At least three Turkish diplomats killed in Iraq's Erbil
Source: Aljazeera
Wonka bar and Golden Ticket fetch £15,000 at auction
A Wonka bar and golden ticket from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has sold at auction for more than £15,000.
The “chocolate” bar, which is actually made of cardboard, originally belonged to actress Julie Dawn Cole who played the spoilt Veruca Salt in the movie.
Ms Cole gave them to her friend, Linda Carr from Sherborne 48 years ago when she was aged 12.
The items were sold along with photographs of the actress for £15,808.
The collection had been estimated to sell for £12,000 at the auction held in Selsdon, Surrey, by Catherine Southon Auctioneers & Valuers.
In the movie, Veruca Salt found the golden ticket in the wrapper of the chocolate bar in the movie after her wealthy father got his factory staff to open thousands of Wonka chocolate bars in a bid to find a golden ticket.
Senate confirms Tanko Mohammed as CJN
The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed as Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN).
He was confirmed on Wednesday after screening by Senators, to succeed Justice Walter Onnoghen, who resigned following some false asset declaration.
The Senate, contrary to the earlier promise that they would screen him in the open plenary, retired into an executive session to do so.
President Muhammadu Buhari last week, requested the confirmation of Mohammad as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria, following the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC).
Justice Mohammed was first appointed in January after Buhari suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, who was accused of false declaration of asset.
Related
Source: PM News
After hottest June, Earth heading for warmest month ever
Last month has been confirmed as the hottest June ever, according to data from both the US space agency (NASA) and the European Union‘s satellite agency.
Data this week from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the EU, showed that the global average temperature for June 2019 was the highest on record for the month.
The global temperature was about 0.1 degree Celsius higher than the previous warmest June, which was recorded in 2016.
European average temperatures were more than 2C above average and daytime highs were 6-10C above normal over most of France, Germany and northern Spain during the final days of the month, according to C3S.
C3S admitted it is difficult to directly link the heatwave to climate change, but noted that such extreme weather events are expected to become more common due to global warming.
“Although local temperatures may have been lower or higher than those forecast, our data shows that the temperatures over the southwestern region of Europe during the last week of June were unusually high,” Jean-Noel Thepaut, head of C3S, said. “Although this was exceptional, we are likely to see more of these events in the future due to climate change.”
Peter Stott, an expert in analysing the role of climate change in extreme weather at the United Kingdom’s Met Office, claimed that “a similarly extreme heatwave 100 years ago would have likely been around 4C cooler”.
In response to the new numbers, Michael Mann, the director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, wrote on Twitter: “This is significant. But stay tuned for July numbers. July is the warmest month of the year globally. If this July turns out to be the warmest July (it has a good shot at it), it will be the warmest month we have measured on Earth.”
Source: Aljazeera
Death toll climbs to 200 as South Asia copes with monsoon rains
Millions of residents have been affected and hundreds of thousands displaced in the region [Rehman Asad/AFP]
The number of people killed in heavy monsoon rains across four South Asian countries has passed 200, as authorities continue efforts to reach stranded villagers cut off by surging floodwaters.
Millions of residents have been affected and hundreds of thousands displaced over the past two weeks, with homes and boats washed away across India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In India, the death toll rose to at least 120 on Wednesday and entire communities were cut off by rising floodwaters which damaged or submerged roads.
“It has been 15 days [since] this area has been flooded,” a local resident in the northeastern state of Assam, where the death toll reached 22, told AFP news agency.
“The damage it has caused is very bad. Cattle have also been affected. Everything has been destroyed.”
Video footage shared on social media showed rescuers pulling a rhinoceros calf from swollen floodwaters at the state’s World Heritage-listed Kaziranga National Park, which is home to two-thirds of the world’s one-horned rhinos.
Food supplies
In Bihar state – that borders Nepal and like Assam is one of the worst-affected regions in India – locals told AFP they were unable to reach food supplies.
About 33 deaths have been reported and 2.5 million residents affected in the state.
Locals were erecting makeshift shelters on elevated land with the meagre belongings they had salvaged from the floodwaters.
In Mumbai, the number of victims from a building collapse following heavy rains rose to 13.
In flood-prone Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by rivers, about one-third of the country is underwater and people are dying due to lightning strikes, officials said.
In the worst-affected district of Kurigram, deputy district administrator Hafizur Rahman told AFP a woman and four children died after their small boat sank in floodwaters.
Others were killed by landslides in Cox’s Bazar district – home to nearly one million Rohingya refugees who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar.
In Nepal, the aid agency Save the Children said severe flooding and landslides had left tens of thousands of people homeless, with many stranded outdoors or marooned.
At least 78 people have died and 16,000 families have been displaced.
“It’s absolutely essential that we reach these communities to avoid this turning into a health emergency,” Ned Olney, Save the Children’s Nepal country director, said in a statement.
Source: Aljazeera
Google suspends ticket site Viagogo from advertising
Google has suspended Viagogo as an advertiser, after claims touts resell tickets at inflated prices on the site.
The Competition and Market Authority is taking the ticketing website to court, alleging it has not done enough to change its business practices.
It says it is “working with the CMA”.
Last year, the Football Association, the trade body UK Music and some MPs signed an open letter to senior Google executives, urging it to stop Viagogo from advertising.
In a statement on Wednesday, Google said: “When people use our platform for help in purchasing tickets, we want to make sure that they have an experience they can trust.
“This is why we have strict policies and take necessary action when we find an advertiser in breach.”
BBC News has contacted Viagogo for comment.
The CMA initially launched legal action against Viagogo in August last year, over concerns it was breaking consumer-protection law.
As a result, a court ordered the company to overhaul the way it did business, including telling buyers:
- which seat they would get
- if there was a risk they would be turned away at the door
Now, the CMA alleges that Viagogo is ignoring its demands to make changes and plans to launch legal proceedings for contempt of court.
It claims Viagogo is still giving:
- misleading ticket-availability messages
- incomplete addresses of businesses selling tickets
- insufficient warning tickets with resale restrictions may not allow entry
If found in contempt, the company could face high fines.