gcreptile

Father Gerry Reynolds, conciliator in the Northern Ireland conflict, has died: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-34963015

Beloved manga artist Shigeru Mizuku, best known for Gegege no Kitaro, dead at 93 after a fall: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34962924

I'm still surprised that Carla Bruni stuck beside Nicolas Sarkozy after he lost the presidency.

Caitlyn? Or...Jack Or ... Pete Or...Cliff?

If you really want to kill yourself, you just do it, I would say. If you post it on Facebook, you basically want to be found... I think.

I think I would have kept a scottish paper and excluded the sun, the star and the express. Do they cover anything the others don't? But I see the desire to exclude only locally famous people, though I think it won't quite work (see: Wil Handford). However, I admit I regularly checked the local BBC pages in the past weeks for every couple of days and there wasn't that much to find. One of the candidates I got out of it was Mary Burrows, who however also got a daily mail obit. I liked Yahoo UK. Interesting rule about the terrorists. Confirmation from both sides... The "sensitive picks" rule will be very interesting...

Welsh BBC journalist Sian Pari Huws dies of cancer at 55: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-34944053

Joe Marston, first Australian in a FA Cup final and also player for the national team, dead at 89: http://www.espnfc.com/australia/story/2732910/australian-football-pioneer-joe-marston-passes-away-aged-89

You win $600.000 and you do THIS? I mean, it isn't even THAT much money. Shouldn't a couple of things be higher on your list before you do this?

Swiss stage and opera director Luc Bondy dead at 67, possibly because of lymphoma: http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/luc-bondy-ist-tot-a-1065044.html(german link)

Very sorry to hear. The late teens/early twenties are a dangerous age in that context.

"positive developments" according to the hospital: http://www.elespectador.com/deportes/futbolinternacional/joao-havelange-evoluciona-positivamente-hospital-de-rio-articulo-602112(spanish link) Even if he survives... the frequency of his hospitalizations increases.

Is this a VERY recent photo? Maybe he got fit for his 50th birthday. And if he's single, there's another reason to lose more weight.

Apparently already in hospital for 10 days: http://esportes.terra.com.br/lance/joao-havelange-esta-internado-ha-10-dias-afirma-colunista,c7a8a65976540b4450b809e9d69433cd4efhtwxb.html(link from brasil) Indeed, YoungWillz, this development could mean a new record....

Hospitalised: http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/former-fifa-president-hospitalised-20151127 Respiratory problems... but stable. A statement will be released later.

Today's concert here in Berlin cancelled because Phil Campbell 'suddenly required hospitalization': http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/gitarrist-erkrankt-motoerhead-sagt-ausverkauftes-konzert-in-berlin-ab/12648376.html(link in German, with a facebook post in english).

Sumner Redstone "can barely speak, but demands steak and sex every day": http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/ailing-billionaire-can-barely-speak-but-demands-steak-and-sex-every-day/news-story/c82e00313381cb8b8cac7c9fe258ce95 Well, demanding it is different from actually getting it. And there's no word on whether he is actually able to do the deed, i.e. chewing the steak.

With regards to Jammeh, the same website which reported his ill health in the link above ran a story yesterday that he had narrowly escaped death after he was attacked by his pet lion. In 2011 the very same site also reported that he was dying of pancreatic cancer and last month they raised concerns about his sex addiction. Hehe, yes, African politics is a bit of a bloodsport... There's so little restraint it looks like parody to us. And it reminds me of the time an opponent of then-presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria said he had prostate cancer, asthma and dementia and "wouldn't last long in office". Only then Buhari won and now the old, corrupt regime is running away from justice, including the oil minister you mentioned, because Buhari means business. The situation in Gambia becomes even more complicated because just a few days later, Yahya Jammeh banned female genital mutilation. It's apparently a hugely progressive policy stance there, so maybe there was a truthful leak, or some fabrication, from inside his own camp. The régime hadn't exactly been known for it's progressive policies before.

As far as I know, the original source of that "terminal cancer diagnosis" was the Israeli secret service (via Wikileaks cable). It could have been a planned leak, or even a fabrication, to weaken the Irani government. But at least the "terminal" part could be correct but it wouldn't necesarily matter, because then he'd just die with prostate cancer and not of it. The Netanyahu government isn't interested in peace with Iran so it's possible they repeatedly amplified Khamenei's possibly existing health troubles to destabilize diplomatic talks.

Shoehorned into this thread, but... 30-year old Luke Robertson, who is a big fan of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, wants to travel to the South Pole next week unaided by anyone or anything and plans on getting there around Christmas (so not necessarily one for 2016): http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34880063 He made the decision after surgery on his brain and apparently has a pacemaker in his chest. He'll tweet of his progress. Post-quote edit: corrected spelling error

May stay in Poland, can now move ahead with a new movie about a man falsely accused of pedophilia treason: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34942402

Edwin Edwards, 88, lovably corrupt former governor of Louisiana hospitalised with pneunomia. But they expect him to recover: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-louisiana-governor-edwin-edwards-hospitalized-pneumonia-060527223.html

Sumner Redstone is "a living ghost": http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/26/sumner-redstone-the-viacom-and-cbs-mogul-is-a-living-ghost-says-law-suit Of course, that didn't stop Zsa Zsa Gabor from living on for a couple of years. And there's a lawsuit, so it's a bit he-said, she-said.

Do you want to know a previously unmentioned random 90-year old guy who, at first glance, is an extremely boring personality, yet would be guaranteed to obit? Of course, you do! John Swinton of Kimmerghame: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Swinton_of_Kimmerghame WW II vet, Major-General Commanding the Household Division, also served in Malaya, and, more interestingly, also the father of Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.

Douglass North obit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3333753/Douglass-North-recipient-1993-Nobel-Prize-dies.html Thanks, guest_WEP!