Important Takeaways:
- A Ukrainian official has taken credit for the assassination of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russia’s chemical, biological and radiation defense forces, and his assistant, who were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday.
- Russia’s Investigative Committee said the explosive device was placed in a scooter near a residential apartment block on Ryazansky Avenue and triggered remotely, according to The Associated Press. The bombing came one day after Ukrainian Security Services charged Kirillov with crimes.
- The bomb had the power of roughly 300 grams of TNT, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
- Kirillov was charged by the SBU on Monday with using banned chemical weapons on the battlefield. Several countries had also placed him under sanctions for his role in the war against Ukraine, The AP reported.
- The SBU said it has recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons during Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which began in Feb. 2022.
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Important Takeaways:
- The U.S. Embassy reportedly suffered severe damage during a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu near Australia.
- Video circulating on social media showed “buckled windows and collapsed concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital, including the U.S., British, French and New Zealand embassies.”
- A spokesperson for New Zealand’s foreign ministry said in a statement the country’s “High Commission building, which is co-located with the United States, the French and the United Kingdom, has sustained significant damage.”
- Vanuatu had been a colony of the British and the French until 1980 when it gained independence and became an independent republic.
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Important Takeaways:
- A staggering poll from Emerson College suggests that more young Americans believe that Luigi Mangione’s assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was acceptable than don’t.
- According to the survey of 1,000 registered voters, 41% of 18 t0 29-year-olds believe that the murder of Thompson was either somewhat or completely acceptable, with 24% falling into the former and 17% falling into the latter categories. Thirty-three percent of that same cohort believes that the murder was completely unacceptable, and an additional 7% believes it was somewhat unacceptable.
- Nineteen percent professed to be “neutral” on the question.
- The 18-29 grouping was the only age demographic in which a plurality deemed the assassination acceptable. In every other one, a majority said that it was unacceptable.
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Important Takeaways:
- The rising cost of living, particularly in housing and groceries, is pushing more families in Washington state to seek assistance from food banks.
- According to Robert Ojeda of Food Lifeline, the largest hunger relief organization in the state, food insecurity affects about 25% of Washingtonians, meaning one in four residents is struggling to access enough food.
- Last year, these visits totaled 8 million, resulting in the distribution of 72 million pounds of food through 300 food banks and partner organizations.
- Ojeda noted that the demand is expected to grow, with visits projected to increase from 8 million to 10 million year over year. As more families rely on food banks, Ojeda is calling on the community for support during the season of giving
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Important Takeaways:
- Thousands are feared dead after an island in the Indian Ocean was hit by a devastating cyclone which carried 163mph winds and left a trail of destruction likened to the aftermath of a nuclear war.
- Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte, France’s poorest region, over the weekend, and has been considered the most violent that the island has experienced in almost a century.
- Chido’s dizzying winds tore through the archipelago and left buildings heavily damaged, vehicles destroyed, and the main airport and hospital completely wrecked.
- Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local TV: ‘I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand, even thousands… given the violence of this event.’
- However, he said it was currently ‘extremely difficult’ to get an exact number.
- The Interior Ministry echoed these concerns, saying it could not confirm any figures at this stage, as a Mayotte local explained: ‘What we are experiencing is a tragedy, it feels like the day after a nuclear war. I saw an entire neighborhood disappear.’
- French civil security spokesperson Alexandre Jouassard told the France 2 news channel: ‘The next minutes and hours are very important.
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Important Takeaways:
- So far this month, we’ve had a sizable earthquake hitting Northern California, another notable one hitting Alaska and, now, nine different U.S. states getting hit by ones at the same time.
- This weekend, nine different U.S. states – including California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Kansas, Alaska, New Mexico and Washington – were hit by earthquakes at the same time.
- Thankfully, none of the earthquakes that hit this weekend were big enough to do damage. They were all in the 3.0 to 4.0 magnitude range, according to reports.
- “When looking at earthquake data over the past 30 days, next to California, earthquakes seemed to strike most frequently in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Texas and Oklahoma,” Newsweek added.
- “Over the past week, the strongest earthquakes have struck California and Nevada. As for the earthquakes that hit Friday morning, they likely weren’t strong enough to cause any damage.”
- Still, stay safe out there, everyone. Make sure you have a plan in place if an earthquake hits.
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Important Takeaways:
- ‘Colossal’ explosions have filled the skies in Syria as Israeli strikes are said to have targeted military sites in the ‘the heaviest strikes’ in the area for more than a decade – with blasts which registered on earthquake sensors.
- A war monitor group said that Israeli strikes had targeted military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartus region.
- ‘Israeli warplanes launched strikes’ targeting a series of sites including air defense units and ‘surface-to-surface missile depots’, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in what it said were ‘the heaviest strikes in Syria’s coastal region since the start of strikes in 2012’.
- It has been claimed that the explosion was so large, it measured as a magnitude 3.0 on seismic sensors.
- Tartus has been the location of one of Russia’s two military bases in Syria and was used as a naval base, as well as an ammunition depot.
- The huge explosion, as well as secondary explosions, may indicate the presence of a large volume of stored armaments.
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Important Takeaways:
- The cross that sits high on a hill has brought a sense of hope to the community of Pepperdine University, which saw thousands of acres burned, Fox Weather reported Friday.
- The school shared video footage on Wednesday of the cross that stood unscathed as it looked out over the scorched hillsides:
- “Somehow He spared it, as if He wanted us to have something tangible to hold onto to help us through the difficulty we just went through,” Pepperdine University said.
- Breitbart News reported Tuesday that the Franklin Fire had prompted evacuations and cancelled classes at the school. One resident in Malibu said when he realized the fire was getting closer to his home, he grabbed whatever he could and left to find safety.
- Weather conditions helped fire crews gain the upper hand with the blaze on Friday, KTLA reported. However, the fire burned 4,037 acres, destroyed 19 structures, and damaged 19 others.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the tornado in Scotts Valley on Saturday caused several flipped vehicles, fallen trees, and multiple injuries due to the heavy winds and rain. It hit the city, which is about 6 miles from Santa Cruz, just before 2 p.m.
- According to the National Weather Service Bay Area, the EF-1 tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph. The agency said that power poles were included in the damage.
- “Everything was being blown that way. Cars were suddenly moving,” witness Ben Hughes told KGO. “You could see the traffic lights leave the poles.”
- “It was a miracle no one was killed in this event,” Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm said to the news station on Sunday. “I feel like we dodged a bullet on this one, in terms of injuries and no fatalities.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Key U.S. air bases in Japan and elsewhere in the region until recently were safe havens from enemy attack and provided rapid power projection with airstrikes for more than three decades, the report by the Stimson Center said.
- “That sanctuary age has now ended, and nowhere more than in the Indo-Pacific,” the report warns. “China has invested heavily in building a large and sophisticated arsenal of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles that can reach U.S. bases across the region.”
- Chinese military strategists view American air power as weakest in forward air bases and, in particular, they understand that runways cratered from missile strikes would prevent warplanes and support aircraft from taking off and landing during critical time periods in a conflict. The report concludes that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) precision missile strikes on runways and taxiways in the region would allow the Chinese military to gain air superiority, a key advantage in war.
- The Air Force has adopted a new operating strategy called agile combat employment the seeks to disperse forces from main operating bases “for survival.”
- “We then quickly reaggregate our forces for lethality, in the time and place of our choosing, and deliver effects,” Gen. Schneider said. Adm. Sam Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has said delaying a rapid Chinese attack on Taiwan is a key priority.
- He has adopted what is called a “hellscape” strategy of using thousands of uncrewed weapons — both aerial and maritime — to delay Chinese forces until reinforcements arrive.
- “Above all, American political and military leaders — as well as the American public — should be under no illusions: there will be no refuge or rest from the long reach of Chinese missiles for U.S. air bases in a war,” the report said.
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