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

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

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

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

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • The Turkish military is reportedly preparing for an imminent invasion of northern Syria following a National Security Council meeting. The aim is to establish a buffer zone for refugees and drive back Islamic State militants. The Kurdish militia group YPG have said they will oppose any Turkish intervention in Syria. (Telegraph)
• Four Israelis were shot and injured in a drive-by shooting attack near Shilo, as a manhunt begins for the suspects. (YNet)
• A Palestinian woman was arrested after stabbing and seriously wounding a female IDF soldier at a checkpoint near Bethlehem. (Haaretz)
• Five Chadian security officials and six militants have been killed during an explosion in a raid in the capital N’Djamena. (BBC)
• Egypt‘s state prosecutor Hisham Barakat dies in a bomb attack in Cairo. (AP via Fox News)
• Afghan Civil War:
  • According to witnesses who fled fighting in Nangarhar province, fighters loyal to Islamic State seize substantial territory in Afghanistan for the first time, wresting areas in the east from rival Taliban insurgents in a new threat to stability, scorching opium poppy fields that help to fund the Taliban’s campaign to overthrow the Afghan government. (Newsweek)
• Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
  • A car bomb explodes behind a military hospital in the Yemeni capital Sanaa causing 28 casualties. Islamic State has claimed responsibility.(AP), (AFP via France 24)

Arts and culture

• Chinese state-run media reports the Great Wall losing around 30% of its structure due to natural conditions and human activities. (AFP via Discovery)

International relations

• The Israeli Navy intercepts and takes control of the lone ship still involved in Freedom Flotilla III and pilots it to Ashdod. The other three ships involved had already turned back after being intercepted. Israel offered all ships to unload their humanitarian aid cargo in Israeli ports and transport it into Gaza for free but the ships refused. (Israel National News)(Times Of Israel)
• The United States Office of Personnel Management closes down its system for employee background checks following the theft of millions of records in a computer hacking incident suspected to be conducted by Chinese hackers. (Breaking News)

Law and crime

• The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the use of capital punishment by lethal injection involving midazolam. (USA Today)
• The Supreme Court of the United States strikes down the Environmental Protection Agency‘s limit on mercury emissions from power plants because it did not take costs of the regulations into consideration. (Wall Street Journal)
• The California State Legislature passes a bill which would enact a state requirement for the vaccination of children enrolled in schools. The bill is now pending Governor Jerry Brown‘s approval before going into law. (Los Angeles Times)

Politics and elections

• Burundian legislative election, 2015
  • Voters in Burundi go to the polls for a legislative election with several polling places attacked overnight. (Al-Jazeera)
• Puerto Rico government-debt crisis
  • Governor Alejandro García Padilla said the region has failed attempts and is unable to pay off the $72 billion debt. (USA Today)

Sports

• Guus Hiddink, the head coach of the Netherlands national football team, prematurely resigns before the end of his term. (Espnfc)

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