December 12, 2014

Top News Stories –

Star Wars character names posted by director –
The names of characters in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to be released in December 2015 have been revealed in a mocked-up set of trading cards. John Boyega will be Finn, Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron and Daisy Ridley’s character is called Rey. Director JJ Abrams confirmed the names via some old school trading cards, in reference to when the Star Wars films were first released in the 1970s.
Oscar Issac

World’s longest ship launched –
Shanghai-based marine-shipping company China Shipping Container Lines has launched the world’s largest container ship, the “CSCL Globe”. The ship is more than 400m (1,312ft or a quarter of a mile) long, 56.8m (186ft) wide, 73m (240ft) high and 186,000 tonnes gross. The ship, which is longer than four football pitches, is making its maiden voyage from Shanghai to Europe.
The CSCL Globe

Marriage proposal fail –
A Dutchman’s attempt at a romantic wedding proposal using a mobile crane has resulted in the crane falling over and smashing into a neighbour’s roof. The man had rented a crane in the central town of Ijsselstein to descend in front of his girlfriend’s bedroom window, play her a song and ask her to marry him. Despite the disaster in which no-one was hurt, his girlfriend agreed to marry him.

Pope avoids Dalai Lama meeting –
Pope Francis will not meet the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama because of the “delicate situation” with China, according to the Vatican. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet and China describes him as a separatist. The Vatican does not want to jeopardise improving relations between itself and China.
Pope Francis

Video of the Day –

Star Wars – The Force Awakens Official Trailer –

CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

March 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

America’s longest-serving innocent prisoner receives $1m for 39 years in jail –
An Ohio man freed last year after spending 39 years in jail for a murder he did not commit will receive more than $1 million from the state for his wrongful imprisonment. Ricky Jackson, the longest-held US prisoner to be cleared of a crime, will receive just over $1 million (£680,000) following an order from an Ohio Court of Claims judge on Thursday. The 39 years Mr Jackson spent in jail was the longest time a prisoner had been held before being exonerated. [Daily Telegraph]

‘Breathtaking’ solar eclipse witnessed by millions –
Millions of people in the UK and northern Europe have glimpsed the best solar eclipse in years. A great swathe of the Earth’s surface was plunged into darkness as the Moon came between us and the Sun. From an aeroplane above the Faroe Islands, a BBC camera crew captured startling footage of the event reaching totality at 09:41 GMT. The deep shadow formed first in the North Atlantic and then swept up into the Arctic, ending at the North Pole. See video of the day [BBC]

Martin Guptill hits highest World Cup score in New Zealand victory –
New Zealand’s Martin Guptill smashed the highest score in World Cup history with 237 not out against West Indies to send his team into the semi-finals. The 28-year-old’s 163-ball innings featured 11 sixes and 24 fours and beat the 215 made by West Indies’ Chris Gayle earlier in the tournament. Guptill hit 137 from his last 52 balls to help his side post 393-6. Trent Boult then took four early wickets as New Zealand bowled out the Windies for 250 to seal a 143-run win. [BBC]
Martin Guptill

Video of the Day –

UK Solar Eclipse [Daily Telegraph]

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March 24, 2015

Top News Stories –

Germanwings plane 4U 9525 crashes in French Alps – no survivors –
A Germanwings plane carrying 150 people has crashed in the French Alps on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. The Airbus A320 – flight 4U 9525 – went down between Digne and Barcelonnette. There are no survivors, officials say. The “black box” flight recorder has been found, the French interior minister says. The cause of the crash is not known and the plane did not send a distress signal. Among the passengers were 16 German pupils returning from an exchange trip. [BBC]
Germanwings A319 plane

Nash Grier offer ignites Twitter –
Nash Grier asks for selfies to be posted on his Twitter feed with the hashtag #BartAndNashsContest for a chance to be in his next Vine video. Result is top trending for the hashtag. (see Top Twitter Trends).
Nash Grier Twitter

Jaguar Launches the XF on a high wire –
The new lightweight Jaguar XF tackles a London water crossing via a 28mm wide high-wire suspended 18 metres above the city. Movie stuntman, Jim Dowdall was at the wheel in an attempt at the world’s longest high-wire water crossing by car. (See Video of The Day)

China orders square dancers to walk the line –
Chinese officials say they will introduce guidelines to regulate square-dancing in the country. The dance is wildly popular with elderly Chinese women and is performed en masse at night in public squares. However, Chinese authorities say the “over-enthusiasm of participants has dealt it a harmful blow, with disputes over noise and venues”. Fitness authorities plan to introduce 12 authorised routines and also permissible times and music volume. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Jaguar #NewXF performs the world’s longest high-wire water crossing –

CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

June 5, 2015

Top News Stories –

Southampton footballers set new world record for longest match –
A new world record for the longest football match has been set at St Mary’s, the home of Southampton FC, after a 102 hour-long charity game. The 36 players, from the Testlands Support Project, a Southampton charity, played on until 00:30 BST on Friday to break the previous record, of 101 hours. The players took turns to take breaks to eat, get physiotherapy and sleep. They began the 11-a-side match at 18:30 on Sunday, scoring over 1,600 goals. The Reds went on to beat the Whites 910-725. [BBC]

Surprising pop star facts revealed by YouTube –
YouTube reveals statistics, usually only visible to those behind the scenes, showing some bizarre trends about the world’s biggest stars. They show that Taylor Swift is twice as popular in Bangkok in Thailand than New York, for example. Or that One Direction are huge in Quezon City, the Philippines, as well as Mexico City. The Artist Insights service was unveiled on Wednesday. Google says it means musicians will be able to see the cities where they have the largest number of fans. The records go back to September 2014 and include original versions of the artist’s videos as well as fan shares and re-uploads. [BBC Newsbeat] See List of the Day

Taylor Swift

‘Female Viagra’ to boost women’s libido one step closer –
The development of a pill to boost women’s libido is one step closer after an American panel recommended the approval of the female equivalent of Viagra. A panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisers has voted in favour of recommending flibanserin, a daily pill nicknamed the “female Viagra”. The recommendation will be seen as a major coup for campaigners who have fought for women’s sex drives to receive the same level of medical attention as men’s. The decision will now be passed to the FDA itself, which will rule on whether the pill will be officially approved for public use later this year. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Trick Meter from Simeon Duncombe on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Taylor Swift’s YouTube fanbase by country (September 2014 – June 5, 2015) – Data from YouTube Artist Insights

United States

678,418,914 total views

United Kingdom

204,980,705 total views

Mexico

190,668,351 total views

Philippines

158,830,256 total views

Brazil

145,212,778 total views

Thailand

116,673,111 total views

Canada

100,100,885 total views

Japan

77,336,118 total views

France

67,362,320 total views

Republic of Indonesia

66,044,140 total views

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#PSYYnaAtAngelo	#NationalDonutDay	#FirstYearAdvice
2	#ComoDiceUnaCancion	#WorldEnvironmentDay	#FridayFeeling
3	#DiaMundialdelMedioAmbiente	#RubioCrimeSpree	#WorldEnvironmentDay
4	#NBAFinals	#NBASongs	#BBCMusicDay
5	#NationalDonutDay	#FlashbackFriday	Jerry Collins
6	Warriors	#USMNT	#NBAFinals
7	#الهلال_النصر	Chris Brown	#NationalDonutDay
8	#WorldEnvironmentDay	Ferris Bueller	#NationalFishandChipDay
9	Jerry Collins	Pat Venditte	#bbcqt
10	Chris Brown	Jerry Collins	#aqabiology

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

A bomb explodes in a marketplace in Yola, Nigeria, killing 31 and injuring dozens of others. (AP), (CNN)
Two people are killed and more than a hundred injured as bombs explode at rallies held by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party two days ahead of the general election in Diyarbakir. (AP)

Business and economy

Nestlé temporarily removes its Maggi noodles product from the shelves in India following a health scare. (Economic Times)

Disasters and accidents

Sinking of the Dong Fang Zhi Xing
- The death toll from the sinking of the ship on the Yangtze River rises to 82 with officials giving up hope of finding more survivors. Only 15 out of over 450 people on the boat were rescued. (Sky News Australia)
Two bodies have been removed from Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu following the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Malaysia‘s Sabah province Friday morning. Previously-stranded climbers, reported at 137, have descended to the Laban Rata resthouse. (The Star) (CNN) (Asia Straits Times) (The Rakyat Post)
2015 Accra explosion
- The death toll from an explosion at a gasoline station on Wednesday in the Ghanaian capital Accra rises to over 200. (Zee News)

Health

2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak in South Korea
- Four people have now died of MERS in South Korea with five new cases reported. (AFP via Bangkok Post)

International relations

Benigno Aquino, the President of the Philippines, says that his government will start discussions with Japan about allowing Japan Self-Defense Forces to refuel at Filipino bases allowing the extension of operations into the South China Sea. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Law and crime

Eight out of the ten allegedly involved in shooting Pakistani schoolgirl and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai have been secretly set free.(BBC)
Prosecutors in the state of Minnesota file criminal charges against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for allegedly mishandling sexual abuse allegations by a priest. (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Romania‘s National Anticorruption Directorate announces that it is investigating the Prime Minister Victor Ponta for alleged money laundering, forgery and corruption. Ponta denies the allegations and is refusing to stand down. (CNN)

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August 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Ex-Broadcaster Kills 2 on Air in Virginia; Takes Own Life –
He was a fired television reporter with a history of conflicts at work and rage apparently stoked by racial grievances. And when he sought revenge on Wednesday, gunning down two former colleagues, he used the tools of social media to ensure that his crime was broadcast live, recorded from multiple angles and posted online. Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, identified by the authorities as the gunman, waited until Alison Parker and Adam Ward, young journalists at WDBJ in Roanoke, were on air, then killed them while recording on his own video camera. Mr. Flanagan shot himself in the head hours later, the authorities said, but as the chase for him was on, he wrote about the shooting on Twitter, uploaded his video to Facebook and sent a manifesto to ABC News that spoke admiringly of mass killers and said that as a black, gay man he had faced discrimination and sexual harassment. [NY Times]
Alison Parker and Adam Ward

Theater shooter Holmes gets 12 life sentences, plus 3,318 years –
A Colorado judge formally sentenced James Eagan Holmes to multiple life terms plus thousands of years in prison for the Aurora movie theater massacre that killed 12 and wounded 70. Holmes, a 27-year-old former grad student, received one life term for each person he killed, plus 3,318 years for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives. He is not eligible for parole. Prosecutor George Brauchler said he believed the sentence was the fourth longest in U.S. history. He described the judge’s command to promptly remove Holmes from the courtroom as “the right exclamation point” to bring a painful, difficult trial to a close. [CNN]

James_Holmes_2012

Burger King is trying to make the McWhopper happen –
Lovers of fast food burgers are in for a treat: why choose between the Big Mac and the Whopper when you can have both in one mouthful and save the world at the same time? Burger King has approached McDonald’s about combining their star burgers for one day only, in a bid to raise awareness of Peace Day, the day of global unity recognised by the United Nations held annually on September 21. The McWhopper would be six parts Big Mac (top bun, all-beef patty, cheese, lettuce, special sauce and middle bun) and six parts Whopper (tomato, onion, ketchup, pickles, flame-grilled patty and bottom bun). The limited edition burger would be available in a co-branded pop-up restaurant in Atlanta, the mid-way point between McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago and Burger King HQ in Miami. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Burger King | McWhopper Proposal

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#5monthswithoutzayn	#SolveMyProblemsIn4Words	#ask5sos
2	#RelationshipGoalsIn3Words	#RelationshipGoalsIn3Words	#RelationshipGoalsIn3Words
3	#Tucumanazo	Vick	#charitytuesday
4	#فتاه_تغتصب_شاب	#5monthswithoutzayn	House of Fools
5	#NuncaMePasoEsoDe	Curt Schilling	#1YearOfMyEverything
6	BeliebersVoteHottest	Aaliyah	#5monthswithoutzayn
7	#SolveMyProblemsIn4Words	#ask5sos	#TravelTuesday
8	LANA EU TE AMO	#BornToRun	Colin Fry
9	#FelizMartes	You Oughta Know	Harvey Proctor
10	NCAE	Jorge Ramos	Greg Rutherford

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Two NATO soldiers are shot dead by two men in Afghan military uniforms. (AFP via France24)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL has destroyed two historic Muslim shrines in Palmyra. (CNN)

Arts and culture

The smaller of mother Mei Xiang’s two giant panda cubs born on Saturday at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. dies. (Smithsonian)

Disasters and accidents

A Swedish rescue crew finds 51 dead migrants in the hold of a boat off the coast of Libya during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea that has saved 439 other people. In addition, three women are found dead in another migrant boat and another corpse is found during ten rescue operations on Wednesday that have saved around 3,000 people, according to the Italian coast guard. (Reuters) (AP via Columbus Republic)

Law and crime

Anti-corruption campaign in China, 2015 Tianjin explosions
- The People’s Republic of China sacks its workplace safety chief Yang Dongliang for alleged corruption following an investigation triggered by the Tianjin explosions. (Reuters)
Murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward
- A U.S. television reporter and her cameraman, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, are shot dead during a live broadcast in Moneta, Virginia; the woman they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, is wounded. The alleged shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, later uploads a video of the murder and commits suicide. (WTKR)
2012 Aurora shooting
- James Eagan Holmes is formally sentenced to 12 consecutive life sentences plus 3,318 years for the murder of 12 people and injury of 70 others at a Century movie theatre in the U.S. city of Aurora, Colorado. (AP via US News and World Report) (CNN)

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November 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Charlie Sheen confirms he is HIV positive –
Hollywood star Charlie Sheen has confirmed he is living with HIV in a US television interview. “I am here to admit that I am HIV positive,” he said. The former star of sitcom Two And A Half Men appeared on NBC’s Today show, ending days of intense media speculation. Sheen revealed to Matt Lauer he had paid “enough to take it into the millions” to keep people from going public about his illness. “I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths,” he said, adding he was diagnosed four years ago. [BBC] In March 2015 Sheen launched a racist Twitter attack on Barack Obama.
Charlie Sheen

Bangkok sets record for longest half-marathon after route blunder –
The 6,000 runners who just completed the Bangkok half-marathon will have a special mention in sporting trivia quizzes for years to come, after they were forced to run an extra four miles to reach the finish line. Mark Kent, the British ambassador to Thailand, was among those who finished the longest half-marathon in history after a route blunder by organisers. The mishap occurred as the wrong gate was opened on a main road for the runners to complete a U-turn, some two miles further on than planned. The organisers have apologised profusely for the mistake and offered all competitors a free commemorative T-shirt bearing the message: “Finisher of 27.6 km”. An actual half-marathon should last 21.1 kms, or about 13 miles. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

ACROSS THE SKY – a world record slackline in the utah desert from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#1DMX	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight	#1DUK
2	#جده_الان	#BEFOUR	#CharityTuesday
3	#1DPL	#PrisonBooks	Oxford Dictionaries
4	#ReinadoColombia	#1DonGMA	Charlie Sheen
5	#FelizMartes	Bobby Jindal	Mitchell Johnson
6	Pampita	#BadFirstDateActivities	FHM and Zoo
7	#السعوديه_تيمور	#6YearsOfMyWorld	#WorldPrematurityDay
8	Leyla Zana	Charlie Sheen	#EngvFra
9	上原亜衣	#Our4WordFuture	#IKWYDLSAtMidnight
10	#6YearsOfMyWorld	JJ Watt	#Barney

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Metrojet Flight 9268
- Russia’s Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
- In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia’s Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant‘s de-facto capital in Syria, as well as Aleppo and Idlib. A U.S. official confirmed that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought downMetrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt‘s Sinai Peninsula. (RT) (Independent)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A blast at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, kills at least 32 people and wounds 80 others. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

American actor Charlie Sheen confirms he has HIV. (CBS) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Ioannina in Greece, at a depth of 10 kilometers. At least two people are killed, the main road in the southwestern part of Lefkada has also been damaged. (RT)
In the United States, the National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning for northeastern Colorado and western Kansas with an expected snowfall by midday of 12 inches in Denver, Colorado. As of 6:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 143 arriving and departing flights are cancelled for busy Denver International Airport. Several tornadoes were spotted overnight in northern Texas, western Kansas, and southern Nebraska. (Reuters) (USA Today)
2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- There are fears that up to four people have died during bushfires burning near Esperance on the coast of Western Australia. (ABC)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015
- The Human Rights Watch reports that the Philippine government is detaining street children and homeless people as part of preparations for an international summit. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

The Israeli government outlaws the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, declaring it “an illegal organization”. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is led by Raed Salah, who has been convicted in court of numerous activities, including funding Hamas, contacting an Iranian agent, assaulting a police officer, and leading a violent protest. (The Jerusalem Post)
The Japanese government officially sues the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, over his denial of permits to allow work to begin on the Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- More than half of the state governors in the United States reject accepting asylum seekers from Syria after the attacks in Paris. All except one of them are Republicans. (CNN)
- Obama administration officials hold a conference call with 34 governors to assure them, “refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States.” A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he asked federal officials for “more robust data” and an “enhanced flow of information.” (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)
The president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, marks the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution by attending an anti-Islam rally in Prague with the “Bloc against Islam” group which supports the president. The rally was also attended by observers from the German protest movement, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) and Tommy Robinson, a prominent British anti-Islam activist. Zeman told the crowd of several thousand that they aren’t extremists for advocating closing the Republic’s borders to Muslim migrants. (AP via ABC News) (Breitbart)
United States presidential election, 2016
- The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The Guardian) (Fox News)

Sport

Cancellation of football matches
- Belgium‘s football association calls off today’s friendly (non-competitive) football game with Spain due to concerns over security following the November 2015 Paris attacks. (AP)
- A friendly match between Germany and the The Netherlands is cancelled after a suspicious object is found in the Niedersachsenstadion in the German city of Hanover. (The Guardian)

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March 3, 2016

March 2, 2016

Top News Stories –

Kanye West appears to have torrent site Pirate Bay open in a photo he’s tweeted –
Kanye West is in trouble over his tweets – again – after the background to a photo he posted made it look like he was illegally downloading files. He sent out a picture on Twitter showing him listening to a Sufjan Stevens track on YouTube, but fans quickly spotted other tabs he had open. One of them says “Xfer Records Serum”, but is next to others saying “Pirate Bay Torrent Xfe” and “MediaDownloader”. Deadmau5 hit out at Kanye, saying: “@kanyewest – can’t afford Serum?” Kanye’s original tweet simply said “Day 3” alongside the photo. [BBC Newsbeat]
In September 2015 West announced he will be running for US President in 2020.
Kanye West

Emirates A380 makes longest non-stop flight as airlines launch long-haul battle –
An Emirates superjumbo touched down in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday, after spending more than 17 hours in the air from Dubai – making it the world’s longest commercial scheduled flight. The Emirates A380 covered a route of about 8825 miles, before turning around and doing it all again on the way home. It beat the previous record – Qantas’s Dallas to Sydney route – by about 250 miles. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

STREET SWEEPER from Rupert Walker on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#QuartaFeiraNoClubeSDV	#TwoWordTrump	High School Musical 4
2	#FelizMiercoles	#WCH2016	#WednesdayWisdom
3	#HaydiSURaAblukayıKaldır…	#TexasIndependenceDay	#HappyValley
4	#QuienMeConoceSabe	Sports Authority	#BackInTimeForTheWeekend
5	#ALDUBMysteryBox	#WednesdayWisdom	#DolanTwinsNewVideo
6	#PrendeOCunhaSTF	#TroyeOnHits1	#MorningsWouldBeBetterIf
7	#WednesdayWisdom	#StopTheSham	European Super League
8	#كفايات_المعلم…	#1linewed	#borntobedifferent
9	#حلوه_الحياه_لما	#ICON16	#digifest16
10	High School Musical 4	#ReadAcrossAmerica	#ExOnTheBeach

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

One Chinese national is killed and three others injured in a possible militant attack on a Chinese-invested company in Laos, the official Xinhua News Agency reports. (Reuters)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Two Palestinian teenagers, from the nearby village of Qaryout, got into a Jewish settlement and stabbed an Israeli settler at his home in the Eli settlement near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. They were stopped and killed by the army. The injured settler was taken to a hospital. (Reuters)(AFP via i24news)
Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
- Jordan says an overnight raid on an ISIL cell in the city of Irbid has left seven militants and one security officer dead, with five others injured. Those killed were planning to blow up civilian and military targets in the country, according to the General Intelligence Directorate (GID). (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Nine people are killed in an attack on the Indian consulate In Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (NDTV)
Libyan Crisis (2011–present)
- The Tunisian Army kills five suspected ISIL militants near the town of Ben Gardane after they infiltrated across the border from neighboring Libya. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Mining company Samarco agrees to pay $4.4bn reais (£804m) in compensation to victims of the Bento Rodrigues dam disaster in Brazil. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Iraqi engineers warn that the Mosul Dam could collapse at anytime, resulting in a catastrophic flash flood that could kill up to one million people along the Tigris, with the major Iraqi cites of Mosul, Tikrit,Samarra and Baghdad all at risk. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad has urged American citizens to leave the area. (The Guardian)
2016 Sumatra earthquake
- The Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMKG) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issue tsunami warnings, after an undersea 7.9 magnitude earthquakestrikes southwest of Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean. (RT) (BOM)

International relations

South China Sea disputes
- Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario says Chinese coast guard ships that were sighted two weeks ago near the disputed Jackson Atoll in the northeast Dangerous Ground are no longer there today. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said ships were dispatched to the area in late 2015 to salvage a fishing vessel that posed a risk to navigation. Chinese ships, “… persuaded fishing boats to leave the waters in an effort to ensure safety conditions for normal navigation,” Hong said. In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei also lay claim to theSpratly Islands waters. (AP via The Washington Post)
European migrant crisis
- The European Union launches a new aid program worth an initial 700 million euros (US$760 million) to address the growing refugee crisis in Greece. EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides says the so-called Emergency Assistance Instrument will be used to help migrants trapped in Greece and, if needed, in other countries on the migration route front lines. Approval by a majority of EU members is required. The next EU meeting is scheduled for Monday. (The New York Times) (Reuters) (Kathimerini)
The Gulf Cooperation Council formally designates Lebanon‘s Hezbollah militia a terrorist organization. The GCC member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.(The Washington Post)
The United Nations Security Council adopts the toughest sanctions on North Korea in twenty years due to continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapons program. (Fox News)

Politics and elections

Spanish general election, 2015
- The conservative People’s Party (PP) and the left-wing Podemos party, which together hold 192 seats in Spain’s 350-seat parliament following December’s election, confirm they will vote against Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez’s candidacy to form a new government. (AP via The Washington Post)

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June 1, 2016

Top News Stories –

European leaders open world’s longest rail tunnel in Switzerland –
The world’s longest rail tunnel, running for 35 miles (57km) under the Swiss Alps, has officially opened. The Swiss president, Johann Schneider-Ammann, said the tunnel, which it is hoped will ease transit through the heart of the continent, would “join the people and the economies” of Europe at a time of rising nationalism and border closures. He spoke before European leaders made a ceremonial first journey through the Gotthard base tunnel. Passengers included the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. While the tunnel was entirely funded by Switzerland, a non-EU member, the bloc’s transport commissioner, Violeta Bulc, hailed it as “a godsend” for the continent. It runs from Erstfeld in the central Swiss canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton. [The Guardian]

Video of the Day –

Gotthard base tunnel

List of the Day –

World’s longest tunnels (in use) [Wikipedia]

Name	Location	Length	Type	Year	Comment
Delaware Aqueduct	New York state, United States	137,000 m (85.1 mi)	Water supply	1945	4.1 m wide. New York City‘s main water supply tunnel, drilled through solid rock.
Päijänne Water Tunnel	Southern Finland, Finland	120,000 m (74.6 mi)	Water supply	1982	16 m² cross section
Dahuofang Water Tunnel	Liaoning Province, China	85,320 m (53.0 mi)	Water supply	2009	8 m in diameter (50m² cross section)
Orange–Fish River Tunnel	South Africa	82,800 m (51.4 mi)	Water supply	1972	Longest continuous enclosed aqueduct in the southern hemisphere (22.5 m²cross section)
Bolmen Water Tunnel	Kronoberg/Scania, Sweden	82,000 m (51.0 mi)	Water supply	1987	8 m²
Tunel Emisor Oriente	Mexico City, Mexico	62,500 m (38.8 mi)	Waterwaste	2006-2012	Water management in Greater Mexico City. Longest waterwaste tunnel.
Guangzhou Metro Line 3	Guangzhou, China	60,400 m (37.5 mi)Excl. branch	Metro	2005-2010	Guangzhou Metro. Longest metro/rapid transit tunnel; longest railway tunnel
Beijing Subway Line 10	Beijing, China	57,100 m (35.5 mi)	Metro	2008-2012	Beijing Subway
Gotthard Base Tunnel	Lepontine Alps, Switzerland	57,091 m (35.5 mi) or 57,017 m (35.4 mi)	Railway Twin Tube	2016	The longest railway tunnel excluding urban metro lines with intermediate stations. Two tubes (East 57,091 m (35.5 mi), West 57,017 m (35.4 mi)), 8.8–9.5 m (29–31 ft) diameter, (71m² cross section)
Seikan Tunnel	Tsugaru Strait, Japan	53,850 m (33.5 mi)	Railway Single Tube	1988	74 m²

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces begin an offensive to regain control of the city of Manbij in the Aleppo Governorate from ISIL. (Reuters via Trust)
Northern Mali conflict
- Four UN peacekeepers are killed in a suspected Al-Qaeda attack in northern Mali. (News Week) (CBC)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- At least 16 people are killed and 55 injured in an attack on a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (Reuters) (CNN) (VOA News), (Reuters)
- The Pentagon announces the death of Abdullahi Haji Da’ud, a top Al-Shabaab commander, in an airstrike. (Washington Times) (FOX News)
Suspected Neo-Nazis attack people at a vegan cafe with slabs of meat in Tbilisi, Georgia. (Newsweek) (Miami Herald)

Business and economy

A committee of the United States House of Representatives is looking into the way the Federal Reserve Bank of New York investigated the theft of assets it was holding for the central bank of Bangladesh.(Reuters)
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund raises $3.5 billion for Uber. It is the largest single investment the company has ever received. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

A gas explosion at a subway construction site near the South Korean capital Seoul kills four workers and injures ten more. (Yonhap)
EgyptAir Flight 804
- A French naval vessel detects a possible signal from the missing black box of EgyptAir Flight 804. (CNN) (The New York Times)
2016 Fort McMurray wildfire
- Residents return to Fort McMurray for the first time since May 1. A couple thousand firefighters, from as far away as South Africa, continue to battle the 5,800 square kilometer (3,603 square mile)Canadian blaze that has crossed the Alberta border into Saskatchewan. (Bloomberg)
Greg Abbott, the Governor of the US state of Texas, declares a disaster in 31 counties due to floods which have claimed several lives in recent days. (KVUE)
The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 6.5 magnitude earthquake 155 km (95 miles) from the West Sumatra port city of Padang in Indonesia at a depth of about 50 km (30 miles). There are no immediate reports of damage or injury. (Bloomberg) (Reuters)

International relations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns Germany against recognizing the Armenian Genocide. (Reuters)
According to the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, defense spending by European member states will grow for the first time in a decade. Stoltenberg went on to say that “we are faced with uncertainty. We are faced with more threats, more security challenges, than in a generation”. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Humanitarian aid during the Syrian Civil War
- A convoy carrying much-needed nutritional and medical aid reaches the besieged town Darayya, the first time since 2012. The only food delivered was baby milk. A 48-hour ceasefire for the town came into force today. (Reuters) (NPR) (BBC)
- The United Nations Security Council is exploring humanitarian air drops to besieged areas of Syria. (AP via The New York Times)
- Riad Hijab, coordinator of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposes a nationwide truce for the month of Ramadan which begins 6 June 2016. (Australian Associated Press via News.com.au)
The United Nations Security Council condemns North Korea’s failed ballistic missile test yesterday, as well as two other unsuccessful ones in April. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2016 UCLA shooting
- Two people are killed in a murder-suicide shooting at the University of California Los Angeles. Police report the campus is now safe. (USA Today) (LA Times) (The New York Times)
A man in Plano, Texas, stabs his girlfriend and posts her dead body to Facebook; the social media website does not remove the photograph for 36 hours. (The New York Times)
Thailand authorities discover the remains of 40 dead tiger cubs in a freezer at the Tiger Temple in the Sai Yok District of Kanchanaburi Province. The Theravada Buddhist temple is being investigated for wildlife trafficking. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is in the process of removing 137 tigers from the monks’ custody. (New York Daily News) (Bangkok Post)
German police are investigating 26 sexual assault reports from this weekend’s Schlossgrabenfest music festival near Darmstadt. In one case, three women reported being groped by groups of men Saturday. Police have detained three Pakistani immigrants, and expect more reports following this announcement. (CNN) (UPI) (The Independent)
Richard Huckle, dubbed “Britain’s worst ever paedophile” after being convicted of 71 cases of rape and other sexual offences against up to 200 children, is being sentenced at The Old Bailey in London in a hearing expected to last 3 days. Huckle is facing up to 22 life sentences once the hearing concludes.(Sky News)

Science and technology

The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel, the 57 km (35 miles) Gotthard Base Tunnel, opens in Switzerland. (CNN) (The New York Times)

Sport

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board backs host Tokyo’s proposal to include baseball–softball, surfing, karate, sport climbing, and skateboarding in the 2020 Summer Olympics. The full IOC will vote on this in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August. (AP)

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