A bombing at a mosque in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan killed at least a dozen people and wounded 33 more on Sunday, local officials reported. The mosque was being used as a voter registration center for an upcoming parliamentary election. A suicide attack on another voter registration location in Kabul last month left at least 57 people dead. While Sunday's attack has yet to be claimed by the Islamic State or the Taliban, the April incident was claimed by ISIS.
Source: BBC News, The Associated Press NASA launched its InSight spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 4:05 a.m. local time Saturday, sending the unmanned vessel on a six-month journey to Mars. Unlike the Curiosity rover, InSight will not travel around the red planet once it arrives. Instead, the craft's mission is to use seismic waves to learn about the interior of Mars — the thickness of the planet's crust and the size of its liquid core. InSight is equipped with a probe that can burrow 16 feet into the surface of Mars to take temperature readings.
Source: The New York Times, Forbes Eighteen House Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee formally nominating President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his effort to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. "Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons program and bring peace to the region," said the letter, led by Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.). "His administration successfully united the international community, including China, to impose one of the most successful international sanctions regimes in history." Messer announced his plan to nominate Trump after last week's summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who next plans to meet with Trump.
Source: The Hill Former first lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday at her home in Houston, Texas. She was 92. Bush was in failing health due to congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and had decided just days earlier to focus on comfort care instead of seeking further treatment. Bush was only the second woman in American history, after Abigail Adams, to be the wife of one president and the mother of another. She and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, were married for 73 years, and he was at her side, holding her hand, when she died. Mrs. Bush was widely known and respected as a dedicated advocate for charitable causes, such as literacy, and a shrewd supporter of the political careers of her husband and sons. "Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end," former President George W. Bush said.
Source: The New York Times, Time Actor Harry Anderson, best known for starring roles in the sitcoms Night Court and Dave's World, was found dead in his Asheville, North Carolina, home Monday morning. He was 65. Police say no foul play is suspected. Anderson started his career in show business as a street magician in San Francisco. Following an appearance on Saturday Night Live, he got a guest spot on Cheers, which led to the role of Judge Harry T. Stone on Night Court. "I guess they figured I was an actor," he told the Bradenton Herald. "By the time they figured out that I couldn't act scared on the subway at 4 a.m., I already had a five-year contract."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Bradenton Herald Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning funding to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The $8.8 billion two-year budget would prohibit money to facilities that commit, promote, or refer clients for abortions. The budget also mandates health clinics in the state to legally, financially, and physically separate from abortion facilities. Ricketts, who is pro-life, approved the package after it was passed by the state legislature on a 38-6 vote. The Nebraska governor proposed the measure in his budget earlier this year. “Nebraska is a pro-life state, so our budget should reflect our values. Any organization can have access to these dollars as long as they don’t provide abortions,” Ricketts said.
Source: Live Action News South African anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died at the age of 81 after "a long illness," a family spokesperson said Monday. As the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, who was the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Madikizela-Mandela was known as "the Mother of the Nation." Her reputation was severely tarnished later by allegations that she controlled a deadly vigilante group in the 1980s. The Mandelas' 1992 divorce made her even more controversial in the eyes of some South Africans, but she held onto the support of many hardline black nationalists for the rest of her life. In a 1996 American University speech, she recalled: "I learned to deal with the police ... to be tough ... to survive."
Source: The Guardian, The Washington Post Emmy-winning TV writer and producer Steven Bochco, the creator of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, died Sunday morning, his family's spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 74. Bochco had leukemia, and spokesman Phillip Arnold said he "fought cancer with strength, courage, grace, and his unsurpassed sense of humor." The New York City native earned a theater degree from Carnegie Mellon University, but made his name in Hollywood as the creator of such hits as L.A. Law, Doogie Howser, M.D., and Murder in the First. Disney CEO Bob Iger, president of ABC when NYPD Blue started, said Bochco was a "visionary, a creative force, a risk taker, a witty urbane story teller with an uncanny ability to know what the world wanted."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter All 22 women senators on Wednesday called on leaders to allow votes on overhauling systems for handling sexual harassment complaints on Capitol Hill. "Survivors who have bravely come forward to share their stories have brought to light just how widespread harassment and discrimination continue to be throughout Capitol Hill," the 17 Democratic and five Republican women in the Senate wrote. "No longer can we allow the perpetrators of these crimes to hide behind a 23-year-old law." The senators expressed "deep disappointment" in the chamber's failure to approve changes to the Congressional Accountability Act that would update how complaints are handled to make the process "more equitable."
Source: The Washington Post Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal Wednesday night on a proposed $1.3 billion spending package needed to avoid a looming government shutdown. The bill, which would keep the government funded through September, increases military and domestic spending but does not give President Trump all of the money he wants to build a southern border wall or address the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. "No bill of this size is perfect," House Speaker Paul Ryan said. "But this legislation addresses important priorities and makes us stronger at home and abroad." Both the House and Senate must pass the legislation by midnight Friday to avoid a government shutdown.
Source: The Associated Press, CNN Editor's Note: 13...really? |
About This BlogCertain numerology has a strong connection with occultism. Various numbers from time-to-time appear in news articles, and one has to wonder if there isn't some occult significance behind this story. Archives
May 2021
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