Source: BBC

At least 35 people have lost their lives in an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, the city's governor has said.

Among the dead is one police officer, Vasip Sahin stated, adding that it was a terror attack.

At least another 40 were injured in the attack which took place in the Reina nightclub, in the Ortakoy area, at about 01:30 local time (23:30 GMT).

One attacker was involved, the governor said, while CNN Turk reported he was dressed in a Santa Claus costume.


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38481521

Source: AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas on Saturday ordered a halt to another Obama administration effort to strengthen transgender rights, this time over health rules that social conservatives say could force doctors to violate their religious beliefs.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor granted a temporary injunction stopping federal health officials from enforcing rules that are intended to ban discrimination by doctors and hospitals against transgender persons.

O'Connor wrote in a 46-page ruling that the rules "likely violate" the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and "places substantial pressure on Plaintiffs to perform and cover transition and abortion procedures."

Transgender rights advocates have called that a far-fetched hypothetical, saying a person would not approach a doctor who lacked suitable experience and expertise.

Read more: https://apnews.com/030eb949b217439e82c8a008b225c8bb/Texas-judge-halts-federal-transgender-health-protections

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WRITTEN BY

Katherine Ellen Foley


Many Americans are going to miss US president Barack Obama when he vacates the White House. Days after the 2016 election, his approval rating was its highest since 2009.

Scientists have also wanted to express their gratitude to the 44th president, and have done so in the best way they can: By immortalizing him in the names of newly-discovered animal species.


Although biodiversity loss is a serious problem worldwide, each year scientists stumble upon around 18,000 new species. Usually, these animals are spiders, insects, parasites, fish, and fungi—in other words, life that lives in the harder-to-find nooks and crannies of the earth. The International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature gives names to each of these species using two words: the first is a genus, which is a broader category of animals, and the second is the specific species. Often, these names are based on Latin words, but they don’t have to be.


According to Science magazine, since Obama took office, there have been no less than nine different animals named after him.

more
http://qz.com/875399/all-the-animals-named-after-us-president-barack-obama/

On the top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain Thursday, astronomers will point the large Subaru Telescope toward a patch of sky near the constellation of Orion, looking for an extremely faint object moving slowly through space.

If they find what they're looking for, it will be one of the most important astronomical discoveries in more than a century: a new planet in our solar system.

Technically, a new planet hasn't been discovered since Neptune was spotted in 1846. Pluto, discovered in 1930, was demoted to "dwarf planet" a decade ago. If a new planet is found, it will be the new Planet Nine.

Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., will be among the astronomers poring over the pictures taken by Subaru to see if one provides a glimpse of the planet.

more
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/29/507382675/astronomers-seeking-planet-9-hope-to-soon-catch-a-glimpse

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