Two U.S. Special Ops Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

Two US service members were killed and another was wounded Thursday while conducting a joint US-Afghan raid in the Achin District of Nangarhar Province, Pentagon spokesman US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told CNN. The operation was targeting ISIS-K, the terror group’s Afghanistan affiliate. A US official told CNN the service members were Special Operations Forces soldiers, adding that the wounded soldier’s injuries are not considered life-threatening. “The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly, it is not without sacrifice,” said Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of US Forces-Afghanistan. “On behalf of all US forces and our coalition partners, I offer our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and fellow service members of our fallen comrades.” Achin District is the primary base of operations for ISIS in Afghanistan and has been the site of multiple joint US-Afghan counterterrorism missions. A US Army Special Forces soldier was killed fighting the terror group there earlier this month. It is also where the US dropped one of its most powerful bombs earlier this month, killing close to 100 ISIS fighters, according to Afghan officials. Nicholson has pledged to eliminate ISIS-K from Afghanistan this year.

A spacecraft hovering between Saturn and its signature rings has successfully sent information back to Earth. The Cassini spacecraft was diving in Wednesday when NASA lost its connection. But the signal came back early Thursday, allowing Cassini to send back pictures of the rings. “No spacecraft has ever been this close to Saturn before,” said Earl Maize, the Cassini program director at NASA. “We could only rely on prediction, based on our experience with Saturn’s other things, of what we thought this gap between the rings and Saturn would be like. I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape.”

Syrian state media claimed Thursday that an Israeli missile strike caused an explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus’s airport. However, Syrian rebel sources told the BBC that the target was an arms depot controlled by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement—an ally of the Assad regime that Israel has consistently targeted in its attempt to prevent Iranian weapons smuggling to the anti-Israel organization. The Israeli government, however, did not confirm it was responsible for the strike.

President Donald Trump has announced that he will not pull the U.S. out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, despite numerous promises to do so. Trump informed the leaders of Mexico and Canada of his decision Wednesday, and the White House later confirmed that the president had “agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time.” The surprise move comes after Trump railed against the trade agreement throughout his campaign and into his presidency, repeatedly vowing to pull the U.S. out of the deal, which he called a “disaster” for American workers. Trump was widely expected to sign an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA on Wednesday. Instead, he has reportedly agreed with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to renegotiate the trade deal to “the benefit of all three countries.” Trump expressed optimism about the plans, saying he thinks a renegotiated deal will “make all three countries stronger and better,” the Associated Press reported.

United Airlines will raise the limit on its payment to customers who are asked to give up their seats on oversold flights to $10,000, the carrier announced Thursday. The rule change came as part of a company report into to a video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat on an overbooked flight from Chicago. The airline has also vowed to increase training for its gate agents and flight attendants and to no longer call on police officials to deal with similar situations. Prior to raising its compensation limit, United’s ceiling on compensation for an overbooked flight was $1,350. Additionally, United said it will send displaced passengers or crew members to nearby airports, book them on a different airline, or arrange for any additional car transportation to help get them to their destination.

“A period life table is based on the mortality experience of a population during a relatively short period of time. Here we present the 2011 period life table for the Social Security area population. For this table, the period life expectancy at a given age is the average remaining number of years expected prior to death for a person at that exact age, born on January 1, using the mortality rates for 2011 over the course of his or her remaining life.”

LBN-R.I.P.:   ***Acclaimed director Jonathan Demme died on Wednesday morning in New York after suffering from esophageal cancer. He was 73. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Demme directed The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won an Academy Award in 1992, as well as dramas like Something Wild, Philadelphia and Beloved. In later years, he directed Anne Hathaway to an Oscar nomination for 2008’s Rachel Getting Married and just two years ago helmed Ricki and the Flash starring Meryl Streep. Demme was also well-known for his dynamic music documentaries, most famously 1984’s Stop Making Sense starring The Talking Heads, but also Neil Young: Heart of Gold in 2006 and most recently Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids.

LBN-VIDEO LINK:  “I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here’s why I left | Megan Phelps-Roper” —- https://youtu.be/bVV2Zk88beY

LBN-SPOTLIGHT: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. —– 

LBN-INVESTIGATES: How Long Does it Take Certain Materials to Decompose?

Cigarette butts and filters take 12 years to biodegrade. An aluminum can takes between 200 to 500 years to biodegrade. Plastic diapers and sanitary pads take between 500-800 years. Styrofoam takes more than 5,000 years. And it would take a glass bottle 1 million years to biodegrade

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  1865 – Steamboat “SS Sultana” explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. Most were paroled Union POWs on their way home.

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW

LBN-MUSIC+FILM COLLISION:  Admidst filming a new movie with Daniel Day Lewis this year, acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson found time to make a brand new music video. Indeed, the wildly talented band HAIM released the first single from their new album today, “Right Now,” as well as the music video, and it’s directed by none other than Anderson. The video isn’t some crazy theatrical or high-concept idea—instead, it highlights the talent of HAIM by showing them tracking the song in a single take, and it’s fantastic. We knew these girls were tremendous musicians, but seeing them perform the song live in the studio is really, really cool, and Anderson captures it beautifully. —-