January 15, 2010

Top Stories –
Anybody bring a torch? –
A solar eclipse plunges parts of Africa and Asia into semi-darkness. According to NASA this was the longest annular eclipse of the third Millennium.
solar_eclipse_Africa

Swooner –
Author Jackie Collins has revealed that screen legend Marlon Brando had sex with her at a party when she was only 15, days after she had been expelled from a school in England.
Jackie-CollinsJackie Collins
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January 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Broken Bono –
U2 lead singer Bono says that a crash on his bicycle last November resulted in multiple left arm fractures, a broken should and hand and a fractured eye socket. He now has a titanium elbow and fears that he may never play guitar but his band-mates have reminded him “that neither they nor western civilization are depending on this.”
Bono U2 360 Tour 2011

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

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

Prince Andrew named in court papers –
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been named in Florida court papers by a woman who says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by his fried Jeffrey Epstein when she was a minor. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”.
Prince Andrew August 2014 (cropped)

Video of the Day –

This is my product from Matthijs_Vlot on Vimeo.

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March 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

BBC Comic Relief raises £78 million –
A record-breaking £78million was raised for Comic Relief by the end of Red Nose Day 2015. The total was revealed during the live television spectacular on BBC One. The charity also revealed that more than a billion pounds has been raised for Comic Relief since the charity was set up 30 years ago. Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis said he was “enormously proud” of the charity’s achievements. Rowan Atkinson brought back Mr Bean. Dawn French starred in one-off Vicar of Dibley special. Bond stars Daniel Craig and Roger Moore teamed up for a special 007 sketch, while Professor Stephen Hawking appeared in Little Britain. Victoria Wood triumphed in the celebrity Bake-Off. Star-studded sketch saw Liam Gallagher named a national treasure. [BBC]

Putin missing mystery magnifests –
The mystery over the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin deepened on Saturday as Russian state media broadcast – then retracted – reports that he had hosted an official visit from the President of Kyrgyzstan. Mr Putin has remained hidden from public view for nine days. Levels of fear and uncertainty in Moscow have been rising as rumours fly over what could be behind Putin’s lengthy disappearance.The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that there is anything amiss with the Russian leader, batting away suggestions that he is ill, dead, victim of a palace coup or in Switzerland to be by his girlfriend’s side as she gives birth. [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir_PutinVladimir Putin

Massive cyclone hits island of Vanuatu –
Dozens are feared dead after a ferocious tropical cyclone suddenly switched direction and smashed through the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, causing landslides, flooding and sea surges and widespread destruction. Cyclone Pam, one of the worst recorded in the southern hemisphere, is believed to have destroyed entire villages as it swept across the Pacific archipelago with winds of more than 200 miles an hour. Aid workers warned of “complete annihilation” in Port Vila, the capital, where some observers estimated 90 per cent of houses had been destroyed. “It felt like the world was going to end,” Alice Clements, from Unicef, told ABC News. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –


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June 14, 2015

Top News Stories –

Philae comet lander wakes up, says European Space Agency –
The European Space Agency (Esa) says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth. Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its mothership, Rosetta, last November. It worked for 60 hours before its solar-powered battery ran flat. The comet has since moved nearer to the Sun and Philae has enough power to work again, says the BBC’s science correspondent Jonathan Amos. An account linked to the probe tweeted the message, “Hello Earth! Can you hear me?” On its blog, Esa said Philae had contacted Earth, via Rosetta, for 85 seconds on Saturday in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.
@Philae2014/Twitter
Artist's impression of the Philae landerArtist’s impression of the Philae lander

Jurassic World takes $511m in record opening weekend –
The fourth instalment in the Jurassic Park series has become the first film to take more than $500m at the box office on its opening weekend. Jurassic World was the most popular screening in all 66 countries where it was released. The film made $204.6m (£131.4m) in the US, according to the firm Exhibitor Relations. It took $100m in China and $29.6m (£19m) in the UK and Ireland as part of the record global total of $511.8m. The Universal Pictures release had the second-highest grossing opening weekend in the US. The record is held by Marvel’s The Avengers, which took $207.4m in 2012. [BBC] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Jurassic World – Official Global Trailer

List of the Day –

Biggest Worldwide film openings since 2002 [from Wikipedia]

Rank Film Year Opening (USD)[1]
1 Jurassic World 2015 $511,800,000
2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 2011 $483,189,427
3 Furious 7 2015 $397,627,459
4 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009 $394,022,354
5 Marvel’s The Avengers 2012 $392,538,708
6 Avengers: Age of Ultron 2015 $392,471,109
7 Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2011 $382,425,000
8 Spider-Man 3 2007 $381,660,892
9 Iron Man 3 2013 $372,553,677
10 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2011 $350,653,677
11 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 2007 $343,972,864
12 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 2012 $340,667,634
13 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007 $332,715,157
14 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 2010 $330,017,372
15 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 $303,949,700
16 Transformers: Age of Extinction 2014 $302,138,390
17 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 2011 $291,022,261
18 The Twilight Saga: New Moon 2009 $274,939,137
19 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 2014 $273,897,634
20 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 2008 $272,150,927
21 X-Men: Days of Future Past 2014 $262,866,321
22 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 $250,000,534
23 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 $248,887,295
24 Avatar 2009 $241,571,046
25 The Da Vinci Code 2006 $232,074,037
26 2012 2009 $230,470,474
27 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse 2010 $228,893,465
28 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012 $222,617,303
29 Iron Man 2 2010 $220,766,270
30 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 $219,921,171
31 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 2009 $218,430,064
32 The Hunger Games 2012 $211,785,747
33 Alice in Wonderland 2010 $210,101,023
34 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 2013 $209,845,197
35 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 $207,197,367
36 War of the Worlds 2005 $203,061,125
37 Man of Steel 2013 $201,981,486
38 The Matrix Revolutions 2003 $201,390,000
39 Iron Man 2008 $201,174,140

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #ARGENTINARMY Roc Nation Toke
2 #AskRachel #zayniscomingback #GETWELLSOONCALUM
3 #ComoOdioAEsosQue #FlagDay Rolf Harris
4 Bolivia #ICouldUseALittleMore Snowden
5 Fede Bal #NWC2015 #zayniscomingback
6 Jurassic World #RedFlags #UFC188
7 Dave Grohl #MITB #SLOvENG
8 #GoodForYou Tbilisi Michael
9 #AssistamTeuOlharFLY Good Sunday #HappyBirthdayJesy
10 Vuoso #GETWELLSOONCALUM Townsend

Other News Stories –

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