May 2, 2015

Top News Stories –

Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to daughter –
The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a girl, Kensington Palace has announced. The princess – who is fourth in line to the throne – was “safely delivered” at 08:34 BST, the palace statement said. The Duke of Cambridge, who was present for the birth of the 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg) baby girl, brought his 21-month-old son Prince George to visit his sister at St Mary’s Hospital, west London. The couple and their daughter will leave hospital on Saturday evening. They will travel home to Kensington Palace, where Prince George has now returned. Both Catherine and her daughter are “doing well”, Kensington Palace said. The name of the baby will be announced in due course. [BBC]

Floyd Mayweather beats Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas –
Floyd Mayweather emerged victorious from the most lucrative fight in history, beating Manny Pacquiao via a wide unanimous decision in Las Vegas. American Mayweather, 38, delivered a defensive masterclass against his Philippine rival, making the necessary adjustments after only a few rounds before disappearing out of sight. Mayweather, who added the WBO welterweight title to the WBC and WBA titles he already owned, was awarded the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 by the three judges. With his victory, Mayweather also cemented his status as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of his generation. The five-weight world champion is now undefeated in 48 professional fights, stretching back 19 years. Pacquiao’s pride will no doubt be salved when he next checks his bank account – it is estimated the fight will generate $400m (£265m) in total, with Mayweather and Pacquiao set to split in the region of $230m (£150m). [BBC]
Floyd_Mayweather_JrFloyd Mayweather

Best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell dies –
The best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell [pen name Barbara Vine] has died aged 85, her publisher has said. The celebrated British author was best known for her series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Wexford. Her publishers announced that Rendell passed away in London at 8am today. Paying tribute, they said they were “devastated by the loss” of one of their best-loved authors. The Labour peer was admitted to hospital in January in a critical but stable condition after suffering a serious stroke. Her crime novels gained her committed fans for decades and covered a range of issues from racism to domestic violence. [Daily Telegraph]
Ruth-Rendell-in-2007 Ruth Rendell in 2007

Video of the Day –

Jarryd James – Do You Remember from Jake Jelicich on Vimeo.

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June 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Floyd Mayweather tops the 2015 Forbes Celebrity Rich List –
Since 1999 Forbes have been ranking the wealth and influence of the world’s biggest stars. Factors taken into account include income, Google hits, fan base, press clips and magazine covers. But for the the first time, this year’s list has ranked the world’s top earning entertainers by annual income only. Mayweather’s $300 million year shatters the record for athlete earnings, which was previously held by Tiger Woods who banked $115 million in 2008. Mayweather earned an estimated $180m from his fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2015. Katy Perry has been crowned the highest earning female celebrity. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day below
Floyd_Mayweather_JrFloyd Mayweather

Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris top highest paid couple list –
Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris have become the highest paid celebrity couple, overtaking Beyonce and Jay Z. The relatively new romance of Swift with her superstar DJ boyfriend see them top this year’s Forbes list; with a combined income of $146m (£92m). It means Queen Bey and her rapper husband slip down to second place with earnings of $100m (£70m). The power couple have been number one on the list since 2013. [BBC]
Taylor-Swift Taylor Swift

Video of the Day –

Avril Lavigne says having Lyme disease has been the ‘worst time’ of her life –
Avril Lavigne has opened up about her struggle with Lyme disease, calling it the “worst time” of her life. The 30-year-old singer contracted the disease, spread by infected ticks, whilst touring last year. The Canadian says she became “bedridden” in October but is now expected to make a full recovery. She told Good Morning America: “I was seeing every specialist and every doctor. They’d say ‘chronic fatigue syndrome?’ or ‘are you depressed?’ “I woke up and had night sweats and felt like I had the flu. She says it took took months for someone to finally figure out that she had Lyme Disease. [BBC Newsbeat]
Avril_Lavigne Avril Lavigne

Video of the Day –

Do We Have to Get Old and Die? – Minute Earth

List of the Day –

The World’s Highest-Paid Celebrities 2015 according to Forbes Magazine

Rank Name Age Earnings Category
#1 Floyd Mayweather 38 $300 M Athletes
#2 Manny Pacquiao 36 $160 M Athletes
#3 Katy Perry 30 $135 M Musicians
#4 One Direction $130 M Musicians
#5 Howard Stern 61 $95 M Personalities
#6 Garth Brooks 53 $90 M Musicians
#7 James Patterson 68 $89 M Authors
#8 Robert Downey Jr. 50 $80 M Actors
#8 Taylor Swift 25 $80 M Musicians
#10 Cristiano Ronaldo 30 $79.5 M Athletes

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September 12, 2015

Top News Stories –

Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership contest and vows “fightback” –
Jeremy Corbyn has promised to lead a Labour “fightback” after being elected the party’s new leader by a landslide. The veteran left-winger got almost 60% of more than 400,000 votes cast, trouncing his rivals Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. He immediately faced an exodus of shadow cabinet members – but senior figures including Ed Miliband urged the party’s MPs to get behind him. Mr Corbyn was a 200-1 outsider when the three-month contest began. But he was swept to victory on a wave of enthusiasm for his anti-austerity message and promise to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapons and renationalise the railways and major utilities. [BBC]
Jeremy_CorbynJeremy Corbyn

Russian Cosmonaut Returns From Record-Breaking Space Mission –
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka’s safe return from months aboard the International Space Station has put him in the record books for spending more time in space than any other human — the equivalent of nearly two and a half years on five different flights. Padalka, whose latest 168-day stay on the ISS gives him a total of 879 days in space, has smashed the previous record, which was set by fellow Russian Sergei Krikalev in 2005, by two months. [NPR]
PadalkaGennady Padalka

Floyd Mayweather beats Andre Berto to make it 49 straight wins –
Floyd Mayweather made it 49 straight wins with a wide points victory over Andre Berto in Las Vegas. The challenger was game but his fellow American, defending his WBC and WBA welterweight titles, was simply too difficult to hit at the MGM Grand. Mayweather, 38, was awarded the verdict 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. Mayweather was adamant it was his last fight, but having equalled Rocky Marciano’s career record of 49-0, he might decide to have one more. “My career is over, that’s official,” said five-weight world champion Mayweather, widely regarded as the greatest fighter of his generation. Mayweather made $34m (£22m) for his latest outing but few expect him to fulfil his promise to retire. [BBC] In June Mayweather topped the Forbes Celebrity rich list
Floyd_Mayweather_JrFloyd Mayweather

Harvard’s exclusive Spee club invites women to join after decades of resistance –
The barriers have fallen one by one at Harvard’s exclusive Spee Club. First Catholics were admitted at the start of the 20th century, then Jews in the 1930s and blacks in the 1960s. But female undergraduates were always a step too far. The Spee even moved off campus in the 1980s when the university ordered it and eight other clubs to open their doors to women. This week, things finally changed for a club that once counted John F Kennedy among its members. A number of female students reported waking on Friday to find invitations – set out in ornate calligraphy and sealed with an elaborate “S” – had been slid under their doors asking them to attend a reception next week, the first step to membership. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Bride puts a spell on her magician groom during first dance

List of the Day –

How much does the iPhone 6s cost around the world? [Daily Telegraph]
iPhone pricing

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