Practically Everyone in the World Will See the Longest Eclipse of the Century on July 27. Here's What to Know

The longest total lunar eclipse of the century is set to dazzle most of the world, except the U.S., just shy of a year after the 2017 solar eclipse created a path of totality across America.

The July 2018 eclipse — which will happen on Friday, July 27 — will last about four hours and be visible across wide swaths of the world including Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. The totality, or when the earth’s shadow covers the moon and creates complete darkness, will last one hour and 43 minutes.

While many people will be able to see partial views of the eclipse, areas in eastern Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Europe and Asia will have some of the best views of the moon turning red and when the totality begins to recede, astronomers tell us.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to view the July 27 total lunar eclipse:

What is a total lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth comes between the moon and the sun, causing the earth’s shadow to cover the moon. According to NASA, the moon often turns reddish during totality because the sunlight bending through earth’s atmosphere during sunsets and sunrises are then reflected onto the moon.

The “blood moon” will be a much different view than the 2017 solar eclipse, which darkened the skies for a few minutes as the moon passed in front of the sun.

The July 27 total lunar eclipse will also be seen by many more people than last year’s eclipse. Solar eclipses are typically only seen by a small selection of the earth’s population because the shadow cast by the moon is comparatively smaller than that cast by the earth. That means anyone who is on the side of the earth that is experiencing nighttime will be able to see the lunar eclipse whereas a solar eclipse can only be seen by the people who are where the moon’s shadow falls.

Because solar eclipses are seen by a much smaller section of the population, and the view of the blocked sun is so breathtaking, they create a lot of fanfare.

Yes, your phone is spying on you and these researchers proved it

It surely says something about the dark side of technology that as time goes on, many of us are increasingly likely to believe the worst of what’s alleged about our devices. That we’re being used, manipulated, spied on, listened to, watched, taken advantage of in service of selling ads — even if evidence is presented to the contrary.

Some academics at Northeastern University recently set out to look into one such long-held assumption, the zombie conspiracy which no one ever seems to be able to kill over whether our phones are secretly listening to us to know which ads to present to us. A conspiracy that no less than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to swat down himself when he was grilled by Congress earlier this year.

What the researchers found: Your phone probably isn’t spying you. At least, not like that.

The study looked at 17,260 Android apps and specifically paid attention to the media files being sent from them. As Business Insider summarizes it, “The researchers found no instance in which these apps turned on the phone’s microphone unprompted and sent audio. But they did find that some apps were sending screen recordings and screenshots to third parties.”

Or — we’re all worried about the wrong kind of spying.

Nigerian police discover bodies of 41 suspected bandits Inside a forest in Zamfara

Police have discovered the bodies of 41 persons suspected to be part of bandits terrorising villages in Zamfara State, north-west Nigeria.
Kenneth Ebrimson, the Commissioner of Police in the state confirmed the figure while briefing reporters in Gusau, the state capital. According to him, police personnel found the men with their throats cut at different locations in the state.

Ebrimson revealed that 18 bodies were discovered in a river on Sunday and 23 others at a forest in the Zurmi area of Zamfara. He added that four suspects were arrested after the bush area was combed while the police recovered machetes and guns during the search. The police commissioner disclosed further that the suspects were identified as members of a local vigilante group who decided to embark on a mission of “extra-judicial killings”.


While residents were unable to identify any of the bodies who they said were not resident in the area, the police said they could be members of a group involved in cattle rustling and kidnapping. Farming and cattle herding communities in Zamfara have for years been terrorised by gangs of cattle thieves and kidnappers who raid villages, steal cows and abduct locals for ransom.

As a hideout, the gangs use the Ruggu forest which straddles Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states. The attacks have prompted villagers to form militia groups for protection but they, too, have been accused of taking the law into their own hands and killing suspected bandits. Those killings attract reprisals from motorcycle-riding criminal gangs, who carry out indiscriminate killings and arson in retaliation.

In April the Nigerian government deployed troops to Zamfara to fight the gangs while the police outlawed the vigilantes to end the tit-for-tat killings.

A woman climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July to protest migrant family separations

A woman who climbed up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families was taken into custody after a standoff with police on the Fourth of July.

Authorities had tried to talk the woman down but she refused to leave. For nearly three hours, she crossed the base of the statue, at times sitting in the folds of the statue's dress and under Lady Liberty's sandal. The woman was identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou by a law enforcement source close to the investigation and another source who knows her.
The woman was part of a group of protesters and had declared that she wouldn't come down until "all the children are released," a source with the New York Police Department told us.

A woman who climbed up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families was taken into custody after a standoff with police on the Fourth of July.

Authorities had tried to talk the woman down but she refused to leave. For nearly three hours, she crossed the base of the statue, at times sitting in the folds of the statue's dress and under Lady Liberty's sandal. The woman was identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou by a law enforcement source close to the investigation and another source who knows her.
The woman was part of a group of protesters and had declared that she wouldn't come down until "all the children are released," a source with the New York Police Department told us.

Lightning strike injures young man, child before fireworks show in Illinois

Two people were critically injured from a lightning strike before a 4th of July fireworks show in Sheridan, Illinois.

Online newspaper The Times reports that a young man, about 20 years old, and a 3 or 4-year-old girl were taken to OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa by ambulance.

No further details were immediately available.

Wisconsin girl, 16, returns home after being sex trafficked into Chicago, mother says

A missing Wisconsin teen returned home a month after being lured to Chicago by sex traffickers, her mother says.

Armoni Chambers, 16, was found Wednesday after activists received a tip about a Facebook video in which the girl appeared to be assaulted, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Bonnie Bruno, Chambers’ mother, and activist Tory Lowe traveled to Chicago to search for her, the newspaper reported. Chambers was trafficked by several men before going to Chicago, Bruno said.

“Her entire time in Chicago was trauma after trauma after trauma,” she said. “She was afraid. She thought she was going to die.”

Milwaukee police declared Chambers missing June 18, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Bruno received a tip about video surveillance showing Chambers boarding a Chicago-bound Greyhound bus in Milwaukee. Family and activists used the next several days to track down every lead to find the teen.

Tragic Chinese billionaire falls and dies while trying to take a picture

A Chinese billionaire has died after he fell while trying to take a beautiful picture.

57-year-old Wang Jian, who is the chairman and co-founder of one of China’s largest conglomerates, HNA, was travelling in France when the tragic accident happened, according to the company.

HNA said on Wednesday that Wang Jian had fallen and died from his injuries on Tuesday in Provence, without providing any more details of his death.


French media reported that a 57-year-old Chinese tourist had died after falling down the stairs of a church in the village of Bonnieux on Tuesday while trying to take a photograph. Other reports said Wang had fallen off a cliff while having his picture taken. Police said they were not treating his death as suspicious.