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News

The Gold toilet theft: $1M gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace

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The gold toilet named ‘America’ has been stolen from Blenheim Palace, while it was on display. This rare art piece by artist Maurizio Cattela, was once offered to President Trump.

The robbery has reportedly been occurred on 14th of September. The theft has been confirmed by the Blenheim Palace in a statement posted on Twitter.

“We are saddened by this extraordinary event, but also relieved no-one was hurt,” said the officials.

“We are grateful to our staff and to Thames Valley Police for their rapid and brave reactions”, they added.

Mr Hare said that the artwork was worth $5m to $6m, and it is still not been found.

In an email to The New York Times , the creator of this art-piece Maurizio Cattela said, “I wish it was a prank”. “At first, when they woke me up this morning with the news, I thought it was a prank: Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that it was made out of gold”, he added.

Image courtesy: cnet .com / images are subject to copyright

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Global Climate News

Nearly 1500 killed during heatwaves in France

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The Health Minister of France has said that around 1,435 people have been killed due to the record heatwaves in June and July, this year, in the country.

Agnès Buzyn, while speaking to a French radio said that about half among the died people were aged above 75.

But, she thanked for the preventative measures and said that the rate was 10 times lower than the same period in 2003 when a deadly heatwave hit Europe.

The highest-ever temperature of 46C (114.8F) has been recorded in France, in June. In July, Paris had a high temperature of 42.6C (108.7F).

During France’s first heatwave this year, around 567 people have been dead from 24 June to 7 July, reported the Ministry of Health. Later, from 21 to 27 of July, 868 died in the second heatwave.

Reports said that 10 among them died while at work.

France faced Red alerts, the most severe warning category, during the summer season.

Image courtesy: samaa .tv / images are subject to copyright

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Health News

Susan Sarandon supports assisted dying

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After taking on the role of a terminally ill woman, Susan Sarandon, the American actress and activist has given her support for assisted dying.

Sarandon’s new movie named ‘Blackbird’, directed and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood sees her play a mother named Lily who gathers her family to tell them of her wish to die.

At the Toronto Film Festival, Sarandon commented about the movie as, “”It’s an individual choice”.

“Everybody has the right to make a decision without your family members being charged with homicide. You should be able to be surrounded by those people”, added the actress.

In US, eight states have legalised the medically assisted suicide. After the legalisation of a new law, Maine is also expected to follow the suit.

Though this issue is slightly controversial, this is being thoroughly discussed in light of the country’s changing demographics.

Sarandon said, “There’s so many baby boomers now, this is something that’s being discussed more in the United States”.

Image courtesy: hollywoodreporter .com / images are subject to copyright

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News

Missing Winter Olympic medallist of Spain found dead

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Spain’s former alpine skier Blanca Fernandez Ochoa (56) found dead after several days of searches involving hundreds of police and volunteers. Her body has been found from a mountainous area near Madrid, by an off-duty officer from the Guardia Civil police force.

Blanca has been missing since 23 August. The cause of her death is still to be found out. Authorities said that they are now investigating the cause of her death.

The National police of Spain has officially announced the death of Blanca on their Twitter and expressed their sympathy.

Blanca marked her name as the the first Spanish woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, capturing bronze in France’s Albertville in 1992.

Maria Jose Rienda, Spain’s secretary of state for sports expressed her sorrow saying, “It is a very sad day for Spanish sports”.

As per reports, Blanca’s black Mercedes car on which was last seen driving was located in a town near Madrid. Her family then requested for action and a public appeal had been raised.

Image courtesy: people .com / images are subject to copyright

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International Relations News

The no-deal Brexit bill will ‘will clear Lords’

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The bill will complete its passage through the Lords on Friday, said the government regarding a bill, which is designed to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Before being passed as law, the bill will return to the Commons on Monday for considering any amendments.

On Wednesday, the proposed legislation was passed by MPs, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defeat.

The bill is designed to stop UK falling out of the European Union in a situation where Boris Johnson does not get a Brexit deal or MPs do not back leaving without an agreement in place.

There were claims that the pro-Brexit peers could intentionally hold up the bill so it could not get royal assent before Parliament is prorogued next week.

But, after meeting with Labour, the Conservative chief whip in the Lords announced a breakthrough in the early hours.

Image courtesy: news .sky .com / images are subject to copyright

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International Trade News

Argentina to support economy: Imposes currency controls

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As severe economic crisis arises, Argentina has imposed currency controls, to support economy and to stabilise the markets.

Some temporary measures have been announced on Sunday which allows the government to restrict foreign currency purchases. This causes a sharp drop in the super-sensitive peso.

Central bank permission will be required for the firms for selling pesos to buy foreign currency and to make transfers abroad.

The Central bank and Macri’s government are highly backing confidence in financial markets ahead of the presidential election on October 27.

In order to deal with the economic crisis, Argentina is also trying to postpone debt payments to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

The government on Sunday said that “a series of extraordinary measures to ensure the normal functioning of the economy, to sustain the level of activity and employment and protect the consumers” was necessary to be adopted.

Image courtesy: irishtimes .com/ / images are subject to copyright

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News Politics

Boris Johnson loses Brexit votes

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The opposition MP’s and Tory rebels have attempted to pass a law designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit, and they have defeated the government in its first stage.

Commons votes have been reported as 328 to 301 to take control of the agenda. This allows them to put forward a bill asking to delay the exit date of the US.

At this stage, Boris Johnson said that he would put forward a movement for an early general election.

Before the occurrence of any election, the bill should be passed, said Jeremy Corbyn in a statement.

Referring to the next European Union summit, Boris Johnson said, “I don’t want an election, the public don’t want an election, but if the House votes for this bill tomorrow, the public will have to choose who goes to Brussels on Oct. 17 to sort this out and take this country forward”.

21 Tory MPs, including some of the ex-cabinet ministers have stood with the opposition parties to defeat the government.

Ken Clarke, ex-chancellor told bbc that he was still “a mainstream Conservative” but he didn’t recognise his party any more. He added that the PM’s “knockabout character” had “the most right-wing cabinet a conservative government has ever produced”.

Image courtesy: politico .eu / images are subject to copyright

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Accidents News

Spanish Festival : Spectator gored to death by bull

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A 62 year old man has been gored to death by a bull during the famous Spanish festival. The tragic incident happened in central Spain.

The man was killed in s bull run in the town of Cuellar, 155 kilometres north of Madrid, on Thursday.

The town mayor, Carlos Frailesaid said to local media that the man who had suffered severe and deadly horn blows in his chest and neck could not be saved.

The man was just a viewer of the bull run, as per reports. It is reported that he was rammed into a field and gored. Another spectator, who was afraid of being gored climbed onto a wall, and was saved.

In Pamplona festival, which was made famous worldwide by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises”, eight people were gored and 35 were injured this year.

Image courtesy: channelnewsasia .com, theguardian .com / images are subject to copyright

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News

Skeleton of Napoleon’s favourite general believed to be found in Russia

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Archaeologists have discovered a one-legged skeleton under a Russian dance floor, which is believed to be that of Napoleon’s favourite general.

It is believed that this would be a key to the centuries-old mystery, related to Charles-Étienne Gudin.

Charles-Étienne Gudin, the favourite general of Napoleon died at the age of 44, after he was hit by a cannonball during the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

Charles-Étienne Gudin

Though everything seems to be matching, it will be necessary to await the results of DNA analysis to confirm the discovery.

Gudin had to have his leg amputated and he died three days later from gangrene.

The discovery took place in Smolensk, 400 kilometers west of Moscow. The samples for DNA testing have been sent to France.

Marina Nesterova, the head of the archaeological team told AFP news agency, “As soon as I saw the skeleton with just one leg, I knew that we had our man”.

A press conference has been held in Moscow on Thursday, and the team of Russian and French archaeologists said that they are not able to provide a specific conclusion until the result from a laboratory in Marseille is obtained.

Image courtesy: abc .net .au, tellerreport .com / images are subject to copyright

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News Technology

Facebook comes with new rules ahead of 2020 US election fears

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The social media giant, Facebook tightens the rules ahead of the next US presidential election, reports BBC.

The company has introduced new political advertising rules, in a bid to halt exploitation in the US elections.

Now, for the political advertisers, to obtain a “confirmed organisation” label, they have to verify their identity.

This is marked as an attempt, to stop creating misleading or inaccurate ads to influence voters.

These new rules of Facebook will also be applicable to Instagram, which is a property of Facebook.

The political parties are using the ‘paid-for’ Facebook ads, as a tool for their campaigns to target voters.

A recent survey revealed that, over $70m (£57.3m) had been spent on Facebook ads by the 2016 Trump campaign, during the election period.

Political advertisers has been required in the US by the social media giant put a “paid for” disclaimer on their ads since 2018, but the changes have not completely stamped out improper use.

Image courtesy: vox .com / images are subject to copyright