Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 16 Sep 2015
- 1. Hungarian riot police fire tear gas at migrants
- 2. Corbyn faces Cameron at first PMQs
- 3. US keeps up pressure on Russia over Syria
- 4. Marine animal population ‘halved since 1970’
- 5. Zuckerberg adds ‘dislike’ button to Facebook
- 6. Brewing giants in talks over merger
- 7. Mugabe ‘too old’ for reading wrong speech
- 8. Teenager arrested over home made clock
- 9. Average UK earnings grow by 2.9%
- 10. Briefing: can an English team win the Champions League?
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1. Hungarian riot police fire tear gas at migrants
Riot police in Hungary have fired tear gas and water cannon to force back migrants who broke through the now-closed border with Serbia. Hungary has finished securing its border with Serbia with a razor-wire fence stranding hundreds of migrants outside the country. Many people spend the night in the open beside the fence after it was closed at midnight last night.
Islamic State targets vulnerable refugee children for recruitment
2. Corbyn faces Cameron at first PMQs
New Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made his first appearance at Prime Minister's Questions, asking David Cameron a series of questions sent in by members of the public. Corbyn and Cameron agreed that PMQs should become less "theatrical" and MPs were subdued as Corbyn pressed the PM on issues including housing, tax credits and cuts to mental health services.
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Jeremy Corbyn is a 'disaster', says Stephen Hawking
3. US keeps up pressure on Russia over Syria
US secretary of state John Kerry has called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for a third time to express concern about Russia’s military build-up in Syria, warning that continued support for the ruling regime of Bashar al-Assad “risks exacerbating and extending the conflict”. Russia says it is helping Syria fight Islamic State.
4. Marine animal population ‘halved since 1970’
A study of 1,200 species which live in or around our oceans has found their numbers have halved since 1970. The research, carried out for the WWF and the Zoological Society of London, blames over-fishing and climate change for the massive fall in numbers. Food species are faring even worse, with tuna and mackerel down 74%.
5. Zuckerberg adds ‘dislike’ button to Facebook
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is finally yielding to requests from users of his social network to add a ‘dislike’ button to complement the famous thumb-up ‘like’ button, in use since 2009. The 31-year-old said Facebook was “very close” to making the change, which will let users express sympathy for friends’ misfortunes.
Facebook 'dislike' button is finally on the way
6. Brewing giants in talks over merger
Two of the world's largest brewers are said to be in talks over a merger after Anheuser-Busch InBev made a takeover move for SABMiller. AB InBev's brands include Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, and SABMiller owns Peroni and Grolsch. If the deal goes through the combined company will produce one third of the world's beer.
7. Mugabe ‘too old’ for reading wrong speech
Opponents of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe say he is too old to govern after he delivered the wrong speech at the opening of parliament. The 91-year-old read an address he had given a month earlier - without seeming to notice the blunder. It was received in silence. A spokesman admitted there had been an office mix-up.
Mugabe urged to stand down after reading wrong speech
8. Teenager arrested over home made clock
A 14-year-old boy in Texas was arrested after a homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb. Ahmed Mohamed took the clock to MacArthur High School in Irving to show his engineering teacher, but another member of staff became suspicious and the police were called. The teenager was reportedly pulled from class, handcuffed, taken to juvenile detention and fingerprinted.
9. Average UK earnings grow by 2.9%
Average earnings in the UK, excluding bonuses, grew 2.9% between May and July compared with the same period last year, the fastest rate since 2009. Private sector pay increased 3.4%. However, unemployment increased by about 10,000 compared with the previous quarter to 1.82 million, and the unemployment rate remains at 5.5%.
10. Briefing: can an English team win the Champions League?
The Champions League got underway last night with some of Europe's biggest teams battling it out to be crowned kings of the continent. Things did not start well for the English contingent however, as Manchester United lost 2-1 to PSV in Eindhoven and Manchester City succumbed 2-1 to last season's finalists, Juventus, at the Etihad. Tonight, it will be the turn of Chelsea and Arsenal, as the Gunners travel to Dynamo Zagreb and the Blues entertain Maccabi Tel Aviv. But how will the English clubs fare and who will end up winning the tournament. Here's what the pundits are predicting for the main contenders: Man U will be surprise semi-finalists, according to Jamie Jackson of The Guardian and Man City will "has a squad equipped to go deep into the competition". It will be another early exit for the underachieving Gunners according to Yahoo Sports and Chelsea are the most likely English winners according to data company Stats.
Champions League: can Man U, City, Arsenal or Chelsea win?
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