
AYODHYA, India (Reuters) - A grand temple to Hindu god Lord Ram opens on Monday on a site in India millions believe is his birthplace, in a religious spectacle led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi months before he seeks a rare third term in elections. The construction of the temple is a 35-year-old, central promise of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a contentious political issue that helped catapult the party to prominence and power. Hindu groups are portraying the inauguration ceremony in the northern city of Ayodhya as the peak of Hindu awakening after centuries of subjugation by Muslim and colonial powers. A Delta Airlines Boeing 757 jet taxiing on the runway with 184 passengers on board at Atlanta’s international airport was forced to abort takeoff when a nose wheel fell off and parted ways with the stricken flight. The wheel “came off and rolled down the hill” as the flight was waiting to begin its journey, according to a report from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The plane is 32 years old. Delta confirmed the incident on the plane scheduled to fly from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Bogota, Colombia. Those events come as another blow to Boeing’s name. On Jan. 5 an Alaska Airlines jet had a door plug blow out shortly after takeoff when the plane was at 16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the jet, as Breitbart News reported. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also grounded in Switzerland last Wednesday after his Boeing plane had a “critical failure” due to an oxygen leak. American historian Howard Zinn once said, “If you don’t know history, it’s as if you were born yesterday. If you were born yesterday, then any leader can tell you anything.” The American Museum of Natural History announced Friday that it will immediately close two halls showcasing Native American cultural artifacts in order to comply with updated federal regulations on repatriating indigenous remains and sacred objects to tribes, according to NBC News. The museum is shutting down its Hall of Eastern Woodlands and Hall of the Great Plains, which together contain thousands of items related to Native American tribes. Smaller objects across other galleries will also be removed from public view, according to The New York Times. The American Museum of Natural History is not the only prominent cultural institution moving swiftly to close exhibits and remove indigenous artifacts in order to meet the requirements of recently revised federal repatriation regulations, according to Fox44 News. The revised rules require museums and federal agencies to get tribal consent before displaying Native American human remains and sacred objects. The new regulations give museums five years to return all Native American remains in their collections and also require them to defer to tribes’ oral histories when determining which groups to send sacred cultural patrimony items back to, according to The Times. However, according to NBC, some tribal leaders worry meeting demands could burden communities that are also struggling to identify the origins of items obtained years ago. This makes determining which tribes to consult with difficult. While returning human remains may have merit even after thousands of years, the fact remains that many of these artifacts do not have any personal connection to existing tribes. Instead of allowing these items to be used as teaching tools to educate the next generation, Native American artifacts from The American Museum of Natural History will probably end up in some storage closet for decades while tribes try to decide where they belong and what their purpose used to be. The younger generations could have visited those artifacts to understand and appreciate the people who lived on this land and their cultures. Instead, they will now be greeted with empty shelves and apologies. What a shame. A 7-minute video from Prophecy in the News about China and Taiwan, especially China's disinformation campaign: Religious spectacle to mark opening of Ram temple by India's Modi:
Another Boeing Plane Sees Critical Failure as 757’s Nose Wheel Falls Off Before Takeoff:
Museum of Natural History Closing Native American Exhibits After Biden’s New Rules Kick In: