Massive blasts rock a Chinese city. Jimmy Carter has cancer. And Hillary Clinton and The Donald get good news in Iowa.
It’s Thursday, and here are five things to know for your new day.
CHINA BLAST
Explosive mystery: What caused the massive blasts that killed dozens and decimated a northern Chinese city? No one knows yet, partly because everyone is just coming to grips with the utter destruction the explosions caused. Buildings turned into hollowed out shells. Rows of incinerated cars. Windows broken miles away. And dozens of firefighters are still missing. The blasts ripped through warehouses that stored hazardous chemical materials. Firefighting efforts were suspended because authorities still aren’t sure what “dangerous goods” are stored at the warehouse at the heart of the explosions.
JIMMY CARTER
‘I have cancer’: The former president not only announced his cancer diagnosis, he also said it had spread. Carter, 90, had a “small mass” removed from his liver earlier this month and was told he should make a full recovery. But yesterday, Carter said the cancer was in other parts of his body. Carter’s family has a history of pancreatic cancer. More information on his condition will be released after he gets treatment at Atlanta’s Emory University. Social media was quick to offer up well wishes.
CAMPAIGN 2016
Poll toppers: A day after agreeing to turn over her private email server and falling behind Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton got some good news yesterday: she’s still running strong in Iowa. The first CNN/ORC poll of Democrats in Iowa shows Clinton with a 50% to 31% lead over Sanders. On the GOP side of things, Donald Trump still has a big lead in the state, despite all the Megyn Kelly “blood” comment drama. The poll says Trump tops the 17-person field with 22% support among Iowa Republicans.
TURKEY-SYRIA
War’s new phase: Yesterday the U.S. launched manned airstrikes from a base in Turkey against ISIS in Syria for the first time. The U.S. has long wanted to use Turkish bases in the battle against ISIS because it would shorten flight times for fighter jets. Turkey had resisted such an arrangement in part because the U.S. is working with Kurdish fighters also battling the Islamist extremist group. As recently as last year, Turkey called the Kurdish fighters “terrorists.”
ISIS
Brutal beheading: Yet another one by ISIS. This time, images posted online seem to show the killing of a Croatian national who had been kidnapped back in July near Cairo, Egypt. There was no immediate or definitive proof the man had been killed. Still, the image and a video released days ago threatening just such a horrific act had many fearing the worst.