January 25, 2010

Top Stories –
Brangelina rumour –
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are set to separate according to reports. The unmarried couple are said to have been in talks with lawyers to agree a £205 million split deal.
Angelina_Jolie_Brad_PittAngelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Pirate’s plunder blunder –
Single-mum Jammie Thomas-Rasset found guilty of sharing 24 songs over the internet has had her fine slashed from $2m (£1.23m) to $54,000 (£33,420) following an appeal. The American was accused of pirating almost 2,000 tracks but the record companies sought damages for only 24 of them.

X-files factor –
Lord Rees, the president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, says the chance of discovering life on other worlds is greater than ever. He says “Were we to find life, even the simplest life, elsewhere that would clearly be one of the great discoveries of the 21st Century.”

 

Top Video –
Mr and Mrs Smith Trailer

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May 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

‘Dancing Man’ Sean O’Brien parties in Los Angeles –
A British man who attracted global support after “fat-shaming” images of him were posted online has attended a party in his honour in Los Angeles.
Liverpudlian Sean O’Brien, who now lives in London, was trolled in March after being spotted dancing at a gig. He was dubbed “The Dancing Man” by a social media campaign to uncover his identity and offer support. During his LA trip he has been feted by stars, appeared on TV shows and thrown the first pitch at an LA Dodgers game. Campaigner Monica Lewinsky, musicians Andrew WK and Moby attended his party, while Pharrell Williams recorded a special video message of support that was played at the party. [BBC]
Dancing-man © @Dancingmanfound/Twitter Sean O’Brien aka Dancing Man

Galapagos volcano erupts for first time in 30 years –
A volcano in the Galapagos Islands erupted for the first time in more than 30 years on Monday, spilling streams of bright orange lava and raising fears for the world’s only colony of pink iguanas. The Galapagos National Park warned on Twitter that Isabela Island, where Wolf Volcano erupted at dawn, holds “the world’s only population” of the critically endangered Conolophus marthae, also known as the Galapagos rosy iguana. [Daily Telegraph]
Wolf-volcanoWolf Volcano
Pink-iguanaGalapagos pink iguana (Conolophus marthae)

Instagram spams users with ‘highlights’ from their friends’ feeds –
Instagram has started sending unsolicited emails to users with a selection of posts from their friends’ news feeds, in an attempt to re-engage people who have drifted away from the social network. Like Twitter, Instagram presents updates in reverse-chronological order, meaning that the posts people see when they log on are simply the most recent – not necessarily the most relevant. While this is an effective way of keeping people’s news feeds fresh, it also creates the risk that users miss the most interesting content, due to the constant stream of updates cascading through their news feeds. Instagram’s email updates are designed to offer a more curated experience, presenting users with only the most popular content from their network of contacts, TechCrunch reports. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Dior Secret Garden IV – Versailles – Long Version
In the Palace of Versailles and surrounded by darkness, Rihanna lights up the screen in this exclusive short film from the Secret Garden IV campaign, shot by Steven Klein.

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #charliecharliechallenge Ray McDonald #charliecharliechallenge
2 EU TE AMO LIAM #MemorialDay #BankHolidayMonday
3 #PSYAngUnangPagIbig #YouWontHearMeSay #ReplaceMovieTitlesWithPubes
4 #MeCaesMalSi #RIPGrandmaSepi #3Queens
5 #MemorialDay #MallMovies #AfricaDay
6 #RIPGrandmaSepi Which Beyoncé Song Are You #MOTD
7 #OrgulloFriki Ancelotti Norwich
8 #UberSeQueda #AfricaDay #ENGvNZ
9 Enem #charliecharliechallenge Trevor Bayliss
10 Felices 114 #LHHWedding #BGTlive

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
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November 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

New Zealand: Auckland aims to become trilingual city –
New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, has announced plans to encourage the entire population to speak English, Maori and a third language. The initiative, launched by the council-controlled educational organisation COMET, aims to get all of Auckland’s 1.4 million residents speaking the national language of Te Reo Maori, Radio New Zealand reports. Currently, only 2.3% of Aucklanders speak the language, the lowest rate in the country, while over 1m of the city’s residents are monolingual – usually English, the radio says. Some 377,000 residents already have two languages as a result of the city’s diverse ethnic mix, where 40% of Aucklanders were born overseas, but their languages tend to be overlooked in favour of English. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Domestic Appliances from Lewis Firth Bolton on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #CyberMonday #CyberMonday Sam Pepper
2 #FelizLunes #mondaymotivation #CyberMonday
3 Kobe #PopeBars #mondaymotivation
4 水木先生 Tomorrow is December #StAndrewsDay
5 #SoulTrainAwards #RejectedReindeer Kobe Bryant
6 Balón de Oro #COP21 #AuthorDay
7 水木しげる先生 Sam Pepper 75% of Labour
8 #TheWalkingDead #ISurvivedHighSchoolBy Overweight Haters Ltd
9 #الهلال_التعاون Clay Helton #PAKvENG
10 Sam Pepper Anne of Green Gables #TWDMidSeasonFinale

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economics
Health and medicine
  • The capitals of the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, are blanketed in hazardous, choking smog. Beijing, on the second-highest pollution alert, is closing highways, halting or suspending construction while warning residents to stay indoors. The U.S. New Delhi embassy’s monitoring station recorded an air quality index of 372, putting air pollution levels into “hazardous” territory. No action by the New Delhi government. (Hindustan Times)
  • A UNICEF report finds AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African teenagers and the second most common killer for adolescents across the globe. While the Asia Pacific region has seen a 31 percent drop in new HIV infections, and 28 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths, the estimated number of adolescents dying of AIDS in the region has more than doubled since 2005. Tomorrow is World Aids Day. (AP via Huffington Post) (Reuters)
International relations
Law and crime
Politics and elections
Science and technology

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December 22, 2015

Top News Stories –

Actor Nicolas Cage returns stolen dinosaur skull he bought –
Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage has agreed to turn over a rare stolen dinosaur skull he bought for $276,000 to U.S. authorities so it can be returned to the Mongolian government. The office of Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint last week to take possession of the Tyrannosaurus bataar skull, which will be repatriated to Mongolia. The lawsuit did not specifically name Cage as the owner, but Cage’s publicist confirmed that the actor bought the skull in March 2007 from a Beverly Hills gallery, I.M. Chait. The “National Treasure” actor is not accused of wrongdoing, and authorities said he voluntarily agreed to turn over the skull after learning of the circumstances. Cage outbid fellow movie star Leonardo DiCaprio for the skull, according to prior news reports. [Reuters]
Nicolas_CageNicolas_Cage

SpaceX succeeds in historic rocket launch and landing –
SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket late on Monday night for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as planes. Its engines burning bright orange against the dark night sky, the Falcon 9 made a graceful arc back to Earth and touched down upright at Cape Canaveral, Florida, minutes after launching a payload of satellites to orbit, video images showed. “I still can’t quite believe it,” Musk said in a teleconference after the landing. “I think this is a revolutionary moment. No one has ever brought an orbital class booster back intact.” Previous attempts to land the Falcon 9’s first stage on a floating ocean platform have failed – with the rocket either colliding with the autonomous drone ship or tipping over. [Daily Telegraph] In June 2015 a SpaceX rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station exploded minutes after take-off. See Video of the Day
Elon Musk - The Summit 2013Elon Musk

Video of the Day –

Historic Landing of Falcon 9 First Stage at Landing Zone 1

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #TercaNatalTaíTremuraSdv #FirstDayOfWinter #WeAreAllNiall
2 #زد_رصيدك39 #SandraBland #2YearsAndStillHere
3 #FelizMartes #GolpeAlVoto #SpaceX
4 #TuFraseCumbia #DearSantaSorryFor Brendon McCullum
5 #PSYOneSweetNight #iHeartJLo #charitytuesday
6 #MevlidKandili #TWUG Arsenal
7 #WeAreAllNiall #AllTogetherNow #SandraBland
8 #MinhaVidaSeResumeEm #TravelTuesday #universitychallenge
9 #اول_لاعب_عشقت�… #WinterOfficiallyBeginsSo #MadeInChelsea
10 #CrestaRoja #BrandNewByAustinMahone #Slammy

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November 11, 2016

Top News Stories –

New Balance trainer wearers bin and burn their shoes over Trump –
New Balance wearers are binning and burning their trainers after the company’s vice president appeared to praise Donald Trump’s trade plans. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Matt LeBretton said Barack Obama had “turned a deaf ear” to US business. “Frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction,” he said. Since then some Americans have been filmed setting their shoes on fire. Others have been returning used trainers to New Balance shops. [BBC Newsbeat]
burnt-new-balance-shoesBurnt New Balance Shoews (@milftears twitter)

Video of the Day –

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 – #BusterTheBoxer

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
Science and technology

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