A plane’s hijacked. A phone’s cracked. A bill is tossed back. It’s Tuesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
EGYPTAIR HIJACKING
Domestic but not terrorism: A man hijacked an EgyptAir flight, with 81 people on board this morning, not as an act of terrorism … but over his ex-wife. We don’t yet know what Seif El Din Mustafa’s beef is with the former Mrs. Mustafa, but we’re relieved the incident wasn’t an act of terrorism. All the passengers have been released, but some crew members and five foreigners are still on board. So, as they say, it’s not over until it’s over. Read the latest updates here.
APPLE
Thanks for nothing: Seems the Justice Department didn’t need Apple’s help to break into San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook’s iPhone after all. The department said it found an unnamed third party to do the deed. It also dropped its lawsuit against the iPhone maker. So, Apple, perhaps now you can go back to focusing on why your latest update is crashing all our devices? #Oof
CAPITOL LOCKDOWN
D.C. distress: Some scary moments yesterday at the U.S. Capitol, when a man was shot by police when he pulled out what looked like a weapon at the Capitol Visitor Center. The suspect, a 66-year-old man from Tennessee, is in the hospital and will face charges when he gets out. A bystander was also wounded, but she’s going to be OK. The Capitol and White House were both briefly locked down, but thankfully no one else was hurt.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BILL
Under pressure: Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal torpedoed a ‘religious liberty’ bill yesterday with a promised veto, and state lawmakers are ticked off. They’re vowing to override it, but it’s doubtful they have the votes. The bill would have allowed faith-based organizations to deny services to gays. LGBT advocates protested, the state’s growing film industry threatened to leave and the NFL said ‘forget about hosting the Super Bowl.’ But Deal said the pressure had nothing to do with his decision.
CAMPAIGN 2016
Stand down: Headed to the GOP convention in Cleveland? Leave the guns at home. A group of pro-gun activists started a petition calling for weapons to be allowed into the Quicken Loans Arena. After all, Ohio is quite proud to be an open-carry state. But the Secret Service has other ideas: federal law says the guys and gals in the suits and dark glasses can’t allow guns anywhere near where big political big wigs are – you know, the ones who froth at the mouth at gun restrictions. Oh the irony.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Quote of the day:
“That’s what my local law enforcement officers are up to. They’re not out here catching heroin dealers”
N.C. resident James Meyers, speaking out about his arrest for not returning a VHS copy of “Freddy Got Fingered” that he rented back in 2002.
California dreamin’
It’s probably not enough to restart the California gold rush, but the Golden State is poised to became the first in the nation to OK a $15 an hour minimum wage.
Today in facepalm
No better way to spend a pleasant, spring afternoon than by filling a lawn mower with an explosive and shooting it. Whaddya know, it didn’t end well.
Works every time
Billy Dee Williams is back as the pitchman for Colt 45 Malt Liquor. So can we get him to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian in the next “Star Wars” movie?
Not what we were expecting
The remains of the “Siberian unicorn” were found in Kazakhstan. But settle down, cause it was fatter and furrier than the unicorns we’ve all heard about.
AND FINALLY …
Wild things
Animals can do amazing things — especially with a little help from a visual effects wizard.