Top News Stories –

Avengers star Patrick Macnee dies –
Actor Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers TV series, has died in California at the age of 93. The Briton, best known for playing John Steed in the 1960s television spy series, died at home with his family at his bedside, his son Rupert said. Macnee also played roles in theatre, appearing on Broadway, and served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. A statement on the actor’s website read: “Wherever he went, he left behind a trove of memories.” He died peacefully at his home in California’s Rancho Mirage. [BBC] See List of the Day below
Patrick Macnee in Lobster man from Mars

Clint Dempsey gets two-year US cup ban for outburst –
Clint Dempsey has been banned from the US Open Cup for two years after ripping up a referee’s notebook during a game. The Seattle Sounders forward, 33, flicked the notebook out of Daniel Radford’s hand, picked it up off the pitch and then tore it into pieces after a team-mate had been sent off. The ex-Fulham and Spurs man was duly sent off, as Seattle ended with seven men in a 3-1 loss to Portland Timbers. The US captain is banned for six games or two years – whichever is longer. [BBC]
Clint Dempsey

France cracks down on Uber service after protests –
France’s interior minister has ordered a ban on the low-cost car-sharing service UberPOP after a day of nationwide protests by taxi drivers. Bernard Cazeneuve said the service was “illegal” and ordered police and prosecutors to enforce its closure. His announcement followed a day of sometimes violent protests by French taxi drivers, who say the US-based firm Uber is stealing their livelihoods. [BBC]

US spy chief James Clapper says China lead suspect in cyber hack –
China is the “leading suspect” in the massive hack of a US government agency holding the personnel records of millions of Americans, US intelligence chief James Clapper has said. He is the highest-ranking US official to publicly implicate Beijing since news of the data breach emerged. China always dismissed suggestions that it was behind the hacking. The statement comes after three days of high-level talks in which China and the US agreed to a “code of conduct”. “China remains the leading suspects,” said Mr Clapper at a conference in Washington DC, but “the US government continues to investigate” he added, according to his office.
James_R._Clapper, US intelligence Chief

Video of the Day –

Legacy from MURAT SAYGINER on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Patrick Macnee Filmography [from Wikipedia]

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces re-enter the Kurdish town of Kobanî after a successful large-scale counterattack against the Kurds.(BBC)

Business and economy

• Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, opens a new terminal at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2015 Pakistani heat wave
  • The death toll from the heat wave passes 1,000 in Sindh province alone. (CNN)
• The wreckage of a small plane carrying eight passengers on a shore excursion from Holland America Line‘s MS Westerdam cruise ship near theAlaskan town of Ketchikan. All nine people on board including the pilot died. (AP via Seattle Times)

Health

• 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea
  • The number of MERS casualties in South Korea rises to 29 with the number of cases rising to 180. (Yonhap)

International relations

• India offers Nepal an additional billion dollars to help it recover from the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
• South Africa reviews its participation in the International Criminal Court following a failed attempt to arrest the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, on South African soil. (BBC)
• The Prime Minister of Haiti Evans Paul accuses the Dominican Republic of causing a humanitarian crisis by mass deportation of people mainly from Haiti. (AP via Star Tribune)

Law and crime

• The Committee to Protect Journalists claims that the Government of Egypt has incarcerated 18 journalists, mostly from Al-Jazeera. (AP via The Guardian)
• More than 400 Albanian police supported by Army helicopters surround the village of Lazarat in southern Albania known as the “cannabisKingdom” where an armed criminal gang has entrenched itself. (AFP via ABCNews Australia)
• A journalist from CNN is shot and killed in the Philippines, the 27th journalist murdered during the administration of Benigno Aquino III. (Rappler)
• King v. Burwell
  • The Supreme Court of the United States upholds key elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) including subsidies for healthcare policies and employer mandates, with a 6-3 vote. (CNBC)

Politics and elections

• The United States House of Representatives votes to grant President Barack Obama fast track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (AP)

Sports

• In basketball, the 2015 NBA draft is held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, with the Minnesota Timberwolves selecting Karl-Anthony Towns as the first pick. (Los Angeles Times)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource