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Armed conflict and attacks

• The London Times reports that a secret NATO report claims that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, is set to regain control over Afghanistan after international forces withdraw from the country. (Reuters)
• The Xinhua news agency reports that 25 Chinese workers held captive in the Sinai region of Egypt have been released. (CNN)
• Pakistan Air Force jets bomb militant positions in the Orakzai and Kurram Agency areas near the border with Afghanistan with claims that 31 alleged insurgents were killed. (AP via Washington Post)
• Nigeria's State Security Service claim to have arrested Abul-Qaqa, a purported spokesman for the radical Islamist Boko Haram group. (AP)

Arts and culture

• Polish poet Wisława Szymborska, former winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, dies of lung cancer at 88. (Reuters)
• American television host and producer Don Cornelius, creator of Soul Train is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. (Associated Press)

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Business and economy

• Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong ban poultry imports from the Australian state of Victoria while Japan bans imports from the whole of Australia following an outbreak of a low pathogenic form of the avian influenza (separate from the potentially deadly H5N1 strain).(ABC News Australia)(VoA)
• The social network Facebook files for an initial public offering. (Wall Street Journal)
• The parent company of American Airlines says that it will slash 13,000 jobs or 15% of its workforce. (BBC)
• European antitrust authorities block a planned merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Egyptian football riots
  • At least 73 people are killed as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in the city of Port Said. (BBC), (AFP via News Limited)(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  • All Egyptian Premier League matches are cancelled following the riots. (ABC News Australia)
• Canadian national Naser al-Raas is arrested in Bahrain for attending a rally in the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising. {CBC News}

Politics and elections

• The State Senate in the US state of Washington passes legislation allowing same sex marriage in the state. (Fox News via Chicago Tribune)

Sport

• The Zimbabwe Football Association suspends 80 players including members of the Zimbabwe national football team on suspicion of participation in match-fixing. (Reuters via NZ Stuff)
• England national football team and Chelsea captain John Terry faces charges at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London that he used an ethnic slur against QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during a match in October. (Reuters via Yahoo News Australia)