August 10, 2015

Top News Stories –

Google unveils surprise restructuring under Alphabet –
Google has unveiled a surprise restructuring, creating a new parent company called Alphabet Inc. Under the rebranding, Google will retain its best-known businesses, such as search, apps, YouTube and Android. Some of the newer entities, such as the investment and research divisions, the “smart-home” unit Nest, and the drone arm will be run under Alphabet. Google founder Larry Page said it would create a simpler structure for what had become a diverse group of businesses. The name Alphabet was chosen for two reasons, Mr Page said. It represents language, “the core of how we index with Google search”, and because Alpha-bet means “investment return above benchmark, which we strive to do”. [BBC]

Tom Davies, 19, becomes ‘youngest person to cycle the world’ –
A British teenager is thought to have become the youngest person to cycle around the world. Tom Davies, 19, from Battersea, England, finished an 18,000-mile journey on Sunday raising more than £50,000 for several charities. Around 100 of his family and friends welcomed him home. During the six months he was away, he had to run away from a group of monkeys, was chased by dogs in Albania and raced an emu in Australia.

Video of the Day –

PATAGONIA 8K from Martin Heck | Timestorm Films on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NiallYourBodyIsWonderful	#CalmYourselfIn4Words	#MondayMotivation
2	Zekeriya Öz	#NationalSmoresDay	#AfternoonTeaWeek
3	#LaNochePintaPara	#NiallYourBodyIsWonderful	Ferrari
4	Fizzy	#BackInTheEighties	#WorldLionDay
5	Scioli	Ferrari	#BackInTheEighties
6	#CalmYourselfIn4Words	#BelieveInMagicBall	#NiallYourBodyIsWonderful
7	아육대	#Ferguson	Jeremy Vine
8	#お前がの後にすと�…	Alphabet	#CalmYourselfIn4Words
9	#LaLluviaSeHizoPara	#MondayMotivation	#AlcoholCelebs
10	#تغريده_تشفع_ل�…	Buddy Baker	#IWillGoToHellBecause

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Two women attack the US consulate in Istanbul with automatic rifles. No fatalities are reported, and one of the attackers, wounded during the exchange of fire, is captured. The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C) claim responsibility. (The News Hub) (Hürriyet Daily News)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A suicide bomb blast kills at least 5 people at the entrance to the Kabul International Airport. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. (BBC)
Two people are killed, and a third person seriously injured, during a stabbing at an Ikea store in Västerås, Sweden. (BBC News, via MSN)
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL claims responsibility for a bombing in central Iraqi city of Baquba that has killed at least 30 people and injured 40 more. (CNN)

Business and economy

Google creates a new holding company called Alphabet Inc. containing Google Inc. and Calico containing Google Ventures, Google Capital, Google X and other subsidiaries. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll from floods in Myanmar tops 100 with more than a million people affected. (AAP via Sky News Australia)

Politics and elections

Tony Smith is elected as Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives replacing Bronwyn Bishop who resigned as a result of an expenses scandal. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Science

A night parrot has been captured for the first time in over a hundred years in Australia’s outback. (The Guardian), (The Australian)
A scientific study, part of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, examined huge blocks of space as distant as several billion light years away and concluded that the universe is “slowly dying” as more stars gradually go out faster than they are being replaced by light-emitting active ones. In cosmological terms, the demise of the universe -age calculated at approximately 13.8 billion years- is billions, perhaps trillions of years away. (The Guardian, via MSN) (CNN) (South African Times Live)

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August 21, 2015

Top News Stories –

France train shooting: Americans overpower gunman –
Three people have been hurt after a heavily armed man opened fire on a train in northern France, before being overpowered by American passengers. The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras, and the attacker was arrested at Arras station. US President Barack Obama praised the passengers, who included two off-duty US military personnel. [Later named as Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and non-military friend Anthony Sadler] The man arrested was a 26-year-old Moroccan. Anti-terrorist officers have taken over the case. The weapons were said to include a Kalashnikov, a knife, an automatic pistol and cartridges. French authorities said three people were injured, two of them seriously – one with a gunshot wound, the other a knife wound. [BBC]

Spotify says sorry after privacy policy anger –
Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek has apologised following anger over the music streaming service’s new data privacy policy. Some users said they were leaving the music service over changes in its terms and conditions. The new terms included access to pictures, contact phone numbers and sensor data stored on the user’s smartphone. Mr Ek apologised in a blogpost for the “confusion” the changes had created. He promised an “update” to the new policy in order to clarify it but did not suggest that the terms themselves would be changed. “We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used,” Mr Ek wrote. He said Spotify would not access or import people’s photos, contacts, sensor or GPS data without their permission. [BBC]
Daniel Ek

One Direction release space-themed Drag Me Down video –
One Direction have released their first music video without Zayn Malik and it’s out of this world, kind of. Niall, Liam, Louis and Harry play astronauts in their video for Drag Me Down. Astronauts. Drag Me Down. Gravity. Space. Get it? Anyway, Nasa let 1D film the video at their headquarters in Houston, Texas. Libby Jackson, an astronaut flight education programme manager for the UK Space Agency, reviewed the promo for Newsbeat. “The guys went out to Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre and filmed at their facilities there – so it’s a fairly accurate portrayal of some of the elements of human spaceflight. “It’s obviously impossible to fit an entire astronaut’s training into a three minute video, but they’ve certainly given a flavour. “You see One Direction trying out a prototype Mars rover, which astronauts would need to learn drive for their missions,” she said. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day and Top Twitter Trends.

Malala celebrates string of top GCSEs –
Among those celebrating exam success is girls’ education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai who gained a string of As and A*s in her GCSEs. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, took to Twitter to list Malala’s grades which include A*s in GCSE and iGCSE maths. “My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child,” wrote Mr Yousafzai. Malala was shot by the Taliban after writing a diary about life under their rule in North-West Pakistan. Last year, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. [BBC]
Malala Yousafzai

Video of the Day –

One Direction – Drag Me Down

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#DragMeDownMusicVideo	#DragMeDownMusicVideoIsOut	#DragMeDownMusicVideo
2	Daniel Rabinovich	Gene Simmons	#FridayFeeling
3	#DragMeDownMusicVideoIsOut	#DragMeDownMusicVideo	#FitnessFriday
4	#PremiosTuMundo	#FridayReads	Kim Jong-Un
5	Hayırlı Cumalar	Jonathan Franzen	#DragMeDownMusicVideoIsOut
6	Ceará	#BadInFlightAnnouncements	#FavNashPic
7	#BuenViernes	#FlashbackFriday	#BadInFlightAnnouncements
8	#شنو_تسوي_لما_ت…	#5SOSonGMA	#corbynapologies
9	Kim Jong-un	Holly Holm	Jonathan Franzen
10	Tuca	#levelsnickj	John Barnes

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL, Battle of Al-Qaryatayn (August 2015)
- The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant destroys the historic Mar Elian monastery near the town of Al-Qaryatayn in the Homs Governorate in Syria. (AP)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- At least 65 civilians are killed following Saudi-led coalition air-strikes on the Yemeni city of Taiz. (BBC)
Three people are wounded on an Amsterdam-Paris train after a gunman opens fire. (The Guardian) (NBC news)

Arts and culture

A bottle with a letter inside by British marine biologist George Parker Bidder III is discovered by a woman vacationing in Germany. The bottle dating from 1906, if confirmed, would be the world’s oldestmessage in a bottle found to date. (MSN)
Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ordered Google, Inc. to remove, from its search engines, links to news stories about Google’s implementation of a “right to be forgotten” request, that include identifying information about a decade-old shoplifting conviction. The order applies only in the United Kingdom. (Wall Street Journal) (Irish Examiner) (ICO)

Business and economy

The Dow Jones drops and closes down more than 500 points with the NASDAQ and S&P also down more than 3%. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Goni kills two people in the Philippines with thousands of people evacuated in the Phillipines and Taiwan. (AFP via ABC Online)
2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- The season’s first hurricane, Hurricane Danny, is upgraded to Category 3, as its winds strengthened to 115 mph. On its current track, the hurricane will move across the Leeward Islands by Monday but may weaken when it reaches Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. (USA Today) (Weather Channel updated)

International relations

Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un orders the Korean People’s Army to be on a war footing following the exchange of artillery fire with South Korea yesterday. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)
The United States halts, then resumes its annual military exercise with South Korea, Foal Eagle, amid rising tensions.(CNN) (Washington Post)

Politics and elections

Ranil Wickremesinghe is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka following a strong performance by his United National Front for Good Governance in last Monday’s election. (AP via Star Tribune)
Greek legislative election, September 2015
- 25 parliamentarians from the governing Syriza party announce plans to form a new party, Popular Unity, led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. (BBC) (To Vima)
Turkish general election, November 2015
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls a snap election for 1 November after the previous election resulted in a hung parliament unable to form a coalition government. (BBC)

Sports

South Korean teenagers participated in an under-15 international football tournament in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. In its first game, the South Korean team defeated a Chinese team at theRungrado 1st of May Stadium. (Wall Street Journal)

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September 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Wayne Rooney breaks England goals record –
Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley. England captain Rooney equalled Charlton’s tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer. And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday’s match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years. [BBC] See List of the Day 2
Wayne Rooney

British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas –
A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides. Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off. The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out. Flight 2276 was bound for London’s Gatwick airport. There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board. [BBC]

Sam Smith blows his cover: Spectre theme song singer confirmed –
Sam Smith would make an excellent secret agent. After months of speculation, the singer has confirmed that he has recorded the theme song for the next James Bond film, Spectre. Smith has co-written the title song, Writing’s On The Wall, with Jimmy Napes. It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965. Smith confirmed the news on Twitter, calling the opportunity “one of the highlights of my career”. The identity of the theme song’s singer had been an impressively well-kept secret. Smith, whose 2012 collaboration with Disclosure brought him to fame, gave particularly mixed messages: when pushed on the subject by Radio 2 last week, he flatly denied involvement with the film’s soundtrack. But yesterday he dropped a heavy hint to the contrary, tweeting a teaser picture of a ring imprinted with the Spectre logo.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day 1

Earlier this week Smith’s album In the Lonely Hour stayed in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row – a new record.
Sam Smith

Video of the Day –

Justin Bieber – What do you mean? (acoustic)

List of the Day 1 –

James Bond Movie title themes [Wikipedia]

Film	Year	Score composer	Title song	Composed by	Performed by	U.K. peak position	U.S. peak position
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“James Bond Theme“	Monty Norman	John Barry & Orchestra; Monty Norman	—	—
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	“Kingston Calypso”	Monty Norman	Byron Lee and the Dragonaires	—	—
From Russia with Love (soundtrack)	1963	John Barry	“Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme”	John Barry, Lionel Bart, Monty Norman	Matt Monro	—	—
Goldfinger (soundtrack)	1964		“Goldfinger“	Leslie Bricusse Anthony Newley John Barry	Shirley Bassey	21	8
Thunderball (soundtrack)	1965		“Thunderball”	John Barry Don Black	Tom Jones	35	25
You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)	1967		“You Only Live Twice“	Leslie Bricusse John Barry	Nancy Sinatra	11	44
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”	John Barry Hal David	The John Barry Orchestra	—	—
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		“We Have All the Time in the World” – Secondary Theme	John Barry Hal David	Louis Armstrong	—	—
Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)	1971		“Diamonds Are Forever”	John Barry Don Black	Shirley Bassey	38	57
Live and Let Die (soundtrack)	1973	George Martin	“Live and Let Die“	Paul McCartney Linda McCartney	Paul McCartney & Wings	7	2
The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)	1974	John Barry	“The Man with the Golden Gun”	John Barry Don Black	Lulu	—	—
The Spy Who Loved Me (soundtrack)	1977	Marvin Hamlisch	“Nobody Does It Better“	Marvin Hamlisch Carole Bayer Sager	Carly Simon	7	2
Moonraker (soundtrack)	1979	John Barry	“Moonraker”	John Barry Hal David	Shirley Bassey	—	—
For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)	1981	Bill Conti	“For Your Eyes Only“	Bill Conti Michael Leeson	Sheena Easton	8	4
Octopussy (soundtrack)	1983	John Barry	“All Time High“	John Barry Tim Rice Stephen Short	Rita Coolidge	75	36
A View to a Kill (soundtrack)	1985		“A View to a Kill“	John Barry Duran Duran	Duran Duran	2	1
The Living Daylights (soundtrack)	1987		“The Living Daylights“	John Barry Pål Waaktaar	A-ha	5	—
Licence to Kill (soundtrack)	1989	Michael Kamen	“Licence to Kill”	Narada Michael Walden Jeffrey Cohen Walter Afanasieff	Gladys Knight	6	—
GoldenEye (soundtrack)	1995	Éric Serra	“GoldenEye“	Bono The Edge	Tina Turner	10	102
Tomorrow Never Dies (soundtrack)	1997	David Arnold	“Tomorrow Never Dies“	Sheryl Crow Mitchell Froom	Sheryl Crow	12	—
The World Is Not Enough (soundtrack)	1999		“The World Is Not Enough“	David Arnold Don Black	Garbage	11	—
Die Another Day (soundtrack)	2002		“Die Another Day“	Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzaï	Madonna	3	8
Casino Royale (soundtrack)	2006		“You Know My Name“	David Arnold Chris Cornell	Chris Cornell	7	79
Quantum of Solace (soundtrack)	2008		“Another Way to Die“	Jack White	Jack White Alicia Keys	9	81
Skyfall (soundtrack)	2012	Thomas Newman	“Skyfall“	Adele Paul Epworth	Adele	2	8
Spectre (soundtrack)	2015	Thomas Newman	“Writing’s On The Wall”	Sam Smith Jimmy Napes	Sam Smith	–	–

List of the Day 2 –

Wayne Rooney International appearances for England by year [from Wikipedia]

England national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	9	3
2004	11	6
2005	8	2
2006	8	1
2007	4	2
2008	8	5
2009	9	6
2010	11	1
2011	5	2
2012	5	4
2013	10	6
2014	13	8
2015	6	4
Total	107	50

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1YearSinceFireproof	#InternationalLiteracyDay	#InternationalLiteracyDay
2	Braxton Miller	#21YearsOfDallas	#1YearSinceFireproof
3	Ohio State	#AnnoyMeIn5Words	Rollins
4	#السعوديه_مالي…	Eye of the Tiger	#AskTroyeWILD
5	#OdioEternoAEsosQue	Slim Jesus	#charitytuesday
6	#NoEsMentiraSiTeDigo	#1YearSinceFireproof	Paula Radcliffe
7	UNIDOS PELO GURIZINHO	#My5WordConfession	Murray
8	Virgen del Valle	Mike Huckabee	#EngvsAus
9	#MTVEMA	#SerenavsVenus	#Panorama
10	RCTV	#DontTellMomBut	UK Startup

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkey bombs PKK sites in northern Iraq after a bombing yesterday in Hakkâri Province that killed at least 16 soldiers. (BBC)
- A PKK bombing attack on a minibus in the eastern Iğdır Province near the Armenian border kills 14 Turkish police officers. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron confirms that two ISIS militants, UK citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, were killed in Syria when a British drone attack hit their car on August 21, 2015. Both Khan and Amin had appeared in an ISIS recruitment video last year. They are alleged to have been plotting a terrorist attack on the UK. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- The Syrian government calls off airstrikes against rebel fighters in a central province due to a sandstorm affecting large parts of the Middle East. (AP)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- The UN announces that it has grave concerns for around 96,000 children in Al Hudaydah, Yemen who are starving due to the nearby fighting. (Al Jazeera English Online)
- A Saudi-led air raid on Yemen‘s Al Hudaydah port reportedly kills 20 Indian nationals involved in oil smuggling. (Times of India)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis announces reforms making it easier for people to annul their marriages. (BBC)
New Zealand temporarily bans the sale or lending of the book Into the River by Ted Dawe, pending a review which could see the book restricted long-term. This is the first time in 22 years that a book has been restricted to this extent in New Zealand. (The Guardian) (Radio New Zealand Online)

Business and economy

German airline Lufthansa cancels 84 long-haul flights as pilots go on strike over a proposed restructure plan. (Bloomberg)
Jeff Smisek resigns as CEO of United Airlines due to allegations that he tried to improperly influence officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

A massive sandstorm hits Lebanon and Syria as well as Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the storm caused the deaths of two women, and sent hundreds to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Particularly hard hit were the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many in flimsy tents in informal campsites. (Middle East Eye) (AP via CTV News) (Al Jazeera English Online)
The VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam is fully evacuated after parts of the hospital were flooded because of a burst in a major water-pipeline. (DutchNews)
A British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft suffers an uncontained engine failure and fire on take-off from McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. All on board safely evacuate.BBC News Online

International relations

North and South Korea are to hold reunions for families divided by the Korean War from October 20 to October 26. (AP via Washington Times)
European migrant crisis
- Sigmar Gabriel, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, says that Germany “can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year” while calling on other nations to take their fair share. ” (BBC)

Law and crime

During protests over a lack of mining jobs in South Africa‘s Limpopo province, demonstrators destroy 21 buses, a police station, and a municipal office as well as blocking roads from Lephalale to Marapong. (ENCA)
Death of Freddie Gray
- The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland agrees to a $6.4 million settlement with relatives over the death of Freddie Gray. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Miller v. Davis
- Kim Davis, the county clerk of Rowan County in the US state of Kentucky, is released from jail on contempt of court charges but she may not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples. (Yahoo! politics)

Politics and elections

Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, is reelected unopposed as the President of the Liberal Democratic Party. (AP via The New York Times)

Sport

In football, Wayne Rooney becomes the highest goalscorer for the England national football team with a goal against Switzerland in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. (ITV)

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September 19, 2015

Top News Stories –

Novelist Jackie Collins dies aged 77 –
The novelist Jackie Collins has died of breast cancer at the age of 77, her family said in a statement. “It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one-of-a-kind mother,” the statement said. The British-born writer, sister of actress Joan Collins, died in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman said. Collins’s raunchy novels of the rich and famous sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries.
In a career spanning four decades, all 32 of her novels appeared in the New York Times bestseller list. [BBC]
Jackie Collins

Japan shocks the rugby world and Twitter erupts –
80-1 outsiders to beat South Africa, Japan’s win over the two-times world champions has sent Twitter into a frenzy. Japan’s utterly well-deserved conquering of the mighty Springboks [32-34] has, unsurprisingly, made Twitter’s rugby community quite excited.The bookmakers usually know a thing or two about these things, yet more than a few people would have thought this morning that even 40-1 for the Brave Blossoms to win against the Boks was rather generous. For those who don’t understand how big a shock this was, @Burgerboxx provided an interesting, and somewhat useful, analogy. [Daily Telegraph]

Guinness World Record judicator hit in head by robot at giant Belfast Meccano bridge opening –
Engineering students have set a new world record with a 100ft footbridge made from Meccano. The temporary structure – weighing in at approximately 1,300lbs – has been built 100 feet long across Belfast’s Clarendon Dock and was unveiled at an event on Saturday. Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to confirm it had set a record for the world’s largest ever Meccano construction. However the event did not go quite as smoothly as organisers hoped, with a giant Meccano robot believed to have malfunctioned and swiped a Guinness World Record judicator round the head.Dr Danny McPolin from the school of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, who led the project, said: “If you count all the nuts and bolts and washers, there is approximately 70,000. “In terms of the longer pieces, if they’re all laid out end-to-end I think it would be about 3.8kms – approximately 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Inferno – Time Slice (Bullet Time) Camera Array from Mitch Martinez on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate	#TalkLikeAPirateDay	#WhatDidZoeySay
2	#WhatDidZoeySay	#ItDrivesMeCrazyWhen	Brian Sewell
3	#QueenNoMultishow	#THANKYOUZAYNFORCOMINGBACK	#TalkLikeAPirateDay
4	#الشيخ_راشد_بن_…	#iHeartRadio	#iHeartRadio
5	#THANKYOUZAYNFORCOMINGBACK	#GotCastInARealityShow	Japan
6	Diego Costa	#iHeartShawnMendes	#MakeAFilmConfused
7	Granada	Leonard Fournette	Costa
8	#TeGanasMiOdioSi	#2YearsOfWhereverYouAre	West Ham
9	VoteBieberOnEMA	#SGHastaSiempre	#DavisCup
10	貞ちゃん	Diego Costa	Obama is a Muslim

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Islamist rebels execute 56 Syrian Army personnel following the capture of the Abu al-Duhur airbase in the Idlib Governorate according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Telegraph), (The News Hub)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- At least 55 are killed when Turkish warplanes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in northern Iraq, according Turkey’s security sources. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi-led military coalition bombards government buildings and residential neighborhoods in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, killing about 30 people, including civilians. Rescuers continue searching for other possible victims buried under the rubble. (AP viaOrange County Register), (Xinhuanet)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis departs from Rome to begin his Apostolic Visit to Cuba, where he will visit Havana, Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba, and meet with Raul Castro. The visit is his first there, and the third to the country by a reigning Pope. Francis will then visit the US, also his first visit there as Pope. In the US, he will address a joint session of Congress (the first by an incumbent Pope), meet with President Obama, canonize Junipero Serra, tour a prison and the World Trade Center site, hold Masses in New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, and preside over the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. (Vatican), (USCCB), (The New York Times)
Sábado Gigante, the world’s longest running variety show in television history, ends after 53 years on air. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy rain triggers flash floods killing 10 people in Tehran and southern Iran with eight others missing. (AP via CP24)
Ten Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad ethanol tanker cars derail and two catch fire in southeast South Dakota between the towns of Scotland and Lesterville. No injuries are reported and no nearby structures are threatened by the fire. (AP via ABC News)

Health

2015 Dengue fever outbreaks
- Authorities in the Dominican Republic issue an alert as the number of deaths (57 this year) and cases of dengue fever continue to rise. (AP via ABC News)
- The Delhi government defers elective surgery to free up 1000 hospital beds to treat a dengue fever outbreak. (Times of India)

International relations

Japanese Self-Defense Forces
- Japan’s upper chamber of Parliament approves controversial legislation, which the lower chamber passed in July, that expands the role of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces overseas. (CNN), (Mainichi Daily News)
European migrant crisis, Croatia–Hungary relations
- Hungarian security forces confiscate a Croatian train carrying 1000 migrants and disarm 40 Croatian police officers accompanying the migrants. Hungarian authorities repatriate the officers. (Sky News)
- Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović says Croatia will ‘force’ Hungary to accept migrants by sending them to the Hungarian border. Hungary responded angrily calling Milanović “pathetic” and accused Croatia of human smuggling. (BBC)
- Croatia allows some asylum seekers to move on past its borders into Hungary and Slovenia. (Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- Italy rescues thousands of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. (Al-Jazeera)
- A five-year-old Syrian girl dies and several other refugees are missing after their boat sinks in the Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard says it rescued 11 people from the boat carrying 26 people. (AFP via Asian Age),(Reuters)
Egypt’s new Cabinet is sworn in before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a week after the previous administration resigned following a corruption scandal, and a month before parliamentary elections. The 33-member body has 16 new ministers, including two women. Sherif Ismail, petroleum minister in the last cabinet, is the new prime minister. (Egyptian Streets), (Reuters)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation launches an investigation of money laundering associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund. (Wall Street Journal)

Sports

2015 Rugby World Cup
- In what media called “the greatest shock in rugby history”, Japan defeat two-time World Cup champion South Africa 34–32 in Brighton. (ESPN (UK))
- In another result viewed as a surprise, Georgia defeat Tonga 17–10 in Gloucester. In the match, Georgia’s 18-year-old Vasil Lobzhanidze becomes the youngest player ever to appear in a Rugby World Cup match. (PA via ESPN (UK))

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

September 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Michigan motorist sets car, gas pump on fire trying to kill spider with cigarette lighter –
A motorist got more than he bargained for when he stopped at a Michigan gas station earlier this week and started a fire when he tried to kill a spider with a cigarette lighter. Surveillance video from the Mobil gas station in Center Line shows flames quickly engulfing the man’s car and the gas pump, Fox 2 Detroit reported Friday, while adding that luckily no one was hurt. The dopey motorist put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. He told authorities he spotted a spider on his gas tank and pulled out his lighter to get rid of it, the station said. He claimed to be deathly afraid of spiders. Calmly, Adams hit the gas automatic stop button and quickly called the Center Line Fire Department. The fire destroyed the gas pump. The motorist’s vehicle suffered little damage. [Fox News] See Video of the Day

Mark Zuckerberg calls for universal internet access to combat poverty –
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and a host of celebrities kicked off a campaign on Saturday to make internet access universal, saying this was critical to fulfilling the United Nations’ newly adopted agenda to combat global ills. Calling for efforts to ensure internet access for everyone globally by 2020, Mr Zuckerberg said internet connections are a dynamic tool for sharing knowledge, creating opportunities, lifting communities out of poverty and promoting peace. “A ‘like’ or a post won’t stop a tank or a bullet, but when people are connected, we have a chance to build a common global community with a shared understanding,” Mr Zuckerberg told at a private lunch with business leaders at the United Nations. [Daily Telegraph]
Mark Zuckerberg

Switzerland bans sale of Volkswagen diesel cars –
Switzerland is banning sales of Volkswagen diesel engine cars which could be fitted with ‘cheating’ devices in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal. Authorities said all VW models with diesel engines suspected of being able to trick emissions tests are affected. Other makes in the VW group, including Seat and Skoda, are also being banned from sale. In all, the move is expected to affect 180,000 cars, not yet sold or registered in Switzerland. Cars sold and already on the road will not be subject to the ban. [Daily Telegraph] On September 22 the CEO of VW’s American company admitted that they had “screwed up” and subsequently resigned.

Video of the Day –

LiveLeak – Crazy Man Set Fire To Gas Station To Kill Spider

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ALDubEBforLOVE	#3YearsRIPAvalanna	#ENGvWAL
2	#3YearsRIPAvalanna	#BatmanDay	#PiggyFilms
3	#QueMeFalteTodoMenos	#GlobalCitizen	#Strictly
4	#ShowtimeKapamilyaDay	#MySexLifeInAMovieTitleIs	#LabWomen15
5	#1DPremiosTelehit	Meow the Jewels	#ComplainWithASong
6	Messi	#PopeInPhilly	#BatmanDay
7	#VerdadesSecretas	#ALDubEBforLOVE	#JapaneseGP
8	#BatmanDay	#ComplainWithASong	#3YearsRIPAvalanna
9	#SlipknotNoMultishow	#Popein3words	Bond
10	Newcastle	Chris Martin	#COYS

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Two Saudi border guards, including a district commander, are killed following clashes with Yemeni forces near the border with Yemen. (Reuters)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- At least four Armenian soldiers are killed following an Azeri attack near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Yesterday, Azerbaijan shelled several ethnic Armenian villages, leaving three civilians dead. (Reuters)
- Armenia‘s Defense Ministry declares that it will “use artillery and missiles” to repel attacks by Azerbaijan following the deaths of four soldiers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, raising fears of all-out war between the rival countries. (Fox News)
A prominent Libyan Zuwarah militia leader and migrant smuggler, Salah Al-Maskhout, is reportedly killed in Tripoli by Italian special forces. The EU recently approved military action against people smuggling networks operating out of Libya. (Malta Today)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Fighting in the south-eastern Şırnak Province kills thirty-four PKK militants, four civilians, and two Turkish soldiers. Also, the Turkish military conducts airstrikes on PKK camps in Iraq‘s northern Dohuk Governorate. (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Iraq says that Iran, Russia and Syria are assisting it in its fight with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Niala forms off the coast of the Hawaiian islands with the likelihood of heavy rain on the island of Hawaii (Big Island) over the weekend. (Accuweather)
A fire severely damages the Baitul Futuh Mosque, London, United Kingdom. (BBC News Online)
2015 Hajj stampede
- The death toll from the stampede near Mecca rises to 769, with 934 injuries. (ITV)

International relations

Russia-Estonia relations
- Russia and Estonia exchange two convicted spies. (BBC)

Law and crime

Ahmad Al Faqi is transferred to the International Criminal Court to face trial for the war crime of directing the destruction of cultural sites in Timbuktu, Mali when the city was under the control of Islamist groups in 2012. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

Bolivia‘s Plurinational Legislative Assembly passes legislation that would amend the constitution removing term limits for the President if passed in a referendum next year. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

October 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Gunman kills nine at Oregon college, dies in shootout with police –
A gunman stalked onto a college campus in southwestern Oregon on Thursday and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven before police shot him to death, authorities said, in yet another burst of U.S. gun violence that ranked as the deadliest this year. The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was slain in an exchange of gunfire with two police officers in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the morning rampage. He was not publicly identified by local authorities – the county sheriff vowed never to utter his name. But CBS, CNN, NBC and the New York Times named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. [Reuters]

Native American tribe to open first marijuana resort in US –
A Native American tribe in the US state of South Dakota has said it plans to open what would be the first marijuana resort in the US. The 400-member Santee Sioux tribe already runs a casino, hotel and ranch and hopes the resort will be a new revenue generator. Marijuana is not legal in South Dakota but the tribe has been permitted to grow and sell pot since June. It will open on New Year’s Eve and only be sold on the reservation. Sioux leaders would grow the marijuana to be offered in a smoking lounge. [BBC]

Peeple app for rating human beings causes uproar –
A new app that promises to let users review individuals has caused controversy before it has even launched. Peeple will allow members to give star ratings to people they know via the app, much as restaurants and hotels are rated on sites such as Yelp. The app has caused uproar online, with web users descrying it as “creepy” and “terrifying”. Peeple’s founders say they will pre-screen for negative abuse. However, users will not be able to delete comments made about them. Nor will they be able to remove themselves from the site once on it. [BBC] See Video of the Day

Study supports cancer link with height –
A Swedish study of five million people appears to support the theory that height and cancer risk are linked. The study found that taller people had a higher risk of breast cancer and skin cancer, among other cancers.
Its results suggested that for every 10cm (4in) of height, when fully grown, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18% in women and 11% in men. But experts said the study did not take into account many risk factors – and that tall people should not be worried. Previous studies have shown a link, although why it exists is not known. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Rate Me

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	Ahmet Hakan	#Peeple	#Peeple
2	#FelizJueves	ITS OCTOBER	1st of October
3	#GHFinal	#WorldVegetarianDay	#WorldVegetarianDay
4	samfreeさん	#BreastCancerAwarenessMonth	Happy Independence
5	#RetoTelehit	#UCCShooting	#olderpeoplesday
6	FRAUDE EN GRAN HERMANO	Julie Andrews	St Albans
7	Bienvenido Octubre	#BadTrampStamps	#WALvFJI
8	#Empire	Sandy Hook	#WentworthPrison
9	Lucifer	Rick Owens	Nigerians
10	#ALDUB11thWeeksary	#MarsSurvivalTips	Dele Alli

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Gaza–Israel conflict
- In retaliation for the rocket fired on the Israeli city of Ashdod, the Israeli Air Force carries out airstrikes on suspected Hamas positions in Gaza. No casualties are reported. (The News Hub)
Afghan War, Battle of Kunduz
- The government of Afghanistan claims to have recaptured the city of Kunduz. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- Taliban forces take over the Warduj District of the Badakhshan Province as government forces retreat. (WVTM)
- A C-130J transport aircraft crashes in eastern Afghanistan as it approaches the airport in Jalalabad killing at least 11 people on board. A U.S. military spokesman says there were no reports of enemy fire at the time. (Al Jazeera), (ABC News),(Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  - Russian air-strikes reportedly kill U.S.-backed Syrian rebels as Russian jets bomb rebel positions in rural areas of northern Syria, including the town of Jisr al-Shughour, which is currently held by Islamist militant groups including Al-Qaeda‘s branch in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front. (The Telegraph)
  - Hezbollah fighters and newly arriving Iranian troops are reportedly preparing for a ‘major ground offensive’ in northern Syria, backed by Russian air-strikes. (Reuters)
  - Iraq‘s prime minister Haider al-Abadi endorses Russian air-strikes against ISIS forces in Iraq while expressing ‘disappointment’ with the U.S.-led coalition. (Times Live)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- 2015 PKK rebellion
  - Four Turkish soldiers are killed in PKK attacks across southeastern Turkey. Turkish authorities impose a curfew in the city of Mardin due to escalating violence. (Today’s Zaman)
Chinese authorities arrest a suspect in yesterday’s 17 Liucheng County mail bomb explosions that killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50. The suspect is identified as 33-year-old quarry-worker, Wei Yinyong, from Dapu township also inGuangxi Province. There is another explosion this morning. While it’s not clear if it is connected, authorities reportedly located 60 packages yesterday which were being examined by a bomb squad. (The New York Times), (Asia One), (Voice of America), (Al Arabiya)
Umpqua Community College shooting
- A mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon kills ten people and leaves seven wounded. in The shooter kills nine people before police shot him to death. The man’s motives are unknown. (Reuters), (CNN), (BBC News),(Reuters)
- The shooter is 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. (CBS News), (Palm Beach Post)
Palestinian militants kill an Israeli couple in a shooting attack on their car in the northern West Bank; four of the couple’s children are in the vehicle at the time but are not hit by the gunfire. Hamas praises the “heroic attack” and calls for “more high-quality attacks.” (The Times of Israel) (Israel National News) (Breaking Israel News)
Yemeni Civil War
- Government forces and the Southern Resistance backed by coalition forces wrest control of the strategic strait of Bab Al Mandab and a small Mayoun Island in the Red Sea from Al Houthi militants. (AP via Fox News) (Gulf News) (Al Jazeera‎)

Business and economy

The UAW at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reject a four-year contract, setting the stage for at least localized strikes against the automaker.(Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Joaquin
  - Hurricane Joaquin becomes a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Some additional strengthening is possible tomorrow. The storm, moving at just 6 mph, is predicted to drop 10 to 15 inches of rain in the central Bahamaswith up to five inches expected for the rest of the archipelago. (Nassau Tribune), (NHC)
  - Joaquin, expected to pick up forward speed when it turns north tomorrow, could hit the East Coast this weekend. While forecasts of the storm’s trajectory are still uncertain, nearly every state from North Carolina to Connecticut is in the so-called “cone of uncertainty.” North Carolina and New Jersey join Virginia in declaring states of emergency. (UPI), (Reuters)

Health and medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends everyone diagnosed with HIV immediately receive antiretroviral therapy and recommends preventative treatment for all at “substantial risk” of infection. Previously, the UN health agency had recommended to physicians that the threshold for patient intervention was the presentation of symptoms. (The Verge), (Time), (WHO)

International relations

Bahrain recalls its ambassador to Iran and asks the Iranian acting chargé d’affaires to leave the kingdom within 72 hours after the Iranian is declared persona non-grata, a day after Bahraini security forces discovered a large bomb-making factory inNuwaidrat and arrested a number of suspects linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Bahrain’s decision to recall its ambassador comes “in light of continued Iranian meddling in the affairs of the kingdom of Bahrain in order to create sectarian strife and impose hegemony and control.” (The Daily Star), (Gulf News)

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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)

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October 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Twitter goes down for 10 minutes, everybody panics –
Twitter went down for users in several parts of the world, causing widespread panic and much soul-searching across the UK, Japan and parts of America. The Twitter website, Tweetdeck – its service for power users, and its mobile apps were all down at 14:14 BST on Thursday. Service was restored roughly 10 minutes later. The website Down Detector, which registers reports of outages, registered a huge spike in queries for Twitter being down. Users in the UK, Japan, the US and the Middle East were among those affected. [Daily Telegraph]
Twitter down notice

Russia ‘tried to cut off’ World Wide Web –
Russia has run large scale experiments to test the feasibility of cutting the country off the World Wide Web, a senior industry executive has claimed. The tests, which come amid mounting concern about a Kremlin campaign to clamp down on internet freedoms, have been described by experts as preparations for an information blackout in the event of a domestic political crisis. Andrei Semerikov, general director of a Russian service provider called Er Telecom, said Russia’s ministry of communications and Roskomnadzor, the national internet regulator, ordered communications hubs run by the main Russian internet providers to block traffic to foreign communications channels by using a traffic control system called DPI. The objective was to see whether the Runet – the informal name for the Russian internet – could continue to function in isolation from the global internet. The experiment, which took place in spring this year, failed because thousands of smaller service providers, which Roskomnadzor has little control over, continued to pass information out of the country, Mr Semerikov said. [Daily Telegraph]

Porn during lunch breaks is OK but smoking cannabis can get you sacked, Italy’s highest court rules –
Employees cannot be sacked for watching porn during their lunch breaks if it does not impact upon their ability to do their work, Italy’s highest court has ruled. According to Italian media reports, the Court of Cassation ruled against major car manufacturer Fiat after it sacked a factory worker in Termini Imerese, a town in Sicily. Bosses had caught the man watching adult films at work, but he argued that his viewing was limited to “catching a glimpse of a movie during his lunch break”. But it wasn’t all bad news for Fiat, as in a separate ruling on Wednesday the court found the carmaker was within its rights to sack a man caught smoking cannabis during his lunch break – presumably because its effects continued into his working hours. [The Independent]

Video of the Day –

Back To The Future In ACTUAL 2015 – by College Humor

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ImPerfect	#SpiritDay	#SNP15
2	#FelizJueves	#ProblemsTechnologyCantSolve	#EducationDay
3	Primark	Master P	Die Hard
4	#EstariaNecesitando	The Drone Papers	Oscar Pistorius
5	#شخصيه_كويتيه_�…	#OceanCelebs	#kidscompany
6	#5SOSMNL	Oscar Pistorius	Fantastic Four
7	Oscar Pistorius	#IDontMeanToScareYouBut	#GlobalHandwashingDay
8	#Empire	Theranos	Boris Johnson
9	#DiaDoProfessor	Fantastic Four	Danny Ings
10	#曲名に無職だけど�…	Evan Peters	King Kong

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- President of the United States Barack Obama announces that he will keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan. (RT)
Internal conflict in Myanmar:
- The government of Myanmar signs a peace treaty with eight ethnic armed groups, although some powerful groups stay away. (AP via Star Tribune)
Yemeni Civil War (2015), Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Yemen‘s Sana’a-controlled forces fire a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Saudi “war crimes”. A spokesman for Yemen’s military allied with Houthi militants said the missile hit a Saudi airbase and caused “widespread destruction”. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi side. (Reuters)
- Thousands gather in Aden‘s Al Ouroudh Square to thank coalition forces and to celebrate victory three months after pushing Houthi militants out of southern Yemen. (Gulf News)
European migrant crisis
- At least one person is reportedly killed after Bulgarian border guards open fire on a group of illegal migrants after they attempted to cross the border from Turkey. The incident happened near the southeastern town of Sredets. (AFP via Channel News Asia) (Yahoo)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A twin bombing near a mosque kills at least 26 people in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri. (The Washington Post)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- An Israeli is stabbed by a fellow Israeli Jew, because he is mistaken for an Arab. (New York Times) (The Guardian)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions scandal
- The German automotive watchdog KBA orders Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million cars in that country after the emissions scandal becomes public knowledge. (Reuters via SBS Australia)

International relations

Vietnam says a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea. More than 20 Vietnamese fishing boats have been attacked by Chinese vessels this year causing tensions between both countries.(AP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

Hurricane Joaquin & SS El Faro
- The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) has asked the U.S. Navy to resume the search ended by the U.S. Coast Guard for the merchant vessel SS EL FARO believed lost on Oct. 7 during Hurricane Joaquin. The loss of the ship – with its crew of 33 hands – is regarded as “the worst U.S. merchant marine disaster of recent memory.” (USNI News)

Law and crime

2015 Parramatta shooting
- Rahan Alou and Talal Alameddine are charged with assisting Farhad Jabar to kill New South Wales Police Force accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta, Australia on 2 October 2015. (The Guardian) (ABC News Australia)
A cache of classified intelligence documents published from The Intercept, released by an anonymous whistleblower, highlight details surrounding post-September 11 attacks United States drone strikes in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen, alleging that theUnited States conducts these strikes under extremely unreliable information and faulty pretenses. (Al-Jazeera America) (U.S. News) (Vice News)
Five individuals — four men and a teenage boy — are arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl at a Sydney, Australia, house party. (CNN)
Scottish and U.S. prosecutors identify two Libyans as suspects in the Lockerbie bombing. (CNN) (The Guardian)
The Nevada Gaming Control Board rules that daily fantasy sports leagues are a form of gambling that requires a license to operate in the state, including being offered to state residents. Due to Nevada’s status as a major gambling center, the decision is seen as potentially influencing other U.S. states’ stances on the leagues. (CBS News) (ESPN)

Politics and elections

2015 United Nations Security Council election
- Egypt, Senegal, Uruguay, Japan, and Ukraine are elected to two-year, non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council for 2016-17, replacing Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, and Nigeria. (New York Times)

Science

Astronomers say they have observed bizarre light patterns using the Kepler Space Telescope from a star that appears old, but is shrouded in debris like a much younger star, roughly 1,500 light-years away. This has led to speculation that these are an “artificial extraterrestrial mega-structure”, orbiting the star known as KIC 8462852 in the Cygnus constellation. KIC 8462852 lies just above the Milky Way between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. It first attracted the attention of astronomers in 2009 when the Kepler Space Telescope identified it as a candidate for having orbiting Earth-like planets. (Independent) (Discovery News)

Sports

2015 MLB postseason
- In the U.S., the New York Mets defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3–2 in the deciding Game 5 of their National League Division Series. The Mets move on to face the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-seven 2015 National League Championship Series, which opens on October 17 at the Mets’ home of Citi Field. (AP via ESPN)

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October 16, 2015

Top News Stories –

Santa Claus is elected to North Pole City Council in Alaska –
Mr Claus, who is 68 years old, has a white beard and is often seen in his hometown wearing red. Admittedly this North Pole is actually in Alaska, not the one every associates with Christmas. And Mr Claus actually changed his name from Thomas Patrick O’Connor about 10 years ago. “I’m fairly well known. I think people are pleased with it. We’ll see. Time will tell,” he said. “I have three years to make a positive impression so hopefully I will get off on the right foot later this month.” North Pole, Alaska, is home to about 2,200 people. Their new city councillor will take his seat later this month. Mr Claus, who was living in Nevada when he changed his name, says he tries to help at-risk children and improve the lives of young people. [BBC Newsbeat]

China home to more billionaires than the US –
China has eclipsed the United States as home to the world’s highest number of billionaires, according to a new report. Despite China’s economy cooling in recent months, the number of billionaires within its borders rose this year by 242, bringing the total to 596. The US, in contrast, is currently home to 537 billionaires, according to The Hurun Report, which monitors the wealthy in China. The list reflects a power shift in China’s economy, with the surge in the number of super rich fuelled by the growth of the nation’s IT and manufacturing industries. [Daily Telegraph]

Yahoo Mail does away with passwords –
One of the biggest pains of the digital age is having to memorise multiple lengthy and appropriately unguessable passwords. Now, Yahoo has done away with the password altogether in its new Yahoo Mail app, instead asking users to sign in via push notification. The new app uses new sign-in method Yahoo Account Key, which sends a notification to the smartphone you’ve chosen to link to the account asking ‘Are you trying to sign in?’ and the option to select yes or no. Yahoo claims the feature is more secure than a traditional password due to the second step of phone verification, but without the need to input a code. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Tesla’s Autopilot System Is Creepy And Wonderful

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#ItsPerfectDay	#PreOrderPURPOSE	#FridayFeeling
2	#PreOrderPURPOSE	#ItsPerfectDay	#WorldFoodDay
3	#HeyEverybodyMusicVideo	#HeyEverybodyMusicVideo	#PreOrderPURPOSE
4	Hayırlı Cumalar	Malia Obama	#HeyEverybodyMusicVideo
5	Oscar Wilde	#RememberWhenPeopleActually	#MercuryPrize
6	Falcons	Ann Coulter	#ItsPerfectDay
7	Irene Lozano	#NationalBossDay	Cook
8	BuyPurposeOnITunes	#WorldFoodDay	#bbcqt
9	#BuenViernes	Joseph’s Tomb	Falcons
10	#ادخل_وكتب_دعو�…	#CrapperBooks	Joe Cole

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian political violence
- Palestinian rioters set fire to the building containing Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus causing heavy damage to the structure before the fire is put out. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemns the attack. (Times of Israel) (Jerusalem Post)
- An Israeli soldier is stabbed shortly after the fire by a Palestinian posing as a journalist with a camera and a “PRESS” vest; the attacker is shot dead. (Reuters)
Battle of Aleppo (2012–present), Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- Syrian Army forces supported by Russian planes attack insurgents south of the city of Aleppo. (Reuters)
Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- Turkey says it has shot down a drone near the Syrian border after it failed to leave Turkish airspace. (Today’s Zaman)

Arts and culture

A United States appeals court rules the Google Books Library Project, the scanning of millions of books with snippets searchable online, is legal under copyright law, affirming a 2013 district court decision. (USA Today) (The Register)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Koppu strengthens to a typhoon ahead of threatening lives and properties in the Philippines island of Luzon over the weekend. (AccuWeather)
2015 California drought
- Many residents of Los Angeles and Kern Counties in southern drought-stricken California are trapped by flash floods after receiving four to six inches of rain in a short period of time. (CNN)
- Mudslides, with head-high mounds of mud, from yesterday’s flash floods cover major highways in the mountains and desert north of Los Angeles. Interstate 5, one of the state’s major north-south arteries, is closed. The National Weather Service issues aflash flood watch today. (AP via KPHO TV) (Los Angeles Times)
Six construction workers, injured when scaffolding at an unfinished building collapsed in Houston, Texas (US), are rushed to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Firefighters continue to sift through the debris for other potential victims. (Houston Chronicle)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The European Union and Turkey reach an agreement for Turkey to stem the flow of migrants into Europe in return for a £3bn aid package, easier visa conditions and re-energised talks to join the bloc. (ITV)
- Hungary announces it will close its southern border with Croatia at midnight. (Reuters)
Russia and other ex-Soviet states meeting in Kazakhstan agree to set up a joint task force to tackle instability on their borders, most notably from Afghanistan. (Reuters)
President Park Geun-hye of South Korea is in Washington, D.C. and met with President Barack Obama at The White House. (New York Times)
China hosts the ministers of defense from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the meeting a Chinese defense official suggests joint maritime drills between the host and ASEAN. At the same time, it is widely expected that U.S. Navyvessels may soon sail within 12 nautical miles of islands China is constructing upon reefs and atolls in the South China Sea. (New York Times) (BBC)
The United States confirms Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, in “clear violation” of a United Nations Security Council ban on ballistic missile tests. (Reuters) (BBC)

Law and crime

Rafe Esquith, a notable teacher in the Los Angeles, California, public school system files a $1 billion class action lawsuit against the LA Unified School District. Esquith, recently removed from teaching and subsequently fired, alleges on behalf of almost 2,000 individuals, certain age-discrimination tactics by the school system against older teachers. (CNN)
A U.S. federal judge declines plaintiffs request for an emergency order requiring Texas issue birth certificates to U.S.-born children of immigrant families who entered the country illegally. The judge said Matrícula Consular cards issued by Mexican consulates to their citizens in the U.S. aren’t secure. The U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees the right of citizenship to children born in the United States. (Miami Herald) (Washington Times)

Politics and elections

Hawaii Governor David Ige declares a state of emergency to address homelessness as the state has seen an alarming increase in unsheltered individuals and families over the past two years, particularly on O’ahu. Hawaii has the highest per capita rate ofhomelessness among the 50 states at about 465 people per 100,000 citizens. This act “frees up” money for this problem. (UPI) (Reuters) (Hawaii)

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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)

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October 31, 2015

October 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

China: Guangzhou warns zombies to stay off metro –
Halloween revellers are being urged to avoid the underground system in one southern Chinese city, in case they cause a panic. Transport police in Guangzhou say people in ghoulish fancy dress have been making other passengers nervous in recent days, and officers want travellers to report anyone they spot wearing spooky costumes. “Passengers’ strange behaviour may make some feel uneasy, cause onlookers to panic and could easily lead to security risks,” the force says in a statement posted on its Sina Weibo microblog account. “Therefore the subway does not encourage such acts.” [BBC]

Justin Bieber sorry for storming off stage after one song in Norway –
Justin Bieber’s been living up to the name of his new song Sorry by apologising to his fans for storming off stage in Norway. He said he was “done” and “I’m not doing the show” after performing one track during a TV recording in Oslo. In fan-filmed videos, Justin Bieber can be seen getting annoyed with people at the front of the stage while trying to wipe the floor. The singer later posted an apology on his Instagram account. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Nike: Snow Day

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#YaVieneNoviembreY	#HappyHalloween	#BuyFocusOniTunes
2	#HappyHalloween	#FridayFeeling	#FridayFeeling
3	貴サークル	Grantland	#scotlab15
4	#BuyFocusOniTunes	#YouMightBeSingleIn5Words	#HappyHalloween
5	#RespectForJustin	#FashionTipsIn4Words	Shaker Aamer
6	Olivia	#HowDidWeEndUpHere	Bob Ross
7	冬コミ	#BuyFocusOniTunes	Benedict Cumberbatch
8	#الهلال_الاتحاد	Piss On Your Grave	Olivia
9	Hayırlı Cumalar	Bob Ross	#TOPdebate
10	Grantland	Shaker Aamer	#HowDidWeEndUpHere

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- At least 65 people are killed and 250 injured in Syrian government airstrikes targeting a marketplace in the city of Douma, Syria. (WSJ) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera via Yahoo!)
- American-led intervention in Syria
  - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to send Special Operations forces to regions in northern Syria under Kurdish control to help local forces fight the Islamic State. (New York Times) (Reuters)
Andrew Parker, head of British security agency MI5, states that ISIS terrorists are planning attacks in Great Britain and current terror threat levels are the highest he’s witnessed in his career. (The Telegraph)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
- Two assailants are shot dead by Israeli police after knife-wielding Palestinians attacked Israelis in Jerusalem and in the occupied West Bank. Another four people, including a Palestinian assailant, are injured in incidents at an Israeli checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Nablus and at a tram station in East Jerusalem. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- The Iranian-funded Shi’ite Al-Mukhtar Army claims responsibility for Thursday’s deadly rocket attacks near the Baghdad International Airport that killed 23 members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran. (Reuters)

Arts and Culture

Happy Days actor Al Molinaro dies at 96. (Washington Post)

Business and economics

Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International cut all ties with Philidor Rx Services. This comes in the wake of recent revelations that Valeant was looking to acquire Philidor, a relationship that raised questions from various quarters. Valeant is the subject of U.S. federal investigations. (New York Times)
- America’s two largest pharmacy benefit managers, CVS Health Corp. and Express Scripts, drop Philidor from their networks after an audit showed the company’s “noncompliance” with its provider agreement. Bloomberg reports Philidor had written instructions to, in some cases, change codes on prescriptions so it would appear physicians required or patients desired Valeant’s brand-name drugs — not less expensive generic versions. (Reuters via Business Insider) (Bloomberg)
Volkswagen emissions scandal
- U.K. transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin says Volkswagen has to start financially addressing this problem by compensating motorists with, the estimated total is £600m (US$925 million). (Sky News) (Bitterwallet)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Bucharest nightclub explosion
- At least 27 people are killed and more than 180 hospitalized with injuries after a fire in a nightclub in the Romanian capital Bucharest. Officials say a heavy metal band’s pyrotechnical show sparked a fire inside the Colectiv nightclub. (Sputnik News),(BBC) (Fox News)
2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Cyclone Chapala intensifies in the Arabian Sea as it heads towards Yemen and Oman which rarely experience tropical cyclones. The cyclone is expected to dump two years worth of rain on the normally arid Arabian Peninsula in two days. (Sydney Morning Herald via WA Today)
One construction worker dies and at least one more is under the rubble from the collapse of a building being demolished to make way for a Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide luxury boutique hotel in New York City. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras lashes out at European “ineptness” in handling the continent’s massive immigration crisis. The Associated Press reports 31 more people — mostly children — drowned in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea near the islands of Kalymnos and Rhodes. Turkey’s state-run agency says four children drowned and two others are missing after two new accidents with boats headed to Greece’s Lesbos and Samos islands. The death toll in the Aegean Sea over the past three days is at least 50. The Greek coast guard says they rescued 600 people in the past 24 hours, while thousands more made it safely from Turkey to Greece’s southeastern islands. (AP via Huffington Post) (Reuters)
Storms hit the American state of Texas causing at least two deaths with one person reported missing. Rivers overflowed as more than a foot of rain fell in some areas while tornadoes ripped through buildings outside San Antonio. (NBC News) (Reuters)
A building collapse in Henan province in central China leaves 17 workers dead and 23 injured. (Xinhua via iCrossChina
A Virginia (U.S.) school bus overturns after being struck by a van, sending 28 students to local hospitals with five seriously injured. (Inside Edition)

International relations

Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, is released. Aamer faces no charges in Britain; Scotland Yard detectives questioned him for three days during his detention. (BBC) (AP via Seattle Times)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- The European Union sides with the United States over Tuesday’s U.S.-Chinese patrolling incident in the South China Sea. (Reuters)
Syria peace talks in Vienna, Syrian Civil War
- Representatives from about 20 countries meet in Vienna, Austria, seeking a political solution to Syria’s four-year civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people, including dozens more today. For the first time Iran is at the table, where diplomats seek peace through a ceasefire plan followed by a transitional government. (USA Today) (Payvand.com)

Law and crime

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rules it has jurisdiction to hear the Philippines‘ case against China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea. (The Diplomat) (BBC News)
U.S. Army judge Col. James Pohl denies Guantanamo detainee Walid bin Attash’s request to drop his legal counsel clearing the way for the trial’s continuation. (Military Times)
Polish Judge Dariusz Mazur rules the law forbids film director Roman Polanski’s extradition to the U.S. where he pleaded guilty nearly four decades ago to having sex with a minor. The prosecutors can appeal the ruling. (Sky News) (BBC)

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October 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

New Zealand hails ‘phenomenal’ All Blacks –
New Zealand media toasted the All Blacks’ victory over Australia in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final, hailing the achievements of a “phenomenal” team many are calling the best of all time. Directed by the “magic” of flyhalf Dan Carter, the All Blacks fended off a gallant Australia 34-17 at Twickenham, a gripping final deservedly rated the tournament’s best ever. Carter was named man-of-the-match for his 19-point effort, a fitting swansong for one of the game’s finest flyhalves who was sidelined by injury when his team mates edged France to win the 2011 final on home soil. [Reuters] See List of the Day
Dan Carter

One Direction play the final gig of their world tour in Sheffield –
One Direction have played the final gig of their world tour before their self-proclaimed extended break. After more than 80 shows across 20 countries, their On The Road tour came to an end in Sheffield. From this point on, the band only have a few one-off appearances at music awards shows before they go their separate ways in March 2016. But 1D insist they’re not splitting up and instead want to focus on solo projects. [BBC]
One Direction

Adele’s Hello is number one after smashing various chart records –
Adele is back at the top of the Official Singles Chart with her monster comeback single Hello. She’s smashed records all over the place, with other artists basically competing for the scraps left in her wake. So, here are the numbers that put Adele firmly back on top of the music world.
Hello sold a whopping 333,000 in a week – That includes a staggering 259,000 downloads – and makes it the biggest number one single for… well, only three years actually.
But streaming was even more mind-bending – 7.32 million plays – That’s almost double the previous record held by Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? which had 3.87 million plays in a week last month.
Her video got 27.7 million views in one day – That worked out as one million views an hour on YouTube in the first two days of it being released.
[BBC] See Video of the Day
Adele

Video of the Day –

Adele – Hello

List of the Day –

Year	Host(s)	Winner	Score	Runner-up	3rd place	Score	4th place	Number of teams
Year	Host(s)	Final			Bronze Final			Number of teams
1987	Australia & New Zealand	New Zealand	29–9	France	Wales	22–21	Australia	16
1991	England, France, Ireland Scotland & Wales	Australia	12–6	England	New Zealand	13–6	Scotland	16
1995	South Africa	South Africa	15–12 (aet)	New Zealand	France	19–9	England	16
1999	Wales, England, France, Ireland Scotland	Australia	35–12	France	South Africa	22–18	New Zealand	20
2003	Australia	England	20–17 (aet)	Australia	New Zealand	40–13	France	20
2007	France	South Africa	15–6	England	Argentina	34–10	France	20
2011	New Zealand	New Zealand	8–7	France	Australia	21–18	Wales	20
2015	England	New Zealand	34–17	Australia	South Africa	24–13	Argentina	20

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#RememberOTRATour	#RememberOTRATour	#RememberOTRATour
2	#ALDUBBahayNiLOLA	Happy Halloween	Happy Halloween
3	#AKPyeOyVermemÇünkü	#TheNewBrokenScene	#RWC2015final
4	#DemiNoCaldeirao	#OTRASheffield3	Bucharest
5	Sinai	Happy Days	#MakeAQuoteShakespearean
6	Chelsea	Sinai	Dan Wootton
7	Египте	#Worlds	#OTRASheffield2
8	#OTRASheffield3	#ABC2020	Sinai
9	#Worlds	JT Barrett	#iHeartAriana
10	#زد_فرصتك1	#MySuspicionIs	#TheNewBrokenScene

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, American-led intervention in Syria
- A newly formed U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance, Democratic Forces of Syria, launches an offensive against Islamic State forces in the northeast province of Hasaka. (Reuters) (International Business Times)

Business and economics

Vodafone Group Plc announces criminals accessed customer account details, including phone numbers and some bank details. The British multinational telecommunications company of over 400 million subscribers says it is contacting about 1,800 affected customers. This is the second recent hacking of a U.K. phone carrier. Last week, TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc said its systems had been attacked. (Bloomberg) (Financial Times)

Disasters and accidents

Fifteen people are killed and 11 injured in a fire at the public markets at Zamboanga City in the Philippines. (CNN)
Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- A Russian Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 airliner crashes in Egypt‘s Sinai Peninsula with 224 passengers on board travelling from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg. (The News Hub) (BBC)
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliate in the Sinai claims responsibility for shooting down the aircraft, but the claim is disputed. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- The wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukachev says, in a call with their daughter before the flight, he complained that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired. According to Egyptian officials, while in the air, the pilot told traffic controllers the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and he intended to try and land at the nearest airport. (AP via New Jersey Herald)
A second round of storms and strong winds moves east across Texas in the American Southwest, with three radar-confirmed tornadoes damaging homes and causing injuries in the Houston area that got up to eight inches of rain since Friday night. Six people have been killed. (AP via USA Today) (AP update)
Colectiv nightclub fire
- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta declares three days of national mourning. (Reuters) (CBC)

International relations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retracts controversial comments he made about Nazi policies during World War 2, saying he never meant to claim that an Islamic leader persuaded Adolf Hitler to adopt a policy to kill European Jews. (CNN)
Syrian Civil War
- Syria peace talks in Vienna
  - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says new talks aimed to help end Syria’s war shouldn’t be held up by wrangling over whether President Bashar Assad stays or goes. (AP)
- American-led intervention in Syria
  - At the International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces the United States will contribute $100 million (£64.7 million) in fresh aid to support the Syrian opposition. (AP)

Law and crime

The Presidential Palace and the Philippine Senate investigate an extortion scam involving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. (Manila Bulletin) (BBC)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Faisal Abedin Deepan, a publisher of secular books, is hacked to death in Dhaka. (The Guardian)
- In a separate incident, another publisher and two writers are stabbed and shot in Dhaka. (The Guardian)
- A group identifying itself as Ansar al-Islam – Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) – claimed responsibility. (The Daily Star)
- The United Nations condemned the attacks expressing deep concerns over these threats to free speech. (Prothom Alo)
A man marching down a street in Colorado Springs, Colorado (U.S.), shot and killed three people before being fatally shot in a gunbattle with police. (AP) (Colorado Springs Gazette)
At least eleven people are killed in Pakistan in fighting between rival parties as voters go to the polls for local elections in Sindh province. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics and elections

Guinean presidential election, 2015
- Guinea’s constitutional court validates President Alpha Condé’s October 11, 2015, re-election victory. The court dismissed complaints lodged by opposition candidates. (Reuters) (Channel NewsAsia)

Science and technology

A large space rock 2015 TB145, thought to be a dead comet, passes close to the earth. (Time)
According to a new NASA (U.S.) study, ice sheet gains outweigh losses on the continent of Antarctica. An increase in snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago outweighs increased losses from the continent’s thinning glaciers. In 2013,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings suggested gains were not keeping up with losses. NASA glaciologist Jay Zwally said, “We’re essentially in agreement with other studies … (except) ice gain in East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica exceeds losses in the other areas.” (UPI) (NASA)

Sports

2015 Rugby World Cup Final
- In rugby union, New Zealand defeat Australia 34–17 to win the 2015 Rugby World Cup. (BBC)
In baseball, the 2015 Korean Series ends with the Doosan Bears beating the Samsung Lions by 4 games to 1 ending the Lions four straight consecutive Korean Series streak. (Yonhap News)
In horse racing, U.S. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah completes his racing career with a win in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic, becoming the first-ever “grand slam” winner in American horse racing. (New York Times), (ESPN)

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November 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

Taylor Swift sued over Shake It Off lyrics –
Pop star Taylor Swift is being sued for $42m (£27m) for allegedly stealing the lyrics to her hit 2014 song Shake It Off. US R&B singer Jesse Braham has claimed in legal papers Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called Haters Gone Hate. As well as the monetary compensation, Mr Braham also wants his name added as a writer on the track. Representatives for Swift have yet to officially comment on the legal case. Shake It Off topped music charts around the world and reached number two in the UK. The video for the song has been watched more than 1.1 billion times on YouTube. [BBC]
Taylor Swift

Australia drops knights and dames from honours system –
Australia will no longer appoint knights and dames under the honours system, PM Malcolm Turnbull has said. Mr Turnbull said the titles were “not appropriate” in modern Australia, and that Queen Elizabeth had accepted the cabinet’s recommendation to drop them. Former PM Tony Abbott reintroduced knighthoods and damehoods in 2014. His controversial decision to grant Prince Philip a knighthood in January was widely seen as one of the factors which ended his term as leader. [BBC] Mr Turnbull became Australia PM in September 2015
Malcolm Turnbull

Four gymnasts share asymmetric bars gold –
Fan Yilin, Viktoriia Komova, Daria Spiridonova and Madison Kocian shared an unprecedented four gold medals at the gymnastics world championships on Saturday when the judges could not decide between their asymmetric bars routines. With the giant television screen confirming that there were indeed four champions from the eight-woman final, the gold medalists stood with their arms around each other in a straight line as the crowd gave them a standing ovation. The Russians were still in shock after a prolonged medals ceremony featured three national anthems being played and the master of ceremonies making four announcements starting with “Winner of the gold medal and the 2015 uneven bars champion is….” Organizers also had to abandon the flag-raising ceremony as there was no room for three flags on the same horizontal pole. While so many gold medals have never been given out in one event before, there was a five-way tie for silver at the 1922 championships on the pommel horse. [Reuters]
Daria Spiridonova

Video of the Day –

Alladin Magic Carpet Prank

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#NiallTransão	#DaylightSavingTime	1st of November
2	#ProudofOneDirection	#WorldVeganDay	Lambeth
3	#oykullan	#nycmarathon	#WorldVeganDay
4	#هل_الرجل_انسا�…	#ProudofOneDirection	#ProudofOneDirection
5	#MeGustasPero	#CalumGotATonguePiercing	Sonny Bill Williams
6	#secim2015	#ContextIsImperative	#OTRASheffield3
7	#DemiNaEliana	Fred Thompson	Larry
8	ブラ外しゲーム	#IllShowYou	#MostHauntedLive
9	#OTRASheffield3	Wazzu	#6hShanghai
10	#SomosTodosTaisAraujo	#LookingForLove	Arzaylea

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Somalia (2009–present)
- Islamist al-Shabaab militants attack a hotel in Mogadishu resulting in at least 12 deaths. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Syrian Civil War
- Islamic State fighters seize control of Mahin, a town in Syria‘s central Homs province, following clashes with government forces which left about 50 dead. Fighting was also reported to be taking place on the outskirts of Sadad, a nearby town mostly populated by Christians. (Reuters)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- One Palestinian is killed and three Israeli soldiers injured in two attacks in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian was shot dead after attempting to stab soldiers at a military checkpoint near the Beit Einun village in Hebron. In a second incident in the same area, a driver rammed and injured three Israeli paramilitary border policemen with his car before fleeing the scene. None of the three were injured seriously. (The Daily Star) (Al Jazeera)
- Since the beginning of October, nine Israelis, 67 Palestinians – around half of them alleged attackers – and an Arab Israeli have been killed in this wave of violence. (AFP via Yahoo.)
- The fate of slain Palestinians is fueling a new feud with Israeli authorities. The Israeli defense minister says Israel is refusing to return the bodies of Palestinians killed during this month-old surge of violence unless the Palestinian side agrees to keep theirfunerals “modest.” (Reuters)
- An Israel Defense Forces inquiry concludes the death of a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint in Hebron last month was unnecessary, finding the teenager could have been detained and not killed. (Haaretz)

Disasters

The United States Navy sends a remotely operated underwater craft to investigate a wreck which they believe is the remains of the SS El Faro which disappeared on October 1 near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 people on board. (CNN)
Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Airlines including Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France refuse to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until the cause of the crash is known. (AP via ABC News America)
- Russian air transport chief Alexander Neradko says Flight 9268 broke apart at high altitude and scattered plane parts over a wide swath of Egyptian desert. Neradko added it was too soon to determine what caused Saturday’s horrific crash. (USA Today)
- Russia observes a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the plane crash in Egypt. (AP via Fox News)
- The bodies of more than 140 of those killed in the air crash have been flown back to St Petersburg. (BBC)
Colectiv nightclub fire
- Three other victims of the nightclub fire die at hospital, bringing the death toll to 30. (Mediafax)

International relations

China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
- The leaders of the People’s Republic of China, South Korea and Japan hold their first summit in three years. (New York Times)
- Japan and China agree to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers, to hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year, and to work toward early implementation of communication mechanisms between their military forces. (Reuters)

Law and crime

School shootings in the United States
- A campus shooting at around 1:20 AM at Lot W, near Wilson Hall and Gleason-Hairston Terrace, at the Main Campus of Winston-Salem State University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, kills at least one person and wounds at least one- the two are believed to be students; the suspected gunman, Jarrett Jerome Moore, is not believed to be a student, and is believed to be still at large. (CNN, via MSN), (University note), (Winston-Salem Journal)

Politics and elections

Turkish general election, November 2015
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wins Sunday’s snap election with more than 49 percent of the vote. AKP, projected to get 316 seats in the 550-seat parliament, regains single-party rule just five months after losing it. (Washington Post) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu calls on all of Turkey’s political parties to work together on a new constitution to replace the 1982 constitution written during the military junta of 1980-1983. The document has been amended 17 times revising 113 of the 177 articles. (Reuters) (Kuwait News Agency) (ODATV)tr
- Protesters clashed with police outside the headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the Kurds‘ main city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey as it became evident President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP were getting a solid majority and would return to power. The tumult spread to other major cities and towns in the Kurdish heartland. The HDP won 10.7 percent of the vote; the party holds 59 of its 80 seats in the parliament. Al-Ahram (Wall Street Journal)

Azerbaijani parliamentary election, 2015
- Azeri voters go to the polls for a parliamentary election, which Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party is widely expected to win since the The Müsavat (Equality) Party and other Azerbaijani mainstream opposition parties are boycotting. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is not monitoring the election because the restrictions imposed by the authorities make credible poll monitoring impossible. (TASS) (Reuters)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Teachers, writers and students lead a protest rally in Dhaka against the recent killings and attacks on secular authors and publishers in Bangladesh. (AFP via Straits Times)

Science and technology

Smart Sheriff, the most widely used child surveillance mobile app in South Korea, is pulled from the market after specialists raised serious concerns about the program’s safety. Security experts say its programming left the door wide open to hackers and put the personal information of some 380,000 users at risk. The country’s April 2015 law requires all new smartphones sold to those 18 and under have software parents can use to monitor their kids’ social media activity. (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Sport

In athletics, Stanley Biwott and Mary Jepkosgei Keitany of Kenya win the 2015 New York City Marathon. (Runners World), (ABC7 New York)
2015 World Series
- In Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals defeat the New York Mets in the 2015 World Series 4 games to 1. (Fox Sports). (Huffington Post)

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November 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

Belgians tweet cat pictures during #BrusselsLockdown –
On Sunday night, as a major anti-terror police operation was under way in Brussels, authorities asked the public to not report officers’ movements online. The Belgian capital has been on lockdown since Saturday amid a search for suspected Paris attacks gunman Salah Abdeslam. On Twitter, the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown had been the term of choice for people discussing the raids. But on Sunday night, the term was overtaken by Twitter users posting pictures and videos of cats, to make sure that any leaking of operational details were drowned out. After the raids, and the arrest of 16 people across the country, authorities thanked Belgians for their co-operation:”To all the cats who helped us last night: help yourselves! #BrusselsLockdown” [BBC]
Jayce le Satirique tweet

Sepp Blatter says he was close to death after being taken to hospital earlier this month –
Sepp Blatter has said he was “close to dying” upon being hospitalised this month following a health scare. The Fifa president, who is facing a multi-year ban from football and is currently serving a 90-day provisional suspension, spent several days being treated for stress before being discharged from hospital a week and a half ago. In his first interview since his release, the 79-year-old told Swiss broadcaster RTS: “I was close to dying. I was between the angels who were singing and the devil who was lighting the fire, but it was the angels who sang. [Daily Telegraph]

Genetically modified mosquito no longer infects humans with malaria –
A mosquito has been genetically modified so that it can no longer pass on malaria to humans in a breakthrough which could save millions of lives. The insect was biologically engineered by scientists to produce antibodies that interfere with the malaria parasite’s life cycle and prevent it being transmitted. Importantly, the heritable trait was passed on to 99.5 per cent of the mosquito’s offspring, a result described as ‘astonishing’ by the scientists. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Wizard Cops

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	La Nación	#BlackFridayIn3Words	#mondaymotivation
2	#FelizLunes	#mondaymotivation	#AMAs
3	#قبيله_تحبها_و�…	Anti-Muslim Is Anti-American	#LoveSUs
4	#زد_رصيدك10	#OddThingsToFindInBed	#SurvivorSeries
5	Jon Snow	Jon Snow	Prince Charles
6	#AMAs	Prince Charles	#OddThingsToFindInBed
7	#SurvivorSeries	Amanda Blackburn	Jon Snow
8	The Weeknd	Bill Walton	The Sun
9	LACRE DO ANO EU FUI	Les Miles	#BrusselsLockdown
10	Camren e Larry	#MarathonsICouldFinish	#AskBoris

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Maguindanao massacre
- Human rights activists and families of the victims decry the lack of justice six years after the murder of around 58 people, including journalists and politicians, in Maguindanao, Mindanao. They criticize the regime of Philippines President Benigno Aquino IIIfor the lack of convictions in the trial. (ABC News), (Voice of America), (Fox News)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- A Palestinian kills a 20 year-old Israeli and wounds two women in a stabbing attack at a gas station near the town of Modi’in; the Palestinian assailant is shot and killed by an officer at the scene. (Ynet News) (Times of Israel)
- Two Palestinian teenage girls, ages 14 and 16, use scissors to stab a 70-year-old Palestinian man whom they misidentified as an Israeli, and other Israeli civilians, near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market; one of the attackers is killed and the other wounded while being subdued, and an Israeli civilian is wounded by police gunfire. (Times of Israel)

Business and economy

American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan, Plc announce plans to merge to form a $220 billion company, the world’s largest drug company. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

An explosion at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead in Tokyo damages the ceiling and a wall of a public bathroom near the shrine’s southern entrance. No one was injured. (Japan Times) (AP via ABC News)
Seven people are feared dead after a helicopter crashes in the Indian town of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, near the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi. (NDTV)
A U.S. Apache helicopter crashes in South Korea‘s Gangwon Province, killing the pilot and one crew member. (Reuters)
A highway traffic accident due west of Mexico City kills 20 people and injures at least 15 others. (Reuters)
All four crew members aboard a United States military helicopter (UH-60) are killed when their chopper crashes at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. (NBC News)

International relations

The United States issues a worldwide travel alert due to heightened activity by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (aka Da’esh/ISIS), Boko Haram, al-Qa’ida and other terrorist groups through February 24, 2016. (US State Department)

Politics and elections

Hong Kong local elections, 2015
- Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement gets a boost with Umbrella Soldiers winning at least four seats in Sunday’s election although the distribution of political power over the district council seats remains broadly the same vis-a-vis the Hong Kong local elections, 2011. (Reuters) (AFP via Yahoo)

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December 3, 2015

Top News Stories –

Oscar Pistorius verdict changed to murder –
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict. He killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door. He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail. Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder. [BBC] Pistorius started community service in November 2015
Oscar Pistorius competing

UK Trading Standards officers seize 15,000 unsafe hoverboards –
More than 15,000 unsafe hoverboards – otherwise known as self-balancing scooters – have been seized at ports and airports around the UK. Trading Standards officers said the boards were in danger of overheating, exploding or catching fire. The London Fire Brigade said at least three house fires were caused by such devices over 10 days in October. Many have plugs without fuses, faulty cables or chargers that can burst into flames, according to Trading Standards. It said that 88% of the hoverboards it seized around the UK were found to be defective. [BBC]

Black Friday breaks record with 185K gun background checks –
More Americans had their backgrounds checked purchasing guns on Black Friday than any day on record, according to data released by the FBI this week. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 185,345 requests on Nov. 27, one of the largest retail sales days in the country. “This was an approximate 5% increase over the 175,754 received on Black Friday 2014,” wrote Stephen Fischer, the FBI’s chief of multimedia productions. “The previous high for receipts were the 177,170 received on 12/21/2012.” [USA Today]

Video of the Day –

The First Hope from Jeremy David White on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QuintaDetremuraSdv	#4YearsOf5SOS	#4YearsOf5SOS
2	#4YearsOf5SOS	#RJCForum	Stan Collymore
3	#زد_رصيدك20	#MakeASportsMovieWorse	#thingmonk
4	#PSYCrossroads	#TheWiz	#theTOMs
5	#MeDeprime	#HolidayAdviceFromTheCat	#BatmanvSuperman
6	#DiadelaDiscapacidad	#TweepAMovieOrTVShow	#SSATNC15
7	#ShotsCamcorder	#thoughtsandprayers	#OscarPistorius
8	#JanamJanam	Oscar Pistorius	#Content2015
9	#ALDUB20thWeeksary	Muslim Killers	#FolkloreThursday
10	#FrasesQueTdMelhorAmgFala	#ModernShakespeare	#PrayForSyria

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Military intervention against ISIL, Operation Tidal Wave II
- The United Kingdom‘s Royal Air Force bombs Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-controlled oil wells in eastern Syria. At least four Tornado GR4 fighter jets, operating out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, were involved in raids. The Ministry of Defence said initial analysis “indicates that the strikes were successful”. (Sky News)
2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses on Russian national television the shootdown of one of their jets in Syria by the Turkish Air Force. He goes on to say that “if anyone thinks Russia’s reaction will be limited to trade sanctions, they are deeply mistaken”. (BBC)
Iraqi Civil War (2014-present), American-led intervention in Iraq
- In the wake of Washington’s pledge of additional Special Operations troops to Iraq, several members of Iraq’s ruling alliance state that only the Iraqi Parliament can authorize the action, and political associates of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi report such a troop expansion would be unacceptable. Several members of Iraqi militias have also decried a deployment of more U.S. troops. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Israel’s Holocaust and Remembrance Center posthumously adds U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds to the list of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions in 1945 at a Nazi prisoner of war camp. (NPR) (Yad Vashem)
Harvard Law School officials are reviewing the use of the school’s seal that includes three bushels of wheat, which also appears on Isaac Royall’s family coat of arms. Royall, a slaveholder whose father was known to be a cruel owner, left part of his estate to help found the law school. (MSNBC) (Boston Globe)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- EU ministers discuss suspending the Schengen passport-free travel zone for two years, on the basis that the migrant crisis has exposed “serious deficiencies” at the Greek border that endanger the overall area. (Financial Times) (BBC)
- The Swedish government wants to be able to close the Øresund Bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark if the country’s record refugee influx continues. (Local)
Germany‘s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) says Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilizing influence in the Arab world due to the diplomatic stance of some senior members of the House of Saud. (The Telegraph)
Iran–Russia relations
- Russia begins deliveries of its S-300 air defense systems to Iran. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Trial of Oscar Pistorius
- South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is convicted of the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on appeal and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. (NBC News)
2015 FIFA corruption case
- U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces criminal corruption charges against 16 FIFA officials in an indictment that expands Justice’s May filing that indicted 14 officials associated with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and related sports marketing companies. At U.S. authorities request, Swiss police arrest two South American FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zürich, on suspicion of accepting “millions of dollars” in bribes. In addition, eight of the defendants indicted in May have pleaded guilty. (CNN) (New York Daily News)
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
- Donald Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy Company, is convicted of violating safety standards that led to the deaths of 29 Upper Big Branch mine workers in Montcoal, West Virginia in 2010. He is acquitted of making false statements anddeceiving regulators. Blankenship, who faces up to one year in prison and a fine of $250,000, is the most prominent American coal executive ever to be convicted of a charge connected to the deaths of miners. (The New Yorker) (NPR) (Christian Science Monitor) (The New York Times)
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces that all combat roles in the U.S. military will be opened to women. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Danish European Union opt-out referendum, 2015
- Danish voters reject adopting EU rules on cross-border policing. (BBC)

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December 13, 2015

Top News Stories –

Ed Sheeran ‘quits’ social media –
Singer Ed Sheeran has announced he is “taking a break” from social media as he is “seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes”. Writing on his Instagram account, the singer explained he was “taking the opportunity of not having to be anywhere… to travel the world”. He also confirmed to fans that his third album is “on its way” and “is the best thing I have made thus far”. Sheeran has 16 million Twitter and 5.5 million Instagram followers. He has just completed a world tour of his number one album x (pronounced “multiply”) in Auckland, New Zealand. Before the final show, he also tweeted that he was “buggering off for a while”. [BBC]

Ed Sheeran

UFC 194: Conor McGregor knocks out Jose Aldo after 13 seconds –
Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo after just 13 seconds at UFC 194 to win the featherweight title in Las Vegas. Irishman McGregor, 27, beat the long-time champion by landing a strong left hand with his first connecting punch to secure the fastest ever knockout in a UFC title fight. McGregor claimed in the build up to the fight that he would “embarrass” Aldo with a first-round knockout. “Precision beats power, timing beats speed,” McGregor said afterwards. “I feel for Jose. He’s a phenomenal champion. He deserved to go a little bit longer.” It was also Brazilian Aldo’s first defeat in 10 years after winning 18 straight fights. [BBC]
Conor McGregor

Video of the Day –

Tiny Hamster Agility Course – Dumptruck Vs Porkchop

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#زد_رصيدك30	#ExplainAFilmPlotBadly	#HappyBirthdayTaylor
2	#HappyBirthdayTaylor	#HappyBirthdayTaylor	#explainafilmplotbadly
3	#ExplainAFilmPlotBadly	#thisisnottheendofonedirec…	#XFactorFinal
4	#اجمل_عباره_تح�…	#NicholasRobertson	#avfcvafc
5	#DomingoFelizDetremuraSdv	#GeriatricStripClubNames	#UFC194
6	#electionsregionales	Independence Day	#Strictly
7	#UFC194	#DALvsGB	Shaker Aamer
8	#podemosremontada	#MundialDeClubes	#JoshuaWhyte
9	#اكبر_تجمع_للي�…	#NocheDeConfesiones	Reggie and Bollie
10	#اريد_من_الوزي�…	Bucks	Robert Dyas

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- At least 25 people are killed and dozens injured in a bombing at a second-hand clothes market in the city of Parachinar in the Kurram Valley. (Pakistan Tribune) (The News)
Syrian Civil War
- Syrian rebels fire volleys of mortar shells into Damascus, killing three people and wounding at least 30. Government forces respond with airstrikes into rebel-controlled Douma, just northeast of the capital, and surface-to-surface missiles into Eastern Ghouta and Saqba, that kill at least 35 people and injure many more, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (AP via The Washington Post) (Reuters)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- Israel says an Arab-Israeli man who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has joined Islamic State militants in Syria. (Reuters)
2015 Burundian unrest
- The U.S. State Department issues a travel advisory for Burundi and advises its citizens there to leave as soon as possible due to the increased violence in the capital Bujumbura where 87 people were killed this weekend. Families of U.S. government personnel and non-emergency personnel have been ordered to leave immediately. (UPI) (US State)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- Israeli Air Force planes hit two Hamas targets in Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire from the Palestinian territory. (Ynet News) (The Times of israel)

Disasters and accidents

At least 23 patients are killed and 23 injured in a psychiatric hospital fire in the Voronezh Oblast in western Russia. The remaining 24 patients were safely evacuated. (ABC News America) (AP via The Charlotte Observer)

International relations

European migration crisis
- On the eve of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party’s convention in Karlsruhe, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel says, “We want to noticeably reduce the number of people who come to us, but not through unilateral national measures alone.” She acknowledges the crisis could overwhelm Germany if it went on much longer. Merkel warded off pressure from immigration skeptics within the CDU to include a quota in the refugee policy motion the convention will vote on. (Jerusalem Post)(Bloomberg) (Reuters via International Business Times) (The Financial Times)
Russia–Turkey relations
- A Russian warship fires warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea to “avoid a collision”, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Houston mayoral election, 2015
- Veteran Texas lawmaker Sylvester Turner edges out businessman Bill King by just over 4,000 votes in Houston’s runoff mayoral election. Turner, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives since 1989, took 51 percent of the vote. King conceded defeat and encouraged Houston citizens to support the incoming mayor. Turner succeeds Annise Parker who was not eligible to run for re-election. (Reuters) (KHOU)
Saudi Arabian municipal elections, 2015
- Unofficial results show at least 17 Saudi Arabian women won municipal council seats in the kingdom’s third-ever election, and the first to allow female participation. Voters elected representatives for two thirds of the municipal council seats. The government announced that 979 women were candidates. (Reuters) (NPR) (Daily Pakistan)
French regional elections, 2015
- With most of the votes counted, the opposition conservatives of former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s party win in six of the country’s 13 regions and lead in the Paris region. The ruling Socialists of President François Hollande’s party capture five regions. The winner in Corsica is not affiliated with a major party. France’s far-right National Front (FN) fails to win a single region but did record its best showing in its history. Voter turnout was 58 percent. Definitive results are expected Monday. (The Guardian)(Politico) (The Straits Times) (Sky News) (Reuters)
Central African Republic constitutional referendum, 2015
- While voters in Central African Republic cast their ballots in a constitutional referendum aimed at ending years of sectarian strife, clashes erupt in the capital Bangui’s PK5 Muslim neighborhood, killing at least two and injuring over 20. PK5 residents, visited by Pope Francis two weeks ago, marched to the U.N. headquarters in the country to complain they were unable to cast their ballots. The proposed constitution would limit a president to two terms, add an upper house to go along with the National Assembly, and fight institutional corruption. (France24) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
2015 protests in Brazil
- Tens of thousands of Brazilians protest in cities around the country to demand that Congress impeach President Dilma Rousseff. The lower house of Congress opened impeachment proceedings on 2 December 2015. (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)(Reuters-Congress)

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December 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jose Mourinho: Chelsea sack boss after Premier League slump –
Chelsea have sacked manager Jose Mourinho seven months after he led them to the Premier League title. The 52-year-old Portuguese had been in his second spell at the club, taking charge in June 2013. Chelsea finished eight points clear last season and won the League Cup, but have lost nine of their 16 league games so far and are 16th in the table, one point above the relegation places. Mourinho’s final match was Monday’s 2-1 defeat at leaders Leicester City. Pep Guardiola, Guus Hiddink, Juande Ramos and Brendan Rodgers have all been touted as possible successors as Blues owner Roman Abramovich begins another managerial search. [BBC]
Jose Mourinho

Pastafarian marriages approved in New Zealand –
Ever wanted to get married while wearing a colander on your head? Move to New Zealand – they just gave the right to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to perform marriage ceremonies. Members of the church call themselves Pastafarians and believe that the world was created by an airborne spaghetti and meatballs-based being, although its own website notes that some followers consider it to be a satirical organisation. The registrar-general told stuff.co.nz that the request was valid because the purposes set out by the church were educating and training people, particularly atheists and superstitious people, about Flying Spaghetti principles and practices. He said: “In considering the matter I have referred to the Objects of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, reviewed material available online about this organisation and considered other organisations already able to nominate marriage celebrants. “A review of media and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s international website show a consistent presentation of their philosophies. While some claim this is a ‘parody organisation’, members have rebutted this on a number of occasions.” [Daily Telegraph] In November 2016 ‘Pastafarian’ Lindsay Miller won the right to wear colander on head in driving licence photo in Massachusetts.
.

Video of the Day –

More Stuff by Blue Zoo Animation from Blue Zoo on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Vimeo presents: The Top Videos of 2015
Music:
TAME IMPALA ‘The Less I Know The Better’ from CANADA

Documentary:
“Guerilla Fighters of Kurdistan” from Joey L

Animation:
“Coda” from and maps and plans

Travel:
“Dubai Flow Motion” from Rob Whitworth

Experimental:
“INPUT/OUTPUT” from Terri Timely

Narrative:
“POWER/RANGERS” from Joseph Kahn

Sports:
“Skate Heads” from Flexfit

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#GoogleDoodle	#StarWarsTheForceAwakens	#GoogleDoodle
2	#DetremuraSemWhatsSdv	#GoogleDoodle	#StarWarsTheForceAwakens
3	#Nessas48HorasEuVou	#DoGreatThings	#SJA2015
4	#StarWarsTheForceAwakens	#WeAreAllMuslim	#OneLetterOffMovies
5	#PSYTaguan	#ThisIsNotTheAlbumTODAY	Dylan Hartley
6	#زد_رصيدك34	#ThisIsNotTheAlbumOutNOW	Muslim Brotherhood
7	#متي_كانت_اخر_ض…	#SomethingSweetTONIGHT	#SportingFuture
8	#らしくないツイー�…	#2015Faves	#TheApprentice
9	#ALDUB22ndWeeksary	Martin Shkreli	Peep Show
10	#17Aralık	#adeletickets	#Cuffs

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Delegates from Libya’s warring factions sign a U.N.-brokered agreement to form a national unity government. Some of Libya’s armed brigades are closely allied with political leaders who oppose this agreement. (Reuters) (Al Arabiya)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Turkish security forces have killed 23 suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in operations in the Kurdish-majority cities of Cizre and Silopi. (BBC)
- The Turkish Army deploys tanks into civilian areas of Silopi and soldiers are reportedly going house-to-house in search of PKK militants. The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) condemns the Turkish military actions in Silopi. (RT)

Disasters and accidents

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The epicenter was 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the town of Tres Picos, not far from the Pacific coast. There are no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. (Reuters) (USGS)
As many as 36 miners die in a pair of accidents in Northeast China. (AP via ABC News)
- Nineteen workers trapped by Wednesday’s gas explosion and raging fire in a coal mine in Hegang in Heilongjiang privince are not expected to survive because of carbon monoxide and the high temperatures from the fire, according to the rescue and command office’s Zhang Qinxiang. Thirty-three miners escaped. (MINING.com)
- A fire caused by sparks from welding equipment kills 17 workers in the Xingli coal mine in Huludao city in Liaoning province. The State Administration of Work Safety reports 13 miners died at the site while four died at the hospital. Another ten miners are hospitalized. (Xinhua) (AP via The Washington Post)

International relations

China summons Kaye Lee, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Beijing, to protest Washington’s announcement that it is selling two warships to Taiwan as part of a $1.83 billion arms deal. U.S. state department spokesman John Kirby says the sale is consistent with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act while Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zheng Zequang threatens to impose sanctions on U.S. firms because the proposed sale “severely damaged China’s sovereignty and security interests.” (NBC News) (BBC)
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution aimed at disrupting revenue the Islamic State gets from oil sales, ransom payments, and other criminal activities. (Reuters) (AFP via Yahoo News)
The World Trade Organization approves Afghanistan’s membership at its 10th ministerial conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Afghanistan becomes the 164th WTO member and is the 36th least developed country (LDC) in the global trade body. (Xinhua News Agency via Global Post) (Channel News Asia)

Law and crime

European migrant crisis
- Riots break out in the western Dutch town of Geldermalsen over plans to establish a centre for asylum seekers in the town. Local police say they made several arrests. Including this year’s arrivals, the Dutch government said in November it expected to receive 58,000 asylum seekers by the end of 2016. (BBC)
United States federal prosecutors in New York City arrest Martin Shkreli on securities fraud charges for allegedly plundering for personal gain Retrophin, a biopharmaceutical company he ran as CEO from 2012 to 2014. (Chicago Tribune) (ABC News)

Politics and elections

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, “a very colorful person. Talented, without any doubt” as well as an “absolute leader” in the race for the presidency. (ABC News)

Sports

2015–16 Premier League
- José Mourinho is sacked as Chelsea F.C.‘s manager on his second spell after the club lost nine of their 16 league games, placing the club one point above the relegation zone. (BBC) (France24)

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December 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

BBC Website And iPlayer Crippled Following Massive DDoS Attack –
Have you ever seen a dog chase its own tail? That pretty much describes what’s going on at BBC News this morning. The site suffered a pretty large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack earlier today, one that knocked out the company’s entire network and iPlayer streaming service, causing grief for web visitors who grew impatient with how long it took to restore service. As for the image of a dog chasing its own tail, it’s based on BBC’s reporting of the situation. The site posted a statement on Twitter in the early morning hours saying it was “aware of a technical issue” affecting its website, but declined to elaborate. A BBC News journalist for the site’s Technology section posted an article saying that internal sources blamed the issues on a DDoS attack, then a few paragraphs down notes that “BBC has yet to confirm or deny that such an attack was responsible for the problems.” So there you have it — BBC acknowledged a technical issue (duh) while one of its own journalists heard from people within the organization that it was a DDoS attack, but for some unknown reason the site won’t go on record as saying so. The good news is order has been restored and, despite claims to the contrary on Twitter, this is not the end of the world. [Hot Hardware]
BBC Error 500

Dubai seeks cause of massive hotel fire at New Year –
The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused a spectacular fire to engulf a 63-storey luxury hotel in the city centre on New Year’s Eve. Firefighters managed to subdue the blaze, but part of the Address Downtown Hotel is still smouldering. A BBC reporter says a significant fire is still visible on the 20th floor, where the blaze apparently started. The tower was evacuated and 16 people were hurt. But a fireworks show went ahead at the Burj Khalifa tower nearby. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Gym Wildlife

List of the Day –

Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Music

1 Adele

2 Sia

3 Eagles of Death Metal

4 Sam Smith

5 Meghan Trainor

6 Fetty Wap

7 N.W.A

8 Eazy-E

9 Hozier

10 Chris Stapleton

Source: Google

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#Adios2015	Page 365 of 365	#Remember1D2015
2	#زد_رصيدك48	#BestMemoriesOf2015	Harry and Kendall
3	Hasan Karakaya	#PeachBowl	#BestMemoriesOf2015
4	#HappyNewYear	Happy New Year	#NYE2016
5	#FimDeAnoSrTwitteiroSdv	#Feliz2016	Goodbye 2015
6	#2016YılındanBeklentim	#ImAlwaysMixingUp	Here’s to 2016
7	#امنيتك_في_عام_…	#PeopleWhoMadeMyYear	#Likely2016Headlines
8	#HojeEuVou	#RIZIN	#PeopleWhoMadeMyYear
9	#SeFueElAñoYYo	Carrot Top	#NewYearsResolutionsIn5Words
10	#2015medejo	Here’s to 2016	Happy Hogmanay

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in the European Union
- Belgian house raids result in the arrest of six people concerning a New Year’s Eve celebrations’ plot in Brussels, the nation’s capital. (Reuters)
- Munich’s main train station and the station in the city’s western district of Pasing, are evacuated during New Year’s Eve celebrations, and train service is stopped, because of potential ISIS suicide threats. A foreign security service, which wasn’t identified, passed on information that five to seven suicide attackers are involved in the plot. (NBC News) (CNN)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- Rochester, New York, police arrest 25-year-old Emanuel Lutchman who allegedly planned to attack a local bar with knives and machetes and a pressure cooker bomb to prove he was worthy of joining the Islamic State group. Rochester cancels New Year’s Eve fireworks. (AP via WITN) (Waltonian)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Missouri flooding
- Record flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries that has closed major highways, forced evacuations, and overflowed levees, continues to threaten the Midwestern United States where at least 24 have died. The Mississippi is expected to crest in the next few days in Thebes, Illinois, at 47.5 feet, breaking the 1995 record by more than a foot and a half (46 cm). And now periods of below-freezing air will cause some flooded areas to turn icy. (Reuters) (AccuWeather) (Chicago Tribune)
Air Canada Flight 88, a scheduled flight from Shanghai to Toronto, diverts to Calgary International Airport after the aircraft, a Boeing 777, encountered violent turbulence. Twenty-one passengers, including three children, were taken to hospital. (CBC)
A fire breaks out at The Address Downtown Dubai hotel. Fourteen people are reported as injured, with one indirect casualty. (CNN)

Law and crime

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs an amendment to Russia’s law regarding the regulation of the use of weapons, giving the FSB the authority to use lethal force on crowds in order to “prevent acts of terrorism, rescue hostages, or repel attacks on public buildings.” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
The Indonesian government plans an appeal to a South Sumatra court’s rejection of a Rp 7.8 trillion (SGD 780 million) lawsuit against a pulp and paper company accused of contributing to the recurring Southeast Asian hazes, particularly the recent incident of hazes in 2015. (BBC News) (AFP via The Straits Times)

Politics and elections

The Venezuelan Supreme Court bars four incoming lawmakers (three from the opposition and one from the ruling Socialist party) from taking office, putting the opposition’s two-thirds legislative “supermajority” at risk, won via a landslide victory in the December 6 election by just one seat. The court is yet to specify the quorum for the new House, which would determine the number of seats needed for a two-thirds majority. The new National Assembly convenes Tuesday. (AP via Fox News Latino) (Latin American Herald Tribune)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

January 5, 2016

Top News Stories –

German carpenter invents on-off contraception switch for sperm –
A German carpenter has invented a valve which he claims will revolutionise contraception, by allowing a man to turn the flow of sperm from his testicles on and off at the flick of a switch. Clemens Bimek told Spiegel magazine the idea first came to him some 20 years ago, when he was watching a television documentary about contraception, and wondered whether it would be possible to control the flow of sperm with a simple valve. When he discovered that no one had ever filed a patent for such a device, he decided to develop his own. “Many of the doctors I consulted didn’t take me seriously. But there were some who encouraged me to go on tinkering and helped me with their expertise,” Mr Bimek said. Now the valve he has developed is to be implanted in 25 men in trials – starting this year. [Daily Telegraph]

Cricket record: Pranav Dhanawade hits 1,009 in school match –
An Indian teenager scored more than 1,000 runs in a single innings to set a new world record in school cricket. Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade broke the previous record of 628 set by Arthur Collins in 1899 on Monday. But he continued his innings in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament and reached 1,009 runs. He smashed 59 sixes and 127 fours in 395 minutes before his KC Gandhi School declared the innings at 1,465 against Arya Gurukul School on Tuesday. [BBC]
Sachin Tendulkar tweet

‘Anti-IS group’ claims BBC website attack –
A group that says it targets online activity linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed it was behind an attack on the BBC’s website. All the BBC’s websites were unavailable for several hours on New Year’s Eve after what a BBC source described as a “distributed denial of service” attack. The group, calling itself New World Hacking, said it had carried out the attack as a “test of its capabilities”. In a tweet to BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, the group said: “We are based in the US, but we strive to take down Isis [IS] affiliated websites, also Isis members. “The reason we really targeted [the] BBC is because we wanted to see our actual server power.” Earlier, New World Hacking had said: “It was only a test, we didn’t exactly plan to take it down for multiple hours. Our servers are quite strong.” [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Wire from Elliot Lim on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#TEENWOLF5BTODAY	#NationalBirdDay	#NTA2016
2	#TercaDetremuraSdv	#ElCambioComienzaHoy	Coachella
3	#زد_رصيدك53	#TooColdTuesday	Tyga
4	#ElCambioComienzaHoy	#TEENWOLF5BTODAY	#HousingBill
5	#PSYBringBackAngYna	#BillyManziel	LCD Soundsystem
6	#NocheDeReyes	#StopGunViolence	#SilentWitness
7	#FelizMartes	#BadStarWars8Names	Troy Deeney
8	Página 5 de 366	#LArain	#WheresRey
9	#ご利益のある人ラ�…	Brian Urlacher	#pointswestlive
10	#ALosReyesLesPido	#TWUG	#FatCatTuesday

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- A United States Army soldier is killed and two others wounded in a joint operation with Afghan National Security Forces in Afghanistan‘s southern Helmand Province. (Washington Post)
2016 Kaliachak riots
- Violent riots break out in Kaliachak, West Bengal, India, after political activist Kamlesh Tiwari allegedly insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad. (Times of India)
Nimr al-Nimr
- One Shia protester is killed and a child is injured by Saudi police in Al-Awamiyah, Eastern Province. (FT)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Islamic State militants continue to besiege the Libyan oil port of Sidra, attacking checkpoints on the road to the port, leaving seven guards dead. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said an oil storage tank in the port was set on fire by a long-range rocket, and that the oil tank fire started just as firefighters were close to bringing under control another blaze at an oil tank that was hit during fighting in the nearby Ra’s Lanuf Refinery on Monday. (Reuters)
The Islamic State, following Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 people on Saturday, threatens to destroy the Saudi’s Tarfiya and al-Ha’ir Prisons holding Al-Qaeda and ISIL supporters. (Reuters) (Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Yinchuan resulting in at least 14 deaths and over 30 injured. (AP via Fox News)

Environment

2015–16 North American winter
- Droughts in the United States
  - California’s state climatologist Michael Anderson mentions that the recent El Niño-fueled storms will put a dent in the ongoing drought, but not end the conditions citing larger reservoirs that are still below normal. (USA Today)
- 2014–16 El Niño event
  - Back-to-back-to-back storms from the current El Niño, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says ties the strongest on record (1997–98), are likely to produce dangerous flooding and mudslides in the Western United States with as much as 15 inches (30cm) of rain, and about 2 feet (60cm) of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains over the next two weeks. (UPI) (NBC News)

International relations

Syrian Civil War
- Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says the country’s recent tensions with Iran will not interfere with Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
China-Taiwan Relations
- China says flights from the Chinese cities of Nanchang, Kunming, and Chongqing, will be allowed to stop at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before flying to a third destination. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou applauded this step toward normalizing relations between the two states. Taiwan’s opposition party expressed concern that Beijing is trying to interfere with the country’s January 16, 2016, presidential and legislative elections. (Reuters) (The Straits Times) (Central News Agency)

Politics and elections

Reform of the People’s Liberation Army in China:
- The Second Artillery Corps is re-organized into the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force.
- The People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force is founded, with Gao Jin as its inaugural commander and Liu Fulian as Political Commissar.
- The Ground Force is re-organized under the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force Command, under commander Li Zuocheng. (SCMP)
Former Beijing Deputy Communist Party Secretary Lu Xiwen is expelled from the Communist Party of China for “interfering with the market economy and law enforcement” and “living a luxurious lifestyle”, among other offenses. (SCMP)
United States presidential election, 2016
- On January 18, 2016, the British Parliament will debate a petition, signed by more than 560,000 people, calling for the Home Secretary to ban United States Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom because of ‘hate speech‘ that is unacceptable behavior, non-conducive to the public good. The conclusion reached by the lawmakers will not be binding on the UK government. (The Washington Post) (AP via The Washington Post)
United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- The United Kingdom‘s Prime Minister David Cameron announces he will suspend collective responsibility ahead of the referendum on the country’s EU membership, allowing ministers to campaign for the UK to leave the European Union. A member of his cabinet was reportedly due to resign over the issue within 24 hours. (The Telegraph)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

February 10, 2016

Top News Stories –

Gymnast Sophina DeJesus’s hip-hop routine wows the internet –
Video of an American student gymnast has gone viral after she threw in some hip-hop moves during a university competition. Sophina DeJesus’s floor routine has been watched millions of times online. The UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduate told Pac-12 Sports Report she had “no clue” it would get such a big reaction. “I wanted to think of something to end my senior year with a bang,” she said. Sophina was awarded 9.925 for her routine, despite the crowds cheering for the judges to give her a perfect 10. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day
Sophina DeJesus NY Times tweet

Video of the Day –

Sophina DeJesus UCLA Floor 2016 vs Utah 9.925

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QuartaCinzaDetremuraSdv	#JustinBieberBRITs	#ImGoingTheVampsNOTTINGHAM
2	Pangako Ng Kasagutan	#AshWednesday	#JuniorDoctorsStrike
3	#JustinBieberBRITs	#1linewed	#AshWednesday
4	#FelizMiercoles	#IAlwaysGetAnnoyedWhen	#JustinBieberBRITs
5	#AshWednesday	#FODTrumpMovie	#GreetTheAliensIn5Words
6	#وضعي_في_عيد_ال…	#IfIHadTrumpsMoney	Adam Johnson
7	#شي_يسعدك_	#SaySomethingSweetIn4Words	#NHPrimary
8	#مبتز_يطعن_4اعض…	#GreetTheAliensIn5Words	#HappyValley
9	#نصيحتك_لمدمن_�…	#OETC16	#GreatBritishBenefitsHandout
10	オフ会前	#My5WordCampaignPromise	Benteke

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Mali conflict
- Suspected Islamist militants attack a customs post in the town of Mopti, central Mali, killing two civilians and a customs officer. (Reuters)
A man shoots six people dead at an education centre in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia (BBC)
Four policemen are killed and another seven wounded when one of their colleagues opened fire on them in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Appeal Democrat)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Taiwan earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake rises to 59 with 76 missing. (AAP via News Limited)
At least 52 inmates are killed in a riot and fire that broke out in a prison in Mexico. (FOX News) (CNN)

Health

A yellow fever outbreak has killed 37 people in Angola since December 2015. (AAP via News Limited)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- South Korea starts withdrawing its nationals from the Kaesong Industrial Region in protest to recent actions by North Korea. (Yonhap)
- North Korea says it will freeze all South Korean assets and equipment at the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Park. (AP)

Law and Crime

Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- All four remaining occupiers leave the refuge and surrender. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Warren Truss, the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, announces his resignation as the leader of the National Party of Australia. Barnaby Joyce is elected as the new leader with Fiona Nash elected as the new deputy leader. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
Former Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault is named as the new Foreign Minister replacing Laurent Fabius who resigned earlier in the week. (BBC)

Sports

Sunderland A.F.C. terminate the contract of England international footballer Adam Johnson after he pleads guilty to two charges relating to child sexual abuse. (BBC)

Science

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration experiment announces the first direct observation of gravitational waves. (Nature), (Guardian), (New York Times) (APS Journals)

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February 11, 2016

Top News Stories –

Einstein’s gravitational waves found at last –
One hundred years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, scientists have finally spotted these elusive ripples in space-time. In a highly anticipated announcement, physicists with the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) revealed on 11 February that their twin detectors have heard the gravitational ‘ringing’ produced by the collision of two black holes about 400 megaparsecs (1.3 billion light-years) from Earth.“Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves,” David Reitze, the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, said at a Washington DC press conference. “We did it!” One black hole was about 36 times the mass of the Sun, and the other was about 29 solar masses. As they spiralled inexorably into one another, they merged into a single, more-massive gravitational sink in space-time that weighed 62 solar masses, the LIGO team estimates. [Nature] See Video of the Day

Star Wars prosecuted over Harrison Ford injury –
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg. The actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014. The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd – a subsidiary of Disney. Foodles Production said it was “disappointed” by the HSE’s decision. Following the incident, Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery. [BBC] Harrison Ford received more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster and last year crashed his light aircraft for a third time.
Harrison Ford

Video of the Day –

LIGO Gravitational Wave Chirp

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#SONA2016	#ReasonWhyIDoNotHaveAValen…	#SONA2016
2	#QuintaDetremura200kSDV	#WomenInSTEM	The Life of Pablo
3	#FelizJueves	#SONA2016	Adam Johnson
4	#YaCasiEs14YYo	Meryl Streep	#Sprint16
5	OLHA ELAAAAAAAAA	OK Go	#FastFoodBooks
6	#WomenInSTEM	#LIGO	#WomenInSTEM
7	#SiYoFueraCupido	John Lewis	#ImGoingTheVampsBELFAST
8	Pangako Ng Karma	#HealthPolicyValentines	Jeremy Hunt
9	#مالذي_لاتستطي…	#AAASmtg	#IAlwaysGetAnnoyedWhen
10	#TipicoDeSolteros	#TGIT	#IfIHadTrumpsMoney

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Mali conflict
- Suspected Islamist militants attack a customs post in the town of Mopti, central Mali, killing two civilians and a customs officer. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
- A man shoots six people dead at an education centre in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia. (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Four policemen are killed and another seven wounded when one of their colleagues opened fire on them in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Appeal Democrat)

Business and economics

Uber, in San Francisco, California (U.S.), federal court, says it will pay $28.5 million to settle two lawsuits over misleading background check information. Prosecutors settled a similar lawsuit with competitorLyft in 2014. (AP via ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Taiwan earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake rises to 59 with 76 missing. (AAP via News Limited)
Aliso Canyon gas leak
- Southern California Gas Company caps, at least temporarily, the natural gas leak that started last October and has forced thousands to flee their homes. (UPI) (Los Angeles Times)

Health

A yellow fever outbreak has killed 37 people in Angola since December 2015. (AAP via News Limited)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- South Korea starts withdrawing its nationals from the Kaesong Industrial Region in protest to recent actions by North Korea. (Yonhap)
- North Korea says it will freeze all South Korean assets and equipment at the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Park. (AP)
- South Korea shuts off the supply of electricity and water to the Kaesong Industrial Region. (Reuters)

Law and Crime

Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- All four remaining occupiers leave the refuge and surrender. (CNN)
Topo Chico prison riot
- At least 52 inmates are killed in a riot and fire at Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, Mexico. (FOX News) (CNN)

Politics and elections

José Ignacio Peralta is sworn in as Governor of Colima.(El Diario de Coahuila)
Warren Truss, the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, announces his resignation as the leader of the National Party of Australia. Barnaby Joyce is elected as the new leader with Fiona Nash elected as the new deputy leader. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
The French president François Hollande reshuffles his cabinet, bringing in three ministers from two green parties, Europe Ecology – The Greens and Écologistes !; former Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault is named as the new Foreign Minister replacing Laurent Fabius who resigned earlier in the week. (The Guardian), (BBC)
Democratic Party presidential debates, 2016
- Protesters demanding a $15 minimum wage stormed the venue in front of local and national media prior to the start of the sixth debate, this one between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. (UPI) (Fox 6 News)

Science

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration experiment announces the first direct observation of gravitational waves. (Nature), (Guardian), (New York Times) (APS Journals)

Sports

Sunderland A.F.C. terminate the contract of England international footballer Adam Johnson after he pleads guilty to two charges relating to child sexual abuse. (BBC)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource

February 18, 2016

Top News Stories –

Hairy panic sets in as homes are swallowed in masses of tumbleweeds –
Bizarre images have emerged of houses inundated with tumbleweeds in rural Victoria after extreme dry conditions cover homes in clouds of ‘hairy panic’. Residents have been left frustrated and exhausted trying to rid their properties of the ghost-like weed, which has engulfed front and back yards, gardens and garages. Named hairy panic, the weeds of Wangaratta are world-class, holding their own against Texas tumblers. Locals say the tumbleweed has been around for a couple of years but, with dry conditions, this summer is by far the worst. They suspect it’s coming from a nearby paddock that a farmer has failed to maintain. The council can’t help because the situation is not considered a fire risk, which has left homeowners to clean up indefinitely. [Yahoo News Australia]

‘Unauthorised trousers’ kill Canadian zoo’s otter –
A Canadian zoo is under scrutiny following the death of an otter which had been given a pair of trousers to play with in its enclosure. Logan, a 12-year-old American river otter, drowned at Calgary Zoo after being given the article of clothing as an “unauthorised enrichment item”, the Calgary Sun newspaper reports. The zoo’s general curator, Colleen Baird, says Logan got trapped in one of the trouser legs, and two employees have subsequently been disciplined following an investigation into the incident. “It was human error and we take animal deaths very seriously,” she tells the paper, but refuses to be drawn on who was responsible. “It’s irrelevant how exactly the pants got in there, it’s more that the pants got in there in the first place.” [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Skylight

Skylight from Chris Pritchard on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#OhNoBriana	#NationalDrinkWineDay	Oli Sykes
2	#QuintaDetremuraSdv	#OhNoBriana	Big Ang
3	#NationalDrinkWineDay	#UgandaDecides	#NationalDrinkWineDay
4	#FelizJueves	#IfTechnologyNeverAdvanced	#ZAYNOnFallon
5	#DigaUmaFraseLegal	#4CCTaipeiCity	#OhNoBriana
6	#ZAYNOnFallon	#DayWithoutLatinos	#jointenterprise
7	#Freedom251	#FamousAF	#DebbieDownerAMovie
8	#ALDUB31stWeeksary	#RIPBigAng	#10000BC
9	#あなたの緑川光は�…	#CanAmDuel	#NolanLive
10	#SiTeAmaEntonces	#SFin6words	Tim Montgomerie

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Kurdish–Turkish conflict
- 2016 Diyarbakır bombing
  - A roadside bomb hits a military convoy, killing six Turkish Army soldiers in the southeast Diyarbakır Province. (ABC News) (Reuters)
- Turkish Air Force jets bomb Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in Iraqi Kurdistan just hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed Kurdish militants for the 2016 Ankara bombing.(Haaretz)
Ethnic violence in South Sudan
- Fighting occurs between Shilluk and Dinka youths at a United Nations peacekeeping compound in the city of Malakal which lasts around three hours. Médecins Sans Frontières reports at least 18 people are killed, including two MSF South Sudanese staff members, and dozens wounded. (Reuters) (Trend News Agency)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Army, backed by the Russian Air Force, says it has captured the town of Kinsabba in the northwest Latakia Governorate. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Venezuela, facing an economic crisis, raises the price of gasoline for the first time in 20 years. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

At least 71 people are killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Ghana. (Sky News) (BBC)

Health

Zika virus outbreak
- Pope Francis indicates that contraceptives could be allowed, as the “lesser of two evils” vis-à-vis the sin of abortion, in addressing the life-threatening problem the Zika virus presents. He noted that Pope Paul VI, “in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape”. (CNN) (The Washington Post) (AP)(Katholiek Nieuwsblad)(Patheos)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- South Korea‘s National Intelligence Service warns that North Korea is currently planning a “terrorist attack” on South Korea, saying Kim Jong-un himself gave the order to North Korea’s State Security Department to make preparations for attacks. The NIS warning covered a large number of possible targets, including “subways, shopping malls, exhibition centers, power plants” as well as possible cyber attacks. (CNN)
Cuba–United States relations
- The President of the United States Barack Obama announces that he will visit Cuba next month becoming the first American president to visit Cuba since 1928. (Yahoo!)

Law and crime

A man sues an Oklahoma gun range after he is told to leave after identifying himself as a Muslim. The gun range owners though claim that the man was acting belligerent. (Associated Press via MSN)

Politics and elections

Philippine Senate election, 2016
- Nike, Inc. drops Manny Pacquiao as an endorser after his remarks about LGBT people. (BBC), (Forbes)
Ugandan general election, 2016
- Voters in Uganda go to the polls for a general election to elect a new President of Uganda as well as for parliamentary and local elections. The Presidential race with eight candidates including incumbentYoweri Museveni and seven challengers is tipped to be the closest in the nation’s history. (BBC)
- The government shuts down social media at the request of the electoral commission which says it is a security matter. Many Ugandans access Twitter and Facebook via a Virtual private network (VPN) which masks a user’s location. (Daily Times) (Quartz)
- Kizza Besigye, the main opposition presidential candidate, is “briefly” arrested after the polls close in Naguru, trying to get into a police command center in the capital Kampala. Besigye, who’s challenged President Musveni in the last three elections, has been repeatedly arrested, roughed up, or confined to house arrest during that time. (AP via Sky News Australia) (The Globe and Mail) (The New York Times)
Łukasz Kamiński, head of the Institute of National Remembrance says a newly found document, seized this week from the house of Poland‘s last communist-era interior minister, Czesław Kiszczak, suggests that former Polish President Lech Wałęsa was an informant for the Polish People’s Republic‘s secret security service during the 1970-1976 period. (NBC News) (BBC)

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March 9, 2016

Top News Stories –

Anti-PC Effort #TheTriggering Explodes on Twitter –
#TheTriggering, a hashtag meant to ridicule politically correct attitudes, exploded on Twitter and became a major trending topic in the United States. Activist Lauren Southern came up with the idea a few months ago: [mediaite.com]

See Top Twitter Trends

Kim Jong-un says North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads –
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his scientists have successfully miniaturised thermo-nuclear warheads to place on a ballistic missile and create a “true” deterrent, state media said on Wednesday. While Pyongyang has boasted of mastering miniaturisation before, this is the first time Kim has so explicitly claimed a breakthrough that experts see as a game-changing step for the North’s nuclear capabilities. Kim also stressed that the warheads were “thermo-nuclear” devices, echoing the North’s claim that the fourth nuclear test it conducted in January was of a more powerful hydrogen bomb. “The nuclear warheads have been standardised to be fit for ballistic missiles by miniaturising them,” Kim noted during a visit with nuclear technicians, the North’s official KCNA news agency said. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

The Most Interesting Man in the World Embarks on His Greatest Adventure Yet – Adios Amigo

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QuartaDetremuraSdv	#TheTriggering	#TheTriggering
2	#TheTriggering	#1DayTilDangerousWoman	Lilly Wachowski
3	#WednesdayWisdom	Clara Rockmore	#SundayTrading
4	Welcome Purpose Tour	George Martin	#WednesdayWisdom
5	George Martin	#WednesdayWisdom	#nosmokingday
6	#FelizMiércoles	#DStrong	#SDinGov
7	#1DayTilDangerousWoman	#1linewed	#IfTrumpWins
8	#المغربيه_احلي…	#NationalMeatballDay	#JuniorDoctorsStrike
9	#CompiYogui	#GreenwoodExplosion	George Martin
10	#ALDUBTheCompromise	#IfTrumpWins	Nick Clegg

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Taliban militants attack government offices in the southern Helmand Province of Afghanistan, with at least 10 killed, including seven of the attackers. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- U.S. special forces, landing in two helicopters, stage an overnight raid on the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Awdhegele in Somalia‘s Lower Shebelle region. Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheik Abduasiz Abu Musab, confirmed the raid saying “The helicopters landed outside town and the ground forces entered, there was heavy fighting and they were forced to flee”.”They were masked and spoke foreign languages which our fighters could not understand,” Abu Musab told Reuters. “We do not know who they were but we foiled them.” (AFP via Yahoo! News)(Reuters)
North Caucasus clashes
- A group of nine human rights activists and journalists, heading to Grozny, Chechnya, in a small bus, are attacked on the Kavkaz federal highway near the Ordzhonikidzovskaya settlement at the Ingushetiaborder. About 20 masked men assaulted the group, confiscated some mobile phones, and set their vehicle on fire. Two of the journalists, the NGO lawyer, and the bus driver were hospitalized. A Committee to Prevent Torture representative said this is the first press tour that was not organized by the Chechen government. (AP via WSOC-TV) (AFP via Yahoo! News)(Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union)

Disasters and accidents

At least 30 people are killed after a five-storey building still under construction collapses in Lagos, Nigeria. (Reuters)
Seattle, Washington (U.S.), fire crews, responding to reports of a natural gas leak, are caught in an explosion that injures nine firefighters. The explosion blew out windows in businesses and storefronts in the surrounding blocks. Three businesses were destroyed and a fourth was heavily damaged. “There’s nothing but rubble and bricks,” a resident said. Search dogs are working to ensure no one else is under the rubble. The Seattle Police Arson Bomb Unit and Puget Sound Energy are investigating the cause of the explosion. (The Washington Post) (KING-TV) (Seattle Fire Department)

Health and medicine

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends physicians ask about basic needs to screen for poverty-related health risk factors, participate in programs that help children develop resilience, assist families in identifying and maximizing protective factors, and advocate for safety net programs that assist children. (The Washington Post) (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) (2 Minute Medicine)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea’s state media reports Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, in comments released today, states the country has miniaturized nuclear warheads to be mounted on ballistic missiles, and has ordered improvements in the power and precision of its arsenal. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- Macedonia says it will no longer let any migrants through its southern border with Greece, effectively blocking the Balkan route for migrants. The decision came after Slovenia barred access to migrants transiting the country. There are around 13,000 migrants now stranded at the Macedonia-Greece border. (BBC)

Law and crime

Shahbaz Taseer, the son of Pakistani Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer who was murdered in 2011 for criticizing the country’s blasphemy laws, is reunited with his family four-and-a-half years after his kidnapping. Tuesday, Shahbaz was rescued by Pakistani secret service and counter-terrorism operatives in Kuchlak, Balochistan Province. He had been abducted in Lahore in August 2011, seven months after his father’s murder by bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri was executed on February 29, 2016. His death was claimed as the reason for the deadly Taliban suicide bombing in Shabqadar two days ago.(Reuters) (GEO TV Lahore) (The Express Tribune)
Niqāb in Egypt
- The Parliament of Egypt drafts a law which will ban women from wearing full-face veils such as the niqāb and burqa in public places and government institutions. The move comes after Cairo Universityrecently banned nurses and doctors from wearing veils in medical schools and in teaching hospitals, arguing the ban would “protect patients’ rights and interests”. (The Independent)

Politics

Peruvian general election, 2016
- Peru’s electoral court bans two leading candidates – Julio Guzman and César Acuña Peralta – from participating in next month’s election due to breaches of electoral law. (BBC)

Science

Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016
- A total solar eclipse occurs in Indonesia, and later, east of the international date line, in the northern Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse occurs in northern Australia, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. (ABC News)

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March 14, 2016

Top News Stories –

Ninjas wanted as Japan region promotes ‘warlord tourism’ –
Sharpen your shuriken, Japan’s Aichi prefecture is looking to hire six ninjas in a bid to boost tourism. The roles are full time and the pay is ¥180,000 ($1,600; £1,100) a month, the job ad says (in Japanese). Physical fitness and acrobatic skills are a must says Aichi prefecture, which hopes to promote “warlord tourism”. Ninjas were 15th Century Japanese mercenaries specialising in espionage, assassination, sabotage and other forms of irregular warfare. [BBC]

Saudi Arabia: All female Brunei crew in historic flight –
Three Royal Brunei Airlines pilots have made history by being the company’s first all-female flight crew, making their first journey to Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive. The women flew the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Brunei to Jeddah. The milestone coincided with Brunei’s National Day to celebrate independence. February’s flight Captain was Sharifah Czarena, assisted by Senior First Officers Sariana Nordin and Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem. Captain Czarena trained in the UK and in December 2013 became the first Royal Brunei pilot to fly out of London Heathrow in its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Drum Doctor from Media Bird on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#PiDay	#mondaymotivation	#CommonwealthDay
2	#FelizLunes	#nationalnappingday	#PiDay
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4	#هل_تتزوج_بنت_ت…	Happy Pi	#ReinventACliche
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6	#MutluOlamıyoruzÇünkü	#314Day	Help to Save
7	#nationalnappingday	What’s Wrong With Hillary	Missguided
8	#くって打ってでた�…	#BestFirstDateQuestions	Payet
9	#TeJuroQue	#BringBackTheBees	#ExoMars
10	#من_اهم_اسباب_ف…	#kimkchallenge	#GetWeirdTourCardiff

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

March 2016 Ankara bombing
- Turkey’s Interior Minister Efkan Ala says the results of the investigation into yesterday’s bombing in Ankara will be made public later today. Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu says 125 people were transported to a hospital, with 19 in critical condition. Two Kurdish militants have been blamed for the bombing. (BBC) (News.com.au), (Fox News)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present)
- Three Palestinians are shot and killed by Israeli Defence Forces after attempting to run over Israeli soldiers. Multiple guns were found in their car. (AP via The New Zealand Herald)
Mexican Drug War
- At least nine suspected cartel members are killed in gunfights with government forces during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, Mexico. (Appeal Democrat)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A United Arab Emirates Air Force fighter jet crashes in a mountainous area near the southern Yemeni city of Aden, killing both pilots. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War, Russian military intervention
- Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu to start the withdrawal of Russian Armed Forces from Syria, saying during a meeting with Shoygu, “I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow.” (RT) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Flood warnings are put in place and roads are closed after a heavy rain continues to fall in the northern parts of the Australian state of Queensland. (AAP via NineMSN)
Siam Commercial Bank reports eight people were killed and seven others injured in the basement of its Bangkok, Thailand, headquarters during an upgrade of the building’s fire safety system Sunday evening. It appears that workers mistakenly activated a system that released pyrogen, a chemical that deprives a fire of oxygen. (AP) (BBC)
An Amtrak passenger train derails west of Dodge City in the American state of Kansas. (CBS News)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea‘s supreme leader Kim Jong-un says his country will soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to North Korea’sstate media. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Status of press freedom worldwide
- Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government is very concerned about Saturday’s arrest and detention of two Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalists who attempted to interviewMalaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The pair, who are in Malaysia to investigate allegations of corruption and bribery involving the prime minister, were detained by Malaysian police for six hours, and told not to leave the country. (AP via The Washington Post) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Science and technology

The joint European Space Agency and Russian Federal Space Agency ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (BBC)

Sport

The National Football League‘s top health and safety official acknowledges a link between American football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. (ESPN)
2015–16 NCAA Division I women’s basketball season
- The field of 64 teams for the NCAA Tournament is announced. Unbeaten Connecticut is the top overall seed, with Baylor, Notre Dame, and South Carolina rounding out the #1 seeds.(ESPN)

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March 15, 2016

Top News Stories –

Mother Teresa to be made a saint in September –
Pope Francis has announced that Mother Teresa will be elevated to sainthood on 4 September, months after he approved a second miracle for the late nun and Nobel prize winner who was known as the “Saint of the Gutters”. The canonisation of Mother Teresa, who was hailed for her work with impoverished and dying people living in the slums of Kolkata, India, has been highly anticipated by supporters, and will be a highlight of the church’s jubilee year of mercy. More than 300,000 pilgrims went to Rome in 2003 for Teresa’s beatification – the first step towards sainthood. The Vatican said in a short statement on Friday that the Argentinian pontiff had approved the second miracle – the final hurdle to make her a saint – in which a Brazilian man was said to have been cured of multiple brain tumours in 2008 following the nun’s intercession. [Guardian]
Mother Teresa in 1986

California homeless man receives $100,000 for spotting fugitives –
A homeless man from San Francisco is to be given a reward of $100,000 (£71,000) for helping police recapture two prison inmates who had escaped. Matthew Hay-Chapman had seen photographs of the two fugitives on the news and spotted them in a stolen van. They had broken out of Orange County Jail six days earlier, sparking a state-wide manhunt. The full $150,000 (£106,000) reward was split between four people, with Mr Hay Chapman getting the largest share. Mr Hay-Chapman spotted the fugitives in the stolen van next to a market in San Francisco and alerted officers in the area. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

After Hours from Todd Martin on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#FelizMartes	#PrimaryDay	Anita Brookner
2	#TeQuieroAunque	Sausage Party	#CheltenhamFestival
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8	#PrimaryDay	3 Chicago	Sausage Party
9	#SiempreQueAndoFeliz	Mother Teresa	#BestFirstDateQuestions
10	#TerörsüzGünler	#FelizMartes	Mother Teresa

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

American-led intervention in Syria
- A senior Iraqi intelligence official, who is also a Syrian activist leader, says Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant commander Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen, real name Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili) died of wounds suffered in a March 4 U.S. airstrike near the Syrian town of Al-Shaddadah. The U.S. State Department offered up to $5 million for information on his whereabouts. Amaq news agency, which supports ISIL, says Shishani is neither dead nor hurt. (New York Times) (Chicago Tribune) (Reuters via Swiss Broadcasting Corporation)
2016 Brussels police raid
- Belgian security forces hunt gunmen linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks following a raid on a house in Brussels which left four officers wounded and one suspect dead after an exchange of gunfire. Roads have been blocked off in the Belgian capital’s southern suburb of Forest as one or more gunmen remain at large. (The Independent) (Irish Times)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Airstrikes reportedly kill at least 41 people and wound 75 others in Yemen‘s northern Hajjah Governorate. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis announces that Mother Teresa will be canonized on September 4. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

Brookfield Asset Management Inc and Qube Holdings join forces to make a A$ 9.1 billion bid for Australian freight logistics company Asciano Limited. (Bloomberg)
Linn Energy, an oil-and-gas producer with about $10 billion in debt, says a bankruptcy filing may be unavoidable. The company was founded in 2003 and had its initial public offering in 2006. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Ecuadorian Air Force Arava crash
- An Ecuadorian Air Force IAI Arava 201 crashes near Shell Mera in a mountainous part of eastern Ecuador during military exercises, killing all of the 22 soldiers on board. (BNO News) (Aviation Safety Network)
The entire Washington D.C. Metro system will shut down for 29 hours beginning at midnight Wednesday for an emergency investigation after an electric cable caught fire on Monday. (The Washington Post)(NBC4 Washington)
A fire severely damages the 16th century Wythenshawe Hall, near Manchester, England. (BBC)
A deadly fire breaks out at a rehabilitation center for addicts in Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan, a Republic of Russia, killing 12 people. An investigation was immediately launched. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Health and medicine

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues final recommendations urging doctors to try something besides an opioid when first treating pain, and if an opioid drug, such as hydrocodone oroxycodone, is the best choice, start with the lowest possible dose. (The Washington Post) (NBC News)

International relations

Burundian unrest (2015–present)
- The European Union suspends direct financial aid to Burundi after concluding that the Burundian authorities had not done enough to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict occurring in the country.(The Guardian)
Argentina–China relations
- Argentina‘s coastguard says it has sunk a Chinese fishing trawler that was operating illegally within its territorial waters. The coastguard says it rescued four of the trawler’s crew while others who abandoned ship were picked up by another Chinese vessel shadowing the pursuit. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
The parliament of the Netherlands passes a resolution calling on the government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, citing ongoing “violations of humanitarian law” in Yemen. (Middle East Eye)

Law and crime

Shooting of Michael Brown, Ferguson unrest
- The Ferguson, Missouri, city council, after last month voting to change the terms of the agreement, reverses course and unanimously (6-0) agrees to accept a U.S. Justice Department overhaul of its troubled police force and municipal courts. This avoided a likely expensive legal battle with the federal government which had filed suit against the city following last month’s vote. (CNN)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- Voters in the U.S. states of Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands head to the polls for Republican and Democratic Party primaries that the media has dubbed “Super Tuesday 2”. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Donald Trump wins primaries in Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri and Florida while John Kasich wins in Ohio. (NY Daily News) (Decision Desk HQ), (CNN), (USA Today), (NBC News)
- Donald Trump wins the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (Politico)
- Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic primaries in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. (Fox News), (Washington Post), (NBC News), (NBC News Live Blog)
- Marco Rubio suspends his presidential campaign following a disappointing defeat in his home state of Florida. (The New York Times)
- North Carolina’s controversial voter ID law is in effect for the first time. Voters without these new ID credentials, including voters with a “reasonable impediment” to obtaining an ID, can cast a provisional ballot. Citizens (2,567) faced this problem during early voting, including U.S. Senator Richard Burr who, because his driver’s license was stolen, was without ID. In addition, votes for congressional candidates for House seats don’t count because the state’s congressional district map was redrawn after the ballots were printed. The actual congressional primary is scheduled for June 7. (WRAL)(The Nation via Moyers & Company) (NPR) (Charlotte Observer) (The New York Times)
Nigerien general election, 2016
- The government will release opposition candidate Hama Amadou from prison due to health issues. Amadou is facing off against incumbent President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou in the second round of voting on Sunday. (Reuters)
The Myanmar Assembly of the Union, or parliament, selects Htin Kyaw as the new President. Kyaw, a confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi, will be the first civilian president in decades. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is constitutionally barred from the office. (Indian Express), (ABC News Australia)
The Obama administration announces it is cancelling plans to permit drilling for oil and gas off the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. A new plan involves 10 potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska. (USA Today) (The Island Free Press)

Science and technology

Andrew Wiles wins the 2016 Abel Prize for his solution to Fermat’s last theorem. (Nature)
Scientists, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences scientific journal, report that so-called fairy circles are caused by the plants themselves, which have self-organized. Michael Cramer and Nichole Barger suggested this in 2013. (The Washington Post) (PNAS) (The Atlantic)

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March 30, 2016

Top News Stories –

Europe’s largest floating solar farm to open –
The biggest floating solar farm in Europe is being constructed on a reservoir. More than 23,000 solar photovoltaic panels are being laid on the surface of the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. The farm, which will be the size of eight football pitches, is expected to generate 5.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity in a year. The energy will be used to part power a nearby water treatment works. Thames Water said construction of the solar farm, which is about eight miles (13 km) from Heathrow airport, will be completed by the end of March. The floating pontoon will be 57,500 sq m in size. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Largest Floating Solar Farm In Europe

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#MeHaceMuyFeliz	D’Angelo Russell	#WednesdayWisdom
2	#QuartaHumildeNoClubeSDV	#WednesdayWisdom	#AcademicHipster
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9	#WednesdayWisdom	#RightsCon	#ModernCollectiveNouns
10	#كل_مغرد_يوصف_ن…	#NationalDoctorsDay	#MurderedByMyFather

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Blasts and gunfire are reported in Tripoli. (Reuters)
Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
- At least seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel are killed in an IED attack on their vehicle in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh‘s Dantewada district. Naxalite insurgents are suspected to have been behind the attack. (International Business Times)

Business and economy

Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn agrees to buy 60% of the Japanese Sharp Corporation for 389 billion yen ($3.5 billion). (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

Thailand and neighbouring countries suffer from the worst drought in decades as an El Niño-induced water shortage reduces reservoirs to critical levels. (Al Jazeera)
At least nine people are injured in severe storms that spawned multiple tornado touchdowns in northeastern Oklahoma and sections of the Southwestern United States. One patient is in critical condition; the others suffered serious injuries, according to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas are also impacted. A flash flood watch has been issued through Thursday evening. Two (2) to 4 inches of rain is expected, with perhaps 6 inches in some locations. (AP)

Health and medicine

A new study by researchers at McGill University and the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that each additional month a woman has paid maternity leave is associated with decreased infant mortalityby more than 10 percent. Researchers noted that paid maternity leave reduces stress because of the guarantee of income and job security, increases the chances for breastfeeding and other infant care, and allows a mother to seek more medical attention for herself. (UPI) (PLOS Medicine)
The United States Food and Drug Administration announces it has relaxed its official requirements regarding the use of the abortion drug Mifeprex (RU-486). The current guidelines were based on 1990s medical evidence. Changes include reducing the number of physician visits required by abortion-seeking women, reducing drug dosage, and allowing women to take the drug for three weeks longer — now a total of 70 days. (UPI)
Air pollution in Mexico City
- Mexico City, facing the capital’s worst air-quality crisis in over a decade, issues a temporary order that all cars remain idle one day a week. Today, authorities report a pollution index of 108 (bad) after low readings during Holy Week. Vehicles will also be forced from the roads one Saturday a month. The measure will begin next Tuesday, April 5, and run until Thursday, June 30, 2016. Starting July 1, improved technology will be in place at smog-check centers where all vehicles must be tested every six months. (AP via Fox News)

International relations

The Wallenberg family files an application to formally declare Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (born in 1912) to be dead. Wallenberg saved the lives of thousands of Jews in World War II only to disappear at the hands of the Soviet forces. (Times of Israel)
Russia–Ukraine relations
- The Ukrainian parliament votes to ban all Russian films released after January 1, 2014, saying the move is aimed at improving “national security”; more than 430 Russian films and TV series fall under the new measures. Last month, the State Committee in Television and Radio-broadcasting in Ukraine removed 15 Russian TV channels from being broadcast in Ukraine. (RT)
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, at the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., will announce a three-way deal with the United States and Euratom, the European Union nuclear agency, to turn nuclear waste into medical isotopes to help fight cancer. (Bloomberg)

Law and crime

A Bangladesh Court issues an arrest warrant, the second one so far, for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party members over political violence, mostly petrol-bomb attacks, that occurred during anti-government protests last year that killed at least 120 people. (Al Jazeera)
EgyptAir Flight 181
- A Larnaca, Cyprus, court orders that 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, who was arrested by Cypriot police yesterday, remain in local police custody for eight days to assist Cyprus’s own investigation. Mustafa faces charges of hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping, and threats to commit violence. It’s unclear if Mustafa had any explosives; the bomb belt he wore was fake, and officials are waiting for testing results on unidentified liquids found among his possessions. (AP via The Daily Courier)
- Egypt General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek formally requests Mustafa’s extradition from Cyprus. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016:
- The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which organizes some 16,500 border patrol agents, endorses Donald Trump for President of the United States, NBPC’s first-ever endorsement in a presidential election. (CNN)
Myanmar general election, 2015
- In Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, Htin Kyaw is sworn in by House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than as the first civilian president in 54 years. Htin Kyaw, a close aide to Aung San Suu Kyi, takes power from former general Thein Sein. (Daily Mail)
The government of Pakistan warns that it will push to clear the Islamist protests occurring in Islamabad. Protests have broken out in the capital and other cities ever since Mumtaz Qadri was executed last February for his role in killing Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 because he opposed Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- The United Nations-backed Libyan Presidential Council arrives in Tripoli despite warnings by hardliners opposed to any unity government that they will attempt to keep them out of the city. (The Guardian)
The opposition controlled National Assembly of Venezuela passes an amnesty bill that could potentially free over 70 opposition leaders and activists jailed during protests last year, including prominent leaderLeopoldo López. (BBC)
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro vows to veto this amnesty bill. The opposition can override the veto since it holds a supermajority in the National Assembly. Maduro can also send the bill to theSupreme Tribunal to determine its constitutionality. (UPI)
- The opposition plans to generate a recall referendum that would ask voters if President Maduro should be removed from office. The Constitution states a recall referendum can be held once the president has served half of his six-year term (Maduro became President on April 19, 2013) and at least 20 percent of registered voters sign the petition. (UPI²)

Sports

Two Russian cyclists, former world champion Anastasia Chulkova and Pavel Yakushevskiy, test positive for meldonium. (AP)
Three-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel announces his retirement. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

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March 31, 2016

Top News Stories –

Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85 –
Entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, has died aged 85. His publicist said: “Ronnie Corbett CBE, one of the nation’s best-loved entertainers, passed away this morning, surrounded by his loving family. “They have asked that their privacy is respected at this very sad time.” Corbett was one of the UK’s best-loved comedians and along with Ronnie Barker, their double act was one of the most successful of the 1970s and ’80s. [BBC] See Video and List of the Day
Ronnie Corbett in 2010

Video of the Day –

The Two Ronnies. Four Candles

List of the Day –

Ronnie Corbett’s best jokes

A man was marooned on a desert island. One day a beautiful woman arrives in a wet suit. ‘When did you last have a smoke?’ she asks. ‘Five years ago.’ So she gets out a cigar and he smokes it. She unzips her wet suit a bit and says, ‘When did you last have a drink?’ He said, ‘Five years ago.’ So she gets out a bottle of Scotch and he has a drink. Then she unzips her wet suit a bit more and says, ‘And when was the last time you played around?’ He looks at her in amazement and says: ‘You’re not telling me you’ve got a set of golf clubs in there?’
A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston by-pass. Motorists are asked to be on the look-out for 16 hardened criminals.
We will be talking to an out of work contortionist who says he can no longer make ends meet.
There was a fire at the main Inland Revenue office in London today, but it was put out before any serious good was done.
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my right hand.
For some time, my wife’s had this ridiculous idea that I’m playing too much golf. Actually, it came to a head at about 11.30 last night. She suddenly shouted at me: “Golf, golf, golf. All you ever think about is bloody golf!”. And I’ll be honest, it frightened the life out of me. I mean, you don’t expect to meet somebody on the 14th green at that time of night.
This is a message for seven honeymoon couples in a hotel in Peebles: Breakfast was served three days ago.
French wine growers fear that this year’s vintage may be entirely spoiled due to the grape treaders’ sit-in.
West Mercia police announced tonight that they wish to interview a man wearing high heels and frilly knickers, but the chief constable said they must wear their normal uniforms.
It was revealed in a government survey published today that the prime minister is doing the work of two men, Laurel and Hardy.
We’ll be talking to a car designer who’s crossed a Toyota with Quasimodo and come up with the Hatchback of Notre Dame.
After a series of crimes in the Glasgow area, Chief Inspector McTavish has announced that he is looking for a man with one eye. If he doesn’t find him, he’s going to use both eyes.
We’ve just heard that in the English Channel, a ship carrying red paint has collided with a ship carrying purple paint. It is believed that both crews have been marooned.
A grandfather has gone missing after eating four cans of baked beans, two cauliflowers and a jar of gherkins. His family have made an emotional appeal for him not to come home for at least a fortnight.
Today is our anniversary. It’s just 12 years ago today when she said “I do”. It certainly surprised me, because I didn’t think she did.
That was the night when I leapt onto the dancefloor and did my rather racy impression of John Travolta. I suppose it must have been the animal in me. Well, I had a ferret down my trousers.
This new controller thinks I am the funniest man in Britain. He’s been told to stay in bed and take things easy for a while.
I remember that day clearly, because it was the one day there wasn’t a sale at Allied Carpets.
This joke dates back to 256 BC which, as scholars of ancient Egypt will know, was the year of the famous wildcat strike by the amalgamated union of eunuchs and allied sopranos, in a dispute over severance pay.
Since the last joke, I’d like to thank all those of you who have written in with suggestions about what I can do with my act, one or two of you with diagrams.
Offers of work have been flooding in. Last week I was invited to go on a round-the-world cruise. By the chairman of the Flat Earth Society.
This week I was asked to do a very important after-dinner speech. I said: “Do you want me to be funny?” They said: “No, just be yourself.”

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present)
- Israeli security forces arrest 16 Palestinian suspects on the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post)
War in Somalia
- A suicide bomber in Somalia’s Puntland region detonates while hugging Saeed Ali, the treasurer of Galkayo, killing him and several police officers guarding him. Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (International Business Times) (Reuters)
PKK rebellion, Turkey–ISIL conflict
- A car bomb, targeting an armored vehicle transporting police personnel, explodes close to a bus terminal in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, Turkey, killing at least seven police officers and wounding 27 more people, including 13 officers, according to a joint statement by Turkish officials and the police. The attack comes one day before Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s scheduled visit to the city. There has been no claim of responsibility. CNN points out both Kurdish rebels and ISIL militants have claimed similar recent incidents. (Al Jazeera) (CNN) (AP) (Arab News)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports a drone attack, “most likely operated by the US-led coalition,” kills Abu al-Hija, a high-ranking Tunisian ISIL commander, near the Islamic State’s de factoSyrian capital Raqqa. (Al Arabiya)

Business and economics

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission files an anti-trust suit against Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and several other drug companies for using pay-for-delay settlements to block consumers’ access to lower-costgeneric versions of pain medications, Opana ER and Lidoderm. (StreetInsider.com)
A consortium led by China’s Anbang Insurance Group announces it will walk away from its $14 billion takeover bid for Starwood Hotels. This restores Marriott International as the highest bidder ($13.6 billion).(CNBC) (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Kolkata overpass collapse
- At least 21 people are killed, 70 injured and up to 150 people are feared trapped after a half-built overpass collapses in the Indian city of Kolkata. (Indian Express) (NBC News)

International relations

2016 Nuclear Security Summit
- More than 50 heads of state as well as representatives from international organizations attend the annual Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., with the notable exception of Russia, which declined to attend. The main agenda of the two-day gathering is the discussion of North Korea and the threat it poses with its nuclear weapons and the possibility of ISIS extremists getting a nuclear weapon. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Law and crime

Yugoslav Wars
- Former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and nationalist politician, Vojislav Šešelj, is acquitted of all nine charges of committing atrocities in Bosnia and Croatia during the early 1990s by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. (The Guardian)
A U.S. official announces that The Pentagon plans to transfer about a dozen inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to at least two countries that have agreed to take them, in the latest move inBarack Obama’s final push to close the facility. The official declined to name the countries ready to take them in. (The Guardian)
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
- A Malaysian court dismisses Malaysia Airlines’s bid to throw out a lawsuit filed by relatives of three people who went missing on Flight 370. The company argued that the disappearance of MH370 on March 8, 2014, occurred before the company came into existence as Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) on September 1, 2015, and therefore has no liability to relatives. The court ruled MAB’s liability would be determined in a trial. (UPI) (Malay Mail)
A 37-year-old Virginia State Police trooper taking part in a police training mission is killed by a gunman inside the Greyhound bus station in Richmond, Virginia. Two officers standing nearby return fire and fatally strike the suspect. Two civilian women are injured. (WTVR) (NBC News)

Politics and elections

Vietnam elects Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân chairwoman of the National Assembly. Ngân, who won 95.5 percent of the votes, is the first woman to lead Vietnam’s legislature. In January, she was re-elected to the powerful Politburo at the Communist Party Congress. (AP)
The Constitutional Court of South Africa delivered a unanimous judgement that President Jacob Zuma and the National Assembly failed to uphold the country’s constitution by ignoring the findings of the Public Protector regarding public expenditure on Zuma’s private homestead. (Daily Maverick)
United States presidential election, 2016, Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
- Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court upholds the previous court ruling that dismissed the case against Ted Cruz which challenged his eligibility to appear on the state’s GOP primary ballot, and serve as president. (ABC News)
- Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida forcibly reject, as has the White House, candidate Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. military be withdrawn from Japan and South Korea with nuclear weapons replacing them. A small minority in South Korea, such as the think tank Sejong Institute, agree with Trump on this issue, but this is not mainstream policy. (CNN) (Vox Media)
  - Another Trump statement, “South Korea is a money machine but they pay us peanuts,” is greeted with “howls of inaccuracy” from the South Korean Foreign Ministry and the White House. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert says “Seoul pays for 55% of all non-personnel costs.” (CNN)
Venezuela’s National Assembly, responding to last month’s Central Bank of Venezuela report that the country experienced a 180.9 percent inflation increase in 2015, passes legislation, The Law of Bonds for Food and Medicine for Retirees and Pensioners, that could make it easier for pensioners and retirees to pay for food and medicine. The approved bill has been forwarded for President Nicolás Maduro’ssignature. (UPI)
Italy‘s Minister of Economic Development, Federica Guidi, resigns amid allegations that she passed along confidential information to her boyfriend that helped his business interests. (AP via Fox News)
Brazil protests
- Brazil’s Supreme Court voted 8-2 to take over the corruption investigation of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Silva alleges Judge Sérgio Moro unfairly targets him. The court also overruled Moro’s decision to release the recording of Silva’s call with President Dilma Rousseff, since it is the only court that can authorize a wiretap on presidential conversations. The full court is still to rule on the injunction that prevents Silva from taking office as the President’s Chief of Staff. (AP via ABC news) (Reuters)
- Today, thousands of demonstrators gathered in more than 20 states in support of Silva and Rousseff. (Reuters²) (AP via ABC news)
- Brazil sports minister George Hilton resigns and will be replaced on an interim basis by Ricardo Leyser, a senior official in the ministry. Leyser, 45, has worked in the sports ministry since 2003, and has been heavily involved with the Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, August 5-21, 2016. (The Rio Times) (insidethegames)

Science and technology

Astronomers’ study reveals the surface of exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a 2500°C liquid face, constantly facing its star 55 Cancri, while the other side is relatively colder and solid. (Discovery via ABC News)

Sport

Five U.S. women’s national soccer team players file federal wage discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). In the filing, the players cite 2015 USSF figures which show they were paid nearly four times less than men’s players despite generating nearly $20 million more revenue. A U.S. Soccer statement says, “… we are disappointed about this action.” (The Washington Post) (ESPN)

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April 10, 2016

Top News Stories –

Danny Willett wins the 2016 Masters –
While Jordan Spieth attempted to make history today, Danny Willett stole the spotlight. With a final-round, 5-under-par 67, Willett became the first Englishman in 20 years to win the Masters Tournament. Willett, 28, finished at 5-under-par 283. He defeated Spieth and Lee Westwood (69) by three shots. Spieth bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11. Then, he hit his tee shot at the par-3 12th into the bank, his ball rolling back into the water. Spieth then chunked his third shot into the water and his fifth into the back bunker. He got up and down from there for a quadruple-bogey 7. With Spieth’s meltdown, Willett birdied Nos. 14 to move to 4-under. He rolled in a seven-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to get to 5-under. Then, he saved par at No. 17 after hitting his second shot just off the green. Willett made par at No. 18 to finish with a 3-under-par 33 total on the back nine. He joins Nick Faldo as the only two Englishmen to ever win the Masters. [Augusta.com]
Danny Willett

Video of the Day –

2CELLOS – Whole Lotta Love vs. Beethoven 5th Symphony

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#Kollam	#FakeRockandRollFacts
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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The Taliban, in a statement claiming responsibility for yesterday’s rocket attacks into Kabul, Afghanistan, says the intended target was U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in the capital to help defuse a crisis within the unity government. Kerry had departed less than an hour earlier. No casualties have been reported. (CNN)

Business and economics

Developers announce their intention to build a new tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to surpass the Burj Khalifa as the tallest structure in the world. The project is expected to be roughly $1bn (£710m) and scheduled to be completed for the Dubai Expo trade fair in 2020. (BBC)
The International Monetary Fund encourages the move toward negative interest rates because “they help deliver additional monetary stimulus and easier financial conditions.” (Reuters).

Disasters and accidents

Kollam temple fire
- A fire occurs at a Hindu temple in the Kollam district of the Indian state of Kerala. At least 102 people have been killed and hundreds injured. (Indian Express) (Times of India) (inquisitr), (BBC)
2016 Afghanistan earthquake
- A 6.6 magnitude earthquake occurs in northern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border with tremors felt in north India. (BBC) (USGS)

International relations

Iran–United States relations
- The Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif says that the country’s missile program would not be up for discussion. This comes as United States Secretary of State John Kerry said last Thursday that the United States and its allies would only address Iran’s concerns in the region if it makes it clear to all involved that it was prepared to cease provocative ballistic missile launches and tests. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Panama Papers
- German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, during a newspaper interview, appeals to media to hand over “Panama Papers” data that will help governments around the globe that already have startedinvestigating possible financial wrongdoing by the world’s rich and powerful. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Peruvian general election, 2016
- Voters in Peru go to the polls for a general election with Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Kuczynski going through to the second round. (Telesur) (AP via Journal Times)
- Suspected Shining Path rebels kill three people, two of them Peruvian Army soldiers and the other a driver, in an attack on a vehicle carrying election materials in the remote areas of the country. (BBC)
Chadian presidential election, 2016
- Voters in Chad go to the polls for the first round of voting in a presidential election with incumbent President Idriss Déby favoured to win a fifth term. (Reuters)
Comorian presidential election, 2016
- Voting begins for the second round of an election in the Comoros with a tight race expected between three candidates. They are current Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi, who won the first round, former coup leader Azali Assoumani and Governor of Grande Comore Mouigni Baraka. (Al Jazeera)
The Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigns from office in a televised address. Yatsenyuk said his resignation is to be immediately followed by the formation of a new government. Volodymyr Groysman has taken role as Acting Prime Minister. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
European migrant crisis
- Macedonian police fire tear gas at refugees as they attempted to break through a fence at the Greece-Macedonia border near Idomeni, sparking clashes that injured 200 people. (Al Jazeera)
Panama Papers
- British Prime Minister David Cameron releases his tax records in an effort to remove discussion about his personal wealth from the current political discourse. His initial reluctance to admit he had benefited from his late father’s offshore Panama Papers holdings still seems to be affecting the upcoming European Union referendum. Unfortunately for the PM, the main Sunday newspapers in the U.K. tell of a gift of 200,000 pounds ($282,500) from his mother in 2011, suggesting it may have been a way of avoiding inheritance tax. (Reuters)
- Several thousand people protest in Valletta, Malta, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat because the leaked Panama Papers connect his Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, and Health and Energy Minister, Konrad Mizzi, to offshore accounts. (Reuters)

Science and technology

The World Wildlife Fund reports global populations of tigers, an endangered species, are up about 20 percent over the past six years. This increase in tiger numbers, after declining for a century, was primarily in India, Russia, Nepal, and Bhutan. The third Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation starts Monday in New Delhi, India. (Newsweek)

Sport

Masters Tournament
- In golf, Danny Willett of England wins the 2016 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. (The Telegraph)
NBA 2015-16 season
- The Golden State Warriors, with today’s win at San Antonio, tie the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls NBA regular season record with their 72nd win this season. The Warriors can still break the record; on Wednesday, they host the Memphis Grizzlies in their final regular season game. (NBC News) (NBA)

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April 21, 2016

Top News Stories –

Prince Dies at 57: Iconic Musical Genius Found Dead in Paisley Park –
Prince died today at age 57 at his Paisley Park home and studio in Minneapolis, his publicist confirmed to the Associated Press. TMZ first reported the news. According to a press release sent from the Carver County Sheriff’s Department this afternoon, deputies arrived at Paisley Park at 9:43 a.m. and found Prince unresponsive in the elevator. After CPR attempts were unsuccessful, he was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. The cause of death has not yet been determined, and Carver County with assistance from Hennepin County Sheriffs and the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating. Prince was hospitalized last week after his plane for was forced to make an emergency landing in Moline, Ill. Released a few hours later, a rep told TMZ that he had been battling a bad case of the flu. One of the most iconic musicians in music history, Prince’s extensive career grew out of the music scene of his native Minneapolis, where he lived his entire life. His 1978 debut album For You and self-titled second LP, released in October 1979, kicked off an incredibly prolific run of albums that included 1999, Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day, Sign O The Times and Batman, among others, throughout the 1980s at a clip of nearly one per year, evolving with each release. [Billboard]
Prince in 2008

Queen’s 90th birthday: Beacons lit amid UK celebrations –
The Queen has lit the first of more than 900 beacons lighting up across the UK and overseas as part of her 90th birthday celebrations. Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall then joined the monarch at a private dinner in Windsor Castle. Earlier, cheering crowds lined the streets in Windsor as the Queen took part in a walkabout. At the lighting of the beacon in Windsor, the Prince of Wales, referring to his mother, said: “I find it very hard to believe that you’ve reached your 90th year and I suddenly realised the other day that I have known you since you were 22 years old. “But this, ladies and gentleman, is a very special occasion and this beacon that her majesty is about to light will also represent – as it lights other beacons across the nation – the love and affection with which you are held throughout this country and the Commonwealth. [BBC]

Solar plane slowly soaring from Hawaii to California –
A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it’s California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that’s documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, in about three days. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is flying this leg of the journey. [AP]

Video of the Day –

Alone in Paris from Mathieu Stern on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Prince Discography

Studio albums

For You (1978)
Prince (1979)
Dirty Mind (1980)
Controversy (1981)
1999 (1982)
Purple Rain (1984)
Around the World in a Day (1985)
Parade (1986)
Sign o’ the Times (1987)
Lovesexy (1988)
Batman (1989)
Graffiti Bridge (1990)
Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
(Love Symbol Album) (1992)
Come (1994)
The Black Album (1994)
The Gold Experience (1995)
Chaos and Disorder (1996)
Emancipation (1996)
Crystal Ball (1998)
The Truth (1998)
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999)
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999)
The Rainbow Children (2001)
One Nite Alone… (2002)
Xpectation (2003)
N.E.W.S (2003)
Musicology (2004)
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
3121 (2006)
Planet Earth (2007)
Lotusflow3r (2009)
MPLSound (2009)
20Ten (2010)
Plectrumelectrum (2014)
Art Official Age (2014)
HITnRUN Phase One (2015)
HITnRUN Phase Two (2015)

Live albums

One Nite Alone… Live! (2002)
One Nite Alone… The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over! (2002)
C-Note (2004)
Indigo Nights (2008)

Remix albums

Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic (2001)

Compilation albums

The Hits 1 (1993)
The Hits 2 (1993)
The Hits/The B-Sides (1993)
Girl 6 (1996)
The Very Best of Prince (2001)
Ultimate Prince (2006)

The New Power Generation albums

Goldnigga (1993)
Exodus (1995)
Newpower Soul (1998)

The NPG Orchestra albums

Kamasutra (1998)

Madhouse albums

8 (1987)
16 (1987)

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Worldwide	USA
#TiradentesDayClubeSDV	#HappyBirthdayYourMajesty
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#EstadoIslamicoLevaOMCGui	#RIPAmy
#RIPChyna	#NationalTeaDay
#NationalTeaDay	Jimmy Johns
#NoHayNadaComo	#FelizJueves
Selamat Hari Kartini	#420Celebs
#SaveTheEarthIn4Words	Prince

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Sudanese nomadic conflicts, Ethnic violence in South Sudan
- The Ethiopian Army crosses the border into South Sudan with the latter’s approval in search of more than 100 children who were kidnapped and spirited across the border in a surprise attack by unknown assailants that also killed 208 people a few days ago. (Al Jazeera)
Northern Mali conflict
- Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group claims responsibility for kidnapping three International Committee of the Red Cross staffers this weekend in Abeïbara in northeastern Mali. (AP)
Amnesty International says the Nigerian Army killed 350 members of the Islamic Movement and secretly buried them in mass graves in the city of Zaria in Kaduna State. (The Guardian)

Arts and culture

Elizabeth II, queen regnant of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, celebrates her 90th birthday. (BBC)
Bongbong Marcos admits that his family is blocking the release of their alleged ill-gotten wealth, which included masterpiece paintings accumulated during the reign of his father, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. (ABS-CBN News)
The Bunyadi, a London pop-up restaurant where diners will be encouraged to eat in the nude, has a reservation waiting list of more than 13,000 people for its June opening. The restaurant will operate for three months. (UPI)
Musician Prince dies at his home at Paisley Park in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen, Minnesota. (News Limited)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Volkswagen reaches a deal with the United States government that includes vehicle buybacks and cash compensation. (AP via Fox News)
The Vatican suspends PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit of its finances over questions whether proper procedures were followed when the December 2015 contract, reportedly worth $3 million, was enacted. Analysts say this move exposes the rift between the church’s old guard and supporters of financial reform, and raises questions about the Catholic Church’s commitment to cleaning up its finances. (Reuters)(The Guardian) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

More than 100 are feared dead in an early summer heatwave in India which has forced the closure of schools. (Reuters)
At least 24 people are killed, 136 others injured, and eight workers still missing from yesterday’s blast at the major Clorados 3 petrochemical plant of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo. Nineteen people remain hospitalized, with 13 in serious condition. The plant is run by Mexichem under agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the national petrochemical company, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on the country’s southern Gulf of Mexico coast. Pemex had an earlier fire at the same facility in February 2016 that killed one worker; also that month, an offshore Pemex Gulf platform fire killed two and injured eight.(Reuters) (AP)
At least two people are killed after an oceanfront stretch of an elevated bike lane in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collapses when it was hit by a strong wave. Two other people were rescued alive, while another may be missing. The bike lane was among the projects built in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics. No Olympic event will be held on the path. (AP) (AP² via CBS News) (Hindustan Times)

International relations

Australia-Philippines relations, Philippines-United States relations, Philippine presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte said that Australia and the United States should go ahead and cut their ties with the Philippines if he was elected president, following critical comments of their ambassadors on his rape remarks. (Rappler)
Gulf Cooperation Council Summit
- United States President Barack Obama, at the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Saudi Arabia, says the United States will continue to deter and confront aggression against Gulf Arab states; joins others in warning the fragile cease-fire in Syria is on the verge of collapse; pledges vigilance about Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East; wants Gulf allies to offer more democratic reforms and improve human rights; and, says the U.S. and its Gulf partners should wait to see whether Iraq can resolve its political crisis before committing more financial aid which is impeding the fight against ISIL. (AP)(Reuters)
Syrian peace process
- Staffan de Mistura, U.N. envoy to Syria, says there has been “real but modest” progress in the country’s humanitarian situation, despite the shaken ceasefire. Aid convoys have reached 560,000 people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas; six areas still remain off limits. Yesterday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent medically evacuated 515 people from four communities—Zabadani, Madaya, Kfarya, and Foua—besieged by government and rebel groups. (AP)
United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- U.S. President Barack Obama, in an op-ed in London’s Daily Telegraph, urges Britons to keep the U.K. in the European Union. Tomorrow, Obama is scheduled to have lunch with Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, who celebrated her 90th birthday today. He then will hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (The Daily Telegraph)
Philippines-United Kingdom relations, Philippines-United States relations
- The United States and the United Kingdom issue travel alerts for their citizens to avoid the Sulu Archipelago in the southwestern Philippines where a wave of kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf militants has occurred. (AP)

Law and crime

Crime in El Salvador
- The government of El Salvador unveils and deploys a new heavily armed special forces unit to fight criminal gangs in rural areas of the country. Officials say it will target gang leaders who left the cities because of a government crackdown. (BBC)
Six high ranking Pakistan Army officers, including a lieutenant-general and major-general, are sacked by Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif amid corruption allegations within the army. Sharif said corruption had to be uprooted to fight terrorism. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Philippine general election, 2016
- Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte says he shot a fellow law student at San Beda College. The victim, Octavio Goco, who was also a Lex Talionis fraternity brother of Duterte, survived the assault. Duerte was not allowed to participate in his graduation ceremony. (Rappler) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Russia–Ukraine relations
- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signs legislation banning all Russian films made after January 1, 2014. The legislation also bans movies produced by Russia after 1991 if they “glorify the work of government bodies” of Russia, citing such movies to be a threat to national security. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2016 Macedonian protests
- The European Union cancels mediation talks on resolving the political crisis in Macedonia after that country’s main political opposition, led by Zoran Zaev, declined to take part. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Chadian presidential election, 2016
- The incumbent President of Chad Idriss Deby is reelected for a fifth term amid allegations of fraud. (Voice of America)

Science and technology

Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered only by the sun, takes off from Kalaeloa, Hawaii, USA, on the ninth leg of its around-the-world journey. This portion of the trip will cover 2,542 nautical miles and, in about three days, is scheduled to touch down in Mountain View, California. The journey originated in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on March 9, 2015, and, after another 8,130 nmi, will complete the circle when it lands in Abu Dhabi. (AP)

Sport

2016 Summer Olympics
- The Olympic flame is lit outside the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, by Greek actress Katerina Lehou. Brazilian volleyball legend Giovane Gávio starts the relay that will reach the capital Brasilia on May 3 for transport throughout the South American country by 12,000 torchbearers, arriving at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 5. (AP via WMAR-TV)
Zika virus outbreak
- Some Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball players, who are scheduled to play a two-game series the end of May in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to honor Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, are concerned about being exposed to the Zika virus. About 400 cases have been confirmed in the Commonwealth. (AP via ESPN) (The Sporting News) (Yahoo! Sports)

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April 22, 2016

Top News Stories –

Finland’s postal workers to mow lawns –
Finland’s postal service will be doing more than just delivering letters and parcels this summer – its workers will be mowing lawns, too. The state-owned Posti company is offering a weekly grass cutting service, with customers able to choose either 30 minutes or 60 minutes of lawn-mowing time, the national broadcaster Yle reports. It will only be available on Tuesdays, though, as the volume of post tends to be lighter than on other days, and customers will have to provide their own lawnmower. They’ll also have to be willing to pay 65 euro (£51; $73) a month for the half-hour sessions. [BBC]

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1	#DiaDeLaTierra	Happy Passover
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3	#EarthDay	#FridayFeeling
4	#شي_مات_في_مجتم…	#RUDigitalBlackness
5	#ALDUBAkingMahal	#SpotifyGameOfThrones
6	#TirusDay2016	#DiaDeLaTierra
7	#ComoPretextoDiré	Pike County
8	#TomorrowlandNoMultishow	#PrinceGoneTooSoon
9	#صلو_علي_النبي	#EarthDay
10	#StopCoupInBrazil	#PuertoRicoPuertoRicans

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Moro conflict
- The U.K. Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department issue travel advisories regarding the Philippine island of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago after a recent kidnapping near Davao City. (Sun Star Cebu),(Rappler)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that airstrikes have killed at least seven people in Aleppo. (AP)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- A suicide bomber kills at least nine people at a Shi’ite mosque in southwestern Baghdad. A second attacker was shot dead by security forces before he could detonate his explosives. (Reuters)
The United States admits it has killed 20 civilians and wounded 11 others in airstrikes in Syria and Iraq between September 10, 2015, and February 2, 2016. (UPI)

Arts and culture

Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
- Romania is expelled from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, after its national broadcaster, Romanian Television (TVR) failed to pay outstanding debts dating back to 2007. Ovidiu Anton was due to perform the song “Moment of Silence” at the contest. (Sky News)
The Carver County, Minnesota Sheriff’s office conducts an autopsy on Prince to determine cause of death. (Reuters)

Business and economics

Creditors, including 800 sacked workers, vote to place Queensland Nickel into liquidation allowing creditors to pursue its owner, Australian politician Clive Palmer, for costs. (Australia)
Fiat Chrysler announces plans to withdraw 1.1 million vehicles worldwide due to problems with the gearshift confusing drivers. (BBC)
Valeant, a Canada based pharmaceutical company, says it has received new notices of default from its bondholders. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A passenger train derails near the South Korean city of Yeosu resulting in the death of a railroad engineer and eight people being injured. (Reuters)
A warehouse storing chemicals and fuel catches fire in the Chinese city of Jingjiang resulting in an unknown number of casualties. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
At least 15 people have been killed in a landslide in the Tawang District in India‘s Arunachal Pradesh state. (Times of India)
2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- The Samoan Islands and Wallis and Futuna brace for the impact of Cyclone Amos as the Fiji Meteorological Service upgrades the cyclone to a category three storm, with sustained winds as high as 140 km/h at its centre. (Radio New Zealand)
State oil company Petroleos Mexicanos reports the death toll has risen to 28 from Wednesday’s explosion at Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo’s Clorados 3 petrochemical plant in the Gulf port city ofCoatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Some workers are still missing while 18 others remain hospitalized. Officials say the explosion came from an unspecified leak. The plant produces the hazardous industrial chemicalvinyl chloride. (AP)

International relations

United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- Mayor of London and cabinet member Boris Johnson says that U.S. President Barack Obama is “inconsistent and hypocritical” in persuading the British people to remain in the European Union. (The Sun)
Taiwan–United States relations
- The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously passes a resolution reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances. (Taipei Times) (Focus Taiwan)
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
- A record 175 states sign the United Nations climate agreement in New York on opening day. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions formally join it. (ABC News Australia) (AP)
NATO–Russia relations, Cold War II
- U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti, the incoming head of the United States military forces in Europe, says he supports a permanent brigade-sized presence of U.S. combat troops in Eastern Europe to deterRussia’s expanded and assertive actions. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute
- Belize accuses Guatemala of “amassing” troops on the disputed Belize–Guatemala border following the death of a teenage Guatemalan boy in a shooting incident apparently involving Belize Defence Force soldiers. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales called the shooting a “cowardly and excessive attack” that merits the “total condemnation of the Guatemalan state”. (AP via ABC News)

Law and crime

Former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Rajendra K. Pachauri is to face a court in Delhi, India on charges of sexual harassment. Pachauri is accused of stalking, intimidation and sexual assault of a former employee. (The Guardian)
2016 Pike County, Ohio, shootings
- Eight family members are murdered in four different locations in Pike County, Ohio. Three children, including a four-day-old baby, survived the killings. (Fox News), (AP) (AP²)
Five people have been killed in two separate shootings in the American town of Appling, Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Felony disenfranchisement
- In the United States, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signs an executive order restoring the rights of an estimated 200,000 convicted felons to vote and run for office. (AP)

Politics and elections

2016 Macedonian protests
- The European Union announces it is considering imposing sanctions on Macedonia’s leaders for reneging on an agreement last year to investigate corruption in the ruling class and issuing an amnesty instead to those involved. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Thousands of Sudanese students take to the streets around the University of Kordofan in Khartoum and other parts of the country to protest the recent killing of students last Monday. Security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest, killing many students after they attempted to nominate pro-opposition candidates for their campus elections. (The Guardian)
Mexican Drug War, War on Drugs
- Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto proposes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes and easing limits for personal use of the drug. He said he would be sending a bill to the Congress to increase the amount users can legally carry from the current five grams to 28 (0.18-1oz). The news comes just two days after he addressed the United Nations General Assembly at a special session on drug policy and is seen as a chance to re-think the current strategy of fighting drug-trafficking, especially in Mexico where the fighting has killed tens of thousands of people. (BBC)
Philippine general election, 2016
- The Commission on Election announced that the May 9 elections shall push through despite a massive breach on its database by hackers which puts 55 million registered Filipino voters at risk.

Science and technology

Amazon Reef
- Oceanographers discover an extensive reef system near the Amazon River, estimated to span an area of 3,600 square miles (9,300 km²). (The Atlantic), (The Guardian), (Los Angeles Times),(Phys.org), (CNN)
China’s National Space Administration says it is working on a program to land a rover on Mars by 2020. (AP)
Energy development
- The Alaska SeaLife Center (Seward, Alaska) announces that 98 percent of the center’s heating and cooling now comes from low-cost, alternative energy derived from seawater. (Tech Times)
Scientists discover the quantum tunneling of water molecules. (Phys. Rev. Letters), (Phys.org), (Tech Times)

Sport

2022 FIFA World Cup
- President of FIFA Gianni Infantino says a new independent committee will be set up to monitor working conditions at Qatar’s 2022 World Cup venues. The move is an attempt by the world football’s governing body to ease fears of human rights abuses in the state, where organizations like Amnesty International documented multiple cases of poor working conditions and abuses against migrant workers. (BBC)

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April 23, 2016

Top News Stories –

William Shakespeare 400: Prince Charles takes to stage to speak Bard’s most famous line –
Prince Charles bravely went up against Britain’s finest actors to make his acting debut with what is possibly Shakespeare’s most famous line. The Prince of Wales became the Prince of Denmark as he joined acting royalty on stage to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, uttering: “To be or not to be. That is the question.” Charles made a shock appearance as Hamlet alongside Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant in a star-studded televised gala performance in the Bard’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. Charles, who had been watching Shakespeare Live! at the town’s riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre show with the Duchess of Cornwall, was heard to speak from the wings, asking: “Might I have a word … ” Then followed the opening lines to what is one of Shakespeare’s best-known soliloquies: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” [Daily Mirror]

Manager at exotic pet shop paid a prostitute with a MONKEY worth $2,500 that he swiped from the store owned by his wife –
An Oregon man was arrested after he allegedly tipped a prostitute with an exotic monkey, valued at $2,500, that he took from his own pet store. Nathan Allen McClain, 36, is accused of tipping a prostitute with an exotic primate and paying her with money from the Zany Zoo Pet Store fund, which included a donation jar with money, in exchange for a sexual encounter, according to Eugene detectives. The unidentified woman, who police tracked down at a local hotel, had the Galago primate in her possession and told authorities she received it as a tip from a client, whom she identified as McClain. The woman was cooperative, and provided a statement to detectives, along with the animal. [Daily Mail]

Video of the Day –

BALANCE from Tim Sessler on Vimeo.

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- The Pakistani Taliban claims the killing of a Sikh lawmaker, Soran Singh. (The New York Times)
Syrian Civil War
- ISIL claims to have shot down a Syrian Arab Air Force MiG-23, southeast of Damascus, and captured its pilot. Amaq News Agency, which supports ISIL, gave the pilot’s name as Azzam Eid, from Hama. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it was not clear whether the plane had been shot down or crashed because of mechanical failure. (Daily Mail) (Times of Israel)
- Syrian government airstrikes kill 25 people, mostly civilians, in attacks on rebel-held areas near the capital Damascus. (NY Times)
Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
- Yemeni government forces along with Popular Resistance militia kill dozens of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in clashes in southern Yemen. A drone strike kills two others further north, nearMa’rib. (Reuters)
Iraqi Civil War
- Two separate car bombs kill at least 12 people in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the blast at the security checkpoint in a northern district that killed nine and injured 28 others. Three people are killed and 11 injured at the second bombing in southern Baghdad that targeted an army convoy; no group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The continuing influence of English dramatist William Shakespeare is celebrated on the 400th anniversary of his death in Stratford-upon-Avon. (Time)
Spain commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of its most famous author Miguel de Cervantes. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- Samoan authorities prepared for Severe Tropical Cyclone Amos which is forecast to make landfall later tonight. (Weather Zone)
A Russian oil tanker catches fire in the Caspian Sea, killing at least one crew member. A total of 10 crew members were evacuated from the ship, which was in the territorial waters of Turkmenistan when the fire broke out. It was unclear what caused the blaze. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2016 Ecuador earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake passes 650 with over 50 people missing. It is now the deadliest earthquake in South America this century. (AP via ABC News)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea is reported to have launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile for the first time. (Reuters)
Russia–United States relations
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin accuses the United States of reneging on a 16-year-old deal that called for reducing Russia’s and the United States’ stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. He accusedWashington of trying to preserve its ability to turn some of its plutonium stockpile back into a form usable for nuclear weapons. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Syrian peace process
- Reuters reports the Friday afternoon truce between Kurdish Asayish forces and pro-Syrian government forces, declared following a three-day outbreak of violence that killed at least 26 people, is holding.(Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans meet with Syrian refugees at a camp in the southeasternTurkish town of Nizip prior to talks with a delegation led by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu stresses the importance of implementation of European Union visa liberalization for Turkish citizens in assuring the success of Europe’s migrant readmission agreement with his country. Tusk announces that the EU will spend 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) this summer on projects to improve the lives of Syrian migrants. (Hürriyet Daily News) (Reuters) (Journal of Turkish Weekly)
North Korea-United States relations
- Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong says North Korea is ready to halt nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. (AP via Time)

Law and crime

Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique is killed in the Bangladeshi city of Rajshahi in an ISIL attack. (Hindustan Times) (AFP via Yahoo!)
Böhmermann affair
- During a rally in support of German comedian Jan Böhmermann, outside the Turkish embassy in Berlin, Bruno Kramm, head of the Berlin branch of Germany’s Pirate Party, is arrested for “insulting a representative of a foreign state” by quoting a line from the comic’s satirical poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (RT)
Panama Papers
- Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif bows to opposition demands that he ask Pakistan’s chief justice to set up an independent commission to investigate offshore accounts linked to his family. Sharif said he would accept the commission’s findings and even resign if called upon. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- European Union finance ministers approve a series of measures to tackle tax-evading methods that were exposed by the Panama Papers. (The Guardian)
United States Federal agents are combing three states for 32 cases of commercial grade explosives, about 500 pounds of 2½ to 5 inch aerial shells, stolen from a CSX train traveling from Chicago, Illinois, through Ohio that arrived in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday. (CBS News) (Detroit Free Press)

Politics and elections

Philippine presidential election, 2016
- Human rights activists, lawyers, labor rights groups and other advocates endorse Leni Robredo for vice president. (Rappler)
South Sudanese Civil War
- Rebel leader Riek Machar misses an international deadline to return to the capital Juba to take the post of Vice President. Machar was offered the position by President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the hopes of putting an end to the civil war but has repeatedly delayed his return. (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of people protest in the German city of Hanover against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal. They say the deal would drive down wages, and weaken environmental protection and labour rights. (BBC)
Darfurian status referendum, 2016
- According to the Sudanese electoral commission, more than 97% of voters in Darfur choose to remain as five states rather than form a single region. However, The vote was held amid ongoing insecurity and many of Sudan’s 2.5 million displaced people were not registered to vote, with the U.S. State Department warning that the referendum could not be considered credible “under current rules and conditions”. (BBC)
Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso names former opposition leader Clément Mouamba as prime minister. (Reuters)

Science and Technology

Solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2 lands in Mountain View, California after a 62-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii. (NBC News) (BBC)

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