Game Of Thrones Breaks Viewing Records

A total of 2.2 million people watched the opening episode of series six of Game Of Thrones, giving Sky Atlantic its biggest audience ever.

Almost 1.4 million people watched live or recorded and viewed the 2am simulcast with the US on Monday morning.

The 9pm broadcast of The Red Woman was watched by 816,000 people.

:: New Game Of Thrones 'Shockers' Get Fans Excited

The figures for the new season of the fantasy series, based on George RR Martin's books, also beat the performance last year for the first episode of series five which was 1.57 million.

Sky said it expected the overnight audience to increase by around 70% as customers watch the show on demand and through their Sky+ recordings.

The figure does not include people who watched online via Sky Go or through the online streaming service NOW TV.

The episode's ratings also beat BBC2's 9pm programme Horizon: How To Find Love Online (655,000).

The ratings win came after widespread speculation about whether one of the main characters - Jon Snow - was indeed dead, as the end of series five had suggested.

When it appeared the question had been answered, #GameOfThrones became the top trending hashtag on Twitter globally for hours after the airing of the show.

Man Fights Off Crocodile On Camping Trip

A 19-year-old man is recovering after a crocodile grabbed him while he was asleep in a tent in Australia's Northern Territory.

Peter Rowsell was on a camping trip with his family at Palm Creek when the attack happened.

He says he woke up early on Monday morning to find the animal biting his foot, before it dragged him to the river bank.

The teenager says he managed to escape the jaws of the reptile by hitting it on the head "once or twice" with his hand.

The croc, described by Mr Rowsell as being three to four metres long, then slid back into the water.

His sister, who had been sleeping in the back of a truck parked nearby, heard him screaming and raced to help.

The 19-year-old was treated for puncture wounds

He was then driven to the nearest hospital, about two hours away.

Doctors at Katherine Hospital have been treating him for puncture wounds to both feet.

Dr Louise Harwood said: "'I think considering everything, he is doing quite well. He could consider himself lucky. It may take a week or two before he's up on his feet."

She added that while Mr Rowsell had lost some blood, his wounds had been fairly easy to treat with antibiotics.

F-22 Raptors Flown To Romania To Deter Russia

The US Air Force has flown two F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Romania to deter further Russian intervention in Ukraine.

The jets landed at Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, close to the Black Sea port of Constanta in southeast Romania, on Monday.

A US statement said the aircraft possess sophisticated sensors which would allow pilots to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats without being detected.

They can also attack surface targets.

US pilot Dan Naim stands in front of the aircraft at the air base

Russian-backed separatists have been fighting government troops in Ukraine since April 2014, with at least 9,100 people killed.

The conflict has left neighbouring countries in eastern Europe concerned over future Russian aggression in the region.

US Ambassador Hans G Klemm said the US and Romania - which has been a NATO member since 2004 - were seeking to improve "the defence of Europe, the defence of the North Atlantic Alliance, to improve the security in south eastern Europe... as a result of the aggression by Russia that has brought so much instability to this part of the world over the past two to three years".

Major General Laurian Anastasof, Romania Air Force chief, has voiced concerns about Russia's intentions in the region.

He said that if an unidentified aircraft comes within 20 miles of Romanian airspace, NATO's procedure "obliges us to scramble planes up in the air, a scenario that has already happened four times this year".

The F-22 Raptors, which arrived from the UK, are part of the Operation Atlantic Resolve, a US commitment to NATO's collective security and regional stability.

In 2014, President Obama promised to bolster defences of NATO's members in eastern Europe following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

The US has deployed 12 F-22s at an air base in Lakenheath, eastern England. US Congress has banned makers Lockheed Martin from selling them abroad because they are almost impossible to detect on radar.

The two sent to Romania were expected to fly back to the UK on Monday night.

It comes after two Russian aircraft flew simulated attack passes near a US guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea earlier this month.

Facebook Is Planning Its Own Camera App to Get You to Share More Stuff

Facebook is planning a standalone camera app to rekindle your interest in sharing original content. The app, which is still in the early stages of development, will reportedly support live streaming as well as stills and video, the Wall Street Journal reports

Spurring the app’s development, the Journal says, is the increasingly passive behavior of Facebook users, who check the social-media site regularly but share less and less about their lives.

According to a report by technology-news website the Information, by mid-2015 original sharing of personal stories was down 21% from the previous year — with the trend pronounced among users under the age of 30. Facebook said overall sharing remains strong, according to a spokesperson statement cited in the report.

The social-media platform has already been making other changes to re-engage users, according to the Journal. It now reminds users about holidays and significant dates. It also launched the memory-triggering feature “On This Day.” In 2014, the company even toyed with a disappearing-picture app like Snapchat called Slingshot, but the feature never gained a following.

'Pray For NoLay' As Rapper Fights For Life

Friends and fans of grime MC star NoLay are being asked to pray for the rapper, who is in a critical condition following a car crash abroad on Sunday night.

The rising star's Twitter account has been changed to "Pray For NoLay" with her management company's latest tweet saying: "We do not anticipate much of a change in NoLay's condition at present.

"But will further update you once more info becomes available. Tyler J."

The news was confirmed on Instagram in a post which said: ""Sadly our lovely little angel has been involved in a car accident tonight (24 April) that has left her in a critical condition.

"Our girl is strong and we can only hope that she pulls through it."

NoLay, from south London, whose real name is Isabella Gotti, has been in the music business for the past decade.

She has toured with American rappers Mobb Deep and appeared on Tricky's album Adrian Thaws, released in autumn last year.

She recently confirmed she was to be the subject of a mini-documentary featuring her life and her music.

Austin Reed Set To Appoint Administrator

Up to 1,000 jobs are at risk at fashion retailer Austin Reed as it is set to go into administration today, Sky sources have said.

Burundi president condemns killing of top army general

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has condemned the killing of a senior army officer in the capital Bujumbura as violence that began a year ago appeared to intensify.

Brigadier General Athanase Kararuza, who was also a military adviser in the office of the vice president, was shot along with his wife and bodyguard on Monday in an attack that wounded their child.

The general's car came under rocket and gun fire as he was on his way to drop his child to school, army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza told the Reuters news agency.

"He energetically fought against the coup plotters last year and exceptionally contributed in strengthening peace and security during and after elections," Nkurunziza said in a statement.

"We humbly pray that with the help of God perpetrators of the shameful acts are arrested and quickly punished according to the law."

Kararuza previously worked as a deputy commander of an international peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic.

Tit-for-tat attacks between Nkurunziza's security forces and his opponents have escalated since April 2015 when he announced plans too change the consititution to allow him to run for a third term as president.

He went on to won re-election three months later in a poll fiercely disputed by the opposition.

The UN says that more than 400 people have been killed and over 250,000 have fled since the violence broke out.

Also on Monday, the International Criminal Court said it would investigate alleged war crimes in the country during the period and that it had received complaints, "detailing acts of killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances".

Nkurunziza's opponents said his third term bid broke a peace agreement that ended a previous civil war while the government said a third term was legal, citing a constitutional court ruling.

Three armed groups, including one led by officers that attempted a coup in May 2015, have launched rebellions against the government.