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‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Crushes Presale Ticket Records –
Fan demand led to crash of multiple websites like Fandango and MovieTickets.com. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” broke the record for the highest number of first-day presale tickets for Fandango, AMC and IMAX. According to Fandango, the site has sold eight times as many tickets as it did on the first day for the previous record holder, “The Hunger Games” in 2012 — and that’s even before the 24-hour mark was reached. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in 2010 slipped to third place in first-day advance sales. Traffic on Fandango surged to seven times the site’s typical peak levels, a site spokesperson reported. Similarly, MovieTickets.com reported that the online ticketer saw traffic “three times higher than the highest peak in the company’s 15 plus year history.” Comparably, the advance ticket sales for “The Force Awakens” are already four times greater than advance tickets sold for “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.” [The Wrap] See Video of the Day

Fed-up cafe bans money from underwear –
In this tough economic climate, small business owners need every dollar they can get their hands on. Unless said dollar comes from a customer’s undies, apparently. Staff at a Carnarvon cafe were so fed up with patrons paying with money retrieved from undergarments they put the attached sign at the cash register for a six-week period. Fascine Coffee Lounge owner Robin Weeks said the straw that broke the camel’s back was a man who tried to pay his bill with money from his jocks. “My son thought people shouldn’t put money there and he shouldn’t have to touch it,” Weeks said. “We had four or five people that did it. A lot of women think their bra is the best place for their money because they don’t have pockets.” Weeks said while most people approved of the sign, there were some who refused to change their ways. [Western Australian]
Fascine Coffee Lounge sign

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer (Official)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), American-led intervention in Iraq
  • The United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford arrived in Iraq to discuss the ongoing battle against ISIS. (AP)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015)
  • U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, during a surprise visit to Jerusalem today, calls for calm ahead of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to bring an end to the month-long wave of violence. (CNN) (Time)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
    • Russian airstrikes in Syria’s coastal Latakia province have killed a top FSA commander, Basil Zamo and several other rebel fighters. (Reuters)
    • At least three Russian troops fighting along side the Syrian Army are reportedly killed after a shell hit their position in the coastal province of Latakia. If confirmed, the deaths would be the first Russian military casualties since intervening in the civil war in September. (Reuters)
• Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
  • Warplanes of unidentified origin carry out airstrikes on ISIS camps in the Libyan city of Sirte. (The Daily Star)
• Military intervention against ISIL
  • The U.S. deploys around a dozen A-10 ground-attack planes to Turkey‘s southern Incirlik Air Base. A U.S. military official said the deployment had “added capability” to the coalition’s efforts against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. (AFP via Yahoo)
  • Canada‘s prime-minister elect Justin Trudeau informs U.S. President Barack Obama that Canada will be withdrawing fighter jets from both Iraq and Syria, effectively ending Canada’s military participation in the war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AFP via Yahoo)
• War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
  • The Taliban kill 22 policemen and kidnap 19 others, including the district’s security chief, during clashes with Afghan troops who kill 12 of the insurgents in the battle in Faryab Province in northern Afghanistan. (New York Times) (Latin American Herald Tribune)
  • Taliban forces advance on Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, amid fierce fighting with government forces that threatens to cut off a major highway and has prompted many families to flee. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Former BBC journalist Jacky Sutton is found hanged in a restroom at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Of late, she was the acting director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. (BBC)
• Oslo’s city council announces plans to ban cars from the Norwegian capital’s city centre by 2019. (Reuters) (Christian Science Monitor)

Disasters and accidents

• Hidden Pines Fire
  • At least 70 homes have been destroyed by a raging wildfire in Bastrop County, central Texas. The Texas A&M Forest Service reports the blaze in Bastrop County is currently 80 percent contained. (AP via ABC News)

Health and medicine

• The American Cancer Society recommends women at average risk of breast cancer should begin annual mammograms at age 45, and women 55 and older scale back screening to every other year. (USA Today) (Reuters)

International relations

• Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2015
  • Brazil pulls out of an electoral mission to observe crucial legislative elections in Venezuela over what it says are a lack of guarantees by the government of Venezuela and its veto of the choice to head the delegation. (ABC News)
• European migrant crisis
  • European Union members agree to provide 291 border guards to Greece and Italy to help identify and register migrants. (AP)
• Saudi Arabia receives US State Department approval for the purchase of four Multi-Mission Combat Ships for $11.25 billion. (UPI)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The United States and Russia sign an agreement designed to avoid conflict between both countries’ warplanes in Syria. The Pentagon said the agreement will remain secret; a hotline will enable both countries to directly communicate. (CBS News)(UPI)

Law and crime

• The Israeli Defense Force arrests senior Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef for alleged incitement to commit violence. (Jerusalem Post)
• A French public prosecutor said charges against far-right leader Marine Le Pen should be dropped. Le Pen is being tried for comments she made five years ago comparing Muslim street prayers to Nazi occupation. Prosecutor Bernard Reynaud said, “Madame Le Pen in denouncing prayers in public space addressed not the entire Muslim community but a minority and was only exercising her freedom of expression.” (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2016
  • Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb announces his withdrawal from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination during a press conference at the National Press Club. He added that he would consider his other options in the coming weeks. Webb’s campaign said he is weighing an independent bid. (NBC News) (AP) (Washington Post)

Science

• Research from University of California, Los Angeles scientists indicates that life on earth may have started 4.1 billion years ago – 300 million years earlier than previously thought. (Economic Times)
• Research by the University of Central Florida indicates a common UV-filtering compound, oxybenzone, found in sunscreen lotion is killing coral, especially among reefs frequented by recreational divers and snorkelers. (UPI) (Time)

Sports

• Lamar Odom, who had been hospitalized in grave condition after ingesting, in a binge, herbal Viagra, alcohol, and other substances in a 3-day, $75,000 stay at a legal brothel in Nevada, comes out of his coma, improves, and is able to have conversations, though he is still on dialysis to deal with the renal damage he suffered. He is released from intensive care and Sunrise Hospital, to a hospital closer to his Los Angeles home. (MSN via Sporting News)

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