January 8, 2010

Top Stories –
Make it faster –
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in partnership with the Luxembourg-based private investment company, Genii Capital is making a bid to take over Sweden’s Saab motor company.
Bernie_EcclestoneBernie Ecclestone

Our multi-dimensional savior –
On the first day of CES in Las Vegas, TV manufacturers state that 3D could be the savior of the industry estimating around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year.

Top Video –
555 KUBIK | facade projection

555 KUBIK | facade projection from URBANSCREEN on Vimeo.
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December 25, 2014

Christmas Day –

Top News Stories –

Christmas Truce remembered –
100 years since the famous Christmas truce when soldiers from England and Germany fighting in France laid down their weapons and played games of football. The English Football Association has held a number of events to commemorate the event.

This is going to go well –
In the US, 300 independent cinemas screen “The Interview”, a film depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, turned up to a screening of the movie at a theater in Los Angeles.
Seth_Rogen_WonderCon_2,_2013Seth Rogen

Evan-GoldbergEvan Goldberg

Sony hit again –
Hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad take down Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox servers following threats to do so if the film was released.

Putin cancels Christmas –
Russian President Vladimir Putin cancels Christmas, at least for his government, but setting a meeting on Christmas day.
Vladimir_PutinVladimir Putin

Video of the Day –

UEFA marks 100th anniversary of World War One truce

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November 4, 2015

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_PutinVladimir 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 postChantelle 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
#1 Vladimir Putin Russia 63
#2 Angela Merkel Germany 61
#3 Barack Obama United States 54
#4 Pope Francis Roman Catholic Church 78
#5 Xi Jinping China 62
#6 Bill Gates Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 60
#7 Janet Yellen Washington, United States 69
#8 David Cameron United Kingdom 49
#9 Narendra Modi India 65
#10 Larry Page Google 42

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 告白の日 #YouHadMeAt #NationalStressAwarenessDay
2 #9DaysUntilMITAM #NationalStressAwarenessDay #GrantsNotDebt
3 #QueVuelvaElFav #9DaysUntilMITAM #cipd15
4 #احتجاج_الهلال… #NerdyCountryMusic Gerrard
5 Briana #CMAawards #PMQs
6 #NationalStressAwarenessDay UC Merced Dapper Laughs
7 Benzema Hump Day #IPBill
8 #MasterChefBR McDavid Ashley Young
9 #felizmiercoles #MyStonerConfession #TwitterHeart
10 Valbuena Bayern Chris Powell

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March 18, 2016

Top News Stories –

Hulk Hogan awarded $115m in Gawker sex tape case –
A Florida jury has awarded Hulk Hogan $115m (£79m) after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler. Mr Hogan’s legal team argued the New York-based website violated his privacy and the video was not newsworthy. The case, which pitted freedom of the press against a celebrity’s right to privacy, has been closely watched. The video was posted in 2012 after Mr Hogan was secretly recorded having sex with his friend’s wife. Mr Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, said the release of the sex tape hurt his career. He was one of the most popular professional wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s and later starred in his own reality television show with his family. [BBC]
Hulk_Hogan_2014Hulk Hogan

Sport Relief raises ‘a record’ £55m –
More than £55m has been raised so far for charity on Sport Relief’s live TV show, ahead of a weekend of fundraising. David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Gary Lineker and Greg James were among those who hosted the BBC show, broadcast from London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Highlights included a Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em sketch featuring tennis siblings Andy and Jamie Murray. The total of £55,444,906 breaks the previous on-the-night record of £51m. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sportrelief_logo

Iain Duncan Smith quits over planned disability benefit changes –
Iain Duncan Smith has dramatically resigned from the [UK] Government in protest at George Osborne’s proposed cuts to benefits for the disabled. The former Conservative leader said that plans to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion were a “compromise too far” and said that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead. He added that they are “not defensible” when announced alongside a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers. Mr Duncan Smith [a former Conservative Leader] also accused the Chancellor of forcing through cuts to welfare for “political” rather than national economic reasons. [Daily Telegraph]
Iain_Duncan_SmithIain Duncan Smith

Australia Senate passes reforms after farcical all-nighter –
Monty Python references, a colonoscopy analogy and a pyjama-clad senator featured during an all-night sitting of Australia’s upper house. The Senate has finally passed changes to how its members are elected after 28 hours of debate. The changes will disadvantage so-called micro parties that have gained increasing power in the Senate. The ruling conservative Coalition formed an unlikely partnership with the Greens party to pass the reforms. But the opposition Labor Party and micro party senators, who opposed the laws, dragged out the debate with filibuster tactics and amendments. During the all-night debate, Labor senators consistently spoke off-topic to delay votes to the legislation giving voters greater control over where their preferences were allocated. The laws eventually passed by a margin of 36-24. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Proof of evolution that you can find on your body

List of the Day –

Total charity donations “on the night” by BBC Sport Relief

2004 £11,078,359
2006 c. £18,000,000
2008 £19,640,321
2010 £31,633,091
2012 £50,447,197
2014 £51,242,186
2016 £55,444,906

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #SextaTopNoClubeSdv #FlashbackFriday #FridayFeeling
2 #BuenViernes Tray Walker #SportRelief
3 #VemPraDemocracia #WorldSleepDay #WriteAPoemAboutTories
4 #18Mart1915 #Daredevil #WorldSleepDay
5 #LasGordasNoMerecenAmor #DoYourJobFriday #CSEDay16
6 Día Mundial del Sueño #ULTRALIVE #AddOneLetterRuinAMovie
7 #SportRelief #NewMusicFriday #NUSScot16
8 #يوم_الجمعه Salah Abdeslam #SYP2020
9 Salah Abdeslam #SpringBreakIn4Words #TechNorthTalent
10 #LaMujerPerfecta #GetWellSoonDylan #SkyF1

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June 28, 2016

Top News Stories –

Japan uses anime to target young voters –
Japanese cities are using manga and anime to persuade young people to vote in forthcoming elections. The popular formats feature in local electoral commission materials aimed at newly enfranchised 18- and 19-year-olds, which explain why going to the polls is important, The Japan Times website reports. Last year, Japan lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 – the first change in seven decades. An election on 10 July to choose members of the upper house of parliament will be the first national poll since the law changed. Officials in the city of Nara have created a five-minute-long anime video on the importance not only of voting, but of making an informed decision at the ballot box. It shows three girls celebrate turning 18, two of whom don’t intend to use their votes. Other characters then warn the girls that it’s never been more important to make their voices heard. It ends with what the paper describes as a “perky, off-key song” about nearing adulthood and thinking for yourself. [BBC]See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

エンジェルは選挙権がお好き / 井上涼 【18歳選挙権】- Nara City Voting video

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June 29, 2016

Top News Stories –

Facebook gives friends higher priority in News Feeds –
Facebook is to give posts by users’ friends and family greater prominence in their News Feeds. The social network said its members had expressed concerns that they were missing “important updates” from the people they cared about. The move reverses a trend towards giving more space to content posted by the news media and brands. One expert said it highlighted that newspapers and broadcasters’ interests did not always match those of the firm. Facebook said that in several surveys it had carried out, users had told it they wanted to see more “friend content”, and it was altering its algorithms to accommodate this. [BBC]

Vietnam capital sets target to ban motorbikes –
Officials in Hanoi are aiming to ban motorbikes from the city centre within 10 years, it’s reported. The local government wants streets to be motorbike-free by 2025 as part of efforts to tackle congestion, the Thanh Nien News website says. The Vietnamese capital has notoriously chaotic roads, with around five million motorbikes vying for space alongside half a million cars. That situation is forecast to get worse in years to come: the authorities estimate that by 2020 there will be seven million motorbikes, and the number of cars will double. “This means the traffic situation in Hanoi will become extremely complicated in the next four to five years, so we really need a timely solution to this,” says mayor Nguyen Duc Chung. The city’s transport authority wants to reduce the number of individual vehicles and boost public transport instead, and its chairman wants the number of buses to double. Construction of a new urban rail system is already under way. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Watch NYers’ Hearts Break As They JUST Miss The Subway Train

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economics
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Law and crime
  • A prosecutor in Michigan, United States, is considering whether the words of an African grey parrot could be used to try the woman accused of killing the pet parrot’s owner. (The Guardian)
  • Luxembourg Leaks
    • Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, two whistleblowers who revealed the Luxembourg Leaks financial scandal, are found guilty of leaking the documents and are given a 12 and nine month suspended sentence and fined 1,500 and €1,000 respectively, while Edouard Perrin, the journalist who was given the leaks, is acquitted of all charges. (BBC)
Politics and elections

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