Top News Stories –

South Korea spy kills himself amid hacking scandal –
An employee of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) spying agency has been found dead in his car after apparently taking his own life on a mountain road, police say. His death comes as a scandal over phone-hacking gathers pace. The man left a suicide note admitting that he had deleted important information about the hacking. It has emerged that mobile phones were tracked and monitored just before the presidential election in 2012. [BBC]

North Korean elections – not too close to call –
Worker’s Party expected to fare well in polls this Sunday with only one name on ballot paper and punishment for anyone who fails to endorse Kim Jong-un’s policies. To indicate support for the approved candidate, the voter goes into a booth and carries out his democratic duty. Anyone who does not agree with the name on the ballot paper must go to a different booth and cross out the candidate’s name. With the every move closely scrutinised, it would be an act of extreme bravery in a nation that is not known for tolerating dissenting voices for that to happen. [Daily Telegraph]
Kim Jong-un (sketch)

Bratz are back after Barbie owner fails to kill franchise –
After almost a decade of a back-and-forth legal battle between Mattel and Bratz-owner MGA, the spunky dolls are back and ready to take on an already weak Barbie. Years before toys of Frozen characters knocked Barbie off her perennial perch, a gaggle of ethnically-diverse fashionistas known as Bratz temporarily toppled the word-famous doll – and now they’re back after winning a protracted legal battle with Barbie-owner Mattel.
Bratz, which first came to market in 2001, is relaunching this weekend with a revamped look, an extra character and new range of accessories in an attempt to regain its place at the top of toytown. [Daily Telegraph]

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Chuck Jones – The Evolution of an Artist from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Terrorism in Pakistan
  • In a failed suicide blast, a security guard intercepted a suicide bomber clad in female clothing attempting to enter Quetta’s Hazara town, who then detonated their device that contained 6 to 7 Kg of explosive material, killing themselves and the guard. (Dawn).
• Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
  • The Kurdish‘s People’s Protection Units and independent monitors accuse ISIL of using poison gas while fighting in northern Syria late in June.(Reuters)
  • Saudi Arabia arrests 431 people accused of links to Islamic State. (Al-Arabiyah)
  • ISIL claims responsibility for kidnapping three African Christians in Libya. (Reuters via Trust)
• War in Donbass, Timeline of the war in Donbass (July 2015–present)
  • Three civilians have been killed in shelling in the Donbass town of Avdiivka. Despite being in government-held territory local residents claimed they were fired on by pro-Ukrainian forces. (Reuters)
• Sinai insurgency
  • Militants kill at least five soldiers in attacks on two Egyptian Army checkpoints. (AP via ABC America)

Disasters and accidents

• At least four people are dead, seven injured and a girl trapped as a four story building collapses in West Delhi in India‘s National Capital Territory of Delhi. (NDTV)

• 2015 Cajon Pass wildfire
  • The wildfire burning in San Bernardino County, California has burned over 3,500 acres, and destroyed 16 homes and other buildings. The fire has also burned over 60 passenger vehicles and tractor-trailers. (CBS-Los Angeles)

Law and crime

• 2015 Chattanooga shootings
  • The sailor wounded in Thursday’s shooting at two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, dies a little after 2 a.m. Saturday, bringing the death toll of the shooting to five. (Chattanooga Times-Free Press)

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