Baitullah Mehsud

The suspected killing of Pakistani Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, has caused a feud over who will be the successor.  Pakistani intelligence officials claim that Hakimullah Mehsud was shot in a fight between another Taliban commander.  Earlier today, Hakimullah Mehsud released a statement that Baitullah Mehsud went into hiding after the US drone attacks as a "strategy" and had not been killed.  

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Day 319

Too Many to Choose

There is lots going on in the world today. 

• Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the senate yesterday afternoon and will be the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  
  
• Pakistan's Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, is thought to be killed in an attack which also claimed his wife.
• Filmmaker John Hughes dies at the age of 59. He is a sentimental favorite of mine- Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles will always bring me back to my childhood. 
• More attacks targeting Shiites in Iraq.  Over 36 people reported dead.
• The Cash for Clunkers program gets $2 billion in new funding from Congress.  

Hiroshima Anniversary

Today marks the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  50,000 people gathered at the A-bomb Dome to mark the tragic day.  At the event, the mayor of Hiroshima called for the eradication of nuclear arms by 2020.  

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  was sworn in as President of Iran today.  Opposition leaders boycotted the swearing in ceremony and street protests continue.  

Day 317

Suspected Terror Plot in Australia Foiled

From the New York Times:  

Four men suspected of having links to a radical Islamic group from Somalia were arrested Tuesday for what authorities said was a plot to storm a military base in the Sydney suburbs and shoot as many soldiers as possible.

The men, all Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese descent, were detained when hundreds of police officers swept through 19 houses in Melbourne early Tuesday. The raids were the culmination of a seven-month investigation involving state and federal officials and the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization, the government’s spy agency.

The police said the men, whose ages ranged from 22 to 26, planned to arm themselves with automatic weapons and stage an attack on Holsworthy Barracks, a sprawling military complex set in the scrub lands southwest of Sydney. No date was given for the alleged attack.

The men are thought to be members of Somali terrorist organization Al Shabaab.

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Health Insurance Reform

Day 315

Corazon Aquino- The People Power President

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La Guardia

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Cash For Clunkers

Corazon Aquino

Thousands of Filipinos line up for the viewing of former President Corazon Aquino in Manila.

From the New York Times:
The same reverence for Mrs. Aquino — who served as president for six years after leading the movement to oust Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 — had been evident across the archipelago since Saturday morning, when it was announced that she had died of colon cancer at 76. Yellow ribbons, Mrs. Aquino’s symbol of defiance against Mr. Marcos’s rule 23 years ago, were everywhere Sunday — on arms, trees, lampposts, car antennas and Web sites. Prayers and Masses for the former president were scheduled across the country.

La Guardia Airport Evacuated

La Guardia Airport was evacuated for this morning at approximately 5: 00am after an intoxicated man approached a United Airlines ticket counter in concourse C with what appeared to be a bomb. The man, Scott McGann, 32, had a boarding pass for a flight traveling to O'Hare. The airport was reopened by 11:00am but the incident caused huge delays in weekend travel plans.

I'm in New York for the weekend visiting family. Luckily Boston is only a 4 hour bus ride away. No airports involved.