Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Two Attacks Yesterday With Apparent Terror Connections Leave At Least One Dead
Two attacks with apparent terrorist ties happened yesterday in Virginia and Michigan, leaving at least one person dead. A man previously convicted of trying to support ISIS opened fire in an ROTC class at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia yesterday, killing the instructor and wounding two students before being subdued and killed by the ROTC students in the room. The shooter, 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh of Sterling, Virginia, reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" before shooting. Just a short time later, a man rammed a pickup truck into Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan yesterday afternoon, then exited the vehicle armed with a rifle before being shot and killed by synagogue security. The suspect, identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 2016. The FBI called it a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community and is leading the investigation.
2 US Temporarily Allows Purchases Of Russian Oil Already At Sea
The U.S. has issued a temporary authorization allowing the purchase of Russian oil already loaded on ships at sea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced yesterday. Bessent described it as a short-term, narrowly tailored measure applying only to oil already in transit, not newly extracted Russian crude. About 124 million barrels of Russia-origin oil are currently floating across 30 locations worldwide, representing roughly five to six days of global supply. The move comes as the Iran war has severely disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, sending prices surging. Brent crude closed just above $100 a barrel yesterday after Iran's new supreme leader vowed to keep the Strait closed.
3 New Target Date For Moon Launch Is April 1st
The third time might be the charm. NASA plans to roll its Artemis II moon rocket back out to the launch pad next Thursday evening, setting up a launch attempt as early as April 1st that would send four astronauts on a nine-day trip around the moon. A two-day flight readiness review wrapped up yesterday with all teams voting go, pending completion of some final work. The mission had been targeted for early February but was pushed back twice, first by hydrogen fuel leaks and then by a problem with the upper stage propellant pressurization system that required hauling the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Engineers found and fixed a displaced seal, then also replaced batteries in the rocket's self-destruct system and both stages. The crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The flight will follow a free-return trajectory that will carry them around the far side of the moon and within about 4,100 miles of the lunar surface, making them the farthest humans from Earth in history. NASA must launch by April 6th; if not, the next window will be in May.