News Headlines - 03 November 2019

▽Brazil blames devastating oil spill on Greek-flagged tanker | The Guardian

A Greek-flagged ship carrying Venezuelan crude was the source of an oil spill which has tarred thousands of kilometers of coastline over the past two months, Brazilian investigators have announced.
Police said the tanker appears to have spilled the crude about 700km (420 miles) off Brazil’s coast between 28 and 29 July, bound for Singapore with oil loaded at Venezuela’s San Jose terminal.
Brazil’s solicitor general said the country would seek damages in the case, which has stained tropical beaches along 2,500km of coastline with a thick sludge, hurting tourism and fishing communities in the poorer north-east region.

▽China's news agency condemns attack on its Hong Kong office as 'barbaric' | The Guardian

China’s state-owned news agency, Xinhua, has denounced the attack on its Hong Kong office by pro-democracy protesters as “barbaric”.
In a brief statement late on Saturday, Xinhua strongly condemned the “barbaric acts of mobs” that had vandalised and set fire to the lobby of its Asia-Pacific office building in the city’s Wan Chai neighbourhood... It was the first strike against the official Chinese news agency in a show of anger against Beijing, which many in the city fear is infringing on the freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997.

▽Memorial held for victims of Kyoto Animation arson attack：The Asahi Shimbun

About 500 people, many working in the animation industry, joined a memorial ceremony held on Nov. 2 for the 36 employees of Kyoto Animation Co. who were killed in an arson attack in July... In addition to presenting flowers, participants observed a moment of silence for the victims of the attack that occurred July 18 at the company’s No. 1 studio in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward.
A message was read from the wife of an employee who died in the fire. The wife also works at Kyoto Animation.

▽McDonald's apologizes for 'Sundae Bloody Sundae' ad - CNN

McDonald's has pulled an ad which used the words "Sundae Bloody Sundae" to promote a Halloween dessert, apologizing for "any offense or distress" it may have caused.
Bloody Sunday is the name for the day in 1972 on which British soldiers shot unarmed protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles -- resulting in 14 deaths.
The Irish band U2 famously wrote about the horrors of that day in a song called "Sunday Bloody Sunday".

▽Actress and singer Marie Laforêt dies at 80 - SWI swissinfo.ch

French-Swiss actress and singer Marie Laforêt, nicknamed “the girl with golden eyes”, has died aged 80 near Geneva, Switzerland, where she lived since 1978.
Laforêt, who held French and Swiss nationality, died on Saturday in the Swiss town of Genolier, between Lausanne and Geneva, her family announced on Sunday. The cause of death remains unknown.
Maïténa Doumenach, her real name, was born on 5 October 1939 in Soulac-sur-Mer in France, the daughter of an industrialist.
She went on to act in 35 films and sold more than 35 million albums. She released her first single Vendanges de l’amour in 1963. Her other hits included Ivan, Boris et moi, Il a neigé sur Yesterday, Viens sur la montagne, Marie douceur, Marie colère and Que calor la vida.