Daily Telegraph - The 2010s

January 19, 2010

Top Stories –
Virginia shootings –
Eight adults have been shot and killed by a lone gunman in the US state of Virginia. Police say seven bodies were found at one home, while an eighth shooting victim was found at the side of the road and died on the way to hospital. Officers say they have surrounded a suspect in woodland just outside the central town of Appomattox.

Take your tablets –
“Tens of millions” of tablet computers will be sold in 2010, according to technology analysts at Deloitte. A report says keyboard and mouse-free devices are likely to be a top trend among consumers and describes tablets as “the Goldilocks of devices (not too big, not too small)”.
HP Tablet PC

Top Video –
Baby by Justin Bieber

Released today – the rest is history.

CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

July 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Katy Perry plans to buy former convent scuppered by nuns –
Katy Perry’s plans to buy a former convent in Los Angeles are being held up by a group of nuns. The sisters, who used to live on the site in the San Gabriel Mountains, say they’ve already sold it to a local restaurateur, Dana Hollister. But the local archbishop says the convent isn’t theirs to sell and has started legal action to stop it. Perry, the daughter of two Pentecostal preachers, reportedly met with the nuns in May to plead her case. “I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and… if it’s all right to say, I wasn’t happy with any of it,” Sister Rita Callanan told the Los Angeles Times. [BBC Newsbeat]
Katy Perry

Hottest July day ever recorded in UK –
The UK has seen the hottest July day on record, with temperatures hitting 36.7C (98F). The Met Office said the reading had been registered at Heathrow – breaking the previous record set in 2006. 38.5C (101.3F) is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK in Faversham, Kent in August 2003. A level 3 “heatwave action” heat-health alert has been declared for all parts of England. [BBC] See Top Twitter Trends

Billy Joel Bests Elton John, Sets New Record at MSG –
Billy Joel set a record for most performances by a single artist at Madison Square Garden with his 65th show Wednesday night, besting Elton John. “I didn’t know I’d be here 65 times, amazing,” Joel said. “I want to thank you very much for making this possible.” A banner rose to the top of the stage in honor of Joel’s 65th show. Actor-comedian Kevin James came onstage to help the veteran musician celebrate. [Elton] John, 68, previously had the MSG record with 64 performances. Joel sang John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” as yellow lights beamed from the stage.
Billy Joel

Video of the Day –

Steve Jobs – Official Trailer

List of the Day –

Billy Joel studio albums

Cold Spring Harbor (1971)
Piano Man (1973)
Streetlife Serenade (1974)
Turnstiles (1976)
The Stranger (1977)
52nd Street (1978)
Glass Houses (1980)
The Nylon Curtain (1982)
An Innocent Man (1983)
The Bridge (1986)
Storm Front (1989)
River of Dreams (1993)
Fantasies & Delusions (2001)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BuyCoolForTheSummerOniTunes	#LiesIveToldMyParents	#hottestdayoftheyear
2	#hottestdayoftheyear	#CanadaDay	#InternationalJokeDay
3	#LiesIveToldMyParents	#InternationalJokeDay	1st of July
4	#BienvenidoJulio	#AddGoatRuinAQuote	#AddGoatRuinAQuote
5	#الوليد_بن_طلا�…	#AskPOTUS	#CanadaDay
6	#MasterChefBR	Anthony Davis	Sir Nicholas Winton
7	#CanadaDay	Kevin Love	#BuyCoolForTheSummerOniTunes
8	#AddGoatRuinAQuote	Dukes of Hazzard	Debbie Harry
9	SASUKE	Aminu	Heathrow
10	Tiembla Chile	#BuyCoolForTheSummerOniTunes	#USAGER

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Shells fired by Houthi forces have killed at least 18 people near the southern port city of Aden, meanwhile United Nations officials have warned that a deadly dengue fever outbreak is rapidly gaining pace in the war-torn country. (Reuters)
Sinai insurgency
- Militants launch attacks on Egyptian Armed Forces checkpoints in North Sinai, leaving dozens of security personnel and insurgents killed. TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the assaults. (Times of India)(AP)
Egypt‘s security forces kill nine ‘terrorists’ during a raid in a Western Cairo suburb. The group were among “the most dangerous terrorists” wanted in Egypt according to Giza deputy security director Magdy Abd El-Aal. It has also been reported that Nasser El-Hafi, a former MP and a leading lawyer for the Muslim Brotherhood was among those killed. (Ahram)

Arts and culture

The Episcopal Church in the United States adopts its liturgy for same sex marriages. (General Convention), (NBC News)

Business and economy

Greek government-debt crisis
- Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund in the 71-year history of the IMF, unwinding decades of precedent and affecting consequences for the fund’s future rescues. (Financial Times) (IMF)
- The Prime Minister of Greece Alex Tsipras has written to creditors claiming he will accept a bailout but with conditions. (Daily Telegraph)
- Moody’s Investors Service downgrades Greek bonds further to caa3 saying that it expects the country to default further without further support from official creditors. (Reuters)
The World Bank urges the People’s Republic of China to undertake financial reforms to keep economic growth on track. (AP)
The United Kingdom Airports Commission issues its report recommending a new runway at Heathrow. (BBC), (ITV)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Indonesia Hercules C-130 crash
- The death toll from yesterday’s crash in the Indonesian city of Medan rises to 141. (The Guardian)

International relations

The Russian gas company Gazprom suspends shipments of gas to Ukraine following a payment dispute. (BBC)
The United States and Cuba officially announce that embassies will be reopened in each other’s countries for the first time since 1961. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Thousands of people are expected at a pro-democracy demonstration in Hong Kong on a holiday to mark the transfer from British to Chinese rule.(AP)
Burundian legislative election, 2015
- The President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza claims victory for his National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy coalition despite the fact that opposition parties did not contest the election. (African Media Agency via Mail and Guardian)
The Constitutional Court of Russia rules that it is constitutional to hold the 2016 legislative election in September rather than early December. (AP via Fox News)

Science and technology

The black hole in the Milky Way galaxy‘s V404 Cygni system wakes up (becomes energized, with a flow of gamma rays and very brief intense flashes of light) after 26 years, as determined by a telescope and other instruments. (MSN)

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September 28, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Supermoon’ coincides with lunar eclipse –
People around the world have observed a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincided with a so-called “supermoon”. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky. The eclipse – which made the Moon appear red – has been visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe. This phenomenon was last observed in 1982 and will not be back before 2033. [BBC]
The supermoon on September 28, 2015

Record number of guns found in U.S. airport searches –
U.S. airport security agents discovered a record 67 firearms in luggage passengers intended to carry on to airplanes during one week in September, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Of the 67 firearms found during the week ended Sept. 17, 56 were loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms found during a week in May 2013, TSA said. Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year. [Reuters]

Martian salt streaks ‘painted by liquid water’ –
Scientists think they can now tie dark streaks seen on the surface of Mars to periodic flows of liquid water. Data from a Nasa satellite shows the features, which appear on slopes, to be associated with salt deposits. Crucially, such salts could alter the freezing and vaporisation points of water in Mars’s sparse air, keeping it in a fluid state long enough to move. Luju Ojha and colleagues report the findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. There are implications for the existence of life on the planet today, because any liquid water raises the possibility that microbes could also be present. And for future astronauts on Mars, the identification of water supplies near the surface would make it easier for them to “live off the land”. [BBC]
Kaiser Gullies

Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal –
Nepalese officials say they will introduce regulations banning inexperienced climbers from attempting Mount Everest in an attempt to improve safety and maintain the “glory” of the summit. Permits to climb Everest will only be given to those who can prove they have already scaled mountains that are higher than 6,500 metres, officials said. Disabled, old and very young people also face bans. The permits cost thousands of dollars and are a key source of revenue for Nepal. It is unclear how the demand for “proof of competence” might be enforced. [Guardian] An earthquake hit the region on May 12, 2015 killing 18 climbers and guides on the mountain.

Video of the Day –

PilotPriest | The Last Goodbye from FatCat Films on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#FelizLunes	August Alsina	#mondaymotivation
2	#2YearsOfLarryMarried	#mondaymotivation	#SuperBloodMoon
3	#SuperBloodMoon	George Zimmerman	Ronnie Pickering
4	Marte	#MarsAnnouncement	Ben Arfa
5	スーパームーン	Arctic	#AddBirdsToASong
6	#KatyPerryNoRockInRio	#2YearsOfLarryMarried	Redcar
7	#وش_بتقول_لزوج�…	#facebookdown	Jack Grealish
8	아육대	#DuragHistoryWeek	#wakeupjames
9	#ALDUBThisMustBeLove	#Ask5SOSVevo	#labconf15
10	#QuieroUnMundoDonde	Grace Jones	Arctic

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The Taliban seize control of the provincial capital of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Locals say militants have raised their flag above the city’s main square. (Sky News), (The News Hub)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An Arab Coalition air-strike on a wedding party in Wahijah, a village near the Red Sea port city of Mocha in southern Yemen, reportedly leaves at least 38 people dead. (BBC)
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL claims responsibility for the killing of an Italian man in Dhaka. If verified, it would be Islamic State’s first attack in Bangladesh. (AP)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States
- Pope Francis returns to Rome after finishing his trip to Cuba and the United States. (CNN)

Business and economy

Royal Dutch Shell halts its drilling program for oil and gas off the coast of Alaska citing high costs and a challenging regulatory environment. (Bloomberg)
Sahaviriya Steel Industries closes the Teesside Steelworks in the Redcar and Cleveland borough in northern England resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Taiwan prepares for the impact of Typhoon Dujuan tonight, with thousands of people evacuated from outlying islands ahead of this. (AFP via France 24)

Politics and elections

Pro-Serbian opposition from the Democratic Front holds a mass protest rally in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. (The News Hub)
Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015
- Separatists won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia’s parliament (72 out of 135) in this weekend’s election that saw a record turnout of 78 percent. The winners will seek to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months. Spain’s constitution does not allow any region to break away. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vows to fight the separatist plan. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Science and technology

NASA states that it has found the best evidence yet of the existence of liquid water on Mars. The water is not pure but highly poisonous containing various dissolved salts that on Earth only an extremophile microbe might survive within. (News Limited viaDaily Telegraph), (NASA), (CNBC)
The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launches its first dedicated-astronomical research satellite, Astrosat. (Times of India)

Sports

The Government of Nepal bans inexperienced mountaineers, as well as people with disabilities, from attempting to climb Mount Everest. (The Guardian)

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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)

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January 1, 2016

Top News Stories –

Rat on a plane: Air India flight returns to Mumbai after rodent spotted on board –
An Air India plane flying to London was forced to return to Mumbai after passengers spotted a rat on board, the airline said on Thursday. Though the rat was not found, the pilot returned to Mumbai on Wednesday keeping passenger safety in mind, Air India said in a statement. Passengers were later flown by a separate aircraft to London. The aircraft would be fumigated and checked before it is returned to service. Maintenance workers would have to make sure that the rat did not damage equipment or chew any wires and the plane is certified to be rodent-free, an airline official said. [Daily Telegraph]

China’s new two-child policy law takes effect –
Married couples in China will from Friday (Jan 1) be allowed to have two children, after concerns over an ageing population and shrinking workforce ushered in an end to the country’s controversial one-child policy. The change, which was announced in October by the ruling Communist Party, takes effect from Jan 1, 2016, Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend. The “one-child policy”, instituted in the late 1970s, restricted most couples to only a single offspring through a system of fines for violators and even forced abortions. For years, authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom and had prevented 400 million births. [Channel News Asia]

Video of the Day –

Philips Presents: The Longest Night from T Brand Studio on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

100 Things we didn’t know last year – by the BBC (1-33)

1. It costs £300 to operate on a constipated goldfish.