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Hello! Magazine apologises for ‘fabricated’ Clooney interview –
Hello! Magazine has apologised for running an “exclusive” interview with George Clooney that the actor says was completely fabricated. The UK-based magazine said it purchased the interview from an entertainment news agency called Famous, which they have worked with in the past. Hello! said it thought the article was accurate and has removed the piece from its website. Mr Clooney said the interview never took place. He said in a statement: “The problem is that I have not given an interview to Hello Magazine and the quotes attributed to me are not accurate. In my experience, being misquoted is not unusual but to have an ‘exclusive interview’ completely fabricated is something new. And a very disturbing trend.” [BBC]
George Clooney

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Introducing the self-driving bicycle in the Netherlands – (only available on April 1st!)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports airstrikes on the village of Deir al-Asafir, Rif Dimashq Governorate, have killed at least 30 people and left dozens more injured. (The Telegraph)
• War in Donbass
  • International monitors from the OSCE report that fighting has intensified in Eastern Ukraine as a second year of a shaky truce begins. The worst of the fighting is located between government-controlledAvdiivka and separatist-controlled Yasynuvata. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• War in Somalia (2009–present)
  • A U.S. drone strike reportedly kills a key Al-Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, and two other militants, near the town of Jilib, Somalia, according to several U.S. officials. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• In a second day of severe weather, at least seven people are injured as tornadoes sweep across the Midwestern and Southern part of the United States, with more severe weather expected. (Al Jazeera)

Health and medicine

• Health authorities in Fiji are urging people to observe strict personal hygiene as the country goes through a massive outbreak of conjunctivitis. In the past 14 days alone the number of cases of the virus in one district of Suva have jumped from 700 to 5000 cases. (Radio New Zealand)

International relations

• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • North Korea fires another ballistic missile off its east coast, according to South Korean officials. This occurred while world leaders are attending the annual Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., where North Korea is on the agenda for discussion. (The Guardian) (Yonhap)

Politics and elections

• Moldovan presidential election, 2016, 2015–16 protests in Moldova
  • The Parliament of Moldova announces that the country will hold a Presidential election on October 30. A court in early March ruled in favor of having a direct national election to choose a president rather than a vote in parliament, a concession to protesters who have been demonstrating for months against the political elite. This will be the first time since 2001 that the public will choose their country’s president directly. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• 2015–16 protests in Brazil
  • President Dilma Rousseff loses another key member of the country’s 2016 Summer Olympics organization. Colonel Adilson Moreira of the National Public Security Force, who was in charge of organizing security, in an email to his colleagues reportedly criticizes the President and other senior officials, saying he is ashamed of the country’s being led by an “unscrupulous group.” Brazilian officials, who earlier received Sports Minister George Hilton’s resignation, say the planning for the Olympic Games will not be affected. (BBC) (International Business Times)

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