World Watch
Transylvania, Romania
A music festival is taking inspiration from the world’s most famous vampire and offering free or discounted tickets to people who give blood. The Untold festival takes place at the end of July, and organisers are hoping their “pay with blood” campaign will encourage more donors to come forward.
Worchestershire, England
A “drunk” squirrel caused more than $700 in damage to a private members’ club in Worchestershire. The secretary of the club originally thought a person had broken in as the bar was a mess of smashed bottles and beer. However, the true culprit was eventually found when a squirrel was discovered staggering around the bar.
Beijing, China
Chinese police have warned commuters against kissing and getting intimate in the subway after a video of a young couple kissing in a train evoked a strong public reaction. Shenyang police have told reporters that the incident is now under investigation.
France
France’s tobacconists are protesting plans to force cigarette companies to use plain, unbranded packaging by disabling traffic speed cameras. The practice is known as hooding — where speed cameras are covered with bin liners. The protestors are aiming to deprive the government of revenue in the same way the anti-smoking legislation will reduce tobacco sales.
Loch Ness, Scotland
The world’s most dedicated Loch Ness monster hunter has scotched reports that he has finally given up looking for the legendary beast after a quarter century of looking. Steve Feltham, who gave up his job, house and girlfriend 24 years ago to look for the creature full-time, says he has no intention of quitting his hunt for the prehistoric beast.
Oklahoma, United States
A salmonella outbreak has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a warning about backyard poultry. More than 180 people have fallen ill in the US in recent weeks, many of whom reportedly let live poultry into their homes. It was also reported that several infected people admitted to kissing or cuddling live poultry.
Germany
An exhausted squirrel was captured by police after it chased a young woman. A police press release read: “A very unusual emergency reached police this morning in Bottrop. A squirrel pursued a young woman in Oak Street. Officers took the pursuer into custody and brought him to the police station where [he] showed signs of exhaustion.”
Louvain, Belgium
A NZ Scrabble player who has only been studying the French language for two months has been crowned the world champion of francophone Scrabble. The Federation Internationale de Scrabble (French-language Scrabble foundation) announced Nigel Richards had triumphed over a native French speaker from Gabon during the final in Belgium.
Grapevine
“Roof conceived his goal of increasing racial tensions and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs that he believed African-Americans have committed against white people. To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race.”
US attorney general, Loretta Lynch
A grand jury returned a 33-count indictment against 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof on federal hate crime and religious obstruction charges for the deadly shooting of nine black churchgoers at Charleston, South Carolina’s Methodist Episcopal Church on 17 June. Roof’s intentions were allegedly to “start a race war”.
“This only underscores how necessary it is to raise the wage across the board. As much as fast food workers need and deserve a raise — and we know they do — we must ensure that every worker gets a living wage.”
Wages for New York State fast food workers will eventually rise to $15 an hour after a state wage board unanimously recommended the increase. The move is expected to affect around 180,000 workers employed in the fast food industry in New York State. The decision follows similar minimum wage increases in other US cities, including Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“We’ve got the complete set of profiles in our DB dumps, and we’ll release them soon if Ashley Madison stays online. And with over 37 million members, mostly from the US and Canada, a significant percentage of the population is about to have a very bad day, including many rich and powerful people.”
The Impact Team
Hackers calling themselves “The Impact Team” hacked the controversial site designed to facilitate cheating on spouses, Ashley Madison, and plan to release the names of its members unless the site is taken down. The Ashley Madison site has long been a source of controversy for its blatant promotion of adultery.
“Many of today’s problems in these countries, including the persistence and in some cases creation of racial and ethnic and religious tensions, were the direct result of the colonial experience. So there is a moral debt that needs to be paid.”
An Indian member of parliament has called for Britain to pay India reparations for two centuries of colonisation and the problems it created. The video went viral and triggered debate nationally in India, even receiving praise from the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, who said the speech reflected the “feeling of patriotic Indians”.
Facts & Fugures
38 minutes - The length of the shortest war on record - The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896.
Since 1568 - The word “fucking” has been used as a curse word since this year.
Over 88% of the world’s population lives north of the equator.
Wrigley’s gum was the first product to have its barcode scanned at a supermarket nearly 40 years ago.
Around 40% of murders occur during arguments.
5% of all the potatoes grown in the US are used for making McDonald’s fries.