SEATTLE — Wildfire smoke drifting across the ocean from Siberia to the Pacific Northwest may explain why Seattle has had so many spectacular sunsets recently.
Siberian smoke
means spectacular Seattle sunsets
SEATTLE — Wildfire smoke drifting across the ocean from Siberia to the Pacific Northwest may explain why Seattle has had so many spectacular sunsets recently.
Dozens of wildfires on Russia’s east coast have burned hot enough to lift the smoke high into the air, where it gets caught in the jet stream, scientists say. It’s then carried across the ocean to the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Times reported.
Family fears for pastor abducted in Egypt
BOSTON — The family of a Boston Pentecostal pastor abducted in Egypt on Saturday appealed to his captor to release the 61-year-old man, saying he is a diabetic and the family fears for his health.
The son of Rev. Michel Louis told The Associated Press his father was on a church trip to retrace Jesus’ steps through the Holy Land with 23 other members of the clergy and worshippers when he was abducted. Along with him, a 39-year-old Boston woman in the group and a tour guide were kidnapped in broad daylight Friday.
Jirmy Abu-Masuh, an Egyptian Bedouin, told the AP he was armed when he stopped the bus on a road linking Cairo to Mount Sinai, ordered the three to get off and took them captive. He said they would be released only after police release his uncle from prison, and he vowed to take more hostages of different nationalities if his demands were not met.
Suicide bomber kills 23 at Afghan wedding
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up among guests at a wedding hall Saturday in northern Afghanistan, killing 23 people including a prominent ex-Uzbek warlord turned lawmaker who was the father of the bride.
The attack was the latest to target top figures from the country’s minority groups and dealt a blow to efforts to unify ethnic factions amid growing concerns the country could descend into civil war after foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.
Ahmad Khan Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek who commanded forces fighting the Soviets in the 1980s and later became a member of parliament, was welcoming guests to his daughter’s wedding Saturday morning when the blast ripped through the building in Aybak, the capital of Samangan province.
Three Afghan security force officials also were among those killed. About 60 other people, including government officials, were wounded in the attack.
By wire sources