Searching for suspects. Ripping the rivals. Scouting the skies. It’s Thursday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Turkey terror attack
Turkish forces raided neighborhoods in Istanbul and detained 13 people this morning, as authorities worked to find out who was behind the attack at Istanbul’s airport that left 42 people dead. Turkish officials have pointed to ISIS, but no terror group has claimed responsibility for the gun-and-bomb attack, and authorities haven’t yet shared what they know about the attackers, other than saying they were “foreign.” Tales of survival have emerged, including one from a pair of newlyweds who hid in a small kitchen during the attack, quietly videotaping a goodbye on a cell phone.
2. Campaign 2016
Remember the first GOP presidential debate? The one where the candidates were asked if they would not pledge to support the eventual nominee, and only Donald Trump raised his hand? Talk about a role reversal. Trump’s the soon-to-be nominee, very few of his presidential rivals have pledged their support, and boy is he ticked off about it. The Donald ripped into them — them being Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, among others — saying they shouldn’t be allowed to run for public office again.
3. N.C. bathroom law
The NBA wants North Carolina to change its controversial “bathroom” law, which makes people use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender at birth. So it’s bringing in the big guns, or rather, one big gun: the greatest to ever play the game of basketball — Michael Jordan. He now owns the Charlotte Hornets. The league’s under a lot of pressure from LGBT advocates to move its All-Star game out of Charlotte next year because of the law, so Jordan is reportedly talking to lawmakers about making some changes. Whatever comes out of this probably won’t be enough for the law’s most vocal opponents. They just want it gone.
4. EgyptAir 804 crash
Finally, some clues. There definitely was smoke and fire on EgyptAir Flight 804 before it fell into the Mediterranean back in May. Egyptian authorities said yesterday they learned that from the plane’s flight data recorder. The wreckage also showed “signs of high temperature damage and soot.” Is that evidence of a bomb onboard? Too soon to tell, investigators say, but it gets us closer to solving the mystery of why the plane, carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members, crashed into the sea.
5. Rio Olympics
It’s been a hell of a run-up to the Summer Games in Rio: security concerns, financial shortfalls, political turmoil, torch troubles, Zika. Now add mutilated body parts to the mix. A dismembered foot and another body part washed up on shore yesterday, right in front of the Olympic Beach Volleyball Arena on Rio’s famed Copacabana beach. Just one more black eye for Rio, a little more than a month before the Games begin.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Look to the skies
Today’s Asteroid Day! No better day to sit around and contemplate just what an “Armageddon”-style, extinction-level event here on Earth would be like. Enjoy!
Today in facepalm
Wait, a trailer for a movie named “Sausage Party” is not appropriate for a bunch of kids waiting to see “Finding Dory?” Who’d a thunk it?
So this means yoga pants?
Citing an “important cultural shift,” the good folks who run the Miss Teen USA contest are dumping the swimsuit competition in favor of athletic wear.
#GetUndressedAndGoToWork
Workers in Belarus are getting naked at work, because their president told them so — or at least that’s what they thought he said.
Lottery alert!
Mega Millions’ jackpot stands at $415 million, third largest in its history. Next drawing is Friday, plenty of time to blow the kids’ college fund on a few tickets.
Number of the day
1.4 million
The number of vehicles Toyota is recalling due to problems with exploding airbags. Sounds like this is one recall you shouldn’t ignore.