“Security” idiocy: US-to-Spain flight diverted over Bluetooth device name

Source: New York Post

“A Spain-bound United Airlines flight out of Newark turned around mid-flight on Saturday because a teenager named his Fitbit ‘bomb’ and it popped up on available Bluetooth devices, officials and sources said. The plane took off from Newark Liberty International Airport at about 6 p.m., but landed back at Newark by roughly 9:30 p.m after security was flagged to inspect a suspicious Bluetooth device onboard that showed up as ‘bomb,’ sources told The Post. The flight was turned around and landed back in Newark late Saturday after passengers were directed to turn off their devices and the alarming name remained online. It was later determined that the device was a name for a Fitbit owned by a 16-year-old on board.” [editor’s note: Obviously, even if a real bomber was going to use Bluetooth to control a real bomb, the device name would be “ThisDeviceIsTotallyNotABomb” – TLK] (05/31/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/05/31/us-news/united-airlines-flight-diverts-back-to-newark-after-bluetooth-devices-name-sparks-security-scare/

Libertarian National Committee Votes to Disaffiliate New Hampshire Affiliate

Source: Independent Political Report

“The Libertarian National Committee has voted to disaffiliate the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, making one of the newly seated committee’s first acts a break with an affiliate that had become a serious point of controversy inside the national party. … A recording of the meeting, though sometimes hard to hear, shows national committee members referencing the New Hampshire affiliate’s public endorsement of Donald Trump during the 2024 election, its criticism of Libertarian candidates, and what the national party called a repeated promotion of ‘anti-libertarian positions’ at the national level. … The affiliate argues that the LNC acted without notice and without its representatives present, as well as without evidence that its current leadership violated party bylaws or libertarian principles.” (05/29/26)

https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2026/05/libertarian-national-committee-votes-to-disaffiliate-new-hampshire-affiliate/

Ukraine war: Ukrainian forces hit Russian energy targets, deny striking nuclear plant in occupied territory

Source: US News & World Report

“Ukraine launched fresh strikes on Russian energy sites overnight into Sunday, Russian authorities and media reported, while Kyiv denied Russian claims that a Ukrainian drone struck a key Kremlin-occupied nuclear plant. Drone debris set fire to a fuel storage facility in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, Gov. Yuriy Slyusar reported on Telegram on Sunday. He said residents of nearby homes were evacuated. The drones also damaged civilian infrastructure in Saratov province, also in southwestern Russia, according to Gov. Roman Busargin. Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the regional capital, Saratov. … Meanwhile, Kyiv denied Russia’s claims that a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest in Ukraine and Europe.” (05/31/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-05-31/ukraine-hits-russian-energy-targets-and-denies-striking-kremlin-occupied-nuclear-plant

Trial: Daily pill nearly doubled survival time for people with advanced pancreatic cancer

Source: Times of Israel [Jerusalem]

“A novel pill helped people with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer, researchers report, raising hopes of long-needed better treatments for one of the deadliest types of cancer. ‘While not curing the cancer, it is a very large step forward,’ says Dr. Zev Wainberg, of the University of California, Los Angeles, who helped lead the study. The drug is called daraxonrasib and it blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases — a target that had eluded treatment for decades. The daily pills nearly doubled survival time, with fewer severe side effects, in a study that randomly assigned the experimental drug or more chemotherapy to 500 patients whose metastatic, or spreading, cancer had quit responding to prior treatment. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.” (05/31/26)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/daily-pill-nearly-doubled-survival-time-for-people-with-advanced-pancreatic-cancer-trial-shows/

Israel: Netanyahu vows to expand occupation of Lebanon after deepest incursion in 26 years

Source: NBC News

“Israeli forces have captured a strategic site in Lebanon across the Litani River, marking Israel’s deepest incursion into the country in 26 years. The capture of Beaufort Ridge, the site of a medieval castle, comes after days of intense fighting in southern Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Sunday the seizure marks a ‘dramatic change’ in Israeli strategy. … ‘My instruction is to deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah’s control,’ he added. ‘The occupation of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic change in the policy that we are leading.'” (05/31/26)

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/lebanon/israel-captures-key-lebanon-site-crossing-litani-river-rcna347732

WHO confirms five patients have recovered from rare type of Ebola that has killed over 200 in the Congo

Source: New York Post

“Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola, the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday during a visit to eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak. ‘Four people will be discharged today and there was one that was discharged the day before yesterday,’ WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the opening of a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the provinical capital of Ituri. ‘Of course, we’re still working on vaccines and treatments but that doesn’t mean that people cannot recover from Ebola,’ he added. … The health organization said latest official figures showed 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan Health Ministry said Friday.” (05/31/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/05/31/world-news/who-confirms-5-patients-have-recovered-from-rare-type-of-ebola-that-has-killed-over-200-in-the-congo/

Trump says he’ll appear himself after performers drop out of “Great American State Fair”

Source: Reuters

“U.S. President Donald Trump will headline an event commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall next ​month, organizers said on Saturday, after several musical performers scheduled to appear in ‌the celebration canceled, citing concerns about its association with him. The concerts were planned as the opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event running from June 25 to July ​10, 2026. … the musical ​lineup has been hit by a series of cancellations. On Friday, Bret Michaels, the lead ​singer of the rock band Poison, became the fifth performer to withdraw from the concerts, saying that the event was not the nonpartisan celebration that he thought it would be. … ‘The fact is that I am, according to many, ​the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World,’ Trump wrote.” (05/30/26)

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-considers-dropping-concerts-us-capital-after-artists-drop-out-2026-05-30/

ME: Platner’s wife “angry, disappointed” her past disclosures of his extramarital sexting were made public

Source: NBC News

“The wife of Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, said she is ‘really angry’ about reports that she had previously told her husband’s campaign he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women. ‘It makes me really angry, disappointed,’ Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, said in a direct-to-camera video released by Platner’s campaign on Saturday night. ‘And I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on.’ Gertner’s remarks came after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Gertner had told Platner’s campaign about the sexually explicit texts last year, near the start of his Senate bid.” (05/31/26)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/graham-platner-wife-amy-gertner-disclosed-extramarital-sexting-rcna347737

WA: Eleven confirmed dead in chemical accident

Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]

“The death toll from a chemical tank rupture in the U.S. state of Washington climbed to 11 ‌as crews recovered the bodies of all nine missing people, authorities said on Saturday. Two fatalities had been ​confirmed after the tank ​containing ‘white liquor’ — a chemical solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used ​in making paper pulp — imploded ⁠at a ⁠Nippon Dynawave Packaging ‌facility on Tuesday. … The ruptured tank contained about 3.4 million litres of white liquor, and ​tests confirmed that contamination entered the nearby Columbia River, ⁠officials have said, although no ‘negative health impacts’ ⁠had been detected on air quality or ⁠the ⁠city of ​Longview’s drinking water.” (05/31/26)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/washington-state-chemical-accident-9.7218298

Secretly filmed UFO doc reveals insider video as officials release new alien records

Source: Fox News

“A new, secretly filmed documentary profiling one of the most prominent names in the UFO disclosure movement has crash-landed at the height of the federal government’s release of unclassified documents pertaining to otherworldly encounters. ‘Sleeping Dog,’ directed by Michael Lazovsky, follows prominent investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell throughout his decades-long efforts regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) transparency. Corbell has served as a key figure in the disclosure movement by platforming UAP whistleblowers and facilitating Congressional hearings to bring attention to the topic, with the documentary focusing primarily on his efforts to implore federal officials to release classified information regarding UFOs to the American public. … The documentary — which was filmed in secret over the span of several years — also reveals previously unreleased footage from Corbell’s investigations and includes interviews from several prominent names in the movement, including astronaut Edgar Mitchell, David Grusch and George Knapp.” (05/31/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/us/secretly-filmed-ufo-doc-reveals-insider-video-officials-release-new-alien-records-something-imminent