Breaking News : Plane carrying 66 people crashes in southern Iran

Iran — An Iranian commercial aircraft carrying 66 people crashed on Sunday in southern Iran, a semi-official news agency reported. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, went down near the remote mountain town of Semirom, some 620 kilometers (390 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, the semi-official Fars news agency said.

Fars said the plane was flying from Tehran to the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 780 kilometers (485 miles) south of the Iranian capital.

The legendary Dahomey Amazons are the real-life all-women’s army in Black Panther

Marvel Studios just released another Black Panther feature, this time spotlighting the all-female army whose role has been shown to be essential to the story being told in the film.

In the clip below, the Dora Milaje are paraded in scenes showing their valor and regalia as Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danai Gurira talk about their characters’ relation to the Dora Milaje, the women’s army in the fictional African nation of Wakanda in Black Panther.

Danai Gurira, the American actress of Zimbabwean ancestry, who also serves as the general of the Dora Milaje shares that, “the Dora Milaje are women who pledged their lives to the throne and to the security of the kingdom”.

#BlackPanther movie review.. (5 Stars)

  

There's a line at the end of Black Panther that I haven't been able to get out of my head in the weeks since I first saw the film. At the risk of being too spoiler-y (you will all complain anyway) I'll remove the context, but it goes something like this: "Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, because they knew death was better than bondage."

It's a powerful moment, one that's tragic and beautiful all the same. This is the moment when Marvel, for the first time, finally transcended the superhero genre. Never has a line in a Marvel movie carried this much weight; it's an idea reserved for great literature or essays, for something much bigger than a Hollywood tentpole.

How to get more followers on Instagram

Instagram’s algorithm is constantly changing.

They’re trying to make more money with updates to the way – and order – we see photos and adverts.

This is all well and good for the advertisers, but for us regular joes who might be trying to build a brand or business it can be frustrating.

Luckily, there are still some surefire ways to get more followers that don’t involve paying for ads. Here are our top tips.

At least 5 killed in Southern California freeway crash

A fiery crash involving a big-rig and several other vehicles killed at least five people early Friday afternoon in Rialto, leaving both directions of the 10 Freeway closed for hours, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The big rig was traveling westbound on the 10 shortly before 1 p.m. when, for an unknown reason, it veered toward the median, crashed through the guardrail and burst into flames near the Riverside Avenue exit, according to CHP Officer Brian Alvarez.

The massive vehicle, apparently a concrete pump truck, continued to travel across all eastbound lanes, striking multiple other vehicles, he said.

The playboy who got away with $242m – using ‘black magic’

One day in August 1995 a man called Foutanga Babani Sissoko walked into the head office of the Dubai Islamic Bank and asked for a loan to buy a car. The manager agreed, and Sissoko invited him home for dinner. It was the prelude, writes the BBC's Brigitte Scheffer, to one of the most audacious confidence tricks of all time.

Over dinner, Sissoko made a startling claim. He told the bank manager, Mohammed Ayoub, that he had magic powers. With these powers, he could take a sum of money and double it. He invited his Emirati friend to come again, and to bring some cash.

Black magic is condemned by Islam as blasphemous. Even so, there's still a widespread belief in it, and Ayoub was taken in by the colourful and mysterious businessman from a remote village in Mali.

When he arrived at Sissoko's house the next time, carrying his money, a man burst out of a room saying a spirit - a djinn - had just attacked him.

Three Billboards protest takes aim at Marco Rubio in call for gun control after Florida school shooting

Campaigners took inspiration from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to call for gun control in the wake of a school shooting that killed 17.

It is the second time in a week that activists have emulated the movie after Grenfell Tower protesters carried out a similar stunt in London.

The Florida placards were driven around Miami on Friday to put pressure on its Republican senator after the high school massacre this week in Florida.

Campaigners took inspiration from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to call for gun control in the wake of a school shooting that killed 17.

Helicopter surveying damage from 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Mexico crashes, killing two

Hours after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked south and central Mexico on Friday, two government officials were involved in a deadly helicopter crash while surveying the damage.

At least two people were killed when the helicopter carrying Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat came crashing down as the pilot tried to land.

The senior officials were not seriously harmed in the accident, which occurred just hours after the quake left buildings in Mexico City swaying for more than two minutes.

The quake's epicenter was 33 miles northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state, with a depth of 15 miles. There were no immediate reports of deaths from the earthquake, which struck at 5:39 p.m.

Instagram deleted this video of Russian oligarchs allegedly partying with prostitutes on a yacht

Instagram has found itself dragged into a scandal about bribery, corruption and prostitution at the highest echelons of Russian society after banning an online exposé by a leading anti-Putin politician.

The social network yanked a 25-minute "investigation" fronted by Alexei Navalny and his Progress Party after a Russian court ruled in favour of the oligarch in the video, and ordered it to be removed.

YouTube, which also hosted the video, has taken a different approach, and has yet to remove the footage from the internet.

The video itself is a lengthy dissection by Navalny of evidence which he claims is proof of bribery between rich businessmen and senior policymakers in Moscow, improbably brought to light by a Russian escort with a penchant for sharing her glamorous escapades.

Scroll down to see exactly what it's about.

Brazilian army to take control of security in Rio as violence rises

Brazilian president Michel Temer signed a decree Friday that put the military in charge of security in Rio de Janeiro, following a rise in street crime and drug gang violence.

Massed robberies and gunfights during carnival, followed by a storm on Wednesday that killed four and caused chaos, have heightened a sense that the city is slipping out of control.

“This could seem like an extreme measure but Brazil demands extreme measures,” said Temer after signing the decree. “We took the country out of the worst recession in its history. Now we are going to restore order.”

Flu vaccine works better than feared, but it's still not great

The flu vaccine is working better than doctors feared, but still is not especially effective, health officials said Thursday.

Overall, this year’s vaccine is 36 percent effective, meaning it reduces the number of doctor visits by 36 percent, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

“Early estimates indicate that influenza vaccines have reduced the risk of medically attended influenza-related illness by about one-third in vaccinated persons so far this season,” the CDC says in its first report on how well the vaccine is working.

It’s only 25 percent effective against the most common strain circulating this year, the H3N2 strain, CDC’s Dr. Alicia Fry and colleagues found.

Scientists have found that shampoo is a source of the same dangerous form of air pollution made by cars

A new study has shown how household products such as shampoo are sources of the same air pollution as traffic fumes.
However, rather than being bad news, this is becoming apparent because of the headway countries in Europe and the US have made to reduce car pollution.
We've known for a long time that traffic fumes are very bad for our health. But according to new research, there are other sources of pollution that should also be a concern.

A new study, published in the journal Science, has found that household products such as shampoo, oven cleaner, and deodorant could all be a significant source of air pollution — the same form as that which is released by car fumes.

Parkland school shooting: Football coach Aaron Feis died shielding students

This is Aaron Feis, a Football coach at Parkland High School who stepped in front of students when the shooting began taking several bullets. He's currently in critical condition. Make him more famous than the shooter.

Aaron Feis had several titles at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School: Football coach. Security guard. Proud alumnus.

Now, after the mass shooting at the Parkland, Florida, school, a grieving community is calling him something else: a hero.

"It is with Great sadness that our Football Family has learned about the death of Aaron Feis. He was our Assistant Football Coach and security guard," Marjory Stoneman football said on Twitter. "He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot. He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories."

Feis was one of the 17 people killed at the school on Wednesday, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters on Thursday.

Oxfam to set up independent commission to investigate claims of sexual exploitation

Oxfam is to set up an independent commission to investigate claims of sexual exploitation.

Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima promised to root out any wrongdoing at the charity and provide justice for anyone abused by its staff.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Byanyima apologised for the scandal which has seen the charity accused of concealing findings of an inquiry into claims staff used prostitutes while delivering aid in Haiti in 2011.

Earth is currently being battered by solar storm that could hit power grids and satellites

This storm could affect satellites, power grids and some spacecraft with energetic particles. It’s being caused by a solar flare that occurred on February 12 in the sun’s atmosphere following a massive explosion.
Particles from the flare are to blame for the possible disruption. Bill Murtagh, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said: ‘Depending how the CME and the Earth’s magnetic field couple, those energetic particles will come flowing in, penetrating into the atmosphere and striking the atoms and molecules in our atmosphere’
 ‘Those energetic particles excite the atoms in our atmosphere [like oxygen and nitrogen], stripping electrons away from them, and that causes them to light up.’