Tag Archives: Northern Ireland

January 7, 2010

Top Stories –
Not like clockwork –
A Swiss millionaire is given a record speeding fine of $290,000 (£180,000) after he caught driving a red Ferrari at 137km/h (85mph) through a village. The penalty based on the unnamed motorist’s wealth – assessed by the court as $22.7m (£14.1m) – and because he was a repeat offender.

New Brand for Perry –
It’s revealed that Russell Brand and Katy Perry got engaged when on holiday in India.
Katy_Perry_and_Russell_BrandKaty Perry and Russell Brand

Top Video –
Making a designer font using a car

iQ font – When driving becomes writing / Full making of from Tom Galle on Vimeo.

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January 12, 2010

Top Story –
Bootiful –
Researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University announces that carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems but fat around the tummy is bad.

Top Video –

Toronto Lightning Storm from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.
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January 14, 2010

Top Stories –
Reassuring news? –
The Doomsday Clock has been moved one minute further away from the “midnight hour”. The concept timepiece, a measure of nuclear danger for the past 55 years was devised by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) and now stands at six minutes to the hour.

But can they afford the nanny? –
Forbes magazine reveals the highest earning celebrity couple for 2009 are Beyoncé Knowles and husband Jay-Z in the Top-Earning Couples list. The duo earned £75 million between them, with Beyoncé earning £54million.
Beyoncé_and_Jay-ZBeyoncé and Jay-Z

Top Video –
Beyoncé – Halo

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January 27, 2010

Top Stories –
Apple introduce the “iPad” –
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs introduces the “iPad” a new tablet with no keyboard or mouse. Designed for browsing the internet, it is 0.5 inches (13mm) thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680g). The iPad, which will launch in March for $499 (16Gb version), includes 12 new apps and will run most of the 140,000 apps in the App Store. Jobs described the iPad as “a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.”
Steve_Jobs_with_the_Apple_iPadSteve Jobs with the iPad

Throw out the running shoes –
Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University reveals that running barefoot is better than wearing running shoes. The researchers found that people who run barefoot tend to land on the ball or the middle of the foot, moving smoothly, but those who run in shoes tend to land on the heels, sending shockwaves through the body.

Bubble Wrap hits middle age –
Bubble Wrap is 50 years old. It was first invented by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding as textured wallpaper and there are more than 250 dedicated Facebook pages. Sealed Air who owns the patent and manufactures Bubble Wrap makes more than $4bn a year.
StAnne07BubblewrapGal1

Top Video –
The first Mackintosh commercial (1984)

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February 12, 2010

Top News Stories –

Australians puzzled as Queen reclaims ‘head of state’ title –
Buckingham Palace has raised eyebrows in Australia by referring to the Queen as the country’s “head of state” in an apparent break in convention. The title is usually given to the Australian Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, while the Queen is considered the country’s sovereign.
The difference is significant as the emerging role of the Governor-General has often been cited by pro-monarchists as evidence Australia does not need to become a republic. The trigger for the confusion was an announcement by Buckingham Palace that the Queen would be addressing the UN General Assembly in July. It arrived in a cable written by Gary Quinlan, Australia’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, headed: “United Nations: General Assembly – Address by Australian Head of State.” [Daily Telegraph]
Queen-Elizabeth-IIHer Majesty the Queen

Camera dropped in the ocean is returned by fisherman 18 months later –
A woman is to be reunited with a camera her husband dropped off the edge of the QM2 cruise ship after a fisherman caught it in his net and put the photographs online. Barbara and Dennis Gregory, 65, from Johannesburg, South Africa, thought they would never see the Nikon P90 again after it fell into the ocean en-route from New York to Southampton in 2008. But 16 months later Benito Estevez, a fisherman from Spain, found the camera in his nets with the photos still intact on the memory card. He decided to trace the owners and posted five pictures online which showed Mrs Gregory posing on the deck of the ship and her husband wearing a woolly tourist hat from Oxford. The story was picked up by the British media and Laura De Klein, a friend of the couple who lives in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, recognised them and got in touch. [Daily Telegraph]

Chilean mint spells country’s name wrong on coins –
The general manager of the Chilean mint has been fired after thousands of coins were issued bearing a howling error. On the 2008 batch of 50 peso coins, which are worth about 6p, the country’s name was misspelt. Instead of C-H-I-L-E, the coins had C-H-I-I-E stamped on them, the BBC reports.
If that wasn’t bad enough, no one noticed the spelling mistake until late 2009. The coins have since become collectors’ items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation. Locals have even been hoarding the coins in the hope they will rise in value. However, the mistake has cost the mint’s general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Colorama – Makeover from UPPER FIRST on Vimeo.

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December 10, 2014

Top News Stories –

Britain hit by “weather bomb” –
High winds and huge waves have affected north-western parts of the UK as bad weather hit power supplies and travel. The “weather bomb” brought hundreds of lightning strikes, temporarily cutting power across the Western Isles. Wind speeds of 144mph was recorded on the St Kilda islands, with gusts in excess of 80mph elsewhere.

Bully bashed by brilliance –
Louisa Manning (@xo_louisa_ox) whose letter to a former school bully who called her “manbeast” went received over 18,000 likes on Facebook has described the response as “crazy and overwhelming”. Miss Manning, a student at Oxford University, wrote the note after being invited on a date by her former tormentor when they met 10 years later in a restaurant.

Senate reports on CIA interrogations –
The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in the CIA interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects. President Barack Obama said it was now time to move on. The summary of a classified Senate report says that the CIA carried out “brutal” interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects after the 9/11 attacks on the US and misled other officials about what it was doing.
Defense.gov_News_Photo

Boston time-capsule discovered –
A time capsule thought to have been buried by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere in 1795 has been discovered in Massachusetts, USA. The container was found during repair work at the state house in Boston. See video of the day.

Video of the Day –

Boston time-capsule

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February 11, 2015

Top News Stories –

Costa Concordia captain convicted of manslaughter –
The captain of the Costa Cordordia cruise ship that ran aground and capsized on January 13th 2012 off the island of Giglio has been convicted of manslaughter and given a 16-year jail sentance. Francesco Schettino was accused of taking the ship too close to the shore to impress his lover, Domnica Cemortan, who was with him at the helm. He then abandoned the ship with passengers and crew still on board. 32 people died in the accident but Costa Crociere, the company that owned the ship, avoided possible criminal charges by agreeing to pay a $1.3m (€1.1m; £860,000) fine in 2013.
Collision_of_Costa_ConcordiaThe Costa Concordia after the accident

Korean Air nut rage ends with jail sentence –
A South Korean court finds Cho Hyun-ah (aka Heather Cho) a former executive of Korean Air guilty of breaking aviation law. She forced her Seoul-bound plane to turn back to the gate at JFK airport in New York and offload a steward because she did not like the way she had been served nuts. Cho, the daughter of Korean Air president, was found guilty of obstructing aviation safety and jailed for one year, much less than the possible maximum sentence of 10-years.

Smoking in private cars with child passengers banned in England –
The British government votes 342 to 74 to ban smoking in cars when there are children in the vehicle in England and Wales, but doesn’t apply to convertibles with the roof down. Anyone stopped for breaking the law can be fined £50 on the spot when it becomes law in October 2015 but Scotland is not included. Bans on smoking in cars when children are present already exist in some US states as well as in parts of Canada and Australia.

Video of the Day –

Raising the Costa Concordia: A Time Lapse

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February 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

Politician admits trampolining naked with a dog –
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president in Northern Ireland, claims that he trampolines naked along with his dog. Mr Adams explained that his house is “ring-fenced”, so he wasn’t affecting the neighbours, or can be snapped by the papparazzi.
Gerry_AdamsGerry Adams

Russian hackers steal £650 million –
Investigators from Kaspersky Lab uncovers what is thought to be the biggest ever cybercrime with more than £650 million ($1 billion) going missing from banks around the world. A group of Russian hackers spent two years infiltrating the internal computer systems of over 100 financial institutions world-wide using malware.

Ski jump 250m barrier broken twice in two days-
The world ski jump record has been broken by Slovenian jumper Peter Prevc by travelling 250m (274 yards) at a World Cup event in Vikersund, Norway. But this is beaten by Anders Fannemel who travels 251.5m (276.14 yards). See Video below.
Fannemel_Anders

Video of the Day –

Record breaking ski jump

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February 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Haitian carnival accident kills 16 –
At least 16 people are killed when a power-line connected with a carnival float in Haiti’s capital Port au Prince. Some died through electrocution, others in the panic that ensued. Around 78 others were injured.

Where there’s make-up, there’s brass –
YouTube beauty blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, buys a five-bedroom £1 million home in Hove, East Sussex, England, with her boyfriend Alfie Deyes. Zoella has seven million subscribers on her beauty blogs and charges advertisers £20,000 a month to place ads on her vlogs. She also features in the celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off.
Zoe_SuggZoe Sugg A.K.A. Zoella

Sony start taking orders for SmartEyeglass –
Sony announce that their “augmented reality” smart glasses will go on sale in ten countries in March 2015 and pre-orders for the SmartEyeglass, costing $840 (£620), are now being taken in the UK and Germany. The glasses work with recent Android operating systems but also come with a software kit so developers can design apps for it. It includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, brightness sensor and two microphones.
Sony SmartEyeglassSony SmartEyeglass

Apple Watch not that exclusive –
Apple orders between 5 and 6 million Apple Watches to be produced in time for their release in April 2015. The Apple Watch is the first unique product Apple has launched since the iPad in 2010. There are 3 versions – Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.

Video of the Day –

The Apple Watch trailer

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May 4, 2015

May the Fourth (be with you) – see Video of the Day

Top News Stories –

Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Daughter’s Name Revealed – Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Windsor –
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced the name of their new bundle of joy. Just two days after the birth of the fourth in line to the British royal throne, Kate Middleton and Prince William revealed the following piece of adorable baby news:
Kensington Palace name tweet
And how should you officially great [sic] the new princess, should you ever be so lucky to meet her in person? [Celebuzz]
Kensington Palace name tweet 2

World Snooker Championship: Bingham beats Murphy 18-15 –
Stuart Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a gripping final at the Crucible to win his first World Championship. Bingham began the final session with a 14-11 lead and won an epic 64-minute frame at 15-15 to close in on victory. The 38-year-old made a break of 65 to go 17-15 in front and clinched the title with a brilliant 88. Bingham, from Basildon, becomes the oldest snooker world champion since Welshman Ray Reardon won the title aged 45 in 1978. [BBC] (See List of the Day)
Stuart-BinghamStuart Bingham

Video of the Day –

Giant Star Wars LEGO Super Star Destroyer Shattered at 1000 fps | Battle Damage

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January 2, 2016

Top News Stories –

Royal Shakespeare Company reveals its high-tech tips: carrots, cereal and tea bags –
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to open up its archives for the first time, sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets that have made their most accomplished productions. Anyone hoping to hear the highest-tech tricks of the trade, however, may be in for a surprise, as they disclose techniques even a schoolboy could master. The RSC’s first permanent exhibition of its own archives will show visitors how the company uses carrot sticks, rice crispies, and glue to pull off specific special effects. It will also how it uses tea bags and water to age the look of ordinary paper to make it appear Elizabethan: a trick used by schools up and down the land. The visitor attraction, called The Play’s The Thing, will open in June 2016, making it the RSC’s first exhibition devoted to the making of Shakespeare plays. It will be part of the restoration of the Swan Wing, built in 1879 and the oldest part of the Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre. [Daily Telegraph]
Swan_Theatre_StratfordSwan_Theatre_Stratford

Video of the Day –

Leftfield “Head and Shoulders” from Ewan Jones Morris on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

100 Things we didn’t know last year – by the BBC (34-66)

34. Chewing something can partially excise earworms – songs that stick in the mind.

Find out more (the Times)

35. Former UK Liberal Democrat party leader Lord Ashdown told his successor that he used to eat hedgehogs.

Find out more (Evening Standard)

36. In north-eastern England, Conservative candidates used to wear red, Liberals blue and Labour green rosettes until the 1970s.

Find out more

37. Larry King tweets by calling a dedicated voicemail, which is listened to by an assistant who then transcribes his thought to Twitter.

Find out more (Vox)

38. Mali has two tax rates – 3% and 30% – and you might be asked which you’d rather pay.

Find out more

39. The world’s favourite colour is blue.

Find out more (YouGov)

40. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke appears on the front of an Iranian self-help book about marital and sex problems.

Find out more (Daily Mirror)

41. Tom Cruise advised Nasa on how to design their website.

Find out more (Daily Telegraph)

42. Drug dealers in Marseille offer loyalty cards.

Find out more (The Local)

43. The worst times to drink coffee are between 08:00-09:00, 12:00-13:00 and 17:30-18:30. The best is about an hour after waking up, regardless of the time.

Find out more (AsapSCIENCE)

44. The chances of a successful bank robbery are higher in the morning – but it’s also among the least lucrative crimes.

Find out more

45. Iceland has the world’s happiest gay men.

Find out more (Planet Romeo)

46. Chinese authorities consider the phrase “your mum” too coarse for the internet.

Find out more (Bloomberg)

47. There are only three non-gentrifying neighbourhoods in New York City.

Find out more (Gawker)

48. Reddit has a very detailed 9,000-word guide to the dos and don’ts of giving away Game of Thrones spoilers.

Find out more (Reddit)

49. Oliver Cromwell supposedly called the Magna Carta the “Magna Farta” – he didn’t like it.

Find out more (New Yorker)

50. Most kangaroos are left-handed.

Find out more

51. Marvel Comics stipulates that Peter Parker must be white and straight but Spiderman can be of any ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Find out more (Washington Post)

52. The word “twerk” dates back to 1820.

Find out more

53. Heaven exists but hell does not, according to the theology of Sepp Blatter.

Find out more

54. UK officials discussed plans to relocate the entire 5.5 million population of Hong Kong to Northern Ireland in 1983.

Find out more

55. Three-times F1 world champion Niki Lauda swapped his trophies for unlimited free car washes.

Find out more (Reuters)

56. Playing Tetris for 12 minutes the day after a traumatic event can reduce flashbacks.

Find out more (Smithsonian magazine)

57. There are four main personality types into which people can be categorised when drunk: “Mary Poppins”, “Hemingway”, “Nutty Professor” and “Mr Hyde”.

Find out more (the Drinks Business)

58. Minions are all male because their creator believed they were too stupid to be female.

Find out more (The Wrap)

59. Nando’s is one of the biggest buyers of contemporary South African art.

Find out more (FT)

60. In Ohio, it’s illegal to disrobe in front of a man’s portrait.

Find out more (Slate)

61. A UK court can determine how short your shorts should be.

Find out more (Caerphilly, Ystrad Mynach and Bargoed Campaign)

62. Butt-dials aren’t considered private conversations in the US.

Find out more (Slate)

63. A baby is born on its predicted due date just 4% of the time.

Find out more

64. For three months, Leicestershire police didn’t investigate attempted burglaries if they occurred at odd-numbered properties.

Find out more (The Times)

65. Reindeer migration is a major live television event in Norway.

Find out more

66. Real Paleolithic people, contrary to some of the followers of the fashionable modern diet named after them, appear to have eaten plenty of carbohydrates.

Find out more (Quartz)

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
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8 #新年なので改めて�… #PardonMeButDoYouHave Lil Kesh
9 #Pathankot GRRM Happy New Year
10 #今年一年仲良くし�… #FastFoodHorrorFilms Don Jazzy

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Armed conflicts and attacks
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December 13, 2019

United Kingdom Election result

The Conservative Party has won a big majority after sweeping aside Labour in its traditional heartlands.

Boris Johnson – new British Prime Minister

What’s happened?

  • The Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 78, its biggest general election victory since 1987
  • With one constituency left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, the SDLP 2, the Green Party 1, the Alliance Party 1
  • St Ives, Cornwall, is yet to declare
  • The SNP has won more seats than in 2017
  • For the first time, nationalist parties in Northern Ireland have taken more seats than unionists
  • Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party failed to win a seat

The Brexit effect

The Conservatives increased their vote share in many areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

vote share changes in leave and remain areas

By contrast they lost votes in strong Remain constituencies such as those in Scotland and London. But Labour lost votes in both strong Remain and strong Leave areas.

Strong Leave and strong Remain constituencies are those where an estimated 60% or more of the electorate voted for that option at the EU referendum.

These estimates of constituency Brexit votes were modelled by Professor Chris Hanretty, as the 2016 referendum result was only recorded by local authority and not by Westminster constituency.

The Conservatives were clear winners in constituencies estimated to have voted majority Leave in 2016. They won almost three quarters of all these seats.

By contrast, there was no clear winner among Remain backing constituencies, with a crowded field of parties all winning substantial numbers of seats.

[BBC]

Twitter trends UK [from Trendinalia]

Other News Stories –

Business and economy

  • China–United States trade war
    • Both countries announce an initial deal where new tariffs to be mutually imposed on December 15 would not be implemented. China says it “will buy more high quality of American agricultural products”, while the United States says it will halve the existing 15% tariffs. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Politics and elections

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