Afghanistan suffers Taliban assassination attempt
California State University — The Taliban attacked Afghanistan forces in Kabul and New Delhi, Sunday. Death tolls included eleven police, five civilians and 19 insurgents, reported the New York Times.
The attack succeeded for seven hours until the afternoon when the Afghan Security Forces surrounded and contained the threat.
Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the Afghanistan Directorate of National Security, reported that two Taliban suicide bombers with an armed accomplice were on their way to the home of Mohammad Karim Khalili, Afghanistan’s vice president, for an assassination.
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the attacks are “probably a manifestation that the Taliban still has some strength.”
—The Daily Titan
By Colin Penkoff
Judge rules that 63rd State Senate seat is constitutional, plaintiffs to appeal
Columbia University — A State Supreme Court justice ruled Friday that new district lines crafted by Republicans in the State Senate are constitutional, although he called some of the Republicans’ tactics “disturbing.”
In the case of Cohen v. Cuomo, State Democratic Committee member Daniel Marks Cohen had argued that the Republican majority’s decision to add a 63rd seat to the body was unconstitutional. This new seat would likely be situated upstate, and its addition is widely seen as an attempt by Republicans to solidify their majority in the narrowly divided chamber.
The case was argued Friday and Justice Richard Braun released a decision later that day. Braun wrote in his decision that while Republicans’ use of several different methods this year to determine population growth was “disturbing,” the plaintiffs had failed to meet their burden of proof.
State Senate candidates can begin circulating petitions for the fall primary starting June 5, which means that a decision on the district boundaries needs to be made before then.
—The Columbia Spectator
By Casey Tolan
Saturday’s warm weather helps avoid more tornadoes, forecaster says
University of Oklahoma — Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, Cheryl Sharpe watched the radar as a hail storm became a tornado.
As a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Norman, Sharpe knew exactly what to look for.
“I noticed that (the storm) had developed a hook,” she said. “What had been favorable for hail became a tornado, but storms do that.”
Friday’s tornado that touched down at Interstate 35 near West Lindsey Street was the biproduct of changing wind-flow patterns in an environment suitable to violent storms, she said. After touchdown, what followed was a flurry of activity, Sharpe said.
“We saw the funnel show up on one of the TV stations, and we always have a radio on, and we get phone calls from emergency managers and residents,” Sharpe said. “We have a fair amount of information.”
A forecast calling for violent weather in back-to-back days is not uncommon in the U.S. central plains because of the rate storms move, Sharpe said.
—The Oklahoma Daily
By Chris Miller