Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 28 Aug 2015
- 1. Hundreds of migrants feared drowned off Libya
- 2. Facebook: one billion users in a single day
- 3. Vatican child abuse suspect found dead
- 4. Migrant lorry deaths: four people arrested
- 5. Ashley Madison founder steps down after hack
- 6. Thousands left unpaid after glitch at HSBC
- 7. ‘Great Escape’ survivor dies at 101
- 8. Goth teens ‘three times as likely to be depressed’
- 9. Warning of ‘mad scramble’ on bank holiday roads
- 10. Briefing: Taliban retakes territory gained by UK forces
1. Hundreds of migrants feared drowned off Libya
Hundreds of people are feared to have died after two boats packed with migrants sank off the Libyan coast. Officials say about 500 people were on board the vessels. According to the Red Crescent, 82 bodies were recovered and around 200 people saved, with another 200 missing. In England 27 people were arrested after being found in a lorry at a service station in Surrey.
2. Facebook: one billion users in a single day
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says that “one in seven people on Earth” used the social networking site on Monday, when the site for the first time had more than a billion users in a single day. Zuckerberg, who invented the site at college in 2004, predicted that this was “only the beginning” as Facebook’s reach continues to grow.
3. Vatican child abuse suspect found dead
A former Vatican envoy who was to become the first high-ranking church official to be tried on child abuse charges has died. Defrocked archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, 66, fell ill just before the start of his Vatican trial in July. He was charged with abusing children in the Dominican Republican between 2008 and 2013 and was also accused of possessing child pornography.
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4. Migrant lorry deaths: four people arrested
Hungarian police have arrested four people after the bodies of 71 people were found in a lorry in Austria. The dead migrants, thought to be Syrian, were found in the back of an abandoned refrigeration lorry near the Hungarian border on Thursday morning. They are thought to have suffocated two days ago. Three of those arrested are Bulgarian, the other is Afghan.
Migrant crisis: more than 70 people found dead in Austria lorry
5. Ashley Madison founder steps down after hack
The founder and chief executive of the Ashley Madison match-making website, Noel Biderman, is to step down after the details of 33m subscribers were leaked online. A senior management team will take over the company until a new chief executive is appointed. The move is "in the best interest of the company", said owners Avid Life Media in a statement.
Ashley Madison: nearly all female accounts were fake or dormant
6. Thousands left unpaid after glitch at HSBC
Thousands of people have not been paid ahead of the bank holiday weekend because of a technical problems at HSBC. An IT glitch meant that employers who use its business banking accounts could not make payments. The problem has affected approximately 275,000 payments and HSBC says it is working with other banks to get payments to workers through.
HSBC shares rise after £1.5bn buyback pledge
7. ‘Great Escape’ survivor dies at 101
One of the last survivors of the group of Allied prisoners of war whose repeated bids for freedom from Nazi camp Stalag Luft III inspired the movie The Great Escape has died at the age of 101. Airman Paul Royle died in hospital in Perth, Australia, on Sunday after surgery for a fractured hip. He remembered his own break-out as “very pleasant”.
Paul Royle: how the 'Great Escape' survivor broke out
8. Goth teens ‘three times as likely to be depressed’
Teenagers who describe themselves as ‘goths’ are up to three times more likely to be depressed than their peers, a study of 2,300 teens by Oxford University has found. They are also five times more likely to self-harm. But it is not clear if depression leads them to become goths, or is a result of membership of the sub-culture.
Goths 'at greater risk of depression'
9. Warning of ‘mad scramble’ on bank holiday roads
More than 13 million drivers are expected to take to the roads over the bank holiday weekend, while some rail services will be disrupted by engineering works. Forecasters are warning of an unsettled weekend of rain and thunderstorms. The AA predicted that the busiest times on the roads would be Friday evening and Monday afternoon.
10. Briefing: Taliban retakes territory gained by UK forces
Taliban insurgents have made further gains in Helmand this week, seizing a strategically significant district headquarters on Monday despite bombing by US warplanes and resistance from the Afghan army. US warplanes bombed the advancing Taliban over the weekend, killing 40 fighters, but the insurgents regrouped and overran Musa Qala, forcing district government forces to retreat, Newsweek reports. "Afghan special forces, police and commandos have been deployed to Helmand in order to retake Musa Qala district. Foreign air strikes are backing our forces," said Afghan defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri.
Taliban strikes deep into Helmand province
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