Portal:Current events/2015 November 26

Current events of November 26, 2015 (2015-11-26) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown The Turkish military releases what it says are a series of audio recordings of warnings issued to a Russian jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. (ABC Australia) Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 21 year-old man has died in clashes with Israeli Army soldiers. (AP) Military intervention against ISIL British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a speech to the House of Commons says that Islamic extremists have already threatened citizens of the United Kingdom and UK military airstrikes against ISIL in Syria will serve only to make the UK safer. Cameron also says that the UK cannot outsource its security and must stand by France in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks. (BBC) Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defence, calls on the United Kingdom to join France in bombing ISIL. (The Guardian) Following meetings with French President François Hollande at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to coordinate strikes against the Islamic State with the United States and its allies, but warns acts like the Turkish downing of a Russian jet could destroy any chance of collaboration. (Washington Post) 2015 Brussels lockdown, Paris attack aftermath Belgian authorities reduce the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three. The escalation to level four came after suspects in the ISIL attacks in Paris were linked to the city. Suspected Paris gunman, Salah Abdeslam, who lived in Brussels for several years, remains at large. (BBC) A suspicious powder feared to be anthrax found at a Brussels mosque, close to the European Union headquarters, is a false alarm. Testing determines it is flour. (Reuters) (Intenational Business Times) Islamist insurgency in West Africa At least 18 people are killed and over 100 homes torched after Boko Haram militants attacked a village near the commune of Bosso in Niger's southern Diffa Region. (AFP via Yahoo) Business and economics Martin Shkreli's Turing Pharmaceuticals is reneging on its pledge to cut the $750-per-pill price for Daraprim, a medication that has been marketed for 62 years. Instead, the biotech company is reducing what it charges hospitals, by up to 50 percent, for this parasitic infection treatment. Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a pharmacy that compounds prescription drugs for individual patients, started selling a custom-made version of Pyrimethamine, the chemical name for Daraprim, for 99 cents per capsule. Impris reports orders are pouring in from doctors. (AP via Washington Post) Disasters and accidents At least 15 people are killed after a Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter carrying oil workers crashes in eastern Siberia near the Yenisei River. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters) A sinkhole the size of a football field swallows a large section of beach on Australia's North Stradbroke Island. Local authorities have warned beach-goers to stay away from Jumpinpin beach due to fears the sinkhole could grow even larger. (The Guardian) 2015-16 Australian bushfire season A New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter dies while fighting an out of control bushfire near Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. (Daily Telegraph) At least eleven people have died and 70 injured after two buses carrying tourism workers collide in the eastern Dominican Republic. (AP) International relations Pope Francis' visit to Kenya Pope Francis condemns the way young people have been "radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear," during a talk in Nairobi, Kenya. (Washington Post) Pope Francis celebrates a historic Mass in Kenya before delivering a stern environmental warning to the world. "It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects," the Pope said, urging nations to reach agreement over curbing fossil fuel emissions. (CNN) 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) France is deploying more than 10,000 personnel to provide security for the two-week UN Climate Change Conference that opens in Le Bourget in Paris on Monday, November 30, 2015. Around 150 heads of state or government are expected to attend COP21's opening day. (Xinhua News Agency) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015 Queen Elizabeth II (U.K.) arrives in Malta for the Commonwealth summit what begins tomorrow. The then-future Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh lived on the island from 1949-51. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 nations; most member states were once part of the British Empire, and 16 retain the Queen as head of state. (Telegraph) Song Tao is named head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, a key post responsible for relations with other communist parties, replacing Wang Jiarui. (SCMP)