament by tossing tear gas into the chamber to protest recent changes giving the country’s Serb minority greater powers, and demanding the government’s resignation and snap elections. (Arab News) (AFP via GlobalPost)
According to Indian Police, at least one person is killed and up to 20 people injured during, what became violent, protests by the Jat agricultural community in Rohtak, India, for a 10 percent increase in the number of their caste quota (affirmative action). (AP via The Washington Post)

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February 20, 2016

Top News Stories –

Brendon McCullum: New Zealand captain breaks fastest Test century record –
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum scored the fastest ever Test century in a majestic display against Australia on the first day of the second Test. The 34-year-old needed just 54 balls to reach his 12th century in his 101st and final Test before retiring. It beat the mark of 56 balls set by West Indies great Sir Viv Richards against England in 1986, and equalled by Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq in 2014. “I was trying to hit every ball for four or six,” said McCullum. “Viv was my idol growing up, he was an incredible cricketer. I’m almost a little bit of embarrassed to go past him, to be honest.” He went on to score 145 off of 79 balls. [BBC] See List of the Day

Video of the Day –

Every Best Visual Effects Winner. Ever. from Burger Fiction on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Fastest Test Centuries [from Wikipedia]

**Fastest Test centuries**
No. of balls	Player	Opponent	Venue	Season
54	Brendon McCullum†	Australia	Hagley Oval, Christchurch	2015–16
56	Viv Richards	England	Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John’s	1985–86
56	Misbah-ul-Haq	Australia	Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi	2014
57	Adam Gilchrist	England	WACA Ground, Perth	2006–07
67	Jack Gregory	South Africa	Old Wanderers, Johannesburg	1921–22
Last updated: 20 February 2016^[

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3	#تدرون_اني	#NVDemsCaucus	#GlasgowGP
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9	#MiedoEs	#Caturday	#NeD16
10	#DicenQueNoSonNacosY	#IfIWereTheLast	#WelshLab16

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Two Serbian embassy staff abducted in Libya in November 2015 are believed to have been among dozens killed in yesterday’s U.S. airstrike on a ISIL camp in Sabratha, according to Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić. (Reuters)
- At least 14 people are killed and 32 wounded in battles in the eastern city of Benghazi, most in the Boatni neighborhood, between the Libyan National Army and Islamist militants. (Reuters)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Al-Qaeda militants take control of the southern Yemeni town of Ahwar in the Abyan Governorate. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A United States Air Force operated MQ-9 Reaper drone crashes at the Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan. (RT)

Arts and culture

Italian refugee documentary Fire at Sea, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, wins the 66th Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear award for best film. (Variety)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- Cyclone Winston
  - Hundreds of evacuation centres are activated in Fiji as Cyclone Winston makes landfall in Fiji‘s outer islands and heads towards islands with higher population. (ABC News Australia)
  - A curfew of 6pm is introduced with power out in many areas of Fiji. (ABC)
  - A “state of natural disaster” is declared for the next 30 days with Cyclone Winston classified as the strongest storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere. (Slate)

International relations

Syrian Civil War peace process
- The main Syrian opposition group says a temporary truce is possible if the Syrian government’s allies, including Russia, “halt all fighting” in the war-torn country. A pause in Russian bombardments appears unlikely. (Reuters) (Voice of America)

Law and crime

Jat protesters shut down 70% of Delhi‘s water supply meaning the Indian city could run out of water by the end of the weekend. At least nine people are killed in fighting. (The Times of India), (BBX)
Calais migrant crisis
- French authorities give up to 1000 migrants, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, until 8pm local time on 23 February to leave the Calais jungle camp. Those who refuse to leave will be forcibly removed by police.(Sky News)
2016 Kalamazoo shootings
- Seven people are killed and another injured in multiple shooting incidents in Kalamazoo County in the American state of Michigan. A 45-year-old man was later arrested in the city of Kalamazoo (RT),(Press Association via Irish Independent)
A planned refugee shelter is set on fire in Bautzen, eastern Germany. (Deutsche Welle)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016.
- Voters in the American state of Nevada take part in Democratic Party caucuses, with Hillary Clinton winning against Bernie Sanders. (Fox News) (NBC News)
- Voters in the American state of South Carolina go to the polls for the South Carolina primary for the Republican Party with Donald Trump winning and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in a close race for second.(2016 Election Central), (CNN), (AP via Boston Globe)
- Former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush suspends his campaign following a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary. (NBC News)
China’s State Council announces that Liu Shiyu, who had been chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China Limited, will replace Xiao Gang as head of the China’s Securities Regulatory Commission.(Reuters) (China Daily)
Ugandan general election, 2016
- The President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni is declared the winner of the Presidential election with 60% of the vote. European Union observers state that the election was held in an “intimidating atmosphere”. (NPR)

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April 18, 2016

Top News Stories –

Depp’s wife Amber Heard avoids Australia dog-smuggling conviction –
Actress Amber Heard has avoided a conviction for illegally taking her dogs into Australia. Ms Heard, married to actor Johnny Depp, had pleaded guilty in court to making a false statement on her immigration card about the couple’s Yorkshire terriers. But the Queensland judge gave her a one-month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded. If she breaks the bond she must pay A$1,000 ($770; £540). The authorities also released an unusual video apology from the couple. In the video, which was shown in court and made public by the Department of Agriculture, the couple expressed remorse and advised travellers to respect Australian quarantine laws. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Amber Heard

Three-day working week ‘optimal for over-40s’ –
Workers aged over 40 perform at their best if they work three days a week, according to economic researchers. Their research analysed the work habits and brain test results of about 3,000 men and 3,500 women aged over 40 in Australia. Their calculations suggest a part-time job keeps the brain stimulated, while avoiding exhaustion and stress. The researchers said this needed to be taken into consideration as many countries raise their retirement age. [BBC]

YouTube live-streams in virtual reality and adds 3D sound –
YouTube is introducing live-streamed 360-degree videos on its service. The Google-owned platform said select concerts from California’s Coachella festival would be the first to use the virtual reality facility. In addition, it announced videos on its service could now be enhanced with “spatial audio”, which simulates the effect of sounds coming from different directions and distances. One expert said the innovation could greatly enhance VR experiences. The announcements were timed to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, where several new virtual reality products are being launched. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: Australian biosecurity

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#BostonMarathon	#asugsvsummit
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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Syrian rebels launch new offensives against government forces in the country’s Latakia Governorate and Hama Governorate. Several rebel groups earlier announced they were launching a new battle against government forces in response to claimed violations of the cease-fire agreement, further putting a strain on the Syrian peace process. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- Rockets fired by ISIL from northern Syria hit the Turkish town of Kilis killing four people, most of them children. (BBC)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present)
- 2016 Jerusalem bombing
  - A bomb explosion in Jerusalem set two buses on fire and injured 21 people with ball bearing and nails. Israeli police say they believe the incident was a suicide bombing but no group has claimed responsibility. (Euronews) (Ynetnews)
Ethnic violence in South Sudan, Sudanese nomadic conflicts
- According to the government of Ethiopia, the death toll from a raid carried out by attackers from South Sudan has risen to 208 from a figure of 140 a day earlier, with 108 children being kidnapped in the process. Ethiopian forces killed 60 of the attackers and says it would cross the border into South Sudan to pursue the assailants if necessary. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Pulitzer Prizes
- The Associated Press wins the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for documenting the use of slave labor in Southeast Asia to supply seafood to American tables. (AP)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Hamilton based on the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. (Buzzfeed)

Business and economics

The meeting in Doha, Qatar, of the world’s top oil producers, from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries, fails to agree on an output freeze. Oil analysts say the failure was due to Iran’s non-participation, andSaudi Arabia linking its cooperation to Iran’s inclusion. Oil prices drop in early Asian trading and on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (AFP via Bangkok Post) (CNBC) (Oilprice.com)
A member of the board of the Bundesbank in Germany says that the European Central Bank ought to crack down on the political practice, in EU’s member state, by which banks that are no longer viable are nonetheless kept in business, as so-called Zombie banks. (Reuters)
Cuba-United States relations
- Carnival Cruise Lines says it will postpone its first cruise in 50 years from the United States to Havana, if Cuba does not waive its rule and allow Cuban-Americans passengers. Current Cuban law does not allow those born on the island to return by sea. (UPI) (AP via CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Kumamoto earthquakes
- The Japanese Red Cross says that 250,000 people have been asked to leave their homes due to further tremors. (BBC)
2016 Ecuador earthquake
- Aid starts to flow in after an earthquake kills over 270 people in Ecuador. (AP via Fox News), (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- More than 400 migrants, mostly from Somalia, drown in the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Egypt to Italy. (The Telegraph)
Violent storms cause floods across Uruguay with seven people killed and more than 2,000 left homeless. Four of those were killed by a tornado that struck Dolores. Four million people in the Chilean capital ofSantiago were left without tap water as heavy rains triggered landslides. This led to the fouling of the city’s water supply. (Al Jazeera)
2016 Houston floods
- Heavy rain of more than 1 foot (0.30 m) causes major flooding in Houston, Texas, affecting 1,000 homes, causing five deaths and causing power outages for over 100,000 residents. (CNN), (USA Today), (Time)
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott declares nine counties in the southeastern part of the state disaster areas. (UPI)

International relations

Australia–Philippines relations, Philippine presidential election, 2016
- Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely criticizes Philippine presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte regarding his remarks about the rape of an Australian citizen. (Rappler), (The New York Times)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- During a visit to Baghdad, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces that the United States will be sending more troops to the country to help in the fight against ISIL. The U.S. also plans to giveKurdish Peshmerga forces, which are fighting ISIL on the ground, more than $400m (£280m; €350m) in assistance. (BBC)

Law and crime

War in Donbass, Russia–Ukraine relations
- A Ukrainian court sentences two Russian nationals to 14 years in prison each on charges of fighting alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Moscow contends that the two Russians were no longer employed by the state when they were captured. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Politics and elections

Philippine general election, 2016
- Bongbong Marcos, the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and top vice presidential candidate, defends Duterte’s remarks about rape. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Italian oil drilling referendum, 2016
- The referendum fails to exceed the 50% turnout level necessary to make the results binding; turnout was recorded at 31.2%. (Reuters)
Next Australian federal election
- Australia looks likely to hold a double dissolution election on July 2 after the Senate rejects legislation to bring back the Australian Building and Construction Commission for a second time. (ABC News Australia)
2016 Macedonian protests
- Protests against President Gjorge Ivanov continue in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, after his decision to pardon politicians involved in a scandal. (The Seattle Times)

Sports

More than 30,000 runners participate in the 120th running of the Boston Marathon. Two Ethiopian runners win. Adriana Haslett and Patrick Downes, survivors of the 2013 bombing who each lost a leg in the blast, were in the field.(The Boston Globe) (NPR)

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April 29, 2016

Top News Stories –

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry respond to Obamas’ Invictus Games challenge –
When US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama challenged Prince Harry on social media, he responded by bringing in a big gun — the Queen. The Obamas posted a video of themselves on Twitter promoting the Invictus Games, an international sports event for wounded, disabled and sick military personnel and veterans. Harry, fifth-in-line to the throne and a patron of the Invictus Games, responded to the US President and his wife in kind. “Unfortunately for you, Flotus and Potus, I wasn’t alone when you sent me that video,” the Prince tweeted to the Obamas. He also added a video of his own, showing him chatting amiably with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, while they thumbed through an Invictus Games brochure, just as the Obamas’ challenge lands in his cellphone. [ABC News] See Video of the Day

Large Hadron Collider: Weasel causes shutdown –
The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator at Cern is offline after a short circuit – caused by a weasel. The unfortunate creature did not survive the encounter with a high-voltage transformer at the site near Geneva in Switzerland. The LHC was running when a “severe electrical perturbation” occurred in the early hours of Friday morning. A spokesman for Cern said that the weasel did not get into the tunnels, just the electrical facilities. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Queen vs the President ‘Boom’

Unfortunately for you @FLOTUS and @POTUS I wasn’t alone when you sent me that video 😉 – H.https://t.co/sjfSQvkzb6

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 29, 2016

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#TagueirosSdvFrioBomPra	Titans
Janaína Paschoal	#ImSoUglyINeed

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- According to Russian ambassador to the United Nations Aleksi Borodavkin, the Syrian Army is preparing to launch an offensive against the ISIL strongholds of Al-Raqqah and the countryside around Deir ez-Zor and that the Russian Air Force will be providing the ground campaign with air support. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- Airstrikes hit the Syrian city of Aleppo, destroying another medical facility and killing two civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economics

According to Eurostat, the Eurozone’s economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of 2016, faster than what was originally expected, with unemployment falling to 10.2%. This growth suggest that the eurozone’s economy is now bigger than it was before the start of the financial crisis of 2007–08. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits off the coast of the Vanuatu island of Malakula, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) to issue a tsunami warning for the coasts of New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which was later cancelled. (ABC News) (9 News Australia)
2016 Turøy helicopter crash
- Thirteen people were killed when a helicopter carrying offshore workers from Gullfaks B crash landed off the western coast of Norway. (LA Times) (VG.no, Norwegian)
Kenya flooding
- Heavy rain in Nairobi, Kenya, causes floods killing at least four people. (Standard Media)
- A six story residential building collapses in Nairobi. At least three people have died and scores are thought to be trapped. (BBC), (CNN)
At least 13 people die in a collision between a taxi and truck in the South African city of Bloemfontein. (Eyewitness News)

Health

Zika virus outbreak (2015–present)
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the first Zika virus related death in the United States, an elderly man in Puerto Rico. (Washington Post), (New York Times)

International relations

Lithuania–United States relations
- The United States Air Force lands two of its most advanced fighter jets in Lithuania for the first time in a show of support for the Baltic states which have become worried about Russia’s actions in Ukraine.(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Law and crime

Australia commemorates the one-year anniversary of the execution of the ringleaders the Bali Nine. (ABC News)
North Korea sentences South Korea born American businessman Kim Dong Chul to ten years imprisonment for alleged spying. (Reuters via Trust)
A court in South Africa rules that the decision in 2009 to drop over 750 corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma was irrational and called for a review of them. However, the court ruling does not automatically reinstate the charges against Zuma as a legal team must be set up to decide on whether to charge him or not. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

Iranian legislative election, 2016
- Iran goes to the polls for second round elections in constituencies where no candidate achieved 25 per cent of the vote in February’s elections. (Reuters via Trust)
- Early results shows victory for Reformists. (tasnimnews)
2014–16 Venezuelan protests
- Protests erupt in various cities of Venezuela as the country faces increased food and power shortages, forcing the government to ration them, leading to widespread looting and violence. According to the opposition, who control the National Assembly, over a million people support its bid to start a referendum on ousting President Nicolás Maduro. (Al Jazeera)
Protests in France turn violent as protesters clash with police, injuring over 20 police officers and resulting in over 120 arrests nationwide. The protests are against a labour law being proposed in the National Assembly, saying it will reduce rights and deepen job insecurity for youth. (The Guardian)
Irish general election, 2016
- Fine Gael and Fianna Fail agree to the formation of a Fine Gael-led government. (Newstalk)

Protesters on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, occupy the former Legislative Assembly to protest Australia’s termination of the island’s autonomy. In July, Norfolk Island is set to become part of the State of New South Wales. (Radio New Zealand)

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May 14, 2016

Top News Stories –

Barcelona pip rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title on last day –
Barcelona pipped bitter rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick at Granada. Barca’s fifth victory in a row ensured they won the league by one point from Real, who beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0. Suarez tapped in, powered home a header and slotted Neymar’s pass to give him La Liga’s golden boot with 40 goals. [BBC]
Luis_Suarez

Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine’s Jamala wins competition –
Ukraine’s Jamala has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin. Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia – which was the favourite going into the competition – was third with 491 points. Jamala is the first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest and caused controversy ahead of the show over her political song. The song references the year when Stalin deported almost all of the ethnic group from its native region of Crimea in what was then Soviet Russia (later to become part of Ukraine). [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Recap of all the Eurovision Song Contest finalists

List of the Day –

Spanish BBVA La Liga Table 2015-16

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	38	29	4	5	112	29	+83	91
2	Real Madrid	38	28	6	4	110	34	+76	90
3	Atlético Madrid	38	28	4	6	63	18	+45	88
4	Villarreal	37	18	10	9	44	33	+11	64
5	Athletic Bilbao	38	18	8	12	58	45	+13	62
6	Celta Vigo	38	17	9	12	50	58	−8	60
7	Sevilla	38	14	10	14	51	50	+1	52
8	Real Sociedad	38	13	9	16	45	48	−3	48
9	Málaga	37	11	12	14	34	34	0	45
10	Las Palmas	37	12	8	17	44	49	−5	44
11	Valencia	38	11	11	16	46	48	−2	44
12	Eibar	37	11	10	16	47	57	−10	43
13	Deportivo La Coruña	38	8	18	12	45	62	−17	42
14	Real Betis	37	10	12	15	31	50	−19	42
15	Espanyol	37	11	7	19	36	72	−36	40
16	Granada	38	10	9	19	46	68	−22	39
17	Getafe	37	9	9	19	36	65	−29	36
18	Sporting Gijón	37	9	9	19	38	62	−24	36
19	Rayo Vallecano	37	8	11	18	49	72	−23	35
20	Levante	37	8	8	21	36	67	−31	32

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- At least two people are killed and 12 injured after a suicide bomb attack on a police training center in Helmand Province. (Stars and Stripes)
Syrian Civil War
- Turkey‘s Anadolu Agency reports that 45 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants have been killed by a combination of Turkish Army shelling and a U.S. air strike north of Aleppo. (Reuters vs Trust)
- U.S. officials believe the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has declared a state of emergency in its self-declared capital, Al-Raqqah. (CNN) (FOX News) (CBS News)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- At least 14 suicide bombers attack a complex, killing themselves and at least 6 people. (AP via FOX News)

Arts and culture

Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
- Ukraine‘s Jamala, performing the song “1944“, wins the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. This is Ukraine’s second win in the Eurovision Song Contest; their previous victory was in2004. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

More than 50 have been killed by lightning strikes in Bangladesh over the past two days. (BBC)
A bus crashes on U.S. Route 83 in Texas about 46 miles north of the city of Laredo resulting in eight deaths and 44 injured. (AP)

Law and crime

Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- A Buddhist monk is hacked to death in Bangladesh. (VOA News) (CNN)
At least three people are killed and dozens are wounded after a mass brawl, involving around 200 people, mostly North Caucasusian migrants, breaks out in Khovanskoye Cemetery in southwest Moscow. The Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin said that none of those responsible would go unpunished. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2016 state of emergency in Venezuela
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro orders the seizure of factories that have stopped production and the jailing of their owners amid a nationwide state of emergency. During a speech to pro-government supporters in Caracas, he said the country had to recover the means of production, to counter its deep economic crisis. He also said military exercises would take place next weekend to counter “foreign threats”. (BBC)

Sport

2015–16 La Liga
- In football, FC Barcelona wins La Liga for the 24th time. It is FC Barcelona’s second straight title and sixth in the last eight years. (Sports Illustrated)
FA Women’s Cup
- Arsenal LFC defeats Chelsea LFC 1-0 to win their 14th title before a record match for this fixture at Wembley Stadium. (Eurosport)

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May 20, 2016

Top News Stories –

Mum in Chewbacca mask shatters Facebook Live record –
A braying Chewbacca mask found “on clearance” has shot a Texas mother to internet stardom. Candace Payne was not expecting to purchase the mask when she went to her local Kohls department store, just outside of Dallas, Texas. She doesn’t even consider herself a huge Star Wars fan. On Thursday, the 37-year-old mother of two was returning some items and was going to spend her birthday money on some exercise clothes or something “for the kids”. The Facebook Live video she broadcast from the store’s car park – immediately after purchasing the Chewbacca mask – has broken the record as the most-watched Facebook Live video – ever. “That’s just crazy,” Mrs Payne told the BBC. “I’m just laughing – in all honesty, that is ridiculous. I’ve looked at the number of views and it just seems like someone is just playing with a calculator.” It’s a big number: So far, more than 48 million people have watched Payne laugh hysterically as she shows Facebook her new purchase. [BBC] See Video of the Day [Also see 24 May – Video of the Day]
Candace Payne – Chewbacca

India records its hottest day ever –
A city in India’s Rajasthan state has broken the country’s temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records began, the weather office says. The new record in Phalodi in the desert state comes amid a heatwave across India. The previous record for the hottest temperature stood at 50.6C in 1956. The heatwave has hit much of northern India, where temperatures have exceeded 40C for weeks. The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and increasing heat but life-threatening temperature levels topping 50C are unusual. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Candace Payne Chewbacca video

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi civil war (2014–present)
- Ar-Rutbah offensive (2016)
  - Iraqi Army forces helped by U.S. airstrikes recapture the southwestern city of Ar-Rutbah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group. The victory will allow for the re-opening of the Baghdad–Amman highway. (Al Jazeera)
Abkhaz–Georgian conflict
- Georgia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses “shock and deep concern” after a Georgian citizen, 31-year-old Giga Otkhozoria, was shot dead by Russian Armed Forces troops patrolling areas near the administrative boundary with Abkhazia. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Business and economy

Shortages in Venezuela
- Coca-Cola FEMSA suspends all production in Venezuela due to a sugar shortage. (Fortune) (Sputnik)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Sri Lankan floods
- Two hundred thousand people flee the Sri Lankan capital Colombo as floods caused by several days of heavy rain worsen. (AFP via Yahoo)
EgyptAir Flight 804
- Egyptian Armed Forces claim that passenger luggage and part of the aircraft have been found in the Mediterranean Sea 290 kilometers north of Alexandria. (CNN)
Temperatures soar to a record 51 °C (124 °F) in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The heatwave has claimed 300 lives since April 2016. (BBC)
At least four National Gendarmerie officers are killed in a helicopter crash in Hautes-Pyrénées, in southwestern France. (THE LOCAL)
List of earthquakes in Australia
- The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports a magnitude 5.9 earthquake strikes the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. It is the strongest earthquake in the Northern Territory region since the Tennant Creek earthquakes on 22 January 1988. No damage or injuries are reported. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (RT)

Health

Zika virus outbreak (2015 – present)
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at that least 270 pregnant women in the United States are infected with the Zika virus. (NBC News) (NPR)

International relations

Accession of Montenegro to NATO
- The Kremlin condemns NATO’s membership invitation to Montenegro, warning the step risks fueling geopolitical tensions in Europe. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- NATO foreign ministers, meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, agree to extend the alliance’s Resolute Support Mission, that trains, advises and assists Afghanistan‘s military beyond 2016.(AP via Daily Mail) (NATO)

Law and crime

Efforts to impeach Barack Obama
- The Oklahoma Legislature files a measure asking for Congress to impeach Barack Obama over his decision to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.(KOCO)
The Mexican government approves the extradition of drug boss Joaquín Guzmán to the United States following assurances that he will not face the death penalty. (Reuters)
A United States Secret Service officer shoots an armed man on a street near the White House after the man allegedly approached the officer and refused to drop his weapon. The White House is locked down.(AP via Yahoo! News) (CNN)

Politics and elections

Tsai Ing-wen is sworn in as the first female President of Taiwan. (BBC)
Israeli Defense minister Moshe Ya’alon announces his resignation. (NY Times) (BBC) (FOX News)
The Oklahoma legislature passes a bill that would make it a felony for doctors to perform abortions and revokes the medical license of assisting physicians. The governor then vetoes the bill. (NY Times)(Washington Post)(CNN)
2015–16 Iraqi protests
- Iraqi security forces fire tear gas and water cannon on protesters attempting to storm the Green Zone in Baghdad, injuring at least 33. (Bloomberg) (WSJ)
- The Iraqi government imposes a curfew in Baghdad. (Reuters)

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May 26, 2016

Top News Stories –

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in marriage split –
Film star Johnny Depp and his actress wife Amber Heard are to divorce, US court documents have revealed. Heard, 30, filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court citing irreconcilable differences. They married 15 months ago and have no children. They have recently been embroiled in a legal case in Australia after Heard took two dogs into the country illegally. She pleaded guilty in April to a charge of falsifying documents. Depp, 52, and Heard met while co-starring in the 2011 film The Rum Diary. [BBC]
Amber Heard

Trump sews up delegates to seal GOP nomination –
Triumphantly armed with a majority of his party’s delegates, Republican Donald Trump unleashed a broadside attack Thursday on Hillary Clinton’s prescriptions for energy, guns, the economy and international affairs, shifting abruptly toward the general election with his likely Democratic opponent locked in a divisive primary contest. The New York billionaire shrugged off signs of discord in his party hours after sewing up the number of delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination, a feat that completed an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign. [AP]
Donald Trump

Python in Thai toilet gives man nasty shock –
A Thai man is recovering in hospital after a 3m (10ft) python emerged from a squat toilet and sank its fangs into his penis. Attaporn Boonmakchuay said the python was “yanking very hard” as he and his wife tried to wrestle it off. Doctors said Mr Attaporn, who lost a lot of blood in the ordeal, was making a good recovery. Workers dismantled the toilet and extracted the python which had slithered through domestic plumbing. It was released back into the wild. The incident happened as Mr Attaporn, 38, went to the toilet at his home in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, before leaving for work on Wednesday. As he used the toilet he said he suddenly felt a sharp pain. “I felt as though my penis had been severed. The snake was yanking very hard,” he said, according to the Bangkok Post. As the python tried to pull him down, he called for his wife and neighbours to help him, the post reported. Mr Attaporn told Thai TV that his wife tied a rope around the snake and he pried its jaws open before passing out. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

THE SIMPSONS | Build Your Own Couch Gag by Michal Socha | ANIMATION on FOX

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi civil war
- Operation Breaking Terrorism
  - Iraqi security forces and Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces recapture Al-Karmah, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Fallujah. (CNN)

Arts and culture

Archaeologists announce the discovery of a 2,400-year-old tomb which they believe to be that of Aristotle based on its grandiosity, and its location atop a hill in Stagira, the city of his birth. (UPI) (The New York Times)
89th Scripps National Spelling Bee
- The Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States finishes with a tie between Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga. This is the third successive year the event has finished in a tie. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Two United States Navy FA-18‘s crash in the Atlantic Ocean near the Outer Banks off the coast of the US state of North Carolina. The four pilots safely ejected from the planes and are being examined inSentara Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia. (Virginian Pilot) (UPI)
European migrant crisis
- At least 20 people drown in the southern Mediterranean Sea when a repurposed fishing boat sinks 35 nautical miles north of Zuwara, Libya. (The Guardian)

Health and medicine

Researchers at the United States Department of Defense report, in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the discovery in the United States of a strain of E. coli that includes the new gene MCR-1, which is resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic. (National Geographic) (The Washington Post) (Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy)

International relations

Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency criticizes Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen as politically extreme and lacking emotional balance because she is unmarried and does not have children. (BBC) (The New York Times)
South Korea plans to import arms worth about 3.5 trillion won (US$3 billion) this year to enhance its defense capabilities. (UPI) (Yonhap)
Ethiopia–South Korea relations
- South Korean President Park Geun-hye, during her state visit to Ethiopia to work toward full-scale defense cooperation, pledges $1 million in aid for drought recovery. Park is expected to continue toUganda and Kenya after this visit. (UPI)

Law and crime

Indonesian President Joko Widodo issues an executive order (Perppu) making child sexual abuse punishable by chemical castration and extends the maximum penalty to death. (UPI) (Time)
Ken Starr, the president of Baylor University, is stripped of his title after an investigation revealed the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against its football players. The university’s football coach, Art Briles, is also fired. (The New York Times)
A lawsuit brought against Google by Oracle Corporation accusing Google of using copyrighted code for the Android operating system is decided in Google’s favor. (The New York Times)
A bill that punishes hate crimes against law enforcement is signed by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. It is the first state to pass such a law. (The New York Times)
A Muslim mob is found to have attacked Coptic homes and stripped a woman in public in Minya Governorate, Egypt, on 20 May 2016. (U.S. News & World Report)

Politics and elections

French labor unions, led by the CGT, implement a strike in protest of proposed reforms to labor laws. (BBC)
United States presidential election, 2016
- The Associated Press reports that Donald Trump has secured enough delegates to secure the Republican Party nomination for President. (AP)

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August 17, 2016

Top News Stories –

US ready to ‘hand over’ the internet’s naming system –
The US has confirmed it is finally ready to cede power of the internet’s naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the internet’s governance. The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the internet’s most important components. It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses – like bbc.com – with their relevant servers. Without DNS, you’d only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as “194.66.82.10”. More by circumstance than intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled – but not for much longer. It will give up its power fully to Icann – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – a non-profit organisation. The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasn’t until now that the US said it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change. Icann will get the “keys to the kingdom”, as one expert put it, on 1st October 2016. From that date, the US will lose its dominant voice – although Icann will remain in Los Angeles. Icann was created in 1998 to take over the task of assigning web addresses. Until that point, that job was handled by one man – Jon Postel. He was known to many as the “god of the internet”, a nod to his power over the internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the systems that underpin networking. [BBC]
Jon Postel in 2008

Video of the Day –

FURTHER – Seth Shostak from Stuart Langfield on Vimeo.

Other News Stories –

Business and economy

Cisco announces a cut of 5,500 jobs in their shift from switches to software. (Reuters)

International relations

The governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia confirm that the Manus Regional Processing Centre will close following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. (ABC News)
North Korean defectors
- North Korea‘s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, Thae Yong Ho, defects with his family to South Korea. (Reuters), (BBC)

Law and crime

A Malaysian oil tanker, MT Vier Harmoni, is hijacked off the coast of Malaysia and is believed to have been taken to Indonesian waters near the island of Batam, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. The identity of the hijackers is not yet known. (BBC)
Judge Keyla Blanc, of Brazil‘s Special Tribunal for Fans and Major Events, orders Brazil police to question U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte over inconsistencies describing the armed robbery of himself and three other US Olympians. Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger are later removed from a plane returning to the United States. (Reuters), (Daily Telegraph)

Disasters and accidents

Eight people are seriously injured when a passenger train collides with a tree that had fallen across the railway line at Saint-Aunès, Hérault, France. (BBC News Online)
All 512 passengers and crew are evacuated from the ferry Caribbean Fantasy which caught fire off San Juan, Puerto Rico.(World Maritime News)

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The 2010s

The story of a decade

Tag Archives: Australia

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