Top News Stories –
Brazilian prison inmates using a mouse to courier drugs –
As prison guards in one of Brazil’s notoriously overcrowded and chaotic jails, the officers in Barra da Grota prison probably thought they had seen it all. But last week they saw something that shocked even their hardened heads: a mouse, they noticed, was being used by inmates to courier drugs. The animal was seen scurrying along the corridor with tiny bags of drugs tied to its tail, running between the cells. Gean Carlos Gomes, director of the central Brazil prison, 1,100 miles inland from Recife, said the mouse was being used as a “bridge” between cells. “They attached a hook to the mouse’s tail and then used it to carry the drugs and other goods from one cell to another,” he said. “When the animal arrived at its destination, the prisoner took the mouse and removed the hook from its tail.” [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin is Forbes magazine’s most powerful person in the world –
Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person for the second year running by Forbes magazine. Of the 73 listed, 28 are billionaires. Thirty of the individuals are Americans. And only nine are women – the same number as last year. The 63-year-old Russian president has, unsurprisingly, retained his position at the top of the Forbes ranking of the world’s most powerful people. Forbes says the decision is made on the amount of money they control; the number of people they impact; their total spheres of influence; and how actively they wield their power. And in all areas Mr Putin has triumphed; he dominates one of the world’s largest countries, and his actions in Ukraine and Syria are changing the course of history. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Vladimir Putin
WARNING: Do Not Post Your Winning Ticket On Social Media –
Chantelle from Perth won $900 [Australian] by betting on 100-to-1 shot Prince Of Penzance in the Melbourne Cup yesterday… Like many punters around the country Chantelle celebrated the win by posting a selfie with her victorious ticket on Facebook. Little did Chantelle know, the photo of the barcode could be used at an automated machine to claim the cash – which is exactly what someone did. “To the low life who is obviously my friend on Facebook and used my photo to claim our winnings. You’re a massive dick. You ruined my day,” Chantelle wrote on Facebook. Chantelle told Triple M that police were able to track where the money was claimed and are confident of finding the person responsible. [Triple M]
Chantelle winning ticket Facebook post
Video of the Day –
Emirates: #HelloJetman
Armed with unguarded ambition and the vision to push boundaries beyond the unthinkable, Jetman Dubai and Emirates A380 take to the skies of Dubai for an exceptional formation flight.
List of the Day –
Forbes Most Powerful People Top Ten 2015 [Forbes]
| Rank | Name | Organization | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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#1 | Vladimir Putin | Russia | 63 |
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#2 | Angela Merkel | Germany | 61 |
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#3 | Barack Obama | United States | 54 |
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#4 | Pope Francis | Roman Catholic Church | 78 |
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#5 | Xi Jinping | China | 62 |
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#6 | Bill Gates | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | 60 |
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#7 | Janet Yellen | Washington, United States | 69 |
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#8 | David Cameron | United Kingdom | 49 |
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#9 | Narendra Modi | India | 65 |
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#10 | Larry Page | 42 |
Top Twitter Trends –
Other News Stories –
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Flights between the United Kingdom and the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh are suspended due to concerns of the British government that the crash was caused by an “explosive device”. (ITV)
- CNN reports that intelligence sources suggest that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or an affiliate organisation planted explosives on the plane. (CNN)
- Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport chief Abdel-Wahab Ali is replaced; he is now an assistant to Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the country’s air transport service. (AP)
- Kunduz hospital airstrike, Afghanistan War
- The United States says that last month’s airstrikes in Kunduz hit three locations, mistakenly including the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (MSF) hospital where at least 30 were killed. Afghan commanders, whose forces were actively engaged with the Taliban, requested the attacks. The Washington Post reports a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas were “pulverized” without loss of civilian lives. According to residents, earlier their neighborhoods had been conflict zones, but no militants were there the time of the attacks. “Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence,” writes the Post. (Washington Post)
- Médecins Sans Frontières held memorials around the globe Tuesday, the one month anniversary of the bombing, to reaffirm their request for an independent investigation. U.S. officials resist an independent probe, pledging that the three investigations underway, by the Pentagon, NATO, and Afghan officials, will be thorough and transparent. Thomas Nierle, head of MSF Switzerland, told AFP that he had little hope the inquiries would ultimately see any wrongdoers punished. (The Hill) (DW Akademie) (AFP via Yahoo News)
- Business and economics
- Keystone XL Pipeline
- The United States State Department formally denies Calgary-based TransCanada Corporation’s request, made Monday, to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Reuters states this is expected to lead to the project’s rejection by theObama administration. (Reuters) (AP via Chicago Tribune)
- Whole Foods, the Texas based food retailer, announces that it will buy back $1 billion of its shares, and increases its dividend. [1]
- Disasters and accidents
- Ash from Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani volcano closes Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, the country’s third busiest. Nearly 700 flights are cancelled. Officials will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow. Mount Rinjani started spewing ash last weekend.(Reuters) (International Business Times)
- 2015 Juba plane crash
- A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan. 41 people have reportedly died. The five Armenian crew members were killed. (Reuters Africa) (RT) (Al Jazeera English) (AFP via Rappler) (Daily Mail)
- 2015 Lahore factory disaster
- A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 18 deaths, at least 75 injured and around 150 people still trapped. (AFP via France24) (Al Jazeera English) (BBC Online)
- International relations
- Cross-Strait relations, 2015 Ma–Xi Meeting
- The presidents of China and Taiwan are scheduled to meet in Singapore on November 7th, the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (New York Times) (BBC)
- An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Malaysia fails to agree on a joint communique following disagreement between China and other nations over the South China Sea. (AP)
- South Korea and China agree to establish an emergency navy and military hotline. (UPI)
- Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations, Malaysia–United States relations
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and his counterpart from Malaysia will visit the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) as it cruises in the South China Sea, this in the wake of China’s dismay over a U.S. Navy ship’s sailing in the vicinity of artificial islands constructed by China in the Spratly Islands. (Stars and Stripes)
- European migrant crisis
- European Union president Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén, in a joint news conference, announce Sweden will ask to transfer some migrants to other European countries under an EU relocation plan. Sweden has taken the highest number of asylum-seekers per capita in the 28-member bloc. (AP) (The Local)
- Law and crime
- UC Merced stabbing spree
- Police, at the University of California, Merced campus, shoot and kill a male student who went on a stabbing rampage that wounded four people. The University closed its campus, except for housing, and cancelled classes for Wednesday and Thursday. The school reported all of the wounded are expected to recover. (KGO) (UC Merced) (Los Angeles Times) (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- Police have the gunman in custody and San Diego International Airport flights resume. The airport closed after police encountered a man with a high-powered gun shooting in a Bankers Hill apartment complex, east of the approach path to the airport. Also known as Lindbergh Field, the airport is frequently cited as one of the scariest because of its downtown location. (AP update) (Reuters) (Airfare Watchdog)
- The Mexican Supreme Court, in a 4-1 decision, rules that people have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. The decision challenges the country’s current substance abuse laws. Fox News Latino and The New York Times point out the ruling only covers the plaintiffs in one case, a group that wants to form a “Pot Club.” A precedent will be established if the court approves five similar petitions. (Fox News Latino) (Reuters)
- James Tran of Sacramento County is arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide in the October 8 stabbing of Airman Spencer Stone near a bar in Sacramento California. Stone had helped foil the 2015 Thalys train attack but officials believe it was just a drunken bar fight. (MSN)
- Politics and elections
- Colectiv nightclub fire
- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his government resigns after tens of thousands took to the streets to protest over the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 32 people. Mircea Dușa has been proposed to be installed as Acting Prime Minister.(Euronews) (BBC News) (The Guardian)
- Canadian government
- Justin Trudeau is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Canada along with his ministry. (Toronto Star)
- Trudeau announces an ethnically diverse cabinet which for the first time is equally balanced between men and women (15 each). (The Guardian)
- Belizean general election, 2015
- Voters in Belize go to the polls with the United Democratic Party led by Dean Barrow hoping for a third consecutive term. (Voice of America)
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