Russian President Vladimir Putin easily won another six years in office in Sunday elections. Russia's Central Election Commission said Monday that Putin got nearly 77 percent of the vote in a field of eight candidates, though critics say Russian elections are a pseudo-democratic exercise with a predetermined outcome. Apathetic voters were under increased pressure to turn out this year, with some employers asking workers to provide proof that they voted. The mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg told Associated Press reporters he "received orders 'from higher up' to make sure the presidential vote turnout is over 60 percent." Turnout was 63.7 percent.
Source: The Associated Press, Reuters New York Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) has died after being hospitalized with a concussion earlier this week following a fall at her home in Washington, D.C., her office confirmed Friday. At 88, she was the oldest member of the House of Representatives. She was one of the longest-serving members as well as ranking member of the House Rules Committee. Slaughter had planned to run for re-election this fall for what would have been her 17th term. "This is stunning news," tweeted Politico reporter Jake Sherman. "Louise Slaughter was one of the sharpest, funniest, and nicest women in Congress."
Source: Democrat & Chronicle, Roll Call A Turkish private jet crashed in Iran Sunday en route from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, killing all 11 people on board. The plane reportedly was carrying a wealthy Turkish socialite and her friends home from a bachelorette party in Dubai when it hit a mountain in heavy rain. The aircraft burst into flames on impact. Witnesses said one engine was in flames before the crash. The Bombardier CL604 jet was owned by a private holding company of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, whose daughter Mina reportedly was returning home with seven friends and three crew members ahead of her planned April wedding. Also, a Bangladeshi aircraft carrying 67 passengers crashed while attempting to land in Nepal on Monday. At least 17 people were rescued.
Source: The Associated Press, Reuters British police said Wednesday that former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, appear to have been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Sunday attack left both in critical condition in a London hospital. A police officer who responded to the shopping center where the Skripals were found on a bench also is being treated for exposure to the substance. Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence colonel, was released from Russia in a spy swap after being convicted as a double agent there. "It has not been declared a terrorist incident and at this stage we are keeping an open mind as to what happened," police said.
Source: USA Today A former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, fell critically ill on Monday after being exposed to an unidentified substance in the U.K. Skripal, 66, served as a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, but was convicted of treason in 2006 for betraying Russian agents to British intelligence. He got out of the country, however, in a 2010 spy swap. British authorities would not identify a man and a woman found critically ill in a park, but two sources told Reuters the man was Skripal. "This has not been declared as a counter-terrorism incident and we would urge people not to speculate," Wiltshire police's Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said.
Source: Reuters Editor's Note: Oh yes, please don't speculate. The Cold War sabers are rattling again. Can you hear them? And it's all a part of the program. Britain's Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run a 4-minute mile, died peacefully Saturday in Oxford, his family confirmed Sunday. He was 88. Bannister was a 25-year-old medical student training with an amateur all-star team when he broke the once-unthinkable barrier on the morning of May 6, 1954, in a race at Oxford's Iffley Road track. The British runner was paced by two teammates, then turned on his trademark explosive kick to finish in 3:59.4. The news made headlines around the world, and Bannister was compared to Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, and other giants of sport. Then, as quickly as he burst onto the world stage, he stepped off, announcing later the same year that he was retiring from competitive running to concentrate on his career as a neurologist.
Source: The New York Times Eleven Marines reported feeling ill and three were hospitalized Tuesday after a gunnery sergeant opened an envelope containing an unidentified substance at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The people exposed to the envelope reported itchy hands and faces, bloody noses, sore throats, and other symptoms. The three who were hospitalized were stable, but no further details on their conditions were immediately available. The FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating jointly. In 2001, anthrax sent in the mail killed five people and injured 17, prompting the U.S. Postal Service and government agencies and corporations to start screening mail for toxic substances.
Source: NBC News, USA Today The Rev. Billy Graham, the charismatic North Carolina evangelist known as "America's pastor," died early Wednesday at his home in North Carolina. He was 99. Graham has been called a main driver in the rise of evangelical Christianity. Known for his national and international preaching and activism, he was a counselor to numerous American presidents. In 1983, President Reagan awarded Graham the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In 2007, former presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton attended the dedication of the Billy Graham Museum and Library in Charlotte. "When he prays with you in the Oval Office or upstairs in the White House, you feel he's praying for you, not the president," Clinton said at the ceremony.
Source: The Associated Press Editor's note: Most of the people I post here who have passed away (at suspicious ages) are known, but not widely known, so I think it's interesting that we're being made aware of the death when generally few would realize or care. Billy Graham, on the other hand, was very much widely known, so it makes sense that the media is talking about him. However, I think it's still very interesting that he passed away at the age that just happens to be a derivative of the number 11. Heavy rains caused the collapse of huge garbage mound on the outskirts of Mozambique's capital of Maputo on Monday, killing an estimated 17 people. Debris from the Hulene garbage dump came crashing down on a densely populated, impoverished neighborhood, destroying an undetermined number of homes. "The mountains of garbage collapsed on the houses and many families were still inside these residences," Fatima Belchoir, a national disaster official, told the Portuguese news agency Lusa. The dump is the largest in Maputo, and the poor in the area often sift through the refuse looking for food and items they can sell.
Source: BBC News, The Associated Press Former Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a longtime rival of former autocratic leader Robert Mugabe, died Wednesday from colon cancer. He was 65. Tsvangirai, a former labor leader, led the Movement for Democratic Change party for nearly 20 years, challenging Mugabe in elections in 2002 and 2008. In 2008, Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in the first round but withdrew from the runoff after 200 of his supporters had been killed. Tsvangirai became prime minister in a power-sharing deal brokered by South Africa after the disputed 2008 vote, but the agreement limited his ability to oppose Mugabe. Tsvangirai's death came after months of hospitalization in neighboring South Africa, and just three months after Mugabe, who had ruled since independence in 1980, was ousted by the military.
Source: The New York Times Editor's Note: I know everyone knows this guy, and we've been waiting for news of his death. So, it makes absolute sense that The Week magazine is reporting this in their "10 things you need to know today" newsletter. |
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
|