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 –

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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