July 6, 2015

Top News Stories –

Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro held at gunpoint for second time in year as robbers steal his car –
Armed thieves carjacked Rio de Janeiro’s archbishop, making off with his car and briefly holding the driver hostage in the 2016 Olympic host city’s latest brazen act of street crime. Archbishop Orani Tempesta was returning home with two Italian friends late on Sunday after celebrating Mass when his car was attacked in northern Rio, police and the archbishop’s office said on Monday. [Daily Telegraph]

Rory McIlroy sustains major ankle injury in build-up to Open –
World number one and defending champion Rory McIlroy is a doubt for the Open after totally rupturing an ankle ligament playing football with friends. The 2015 Open begins in nine days’ time at St Andrews in Scotland. McIlroy, 26, wrote on Instagram: “Total rupture of left ATFL (ankle ligament) and associated joint capsule damage in a soccer kickabout with friends. “Continuing to assess extent of injury and treatment plan day by day. Rehab already started.” [BBC]

Rory McIlroy Instagram

Astronomers discover ‘monster black holes’ –
Five monster black holes that were previously hidden by dust and gas have been uncovered by astronomers. The British-led discovery suggests there may be millions more “supermassive” black holes in the universe than were previously thought. Supermassive black holes are powerful cosmic “drains” sucking material into a point of infinite density formed from the compressed mass of hundreds of thousands to billions of suns. High energy X-rays emitted from around the newly identified black holes revealed their presence at the centre of five galaxies. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Elsewhere from Stefaan De Croock on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ConEsteFrioYo	#mondaymotivation	#MondayMotivation
2	#FelizLunes	#HappyBirthdayAshton	Hope Solo
3	東京女子大学篠崎��…	#RipRosalind	#InternationalKissingDay
4	#HojeÉoDiaDoBeijoEEu	#NationalFriedChickenDay	Carli Lloyd
5	#HappyBirthdayAshton	#musicmonday	#USAvJPN
6	Hope Solo	Bill Cosby	#HappyBirthdayAshton
7	飼育難易度	Frank Ocean	Yanis Varoufakis
8	#QuieroYa	Rory McIlroy	Alex Morgan
9	Alex Morgan	#WeekendRegretsIn5Words	#iofnfc
10	#お前らしくないツ�…	Kourtney and Scott	Kourtney and Scott

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War (2014–present)
- An Iraqi Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 jet, returning from a bombing raid against ISIL militants in the north, accidentally drops a bomb on Baghdaddestroying several homes and killing at least 7 civilians. (Sky News)
Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- An air-strike by the Saudi-led coalition on the southern port city of Aden kills at least 30 people. It is unclear how many of the dead are civilians or Houthi rebels. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency, Timeline of Boko Haram insurgency
- Two bomb attacks on the central Nigerian city of Jos have left at least 44 people dead. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A Russian Su-24 military aircraft crashes while taking off from an airfield in the Khabarovsk region in Russian Far East on a nighttime training flight and both pilots are killed. (NY Times)

International relations

Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, calls for a new investigation into the death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in a plane crash after a panel he appointed uncovers new evidence. (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Greek bailout referendum, 2015
- Yanis Varoufakis resigns as the Greek Minister of Finance despite the success of the “no” vote which supported his views. (AFR)
- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calls Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of the referendum; Putin expresses his support for theGreek people in the call. Many western officials express concerns that, like Egypt, Greece may increase its ties to Russia at the expense of the west. Greece is a member of the NATO military alliance. (Yahoo)

Sports

In auto racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the NASCAR 2015 Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway after a four-hour rain delay. On the final lap, a major crash sent Austin Dillon into the catch fence in front of the grandstands, causing minor injuries to five fans. Dillon himself walked away unhurt. (ESPN)
2015 Tour de France
- In cycling, the 2015 Tour de France race is neutralized 100km into the third stage due to a major crash involving about 30 riders. Yellow jerseyleader Fabian Cancellara is injured in the crash. The race is eventually stopped 50km from the finish with Briton Chris Froome taking the yellow jersey. (News24) (BBC)

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July 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

US district judge cancels the trademark of the Washington Redskins –
For the first time in a legal battle that has stretched over 20 years, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration, ruling that the team name may be disparaging to Native Americans. The ruling does not bar the team from using the Redskins name if it wishes. The team could even still sue for trademark infringement, but winning such a case could prove more complex without the legal protections that come with a federally registered trademark. Redskins President Bruce Allen said the team will appeal. [Associated Press]
The Redskins logo © Washington Redskins

Silvio Berlusconi found guilty of bribing Italian senator –
[Former Italy president] Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to three years in prison for bribing a senator in 2006 as part of a plot to topple the then-centre-left government. But Berlusconi, 78, will not have to serve the sentence because the statute of limitations in the corruption case will lapse in the autumn, before appeals can be completed. The Italian justice system dictates that two levels of appeals must be exhausted before a defendant begins a sentence. [Daily Telegraph]
Silvio Berlusconi

Video of the Day –

GOOSEBUMPS – Official Trailer

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#action1D	DeAndre Jordan	#TubeStrike
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5	#budget2015	#NYSE	Han Solo
6	#CosasFeasY	#MyLifeCouldUseMore	#UnlikelyInventionsOfTheFu…
7	#MasterChefBR	#TeenChoice	Tyga
8	#NadaMasAsquerosoQue	#FloridaLingoChallenge	Joe Root
9	Meg Ryan	Aunt May	#pmqs
10	#LaCumbiaVilleraMeEnseño	#BuyRumorsOniTunes	#ToughEnough

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency, Timeline of Boko Haram insurgency
- Suspected militants from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed 26 people in attacks on two villages on Lake Chad, Chad. (Daily Star via Reuters)
Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- The Yemeni government in exile announces that it has reached a truce with the Houthi rebels. (Al-Arabiya)
At least 22 people are killed in clashes between Arab and Berber communities in Ghardaia, Algeria. (BBC)

Business and economy

The British bank Barclays fires Chief Executive Antony Jenkins for his failure to reduce head count and the pace of cost cutting with ChairmanJohn McFarlane to act as interim CEO until a replacement is appointed. The bank was recently convicted of earning billions through fraud as part of the LIBOR scandal (BBC), (The Guardian)
The Shanghai stock market falls 30% over the past three weeks as 1,400 companies, or more than half listed, file for a trading halt in an attempt to prevent further losses. (The Guardian)
Microsoft announces another 7,800 job cuts primarily in its struggling phone division acquired from Nokia. (Wired)
The New York Stock Exchange stops trading for nearly four hours due to a technical error. (CNN)
Staff workers for the London Underground begin a 27-hour strike after management and labor unions were unable to reach a deal regarding overnight train services. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A ground stop of all U.S. airport-based United Airlines (UAL) mainline flights following a system-wide network connectivity issue is lifted after a 1 hour, 21 minute suspension of morning service. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is also investigating, says all of United Continental Holdings Inc. regional airlines are now unaffected. This follows a similar issue on June 2, 2015 due to automation problems. (Reuters, via MSN) (Los Angeles Times)
2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Chan-hom (Falcon) hits the Philippines with two people killed and two people injured. (Xinhua)

International relations

Russia vetoes a UN resolution that would have condemned the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniaks as a genocide.(Reuters)
Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from western Canada as firefighters continue to battle wildfires in Saskatchewan, Alberta andBritish Columbia. (AP via Star Tribune)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- Malaysian police raid the offices of government owned by 1Malaysia Development Berhad in relation to a corruption scandal. (The Star)
Baltimore quadruple shooting
- Gunmen kill three, wound one, Tuesday evening near the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus in what police report was an apparently targeted shooting unrelated to the college. (AP via The Globe and Mail) (NBC News) (Reuters)
2015 Baltimore protests
- The Mayor of the US city of Baltimore, Maryland Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fires the Commissioner of the Police Department, Anthony Batts.(Baltimore Sun)

Sports

Gerald Bruce Lee, a United States District Court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, cancels the trademark of the Washington Redskins in theNational Football League on the grounds that the team name may be offensive to native Americans. (AP)

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July 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Kim Kardashian on the cover of Rolling Stone? It’s the death of rock’n’roll! –
Kim Kardashian has been accused of many things over the years, but this week brought a new addition to the charge sheet: killing rock’n’roll. The accuser? Sinéad O’Connor, who adduced that the presence of Kardashian and her cleavage on the cover of US magazine Rolling Stone was evidence that “music has officially died”. “Bob Dylan,” she added, “must be fucking horrified.” [Guardian]
Rolling Stone magazine cover

Donald Trump declares personal wealth of more than $10 billion –
Donald Trump, the property mogul turned US presidential candidate, has declared his personal wealth to be over 10 billion dollars (£6.4bn) in his official forms submitted to the US government’s election commission. In a typically flamboyant statement extolling his own vast wealth, Mr Trump complained that the Federal Election Commission forms did not have sufficient boxes to accommodate a man of his stature. “This report was not designed for a man of Mr. Trump’s massive wealth,” said a statement issued by Trump campaign headquarters. [Daily Telegraph]
Donald Trump

Video of the Day –

The Death Of Bees Explained – Parasites, Poison and Humans

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#JustinBieberComeBackTo1D	#PrimeDay	#OhNoLouis
2	あなたの精神年齢	Best Buy	Nick Cave
3	#OhNoLouis	#GrowingUpUgly	#GrowingUpScottish
4	#MasterChefBR	Wellington	#woofwoofwednesday
5	Aimar	Major Garrett	Briana
6	#FelizMiercoles	#5ONTHEWALL	#BackTheBBC
7	#HappyBirthdayLuke	#ESPYS	#PMQs
8	プラカード	#JustinBieberComeBackTo1D	#5ONTHEWALL
9	#5ONTHEWALL	#JimmyV	#JustinBieberComeBackTo1D
10	Best Buy	#DailyLifeIn4Words	Theresa May

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram
- At least 33 people are killed in Boko Haram attacks in recent days in northeastern Nigeria. (CNN)
Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- Loyalists of exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi capture Aden International Airport after four months of being under Houthi control. (Al-Arabiyah)

Disasters and accidents

A preliminary report from the Dutch Safety Board of the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) disaster points to pro-Russian rebels as being responsible for the shooting down of the passenger flight on 17 July 2014. (CNN)

Business and economy

Greek government-debt crisis, Greek government-debt crisis timeline
- The Hellenic Parliament votes to approve the Greek bailout package despite many senior lawmakers from the ruling Syriza Party refusing to vote for the deal. (AP via New York Times), (BBC)
Puerto Rico government debt crisis
- Standard & Poor’s cut the credit rating of Puerto Rico‘s Government Development Bank to ‘CC’, saying a near-term default is a virtual certainty.(Reuters)
Pabst Brewing Company announces plans to brew again at their historic brewery located in Milwaukee. (JS)
Spanish manufacturer Talgo announces Saudi Arabia’s cancellation of a $201-million contract for six high-speed trains. (Reuters via Arabian Business)

Health

Two South Korean airlines, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, will resume flights to Japan after suspending flights during the recent MERS outbreak.(TASS)

Law and crime

Oskar Gröning, known as the “Auschwitz book-keeper”, is sentenced to four years imprisonment for being an accessory to the murder of 300,000Jews. (BBC)

Politics and elections

President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs a law that sets the date for an early parliamentary election on 18 September 2016. (Bloomberg)

Science and Technology

The circumnavigation attempt of Earth by the solar-powered Solar Impulse plane, currently in Hawaii, has been suspended for the rest of 2015 in order to perform necessary repairs. (BBC)
NASA publishes the first close up photos of Pluto from the New Horizons spacecraft. They show geologically young mountains made of water ice.(The Guardian), (Wired)

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July 16, 2015

Top News Stories –

German squirrel arrested after woman complained it was stalking her –
An “aggressive” squirrel has been arrested by German police officers after a woman complained it was stalking her. Police in North Rhine-Westphalia received the bizarre emergency call on Wednesday from a woman who claimed the rodent was chasing her. The woman, from Bottrop, tried to give the pursuant rodent the slip but eventually rang the police out of desperation. Officers captured the squirrel and “arrested it,” according to a message posted on the force’s Facebook page. [Daily Telegraph]

Tom Selleck to pay $20k settlement to California after he was accused of water theft –
Actor Tom Selleck will pay $21,000 (£13,500) to a Southern California water district, which voted to settle the lawsuit accusing the American TV actor and film producer of obtaining water he was not entitled to. Selleck, 70, who is most famous for his lead role in the television series Magnum P.I, was accused earlier this month by the Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County of stealing water from a public fire hydrant in Calleguas. The water was purportedly used for his 60-acre avocado ranch in Westlake Village, just outside the region. [Daily Telegraph]
Tom Selleck

Bernard Tomic charged with trespassing and resisting arrest at Miami Beach hotel party –
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been charged with trespassing and resisting arrest following complaints over a noisy penthouse party at a Miami hotel, police said on Thursday. Security guards were called to a £4,500-a-night penthouse in the W Hotel in South Beach early Wednesday following multiple noise complaints. Tomic was described as “aggressive and belligerent” by a Miami police report. The 22-year-old tennis player, ranked 25th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, refused to turn down the music and slammed the door in the guards’ faces, according to an arrest affidavit. [Daily Telegraph]
Bernard Tomic

Video of the Day –

Animated Flyover of Pluto’s Icy Mountain and Plains [See story from July 15, 2015]

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NoMientoSiDigoQue	#SandraBland	#newsrw
2	#OdioQue	Ida B. Wells	#HappyBirthdayLuke
3	#ESPYS	#DescribeBabiesIn3Words	Valdes
4	#OTRASeattle	James Holmes	Tim Farron
5	#الثوره_ضد_STC_م�…	#GrowingUpSpoiled	#askboris
6	Tigres	#Chattanooga	Prince Philip
7	Angie	#OTRASeattle	#TheOpen2015
8	#FelizJueves	#GrowingUpADirectioner	Jeremy Hunt
9	Emmy	#HappyBirthdayLuke	#ESPYS
10	#EuAcho	Apocalypse	#EidMubarak

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2014–15 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
- India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire and mortar bombs along their disputed frontier, killing five civilians and injuring more than a dozen.(Reuters)
Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- Members of exiled President of Yemen Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi‘s Cabinet tour the southern city of Aden for the first time in several months.(Reuters via Daily Mail)
Sinai insurgency
- The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has claimed its first naval attack on an Egyptian patrol boat in the Mediterranean, just off the coast of Sinai. (Time) (Ahram Online)
Boko Haram, Timeline of Boko Haram insurgency
- Twin blasts at a market in Gombe, Nigeria kill at least 49 people. (BBC)
- Boko Haram militants kill a dozen villagers in Niger. (Reuters)
South Thailand insurgency
- Two Thai Army soldiers are killed in an ambush in Thailand‘s Narathiwat Province. (Bangkok Post)
At least 11 people are killed and many others injured in a tribal fight in a remote area of Papua New Guinea. (AFP via ABC Australia)

Arts and culture

Nominations for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards are announced with Game of Thrones receiving 24 nominations. (Variety)

Business and economy

The European Union launches an antitrust action against American semiconductor company Qualcomm, for possible abuse of a dominant market position, on the one hand, and predatory pricing, on the other hand. (European Union)

Disasters and accidents

Sixty-five thousand people in the Indian state of Assam are affected by floods and heavy rainfall. (NDTV)
Ash from the Raung volcano closes five airports in Indonesia, while ash from the Gamalama volcano closes the Babullah Airport in Ternate.(Channel News Asia)
2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Nangka makes landfall on the Japanese island of Shikoku. (Weather.com)]
The Nexen pipeline at the Long Lake facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, spills 5,000,000 litres (1,100,000 imp gal; 1,300,000 US gal) of oil emulsion. (CBC)

Law and crime

2015 Chattanooga shootings
- A shooting occurs at a United States Navy recruiting office and a Navy operational support center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing four U.S. Marines and the gunman and wounding a police officer, a Marine Corps recruiter and a sailor who is listed in serious condition. (Reuters via MSN) (The Tennessean), (NBC News), (WRCB) (CNN)
James Eagan Holmes, a former University of Colorado neuroscience student, is found guilty of first-degree murder in the July 2012 Aurora movie theater massacre, which killed 12 and injured 70; he had plead not guilty by reason of legal insanity. (Reuters, via MSN)

Politics and elections

Japan’s lower house of parliament passes a pair of bills changing the country’s security laws, allowing Japanese soldiers to fight overseas for the first time since the end of World War II under certain conditions, over strong protests from opposition lawmakers, who walked out of the vote, and demonstrators outside the National Diet Building. (BBC) (NHK)

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July 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jules Bianchi: F1 driver dies from Suzuka crash injuries –
French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi has died, nine months after suffering severe head injuries in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Bianchi, 25, had been in a coma since crashing his Marussia into a recovery vehicle at October’s rain-hit race. His family said: “Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end.” The Marussia team, now known as Manor, said Bianchi had left an “indelible mark on all our lives”.
Jules Bianchi

Video of the Day –

Ciara – Dance Like We’re Making Love

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1DRADIOPARTY	#1DRADIOPARTY	#1DRADIOPARTY
2	#WorldEmojiDay	#WorldEmojiDay	#fridayfeeling
3	#SHESKINDAHOT	#SHESKINDAHOT	#WorldEmojiDay
4	Kiko Casilla	David Brooks	Eid Mubarak
5	#GrowingUpWithStrictParents	#EidMubarak	#SHESKINDAHOT
6	#BuenViernes	The Revenant	Fabian Delph
7	Fabian Delph	#LyricsThatShouldBeShouted	#GrowingUpWithStrictParents
8	Luis Coronel	#GrowingUpWithStrictParents	#DavisCup
9	時かけ	#Take10MinutesADayTo	James Holmes
10	Gawker	Gawker	Gawker

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram, Timeline of Boko Haram insurgency
- Suicide bombers killed at least 64 people in multiple blasts in the northeastern towns of Gombe and Damaturu, Nigeria. (WSJ via AP)(Local 10) (BBC)
- Niger’s army killed at least 30 suspected Boko Haram fighters as it searched for militants in villages just over the border with Nigeria. (NewsDay Zimbabwe)
At least six people are killed in clashes between supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian police. (BBC)
Iraq War (2014–present), ISIL
- A car bomb in Khan Bani Saad City massacres more than 100 people, mostly Shias, celebrating the Eid after end of Ramadan. ISIL claims responsibility. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Australian artist Nigel Milsom wins the 2015 Archibald Prize for a portrait of barrister Charles Waterstreet who represented Milsom when he was sentenced for armed robbery. (ABC News Australia)
Holy Trinity University, Puerto Princesa, Philippines has been named as a new center to research ancient Palawan man, Tabon Caves, and large sculptures found along Palawan’s coast.(Palawan-News)

Business and economy

Greek government-debt crisis
- Bundestag, the German lower house of parliament, approves Greece’s bailout plan by 439–119 with 40 abstained. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Nangka passes through the western part of the main Japanese island of Honshu, causing at least two deaths, widespread flooding and the evacuation of 100,000 people. (Reuters)
Indonesian volcano eruptions
- Thousands of Indonesians are stranded on the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan as five airports remain closed as a result of the eruption of the Raung and Gamalama volcanoes. (BBC)
At least five people are dead and three are missing after a coal mine in the Philippines province of Antique collapses. (AP)
Two commuter trains collide at the Booysens train station in Johannesburg, South Africa, injuring more than 250 people. (News24)

International relations

The People’s Republic of China releases 10 South African tourists held for allegedly distributing terrorist material. (News 24)
Ukraine expels Valery Shibeko, Russia’s top envoy to Odessa, after declaring the consulate general “persona non grata” for conducting unnamed activities “incompatible” with his diplomatic work. (AFP)

Law and crime

The Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary group, raid the Karachi headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party on the grounds that it had allegedly been producing hate speech, and arrest two people. (Reuters via Business Insider)
A man goes on a shooting spree in Maine, U.S., killing two people and wounding three others in the towns of Lee and Benedicta. A manhunt is executed, and the suspect is arrested in Houlton. (CBC)

Sport

List of world records in athletics
- Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia breaks the world record for women’s 1500 metres at the Herculis IAAF Diamond League event in Monacorunning three minutes 50.08 seconds. (BBC)

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August 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Cilla Black, singer and TV star, dies in Spain aged 72 –
Singer and TV star Cilla Black, who enjoyed a 50-year showbusiness career, has died aged 72, her agent has said. The 1960s singing star became a popular TV celebrity on such shows as Blind Date and Surprise Surprise. Spanish police said a woman named Priscilla White – Black’s real name – had died in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, where the star had a home. The death appeared to be due to natural causes, but this had not yet been confirmed by tests, police said. [BBC]
Cilla Black in 1970

Hitchiking robot ‘killed’ in Philadelphia –
A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide has met its demise in the US.
The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment say someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday, ending its brief American tour. The robot was trying to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada last year and parts of Europe. It set out from Marblehead, Massachusetts, two weeks ago in July with the goal of reaching San Francisco, but never made it off the East Coast. The creators were sent an image of the vandalised robot but cannot track its location because the battery is dead. [Daily Telegraph]
hitchBOT displayed at an exhibition

Video of the Day –

Zoolander 2 – Official Teaser

List of the Day –

Cilla Black TV credits

Year	Programme	Role
1968–76	Cilla	Presenter
1977	Cilla’s World of Comedy	Actor
1984–01	Surprise Surprise	Presenter
1985–03	Blind Date	Presenter
1998–01	The Moment of Truth	Presenter
2006	Soapstar Superstar	Judge
2006-2010	The Paul O’Grady Show	Guest Presenter and guest
2007	Room 101	Guest
2009	TV’s Greatest Endings	Presenter
2009–14	Loose Women	Regular/Guest Panellist
2011	Never Mind the Buzzcocks	Guest Presenter
2013	Your Face Sounds Familiar	Guest Judge
2013	The One & Only Cilla Black	Special Guest

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ZQUAD	#StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words	Roy Keane
2	#UFC190	#ZQUAD	#UFC190
3	#EnormesGanasDe	#SHESKINDAHOTMUSICVIDEO	#RideLondon
4	Brian	#ThingsShorterThanARouseyF…	Cilla Black
5	#ايام_المدرسه_�…	#UFC190	#CommunityShield
6	#EstamosEnAgostoYYo	Bang 3	#GPITP
7	#NationalGirlfriendDay	Chip Kelly	#NationalGirlfriendDay
8	#StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words	#SundayFunday	MY BOYS
9	MY BOYS	Cilla Black	#StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words
10	#كانت_انثي_حتي	American Pharoah	#WhatAreYouBecoming

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi Arabian citizen is killed in the city of Najran by a projectile fired from Yemen. (Al-Arabiya)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- A suicide attack by the PKK kills two Turkish Army soldiers and injures 24 in the Turkish town of Doğubeyazıt in Ağrı Province near the Iranborder. (BBC)
General Adolphe Nshimirimana, former chief of staff of the Burundi Army, is assassinated in Bujumbura. (RFI original in French)
Boko Haram
- Nigerian Army soldiers rescue 178 people from Boko Haram camps including 101 children. (AP)

Law and crime

A court in Egypt postpones a verdict in the prominent trial of two journalists with Al-Jazeera,who have been charged with aiding the Muslim Brotherhood. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Bronwyn Bishop resigns as the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives following an expenses scandal. (The Australian)
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirms he has asked Governor General David Johnston to dissolve the Canadian Parliament and set a general election for October 19th. This will be the longest election campaign for Canada in recent history. (CBC)

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August 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson makes emergency landing as plane runs low on fuel –
Bruce Dickinson, the Iron Maiden frontman, was forced to make an emergency landing at a Royal Air Force airfield when his replica war plane started to run low on fuel. The heavy metal star pilot made an unexpected appearance in his Fokker triplane at RAF Halton, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Dickinson took advantage of the Strasser Scheme, set up thanks to the work of Charles Strasser, the vice president of the Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association. It was established so that aircraft in can divert with no extra charge in the event of an emergency. All Ministry of Defence airfields, as well as 99 per cent of the UK’s civilian airfields, are signed up to the scheme. [Daily Telegraph]
Bruce Dickinson

Google unveils Alphabet… but that’s already trademarked by BMW –
The general reaction to Google’s announcement that it would create a new holding company called Alphabet, of which Google would be a subsidiary, was one of surprise and approval.
But perhaps the most surprised recipient of the news was BMW, which already runs a registered business called Alphabet. The German carmaker told WirtschaftsWoche, the German business magazine, that it will be “necessary to examine the legal trademark implications” of the name of Google’s new parent company. BMW also said it had not been contacted by Google before the surprise restructuring on Monday. In his announcement, Google co-founder Larry Page said Alphabet’s website would be http://abc.xyz, a decision that may have been influenced by the fact that alphabet.com is owned by BMW’s subsidiary, which operates in 18 countries and supplies 530,000 vehicles to corporate customers. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Men In Black Safety Defenders #AirNZSafetyVideo

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#FAceToFace	#FAceToFace	#FAceToFace
2	#MiFraseFavorita	Oath Keepers	Alphabet
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4	Fran Rivera	#WhyIWouldMakeAGreatPresident	#TravelTuesday
5	Mehmet Topal	Geno Smith	#CharityTuesday
6	#SabesQueEsTuAmigoCuando	#RedneckScentedCandles	#TownNameUpAMovie
7	Alphabet	#BadWeddingVows	#BadWeddingVows
8	쿠키런	Kim K	Orton
9	#اكثر_كلمه_تسم�…	Sevilla	#tubestrikes
10	Geno Smith	Top Secret	Seth Rollins

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- A bomb attack consistent with Boko Haram kills 50 people in Nigeria‘s Borno State. (BBC)
In Puyallup, Washington, a gunman on a mass shooting spree shot and killed a man, then fired at homes and people before driving a stolen SUV through the garage door, crashing into several cars and shooting at police until stopped when his SUV was rammed by a police car. (KIRO)

Business and economy

The People’s Bank of China devalues the Chinese yuan by two percent in an attempt to boost its economy, a move which could spark a currency war. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Debris from a Buk surface-to-air missile is found at an unspecified location in eastern Ukraine. According to the Dutch Safety Board and the Dutch prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation, it may have come from a Buk (possibly of Russian origin) fired by rebel fighters, accidentally or purposefully, in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The investigation remains classified. (AFP, via MSN)
A heatwave in Egypt has killed at least 42 people. (AP)
Flooding in Argentina kills at least three people and 11,000 are made homeless. (AFP via ABC News)
Japan’s Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsumasendai in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu restarts reactor no. 1. This is the first of 50-plus shut-down nuclear reactors to go back online since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The problems discovered in the reactor model after the disaster have not been fixed. (UPI) (CNN)

International relations

In talks held regarding the course of the Syrian Civil War, Russia and Saudi Arabia fail to reach agreement over cooperation in the fight against ISIL, with the Saudi representative refusing any common struggle with Assad‘s regime. (The News Hub)
Georgia accuses Russia of cutting off its citizens from their farmland by installing border signposts demarcating the breakaway South Ossetia region, calling on Moscow to refrain from “escalation”. (The Daily Star)

Politics and elections

The Parliament of Iraq approves a package of measures proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to tackle corruption and to abolish senior posts. (Radio Free Europe)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

August 19, 2015

Top News Stories –

Oscar Pistorius’ early release blocked by minister –
South Africa’s justice minister has blocked the early release of athlete Oscar Pistorius from prison on Friday. He said the decision by the parole board to free the athlete after serving 10 months of his five-year sentence was premature and without legal basis. It could now take months for the board to review its decision, legal sources told the BBC. Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter last year after shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic athlete insists he mistook her for an intruder. [BBC]
Oscar Pistorius competing

Athletics: Sebastian Coe elected IAAF president –
Former Olympic 1500m champion Lord Coe is the new president of the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics. The 58-year-old Briton beat rival Sergey Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion, by 115 votes to 92. Following his election, Coe tweeted that, after the birth of his children, this was the most “momentous moment” of his life. The former chairman of London 2012, Coe replaces 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack, who has been in charge for 16 years. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sebastian Coe and Oscar Pistorius in 2011

Video of the Day –

The Martian | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

List of the Day –

Sebastian Coe medal record [Wikipedia]

Olympic Games
	1980 Moscow	1500 m
	1984 Los Angeles	1500 m
	1980 Moscow	800 m
	1984 Los Angeles	800 m
European Athletics Championships
	1986 Stuttgart	800 m
	1982 Athens	800 m
	1986 Stuttgart	1500 m
	1978 Prague	800 m

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Ashley Madison	Deez Nuts	Ashley Madison
2	援交募集	Yvonne Craig	#WorldHumanitarianDay
3	#WeLoveYouLiam	#WorldPhotographyDay	#WorldPhotographyDay
4	#4YearsOfLittleMix	#4YearsOfLittleMix	#4YearsOfLittleMix
5	#WorldPhotographyDay	#WeLoveYouLiam	#WeLoveYouLiam
6	#SacaLoPeorDeMiCuando	Shaun King	Mane
7	#MasterChefBR	Kelvin Benjamin	#ILookGoodOnYou
8	#Siirtte8ŞehidimizVar	#CollegeIn3Words	#OTRAColumbus
9	Yvonne Craig	#JaredFogle	Shaun King
10	Ramiro	#ashleymadisonhack	Let Charlotte Live

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- At least 151 were killed in a Boko Haram attack last week on a northeastern Nigerian village, Yadin Kukuwa. News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants destroyed telecom masts around the village. (Independent) (AFP via Times Live)
Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL, Syrian Civil War
- Islamic State militants behead 82-year-old antiquities scholar Khaled Asaad, who worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra. (Reuters) (BBC)
Iraq War (2014–present)
- A suicide bomber kills at least 20 Iraqi Army troops in the city of Baiji. (Al-Arabiyah)
South Sudanese Civil War
- Fighting resumes in South Sudan after the failure to reach a deal between tribes loyal to the president and tribes loyal to the former vice-president. (AP via Fox News)
Turkey-PKK Conflict
- At least eight soldiers were killed in a bomb detonated by Kurdish militants. (NY Times) (Independent)

Business and economy

Greek government-debt crisis
- The Bundestag votes to approve a third bailout for Greece. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

A brush fire burning near the American town of Twisp, Washington, kills three firefighters, injures as many as four others and forces the evacuation of the towns of Twisp and Winthrop. (KREM), (Seattle Times)

International relation

Estonian-Russian relations
- A court in Russia has sentenced Estonian security official Eston Kohver to 15 years in prison for espionage. (BBC)
South Sudan–United States relations
- United States announces that it is proposing sanctions against those connected to the South Sudan conflict, unless a ceasefire is reached promptly. (Al Jazeera English Online)

Law and crime

Following a July 15 hacking, user data of the infidelity-promoting dating website Ashley Madison is leaked with over 30 million users having their information compromised. (BBC)
Police in the American city of St. Louis, Missouri, make nine arrests and use tear gas to disperse protesters after a killing of an armed man allegedly aiming a gun at police officers earlier in the day. (CNN)

Politics and elections

The United States Navy SEALS announce a plan to allow women to register, the first time in history. (Navy Times)

Sport

The International Association of Athletics Federations elects former British Olympic champion runner Lord Sebastian Coe as its new President, replacing Lamine Diack of Senegal. Ukrainian pole vaultchampion Sergey Bubka was the other contender for the position. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 6, 2015

Top News Stories –

Kentucky pet store worker nearly crushed to death by python –
A man working at a Kentucky pet store has been seriously hurt after a massive python he was feeding nearly crushed him to death. Police said they were called to Captive Born Reptiles and found the snake wrapped around the man. Terry Wilkens was not breathing when the officers pried the snake off him but he resumed breathing shortly afterwards, officers said. The python weighed about 125lb (56kg) and measured 20ft (6m) long. “It was only by the grace of God that one of the officers knew how to deal with snakes,” Newport Kentucky Police Chief Tom Collins told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Officer Gregory Ripberger grabbed the snake by its head and uncurled the python from Mr Wilkens. [BBC]
Jungle Carpet python

Instagram says @music is just the start for music on the app –
The boss of Instagram has said “it’s just a matter of time before music becomes even more dominant” on the app. Kevin Systrom’s social media site has just turned five. But he told Newsbeat: “We never knew music would take off in the way it did but now 25% of our top [most followed] accounts are music related”. In April, Instagram launched @music, which Kevin explained set out to “feature off-the-beaten path, hard-to-find accounts.” [BBC Newsbeat]

Author jailed for flashing after prostitute disputes small penis claims –
A serial flasher has been jailed after a woman appeared in court and gave a detailed description of his penis. Hinton Sheryn, 68, had denied he would get his penis out in public – because he was embarrassed it was “unusually small”. But officers managed to find a prostitute he used who came to court at the last minute and contested his claims. The female sex worker described his manhood and told Plymouth Crown Court it was a “normal” size. Her late intervention helped convict the successful author, who has now been jailed for 17 years after being convicted of 18 crimes. The former pop promoter was so notorious for exposing himself in the village near Plymouth, Devon, where he lived in the 1970s and 1980s he was known as “the flasher”. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

The New Microsoft Band: Live Healthier and Achieve More

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NiallsNewGirlfriend	Rachel Dolezal	Theresa May
2	#EnTwitterSiempreEsta	#AllDayBreakfast	#NationalBadgerDay
3	Twilight	#SeeTheMomentWhen	#charitytuesday
4	Theresa May	#NiallsNewGirlfriend	#RAW
5	#MTVFanWars5SOSFam	#NewSpaceFacts	#IoDAC
6	Lolla	Twilight	#MTVFanWars5SOSFam
7	Lions	Victor Cruz	Busted
8	#شي_جميل_بحرف_ا…	#WildCard	#IsBritainRacist
9	#البنات_ايش_يا�…	Chantal Akerman	#IDSMurder
10	#HoyEstaPara	Chris Archer	#TravelTuesday

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- A hotel where Vice President of Yemen and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was staying in Aden which was also being used as a de-facto military base by Arab coalition forces is hit by multiple explosions killing at least 15 coalition soldiers. Although theHouthis were first suspected and accused of being behind the attack, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has since claimed responsibility, marking the first attack on Arab coalition forces in Yemen by the extremist group. (CNN) (Al-Arabiyah News)
- In the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, Sanaa, at least seven people are killed following a suicide-bomb attack on the al-Nour mosque. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War, Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia’s pair of violations of Turkish airspace over the weekend do not look like accidents. Russia, which said it’s looking into claims of a second violation, reported the first violation lasted a few seconds and was due to poor weather. (BBC)
- Russian warplanes bomb Islamic State positions in the central Syrian city of Palmyra and in the northern Aleppo province, releasing videos that show them destroying 20 vehicles and 3 weapons depots. (Reuters)
- Turkey says its jets patrolling the Turkish-Syrian border were directly threatened by a Russian MiG-29 and later by an an anti-aircraft missile system which locked-radar on the Turkish jets. (Independent)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Russia says it would consider extending its air-strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria to Iraq if it receives such a request from the Iraqi government. Iraqi President, Fuad Masum has recently said he would welcome this assistance. (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A Boko Haram attack near Lake Chad kills at least 11 Chadian troops while 17 Boko Haram militants are also reportedly killed in the fighting following the pre-dawn strike on Chadian army positions. (AFP via Yahoo)

Business and economy

The European Court of Justice decides an international agreement, generally known as a Safe Harbor rule, used by thousands of companies for moving people’s digital data between the European Union and the United States is invalid, effective immediately. The decision throws into doubt how global technology giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google can collect, manage, and analyze online information from their millions of users in the 28-member bloc. Decisions by this court, the highest legal authority in the EU, cannot be appealed. (The New York Times) (USA Today) (BBC) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Typhoon Mujigae (2015)
- Sixteen campers are missing in south China‘s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region following a flash flood in a camping reserve. (Xinhua)
October 2015 nor’easter, Hurricane Joaquin
- Thirteen people are reported to have died during this storm, 11 in South Carolina and two in North Carolina. At least 18 dams have breached or failed since Saturday. Communities downstream face a mass of water working its way toward the low-lying coast. (CNN)
- Hurricane Joaquin missed the East Coast but brought tropical moisture aimed directly at South Carolina. (ABC News)
2015 El Cambray Dos landslide
- The death toll from Thursday’s landslide in the Guatemalan village of El Cambray Dos increased to 152 with more than 300 people missing. No survivors have been found at the site. Search crews have found entire families who died huddled together and buried alive. The Guatemala’s National Disaster Reduction Commission, known as the Conred, declared the area uninhabitable. (BBC) (Reuters) (Press TV)

International relations

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel destroys the homes of three Palestinian terrorists. Rassen and Udai abu-Jamal who committed the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack and Moatez Hijazi who committed the excavator rampage in Jerusalem during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.(Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

2015 Burkinabe coup d’état
- Associated Press reports that coup leader General Gilbert Diendéré has been formally charged. (AP via ABC News America)
Former President of the United Nations General Assembly John William Ashe is charged with taking US$1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen. (AFP via Channel News Asia)

Science and technology

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald win the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of neutrino oscillations. (AP via Yahoo! News)

Sport

2015 FIFA corruption case
- South Korean FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon admits that he is facing charges before FIFA’s ethics committee but denies wrongdoing. (Reuters via Daily Nail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 7, 2015

Top News Stories –

Blatter faces 90-day suspension from FIFA, confidant says –
FIFA president Sepp Blatter faces an imminent 90 day suspension from soccer if the governing body’s ethics judge backs a prosecutor’s recommendation, a close friend and former advisor to Blatter told Reuters on Wednesday. Blatter’s long-term confidant Klaus Stoehlker said the decision by judge Hans-Joachim Eckert on the provisional suspension was expected by Friday. “There is no final decision, this is a recommendation from the lower part of the Ethics Committee to the upper part,” said Stoehlker, who added that Blatter had been informed of the development. [Reuters] In July FIFA turned down a request for Blatter to attend a U.S. Senate Panel Hearing
Sepp Blatter

Twitter launches Moments feature for ‘the day’s biggest and best stories’ –
Twitter’s launched a new feature called Moments to make it easier to see the day’s biggest and best stories. It works by grouping together interesting and important tweets on single subjects – which you can then read, even if you don’t follow the people tweeting them. Moments will appear in a special tab rather than on your timeline. It’s hoped this will appeal to people who find Twitter too confusing to start with. The Moments tab will be divided into sections including news, sports and entertainment. For now, it’s only being rolled out in America but will be heading to Europe soon. [BBC Newsbeat]

The Great British Bake Off 2015: the final – Nadiya crowned winner –
So the smallest baker had the biggest smile. In the final of The Great British Bake-Off (BBC One), 4ft 11in Nadiya Hussain’s face lit up with victory. It would have taken a hard-hearted viewer not to grin at her win too. After 10 weeks of fiendish challenges – popping dough into proving drawers, peering anxiously into ovens and wincing as tough-to-please judges poked at their pastry – just three of the original 12 contenders remained, their eyes on the title of Britain’s best amateur baker. Nadiya became the third consecutive female winner of that glass cake-stand trophy. It was a victory for women, for multicultural Britain and for brilliant baking. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends and List of the Day

Retired wrestler Hiroshi Hase appointed to Japanese cabinet by PM Shinzo Abe –
Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, has appointed a former television announcer and a retired wrestler who went by the ring name Viet Cong Express #1 to his new cabinet. Mr Abe retained around half his ministers in the first reshuffle of portfolios since he won the general election in December, but also has one eye on elections for the upper house of the Japanese parliament next summer. Hiroshi Hase, 54, was appointed minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology and the challenge of “education rebuilding”.

Video of the Day –

Honest Trailers – Aladdin

List of the Day –

Great British Bake Off Innuendos 2015

“The wobble should be like me backside” – Sandy on her crème brûlée (2015, episode 4)

“Stand away from your hot baps!” – Mel and Sue

“One crack bad, two cracks better” – Mel Giedroyc to Ugne about her Madeira cake (2015, episode 1)

“You have got two hours to pop Mary’s cherry” – Sue (the second half of the quote was “in the oven”)

“The terror of a soggy bottom has been keeping me up all night” – Season four finalist Kimberley

“Go on Mary, give it a good slapping” – Paul Hollywood

“Time to stop fiddling with Charlotte now” – Sue Perkins

“Oh no, you have some irregular-shaped balls” – Mary Berry

“He loves his buns”- Mary Berry, on Paul Hollywood

“It’s all in the wrist action” – Mary Berry

“Get those lady’s fingers soggy!” – Sue Perkins

“Messy top, tidy bottom” – Sue on Tamal

“Right bakers, time to reveal your cracks” – Sue

“I’m pinching my bottom seam” – Flora

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QueMeFalteTodoMenos	#WCW	#GBBOFinal
2	#felizmiercoles	Roy Hibbert	Brian Blessed
3	#كم_واحد_يتابع�…	#BadInventions	#CameronSpeech
4	#MTVFANWARSDirectioners	Matt Barnes	#artsdigital
5	Edgar Allan Poe	#NerdUpATVShow	#Leaders15
6	Vin Diesel	Moana	Caspian Sea
7	Aziz Sancar	Victor Cruz	#WeWantOurCountryBack
8	#احترمك_جدا_اذا	#WalkToSchoolDay	#panorama
9	#هل_يحق_للزوجه_…	Draft Biden	Leon Brittan
10	#لو_الجامعه_اخ�…	#MTVFANWARSDirectioners	#ChewingGum

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- An FBI investigation has reportedly found that criminal networks specializing in nuclear smuggling in Eastern Europe, particularly in the nation of Moldova, have shipped radioactive material to ‘Middle Eastern extremists’, including the Islamic State (which in the recent past has threatened to unleash a nuclear holocaust to ‘wipe the West off the face of the Earth’). (AP via The Huffington Post)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- Russia launches an intense bombing campaign in the Syrian governorates of Idlib and Hama. The Syrian Army is conducting a ground offensive in the same area. (Jerusalem Post), (Reuters)
- Four Russian warships launch at least 26 cruise missiles at ISIS positions in Syria from the Caspian Sea. (RT)
- Russian airstrikes destroy the main weapons depots of a U.S.-trained rebel group, Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, in Syria’s Aleppo province. Last week, Russian raids hit Liwa sites in western and northern Syria, areas where the Islamic State group has no significant presence. (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Boko Haram suicide bombers kill at least 15 people at a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu. (AP)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) calls for activating the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission – for the first time since its 1991 creation under the Geneva Conventions – to investigate the deadly U.S. bombing of MSF’s hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. MSF says it does not trust internal military inquiries into the bombing that killed at least 22 people, which it considers a war crime. (Reuters) (BBC)
- United States President Barack Obama telephoned MSF International President Joanne Liu to apologize for the U.S. bombing of the hospital in Afghanistan, express his condolences for the 22 people killed, commit to provide a transparent, thorough, and objective accounting of the facts and circumstances of the incident, and implement any changes to make tragedies like this one less likely to occur in the future.(Reuters) (Washington Post)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Saudi-led airstrikes kill at least 15 civilians and wound 25 others in Yemen at a wedding hosted by a tribal leader known to support the Houthi rebels. (AP via ABC News) (The New York Times)

Health and medicine

The World Health Organization announces that, since the Ebola outbreak began in March 2014, last week marked the first week of no new cases worldwide. (Time)

Law and crime

The High Court of Australia rules that the breast cancer gene BRCA-1 cannot be patented and the patent claimed by Myriad Genetics is invalid. (ABC News Australia)
China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announces their investigation of Fujian governor Su Shulin, the former chairman of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, on suspicion of serious disciplinary violations, the “euphemism for corruption.” This follows the massive anti-corruption drive President Xi Jinping launched when he came to power more than three years ago. (Reuters via Daily Mail) (South China Morning Post)
Brazil’s Federal Accounts Court (TCU), in a unanimous 8-0 decision, rules that President Dilma Rousseff’s government manipulated its accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit. The ruling, while not legally binding, is expected to be used by opposition lawmakers who are calling for impeachment proceedings. (Reuters) (AP)

Science

Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar win the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in DNA repair. (BBC)

Sport

2015 FIFA corruption case
- Fédération Internationale de Football Association ethics committee recommends FIFA President Sepp Blatter be suspended, re: the Swiss attorney general’s ongoing criminal investigation. The final decision will be made by Chairman of the Ethics Committee’s adjudication chamber, Hans-Joachim Eckert. (BBC) (Daily Mail)
The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 in the MLB National League Wild Card Game. (ESPN)

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October 10, 2015

October 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Shia LaBeouf Arrested For Public Intoxication –
Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has been arrested in Austin, Texas for public intoxication. A video on the TMZ website appears to show the actor in handcuffs as police put him in the back of a patrol car. Witnesses told the site the actor was acting bizarrely, running down the street, jaywalking and ignoring police warnings. The Austin City Limits music festival is currently taking place in the city. Records show the 29-year-old was booked into Travis County Jail on Friday night and later released. [Sky News]
Shia Labeouf

Japan: Citizens clamour for Tokyo disaster manual –
A manual to help people in Tokyo prepare for disasters has proved so popular that local officials have complained that they are being sold on the internet for profit. The 340-page Tokyo Bousai (“Disaster Preparedness Tokyo”) appears in a startling yellow cover, and 7.5m copies are being distributed free of charge to Tokyo residents. It’s currently available to download in Japanese and English from the city government’s website, but for those who still crave a physical copy of the manual, the Tokyo government is considering selling it at cost price. [BBC]
Tokyo Disaster Manual

Video of the Day –

Living Rivers – Surf from Epic Montana on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#WorldMentalHealthDay	#WorldMentalHealthDay	#WorldMentalHealthDay
2	#EsViernesY	#WhatIWantOnMyTombstone	#nonleagueday
3	#Ankaradayız	#JusticeOrElse	#25Millionaires
4	과자전	Ankara	#ZaynTaughtUs
5	#ZaynTaughtUs	Shia LaBeouf	Geoffrey Howe
6	タイバニ	#HamOrCheeseMovies	Jim Diamond
7	#TengoGanasDe	#ZaynTaughtUs	#AUSvWAL
8	게살버거	As Told By Ginger	#BBC4
9	#EBDabarkadsPaMore	#IHaveToRemindMyself	#5sosonchattyman
10	#Felices24Lali	#MillionManMarch	#grahamnorton

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Palestinian militants fire 3 rockets into Israel during the night after several violent riots throughout Israel and the West Bank. (BBC)
- Israeli security forces shoot dead two Palestinians aged 12 and 15 in protests along Gaza’s border fence. (Reuters)
- The death toll from Friday’s violence at the Gaza Strip border is now seven Palestinians. Of the 60 wounded, 10 were seriously injured. Massive riots managed to breach the border fence and enter Israeli territory and were dispersed by live fire. (Ynet News)
2015 Ankara bombings
- Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara near the main train station leave at least 97 people dead and over 400 wounded. The bombing occurred during a peace rally protesting the conflict between Turkey and the militant Kurdish PKK. (BBC),(CNN), (Sky News Australia)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Five suicide bombers target a village in Chad that is home to thousands of Nigerian refugees who have fled Boko Haram, killing at least 36 people. (AP)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The U.S. Department of Defense will make payments to families of victims of last week’s U.S. airstrike that struck a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz. At least 22 people were killed including 12 staff members and 10 patients, including three children. MSF says 33 people are still missing and presumed to have died in the fire. (Reuters) (NBC News) (AFP via ABC News)
Mali conflict
- Suspected jihadists attack Dioungani, a village in central Mali, killing a local official in front of his family. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

At least eight people have died in a major fire at a halting site for Irish travellers in the south of Dublin. (Irish Times)

International relations

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- China completes the construction of two lighthouses on the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea according to Chinese state media. The U.S. and the Philippines have opposed the construction efforts. (The Guardian)
North Korea holds a massive military parade in its capital, Pyongyang, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Workers’ Party of Korea rule in the country. (BBC)
Egypt–France relations
- During a state visit to Cairo by French prime minister Manuel Valls, Egypt officially signs a deal with France to purchase the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers that were originally destined for Russia but France refused to deliver due to the Ukrainian crisis. Russia will sell Egypt the helicopters originally intended for the ships. (Times of India)

Politics and elections

Over 100,000 people protest in Berlin against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership accord between the European Union and the United States. (RT), (DW), (CNBC), (France24)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Vanuatu president’s anger as stand-in pardons himself –
The president of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has expressed his anger after his deputy pardoned himself and 13 other convicts while he was out of the country. Speaker Marcellino Pipite was one of 14 MPs – half of the country’s parliament – who were convicted last Friday of giving and receiving corrupt payments over a vote of no confidence in a previous government. With President Baldwin Lonsdale out of the country on Saturday, Pipite used his delegated powers to gazette a pardon for himself and his fellow defendants. Vanuatu’s constitution allows the speaker to assume presidential powers in the absence of the head of the republic, including the power of pardon. [BBC]

Aerosmith To Donald Trump: Stop Using Our Song –
Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has asked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop using the band’s power ballad Dream On at campaign events. Attorneys for Tyler have sent a second cease-and-desist letter to Mr Trump’s campaign committee, saying he does “not have our client’s permission to use Dream On or any of Tyler’s other songs”. The letter adds that it “gives the false impression that he is connected with or endorses Mr Trump’s presidential bid”. Tyler, a registered Republican, went to the GOP contenders’ first debate in August. Attorney Dina LaPolt said in a statement that the letter is not a “political” or “personal issue with Mr Trump”, but one of permission and copyright. [Sky News]
Steven Tyler

Video of the Day –

INPUT/OUTPUT from Terri Timely on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Aerosmith Studio Album discography

Aerosmith (1973)
Get Your Wings (1974)
Toys in the Attic (1975)
Rocks (1976)
Draw the Line (1977)
Night in the Ruts (1979)
Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
Done with Mirrors (1985)
Permanent Vacation (1987)
Pump (1989)
Get a Grip (1993)
Nine Lives (1997)
Just Push Play (2001)
Honkin’ On Bobo (2004)
Music from Another Dimension! (2012)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#النفسيه_محتاجه	#NationalComingOutDay	#NationalComingOutDay
2	#lilokiss	Utley	#WhatIWantOnMyTombstone
3	Utley	#lilokiss	#royalparkshalf
4	#Yastayız	#SNL	#RussianGP
5	OS WALKERS ESTÃO DE VOLTA	The Hills	Agnes
6	#USAvMEX	#ChicagoMarathon	#USAvMEX
7	#شي_ماتقدر_تقا�…	#CALvsUTAH	Cara and Kendall
8	#NationalComingOutDay	#TheWalkingDead	#6hFuji
9	MATIAS CON VOS SIEMPRE	Julius Thomas	#INDvSA
10	#INDvSA	Charles Woodson	#XFactor

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas weapons facilities in the Gaza Strip result in an explosion that collapsed a nearby house, killing a 30-year old pregnant Palestinian woman and her two-year old daughter. Four others were wounded, including the woman’s husband and son, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said the airstrike was in response to Saturday’s pair of rocket launches from Gaza at Israel, as well as two large riots that succeeded in breaching the border fence. (Reuters) (AP via New York Times) (AFP via New Indian Express)
- Israeli traffic police stop a Palestinian woman transporting a small car bomb within Israeli territory near Jerusalem. She detonates the bomb, lightly wounding a police officer and critically wounding herself. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (AFP via NDTV)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A suicide bomber targets a foreign forces convoy in the Joy Shir area of Kabul. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility. A statement from Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported at least three civilians were wounded. There are no report of casualties among the foreign forces. (AFP via Times of India) (Reuters)
- Five members of the NATO-led coalition die and five others are injured in a non-combat helicopter crash in Kabul. The Associated Press reported the chopper collided with a monitoring balloon on landing. Nationalities weren’t identified by NATO’sResolute Support; the British said two were Royal Air Force personnel. (BBC) (CNN) (USA Today)
Syrian Civil War
- Following Russian airstrikes, the Syrian army and allied Lebanese Hezbollah militia take control of a highland area in Idlib province close to insurgent-held positions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reuters) (Malaysian Insider)
Boko Haram insurgency in Cameroon
- At least eight people are killed following a suicide bomb attack in northern Cameroon‘s Sangueleri region near the Nigerian border. Boko Haram have previously carried out attacks in the region. (Business Standard)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- The Turkish Air Force launches a wave of airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish security officials have also rejected a PKK ceasefire declared on Saturday shortly after the bombings in Ankara, saying “The PKK ceasefire means nothing for us. The operations will continue without a break”. (Reuters)
- Thousands gather in Ankara to pay their respects to those killed in Saturday’s peace rally bombings. Marches and sit-ins protesting the attack were also held in Istanbul. No group has claimed responsibility. Turkey’s already polarized political parties traded accusations of responsibility for the attack. National elections are still scheduled for November 1, 2015. (Los Angeles Times) (The Guardian) (CNN)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Iraq’s military reports bombing a convoy possibly carrying Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group was headed to a meeting in the western Al Anbar Governorate, close to the Syrian border. Eight senior ISIS figures were killed, but al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them according to Iraqi officials. (Reuters) (New York Daily News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An Arab coalition airstrike on a prison in Yemen‘s central Al Bayda Governorate, reportedly kills 20 prisoners. The prison which held more than 100 prisoners was controlled by the Houthis. (Yahoo)

International relations

South Africa plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the government faces criticism for, earlier this year, ignoring a court order to arrest Sudan’s president. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Iranian Students News Agency reports an undisclosed verdict has been reached in the espionage case of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been held by Iran for more than 14 months. The final closed door hearing on Rezaian’s case was on August 10, 2015. By not disclosing details, the Post stated that it seems Tehran could be working a political angle. Last month at the UN, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told journalists he would welcome quicker steps on mutual prisoner releases.(Washington Post) (Christian Science Monitor) (Reuters)
A shooting at a house in Omeath, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland leaves two men dead, including an on-duty police officer. (BBC)
A 15-hour protest about police-related deaths, in Thalang on Thailand’s Phuket Island in the Andaman Sea, turned into a riot when the crowd attacked the Thalang Police Station with rocks and fire bombs. Two young men were killed in a motorcycle crash while being chased by police. Fourteen police were injured, nine cars were torched, 13 others and five motorcycles damaged. While numerous people were inconvenienced by the blockade, a heart attack patient died on his way to Thalang Hospital when the ambulance couldn’t get through the crowd. (AP via Fox News) (Celebcafe.org) (Immortal.org) (PhuketWan Tourism News)

Politics and elections

Belarusian presidential election, 2015
- Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term by a landslide in today’s election. (Radio Free Europe), (Reuters) (Reuters)
Guinean presidential election, 2015
- Millions of Guineans vote peacefully in the West African country’s second free election since gaining independence from France nearly 60 years ago. Ballot counting started; the provisional outcome is not expected until the end of this week, an official said. Incumbent President Alpha Conde is expected to win reelection. (Deutsche Welle)

Sport

Bathurst 1000
- In motor sport, Australian driver Craig Lowndes wins the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the sixth time. He also appeared on the podium for the 13th time, setting a new record for the event. (NZ Newswire via Yahoo! 7)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Muggle’ becomes internet sensation after Democrat debate –
Amid the suited spin doctors and political professionals, one maverick in the Democratic Presidential Debate really stood out. And it wasn’t Bernie Sanders. The internet was abuzz with musings about who the striking white-haired person in the audience could be. Bathed in a blue light from the studio settings, the man was seemingly oblivious to the sensation he was creating. And his identity remains a mystery – for now – and so online jokers have come up with their own answers. [Daily Telegraph]
Muggle at Democrat conference?

Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean both win three BET Hip Hop Awards –
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean were the big winners at this year’s BET Hip Hop Awards. Both rappers won three prizes followed by Drake, J. Cole and Fetty Wap, who all won two. Lamar, who enjoyed success earlier this year with his third album To Pimp A Butterfly, was named lyricist of the year at the ceremony which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. He also won awards for impact track and hip hop video for his single Alright. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day for full winners list.
Kendrick_Lamar

Video of the Day –

Man cuts ball fired at 160 kmh with samaurai sword

From comments:
Assuming the radar gun reads the highest velocity, and taking drag into consideration, the ball hits the sword after around 211 ms. If he is using the sound for triggering his reaction the sound would take ~3 ms to reach him and using the average audio stimulus reaction time of ~170 ms would leave him ~38 ms to draw the sword and hit the ball. That’s 0.038 seconds.

List of the Day –

BET Hip Hop Awards Winners 2015

Best Hip-Hop Video
Big Sean feat. Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign – “Play No Games”
Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings”
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” — WINNER
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyoncé – “Feeling Myself”

Best Collabo, Duo or Group
Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings” — WINNER
Big Sean feat. E-40 – “IDFWU”
Fetty Wap feat. Monty – “My Way”
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyoncé – “Feeling Myself”
Nicki Minaj feat. Drake and Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter”

Best Live Performer
Drake
J. Cole — WINNER
Kanye West
Kendrick Lamar
Nicki Minaj

Lyricist of the Year
Big Sean
Drake
J. Cole
Kendrick Lamar — KENDRICK LAMAR
Nicki Minaj

Video Director of the Year
Alan Ferguson
Benny Boom — WINNER
Chris Robinson/Lil Chris
Colin Tilley
Director X

DJ of the Year
DJ Drama
DJ Envy
DJ Esco
DJ Khaled
DJ Mustard — WINNER

Producer of the Year
DJ Mustard — WINNER
J. Cole
Kanye West
Mike Will Made-It
Pharrell Williams
Timbaland

MVP of the Year
Big Sean
Drake — WINNER
Future
J. Cole
Kendrick Lamar
Nicki Minaj

Track of the Year
“Alright” – Produced by Pharrell Williams and Sounwave (Kendrick Lamar)
“Blessings” – Produced by Boi-1da and Vinylz (Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West)
“Commas” – Produced by DJ Spinz and Southside (Future)
“IDFWU” – Produced by Dj Dahi, Dj Mustard, Kanye West and Key Wane (Big Sean feat. E-40)
“Trap Queen” – Produced by Tony Fadd (Fetty Wap) – WINNER

Album of the Year
Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise
Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive — WINNER
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint
Wale – The Album About Nothing

Who Blew Up Award
Bobby Shmurda
DeJ Loaf
Fetty Wap — WINNER
Rae Sremmurd
Tink

Hustler of the Year
Dr. Dre — WINNER
Drake
J. Cole
Jay Z
Nicki Minaj

Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
A$AP Rocky
DeJ Loaf — WINNER
Drake
Kanye West
Nicki Minaj

Best Club Banger
Big Sean feat. E-40 – “IDFWU” (Produced by Dj Dahi, Dj Mustard, Kanye West and Key Wane) — WINNER
Dej Loaf – “Try Me” (Produced by Dds)
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen” (Produced by Tony Fadd)
Future – “Commas” (Produced by DJ Spinz and Southside)
Rich Homie Quan – “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” (Produced by DJ Spinz and Nitti Beatz)

Best Mixtape
Future – 56 Nights – WINNER
Future – Beast Mode
Future – Monster
Lil Wayne – Sorry 4 The Wait 2
Travis Scott – Days Before Rodeo

Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse
Drake – “Blessings” (Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West)
Drake – “My Way (Remix)” (Fetty Wap feat. Drake) — WINNER
E-40 – “IDFWU” (Big Sean feat. E-40)
Kendrick Lamar – “Classic Man (Remix)” (Jidenna feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter” (Nicki Minaj feat. Drake and Lil Wayne)

Impact Track
Big Sean feat. Kanye West and John Legend – “One Man Can Change The World”
Common and John Legend – “Glory” (From The Motion Picture “Selma”)
J. Cole – “Apparently”
J. Cole – “Be Free”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” — WINNER

People’s Champ Award
Big Sean feat. Drake and Kanye West – “Blessings” — WINNER
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Future – “Commas”
Kendrick Lamar – “i”
Rae Sremmurd – “No Type”
Rich Homie Quan – “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)”

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#goodbyeMODEST	#NationalDessertDay	#phrasethatmakesyourheartsink
2	#DemDebate	#goodbyeMODEST	#DemDebate
3	Lamar Odom	#CanadianSuperheroes	#WorldMathsDay
4	#AltasGanasDe	Lamar Odom	Stephen Fry
5	#eushippo	#PSAT	#goodbyeMODEST
6	ME AND HARRY	Me and Harry	#PMQs
7	#بماذا_تشتهر_ب�…	#ScaryAdviceIn4Words	Lamar Odom
8	#BETHipHopAwards	#CarterReynolds	#ThankYouTakeThat
9	#NationalDessertDay	PSAT	#NCASC15
10	Yoko Ono	Kardashians	#ExOnTheBeach

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo calls for calm in the province of Aceh after a person was killed and a church burned down yesterday. (Channel News Asia)
Syrian Civil War
- Iranian involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  - Two officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are reportedly killed in Syria. (Al Arabiya)
  - Thousands of Iranian troops arrive in Syria to reportedly start a new offensive in the battle of Aleppo. (The Telegraph)
- Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  - The United States and Russia are finalizing a memorandum of understanding that sets out basic air safety procedures in the skies above Syria, according to a U.S. official. (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present)
- ISIL confirms that U.S. forces killed its number two leader, Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi, in an airstrike near Mosul back in August. (Israel National News) (Al Arabiya)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel’s military deploys new checkpoints in its Arab neighborhoods, as well as thousands of border police soldiers to cities and on roads to assist police forces in response to recent Palestinian stabbing attacks. (USA Today) (AP via Denver Post)(The Guardian) (New York Times)
- A Palestinian man wearing camouflaged clothing is shot dead at Jerusalem‘s Damascus Gate after charging at Israeli police with a knife. (Jerusalem Post)
Taunsa Sharif bombing
- A suicide bomb kills at least seven people and injures 13 others in Pakistan’s Punjab province inside the political office of Pakistan Muslim League MNA Sardar Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa, who was not present. Sardar Khosa, who is attending a meeting in Islamabad, said he did not receive any threat or alert prior to the blast. A Taliban splinter group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claims responsibility for the attack. (The Express Tribune) (India.com)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A triple suicide-bomb attack in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri kills at least 7 people. (Yahoo)
- The U.S. is to deploy 300 troops to Cameroon as part of a stepped-up effort to counter Boko Haram in the region. (AP via Daily Mail)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Taliban insurgents overrun two security checkpoints near Kandahar in the southern Helmand Province, killing at least 29 border police officers, according to local officials. (Star Tribune)

Arts and culture

At the beginning of today’s weekly general audience, Pope Francis asks for forgiveness for the scandals which have recently hit Rome and the Vatican. He did not offer details. The Church’s Synod on the Family concludes Monday, October 19, 2015. (Voice of America) (Catholic Herald) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A Swiss Boeing F/A-18 military jet crashes in France while on a training mission, injuring the pilot. The Swiss defense ministry has said it did not know what caused the accident. (Reuters)
A temporary footbridge across the M1 motorway in Sandton near Johannesburg, South Africa, collapses, killing two people and injuring 23. Both carriageways of the motorway remain closed as rescue work continues. (News24)
2015 Mina stampede
- An updated count by the Associated Press raises the death toll from the Mina stampede during the Hajj to at least 1,621, with hundreds still missing. (AP via Washington Post) (Dainik Jagran)

Politics and elections

Myanmar general election, 2015
- Myanmar election authorities confirm that landmark polls will go ahead on November 8 after the opposition rejected postponing due to this summer’s widespread flooding. The upcoming election is Myanmar’s first since moving away from half a century of military rule in 2011. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (The Guardian)

Sports

2015 WNBA season
- In North American basketball, the Minnesota Lynx win their third Women’s National Basketball Association title in five years defeating the Indiana Fever 3 games to 2 in the finals. (AP)
2015 MLB Postseason
- In North America, the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Texas Rangers, 6-3, and the Kansas City Royals top the Houston Astros, 7-2, in a pair of American League Division Series (ALDS) deciding game fives. The teams move on to the best-of-seven 2015American League Championship Series (ALCS). The series opens Friday, October 16, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. EDT when defending AL champs Kansas City host the Blue Jays, who are in the ALCS for the first time since 1993. (Game 1 – MLB.com) (Game 2 – MLB.com)

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October 21, 2015

Top News Stories –

BACK TO THE FUTURE DAY –
This is the day that Marty McFly and Doc traveled to in the movie Back to the Future II.
© Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Nike Sending First ‘Back to the Future’ Self-Tying Shoes to Michael J. Fox –
Nike says that the future is here. The first person to receive a pair of the company’s “Back to the Future” self-lacing shoes is the franchise’s star Michael J. Fox, according to a Nike designer. Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield sent Fox a letter today that stated, “As the first, most celebrated wearer” of the Nike Mag shoes, “we wanted you to be the first to receive a living pair,” according to a tweet from the actor. Earlier today, a spokesman for Nike would only say that a pair of the self-lacing Nike Mag shoes worn by Marty McFly in the 1989 film “Back to the Future II” is in New York City today — but declined to comment further. [ABC News] The Michael J Fox organisation (that raises money for Parkinson’s Disease charities) tweeted a picture of the actor wearing the sneakers.
Michael J Fox Tweet

Toyota celebrates ‘Back to the Future Day’ by building Marty McFly’s dream truck –
Toyota has recreated Marty McFly’s dream truck, just in the nick of time for ‘Back to the Future Day’ on October 21, 2015. The black 2016 Toyota Tacoma pick-up is a copy of the one Marty lusted after in the original film – and spoiler alert, things turned out so that his dream machine eventually made it into the McFly family garage. In total, Toyota has built three of these ‘Back to the Future’ Tacoma pick-up trucks events around the U.S. “The suspension has been beefed up and the truck rides on a special set of Toyota Racing Development [TRD] wheels and tires,” said Proffitt. The truck itself was in a plastic cocoon, looking all the world like a 1:1 scale Hot Wheels car. Note to BTTF fans looking for awesome swag: Toyota is handing out models of the this special-edition Tacoma throughout today in Times Square. [NY Daily News] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Fueled by the Future | Back to the Future | Presented by Toyota Mirai

List of the Day –

Back to the Future 2 credits

Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Produced by	Neil Canton Bob Gale
Screenplay by	Bob Gale
Story by	Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale
Starring	Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Lea Thompson Thomas F. Wilson
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Edited by	Harry Keramidas Arthur Schmidt
Production company	Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	November 22, 1989
Running time	108 minutes^[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million (shared withPart III)
Box office	$332 million

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BackToTheFuture	#BackToTheFuture	#PerfectMusicVideo
2	#Home	#IfIHadAHoverboard	#BackToTheFuture
3	#PerfectMusicVideo	iOS 9.1	#NationalAppleDay
4	#MaquinaDelTiempoLlevameA	YouTube Red	#TrafalgarDay
5	#MasterChefBR	#TwitterFlight	Michael Meacher
6	流星群	Wale	Arsenal
7	#ضع_ليما_بجمله_…	#HitOnYourMom	#PMQs
8	#RevivalAMAs	Blake Griffin	Holocaust
9	iOS 9.1	Meek	Bellerin
10	Marty McFly	Hump Day	YouTube Red

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The Taliban announced it overran Ghoryan in the western Herat province, the second district to fall in three days. (Long War Journal)
Syrian Civil War
- ISIL orders males aged 14 and older in Raqqa, its de facto Syrian capital, to register with the police, an action seen as the first step toward forced conscriptions in this region. (Al Jazeera America)
Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Rockets fired by Houthi forces reportedly kill 14 people in city of Taiz, southwestern Yemen. (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- At least 20 people are killed after Boko Haram militants opened fire on cars outside a village in Nigeria‘s restive northeast Borno state. (AFP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- The death toll from Tropical Storm Koppu that battered the Phillippines’ main island this weekend climbed to at least 39. Koppu forced more than 100,000 villagers into emergency shelters and destroyed rice fields ready for harvest. (AP) (BBC)
A U.S. F-18 fighter jet crashes into farmland near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk county, England, killing the pilot. (Sky News)

Health and medicine

The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for pregnant women to abstain completely from alcohol during the entire three trimesters of the pregnancy, saying no amount of any type of alcohol should be considered safe since the risks, to the baby in particular (such as fetal alcohol syndrome, among many others), are too great. This puts the U.S. alongside other Western developed countries- except Italy and the United Kingdom, which still allow occasional small amounts- in urging complete abstinence. TheAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the two other U.S. agencies that comment most about this issue, already recommend total alcohol abstinence. (CNN)

International relations

Syrian Civil War
- The President of Syria Bashar al-Assad visits Moscow for talks with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in an unannounced visit. (BBC)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approves the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, and orders it to be implemented subject to certain conditions. The letter states the United States and European Union should clearly announce the elimination of sanctions against Iran. The imposition of sanctions at any level and under any pretext from any of the negotiating countries would violate the JCPOA. (Reuters) (Mehr News Agency) (Daily Mail)
The Vatican denies an Italian newspaper report that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumour, saying the 78-year-old pontiff is in good health, and denounces the article as utterly reprehensible. (Reuters) (AP via Philly.com)

Law and crime

New York City police officer Randolph Holder, 33, has died from gunshot wounds sustained in the line of duty. An immigrant from Guyana, Holder was on the force for five years. He is the fourth NYPD officer to have been killed in less than a year. (New York Times)
Two Chinese consulate staff are killed and a consul general injured after a gunman opened fire on a restaurant in the city of Cebu, the “second city” of the Philippines. Various reports named the gunman as Chinese national Li Qingliang. (The Telegraph)
St. Louis’ police chief announces officers are stepping up patrols following fires at six predominantly African-American churches in the past two weeks. No one has been injured in any of the fires. The reward for information leading to an arrest is now $4,000; the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association will match the $2,000 reward being offered by the St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers and the ATF. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Anti-Defamation League suggest the fires may be arson sparked by racist motivations. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) (NBC News)
Wikileaks releases U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director John O. Brennan’s personal information after the top spy’s personal email account was hacked and information sent to Wikileaks. All of the documents predate Brennan’s time in the Obamaadministration and reveal no classified data. Among the information released are Social Security numbers, an incomplete questionnaire for security clearance, and addresses of his family and associates. (BBC) (CNN)
A British lawyer and his wife are found dead by their gardener at their home on the Caribbean island of Tobago. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service believe the couple were murdered during a suspected robbery. (Independent)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- The Vice President of the United States Joe Biden says that he will not be seeking the Democratic Party nomination. (Los Angeles Times blog) (Washington Post)

Sport

2015 Major League Baseball postseason
- In Major League Baseball, the New York Mets sweep the Chicago Cubs 4-0 to win the 2015 National League Championship Series and advance to the 2015 World Series. (Newsday)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

November 18, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jonah Lomu: New Zealand rugby union great dies aged 40 –
New Zealand rugby union great Jonah Lomu has died aged 40. Lomu, who scored 37 tries in 63 matches for New Zealand between 1994 and 2002, had been diagnosed with a rare and serious kidney condition by 1996. It forced him to quit the game and he had a kidney transplant in 2004, but the organ stopped functioning in 2011. Despite never winning the World Cup, he is the joint top try-scorer in its history – alongside South Africa wing Bryan Habana, scoring 15 tries in 11 games. He was at his best at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, terrifying defensive lines with his speed and size – 192 cm tall (6 feet 4 inches) and weighing about 119 kilograms (18 stone 10 pounds). [BBC]
Jonah Lomu in 2014

Australian police search for men on park-bench vehicles –
Australian police are looking to identify a group of men filmed riding motorised park benches on public roads in Perth. Footage of the nine men casually rolling through an intersection in Scarborough on Sunday has gone viral. While witnesses said they were amused by the spectacle, police said there were real dangers involved. They said the men could face several charges, including driving an unlicensed and unroadworthy vehicle. “Police are concerned for the safety of those riding on the tables with no protective clothing, especially when on roads alongside motor vehicles,” Western Australian police said in a Facebook post. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Can You Survive Only Eating Bacon?

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Jonah Lomu	#LoveTheatreDay	Jonah Lomu
2	Mega Filmes HD	#IStillFacebookBecause	#OurDay
3	#SaintDenis	#IWouldSleepMoreBut	#LoveTheatreDay
4	#LaMateriaQueMasOdioEs	#SaintDenis	Ken Livingstone
5	#1DonGMA	David Beckham	#housingday
6	#SeVieneElVeranoY	#HungryGames	#BieberOnCapital
7	Kevin McHale	Kevin McHale	#PMQs
8	Hamza Hamzaoğlu	Taye Diggs	#GeordieShore
9	Carmen Lomana	#refugeeswelcome	Red Button
10	#السعاده_في_كل�…	#IKWYDLSoniTunes	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Moro conflict
- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak condemns the Phillipine-based Abu Sayyaf’s beheading of a Malaysian man. Businessman Bernard Then and a woman were kidnapped in May from the Malaysia-island Sabah; the woman was released last week. Philippine Colonel Restituto Padilla said the killing followed a “failure of the negotiations about money.” (ABC) (BBC) (AFP via Yahoo) (International Business Times)
November 2015 Paris attacks, Islamic terrorism crisis in France
- At least two suspects die, including a female suicide bomber, and eight are arrested in a raid by French police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. (CNN) (France 24) (AP) (NNC News)
- Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks, is killed during the Saint-Denis police raid, officials confirm. (Independent) (CNN)
- French prosecutor Bruce Robin says three Islamic State supporters stabbed a 56-year-old French Jew and history teacher in Marseille, France. The attackers were interrupted by a car and fled. The teacher’s wounds are not life-threatening. (International Business Times) (Time)
Boko Haram insurgency
- At least fifteen people are killed in a twin-suicide bombing of a mobile phone market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. (BBC)
- Associated Press reports that Boko Haram was the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation in 2014 responsible for 6,664 deaths as compared to 6,073 for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - The Russian Air Force has destroyed around 500 fuel tanker vehicles used by ISIS and other extremist groups for transporting illegal oil from Syria to Iraq, according to Russian General Staff spokesman Andrey Kartapolov. (RT)
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a local 15-day ceasefire between Syrian rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus will be announced shortly. (Reuters)
Two Bosnian Army soldiers are shot dead by a gunman inside a betting shop near their army barracks in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. The gunman committed suicide after police surrounded his house. (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant says that it has killed a Chinese hostage and a Norwegian hostage. (AP via ABC News)
- Both the FBI and New York City police say they are aware of a newly released Islamic State video suggesting America’s most populous city is a potential target of attacks. The agencies said there were no specific threats, they will investigate, and will remain at a heightened state of vigilance. (Reuters)
- The United States warns travelers in Italy that St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the La Scala opera house in Milan, and the Milan Cathedral, as well as “general venues” like churches, synagogues, restaurants, theaters and hotels, have been identified as “potential targets” for terrorist attacks. The message added the Italian authorities are aware of these threats. (AP)

Art and culture

Ta-Nehisi Coates wins the National Book Award’s top prize for nonfiction for his bestselling depiction of America’s race problem, Between the World and Me. Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles took home the National Book Award for fiction. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

An auction for the acquisition of chipmaker PMC-Sierra continues, with a new bid by Microsemi Corp., topping the previous bid from Skyworks Solutions. The latest bid values PMC at $2.3 billion. (Reuters)
Reuters reports the U.S. Treasury Department will clamp down further on corporate income tax-avoiding inversion deals by U.S. companies with foreign rivals. A major inversion deal is in the works between U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. and smaller Irishcompetitor Allergan, Plc. (Reuters)
Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. hubs plan to strike tonight and Thursday over bad wages and threats against unionizing. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) says some 2,000 plane cleaners, baggage handlers and other workers will strike at New York City’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as Newark Liberty, Chicago O’Hare, Boston, Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale. (Reuters) (Philly Voice)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season
- Some 25,000 households in Ireland lose power as a result of Storm Barney. (Independent Ireland)
2015–16 Australian bushfire season
- Four people, including three German backpackers, are confirmed dead in southern Western Australia near the town of Esperance as a result of bushfires burning out of control. (ABC News Australia)
An explosion at a steelworks plant in Cardiff, South Wales leaves two people dead and five injured. (BBC)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- U.S. President Barack Obama calls on China to stop constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea. Obama’s comments to reporters came after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III. The U.S. president is in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit where the Trans-Pacific Partnership is the central topic of conversation. China attempts to keep the topic of the islands off the agenda. (New York Times)(The Diplomat)
U.S. and Cuban officials sign an environmental accord in Havana, the first such agreement since the countries renewed diplomatic relations this summer. (UPI)

Law and crime

Sweden‘s terror threat level is raised to ‘high’ for the first time in history, as national security service Säpo says that police are hunting a suspected terrorist. (Local)
Washington College, on the U.S. Delmarva Peninsula, closes until Sunday, November 30, as police search for an upset, potentially armed student who just returned to campus. His Pennsylvania high school is on alert. (WBAL) (Washington Post) (NBC 10)

Politics and elections

Police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fire teargas at students protesting increases in school fees in the capital Kinshasa, The students had started throwing stones. (ENCA)
Glen Casada, a top Republican Tennessee lawmaker who is the chair of the state’s House Republican Caucus suggests activating the Tennessee National Guard to ’round up’ Syrian refugees and remove them from the southeastern state, saying “Tennessee is a sovereign state, if the federal government is forsaking the obligation to protect our citizens, we need to act”. (The Tennessean)

Sport

2015 FIFA corruption case
- Sergio Jadue resigns as the head of the Football Federation of Chile and travels to the United States to speak with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about corruption at FIFA. (AAP via Yahoo! News)

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November 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Pirate needs 200,000 video views to avoid being sued –
A convicted software pirate has been handed an unusual punishment. The man, named only as Jakub F, will be spared having to pay hefty damages – as long as a film denouncing piracy he was made to produce gets 200,000 views.
He came to the out-of-court settlement with a host of firms whose software he pirated after being convicted by a Czech court. In return, they agreed not to sue him. The 30-year-old was also given a three-year suspended sentence. The criminal court decided that any financial penalty would have to be decided either in civil proceedings or out of court. The firms, which included Microsoft, HBO Europe, Sony Music and Twentieth Century Fox, estimated that the financial damage amounted to thousands of pounds, with Microsoft alone valuing its losses at 5.7m Czech Crowns (£148,000). [BBC] The video had received over 212,000 views by today. See Video of the Day

Asteroid mining made legal after passing of ‘historic’ space bill in US –
Business opportunities in space could soon be about to open up for adventurous entrepreneurs after US Congress signed off on a bill to legalise space mining. While some websites are already offering investors the chance to step onto the intergalactic property ladder with a plot on the moon from £16.75, asteroid mining is predicted to become a trillion-dollar industry over the next few decades. Private companies in the US can now legally extract materials from the moon, asteroids and other celestial bodies after a commercial space act was approved by Congress. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

SDÍLENÍM TO ZAČALO, SDÍLENÍM TO MŮŽE SKONČIT

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ImThankfulFor	#ImThankfulFor	Happy Thanksgiving
2	Can Dündar	Happy Thanksgiving	#ImThankfulFor
3	あなたのツイッタ��…	#MacysParade	#NationalCakeDay
4	#NoMeCabeEsoDe	#ImNotGoingToBedBecause	Eagles of Death Metal
5	#اوصف_مجتمعك_ب�…	#BringBackMST3K	#pizero
6	#ALDUB19thWeeksary	#ARIAs	BBC Three
7	#Empire	#TurkeyTrot	#PAKvENG
8	Nilson	Eagles	#WWENXT
9	Niall Holland	Jason Kidd	#INDvSA
10	#MeReSobranLasGanasDe	Chip Kelly	#VampsAlbumOutTomorrow

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- The Turkish military releases what it says are a series of audio recordings of warnings issued to a Russian jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. (ABC Australia)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 21 year-old man has died in clashes with Israeli Army soldiers. (AP)
Military intervention against ISIL
- British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a speech to the House of Commons says that Islamic extremists have already threatened citizens of the United Kingdom and UK military airstrikes against ISIL in Syria will serve only to make the UK safer. Cameron also says that the UK cannot outsource its security and must stand by France in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks. (BBC)
- Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defence, calls on the United Kingdom to join France in bombing ISIL. (The Guardian)
2015 Brussels lockdown, Paris attack aftermath
- Belgian authorities reduce the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three. The escalation to level four came after suspects in the ISIL attacks in Paris were linked to the city. Suspected Paris gunman, Salah Abdeslam, who lived in Brussels for several years, remains at large. (BBC)
- A suspicious powder feared to be anthrax found at a Brussels mosque, close to the European Union headquarters, is a false alarm. Testing determines it is flour. (Reuters) (Intenational Business Times)
Boko Haram
- At least 18 people are killed and over 100 homes torched after Boko Haram militants attacked a village near the commune of Bosso in Niger‘s southern Diffa Region. (AFP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

At least 15 people are killed after a Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter carrying oil workers crashes in eastern Siberia near the Yenisei River. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters)
A sinkhole the size of a football field swallows a large section of beach on Australia‘s North Stradbroke Island. Local authorities have warned beach-goers to stay away from Jumpinpin beach due to fears the sinkhole could grow even larger. (The Guardian)
2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- A New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter dies while fighting an out of control bushfire near Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. (Daily Telegraph)
At least eleven people have died and 70 injured after two buses carrying tourism workers collide in the eastern Dominican Republic. (AP)

International relations

Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Africa
- Pope Francis condemns the way young people have been “radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear,” during a talk in Nairobi, Kenya. (Washington Post)
- Pope Francis celebrates a historic Mass in Kenya before delivering a stern environmental warning to the world. “It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects,” the Pope said, urging nations to reach agreement over curbing fossil fuel emissions. (CNN)
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21)
- France is deploying more than 10,000 personnel to provide security for the two-week UN Climate Change Conference that opens in Le Bourget in Paris on Monday, November 30, 2015. Around 150 heads of state or government are expected to attend COP21’s opening day. (Xinhua News Agency)
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015
- Queen Elizabeth II (U.K.) arrives in Malta for the Commonwealth summit what begins tomorrow. The then-future Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh lived on the island from 1949-51. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 nations; most member states were once part of the British Empire, 16 remain Commonwealth realms. (Telegraph)
Song Tao is named head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, a key post responsible for relations with other communist parties, replacing Wang Jiarui. (SCMP)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

December 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

Skier’s Close Call As Drone Camera Crashes –
A skier has narrowly avoided serious injury after a drone being used to film the event he was competing in crashed to the ground. The drone hit the snow just centimetres away from Austria’s Marcel Hirscher during the alpine skiing World Cup slalom in Italy. “This is horrible,” Hirscher, who finished second in the event, said. A skier has narrowly avoided serious injury after a drone being used to film the event he was competing in crashed to the ground. The drone hit the snow just centimetres away from Austria’s Marcel Hirscher during the alpine skiing World Cup slalom in Italy. “This is horrible,” Hirscher, who finished second in the event, said. [MSN News] See Video of the Day
Marcel Hirscher

Madonna goes to court to force 15-year-old son to return to New York –
Madonna has gone to court to force her 15-year-old son Rocco to return to New York, after his father Guy Ritchie insisted that he wanted to stay in the UK for Christmas. The singer appeared before a judge in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, where she won her bid to have her son forced to board a plane from London. Mr Ritchie, a film director who has two children with Madonna, argued through his lawyer that Rocco preferred to spend Christmas with his father, the New York Post reported. Judge Kaplan ordered that Rocco should talk with Madonna, and then revisit the issue of which parent he prefers. The judge told a smiling Madonna that Rocco must also present himself to court in the United States for the case to be decided. “I’m directing the child to be returned to New York. If he wants to stay with his father, he must return to his mother.” [Daily Telegraph]
Madonna

Video of the Day –

TV drone crashes during ski race – Marcel Hirscher at Madonna di Campiglio

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#CosasQueAprendiDel2015	Tornado Watch	Christmas Eve Eve
2	#WeAreAll1D	#CosasQueAprendiDel2015	#WeAreAll1D
3	#QuartaComOClubeSDV	#HappyBirthdayLouis	#ReplaceAWordWithSchlong
4	#زد_رصيدك40	#WeLoveYouAshton	#Luther
5	#5incoMinutos7Milhoes	#YodaSpeakASaying	Boxing Day
6	#ALDUBMyBebeLoveParade	#WeAreAll1D	#DearSantaSorryFor
7	#APapaNoelLePido	#BlackXmas2	#GeordieShore
8	#PSYYakap	OG Maco	#YodaSpeakASaying
9	#DeNatalEuQuero	#ReplaceAwordWithSchlong	#tattoofixers
10	#WeLoveYouAshton	#Festivus	#Supervet

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - Amnesty International reports at least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, indicating “serious failures by Russia to respect international humanitarian law”. Moscow denies causing civilian deaths. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency in West Africa
- An overnight raid by suspected Boko Haram militants on Niger‘s southern border town of Abadam, kills two Nigerien Army soldiers and three civilians. And, separately, a suicide-bomb attack on Lake Chad killed three of the attackers but no one else. A military convoy was also ambushed by militants in northern Cameroon, although there were no reported deaths. (Reuters)
Palestinian political violence
- Two Palestinian attackers stab passers-by at the Old City’s Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, Israel, killing two and injuring one; the attackers are shot and killed by two Israeli Border Police officers. (CNN) (The Jerusalem Post)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Clashes continue between PKK militants and Turkish Army troops in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. At least one Turkish soldier is killed and several are wounded in a bomb attack. (Reuters)
Hacktivist collective Anonymous declares a cyber-war on Turkey, and claims responsibility for the major week-long cyber-attack between 14 and 21 December on Turkey, which it accuses of supporting the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and threatened additional attacks in case the alleged support continues. “We will continue attacking your internet, your root DNS, your banks and take your government sites down,” it said. “After the root DNS, we will start to hit your airports, military assets and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure,” the group added. (Hurriyet Daily News) (Independent)
Terrorism in Australia
- Australian police in Sydney arrest two men who, police say, were planning attacks on locations such as naval bases and police headquarters. New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said Wednesday’s activity brings the number of people arrested in connection with last year’s Operation Appleby to 13. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The governments of Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei ban celebrations of Christmas, with punishments ranging up to a five-year jail term. Each country has a majority-Muslim population. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Tornadoes of 2015
- At least six people die and dozens injured as major storms, packed with tornadoes, move through the American South and Midwest. Three people died when a tornado hit northern Mississippi, one was killed in Arkansas and two more in Tennessee. Officials continue searching into the night for the missing. (CNN) (AP via The Washington Post) (Weather.com) (Reuters)

Health

South Korean MERS outbreak
- South Korea announces an end to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak that has killed 36 people since May 2015. The virus infected 186 people, with nearly 17,000 people confined to their homes and thousands of schools temporarily closing at the peak of the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where it first appeared in 2012. (AFP via FRANCE 24)

Brazilian health officials announce 2,400 babies (up from 147 in 2014) have been born this year with microcephaly, a neurological disorder that can result in incomplete brain development which can be caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus, and advise would-be parents, especially in the country’s northeast where most of the cases occurred, to avoid pregnancy. (CNN) (The Washington Post) (Medical Daily)

International relations

Yemeni Crisis
- The United Nations Security Council expressed “deep concern” at the number of violations of Yemen’s ceasefire. U.N. envoys warned that a fledgling peace process was hanging by a thread, and that Yemen faces permanent fragmentation if the conflict is not ended soon. (Reuters) (Time) (Saudi Gazette) (UN)

Law and crime

The public interest non-profit Cause for Action files a Freedom of Information Act request for United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s personal emails following his disclosure of using that account for official government emails, this in the wake of the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton email controversy and the Office of Personnel Management data breach. The U.S. Federal Records Act restricts use of personal email for official business. (Federal Times)
A Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia report reveals that an agent with the Presidential Protective Service of the United States Secret Service had his weapon, shield, and other professional equipage stolen from his vehicle in broad daylight in downtown Washington, D.C. (CNN)
Russia issues an international arrest warrant for former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of organizing the murder of Vladimir Petukhov, mayor of Nefteyugansk in 1998. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Spanish general election, 2015
- Pedro Sánchez, leader of Spain‘s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) rejects a pact with the ruling People’s Party (PP). “We say ‘no’ to Rajoy and his policies,” Sánchez told a news conference after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. (Reuters)
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili unexpectedly announces his resignation, without giving any specific reason for his decision. (Civil Georgia)
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović selects Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals executive Tihomir Orešković to be the new prime minister following the inconclusive November 8 election. The “technocrat” is the choice of conservatives and reformists, who have 78 parliamentary seats, enough for confirmation.

Science and technology

The United States National Center for Health Statistics reports the rate of twin births has hit an historic high. Researchers say the increase in twin births may be affected by changes in reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, and by more women giving birth later in life–a time when the occurrence of twins is higher. (Science World Report) (Daily Mail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

December 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

UK astronaut Tim Peake calls wrong number from space –
British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted an apology on Christmas Day from the International Space Station after calling a wrong number. He wrote “I’d like to apologize to the lady I just called by mistake saying ‘Hello, is this planet Earth?’ — not a prank call — just a wrong number!” The 43-year-old former army helicopter pilot did not say who he was calling.
Timothy Peake

Video of the Day –

The Talk

THE TALK (2015) from Joe Otting on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BeautyAndTheBestieNowShowing	Happy Birthday Jesus	LCD Soundsystem
2	#9MonthsWithoutZayn	#9MonthsWithoutZayn	#QueensSpeech
3	#FelizNatalComOClubeSDV	#LifelineOniTunes	HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS
4	#CiteUmFilmeComPeru	#IGotCoalBecause	#EastEnders
5	#زد_رصيدك42	Low Life	Peter Kay
6	#كذبه_كنت_مصدق�…	#WhatSantaWontGetMeForXmas	Midnight Mass
7	#MiRegaloFue	SANTA CAME	#joinin
8	#ALDUBMyBebeLoveSaPASKO	Merry Christmas	#notgoingout
9	#MerryChristmas1DFamily	#WhyImHashtaggingOnXmas	#Barfest2016
10	#크리스마스인데_기…	#KingStaysKing	#9MonthsWithoutZayn

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - Amnesty International reports at least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, indicating “serious failures by Russia to respect international humanitarian law”. Moscow denies causing civilian deaths. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency
- An overnight raid by suspected Boko Haram militants on Niger‘s southern border town of Abadam, kills two Nigerien Army soldiers and three civilians. And, separately, a suicide-bomb attack on Lake Chad killed three of the attackers but no one else. A military convoy was also ambushed by militants in northern Cameroon, although there were no reported deaths. (Reuters)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- Two Palestinian attackers stab passers-by at the Old City’s Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, Israel, killing two and injuring one; the attackers are shot and killed by two Israeli Border Police officers. (CNN) (The Jerusalem Post)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Clashes continue between PKK militants and Turkish Army troops in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. At least one Turkish soldier is killed and several are wounded in a bomb attack. (Reuters)
Hacktivist collective Anonymous declares a cyber-war on Turkey, and claims responsibility for the major week-long cyber-attack between 14 and 21 December on Turkey, which it accuses of supporting the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and threatened additional attacks in case the alleged support continues. “We will continue attacking your internet, your root DNS, your banks and take your government sites down,” it said. “After the root DNS, we will start to hit your airports, military assets and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure,” the group added. (Hurriyet Daily News) (Independent)
Terrorism in Australia
- Australian police in Sydney arrest two men who, police say, were planning attacks on locations such as naval bases and police headquarters. New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said Wednesday’s activity brings the number of people arrested in connection with last year’s Operation Appleby to 13. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The governments of Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei ban celebrations of Christmas, with punishments ranging up to a five-year jail term. Each country has a majority-Muslim population. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Tornadoes of 2015
- At least six people die and dozens injured as major storms, packed with tornadoes, move through the American South and Midwest. Three people died when a tornado hit northern Mississippi, one was killed in Arkansas and two more in Tennessee. Officials continue searching into the night for the missing. (CNN) (AP via The Washington Post) (Weather.com) (Reuters)

Health

South Korean MERS outbreak
- South Korea announces an end to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak that has killed 36 people since May 2015. The virus infected 186 people, with nearly 17,000 people confined to their homes and thousands of schools temporarily closing at the peak of the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where it first appeared in 2012. (AFP via FRANCE 24)

Brazilian health officials announce 2,400 babies (up from 147 in 2014) have been born this year with microcephaly, a neurological disorder that can result in incomplete brain development which can be caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus, and advise would-be parents, especially in the country’s northeast where most of the cases occurred, to avoid pregnancy. (CNN) (The Washington Post) (Medical Daily)

International relations

Yemeni Crisis
- The United Nations Security Council expressed “deep concern” at the number of violations of Yemen’s ceasefire. U.N. envoys warned that a fledgling peace process was hanging by a thread, and that Yemen faces permanent fragmentation if the conflict is not ended soon. (Reuters) (Time) (Saudi Gazette) (UN)

Law and crime

The public interest non-profit Cause for Action files a Freedom of Information Act request for United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s personal emails following his disclosure of using that account for official government emails, this in the wake of the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton email controversy and the Office of Personnel Management data breach. The U.S. Federal Records Act restricts use of personal email for official business. (Federal Times)
A Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia report reveals that an agent with the Presidential Protective Service of the United States Secret Service had his weapon, shield, and other professional equipage stolen from his vehicle in broad daylight in downtown Washington, D.C. (CNN)
Russia issues an international arrest warrant for former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of organizing the murder of Vladimir Petukhov, mayor of Nefteyugansk in 1998. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Spanish general election, 2015
- Pedro Sánchez, leader of Spain‘s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) rejects a pact with the ruling People’s Party (PP). “We say ‘no’ to Rajoy and his policies,” Sánchez told a news conference after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. (Reuters)
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili unexpectedly announces his resignation, without giving any specific reason for his decision. (Civil Georgia)
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović selects Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals executive Tihomir Orešković to be the new prime minister following the inconclusive November 8 election. The “technocrat” is the choice of conservatives and reformists, who have 78 parliamentary seats, enough for confirmation.

Science and technology

The United States National Center for Health Statistics reports the rate of twin births has hit an historic high. Researchers say the increase in twin births may be affected by changes in reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, and by more women giving birth later in life–a time when the occurrence of twins is higher. (Science World Report) (Daily Mail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

December 27, 2015

Top News Stories –

Eiffel Tower joins Twitter and receives a warm welcome from Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal –
When a 126-year-old woman took to Twitter for the first time this week, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty were so impressed that they sent her tweets to congratulate her. But this was no ordinary old lady – it was the Eiffel Tower, the world’s most visited monument, taking its first steps on the wildly popular microblogging site. “Parisian since 1889, now I am sparkling on Twitter!” said one of the first tweets, in both English and French, on the official account of the 1,063 ft-high tower nicknamed La Grande Dame by its creator, Gustave Eiffel. The tower that each year attracts more than seven million visitors from across the globe, already has around 1.7 million fans on its Facebook account but until this week had kept away from Twitter. Its arrival there this week, under the username @LaTourEiffel, was quickly hailed by direct tweets from the official accounts of other world-renowned monuments. [Daily Telegraph]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes fastest to take $1bn –
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has become the fastest film to take $1bn (£674m) at the global box office. JJ Abrams’ film achieved the feat in 12 days, beating the previous record of 13 days set by Jurassic World in June.
But while Jurassic World had the benefit of record takings in China over the period, The Force Awakens has yet to open there. Star Wars also scored the biggest US Christmas Day box office takings in history with $49.3m (£33.2m). The film took $153.5m (£103.5m) in the US in its second weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $544.6m (£367m). [BBC]

Christmas time storms, tornadoes kill at least 43 in U.S. –
Storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time. The bad weather, or the threat of it, prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states. Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois. In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed. [Reuters]

British soldiers aid evacuation in flood-hit northern England –
British soldiers helped evacuate hundreds of people from rising floodwaters in the historic city of York on Sunday, after heavy rainfall inundated towns and cities across northern England. Prime Minister David Cameron pledged more military help for the region as the army was deployed to move 300 to 400 people from their homes in York, where the River Ouse was expected to continue rising until Monday, the local council said. Some 100 soldiers were also helping emergency services in the hardest hit areas of West Yorkshire, including Leeds, police said, after the region suffered its worst flooding in 70 years. [Reuters]

Video of the Day –

The Christmas Human – Wishing you a very Christmas merry! from Andre Maat on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Global News

1 Charlie Hebdo

2 Paris

3 Hurricane Patricia

4 Isis

5 Nepal

6 El Chapo

7 Greece

8 Baltimore Riots

9 San Bernardino

10 Hurricane Joaquin

Source: Google

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#زد_رصيدك44	Peyton Manning	#yorkfloods
2	가요대전	#DepressABeatlesSong	#RecipeWizard
3	#ANECUP	#GBvsAZ	#AndThenThereWereNone
4	#ÚltimoDomingoDoAnoSdvDTr	#MichaelIsOurSafetyPin	#BigGame8
5	#FelizDomingo	#mattylovesya	#DepressABeatlesSong
6	#TeamBernardoFordGoesToJapan	Chyna	#SAvENG
7	#MyBebeLoveDay3	#5SOSIsDeadParty	#2015bestnine
8	#حكمه_انت_ماشي_…	#PlatonicActivity	#5SOSIsDeadParty
9	#علمتني_الرياض…	#2016PopCulturePredictions	Lynton Crosby
10	#5SOSIsDeadParty	#ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha	COBRA

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Battle of Ramadi
  - The Iraqi Army declares victory over Islamic State militants as their forces retake an important government compound in Ramadi. (Reuters) (CNN)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Boko Haram militants attack the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri with rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers. At least 15 people are reportedly killed but the death toll is expected to be much higher. (AP via The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season
- Storm Eva
  - Thousands of people are evacuated from their homes as flood waters continue to rise across large parts of northern England, with York particularly badly affected. (BBC)
Tornadoes of 2015, 2015–16 North American winter, 2015–2016 El Niño event
- At least 11 people are killed as tornadoes strike Dallas, Texas, and five people die in a flash flood in Illinois. A total of 34 people have died in this week’s smörgåsbord of storms that started Wednesday. Mark Wiley of the National Weather Service says this rare run of December tornado storms in the South and Midwest, and spring-like temperatures across much of the North and East, in part to a strong El Niño. (USA Today) (AP via The Greeneville Sun)
- Missouri governor Jay Nixon declares a state of emergency as widespread flash flooding continues to impact the midwestern state. (Fox2Now)

Sports

Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps will coach the sport at Arizona State University upon his presumed retirement following the 2016 Olympics. (NPR) (The Arizona Republic)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

January 31, 2016

Top News Stories –

Sir Terry Wogan: Tributes paid to veteran broadcaster –
Tributes have poured in for veteran BBC broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan who has died aged 77, after a short illness. BBC director general Tony Hall hailed him as “a broadcasting legend”. Sir Terry hosted a long-running TV chat show, fronted the Eurovision Song Contest and was the face of Children in Need, while his Radio 2 breakfast show regularly had around 8m listeners. Sir Terry, who had not been seen in public since November when he pulled out of hosting the annual Children in Need telethon, died “after a short but brave battle with cancer”, his family said. He leaves his wife Helen and their three children. The couple also had a daughter who died in infancy. [BBC]
Terry Wogan in 2005 receiving his Knighthood

Video of the Day –

Stormtrooper Homer from Capture the Moment Media on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Bill Gates 8 Desert Island Discs [BBC]
David Bowie and Queen – Under Pressure: “In my 20s and 30s, I worked a lot. But a few Fridays and Saturdays we’d go out and dance so this kind of reminds me of those disco days.”
Willie Nelson – Blue Skies: “My wife Melinda and I love Willie Nelson. So as a surprise gift for her, I had him show up the night before we got married. We were on a beach in Hawaii and he kind of walked down the beach with his guitar and I said, ‘Well here he is, let’s have this guy sing some songs for us.'”
Ed Sheeran – Sing: “My kids, who are 19, 16, and 13, refresh my musical taste by tuning the radio or calling up songs on their phones. And so this is one that my 13-year-old, Phoebe, happens to like.”
Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced: “Because I was younger [Paul Allen] would sometimes taunt me with the title of this song – Are You Experienced – because I hadn’t gotten drunk or other various things, so this is one of our favourites.”
U2 – One: “Paul told me that I should meet Bono, and I didn’t prioritise it. We finally did get to meet and I was amazed how he had thought about [global health] read about it, and so started a partnership. He has been absolutely amazing.”
The Beatles – Two of Us: “Steve [Jobs] was really into music and he loved the Beatles and so did I. And he actually mentioned the song, Two of Us, saying that was kind of like this journey we’d been on where we’d been competing and working together.”
How Can Love Survive, from the Sound of Music: “Melinda and I both love the Sound of Music and as I met [investor and philanthropist] Warren Buffett, he and his first wife Susie sang a song from The Sound of Music. In fact this is one we’d never heard because it was in the Broadway musical and not in the movie. It’s kind of a cute song so Melinda and I think of this as one of our favourites.”
My Shot from Hamilton, the musical: “It’s about a young person saying, ‘Hey I’m going to take a risk – I’m going to get out there and try and do something new and different.'”

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#DomingoDetremuraSdv	#LarryIsNotReal	Frank Finlay
2	#شخصيه_كويتيه_�…	#GreaseLive	#sagawards
3	#زد_رصيدك79	#HappyBirthdayHarryStyles	Google’s £30bn
4	#LarryIsNotReal	Terry Wogan	#LarryIsNotReal
5	#HistoryProject	#WonderWhatWouldHappenIf	#MOTD
6	#كم_يبعد_دوامك_…	#ThatsWhyImKillingYouLast	#takemeout
7	#اخدت_قرار_اني	Fine Bros	#WinterRun
8	#PensandoEnVosConRockDigoQue	#FelizDomingo	#WonderWhatWouldHappenIf
9	#sagawards	#NHLAllStar	#NZvPAK
10	#SeninleyizMehmetçik	#kylieradio	#TheVoice

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- At least 100 people are killed and hundreds others injured in an attack by Boko Haram militants on Dalori Village 4 kilometers from Maiduguri, Nigeria. (Sahara Reporters)
Syrian Civil War
- 2016 Sayyidah Zaynab bombings
  - At least 60 people are killed and 110 wounded in a twin-suicide bomb attack in the town of Sayyidah Zaynab, Rif Dimashq Governorate, near Syria‘s holiest Shi’ite shrine, the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claim responsibility for the attack. (NBC News) (The Jerusalem Post)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 Australian region cyclone season
- Tropical Cyclone Stan makes landfall on the Western Australian coast east of Pardoo. (ABC News Australia)
Seven people are killed after a truck collides with a train near Cairo, Egypt. (Business Standard)
At least 21 people are killed and 16 injured in a multi-car pile-up on a road near the city of Beni Suef, Egypt. (Omaha)
A huge fire at a factory in Moscow‘s eastern Sokolniki District, kills at least 12 people. Police suspect arson may be involved. (RT)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction, Japan–North Korea relations
- Japan deploys two MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptor systems in Tokyo in preparation for any North Korean ballistic missiles potentially heading for the city. The deployment comes amid concerns of an imminent North Korean missile launch following the detection of “increased activity” at a North Korean missile facility. (RT)

Sport

2016 Australian Open
- In tennis, defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeats second seed Andy Murray of the United Kingdom in the men’s singles in straight sets. It is Djokovic’s third straight Grand Slam title. (ABC News Australia), (BBC)

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March 25, 2016

Top News Stories –

Grand Theft Auto deer causes chaos in game world –
An indestructible, teleporting deer is causing chaos in a version of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V game. Artist Brent Watanabe has programmed the virtual deer to wander around the large San Andreas game world. In its first few days of wandering, the deer has been caught in a gangland gun battle, invaded a military base and been chased by the police. More than 200,000 people have tuned in to watch the deer via a video stream on the Twitch site. [BBC]
CGI deer in Grand Theft Auto

Microsoft chatbot is taught to swear on Twitter –
A chatbot developed by Microsoft has gone rogue on Twitter, swearing and making racist remarks and inflammatory political statements. The experimental AI, which learns from conversations, was designed to interact with 18-24-year-olds. Just 24 hours after artificial intelligence Tay was unleashed, Microsoft appeared to be editing some of its more inflammatory comments. The software firm said it was “making some adjustments”. “The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement. As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We’re making some adjustments to Tay,” the firm said in a statement. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Eye of India from Benn Berkeley on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ViernesSanto	#FlashbackFriday	#CruzSexScandal
2	#SextaDaPaixaoDetreSdv	#GoodFriday	#1YearWithoutZayn
3	#GoodFriday	#NewMusicFriday	#MindOfMine
4	#CruzSexScandal	#1YearWithoutZayn	#NUT16
5	#1YearWithoutZayn	#MyChildhoodHadAlotOf	Asad Shah
6	#EresOnAnahiVEVO	Beverly Cleary	Slime Season 3
7	#BenimYarınlaraMesajım	#Elite8	#GoodFriday
8	#MuhsinYazıcıoğlu	#ViernesSanto	#LeadersDebate
9	#MindOfMine	#3YearsOfTheWay	#3YearsOfTheWay
10	#AUSvPAK	#RITAGH	#PrayForNigeria

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Aftermath of the 2016 Brussels bombings
- Six suspects are arrested in the Brussels Schaerbeek district. (BBC) (CNN)
- Belgian officials confirm 24-year-old suicide bomber Najim Laachraoui, who also used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayawas, was suspected of being the bomb-maker who supplied suicide vests for theNovember 13, 2015, Paris attacks. (NBC News)
Boko Haram insurgency
- The Nigerian Army claims to have rescued more than 800 hostages from Boko Haram while performing a “clearance operation” in the Northeastern part of Nigeria with fighting killing 22 insurgents. (Al Jazeera)
Military intervention against ISIL
- The Pentagon announces the death of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant finance minister and deputy leader, Abu Ala al-Afri. (CNN)
Syrian Civil War
- Palmyra offensive (March 2016)
  - The Syrian Army and allies make major advances near Palmyra against ISIL as the group start pulling out its equipment from the town. (BBC) (NYTimes)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Iskandariya suicide bombing
  - At least 30 people are killed in a suicide attack on a football stadium south of Baghdad, Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for attack. (FOX News)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- 2016 Aden car bombing
  - At least 22 people are killed following three suicide bombings in the Yemeni port city of Aden. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the bombings. (BBC)
War in Donbass
- The body of Ukrainian lawyer Yurij Grabovsky, who defended two ex-Russian soldiers charged in Eastern Ukraine with terrorism and waging an aggressive war against the country, is found on the grounds of a former farming collective in Zhashkiv, Ukraine. Grabovsky went missing from Kiev on March 9. Information from one of two men being held in this case led police to the remains. (Reuters) (Jurist)

Disasters and accidents

Callaway train crash
- The evacuation order for the 200-person town of Callaway, Minnesota, which was emptied after a Canadian Pacific train crashed with a propane truck, is lifted. None of the train cars were carrying hazardous materials. (Valley News Live) (KMSP-TV)
Twelve Portuguese nationals, who were residents of Fribourg, Switzerland, are killed in a head-on collision between their minibus and a truck, on a highway 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Paris, France. The only survivor from the bus is the driver; the two Italian occupants of the truck are slightly injured. (Post-Bulletin)
An air ambulance helicopter crashes in Iran‘s southern Fars Province, killing everyone on board. The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) put the death toll at 10. (Reuters)

International relations

Japan–Russia relations, NATO–Russia relations
- Russia announces it will deploy state-of-the art missile defense systems to the far eastern Kuril Islands where they and Japan have rival territorial claims dating to the end of the Second World War. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu also says that Russia will form new defence units in the country’s Western Military District in response to NATO’s recent deployment of forces to member statesnear its border. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Law and crime

A United States federal district judge rules unconstitutional a provision in an Alabama state law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. A Florida law enacted today contains a comparable provision to Alabama’s. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments a few weeks ago on the constitutionality of similar abortion restrictions in Texas. (Reuters) (Alabama Media Group) (AP via Bristol Herald Courier)

Science and technology

Netflix acknowledges it’s been slowing its video transmission on wireless mobile carriers around the world, including Verizon and AT&T, for five years to “protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps.” Last week, these carriers were accused of this. The company told The Wall Street Journal that T-Mobile or Sprint users weren’t affected because, “historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies.” In May, Netflix plans to shift some of that control to viewers themselves. (C|net) (PC Magazine)

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April 4, 2016

Top News Stories –

National Poo Museum opens doors on Isle of Wight –
A museum dedicated to excrement, with examples from the animal and human world, has opened to the public. The exhibition at the Isle of Wight Zoo features faeces from animals such as elks and lions as well as a human baby. The National Poo Museum has been created by members of the artist collective Eccleston George. “Poo is all around us and inside us, but we ignore it,” said co-curator Daniel Roberts. Twenty illuminated resin spheres show off the different types of faeces with facts hidden behind toilet lids on the museum walls. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Blue Origin -Flight Three: Pushing the Envelope

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#SegundaFelizClubeSDV	#NationalHugANewsPersonDay	#AskGeorge
2	#FelizLunes	#iFakeAwards	#MondayMotivation
3	#Cite7CoisasQueVocêTemMedo	#OurJustin	#iFakeAwards
4	#NationalHugANewsPersonDay	#SquareRootDay	#internationalcarrotday
5	#AçıkKonuşacağım	#FelizLunes	#DirtIsGood
6	#NoEsPorMalPlanPero	#RawAfterMania	#OurJustin
7	#السعودي_رابع_�…	#NCAAChampionship	#WrestleMania
8	#OurJustin	#GetOutOfWorkIn5Words	#NationalHugANewsPersonDay
9	#TWDFinale	#CapsOn	#TWDFinale
10	papeles de panamá	#5HBillboardTopTenParty	Kim Philby

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts

Boko Haram insurgency
- Nigeria‘s army says it has arrested Khalid al-Barnawi, a leader of the Boko Haram splinter group Ansaru. (Reuters)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- More than 20 people have been killed in attacks targeting Shiite militias and government forces. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Alaska Airlines announces plans to acquire Virgin America for $4 billion. (Street Insider)
The U.S. Treasury Department announces new regulations to curb tax-avoiding corporate inversions, i.e., where U.S. companies slash their tax bills by claiming a new tax home overseas, though their core operations and management remain in the United States. The pending $160 billion merger of Pfizer Inc. and Allergan, Plc could be cancelled under these new rules. (CNN Money) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa flood
- At least 63 people are killed and over 30 are injured as flash floods ravage Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and other parts of northwest Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)
Five people are killed when a tourist helicopter crashes in the American town of Sevierville, Tennessee. (Fox News)

Health and medicine

Mexico City authorities declare a pollution alert after smog rose to 1.5 times acceptable limits the day before implementation of the City’s new, temporary air quality program that will keep one-fifth of the city’s cars at home every weekday. (AP)

International relations

China–Vietnam relations
- Vietnam seizes a Chinese fishing vessel for intruding in its waters and tows the vessel to the port of Hai Phong. (AP)
European migrant crisis
- Greece starts deporting migrants to Turkey. (BBC)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia–Azerbaijan relations
- Armenia will recognize the independence of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from Azerbaijan if military actions there continue, according to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Azerbaijan has resorted to an “unprecedented provocation along the entire perimeter of the contact line” with Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan told a meeting with ambassadors from member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, referring to the latest flare-up of the conflict. (Reuters)
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction, North Korea–United States relations
- North Korea threatens a genocide against the United States of America. (News.com.au)

Law and crime

South Korea announces plans to crack down on illegal immigrants. (Yonhap)
The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules the one person, one vote requirement may be satisfied by drawing election districts based on the total population of a place, turning down a legal effort to reinterpret the rule that it be based only on the number of people eligible to vote. (The Washington Post) (The Atlantic)
- The Supreme Court decided two cases where businesses appealed the previous rulings, finding for the plaintiffs in both. The Court upheld a more than $150 million class action judgment on Walmart’streatment of workers in Pennsylvania, and upheld a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo over allegations the bank imposed excessive overdraft fees. (Reuters via CNBC)

Politics and elections

Panama Papers
- Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson refuses to resign after leaked “Panama Papers” tax documents showed he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments. “I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter,” Gunnlaugsson told Icelandic television Channel 2. (AFP via Times Live)
The President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev signs a presidential decree officially recognizing March 17, March 24, and April 7 as public holidays for Kyrgyzstan. The dates are meant to commemorate the days of Kyrgyzstan’s massive anti-government revolts. On March 17, 2002, during anti-government protests in the Aksy District, police killed four protesters, while March 24 and April 7 commemorate theTulip Revolution of 2006 and the Second Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, respectively. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2016
- Fighting erupts between unknown assailants and police in the southern part of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, after a disputed Presidential election that brought Denis Sassou Nguessoback to power for a third term. The reason for the clashes is not immediately clear but they have taken place in districts where support for the opposition is strong. The government blames the violence on the Ninjas, a militant group active during the Second Republic of the Congo Civil War. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, becomes Jammu and Kashmir’s first female Chief Minister. (The Guardian)
United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2016
- Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark is running for Secretary-General of the United Nations, to succeed Ban Ki-moon whose second term expires at the end of this year. Clark, who is the first non-European and fourth woman among the eight announced candidates, was prime minister for nine years (1999–2008) and has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme since April 2009. The United Nations Trusteeship Council will begin preliminary meetings with candidates next week in New York City. (The Guardian) (AP via The Washington Post)

Sport

Basketball
- 2016 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship Game
  - In American college basketball, the Villanova Wildcats defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 77–74. (NBC Sports)
- The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announces its 2016 induction class, consisting of 10 individuals who will formally enter the Hall on September 9. Zelmo Beaty, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Cumberland Posey, Sheryl Swoopes, and Yao Ming will be inducted as players, Tom Izzo and John McLendon as coaches, Jerry Reinsdorf as a contributor, and Darell Garretson as a referee. (Hall of Fame press release)

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May 29, 2016

Top News Stories –

Indy 500: Rookie Alexander Rossi wins 100th running –
Running on fumes on the final laps of the race, rookie Alexander Rossi ran out of fuel coming out of Turn 4 — and still managed to win the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Rossi, a 24-year-old native of California, coasted to the line ahead of Carlos Munoz, Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan as late-race fuel strategy led to a wild and tense finish. It was perhaps one of the more unlikely Indy 500 victories, as Rossi has almost no experience in racing on oval tracks after spending several years pursuing a career in Formula One. Rossi couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I have no idea how we pulled that off,” he said, in a television interview immediately after the race. [USA Today]
Alexander Rossi

Video of the Day –

The force is still strong for Boogie Storm | Grand Final | Britain’s Got Talent 2016

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Mali conflict
- Five United Nations peacekeepers are killed in an attack in central Mali. (NY Times) (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Niger security forces kill 12 Boko Haram militants in Bosso. (Reuters)
- An improvised explosive device kills four civilians and one soldier in Biu, Nigeria. (U.S. News)
Yemeni civil war (2015–present)
- At least 69 people are killed and 25 injured in fighting between the Houthis and government forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. (ABC News) (FOX News) (Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

At least three people are missing after heavy rains caused flooding in the U.S. states of Texas and Kansas. So far, four people have died in the flooding. (AP)
A fire at a home for elderly people near the Ukrainian capital Kiev kills at least 16 people. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- The United Nations fears that approximately 700 migrants have drowned in three Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over the past few days. (AP)
Tropical Storm Bonnie makes landfall on the East Coast of the United States, affecting mainly the city of Charleston, South Carolina. (AccuWeather)

International relations

Foreign relations of North Korea
- In compliance with recent UN Security Council resolutons, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda announces an end to security and military cooperation with North Korea. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Mexican international football player Alan Pulido, who plays for Olympiacos F.C., is kidnapped by masked men near his home in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. He is later rescued. (BBC), (AP via Sun MV)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016, Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016
- Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, secures the nomination for the Libertarian Party in the U.S. presidential election. Johnson picks former Massachusetts governor, and former Republican,William Weld as his running mate. (Washington Post)

Sports

2016 Indianapolis 500
- In motor sport, rookie Alexander Rossi wins the 100th Indianapolis 500. (USA Today)

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June 17, 2016

Top News Stories –

New Zealand pays people to leave Auckland –
New Zealand is offering cash to people in its largest city who need social housing – if they’re willing to move to another part of the country. The scheme launches in Auckland on Monday, and is part of efforts to tackle the city’s housing crisis, the New Zealand Herald reports. Anyone willing to up sticks will get a grant of up to NZ$5,000 ($3,500; £2,500), as long as they’re currently eligible for social housing. The government is stressing that it’s a voluntary scheme aimed at removing the “cost barrier” that could prevent people from moving to less-populated areas, where they may already have family or other connections. Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says 130 have voiced an interest in the scheme so far, and that the scheme will help people deal with “a very tight housing market”. Auckland has seen house prices boom in recent years, and a shortage of affordable housing has left some families living in dire conditions. In May, a Salvation Army spokesman said some streets in South Auckland had people living in every garage. Other families have been found living under bridges and one had taken refuge in a shipping container. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Simon Beck – Snowartist from #inspirasjonstryn on Vimeo.

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL, Third Battle of Fallujah
The Iraqi government recaptures the main government compound in Fallujah. (AFP via Daily Mail)
Kurdish separatism in Iran
2016 West Iran clashes
Kurdish rebels and Iranian Revolutionary guards clash in Oshnavieh, killing 12 rebels and three guards. There is dispute over who the rebels were. Iranian authorities claim it was the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan movement while a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan claimed their group was responsible for the fighting. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Boko Haram insurgency
Boko Haram militants attack a funeral in the village of Kuda in the Adamawa State of Nigeria, killing 18 women, with more reportedly still missing. (Al Jazeera)
Insurgency in the North Caucasus
Four Russian security officers and six militants are killed in an anti-terrorism operation in Dagestan. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Business and economy
The U.S. Justice Department has decided against an action against Angelo Mozilo, former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, arising out of the issuance of mortgage backed securities during his tenure there. (Reuters).
Disasters and accidents
EgyptAir Flight 804
The second flight recorder from the wreckage of ill-fated EgyptAir Flight 804 is recovered from the crash site in the Mediterranean Sea. (Channel News Asia)
A wildfire in Santa Barbara County, California doubles in size overnight to 4,000 acres. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office says mandatory evacuations remain in effect for areas such as El Capitán State Beach. The blaze is currently 5% contained, according to Los Padres National Forest officials. (Los Angeles Times)
Law and crime
2002 Gujarat riots
A court in India sentences dozens of people to prison, some of them for life, for their roles in riots that killed 69 Muslims in the city of Ahmedabad in 2002. (BBC)
Sport
2016 Summer Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) upholds its ban on Russian track and field athletes participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro due to various doping scandals. IOC officials plan to gather next Tuesday to discuss the matter further. (BBC)
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June 23, 2016

Top News Stories –

BRITAIN VOTES FOR ‘BREXIT’ IN HISTORIC REFERENDUM –
Britain has voted to leave the European Union in a referendum, defying its prime minister and confounding most analysts’ expectations. The result raises questions over the future of Prime Minister David Cameron, and over the future of Scotland within the United Kingdom. The results expose a British electorate deeply divided by age, class and geographical location. Most large urban centers elected to stay part of the European Union, particularly in London, where many local authorities delivered vast majorities for the pro-EU campaign. Polls completed before the vote suggested the young were significantly more likely to back EU membership than the old, and that poorer, less-educated voters were likelier to be Brexiters. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Wales surprised many observers by voting in favor of a “Leave” vote, with just over 850,000 Welsh voters choosing to leave the bloc, and a little more than 770,000 voting to Remain. [Newsweek] See List of the Day

Solar plane lands in Spain after three-day Atlantic crossing –
An airplane powered solely by the sun landed safely in Seville in Spain early on Thursday after an almost three-day flight across the Atlantic from New York in one of the longest legs of the first ever fuel-less flight around the world. The single-seat Solar Impulse 2 touched down shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time in Seville after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 2.30 a.m. EDT on June 20.
The flight of just over 71 hours was the 15th leg of the round-the-world journey by the plane piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. [Reuters] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Solar Impulse Airplane – Leg 15 – Flight New York to Seville

List of the Day –

How the home nations voted in the EU Referendum [BBC]

England

Leave 53.4%

15,188,406 VOTES

Remain 46.6%

13,266,996 VOTES

Counting complete

Turnout: 73.0%

Northern Ireland

Leave 44.2%

349,442 VOTES

Remain 55.8%

440,437 VOTES

Counting complete

Turnout: 62.9%

Scotland

Leave 38.0%

1,018,322 VOTES

Remain 62.0%

1,661,191 VOTES

Counting complete

Turnout: 67.2%

Wales

Leave 52.5%

854,572 VOTES

Remain 47.5%

772,347 VOTES

Counting complete

Turnout: 71.7%

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- According to Médecins Sans Frontières, more than 1,200 people have died of starvation and illness at a refugee camp for those fleeing Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Jiangsu tornado
- A tornado, accompanied by heavy rainfall and hailstones, kills at least 98 people and injures 800 in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu (JSTV). One-hour rainfall reached 102 millimeters (about four inches) in Lianshui County. (Reuters) (China Radio International)

International relations

Holy See–Turkey relations
- Pope Francis’s visit to Armenia this weekend may stress relations with Turkey. The Pope is seeking to avoid reigniting the diplomatic dispute that arose last year when he described the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as a genocide. The Vatican prefers the Armenian phrase “Medz Yeghern,” which roughly translates as “the great evil or calamity.” (Reuters), (PanARMENIAN.Net) (NBC News)
South Sudanese Civil War
- The United Nations announces that peacekeepers in the country will be sent home over a “lack of responsiveness” during an attack on a UN-run refugee camp last February in Malakal that killed at least 40 people. (Al Jazeera)
European migration crisis
- The Italian Coast Guard rescues 4,500 migrants at sea. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- The United Nations Security Council condemns North Korea’s most recent ballistic missile launches as a grave violation of the international ban, and urges all countries “to redouble their efforts” to fully implement the March sanctions. (Reuters) (AP)

Law and crime

Supreme Court of the United States
- The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 4–3 decision, upholds the University of Texas’s practice of considering race in college admissions. Justice Elena Kagan recused herself for prior work on the case as United States solicitor general. (Reuters) (AP) (The New York Times)
- The Supreme Court deadlocks (4–4) in the challenge to President Barack Obama’s executive order that set up the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans plan, which could have shielded up to five million illegal immigrants. The tie leaves in place an earlier ruling against the plan. (NBC News) (The New York Times)
2016 Summer Olympics
- The government of Kuwait sues the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for US$1.3 billion in damages over the suspension of its Olympic committee last October due to the government’s interference in sports. (Al Jazeera)
Death of Freddie Gray
- Baltimore police officer Caesar Goodson is cleared of all charges for the murder of Freddie Gray, a black detainee, on April 19, 2015. (BBC)
Viernheim shooting
- An unidentified man who had been reported to have fired shots inside a theater has been shot dead by police in Viernheim, Germany. No other fatalities were reported. (BBC)

Politics and elections

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016
- Voters in the United Kingdom go to the polls to vote in a referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union. (The Telegraph), (BBC),
- Polling stations are closed, and ballots are being counted in centres around the UK with the result expected Friday morning. (BBC)
Colombian conflict
- The government of Colombia and FARC rebels sign a ceasefire deal, putting an end to 50 years of conflict in the country between the two sides. (BBC)
United States presidential election, 2016, 2016 Republican National Convention
- A federal district judge, in a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, rules Cleveland’s regulations governing protests and marches during next month’s Republican National Convention infringe on the right of free expression. Judge James Gwin orders both sides into mediation to begin negotiating new rules with another federal judge overseeing those talks. (AP)

Science and technology

Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered only by the sun, lands safely in Seville, Spain, shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time after a flight of just over 71 hours. The 15th leg of the round-the-world journey had been expected to take up to 90 hours. (Reuters) (Reuters²)

Sport

2016 NBA draft
- In basketball, the NBA draft is held with the Philadelphia 76ers choosing Australian Ben Simmons as the number one pick. (ESPN)

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June 26, 2016

Top News Stories –

Lionel Messi announces international football retirement after Argentina loses Copa America final –
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi says he is finished with the national team after the side’s loss to Chile in the Copa America final. The five-time world player of the year announced as much in the immediate aftermath of Argentina’s gut-wrenching loss to Chile, 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Monday. “The national team is done for me,” Messi told reporters. The 29-year-old was booked for simulation and sent his attempt over the crossbar in the decisive shootout as he fell short for the fourth time in a major international final. “It’s difficult, it’s a hard moment for any analysis. In the dressing room I thought that the national team is not for me,” he added. [ABC] In April Messi scored his 500th career goal.
Lionel Messi

Video of the Day –

Fastest time to pop 100 balloons by a dog – Guinness World Records

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Battle of Fallujah (2016)
  - The head of the counter terrorism forces which partook in the offensive says that the city of Fallujah has been “fully liberated”. (AP)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Fighting in various remote villages in the Borno State of Nigeria kill at least one civilian and six Boko Haram militants. According to the Nigerian Army, they’ve rescued more than 5,000 hostages from the militants. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian Civil War
- Airstrikes reportedly kill at least 82 people, including 58 civilians, in Syria‘s eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

The expanded Panama Canal opens after a $4.5 billion expansion allowing larger ships to use it. (Los Angeles Times)

Disasters and accidents

A bus fire kills at least 35 people in China’s Hunan Province. (AFP via Geo TV)(Reuters)
A roller coaster derails and crashes at M&D’s theme park in Motherwell, Scotland. Ten people are reportedly injured. (BBC)
Five people are killed in the American state of Colorado after an Amtrak train collides with a minivan carrying six people near the town of Trinidad, Colorado. (9 News) (Denver Post)

Law and crime

Unidentified men with bush knives attack the Papua New Guinea University of Technology in the city of Lae, killing one student, and set fire to various buildings on the campus. (Radio New Zealand)
Organized crime in Italy
- Ernesto Fazzalari, Italy‘s second most-wanted fugitive and member of ‘Ndrangheta, is arrested by the Carabinieri near Molochio in Calabria, Southern Italy, after two decades on the run. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described Fazzalari as “one of the most important fugitives and a leading underworld figure”. (The Guardian)
Police report multiple stabbings at a planned “white pride” rally in Sacramento, California between the Traditionalist Workers Party and counter-protesters. The Sacramento Fire Department reports seven people were taken to local hospitals, two with life-threatening wounds. (CBS News) (ABC News)

Politics and elections

Spanish general election, 2016
- Voters in Spain go to the polls for a general election six months after an inconclusive election. Polls indicate that no party will be in position to form a government. (AP)
United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, says that Scottish Parliament has the power to veto the United Kingdom‘s exit from the European Union. (BBC)
- Heidi Alexander, Gloria De Piero, Ian Murray, Lilian Greenwood, Lucy Powell, Kerry McCarthy, Seema Malhotra, Vernon Coaker, Charlie Falconer, Karl Turner and Chris Bryant resign en masse from theLabour Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership over the EU referendum, and the firing of Hilary Benn. (BBC)
- The petition calling for a second referendum passes three million signatures. (Parliament UK)

Sport

Copa América Centenario
- In football, Chile wins the Copa América, defeating Argentina in a penalty shootout after regular time and extra time end scoreless. (Daily Mirror)
- Argentina star Lionel Messi, who became Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer during the Copa, announces his retirement from international football after the game. (ABC News)

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July 8, 2016

Top News Stories –

Christina Estrada: Former supermodel wins £53m divorce settlement –
A former supermodel has been awarded a £53m ($69m) lump sum after a divorce battle with her billionaire ex-husband. Berkshire-based Christina Estrada, 54, had wanted £196m from Saudi businessman Sheikh Walid Juffali, 61, to meet her “needs” – including £1m a year on clothes – the High Court was told. The total settlement, which takes into account her own assets, is about £75m. Her lawyers said this makes it “by more than £50m, the largest needs award ever made by an English court”. Ms Estrada, who is is currently living at the matrimonial home bordering Windsor Great Park, had rejected an offer that, when added to her own assets, would have given her £37m to live on. Ms Estrada was cross-examined in court on her needs, which she said included:

£40,000 a year for fur coats
£109,000 a year for haute couture dresses
£21,000 a year on shoes
£60m to afford a luxury London home
A £4.4m countryside home in Henley-on-Thames
£495,000 for five cars – three in London and two in the US

[BBC]

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the North Caucasus
- At least eight unidentified militants and one security officer are killed in ongoing clashes in rural Dagestan, Russia. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Boko Haram insurgency
- According to a Nigerian Army spokesman, a Boko Haram suicide bomber kills six people inside a mosque in the town of Damboa, Borno State. A second suicide bomber attempted to enter the same mosque but failed to gain entry and detonated his belt, killing only himself. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Airstrikes hit Darkush in Idlib Province near the Turkish border, killing at least 23 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 25 died when rebels shelled government-held areas of Aleppo. Friday is the last day of a 72-hour Syrian Army-sponsored ceasefire. (Reuters) (Reuters²)
South Sudanese Civil War
- Five soldiers between the two rival Sudan People’s Liberation Army factions are killed in clashes in the capital Juba, with reports of heavy gunfire continuing, despite President Salva Kiir Mayardit and rebel leader Riek Machar having reached a peace deal back in April. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Nepartak hits eastern Taiwan causing three deaths so far, 124 injuries, thousands of people to be evacuated, disrupting transport and power supplies. (Reuters) (CNN)

Health and medicine

Zika virus epidemic
- The death of an elderly Utah woman with a Zika virus infection in late June is the first reported Zika-related death in the continental United States. The woman had traveled to an area where Zika is spreading. The exact cause of death has not been determined; the lady had an underlying medical condition. (NBC News) (Time)

International relations

Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and Chairman of the Edhi Foundation, passes away in Karachi at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation. (Dawn News) (Pakistan Today)
2016 Warsaw summit
- NATO members gather in Warsaw, Poland, for a two-day summit. Much of the focus will be on Russia and NATO’s commitments in bolstering its presence in Eastern Europe. Other issues to be discussed will include Europe’s migrant crises, ISIL extremists, and the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
South Korea–United States relations
- American and South Korean military officials agree to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in the country to counter North Korea‘s growing threats and use of ballistic missile and nuclear tests. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Human rights in the Philippines; Philippine Drug War
- The left-wing political party, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, which is part of the current government, asks Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to investigate the recent vigilante killings of suspected drug pushers. (GMA News)
- Opposition senator and human rights lawyer Leila de Lima has condemned the killings and urged the Philippine Congress to investigate. (Channel News Asia)
2016 shooting of Dallas police officers
- Police kill Micah X Johnson, the gunman believed responsible for the killing of five police officers and shooting of seven more in Dallas, Texas following a standoff. (Los Angeles Times)

Politics and elections

2016 Zimbabwe protests
- Protests in Harare and elsewhere in the country continue despite police intimidation and pleas by President Robert Mugabe for them to stop. (Voice of America Zimbabwe)
- President Mugabe, in a live national television broadcast from a stadium in Bindura, blames Western sanctions for his country’s inability to pay government workers on time. (AP via The Washington Post) (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- #ThisFlag protest leader Pastor Evan Mawarire says the movement, which uses WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, will hold a two-day strike next week if demands, that include sacking corrupt ministers, payment of delayed salaries, lifting of roadblocks that residents say are used by police to extract bribes, etc., are not met. A drought has aggravated the country’s situation as have banks that have a daily withdrawal ceiling as low as $50. (Reuters via CNBC Africa) (Ventures Africa)

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