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Star Wars beats Mad Max at Empire awards –
Sci-fi blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens trumped Mad Max: Fury Road at this year’s Empire Awards, winning five awards to the latter’s four. The Force Awakens was named best sci-fi/fantasy and was also honoured for its visual effects, director JJ Abrams and stars John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Fury Road was recognised for its make-up, costumes, soundtrack and production design at the central London event. But neither title took home the best film award, which went to The Revenant. Matt Damon was on hand to accept his best actor award for The Martian, while Sweden’s Alicia Vikander won best actress for The Danish Girl. [BBC]
Matt Damon

Eddie Izzard completes Sport Relief marathons challenge –
Comedian Eddie Izzard has completed his challenge in South Africa to run 27 marathons in 27 days for Sport Relief. The 54-year-old needed to run a double marathon on Sunday to complete his challenge beneath a statue of Nelson Mandela, in Pretoria. Izzard attempted a similar feat in South Africa in 2012 but had to pull out for health reasons. The comedian’s endurance feat raised more than £1.35m. The 2016 Sport Relief total stands at £56,984,007. “That was very, very tough,” Izzard told reporters as he swigged from a celebratory bottle of sparkling white wine. The 27 marathons were intended to reflect the 27 years Mr Mandela had spent in prison before becoming South Africa’s first black president. [BBC]
Eddie Izzard

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• March 2016 Istanbul bombing
  • Turkish authorities name a Turkish man with alleged ties to the Islamic State responsible for this weekend’s suicide bombing in Istanbul. (The Washington Post)

Business and economics

• The United States-based Sherwin-Williams Company agrees to acquire rival U.S. paint company Valspar Corporation in an all-cash deal valued at about $9.3 billion (8.2 billion euros). (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Thirteen are killed and 34 others injured after a bus carrying Erasmus exchange students returning from the renowned Falles fireworks festival in Valencia, crashes near Freginals, Spain. The regional government of Catalonia said in a statement that, “… according to the latest data, the ill-fated bus had students from Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Italy,Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Japan, Ukraine, Holland, Belgium, France, Palestine, Turkey, (and) Greece.” (The Independent) (Euronews) (AP via Bloomberg)
• A 6.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off the eastern coast of Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia‘s Far East. Shaking was felt throughout large parts of the peninsula, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. (BNO News)
• An Indonesian military helicopter crash shortly after takeoff from Poso kills 13 passengers. Their mission was to try to capture Indonesia’s most wanted militant, Abu Wardah Santoso, leader of the Islamic State affiliate East Indonesia Mujahidin network. (AP)

International relations

• United States–Cuban Thaw
  • U.S. President Barack Obama and the First Family begin their three-day visit to Havana, Cuba, to mark the end of 54 years of tensions in Cuba–United States relations. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. (Havana Times) (Jamaica Observer)
  • Before the President’s arrival, Cuban authorities arrest more than 50 Ladies in White human rights activists. The group marches after every Sunday Mass at a church in the Miramar suburb of Havana, and usually get arrested and detained for hours or days. They had hoped President Obama’s visit would change that routine. (USA Today) (Havana Times)

Law and crime

• A retired Pennsylvania state trooper’s attempted robbery of a fare collection vehicle at the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Fort Littleton toll plaza, 65 miles west of the capital Harrisburg, results in three deaths — a toll collector, a security guard, and himself. (AP via ABC News)

Politics and elections

• Former Prime Minister of Denmark Anker Jørgensen (1972-1973 and 1975-1982) dies at the age of 93. (ABC)

• Kazakhstani legislative election, 2016
  • Voting is underway in today’s parliamentary election in the former Soviet republic. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party is expected to win easily, and retain control of the 107-seat Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament. The recent crackdown on political activists and media dims chances this election will be the first judged free and fair by Western observers. (AP via Sioux City Journal)(Townhall.com)

• Laotian parliamentary election, 2016
  • An election is held in Laos, with voter turnout expected to be low. The only legal party in Laos is the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. (Vida Latina)

• Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2016
  • Voters in the Republic of the Congo go to the polls with current President Denis Sassou Nguesso expected to extend his 32-year rule. Telephone, internet and SMS services have been shut down in what has been called a “media blackout.” (Al Jazeera)

• Beninese presidential election, 2016
  • Voting for the second round of Benin’s election begins with current President Thomas Boni Yayi stepping down after completing two terms. (Townhall via Reuters)

• Philippine presidential election, 2016
  • The second leg of the presidential debates was held in Cebu City. AP via The Japan Times
• Tanzanian general election, 2015
  • A rerun of Zanzibar’s presidential election takes place amid an opposition boycott. The election originally occurred at the same time as Tanzania’s election in 2015 but was annulled because of supposed fraud. (Daily Nation)

• Nigerien general election, 2016
  • A run-off election begins in Niger with current President Mahamadou Issoufou highly favored to win as his main opponent Hama Amadou, who was earlier jailed, was flown out of the country for medical reasons. (Reuters)

• Cape Verdean parliamentary election, 2016
  • Voters in Cape Verde go to the polls for an election. (BBC)

• Senegalese constitutional referendum, 2016
  • A referendum is underway in Senegal where voters will vote on whether or not to reduce presidential term limits from seven to five years. Senegal’s referendum also calls for a strengthened National Assembly, better representation for Senegalese abroad, greater rights for the opposition and participation of independent candidates in elections among the 15 changes. (The Daily Star)

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