March 9, 2015

Top News Stories –

French sports stars die in reality TV accident –
Prosecutors in France have opened a manslaughter investigation after two helicopters crashed in Argentina, killing eight French nationals. Three well-known French sports personalities were among those killed in the collision, which also claimed the lives of the two Argentine pilots. French President Francois Hollande said it was “a cause of immense sadness”. Both helicopters were involved in the filming of TV survival show Dropped, which airs on French channel TF1. On the show, celebrities are flown into rough terrain and filmed while they attempt to find food and shelter. Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine were the show’s celebrities on board at the time of the crash. They all died. [BBC]
Camillle-Muffat Camille Muffat

Solar powered plane still on target –
Solar Impulse is back in the air on the second leg of its historic attempt to fly around the world. After the briefest of lay-overs, the prop-driven plane took off from Muscat in Oman at 06.35 (02:35 GMT). It is heading across the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad in India. Project chairman, Bertrand Piccard, is now at the controls, having taken over from Andre Borschberg, who flew the first leg on Monday from Abu Dhabi to Muscat. The second leg will cover about 1,465km (791 nautical miles), and should take about 16 hours.

Video of the Day –

[BBC]

ALBAN ENDLOS – UMDA (A journey through India in 4 Minutes, colorgraded on a used VHS) from David Aufdembrinke on Vimeo.
CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

July 3, 2015

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Solar Impulse completes epic flight to Hawaii –
Solar Impulse, the aeroplane that is powered only by the sun, has landed in Hawaii after making a historic 7,200km flight across the Pacific from Japan. Pilot Andre Borschberg brought the vehicle gently down on to the runway of Kalaeloa Airport at 05:55 local time (15:55 GMT; 16:55 BST). The distance covered and the time spent in the air – 118 hours – are records for manned, solar-powered flight. The duration is also an absolute record for a solo, un-refuelled journey. Mr Borschberg’s time betters that of the American adventurer Steve Fossett who spent 76 hours aloft in a single-seater jet in 2006. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Solar-ImpulseSolar Impulse

Music streaming reaches a record high in 2015 –
Music streaming has reached a record high in the UK, with the number of songs played rising by 80% compared to this time last year. New figures from the British Phonographic Industry show there have been 11.5 billion streams in the first six months of 2015. That’s compared to 14.8 billion for the whole of 2014. Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk is the most streamed track of the year, with 45 million plays. [BBC Newsbeat]
Mark-RonsonMark Ronson

BP reaches £12bn record settlement over Gulf oil spill –
British Petroleum has agreed to pay the largest settlement by a single company in US history over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. deal, which is still awaiting approval, will be worth $18.7bn (£12bn). Over 125 million gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf after an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Solar Impulse Airplane: Landing in Hawaii

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April 21, 2016

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Prince Dies at 57: Iconic Musical Genius Found Dead in Paisley Park –
Prince died today  at age 57 at his Paisley Park home and studio in Minneapolis, his publicist confirmed to the Associated Press. TMZ first reported the news. According to a press release sent from the Carver County Sheriff’s Department this afternoon, deputies arrived at Paisley Park at 9:43 a.m. and found Prince unresponsive in the elevator. After CPR attempts were unsuccessful, he was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. The cause of death has not yet been determined, and Carver County with assistance from Hennepin County Sheriffs and the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating. Prince was hospitalized last week after his plane for was forced to make an emergency landing in Moline, Ill. Released a few hours later, a rep told TMZ that he had been battling a bad case of the flu. One of the most iconic musicians in music history, Prince’s extensive career grew out of the music scene of his native Minneapolis, where he lived his entire life. His 1978 debut album For You and self-titled second LP, released in October 1979, kicked off an incredibly prolific run of albums that included 1999, Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day, Sign O The Times and Batman, among others, throughout the 1980s at a clip of nearly one per year, evolving with each release. [Billboard]
Prince_at_CoachellaPrince in 2008

Queen’s 90th birthday: Beacons lit amid UK celebrations –
The Queen has lit the first of more than 900 beacons lighting up across the UK and overseas as part of her 90th birthday celebrations. Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall then joined the monarch at a private dinner in Windsor Castle. Earlier, cheering crowds lined the streets in Windsor as the Queen took part in a walkabout. At the lighting of the beacon in Windsor, the Prince of Wales, referring to his mother, said: “I find it very hard to believe that you’ve reached your 90th year and I suddenly realised the other day that I have known you since you were 22 years old. “But this, ladies and gentleman, is a very special occasion and this beacon that her majesty is about to light will also represent – as it lights other beacons across the nation – the love and affection with which you are held throughout this country and the Commonwealth. [BBC]
Queen_Elizabeth_II_March_2015

Solar plane slowly soaring from Hawaii to California –
A solar plane on an around-the-world journey has reached the point of no return over the Pacific Ocean after departing Hawaii, and now it’s California or bust. The plane was cruising over the cold northern Pacific late Thursday at about 20,000 feet with a nearly-full battery as night descended, according to the website that’s documenting the journey of Solar Impulse 2. After some uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii and was on course to land in Mountain View, California, in about three days. The crew that helped it take off was clearing out of its Hawaiian hangar and headed for the mainland for the weekend arrival. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is flying this leg of the journey. [AP]

Video of the Day –

Alone in Paris from Mathieu Stern on Vimeo.

List of the Day –


Prince Discography

Studio albums

Live albums
Remix albums
Compilation albums
The New Power Generation albums
The NPG Orchestra albums
Madhouse albums
  • 8 (1987)
  • 16 (1987)

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  • More than 100 are feared dead in an early summer heatwave in India which has forced the closure of schools. (Reuters)
  • At least 24 people are killed, 136 others injured, and eight workers still missing from yesterday’s blast at the major Clorados 3 petrochemical plant of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo. Nineteen people remain hospitalized, with 13 in serious condition. The plant is run by Mexichem under agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the national petrochemical company, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on the country’s southern Gulf of Mexico coast. Pemex had an earlier fire at the same facility in February 2016 that killed one worker; also that month, an offshore Pemex Gulf platform fire killed two and injured eight.(Reuters) (AP)
  • At least two people are killed after an oceanfront stretch of an elevated bike lane in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collapses when it was hit by a strong wave. Two other people were rescued alive, while another may be missing. The bike lane was among the projects built in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics. No Olympic event will be held on the path. (AP) (AP² via CBS News) (Hindustan Times)
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  • Crime in El Salvador
    • The government of El Salvador unveils and deploys a new heavily armed special forces unit to fight criminal gangs in rural areas of the country. Officials say it will target gang leaders who left the cities because of a government crackdown. (BBC)
  • Six high ranking Pakistan Army officers, including a lieutenant-general and major-general, are sacked by Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif amid corruption allegations within the army. Sharif said corruption had to be uprooted to fight terrorism. (BBC)
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June 23, 2016

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BRITAIN VOTES FOR ‘BREXIT’ IN HISTORIC REFERENDUM –
Britain has voted to leave the European Union in a referendum, defying its prime minister and confounding most analysts’ expectations. The result raises questions over the future of Prime Minister David Cameron, and over the future of Scotland within the United Kingdom. The results expose a British electorate deeply divided by age, class and geographical location. Most large urban centers elected to stay part of the European Union, particularly in London, where many local authorities delivered vast majorities for the pro-EU campaign. Polls completed before the vote suggested the young were significantly more likely to back EU membership than the old, and that poorer, less-educated voters were likelier to be Brexiters. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Wales surprised many observers by voting in favor of a “Leave” vote, with just over 850,000 Welsh voters choosing to leave the bloc, and a little more than 770,000 voting to Remain. [Newsweek] See List of the Day

Solar plane lands in Spain after three-day Atlantic crossing –
An airplane powered solely by the sun landed safely in Seville in Spain early on Thursday after an almost three-day flight across the Atlantic from New York in one of the longest legs of the first ever fuel-less flight around the world. The single-seat Solar Impulse 2 touched down shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time in Seville after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 2.30 a.m. EDT on June 20.
The flight of just over 71 hours was the 15th leg of the round-the-world journey by the plane piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. [Reuters] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Solar Impulse Airplane – Leg 15 – Flight New York to Seville

List of the Day –

How the home nations voted in the EU Referendum [BBC]

England

Leave 53.4%
15,188,406 VOTES
Remain 46.6%
13,266,996 VOTES
Counting complete
Turnout: 73.0%

Northern Ireland

Leave 44.2%
349,442 VOTES
Remain 55.8%
440,437 VOTES
Counting complete
Turnout: 62.9%

Scotland

Leave 38.0%
1,018,322 VOTES
Remain 62.0%
1,661,191 VOTES
Counting complete
Turnout: 67.2%

Wales

Leave 52.5%
854,572 VOTES
Remain 47.5%
772,347 VOTES
Counting complete
Turnout: 71.7%

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  • Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered only by the sun, lands safely in Seville, Spain, shortly after 7.30 a.m. local time after a flight of just over 71 hours. The 15th leg of the round-the-world journey had been expected to take up to 90 hours. (Reuters) (Reuters²)
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