Top News Stories –

Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking –
Former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer has admitted that he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host. The American said he also helped to arrange bribes over the 1998 event. The admissions come in a newly released transcript from a 2013 US hearing in which he pleads guilty to 10 charges. [BBC]

Godzilla appointed Tokyo tourism ambassador –
He’s a lizard, he’s 120 metres high, and he smashes cities for fun. He’s also now a resident of Shinjuku, Tokyo. And a tourism ambassador for the district, following an official ceremony. The fictional monster blockbuster was issued a special certificate of residency by officials in the district, for services to tourism and bringing visitors to Japan. [BBC] See List of The Day

Video of the Day –

The Good Dinosaur Trailer UK – Official Disney Pixar

List of the day –

Godzilla’s Shinjuku residency papers –

Name: Godzilla

Address: Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho, 1-19-1

Date of birth: November 3, 1954 (this is the year the first Godzilla film was released)

Date of Shinjuku residency: April 9, 2015

Reason for special residency: Promoting the entertainment of and watching over the Kabuki-cho neighborhood and drawing visitors from around the globe in the form of the Godzilla head built atop the Shinjuku TOHO Building.

Previous visits to Shinjuku Ward: 3 times; Godzilla (1984), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • The Saudi Arabia led coalition launches airstrikes on military bases near the Yemeni capital Sanaa. (Reuters)
• The Grozny Chechnya office of the Committee Against Torture NGO is attacked by masked men who came out of a crowd of protesters. They broke down the door and trashed the office. National Leader Ramzan Kadyrov speculated the attack could have been carried out by relatives of Dzhambulat Dadayev upset that the NGO which investigates torture did not lead protests of the shooting of Dadayev by law enforcement officers from another region. Moscow Times
• War in Donbass
  • Pro-Russian separatists launched an offensive to take Marinka, Ukraine 5 kilometers from the separatist capitol of Donetsk. At least 19 people have died in fighting. Ukrainian sources claimed at least 10 tanks took part in the battle. (AFP via Yahoo! News), (New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

• Sinking of the Dong Fang Zhi Xing
  • The search continues for survivors of the Dong Fang Zhi Xing which sank on China‘s Yangtze River with 450 passengers on board. So far, 18 people have been confirmed dead with 14 people rescued. (CCTV via Twitter)
• At least 11 people are killed in a fire at a filling station in the Ghanaian capital Accra. (Kasapa)

International relations

• South Korea has successfully test fired two ballistic missiles that can hit all of North Korea. (AP)

Law and crime

• 2015 FIFA corruption case
  • Interpol issues red notices linked to arrest warrants for two former FIFA officials Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz and four executives. (Interpol via Twitter), (AP), (ITV)
  • Former FIFA official Chuck Blazer admits to taking bribes in relation to bids for the 2010 and 1998 FIFA World Cups. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• United States presidential election, 2016
  • Former Governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee announces he is seeking the Democratic Party nomination. (New York Times)

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