Good News Out of Syria and Olympians Getting Robbed

PNUT GALLERY

Star Wars fans around the galaxy are remembering Kenny Baker, the British actor who played R2-D2. Baker passed away at age 81. May the Force be with him.

 IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

Thousands Of Hostages Freed In Manbij

It’s a rare treat when we can report good news as tremendous as this, so let’s revel in it together: more than 2,000 hostages were freed from ISIS this weekend, thanks to allied Arab and Kurdish forces who took back the former ISIS stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria. That’s 2,000 people who will hopefully never serve as slaves or human shields again. A spokesman for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said they had taken over the city after the last ISIS militants fled on Friday, just in time for a party! Since then, social media has been flooded with uplifting images of the 2,000 people celebrating, embracing, even crying tears of joy as they reunite with loved ones.

What’s next for everyone involved?

Kurdish forces don’t seem to be slowing down. In Iraq, they captured several villages near Mosul from ISIS. That’s an important target, since Mosul is the last major city the militants hold in the country. As for the civilians who were rescued, it’s not exactly a “happily ever after” moment. Russian and Syrian jets continue to attack rebel positions in and around Aleppo, making it difficult for aid to reach Manbij. Despite Russia’s promise of a three-hour daily break from airstrikes so that aid can flow into the region, there has been no letup in the violence.

In Pictures: Syrian civilians celebrating their escape from ISIS

Milwaukee Reeling From A Garbage Weekend

It all started Saturday afternoon when a routine pull-over led to a foot chase between two police officers and two occupants of the stopped vehicle. That led to an officer shooting and killing a 23-year-old man who was reportedly armed with a handgun. That led to protests turning violent, several burned down shops and protestors throwing rocks at police. That led to one officer injured and three protesters arrested. Authorities are begging citizens to help in restoring calm in the city, which will hopefully lead to city officials devising a plan to move forward. Until then, Governor Scott Walker deployed the National Guard.

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

#BrazilNuts: Winners And Robbers

Usually when commentators say an athlete was robbed, they don’t mean that literally. While six-time gold medalist Ryan Lochte wasn’t robbed of any medals, he and three other Olympic swimmers were held up at gunpoint in Rio on Sunday morning. While in a taxi, the men were stopped by people posing as police officers who demanded the athletes’ money and personal belongings. Meanwhile, Michael Phelps closed out the swimming events at Rio 2016 and said goodbye in the most Phelps way possible: with another gold medal. By helping the USA win the 4x100m medley relay on Saturday, the most decorated Olympian of all time brought his tally to 28 Olympic medals, 23 of which are gold.

Boko Haram Wants To Rebrand

The Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram released a new video, showing roughly 50 of the 200 school girls they kidnapped from Chibok in 2014. In the video, Boko Haram reiterates that they’ll only release the Chibok girls if the Nigerian government agrees to release captured fighters in exchange. The timing of this video may be part of Boko Haram’s latest attempt to rebrand and market itself. There was recently a split within the terrorist group, with one faction maintaining that it is the true regional branch of ISIS. The video indicates that the other faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, is actually the one holding the Chibok girls, giving them more bargaining power than originally thought. The video also tries to rally public sympathy for their cause, arguing that the government is to blame for the death of many of the kidnapped girls, as they were present during airstrikes and other military campaigns. Overall the video is a poorly executed recruitment promo, starring 50 people who never wanted to join.

Castro: It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To

You’re never too old for drama on your birthday. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro thought he’d treat himself to a shade-throwing party in honor of his 90th birthday. In a lengthy letter published on state media, Castro thanked his fans for the birthday wishes and criticized US President Barack Obama for not even sending a card. He also criticized Obama for failing to apologize to the Japanese people during a May trip to Hiroshima. Castro celebrated with music, fireworks and a gala in his honor, where he sat with his brother, President Raul Castro, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It was so kind of Maduro to take time from his busy schedule watching his country descend into chaos just to attend a birthday party in Cuba. That’s how you know who your true friends are.

KEEPING OUR EYE ON 

New York: NYPD is searching for the gunman who killed a Muslim imam and his associate as they left a mosque in Queens. News of the popular cleric’s death, who was wearing religious signifiers at the time of his attack, has made the Muslim community fearful of increased hate crimes.

Switzerland: A Swiss man attempted to derail a train by stabbing passengers and setting the train on fire. The knife attacker was killed, but not before killing one woman and injuring five others.

HEI: A data breach at 20 US hotels operated by HEI may have divulged payment card data from tens of thousands of food, drink and other transactions. This includes transactions in the thousands of hotels for Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt and Intercontinental.

 LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

Everyone Feels Safer Knowing TSA Is Cool With Monkeys

A monkey managed to pass TSA inspection and board his plane in Ohio without any problems, but the rest of us still have to take off our shoes. Once the flight took off, however, the monkey did run into a few problems. During his flight, an airline attendant noticed the monkey popping out of his owner’s shirt and called police to meet the owner at the gate. Frontier Airlines accused the owner of smuggling the monkey onto the flight, but security footage showed that TSA knowingly let the animal through inspection. TSA is cool with monkeys, just not shoes.