US Army: Private First Class Cody J. Towse

Private First Class Cody J. Towse, twenty-one of Elk Ridge, Utah, died on May 14.

He and three others were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb, in Sanjaray, Afghanistan.

It was his first tour of duty.

Towse was a Combat Medic assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas.


Among his completed courses were: Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training.

3 Die in Balloon Crash in Turkey

Two hot air balloons collided, in the Cappadocia region of Turkey, on Monday.

One of the balloons came crashing down, killing three and injuring twenty.

From collision to crash took less than a minute, according to witnesses.

More than one hundred balloons were in the air at the time of the collision, leaving authorities investigating if there were too many up at once.

All three of those killed were tourists from Brazil.

Car Bombs Leave 4 Dead 40 Wounded in Dagestan

Two car bombs went off in the Dagestan province of Russia, on Monday.

They left four people dead and forty wounded.

The two explosions happened within minutes of each other, near government buildings in Makhachkala.

Authorities believe they were detonated by remote control.

Over the last year, more than four hundred people have been killed by violence in Dagestan.

Iraq Violence Leaves Another 70 Dead

At least seventy people were killed on Monday, throughout Iraq.

Car and suicide bombers focused on Shiites and police, yet again.

No one is claiming responsibility for the attacks, but it is thought to be the work of Al Qaeda and other Sunni terrorist groups.

Monday's violence brings the death toll over two hundred, since Wednesday.

Fears are increasing that the continued sectarian violence will destabilize the country until another civil war is fought.

51 Dead in Oklahoma After Tornado Goes Through Moore

At least fifty-one people are dead after a very large tornado hit the town of Moore, Oklahoma.

The twister was on the ground for forty minutes, leaving a trail of destruction a mile wide and eleven miles long, through the town.

It had winds around two hundred miles per hour, putting at a category four.

Two elementary schools, a hospital, and several hundred homes were damaged, destroyed, or demolished.

Moore Medical Center (photo by Patrick Cornell)

Twenty of the dead were children at Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Some one hundred and twenty people, including seventy children, have been hospitalized due to their injuries and dozens are still missing.

The National Guard is present, in the area.

It was the second day in a row that the Oklahoma City area had dealt with a deadly tornado.

On Sunday, two were killed when Shawnee took a hit from one.

Throughout both days Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas have dealt with over one hundred tornadoes.

No deaths, injuries, or serious damages have been reported from the other effected areas.

Storms capable of creating more tornadoes will be continuing at least through Tuesday.

Tornadoes Leave Dozens Injured and 1 Dead in Midwest US

Tornadoes have touched down in multiple states as another storm system moves across the US, on Sunday.

Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma reported twisters touching down.

Damage was seen in all of the states, including part of Interstate 40 in Oklahoma.

Dozens have been injured throughout their paths and one person was killed in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Danger from the twisters could last throughout the night and on into Monday morning.

Gunmen Kill 10 Police, Kidnap 5 in Iraq

For the second day in a row police officers have been kidnapped in Iraq.

Gunmen attacked a police station in Rawah, on Sunday evening.

Ten officers were killed and five were taken.

The gunmen also burned a nearby army outpost after chasing the soldiers off.

On Saturday, ten officers were kidnapped from Ramadi.

No one has claimed responsibility for either attack, but it is thought to be the work of Shiite groups.

One Person Killed at Tunisian Protests

Hundreds of people massed in protest in Tunisia, on Sunday.

They were part of Ansar al-Sharia, a group which the government has banned from meeting.

Protesters and police clashed, leaving one dead and dozens injured, including eleven police officers.

Police used teargas to attempt to disperse the massed people, but they refused to leave until officers fired shots into the air.

North Korea Launches 4th Missile

North Korea launched a fourth short range missile, on Sunday.

This followed their launch of three on Saturday.

All of the missiles fell into the Sea of Japan, and nothing was damaged by them.

For months North Korea has threatened to launch one of their mid range Musudan missiles.

The launches may have been a way for them to save face, while still backing down from their threats of using a more dangerous weapon.

Plane Lands Without Landing Gear at Newark

A DeHavilland DHC-8 came in hard, early Saturday morning, at Newark Liberty International Airport. The US Airways plane was flying from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Newark, New Jersey.

As they made ready to land, the pilot realized the landing gear were not engaging. The pilot circled the airport several times, all the while trying to get them to deploy.

When it became clear that they would not come down, the decision was made to go ahead with a belly landing. The pilot safely performed the hard landing and no one aboard was hurt.

The runway was closed for about eight hours, while everything was cleaned up. Both the FAA and NTSB are investigating the incident.