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Facebook launches live video for celebrities in Mentions app –
Facebook has launched a live video function for celebrities on its Mentions app. The feature will allow any star with a verified account to broadcast to fans who follow them. It’ll be in competition with services like Periscope and Meerkat and will appear in people’s News Feed.
The Facebook Mentions app allows athletes, musicians, politicians and other stars to talk with their fans and each other. [BBC Newsbeat]

George Cole, Arthur Daley in Minder, dies at 90 –
Stars of stage and screen have been paying tribute to “immaculate” and “unforgettable” Minder actor George Cole following his death at the age of 90. Cole, whose showbusiness career spanned 70 years, is best remembered for his portrayal of small-time wheeler dealer and crook Arthur Daley in the TV show Minder, alongside his likeable bodyguard Terry McCann, played by Waterman. He died yesterday in hospital with his family at his side after a short illness, it was announced today. [Daily Telegraph]

Apple Music signs 11 million up to free trial in first five weeks –
Apple has signed up 11 million users to a free trial of Apple Music since the service launched at the end of June. Jimmy Iovine, who co-founded the Beats Music streaming service bought by Apple before it launched Apple Music, told USA Today he was “pleasantly shocked” by the service’s growth in its first five weeks, while Eddy Cue, the company’s senior vice president of internet software and services, said: “We’re thrilled with the numbers so far.” Should all of the trial members choose to keep paying for their subscriptions, Apple Music will have accumulated the equivalent of around half of rival streaming service Spotify’s paying membership – some 20 million – within three months. [Daily Telegraph]
Jimmy Iovine

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
  • A suicide bomber kills at least eight people and injures twelve in the city of Pul-i-Alam in Logar Province. (AP via ABC News America)
• Terrorism in Saudi Arabia, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
  • A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the south-western Saudi city of Abha. IS claims responsibility. (Reuters), (AFP via Yahoo! News)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant conquers the key transport hub Al-Qaryatain, allowing its forces in the Qalamun region to be supplied through this city. (The News Hub)
• Russian hackers are suspected of infiltrating the U.S. Pentagon e-mail system last week. (The Daily Telegraph)

Arts and culture

• American news satire program The Daily Show airs its last broadcast with comedian Jon Stewart as host. (The New Yorker)
• Many people throughout the world commemorate the 70th anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.(Reuters via Melbourne Age)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 17 people, including 12 Afghan army soldiers were killed following a helicopter crash in the southern province of Zabul. (Al-Jazeera)
• A Pakistani military helicopter crashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province resulting in at least 11 deaths. (AP)

International relations

• Yemeni Civil War:
  • Saudi Arabia sends new military equipment including tanks from Sharura into northern Yemen to support government forces fighting Iran-backed Houthi militants. (Voice of America)

Politics and Elections

• The Republican Party candidates for President of the United States debate, in two events (top tier candidates and lower-tier candidates separated) in an informal kick-off event for the 2016 campaign. (LA Times)

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