đź‘‹ Away Message: So we had a little scheduling snafu here at WTF HQ, where both myself and Joe (voice of the pod) double-booked ourselves with personal and professional obligations next week. Oopsie! Not a very great job using a calendar on my part, I guess. On the other hand, it appears the government isn't going to be open for business anyway... Unless something truly WTF-y happens, I'll see you all again on Tuesday, October 10th, because Monday is a holiday (Indigenous Peoples' Day).
In the mean time, try our little news aggregator tool – currentstatus.io – to keep you up-to-date on the daily shock and awe. Thanks for understanding and for being here. I'm going to miss you.
Send your thoughts, suggestions, or complaints to:
[email protected]
Day 80: Complicit.
1/ Two bombs targeting Egyptian churches killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 100. The first attack hit the St. George Church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, north of the Egyptian capital. Hours later a second blast went off in front of St Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria. (NBC News)
2/ ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks on Egyptian Coptic Churches in the deadliest day of violence against Christians in the country in decades. The bombings came at the start of the Holy Week leading to Easter. The Egyptian government has struggled to protect Christians against the Islamic State, which is intent on driving a wedge between the two religions. (New York Times)
3/ The USS Carl Vinson strike group is headed toward the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. The group – an aircraft carrier and three other ships – will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program. (Reuters)
4/ Schiff says Russia is absolutely “complicit” in the Syrian chemical attack. He added “Russian intelligence may not be as good as ours, but it’s good enough to know the Syrians had chemical weapons, were using chemical weapons.” (ABC News)
5/ Trump’s deputy National Security Advisor has been asked to step down. K. T. McFarland lasted less than three months and will become the US ambassador to Singapore. (Bloomberg)
6/ The Trump Administration contradicts itself on regime change in Syria. The secretary of state says there’s no change to US policy, but the U.N. ambassador says there can be no peace with Syrian President Bashar Assad. (Huffington Post)
- McMaster weighs in: The US eager for regime change in Syria. The national security adviser said that while the US would push for regime change in Syria, “We’re not the ones who are going to effect that change.” (Politico)