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President Putin ‘probably’ approved Litvinenko murder –
The murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in the UK was ‘probably’ approved by President Vladimir Putin, an inquiry has found. Mr Putin is likely to have signed off the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko with polonium-210 in part due to personal “antagonism” between the pair, it said. Home Secretary Theresa May said the murder was a “blatant and unacceptable” breach of international law. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said the public inquiry was “politicised”. Litvinenko aged 43 in London in 2006, days after drinking tea poisoned with the radioactive substance. The former Russian spy – who is believed to have later worked for MI6 – had been a fierce critic of the Kremlin. [BBC]
Norwegian in underwear clings to car roof to stop thief –
A man clad only in boxer shorts stopped a thief from stealing his car in southern Norway – by clinging on to the roof in a hair-raising ride at -17C. Police say the owner was left “pretty bloody” after the car crashed into a safety barrier on a bridge. A suspect has been taken into police custody. The owner, 25, woke up in Kristiansand in the early hours of Wednesday when he heard his car engine firing up. He raced out, grabbed a car door-handle and refused to let go. The thief drove the car at up to 90km/h (56 mph), he said, but the owner managed to smash the back window with his knee and grappled with the thief before the car hit the safety barrier. [BBC]
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- Armed conflicts and attacks
- Arts and culture
- Local Tajikistan police have shaved nearly 13,000 men’s beards, closed more than 150 shops selling traditional Muslim clothing, and convinced around 1,800 women and girls to stop wearing headscarves in 2015 as part of a campaign to eradicate foreign influences in the former Soviet Republic. (Al Jazeera via MSN) (TIME)
- Health
- Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
- The World Health Organisation confirms a second new case of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- International relations
- Burundian unrest (2015–present)
- Two former Presidents of Burundi call for the United Nations Security Council to authorise the use of peacekeeping troops in Burundi to prevent a potential civil war. (Reuters)
- Law and crime
- Dominic Ongwen, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, appears before the International Criminal Court in a hearing to determine whether a criminal trial should go ahead. (Reuters)
- The State Council of Crimea issues an arrest warrant for the leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and former Soviet dissident Mustafa Dzhemilev. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- A British inquiry alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably” personally approved the FSB‘s murder of Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006 based on findings from a public enquiry. (CNN)
- Politics and elections
- The 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam convenes in Hanoi for eight days to select the country’s leadership for the next five years. (AP via ABC News America)
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