While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 7 edition

Iraq's largest oil refinery under threat from ISIS: US

Iraq's largest oil refinery is under growing threat from ISIS militants, who have advanced inside the perimeter of the facility, the US military said Wednesday.

US warplanes have been carrying out air strikes against ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) around the Baiji refinery but it was unclear if Iraqi security forces would manage to hold on to the facility north of Baghdad, a Pentagon spokesman said.

"The enemy has entered the Baiji refinery. They do control parts of it," Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

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Astronomers find most distant galaxy ever measured

Astronomers have located the most distant galaxy ever measured in the universe, and it looks like a bright blue mass of stars some 13.1 billion light-years from Earth.

The galaxy, called EGS-zs8-1, is "one of the brightest and most massive objects in the early universe", according to a statement from Yale University.

Calculating its exact distance from Earth was possible using the MOSFIRE instrument on the WM Keck Observatory's 10-meter telescope in Hawaii, researchers said.

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Global carbon dioxide levels reach new monthly record

In another ominous sign of human-caused climate change, US government scientists said Wednesday that global carbon dioxide concentrations have reached a new monthly record of 400 parts per million.

Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas, and is a harmful by-product of burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

"For the first time since we began tracking carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere, the monthly global average concentration of this greenhouse gas surpassed 400 parts per million in March 2015," said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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Football: Magical Lionel Messi leads Barcelona to 3-0 win over Bayern Munich

Barcelona's Lionel Messi struck twice and set up Neymar in the final 13 minutes as Pep Guardiola's return to the Camp Nou as Bayern Munich coach ended in a 3-0 defeat in the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final.

On his 100th appearance in European football, Messi's double moved him back ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo as the all-time leading scorer in the Champions League and Barca to the brink of their first final in four years.

Manuel Neuer had kept Bayern in the game with a string of fine saves, but was helpless as Messi drilled home the opener from the edge of the area in the 77th minute and then delightfully chipped the German three minutes later.

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Funk great Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate and You Sexy Thing fame dies

Errol Brown, whose funky numbers with Hot Chocolate such as You Sexy Thing and It Started With a Kiss became sensations in the disco era, died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was 71.

Brown, who was born in Jamaica but spent most of his life in Britain where he was given a knighthood for his cultural contributions, died at his home in The Bahamas, said his manager, Phil Dale.

Dale called Brown "a wonderful gentleman" who was constantly writing new songs.

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