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BACK TO THE FUTURE DAY –
This is the day that Marty McFly and Doc traveled to in the movie Back to the Future II.
© Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Nike Sending First ‘Back to the Future’ Self-Tying Shoes to Michael J. Fox –
Nike says that the future is here. The first person to receive a pair of the company’s “Back to the Future” self-lacing shoes is the franchise’s star Michael J. Fox, according to a Nike designer. Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield sent Fox a letter today that stated, “As the first, most celebrated wearer” of the Nike Mag shoes, “we wanted you to be the first to receive a living pair,” according to a tweet from the actor. Earlier today, a spokesman for Nike would only say that a pair of the self-lacing Nike Mag shoes worn by Marty McFly in the 1989 film “Back to the Future II” is in New York City today — but declined to comment further. [ABC News] The Michael J Fox organisation (that raises money for Parkinson’s Disease charities) tweeted a picture of the actor wearing the sneakers.
Michael J Fox Tweet

Toyota celebrates ‘Back to the Future Day’ by building Marty McFly’s dream truck –
Toyota has recreated Marty McFly’s dream truck, just in the nick of time for ‘Back to the Future Day’ on October 21, 2015. The black 2016 Toyota Tacoma pick-up is a copy of the one Marty lusted after in the original film – and spoiler alert, things turned out so that his dream machine eventually made it into the McFly family garage. In total, Toyota has built three of these ‘Back to the Future’ Tacoma pick-up trucks events around the U.S. “The suspension has been beefed up and the truck rides on a special set of Toyota Racing Development [TRD] wheels and tires,” said Proffitt. The truck itself was in a plastic cocoon, looking all the world like a 1:1 scale Hot Wheels car. Note to BTTF fans looking for awesome swag: Toyota is handing out models of the this special-edition Tacoma throughout today in Times Square. [NY Daily News] See Video of the Day

Video of the Day –

Fueled by the Future | Back to the Future | Presented by Toyota Mirai

List of the Day –

Back to the Future 2 credits

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
  • The Taliban announced it overran Ghoryan in the western Herat province, the second district to fall in three days. (Long War Journal)
• Syrian Civil War
  • ISIL orders males aged 14 and older in Raqqa, its de facto Syrian capital, to register with the police, an action seen as the first step toward forced conscriptions in this region. (Al Jazeera America)
• Yemeni Civil War (2015)
  • Rockets fired by Houthi forces reportedly kill 14 people in city of Taiz, southwestern Yemen. (Reuters)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • At least 20 people are killed after Boko Haram militants opened fire on cars outside a village in Nigeria‘s restive northeast Borno state. (AFP via Yahoo)

Disasters and accidents

• 2015 Pacific typhoon season
  • The death toll from Tropical Storm Koppu that battered the Phillippines’ main island this weekend climbed to at least 39. Koppu forced more than 100,000 villagers into emergency shelters and destroyed rice fields ready for harvest. (AP) (BBC)
• A U.S. F-18 fighter jet crashes into farmland near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk county, England, killing the pilot. (Sky News)

Health and medicine

• The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for pregnant women to abstain completely from alcohol during the entire three trimesters of the pregnancy, saying no amount of any type of alcohol should be considered safe since the risks, to the baby in particular (such as fetal alcohol syndrome, among many others), are too great. This puts the U.S. alongside other Western developed countries- except Italy and the United Kingdom, which still allow occasional small amounts- in urging complete abstinence. TheAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the two other U.S. agencies that comment most about this issue, already recommend total alcohol abstinence. (CNN)

International relations

• Syrian Civil War
  • The President of Syria Bashar al-Assad visits Moscow for talks with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in an unannounced visit. (BBC)
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approves the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, and orders it to be implemented subject to certain conditions. The letter states the United States and European Union should clearly announce the elimination of sanctions against Iran. The imposition of sanctions at any level and under any pretext from any of the negotiating countries would violate the JCPOA. (Reuters) (Mehr News Agency) (Daily Mail)
• The Vatican denies an Italian newspaper report that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumour, saying the 78-year-old pontiff is in good health, and denounces the article as utterly reprehensible. (Reuters) (AP via Philly.com)

Law and crime

• New York City police officer Randolph Holder, 33, has died from gunshot wounds sustained in the line of duty. An immigrant from Guyana, Holder was on the force for five years. He is the fourth NYPD officer to have been killed in less than a year. (New York Times)
• Two Chinese consulate staff are killed and a consul general injured after a gunman opened fire on a restaurant in the city of Cebu, the “second city” of the Philippines. Various reports named the gunman as Chinese national Li Qingliang. (The Telegraph)
• St. Louis’ police chief announces officers are stepping up patrols following fires at six predominantly African-American churches in the past two weeks. No one has been injured in any of the fires. The reward for information leading to an arrest is now $4,000; the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association will match the $2,000 reward being offered by the St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers and the ATF. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Anti-Defamation League suggest the fires may be arson sparked by racist motivations. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) (NBC News)
• Wikileaks releases U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director John O. Brennan’s personal information after the top spy’s personal email account was hacked and information sent to Wikileaks. All of the documents predate Brennan’s time in the Obamaadministration and reveal no classified data. Among the information released are Social Security numbers, an incomplete questionnaire for security clearance, and addresses of his family and associates. (BBC) (CNN)
• A British lawyer and his wife are found dead by their gardener at their home on the Caribbean island of Tobago. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service believe the couple were murdered during a suspected robbery. (Independent)

Politics and elections

• United States presidential election, 2016
  • The Vice President of the United States Joe Biden says that he will not be seeking the Democratic Party nomination. (Los Angeles Times blog) (Washington Post)

Sport

• 2015 Major League Baseball postseason
  • In Major League Baseball, the New York Mets sweep the Chicago Cubs 4-0 to win the 2015 National League Championship Series and advance to the 2015 World Series. (Newsday)

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