Top News Stories –

Cambridge University professor of Lego proposed –
A professor of Lego could soon be in post at Cambridge University. The Lego Foundation has provided the university with £2.5m to fund a Lego Professorship of Play in Education, Development and Learning. It has also provided £1.5m to support a play research centre in the education faculty, which will be led by the Lego professor. The Lego professorship post would be “open to all those whose work falls within the general field of the title of the office”, the university said. [BBC]

Texan wrestling star Dusty Rhodes dies at 69 –
One of wrestling’s most colourful stars, Dusty Rhodes, the self-styled “American Dream”, has died aged 69. The death of Virgil Runnels, which was his real name, was announced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His long and glittering career, which began in the late 1960s, earned him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. “Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit,” said WWE. [BBC]
Dusty Rhodes

Spain Princess Cristina loses title amid fraud inquiry –
King Felipe VI of Spain has removed the title “Duchess of Palma” from his sister, Princess Cristina, who is to go on trial charged with tax evasion. She was granted the title in 1997 when she married Inaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who is also accused of tax evasion. Princess Cristina had asked the king to remove her title, her lawyer said. But the royal palace said the king made the decision before seeing her request. She denies the tax fraud charges. [BBC]
Princess Cristina

White woman ‘posed as black civil right leader’ in years-long deception –
The name of a local civil rights leader in the US northwest is trending worldwide after her parents told the media that she is a white woman who has been passing herself off as black for years. [BBC Trending] See Top Twitter Trends.
Rachel Dolezal, 37, has been the head of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, or NAACP, in Spokane, Washington, since January. But her parents said Ms Dolezal is of German, Czech, and Swedish descent with a smattering of Native American ancestry. Mr and Mrs Dolezal said their daughter had black siblings who were adopted and that she went to school in Mississippi, where the family were part of a mainly black community. But they said she only began to claim African descent after divorcing her husband, who was also black, in 2004. Her mother, Ruthanne, said Ms Dolezal began to “disguise herself” in 2006 or 2007. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Dave Grohl, Lead singer of the Foo Fighters breaks his leg in a fall on stage in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Boko Haram militants raid five different villages around Maiduguri, Nigeria killing 37 people. (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • The Saudi-led coalition bombs the World Heritage Listed old quarter of Sana’a destroying three houses and killing five people. (AFP via Daily Mail)
• Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
  • An armed group storms the Tunisian embassy in Libya taking ten hostages. (al-Arabiyah)
• Operation Protective Edge
  • The Israel Defense Forces Advocate General has announced criminal investigations into three more incidents from Operation Protective Edge. Of the 190 incidents reported to the IDF, investigations have been completed on 105, with seven leading to criminal investigations.(YNet)

Business and economy

• Residents of the Galapagos Islands conduct a strike and protest over decisions by the Ecuador National Assembly to axe cost of living subsidies causing cancellation of flights to and from the islands. (AP via ABC News)
• Public school teachers in the Brazilian state of São Paulo vote to return to work after three months of strike action. (BBC)|

Disasters and accidents

• Japan approves a thirty-to-forty year plan to clean up the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. (AP)
• Heavy rain hampers the search for dozens of missing people from the landslides in Nepal‘s Taplejung district which have resulted in at least 24 deaths in six villages. (AP via US News and World Report)
• 2012–15 North American drought
  • California orders the biggest cuts to water allocations in the state’s history because of the worst drought in the state’s history. (BBC)

Health

• 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea
  • The death toll from the South Korean MERS outbreak rises to 11 with 126 people now diagnosed with the disease but the number of people inquarantine falls slightly to 3,680. Two hospitals have closed as a result of the outbreak and the Bank of Korea has lowered interest rates due to concerns about effects of the outbreak on the economy. (Yonhap), (CNN)

International relations

• The Pacific Ocean nation of Palau burns four Vietnamese fishing boats caught poaching sea cucumbers and other marine life in its waters. (AP via The Republic)
• Pakistan orders the Save the Children NGO to leave the country claiming it supports “anti-Pakistan” activity. (BBC)
• Germany doubles its funding to states and cities for asylum seekers as 450,000 are expected to enter the country during 2015. (Deutsche Welle)
• Two Russian citizens are arrested for entering a Latvian military base as the Baltic nation was participating in US-led military exercises. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
• Associated Press reports that hackers linked to the People’s Republic of China appear to have gained access to sensitive background material about those people seeking security clearances from the United States government. (AP)

Law and crime

• Former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is acquitted of pimping charges in France. (The Guardian)
• Sudanese police use tear gas to break up Khartoum protests against government land policy. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Chiril Gaburici resigns as the Prime Minister of Moldova after questions arise over his education qualifications. (AP via Washington Post)
• The United States House of Representatives votes down key supporting legislation that would support the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11Pacific Rim nations. (Washington Post)

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