FLAGS of Pakistan and India (Shutterstock).

Tension between two South Asian nuclear powers is growing as India launched strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack that killed over two dozen people in the disputed province of Kashmir.

According to The New York Times, the Indian government announced it had conducted strikes in nine camps both in Pakistan and on Pakistan’s side of Kashmir, which is claimed by both nations.

Pakistan has not yet made a military response to India’s attacks, but some reaction is expected.

India is largely a Hindu nation, while Pakistan is mostly Muslim. The two nations – which emerged from British-dominate India – have gone to war several times, the last one in 1999.
India claims that Pakistan harbors terrorists; Pakistan complained that India’s attack were a “blatant act of war.”

Voting on a new Pope to begin

POPE FRANCIS with tribal leaders in Canada (Vatican Media).

After two weeks of mourning for the late Pope Francis, a group of Roman Catholic cardinals will start a conclave in Rome on Wednesday to begin the process of choosing the leader of the 1.4-billion member church.

According to The New York Times, members of the conclave are likely divided between those who want the church to continue in the liberal path of Francis, while others long for a return to a more conservative approach.

Among the most controversial issues in the church are the ordination of women to serve as deacons, whether to continue to require celibacy of priests and the church’s stands on homosexuality and contraception.

Ban on trans in military enforceable

A ban of transgender people in the U.S. military can remain in place for a time, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

United Press International reports that the high court decided to allow the decision by the Trump administration to continue in effect while the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

decides an appeal of a ruling of the U.S. District Court for Western Washington State issuing a temporary national injunction against the prohibition ordered by the White House.

An estimated 4,240 members of the U.S. military have “gender dysphoria,” defined as psychological distress” related to gender identity.

Weather: A hot weekend coming

Summer-like conditions are in the forecast for our West Orange County cities with some temperatures approaching the 90s. Wednesday should have a spring-like daytime high of 73 with an overnight low of 56. There should be clouds in the morning and sun in the afternoon. Things will heat up fast after that. Thursday temps are expected to warm to 81 (59) with partly cloudy skies, and Friday will rise higher to 87 (64). Saturday should warm further to 89 (63) with mostly sunny conditions,

Great Thoughts

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
– Steve Martin, actor, writer, musician

“All you need is love, But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
– Charles Schulz, cartoonist and writer

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person back then,”
– Lewis Carroll, writer, artist