Top News Stories –

Hollywood director Kevin Smith kicked off plane for being ‘too fat’ –
The Hollywood film director Kevin Smith has launched a blistering attack on an airline which kicked him off a plane for being “too fat”. Smith, 39, the director of films including Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Clerks, had purchased two tickets to comply with Southwest Airlines policy that requires larger passengers to buy two seats. He then decided to go standby for an earlier flight and was seated on a plane on which there was only one seat left. He was then ejected from the plane. Southwest’s “Customer of Size” policy requires that travellers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat. [Daily Telegraph]
Kevin Smith

Tiger Woods is ‘being treated for sex addiction’ in U.S. clinic, new reports claim –
Tiger Woods is being treated for sex addiction at a clinic in Mississippi, according to US reports. The shamed golfer has checked into the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic in the town of Hattiesburg, according to RadarOnline.com. Woods, who admitted cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren last year, has not been seen since his infamous November car crash outside his home in Florida. [Daily Mail]
Tiger Woods

Video of the Day –

J.O.B. First Look from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Other News Stories –

• An appreciation of the Chinese yuan will help US economic growth but it will not solve problems in its own economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist said Monday. (China Daily)
• The opposition Anguilla United Movement, led by former Chief Minister Hubert Hughes, wins a majority of seats in the 2010 general election, defeating the governing Anguilla United Front. (Anguilla News)
• Aid flights arrive on the island of Aitutaki, Cook Islands, where 90% of structures were damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Pat last week. (RNZI)
• Somalia‘s state minister for defence Yusuf Mohammed Siad survives an attempt on his life from a suicide bomber in Mogadishu. (BBC)
• A Naxalite attack on an army camp in West Bengal kills 24 Indian soldiers, with many more reported missing. (Hindustan Times)
• Kenya‘s Prime Minister Raila Odinga accuses the President Mwai Kibaki of “overstepping” his powers after the latter re-appointed two ministers sacked by Odinga over a corruption scandal. (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) (BBC) (AP)
• The United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, arrives in the country on the first day of a five day visit to assess the progress onhuman rights. (Al Jazeera) (Global Times) (BBC)
• Halle train collision: 20 people die in a train collision in Halle, Belgium. (BBC) (Flanders News) (WSJ)
• Pope Benedict XVI begins a two-day meeting with all 24 Irish Roman Catholic bishops to discuss child abuse in a “quite unprecedented” move. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (RTÉ)
• Five men are imprisoned for up to 28 years, after being convicted over the 2005 Sydney terrorism plot. (BBC) (ninemsn)
• Cyclone Rene hammers Tonga with gusts of 160 kilometres an hour, isolating Tongans for several days. Widespread damage is reported in the capital, Nukuʻalofa, and contact is lost with the northern island of Vavaʻu. (TVNZ) (The New Zealand Herald)
• A joint NATO and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province. (BBC)
• 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver:

• Dario Cologna secures Switzerland‘s first ever Olympic cross-country gold medal and Norway delivers its poorest ever cross-country Olympic performance in the men’s 15km freestyle cross-country competition (AFP) (AP)

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