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Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with both throat and breast cancer.
The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, who previously had breast cancer in 2010, will start treatment in New York later this month.
Navratilova, 66, said both cancers had been caught at an early stage.
“The double whammy is serious, but fixable, and I’m hoping for a favourable outcome,” she said. “It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all I have got.”
Navratilova noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during November’s WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.
A subsequent biopsy revealed stage one throat cancer.
During the tests, a lump was also discovered in her breast, which was later diagnosed as an unrelated cancer.
Navratilova was due to cover this month’s Australian Open from the Tennis Channel studio, but will instead make some occasional remote appearances.
The nine-time Wimbledon singles champion said she felt “helpless” after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, but decided to go public with the news to help other women suffering similar health problems.
Prince Harry: ‘I want my father and brother back’
Prince Harry has said “I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back” in an interview ahead of the release of his book Spare.
He also says “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile,” although it is not clear who he is referring to.
He made the comments during a sit down with ITV’s Tom Bradby and has also given an interview to US broadcaster CBS.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
Both interviews will be broadcast on 8 January, two days before the autobiography is published.
Speaking to CBS 60 Minutes journalist Anderson Cooper in a chat the broadcaster described as “explosive”, Prince Harry claims he was “betrayed” with “briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife”.
He said: “The family motto is ‘never complain, never explain’, but it’s just a motto.
“They will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story, and at the bottom of it, they will say they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
Ukraine claims hundreds of Russians killed by missile attack
U
kraine says around 400 Russian soldiers have died in a missile attack on the occupied Donetsk
region.
Russian officials have contested the figure, admitting to only 63 of their troops being killed in the blast. Neither claim has been verified.
The attack hit a building in the city of Makiivka, where Russian forces were thought to be stationed.
Meanwhile in Kyiv, air raids sounded on Sunday night, as the latest wave of strikes from Russia continued.
In a statement on Monday, Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian forces fired six rockets using the US-made Himars rocket system at a building housing Russian troops. Two of them were shot down, it added.
Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russianbacked official in the occupied parts of Donetsk, earlier said the missile struck Makiivka two minutes after midnight on New Year’s Day.
“A massive blow was dealt to the vocational school,” he said. “There were dead and wounded.”
Although access to Russian-controlled areas is restricted, a number of Russian commentators and bloggers acknowledged the attack - but suggested the numbers were lower than claimed.
Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian presenter, shared a Telegram saying “losses were significant... but not even close” to 400.
But Igor Girkin, a pro-Russian commentator, said hundreds had been killed and wounded, although the exact number was still unknown because of the large number still missing. The building itself was “almost completely destroyed”, he said.
He added that the victims were mainly mobilised troops - that is, recent conscripts, rather than those who chose to fight. He also said ammunition was stored in the same building as the soldiers, making the damage worse.
“Almost all of the military equipment was also destroyed, which stood right next to the building without any disguise whatsoever,” he wrote on Telegram.
Girkin is a well-known military blogger, who led Russian-backed separatists when they occupied of large parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. He was recently found guilty of murder for his part in the shooting down of flight MH17.
Despite his pro-Russian stance, he regularly criticises the Russian military leadership and their tactics.
According to the Ukrainian military, 300 were wounded in addition to the estimated 400 killed.
Ukraine’s army claims, almost daily, to have killed dozens, sometimes hundreds, of soldiers in attacks, so caution is needed. But if the claims are confirmed, this could be one of the deadliest attacks by Ukraine on Russian targets in the war.
Ukraine has not confirmed the strikes were carried out with Himars missiles, maintaining a long-held strategy of not releasing details about its attacks.
It merely said, sarcastically, that the deaths were the result of “careless handling of heating devices, neglect of safety measures, smoking in an unidentified place”.
The Russian-installed administration said at least 25 rockets were fired at the region overnight on New Year’s Eve.
Ukrainian authorities posted a picture of a Russian drone that says, in Russian, “Happy New Year”
Hours after the strike in Makiivka, Kyiv came under fire. A drone and missile attack targeted critical infrastructure, the Ukrainian capital’s regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said.
One man in Kyiv was injured by debris from a destroyed Russian drone, the capital’s mayor added.
Mr Kuleba said the weapons were Iranian-made Shahed drones, adding that they were “targeting critical infrastructure facilities”.
“The main thing now is to stay calm and stay in shelters until the alarm is off,” he said.
All 39 Iranian made drones were eventually shot down by Ukraine, the military said. But Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said energy facilities were damaged, disrupting power and heating supplies.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for several months, destroying power stations and plunging millions into darkness during the country’s freezing winter.
Footage, apparently from the scene of the attack, was posted by the Ukrainian military
Australia helicopter collision: Four dead in mid-air incident over Gold Coast
Four people have died after a mid-air collision between two helicopters near Seaworld on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Queensland Police say initial investigations suggest the crash happened as one aircraft was taking off and the other was landing.
Those who died were travelling in the same helicopter. Three other passengers are in a critical condition.
Five of the six people on the other aircraft, which made an emergency landing, suffered minor injuries.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the collision, which happened at about 14:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
The two aircraft came down near a tourist strip known as Main Beach, about 75km (47 miles) south of Brisbane.
Gary Worrell of the Queensland Police Service told reporters the four deaths and three serious injuries had all occurred in the same aircraft.
“It’s a difficult scene,” he said. “Due to the area it’s located, on the sand bank, it was difficult to gain access, to get our emergency services to the scene to manage it appropriately.”
The other helicopter has the popular marine park’s logo on its fuselage and appears to have made an emergency landing after the collision.
According to the Seaworld website the park offers sightseeing helicopter flights for tourists, as well as carrying out other charter operations.
Seaworld Drive, the main access road to the marine park, has been closed to traffic by local police.
They urged motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area as first responders inspect the scene.
Investigators from the ATSB’s offices in Brisbane and Canberra are being deployed to the scene to gather evidence, examine the wreckage and interview witnesses.
ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell has also asked eyewitnesses who saw the collision or the helicopters in flight to contact investigators.
A preliminary report will be made public in the next six to eight weeks, with a final report to follow once the investigation is complete, he added.
The Gold Coast region is currently in its peak tourist season, with children on their summer breaks.
Source: BBC
