Australian Open - The 2010s

January 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

King Abdulla dies –
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died today and his brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became king. King Salman has named his half-brother Muqrin as his crown prince and heir in a move designed to reduce fears of a succession crisis.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The new King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman

Tennis player asked to do the twirl –
Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen has asked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard “to give it a twirl” to show off her outfit after her second-round win over Kiki Bertens in the Australian Open causing upset. Bouchard who lost in the final at Wimbledon in 2014 said “… I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles and stuff.”

It’s teleporting Jim, but not as we know it –
Scientists from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany have invented a real-life teleporter system that can scan in an object and “beam it” to another location. Not quite the level of sophistication seen in Star Trek, the system uses destructive scanning, digital transmission and 3D printing.

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January 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

Syriza party wins Greek election –
In the Greece general election Alexis Tsipras’ party wins a clear victory with a projected 149 seats. The Syriza party ran on an anti-austerity ticket and has vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010. The party first came to prominence following the 2008 Greek riots.
Alexis Tsipras

Prime Minister, call on line hoax –
A hoax caller pretending to be GCHQ director Robert Hannigan today managed to get through to the British Minister on the phone; David Cameron quickly realised it was not the GCHQ head and ended the call.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan

Proposal racquet down under –
At the Australian Open tennis tournament a man in the crowd proposed to his girlfriend during Novak Djokovic’s third round match against Fernando Verdasco. When the woman accepted the proposal the crowd and players burst into applause.

Rihanna new single rocks Twitter with #FourFiveSeconds –
Rihanna releases her new single Four Five Seconds, the first release from her new album and it features Kanye West and someone called Paul McCartney who has worked with a few stars before (see List of the day).
Rihanna

Video of the Day –

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January 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

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

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

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

Video of the Day –

Taylor Swift – Shake it off

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January 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

Whitney Houston’s daughter accident –
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of late American singer Whitney Houston is found unconscious in a bath in a house in Roswell, Georgia. She was taken to a hospital in Roswell where she was said to be breathing. Her mother was found dead in a bath on February 11th 2012 of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease.

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009

Cumberbatch and Fry sign petition to pardon gays –
Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry sign an open letter requesting the government to pardon 49,000 men who were prosecuted for being gay. Family members of the World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 (and later committed suicide in 1954) also signed the petition. Cumberbatch played Turing in the film “The Imitation Game”.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Balloon flight record broken –
Balloon pilots American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev complete their crossing of the Pacific in a helium filled balloon with a sea landing off Mexico after 6 days flying from Japan. They claim to have beaten the world distance and duration records by flying for more than 137 hours and travelling more than 5,209 miles (8,383km).

Serena Williams wins 19th grand slam title –
Serena Williams beats fellow American Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open tennis title. Williams’ 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory gives here a 19th grand slam crown out of 23 finals – the best percentage performance in either the men’s or women’s game.

Serena Williams

Video of the Day –

The Imitation Game trailer

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February 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Patriots win the Super Bowl –
The New England Patriots become the first team in Super Bowl history to trail by double digits in the second half and win Super Bowl XLIX at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona. The Patriots took the lead from the Seattle Seahawks with two minutes left and held on for a 28-24 victory. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed a Super Bowl record 37 of 50 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions, was named Super Bowl MVP. The half-time show was fronted by Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot.
Tom Brady

Djokovic defeats Murray to win Aussie Open again –
Novak Djokovic wins his fifth Australian Open, beating Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. Andy Murray’s fiancee Kim Sears laughed off the controversy over her colourful language caught on camera during Murray’s semi-final against Tomas Berdych on January 29th 2015 in Melbourne by wearing a ‘Parental Advisory: Explicit Content’ t-shirt at the Australian Open final.

Adding insult to injury –
Democratic Republic of Congo footballer Gabriel Zakuani is run into by the stretcher buggy during his team’s semi final against Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations. The defender was already injured when the buggy hit him. DR Congo went on to win 4-2 without Zakuani who also plays for Peterborough United in the UK, but he was not badly hurt.

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December 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Russia: Book of Putin quotes ‘given to officials’ –
Officials across Russia have been given a 400-page book of “prophetic” quotes by President Vladimir Putin as a new year gift, it’s reported. The collection, entitled Words That Change The World, was sent to as many as 1,000 people by one of Mr Putin’s top aides, Vyacheslav Volodin, according to the business newspaper RBK. Recipients include MPs, regional governors and civil society representatives. In an accompanying letter, Mr Volodin says the book should be seen as a guide to the Kremlin’s “values and guiding principles”. He’s also reported to have recommended it to a recent meeting of officials as “required reading for any politician”. [BBC]
Vladimir-Putin

Russia ‘unlikely’ to return by Rio Olympics –
Russia are unlikely to return to international competition in time for next year’s Rio Olympics, says European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen. Russia’s athletics federation was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations for alleged involvement in widespread doping. An IAAF inspection committee is due to visit Russia in January. “For the moment they have to fulfil the conditions, but I cannot really see them competing in Rio,” Hansen said. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

VertiGo – A Wall-Climbing Robot Including Ground-Wall Transition

List of the Day –

Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Global Sporting Events

1 Copa America

2 Wimbledon

3 Tour de France

4 Rugby World Cup

5 Super Bowl

6 Mayweather vs Pacquiao

7 Indian Premier League

8 US Open

9 ICC Cricket World Cup

10 Australian Open

Source: Google

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#زد_رصيدك46	#MessageForMyCrush	Dappy
2	#ConEsteCalorYo	#TWUG	#LHHNY
3	#FelizMartes	#1YearWithoutO2L	Lemmy
4	#TercaDetremuraSdv	#IdGiveYou	#MessageForMyCrush
5	#MessageForMyCrush	#TravelTuesday	Cellino
6	#ALDUBFLASHBack2015	#AndThenISaid	#IWantToBeSoRich
7	#MentirasMasUsadas	Ethan Couch	#MOTD
8	#YoTeDigo	#KidQuestionsForHillary	#TamirRice
9	#닉네임의_받침을_��…	#ARMYSelcaDay	#StormFrank
10	#НасосДляИспо�…	#TWDMarathon	#TravelTuesday

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- A suicide-bomb attack outside the regional office of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in the northwestern Pakistani city of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaves at least 26 people dead and 45 wounded. The militant Islamistgroup Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan splinter group, claims responsibility for the attack. (AP via New York Times)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- The United States military announces that a key Islamic State leader with ties to the Paris attack terrorists was killed in a coalition airstrike on December 24, 2015. Charaffe al Mouadan is the tenth ISIL leader killed by an airstrike since December 7. (The Washington Post) (International Business Times)
The French newspaper Le-monda claims that the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks were coordinated from Belgium by a single unidentified suspect.(Lemonde.fr)

Business and economics

American chemical giant DuPont announces that, in early 2016, it will cut 1,700 jobs in Delaware, about 28 percent of its home state workforce, and thousands more globally in connection as a result of the Dow Chemical Company merger. (The Washington Post) (AP via NBC news) (Delaware Online)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season
- 2015 Great Britain and Ireland floods
  - The 18th century Tadcaster Bridge, in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, partially collapses into the River Wharfe as a result of flooding. British Army soldiers evacuated people from nearby homes. (The Guardian)
2015 Flood in Missouri
- Missouri Governor Jay Nixon warns residents that the state faces historic flooding that likely will rival Great Flood of 1993 levels. Swollen rivers are still rising and won’t crest for days. The Mississippi River is expected to reach nearly 15 feet above flood stage on Thursday. Nixon pleaded with drivers to stay off inundated roadways. Twelve of the 13 people killed from these recent storms died after their vehicles were swept from flooded roadways. (NBC News) (UPI)

Health and medicine

For the first time since March 2014, Guinea is declared free from Ebola virus transmissions by the World Health Organization. (New York Times)

Law and crime

Ethan Couch, the so-called “affluenza” teen who violated probation for killing four people when driving while intoxicated when he disappeared from Tarrant County, Texas, is taken into custody in Mexico. Mexican officials will remand Couch and his mother, with whom he fled, to the U.S. Marshals Service. (Reuters)
Lebanese Customs seize five tonnes of Captagon amphetamine pills and Hashish, concealed in primary school desks that were to be shipped to Egypt, at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. Meanwhile, security forces in northern Lebanon found two workshops producing Captagon and other drugs during a series of raids. The drug is infamous as being used by Islamist militants in the Syrian civil war. (Channel News Asia)
Chicago, Illinois police officer, Jason Van Dyke, enters a not guilty plea regarding the charges of the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald. (New York Times)
El Salvador‘s murder rate surges by 70% in 2015, an increase that may lead to the Central American nation edging out Honduras as the world’s most murderous nation. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Politics and elections

Eloy Inos, the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since 2013, dies in office.(Saipan Tribune)
- Lieutenant Governor Ralph Torres will be sworn in as Governor on December 29th. Victor Hocog will succeed Torres as Lieutenant Governor.(Marianas Variety)
United States presidential election, 2016, Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
- Former Governor of New York, George Pataki, ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. (USA Today)
North Korea‘s state media says Kim Yang-gon, a top aide to supreme leader Kim Jong-un and secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), who was also in charge of ties with South Korea, dies in a car crash. (BBC)

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March 7, 2016

Top News Stories –

Maria Sharapova failed drugs test at Australian Open –
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has revealed she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open. The Russian, 28, tested positive for meldonium, a substance she has been taking since 2006 for health issues. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, is provisionally suspended from 12 March pending further action. “I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it,” said Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old in 2004. “For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received a letter from the ITF [International Tennis Federation] I found out it also has another name of meldonium, which I did not know.” [BBC] See List of the Day
Maria Sharapova

Peyton Manning: Denver Broncos quarterback retires from NFL –
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has announced his retirement, ending a sparkling 18-year career in the NFL. Manning struggled to hold back tears as he confirmed the news at a media conference in Denver on Monday. He said: “I fought a good fight. I finished my football race. After 18 years it is time.” Manning, who turns 40 on 24 March, played his last game when he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in February. It was his second Super Bowl win, the first coming in 2007 during a 14-year spell with the Indianapolis Colts. [BBC]
Peyton Manning

Video of the Day –

DreamRide from Juicy Studios on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Maria Sharapova Grand Slam Tournament record [Wikipedia]

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	SR	W–L	Win %
Australian Open	1R	3R	SF	SF	F	W	A	1R	4R	F	SF	4R	F	QF	1 / 13	52–12	81.25%
French Open	1R	QF	QF	4R	SF	4R	QF	3R	SF	W	F	W	4R		2 / 13	53–11	82.81%
Wimbledon	4R	W	SF	SF	4R	2R	2R	4R	F	4R	2R	4R	SF		1 / 13	47–12	79.66%
US Open	2R	3R	SF	W	3R	A	3R	4R	3R	SF	A	4R	A		1 / 10	32–9	78.38%
Win–Loss	4–4	15–3	19–4	20–3	16–4	11–2	7–3	8–4	16–4	21–3	12–3	16–3	14–3	4–1	5 / 48	184–44	80.70%

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#SegundaDetremuraSdv	#3DaysTilDangerousWoman	#mondaymotivation
2	WAKE UP DIRECTIONERS	#SaySomethingGoodAboutTwitter	#SaySomethingGoodAboutTwitter
3	POWERVOTE FOR JAMES	#mondaymotivation	Ray Tomlinson
4	Kathryn Chandria Award	#NationalCerealDay	#CelebrateSuccess
5	#SaySomethingGoodAboutTwitter	Kim K	Hinkley Point
6	#NationalCerealDay	WAKE UP DIRECTIONERS	Katt Williams
7	Kim K	#3ThingsThatImMadeOf	#OneYou
8	#اسم_بنت_جميل	#hulkvsgawk	#BritishPieWeek
9	#Mahashivratri	#InternationalWomensDay	#callthemidwife
10	#شيء_جميل_بحرف_…	#bpswalkout	#aurora

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002-present)
- At least 50 people are killed, including 33 militants, seven civilians and ten soldiers, in armed clashes between the Tunisian Army and Islamist militants in the town of Ben Gardane, near the border withLibya. (Reuters) (Al-Jazeera) (AFP via Daily Mail)
War in North-West Pakistan
- A Taliban suicide bomber hits a court complex in the town of Shabqadar killing at least 13 people and injuring 36. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Pakistani Taliban faction, says the attack is retaliation for Mumtaz Qadri’s execution last week. (Voice of America) (UPI)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- According to the Pentagon, more than 150 al-Shabaab fighters are reportedly killed Saturday by U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft strikes targeting a training camp near the central Somali town ofBuloburde. (FOX News) (The New York Times)
- The Royal Australian Navy seizes a large cache of weapons from a fishing vessel near Oman‘s coast, that was bound for Somalia. The Australian Navy, which patrols waters around the Indian Ocean as part of an international maritime force, said it has seized nearly 2,000 AK-47 rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 mortar tubes from thestateless vessel. 20 tonnes of weaponry in total. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- A Syrian Arab Air Force or Russian airstrike reportedly kills a dozen people at a market selling diesel fuel in the rebel-held Idlib Governorate. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the death toll is likely to rise. (Reuters)

Business and economics

Germany’s BASF SE, the largest chemical producer in the world, is pursuing a counterbid for DuPont that could short circuit the Delaware-based company’s announced merger with fellow American firm, Dow Chemical Company. (Bloomberg) (Fortune)
Apple Inc. must pay the $450 million July 2014 settlement in a price fixing case since the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear its appeal of the June 2015 Court of Appeals ruling that it played a “central role” in a conspiracy with publishers to eliminate retail price competition and raise e-book prices. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (AppleInsider)

Disasters and accidents

In the United States, an Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) San Francisco Bay Area commuter train bound for Stockton, California, derails and falls into a creek, injuring 14 people, four in serious condition. The crash shuts down service along the ACE system through Tuesday. (Los Angeles Times) (CNN)

International relations

South Korea–United States relations
- South Korea and the United States start a joint military exercise as North Korea repeats threats of “indiscriminate” nuclear strikes. (AFP via Rappler)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo calls on Muslim leaders at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit meeting in Jakarta to unite and be part of the solution on Palestine, noting the entire world is concerned about its deteriorating situation. Jokowi also criticizes what he calls Israel’s “unilateral and illegal policies.” (The Jakarta Post) (AP via Appeal-Democrat)
European migrant crisis
- Today’s European Union summit with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Brussels, Belgium, will discuss ways to stanch the flow of European-bound migrants. (CNN) (Voice of America)(Summit website)
  - The EU plans to boost aid to Greece and declare the route north through the Balkans closed. Presently, about 13,000 people are stranded at the Greece–Macedonia border. (BBC) (Kathimerini)
  - The leaders plan to give Turkey €3bn to take back thousands who don’t qualify for asylum. (Kathimerini) (Business Day)
- Amnesty International takes on the EU for using Turkey as a buffer to police Europe’s borders. Deputy Director Gauri van Gulik says Europe has an absolute duty to protect refugees and must fast-track significant, unconditional resettlement. (AP via The Washington Post)
- Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) opens a humanitarian camp for migrants in the Grande-Synthe suburb of Dunkerque, France. (AP via ABC News)
Enlargement of the European Union
- The Turkish deputy ambassador to Britain says Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union in order to help solve the Syrian refugee crisis. (The Independent)

Law and crime

A gunman, who killed one man, injured two others, and was holding three people hostage, is found dead when an armed tactical response police team storms a building in the Ingleburn industrial area in suburban Sydney, Australia. All hostages were unharmed. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Stuff.co.nz) (Sky News via KLFM)
Venezuelan security forces search for 30 gold miners reportedly killed last week in the state of Bolívar in the country’s southeast. Survivor reports state the miners were shot last Friday in a fight for control of a gold deposit by criminals who then hid the bodies. Bolívar Governor Francisco Rangel Gómez denies any such massacre occurred. (EFE via Fox New Latino) (Reuters via The Times of India)
Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004
- Former mayor of the Pitcairn Islands Mike Warren is found guilty of downloading more than 1000 images and videos of child abuse and child pornography while working in child protection and is sentenced to 20 months in prison. (The Guardian)
American sportscaster Erin Andrews is awarded $55 million damages after a stranger, in 2008, secretly recorded her in the nude through a hotel door peephole, and posted the video on the Internet. (New York Daily News)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announces he will not run for president in 2016 because of the impact his candidacy might have on the outcome in November. (CBS News)

Science and technology

Research, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience, confirms that Mercury’s darker than expected crusty exterior is from carbon, likely the remains of the planet’s ancient surface crust of graphite, rather than carbon dust from comet impacts as previously postulated. (Christian Science Monitor) (The Washington Post) (Nature Geoscience)

Sport

Maria Sharapova tests positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open tennis championship. She has taken the drug since 2006 on prescription for health issues. World Anti-Doping Agency President Craig Reedie says an athlete found guilty of using meldonium would normally face a one-year suspension. (BBC) (AP via The Times-Picayune)
- Nike, Inc. suspends ties with Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova after she failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open. (Reuters) (Fox Sports)
American football quarterback Peyton Manning retires after eighteen seasons in the National Football League with two Super Bowl championships, five MVP awards, and single-season and career league records for most passing yards and touchdown passes. (NFL)

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The 2010s

The story of a decade

Tag Archives: Australian Open

January 23, 2015

January 25, 2015

January 29, 2015

January 31, 2015

February 1, 2015

December 29, 2015

March 7, 2016