Hold onto your cosmic hats! We’re gonna do a down-and-dirty overview of three stories that made the news in recent days – the terrorist attack in Moscow on March 22nd that left more than 130 dead; the diminution of Donald Trump’s civil fraud bond on the 25th; and the catastrophic bridge collapse in Baltimore on the 26th. Each deserves a deeper dive, buy hey! I’m only human.
On 18 February 2024, three prisoners escaped from a holding cell at the South St. George Police Station on Grenada, hijacked the yacht of an American couple docked nearby, took them captive, and sailed the vessel to the island of St. Vincent, where the yacht, a catamaran, was found on the 21st, and the prisoners recaptured. The boat showed signs of violence, including what appeared to be bloodstains, but of Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, its owners, there was no sign. Presumably the couple were somehow disposed of at sea by their attackers, and little hope of their recovery has been offered.
On 16 February 2024, the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was announced from the Polar Wolf prison in Kharp, Siberia, Russia, where he had been held since December, following a series of transfers after his incarceration in 2021. Navalny, who can be seen laughing and joking in a video just the day before, reportedly felt unwell after a morning walk, collapsed, and could not be revived.
Navalny had long been a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, organizing and leading the opposition to his despotic rule for over a decade. Putin had tried at least once before to have him killed, using poison, and astrologic factors point to his death being a repeat performance, successful this time. In August 2020 Navalny became violently ill during a flight, losing consciousness and lapsing into a coma; he was medically evacuated to Berlin, where the cause was determined to be Novichok poisoning, a Soviet era neurotoxin. Miraculously, Navalny survived, and despite the risk to his life returned to Russia in January 2021, where he was immediately arrested, and has been in detention ever since, under increasingly harsh conditions, serving a nineteen-year sentence for “extremism.”
On Monday, 5 February 2024, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III of the United Kingdom had been diagnosed with cancer. The 75-year-old monarch had undergone treatment for a benign enlarged prostate on January 26th, and was said to be recovering well. But another area of concern was noted at the time, and has now been confirmed as cancer, though the Palace has thus far not revealed what type of cancer, beyond stating that it does not involve the prostate. The King began outpatient cancer treatment the day his diagnosis was announced.
On Saturday, 29 July 2023, Erin Patterson of Leongatha, Victoria, Australia, invited her estranged husband Simon, his parents Don and Gail, and his mother’s sister Heather and her husband Ian Wilkinson, a local minister, to lunch, sending her two children to the movies. The purpose of the gathering was to try to work through the differences that had separated the couple, with a view to their reconciliation. Simon backed out of the luncheon at the last minute, but the four elders attended, with Reverend Wilkinson attempting to counsel Erin in his absence.
On Sunday, 18 June 2023, the Titan submersible, some 13,000 feet under the waters of the North Atlantic, lost contact with its support vessel on the surface. The craft was carrying a crew of five, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four others who had paid $250,000 apiece for a chance to view the wreckage of the Titanic, part of OceanGate’s underwater tourism service. Last contact came at 9:45 AM local time (11:45 AM UT), and a multi-nation search was instituted after the sub failed to return to the surface at about 3 PM as expected. With an estimated 96 hours of reserve oxygen, by Thursday the 22nd, the operation became one of recovery rather than rescue, as little hope was offered for survivors.
