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Charlie Sheen confirms he is HIV positive –
Hollywood star Charlie Sheen has confirmed he is living with HIV in a US television interview. “I am here to admit that I am HIV positive,” he said. The former star of sitcom Two And A Half Men appeared on NBC’s Today show, ending days of intense media speculation. Sheen revealed to Matt Lauer he had paid “enough to take it into the millions” to keep people from going public about his illness. “I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths,” he said, adding he was diagnosed four years ago. [BBC] In March 2015 Sheen launched a racist Twitter attack on Barack Obama.
Charlie Sheen
Bangkok sets record for longest half-marathon after route blunder –
The 6,000 runners who just completed the Bangkok half-marathon will have a special mention in sporting trivia quizzes for years to come, after they were forced to run an extra four miles to reach the finish line. Mark Kent, the British ambassador to Thailand, was among those who finished the longest half-marathon in history after a route blunder by organisers. The mishap occurred as the wrong gate was opened on a main road for the runners to complete a U-turn, some two miles further on than planned. The organisers have apologised profusely for the mistake and offered all competitors a free commemorative T-shirt bearing the message: “Finisher of 27.6 km”. An actual half-marathon should last 21.1 kms, or about 13 miles. [Daily Telegraph]
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ACROSS THE SKY – a world record slackline in the utah desert from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.
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- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Metrojet Flight 9268
- Russia’s Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
- In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia’s Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters)
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant‘s de-facto capital in Syria, as well as Aleppo and Idlib. A U.S. official confirmed that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought downMetrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt‘s Sinai Peninsula. (RT) (Independent)
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Arts and culture
- American actor Charlie Sheen confirms he has HIV. (CBS) (BBC)
- Disasters and accidents
- A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Ioannina in Greece, at a depth of 10 kilometers. At least two people are killed, the main road in the southwestern part of Lefkada has also been damaged. (RT)
- In the United States, the National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning for northeastern Colorado and western Kansas with an expected snowfall by midday of 12 inches in Denver, Colorado. As of 6:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 143 arriving and departing flights are cancelled for busy Denver International Airport. Several tornadoes were spotted overnight in northern Texas, western Kansas, and southern Nebraska. (Reuters) (USA Today)
- 2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- There are fears that up to four people have died during bushfires burning near Esperance on the coast of Western Australia. (ABC)
- International relations
- APEC Philippines 2015
- The Human Rights Watch reports that the Philippine government is detaining street children and homeless people as part of preparations for an international summit. (The New York Times)
- Law and crime
- The Israeli government outlaws the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, declaring it “an illegal organization”. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is led by Raed Salah, who has been convicted in court of numerous activities, including funding Hamas, contacting an Iranian agent, assaulting a police officer, and leading a violent protest. (The Jerusalem Post)
- The Japanese government officially sues the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, over his denial of permits to allow work to begin on the Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (Reuters)
- Politics and elections
- Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- More than half of the state governors in the United States reject accepting asylum seekers from Syria after the attacks in Paris. All except one of them are Republicans. (CNN)
- Obama administration officials hold a conference call with 34 governors to assure them, “refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States.” A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he asked federal officials for “more robust data” and an “enhanced flow of information.” (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)
- The president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, marks the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution by attending an anti-Islam rally in Prague with the “Bloc against Islam” group which supports the president. The rally was also attended by observers from the German protest movement, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) and Tommy Robinson, a prominent British anti-Islam activist. Zeman told the crowd of several thousand that they aren’t extremists for advocating closing the Republic’s borders to Muslim migrants. (AP via ABC News) (Breitbart)
- United States presidential election, 2016
- The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The Guardian) (Fox News)
- Sport
- Cancellation of football matches
- Belgium‘s football association calls off today’s friendly (non-competitive) football game with Spain due to concerns over security following the November 2015 Paris attacks. (AP)
- A friendly match between Germany and the The Netherlands is cancelled after a suspicious object is found in the Niedersachsenstadion in the German city of Hanover. (The Guardian)
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