Armed conflicts and attacks
Maguindanao massacre
Human rights activists and families of the victims decry the lack of justice six years after the murder of around 58 people, including journalists and politicians, in Maguindanao, Mindanao. They criticize the regime of Philippines President Benigno Aquino III for the lack of convictions in the trial. (ABC News) (Voice of America) (Fox News)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
A Palestinian kills a 20 year-old Israeli and wounds two women in a stabbing attack at a gas station near the town of Modi’in; the Palestinian assailant is shot and killed by an officer at the scene. (Ynet News) (Times of Israel)
Two Palestinian teenage girls, ages 14 and 16, use scissors to stab a 70-year-old Palestinian man whom they misidentified as an Israeli, and other Israeli civilians, near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market; one of the attackers is killed and the other wounded while being subdued, and an Israeli civilian is wounded by police gunfire. (Times of Israel)
Business and economy
American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan, Plc announce plans to merge to form the world's largest drug company. The merger is subject to approval from regulators in the U.S., European Union and elsewhere as well as approval by shareholders of both companies. If approved, the deal will reduce tax revenue paid to the U.S. by approximately $930 million. (Reuters via The Washington Post) (AP via Denver Post)
A Washington University in St. Louis (U.S.) international tax law expert says this deal is the biggest merger involving tax inversion, i.e., relocation of a corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation, usually while retaining operations in its higher-tax country. "None of the special anti-inversion laws and regulations issued by the federal government will apply to Pfizer post-merger," Professor Adam Rosenzweig, JD, said. Rosenzweig believes this deal will encourage more U.S. companies to follow Pfizer's approach in future mergers. (Washington University)