Top News Stories –

Wayne Rooney breaks England goals record –
Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley. England captain Rooney equalled Charlton’s tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer. And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday’s match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years. [BBC] See List of the Day 2
Wayne Rooney

British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas –
A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides. Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off. The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out. Flight 2276 was bound for London’s Gatwick airport. There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board. [BBC]

Sam Smith blows his cover: Spectre theme song singer confirmed –
Sam Smith would make an excellent secret agent. After months of speculation, the singer has confirmed that he has recorded the theme song for the next James Bond film, Spectre. Smith has co-written the title song, Writing’s On The Wall, with Jimmy Napes. It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965. Smith confirmed the news on Twitter, calling the opportunity “one of the highlights of my career”. The identity of the theme song’s singer had been an impressively well-kept secret. Smith, whose 2012 collaboration with Disclosure brought him to fame, gave particularly mixed messages: when pushed on the subject by Radio 2 last week, he flatly denied involvement with the film’s soundtrack. But yesterday he dropped a heavy hint to the contrary, tweeting a teaser picture of a ring imprinted with the Spectre logo.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day 1

Earlier this week Smith’s album In the Lonely Hour stayed in the UK top 10 for 67 weeks in a row – a new record.
Sam Smith

Video of the Day –

Justin Bieber – What do you mean? (acoustic)

List of the Day 1 –

James Bond Movie title themes [Wikipedia]

List of the Day 2 –

Wayne Rooney International appearances for England by year [from Wikipedia]

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Turkey–PKK conflict
  • Turkey bombs PKK sites in northern Iraq after a bombing yesterday in Hakkâri Province that killed at least 16 soldiers. (BBC)
  • A PKK bombing attack on a minibus in the eastern Iğdır Province near the Armenian border kills 14 Turkish police officers. (Reuters)
• Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
  • U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron confirms that two ISIS militants, UK citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, were killed in Syria when a British drone attack hit their car on August 21, 2015. Both Khan and Amin had appeared in an ISIS recruitment video last year. They are alleged to have been plotting a terrorist attack on the UK. (BBC) (The Guardian)
  • The Syrian government calls off airstrikes against rebel fighters in a central province due to a sandstorm affecting large parts of the Middle East. (AP)
• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • The UN announces that it has grave concerns for around 96,000 children in Al Hudaydah, Yemen who are starving due to the nearby fighting. (Al Jazeera English Online)
  • A Saudi-led air raid on Yemen‘s Al Hudaydah port reportedly kills 20 Indian nationals involved in oil smuggling. (Times of India)

Arts and culture

• Pope Francis announces reforms making it easier for people to annul their marriages. (BBC)
• New Zealand temporarily bans the sale or lending of the book Into the River by Ted Dawe, pending a review which could see the book restricted long-term. This is the first time in 22 years that a book has been restricted to this extent in New Zealand. (The Guardian) (Radio New Zealand Online)

Business and economy

• German airline Lufthansa cancels 84 long-haul flights as pilots go on strike over a proposed restructure plan. (Bloomberg)
• Jeff Smisek resigns as CEO of United Airlines due to allegations that he tried to improperly influence officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

• A massive sandstorm hits Lebanon and Syria as well as Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the storm caused the deaths of two women, and sent hundreds to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Particularly hard hit were the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many in flimsy tents in informal campsites. (Middle East Eye) (AP via CTV News) (Al Jazeera English Online)
• The VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam is fully evacuated after parts of the hospital were flooded because of a burst in a major water-pipeline. (DutchNews)
• A British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft suffers an uncontained engine failure and fire on take-off from McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. All on board safely evacuate.BBC News Online

International relations

• North and South Korea are to hold reunions for families divided by the Korean War from October 20 to October 26. (AP via Washington Times)
• European migrant crisis
  • Sigmar Gabriel, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, says that Germany “can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year” while calling on other nations to take their fair share. ” (BBC)

Law and crime

• During protests over a lack of mining jobs in South Africa‘s Limpopo province, demonstrators destroy 21 buses, a police station, and a municipal office as well as blocking roads from Lephalale to Marapong. (ENCA)
• Death of Freddie Gray
  • The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland agrees to a $6.4 million settlement with relatives over the death of Freddie Gray. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• Miller v. Davis
  • Kim Davis, the county clerk of Rowan County in the US state of Kentucky, is released from jail on contempt of court charges but she may not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples. (Yahoo! politics)

Politics and elections

• Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, is reelected unopposed as the President of the Liberal Democratic Party. (AP via The New York Times)

Sport

• In football, Wayne Rooney becomes the highest goalscorer for the England national football team with a goal against Switzerland in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. (ITV)

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