วันอาทิตย์ที่ 27 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2558

News Week 3


Monday 21/12/2015

Today I read..

Miss Universe: Miss Colombia mistakenly crowned as winner


      The host of the Miss Universe has apologised after mistakenly naming the wrong woman as winner, leaving Miss Colombia empty-handed.

      After the error, Ariadna Gutierrez was instead declared runner-up and surrendered her crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

      MissUniverse2015 became Twitter's biggest trend of the night as social media users expressed their disbelief.

Ms Wurtzbach has since told reporters that she wishes Ms Gutierrez well.
      "I'm very sorry, I did not take the crown away from her and I wish her well in whatever she wants to pursue after this pageant," she said.
      Ms Gutierrez also addressed fans in a backstage video that has been shared on the pageant's official page.
She said: "Everything happens for a reason so I'm happy for all that I did."
      At the end of the night in Las Vegas, Ms Gutierrez was named first runner-up followed by Olivia Jordan from the United States.

Miss Colombia 2015 Ariadna Gutierrez is mistakenly named Miss Universe 2015 instead of first runner-up during the 2015 during the 2015 MISS UNIVERSE show at Planet Hollywood Resort Casino, in Las Vegas, California

       The host Steve Harvey responded, saying it was "his mistake" and he would take responsibility for not reading the winning card correctly.
       He made another mistake when he misspelled both Colombia and the Philippines in an initial tweet. The tweet was later deleted.

      "I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible," he tweeted in a second attempt. The message was re-tweeted more than 70,000 times.

      "I don't want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants - they were all amazing."
'Miss Information'

      Shock and disbelief erupted online following the incident.
      "Talk about awkward," described one Twitter user who "couldn't help" but find the gaffe "hilarious".
      Another user, Mark Critch from Canada, said: "And the winner is - Miss Information."


Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach reacts to the announcement establishing her as Miss Universe 2015



       Facebook users also expressed their opinions on a post shared on the pageant's official page.
       It was shared more than 62,000 times and received more than 17,000 comments from viewers across the world.

      "That was poorly handled. Both of these gorgeous ladies deserve an apology because that was embarrassing for both of them. I literally felt both of their pain," read a top comment by Lemmy Cliff.

      "That was the most annoying Miss Universe contest ever," said another commenter Andres Felipe Arbelaez. "The host was horrible and Miss Colombia should have won."

      Pageant fans from the Philippines also began to express anger at the incident.

      "Our Miss Philippines didn't get her shining moment," said a fan on Facebook. "It feels like she and our country were robbed of the winning moment, shame!"

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach reacts as she is crowned the 2015 Miss Universe



       While some Twitter users remained upset over the mistake, others began to tweet out messages of support.

       "Don't feel terrible. Everyone makes mistakes," said Pedro Da Cunha.

       "To err is human... to forgive is divine," said another user in reply to Mr Harvey's apology.

       In an incident apparently unconnected to the competition, at least one person was killed and dozens injured after a car ploughed into a crowd next to the Miss Universe venue.

http://www.bbc.com


Tuesday 22/12/2015 

Today I read..

India plane crash: Ten die in Delhi's Dwarka district


Authorities rushed 15 fire tenders to Dwarka, where a Ranchi-bound BSF aircraft crashed, to douse billowing clouds of smoke and fire.



      A light aircraft has crashed on take-off near the airport in the Indian capital, Delhi, killing 10 people.
      The Beechcraft King Air plane chartered by India's Border Security Force (BSF) came down after hitting a wall in Dwarka district and burst into flames.
      The plane was carrying members of the border patrol force, officials said.
      In May 2011, 10 people died after a small medical ambulance aircraft flying a critically ill patient crashed in Faridabad town near Delhi.
      Tuesday's incident occurred as the twin-engine plane was on its way to Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand from Delhi's international airport.
     "The crash took place at around 09:50 India time (04:20GMT) moments after the technicians lost contact with ground control," AK Sharma, chief of Delhi Fire Services, told AFP news agency.
A piece of plane wreckage is lifted with a crane as rescue personnel look on at the crash site of a chartered army plane close to the main airport in New Delhi on December 22, 2015.


       TV pictures showed a fire in a field and mangled and charred debris of the plane.
       Junior Civil Aviation Minister Mahesh Sharma told the Press Trust of India news agency that "all 10 [passengers] onboard BSF plane that crashed in Dwarka [are] dead".
       Suraj, an eyewitness, told reporters that the plane hit a wall, caught fire and crashed in a field outside the airport.
      "There were about 10 people on the flight. I saw two bodies. There were some labourers working on the ground where the plane fell," he said.
       More than a dozen fire engines and emergency workers have been rushed to the spot to douse the blaze.
       The last major crash in India happened in the city of Mangalore in May 2010, killing at least 160 people.


Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) direct operations near the crash site of a chartered army plane close to the main airport in New Delhi on December 22, 2015



http://www.bbc.com


Wednesday 23/12/2015 

Today I read..

Star Wars: The Force Awakens receives belated Critics' Choice nomination

John Boyega in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

     Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been added to the nominations for the Critics' Choice best picture award.
     The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) chose to add the film to the 10 nominees it announced last week.
     The decision was made, its president said, because "many members felt [it] deserves to be in our consideration".
     The best picture prize is the only award the new Star Wars film will be in contention for at the Critics' Choice awards ceremony on 17 January.
     The move is unusual but not unprecedented, as Cast Away was belatedly added to the nominations list in 2000.
     The Force Awakens, which opened in cinemas last week, was not shown early enough for BFCA members to vote for it in the initial awards ballot.
     Members were polled this week to see if they would have voted it as one of their top five films of the year had they seen it before the voting deadline.
     "The results were such that it was obvious this was a movie that would have been in the top 10 if it had had the chance," BFCA president Joey Berlin told Screen Daily.
     He said adding the film to the best picture nominees was considered to be "the best compromise in the best interests of the movie, members and our audience".
     "It would be foolish to suggest that the incredible popularity of the film isn't a factor," Berlin admitted in another interview with Variety."And I can't deny that this is also a good thing for the Critics' Choice Awards show.
     "But it's really the popularity of the film amongst the critics, that it's getting such good reviews."
     According to Box office Mojo, the new Star Wars film has now made more than $610m (£409 million) at the global box office.
     Cast member Peter Mayhew - aka Chewbacca - was among those to alert his Twitter  followers to the Critics' Choice organisers' change of heart.
     Mad Max: Fury Road has received the most nominations from the critical body, which included George Miller's action film in 13 different categories.




http://www.bbc.com

Thursday 24/12/2015

Today I read..

Children, described as the "forgotten victims of domestic violence", have been put at the centre of a Christmas campaign by the charity Refuge.
A still from Refuge's new campaign video showing a worried girl next to Christmas presents



       It said some 750,000 children witness domestic violence each year, which can have a "profound and lasting impact".
       The charity has launched avideo campaign on Facebook , encouraging viewers to raise funds and awareness by sharing the hashtag #givethemrefuge.
       The launch comes as Refuge's specialist services face possible funding cuts.
       One in four women in the UK experience domestic violence, and two women are killed each week by a partner or ex-partner in England and Wales, the charity said.
       Refuge's video shows a girl unwrapping presents while being filmed by her sister, but the children end up abandoning their presents to run away from a violent argument between their parents.
Abusive father
       An unnamed 22-year-old abuse victim said the fictional video was similar to her own childhood memories of living in "daily fear and terror" after witnessing her father "abuse, threaten and intimidate" her mother.
       "It was only after a frantic phone call I had with my father that I knew he would fulfil his threat to 'smash her brains against the wall' and kill my mother," she said.
       She eventually escaped to a refuge with her mother and brother, where they were supported by Refuge, she said.
      "Not only did the refuge give us safety, anonymity and a place to overcome our trauma and rebuild our lives, but my brother and I had the opportunity to enjoy our childhood and also start over," she said.
      Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said more than 3,300 women and children were supported by the charity, with children making up about two-thirds of people in the charity's accommodation.
      She added that the charity was "fighting to raise funds to keep its services running".


http://www.bbc.com



Friday 25/12/2015

Today I read..


Beijing security: 'Possible threat to Westerners' governments warn


An armed policeman (R) of the Snow Leopard Commando Unit stands guard near a police van at the Sanlitun area, a fashionable location for shopping and dining, in Beijing, China, December 24, 2015

        The UK and US governments have issued a warning about possible threats against Westerners in the Chinese capital Beijing on or around Christmas Day.
        British and Us officials say they have received information of possible threats in Sanlitun, which is a busy bar and shopping district.
        The Australian and French governments have also urged their citizens to remain vigilant.
        Beijing police have issued a yellow security alert in the city.
        A yellow alert is the second lowest level in China's four-level security alert system.

Map of Beijing showing Sanlintun area


       The alert means there will be increased security checks in shopping areas, and rubbish bins in public areas will be checked every 30 minutes, state news agency Xinhua reports.
       There was an increased police presence in Sanlitun on Thursday, with armed police deployed outside shopping malls.
       There were no further details from French, Australian, US and UK officials.
       Beijing police said in a microblog post (in Chinese)that they had implemented the yellow alert in Beijing's large and medium sized shopping areas to "maintain social order".
       The Sanlitun area, in Beijing's Chaoyang district, contains many bars and restaurants popular with foreigners.


http://www.bbc.com


Saturday 26/12/2015

Today I read..


France beheading attack: Suspect Yassin Salhi kills himself



Yassin Salhi



      A French terror suspect who decapitated his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in June, has been found dead in prison near Paris.
      The authorities said Yassin Salhi, 35, had killed himself.
He was being held in Fleury-Merogis prison, south Paris.
      Prosecutors regarded Salhi as a militant Islamist, but the delivery driver maintained that he was motivated by a grudge against his employer.
      Salhi had been placed in solitary confinement pending his trial, but was not considered a suicide risk.

      On 26 June he drove his van into a building containing flammable liquids at the Air Products factory near the city of Lyon.
      There was a blast shortly afterwards and the decapitated body of Salhi's boss, was found nearby.
      His head - reportedly bearing Arabic inscriptions - had been hooked on to factory railings, alongside two flags, also with Arabic writing on it.
      Salhi had been under surveillance for being a suspected radical Islamist between 2006 and 2008, officials said.

Handout photo of police investigators outside Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon, on 26 June 2015




http://www.bbc.com



Sunday 27/12/2015

Today I read..



Iraqi forces have entered a former government compound in Ramadi, from where Islamic State (IS) group militants have been resisting an army offensive, sources have told the BBC.



Iraqi pro-government soldier watches smoke billowing from Ramadi's Hoz neighbourhood on 27 December 2015

      The source said troops had entered one building and were planning to push cautiously through the rest of the huge compound amid fears of explosives.
      IS militants are believed to have fled to the north-east of the city.
      The government has been trying to retake Ramadi for weeks.
      The mainly Sunni Arab city, about 55 miles (90km) west of Baghdad, fell to IS in May, and was seen as an embarrassing defeat for the army.
      In recent days, troops have been picking their way through booby-trapped streets and buildings as they pushed towards the city centre, seizing several districts on the way.
      They were reported to be within a few hundred yards of the former provincial administrative headquarters on Saturday.
      When sniper fire from the compound stopped, and aerial surveillance detected no human activity, a group of Iraqi soldiers moved in, the source said.
      They reportedly entered what used to be the city's department of health, housing a blood bank.
      The Iraqi military believes the militants have headed north-east; fighting meanwhile is reported to be under way to the south-west of the compound.
      The operation to recapture Ramadi began in early November, but has made slow progress, mainly because the government chose not to use the powerful Shia-dominated paramilitary force that helped it regain the northern city of Tikrit, to avoid increasing sectarian tensions.
      Concern remains for the plight of hundreds of families who have been trapped on the frontline, the BBC's Thomas Fessy reports from Baghdad.

Map of Ramadi showing control by Islamic State militants



http://www.bbc.com

News Week 2






Tuesday 15/12/2015

Today i read..


Hundreds of Santas set record for world's biggest surf lesson


A pack of 320 surfing Santas embrace the Christmas spirit in Australia, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest surf lesson.



       A pack of 320 surfing Santas have embraced Christmas spirit in Australia and broken the world record for the largest surf lesson.
       Guinness World Record confirmed to the BBC that the festive spectacle at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Tuesday exceeded the target of 250 surfers.
       The organisers say the record-breaking surf is also an attempt to raise awareness of mental health issues.
The event was kick-started by a local retailer, surf school and surf charity.
       RedBalloon, Let's Go Surfing, and OneWave came together to hold the lesson, and rustled up hundreds of participants using social media.
       OneWave spokesperson and mental health therapist, Joel Pilgrim told the BBC the surf charity started about three years as a way to bring the local community together and to break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

OneWave Fluro Fridays surfing mental health program
A pack of 320 surfing Santas embrace the Christmas spirit in Australia, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest surf lesson.


        This year the University of New South Wales studied how the OneWave surf program affected people living with severe mental illness - finding overall improvements in life, psychological growth, physical benefit, and social support networks.
        The results are also reflected in a world-first pilot scheme in Biarritz, France - which prescribes surfing over medication for a range of illnesses, including depression.
        Tuesday's surf lesson participants seemed to agree that it was at the very least an enjoyable experience.

       "It's good, it's awesome, a lot of people, a lot of fun, a lot of energy [it's] exciting," one surfing Santa said.

http://www.bbc.com





Thursday 17/12/2015


Today i read..


What's so smart about smart meters?


Gaz and Leccy cartoon characters



      Replace your old gas and electricity meters with natty new digital ones and you could be helping to tackle "the biggest single challenge that humankind has ever faced" - global warming.
      That's according to veteran environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt anyway.
      And you thought smart meters were just about saving a few quid on your gas and electricity bills? Think again.
      These gadgets being rolled out in many developed nations around the world will not only save people money, they'll promote more competition, more innovation, and change the way the global energy industry works, proponents argue.
      So here's all you need to know about the huge project to introduce digital meters into British homes.
How will smart meters help business?


Electricity pylons



      For business processes that don't have to be done immediately, it makes sense to do them when energy is cheapest or at its most plentiful.
      For example, a big food retailer running energy-hungry chiller and freezer cabinets can run them at a colder temperature at night when electricity is cheaper, then use them less intensively during the day when electricity is more expensive, knowing that there is enough stored coldness in the equipment to keep it running properly.
      "We can achieve energy savings of 15% to 25% for our customers," says Sara Bell, chief executive of Tempus Energy, a new energy supplier offering this type of service.

http://www.bbc.com




Friday 18/12/2015

Today i read..

How to avoid 'death by PowerPoint'


People asleep at a meeting



        Most people who've endured a terrible PowerPoint presentation will have experienced boredom, followed by frustration, then anger that it took up an hour - or possibly even more - of their lives that they will never get back.

        so why, in the age of the internet and millions of digital images, do slide presentations seem to belong to an older, duller decade?

        And what can the businesspeople of the future do to jazz up their presentations and leave their audiences feeling a little less like zombies?

        Swedish crowd-sourcing photo database, Pickit, recently teamed up with professional PowerPoint designers Eyeful Presentations to pick out the top 10 images to avoid in presentations.

        Their findings are summarised best with the use of bullet points - that stalwart of PowerPoint presentations.

Vegetables


        In March 2014, Getty Images, the world's largest photo agency, made vast swathes of its library free to use, in what some regarded as acknowledgement that pictures were going to be stolen without attempt to pay for them.
        Most people looking for images to illustrate their presentations headed straight to Google Images, said Robert Dysell, chief marketing officer at Pickit.

       "We estimate that 85% of the photos used in presentations are stolen from Google Images or similar," he told the BBC.

       As well as hoping to change this and reward photographers for their work, Pickit is looking to offer more unusual imagery for presentations.

       It would, if nothing else, stimulate the audience's taste buds and hopefully keep them awake.


http://www.bbc.com






Sunday 20/12/2015


Today i read..



Cancer mum Heidi Loughlin's premature baby dies




Ally Louise and mum Heidi after birth



      A baby who was born 12 weeks prematurely in order for her mother to be treated for cancer has died.
      Heidi Loughlin, 32, discovered she had a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer after falling pregnant with her third child.
      Ally Louise Smith was born by C-section on 11 December weighing just 2lb 5oz but died on Saturday.
      Ms Loughlin, from Portishead, north Somerset posted a poem dedicated to her daughter on her blog.
      In it, the Metropolitan Police officer wrote: "Yesterday afternoon our hearts broke in two. For we had to say goodbye to you."
      She added that "the pain in my body and heart and my soul feels it will consume me and leave me un-whole".
      Doctors discovered Ms Loughlin's cancer in September after she noticed a rash on her breast while feeding her baby son Tait.
      She was given the option of terminating the pregnancy so she could begin aggressive chemotherapy.
      But she decided to keep her baby and begin a less aggressive form of treatment which is expected to start on Wednesday.
      Writing on her blog after Ally's birth, the mother-of-three said she was "absolutely thrilled" to announce the baby had been born safely.
      "She was born today via c section at 1237. She came out foot first and is breathing on her own. She weighs 2lb 5ozs. She has a Laughlin (sic) nose and she has more hair than me!!!"

Heidi Loughlin with one of her sons


http://www.bbc.com

News Week 1


Monday 7/12/2015

Today i read..

Former Argentine political prisoner reunited with son

Mario Bravo at press conference in Buenos Aires, after meeting his mother, Sara

(Mario Bravo said he suspected from an early age that he was not being brought up by his biological parents)

      

       A former Argentine political prisoner and her son have met for the first time since she gave birth in the cell of a clandestine detention centre in 1976.

       Mario Bravo was given for adoption to a non-communist family, a common practice during the military dictatorship.

       He was reunited with his mother, Sara, by campaign group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, after taking a DNA test.

"My mother is alive and that is a miracle," he said at an emotional press conference in Buenos Aires.
       Most pregnant women arrested by Argentina's secret police were killed shortly after giving birth.
       Mr Bravo was brought up in the north-eastern province of Santa Fe.
       He decided to take a DNA test in 2007, after having doubts about his identity.
       His DNA was compared with a bank of genetic samples collected by the Grandmothers from families searching for their children.

'Black-and-white film'

       The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo was formed to reunite families with their missing children, who had been stolen by the military junta, which was in power in Argentina from 1976-83.
       "I saw my life pass through my mind like a black-and-white film," he said at the group's headquarters.
       "We now have to be positive, to think ahead," he added.
       "What happened was very ugly, but it's done."
       His mother, Sara, was so traumatised after being released from prison in the northern province of Tucuman that she asked the Grandmothers to withhold her surname.
       Mario Bravo is the 119th child to be identified by the Grandmothers.
       The announcement was made on Monday and he said he counted the hours and minutes until he met his mother on Tuesday morning.
      "This comes to show that we need to have faith in ourselves and in the other," said the founder and president of the organisation, Estela de Carlotto.
      She was reunited with her grandson, Guido, last year.Some 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed during more than seven years of military rule in Argentina.

http://www.bbc.com

Tuesday 8/12/2015

Today i read..


Argentina Plaza de Mayo group locates founder's grandson



Delia Giovanola de Califano (C) at a press conference in Buenos Aires (5 n November 2015)

(Delia Giovanola de Califano (centre) is one of the 12 grandmothers who formed the group in 1977)




      Argentine campaign group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo say they have identified the grandson of one of the group's co-founders.
      Argentina's military junta snatched hundreds of babies from their opponents in the 1970s and gave them to sympathisers to bring up as their own.
      The grandson of co-founder Delia Giovanola is named Martin.
But the discovery comes too late for his sister, Virginia, who took her own life in 2011.The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo was formed to reunite families with their missing children, who had been stolen by the junta.
      Martin is the 118th grandchild to be located by the group.

      His parents, Jorge Oscar Ogando and Stella Maris Montesano, joined the ranks of Argentina's "disappeared". Their bodies have never been found.

      The man, born in 1976, has lived abroad for 15 years. He and Mrs Giovanola have spoken on the telephone.
      Mrs Giovanola was left to bring up her elder grandchild Virginia Ogando, who was three when her parents were kidnapped.
      Ms Ogando had always sought her missing brother. She took her own life in 2011, saying she hoped to join her parents.

      "I'm happy, thinking that my granddaughter's hand is behind all this," Mrs Giovanola told a press conference in Buenos Aires.

      Some 30,000 people were murdered by the military junta in Argentina.
      The leader of the campaign group, Estela de Carlotto, was herself reunited with her missing grandson last year.




http://www.bbc.com