International News:
- Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister, has passed away. Sharon was the former leader of Israeli’s armed forces, before being banned from holding the position of Defense Minister after controversial decisions in the 1980s. He turned to politics in the 1990s, and eventually became Prime Minister in 2001. He served for five years until suffering a stroke in January, 2006. He had been in a coma until passing away today.
- Michel Djotodia, President of the Central African Republic, has resigned and is reportedly going into exile in Benin. Djotodia seized power in a coup last year, and has been under fire in the increasingly bloody civil war that has beset the country since the coup.
- Democracy in action? Anti-government protestors in Bangkok, Thailand are squaring off with country’s military to demand that Prime Minister Yingluck Shiniwatra and her government step down amidst allegations of corruption. Shiniwatra is the sister of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra, who fled the country in 2008 to avoid prosecution for corruption.
Domestic News:
- A babysitter in New York City is facing trial for torturing 4-year old Myls Dobson to death. Not for the sensitive heart.
- Chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia leaves over 300,000 without water for unknown amount of time. Stores have sold out of bottled water.
- Are Governor Chris Christie’s hopes for a 2016 Presidential run being damaged by the bridge scandal? There is a potential class action law suit in the works against him due to the actions of his staff, and at the very least, it is showing that he surrounded himself with the wrong sort of people.
Sports News:
- Alex Rodriguez has lost his appeal, and will miss the entirety of the 2014 season due to his role in the Biogenesis scandal. There is a bonus for the New York Yankees though, as they will not have to pay the underperforming superstar his $24M USD salary for the season.
- Dan Le Batard has been banned by the Baseball Writers Association of America from casting Hall of Fame ballots. Forever. Le Batard gave his ballot to Deadspin, to allow their readers to have a crowdsourced vote in his place. His explanation why is amazing, and makes him worthy of inclusion into The World’s Most Secret Society, should he desire it.
- Terror threats in Russia cause U.S. State Department to issue travel warning to those planning on attending the Olympic Games in Sochi. Aside from the suicide bombings in Volgograd last month, bodies and explosives have turned up much closer to Sochi in the past days.
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