Twenty Things: Did You Know...?

Hundreds gather at Stonehenge for winter solstice/GETTY.

Natural and unnatural news nuggets picked from the press.

1. There is evidence that spending time near or within the standing stones of Stonehenge can actually be good for mental wellbeing.
2. In 2016, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to "cure, prevent or manage all disease" by the end of the century.
3. A man jailed for rape four years ago has had his conviction overturned after new Facebook evidence emerged. This is the fourth high profile rape case to fall in the UK this year.
4. Facebook users will be notified every time their face is uploaded to the platform, even if it is not tagged, while it has reached a licensing agreement with major music label Universal to allow users to post and share music on the social media network. Universal represents artists such as Taylor Swift and Jay-Z.
5. Record company politics nearly derailed SZA's album - and the singer (otherwise known as Solana Rowe) briefly threatened to quit music altogether - but wiser heads prevailed, and CTRL finally saw the light of day in June.
6. Rows between artists, managers and their record labels often become the stuff of music legend, but blockchain technology could mean that musicians will soon just deal directly with their fans - and keep far more profit for themselves.
7. Although the rush to connect everything from toys to toothbrushes, cars to sex toys, and any number of household appliances to the internet, seems inexorable, there is little regulation protecting your cyber-security.
8. Instagram imposters are trying to trick users into following fake celebrity accounts and sharing confidential details, with promises of thousands of dollars worth of Christmas cash giveaways.
9. Two hundred years after the death of Jane Austen, some of her biggest fans are an eclectic bunch of well-educated women who dress up regency-style and discuss her work over high tea in Pakistan.
10. Up to 60 Oxford University academics have signed a letter in opposition to "the agenda" of a project assessing the ethics of empire led by Prof Nigel Biggar, who claimed in a recent article in The Times, there are aspects of empire Britain can be proud of.
11. The UN's investigator into human rights in Myanmar has been barred from entering the country as evidence of a mass grave is found in Rakhine.
12. The UN General Assembly has decisively backed a resolution effectively calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, with America threatening the world that "it would remember this day".
13. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel and forbids its athletes from competing against Israelis at international sports events.
14. Characters from the children's television programme Sesame Street are going to be used to help teach children displaced by war in Syria.
15. The CIA used to recruit and train children soldiers, while World War Two refugees were instrumental in building modern Britain.
16. British passports will change from burgundy to its orginal "iconic" blue after Britain leaves the EU, the Home Office has said.
17. Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest and most productive regions and has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years.
18. Legislation banning the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in Scotland has been passed. It bans the use of non-domesticated animals for performance or exhibition in travelling shows, but does not apply to static circuses.
19. In Virginia, US, a young woman has died in tragic circumstances after being mauled by her own dogs - despite having raised them from puppies.
20. Speeding kills over 400 people a year in the UK.

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