Miami Plane Crash, Butcher of Bosnia, & Blue Traffic Lights

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Adam Rogers
September 08, 2026

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Thousands gathered in Belgrade Monday for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb general convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Mladić received military honors and his coffin was guarded by Serbian armed forces, as reverence for him remains strong among many Serbs despite his life sentence for atrocities during the Bosnian war.
Mladić was convicted in 2017 for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where Bosnian Serb forces killed about 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys. His forces also conducted the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, where more than 10,000 people were killed. He spent 16 years as a fugitive before his arrest in Serbia in 2011.
The ceremony has further strained Serbia's long-stalled effort to join the European Union. The EU's enlargement commissioner canceled an upcoming visit, saying the glorification of Mladić was incompatible with the values expected of countries seeking EU membership.

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany won 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt Sunday, more than doubling its support from five years ago and falling just short of a majority. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right Christian Democrats finished a distant second at 17.2%, losing roughly half their previous support.
The result puts Germany's longstanding refusal to cooperate with AfD under its greatest strain yet. No far-right or right-wing populist party has led a German state government in the postwar era, and AfD would need only three additional lawmakers to secure a majority. Its candidate for governor says the party will approach other parties and individual legislators.
Keeping AfD out of government could require an unusual five-party arrangement spanning the Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Greens, Left Party and BSW. The defeat also increases pressure on Merz, who took office promising to weaken AfD as it became Germany's largest national opposition party.

Federal investigators are examining why an Amazon cargo jet overran a runway at Miami International Airport Sunday and crashed into vehicles, killing at least five people. The Boeing 767 had arrived from San Juan when it crossed a road near the airport.
Video appears to show the plane remaining airborne well down the runway before landing. Aircraft typically touch down within the first 3,000 feet, and pilots are generally expected to abandon a landing that cannot be completed safely. Flight-tracking data indicates the jet was still traveling roughly 129 mph when it left the usable runway.
Investigators will examine the touchdown point, braking, strong winds, and the aircraft's mechanical condition. They will also encounter a safety limitation at Miami: its runways lack arresting beds designed to stop planes that run out of pavement. The FAA says such systems are installed at more than 120 U.S. airports and have helped save at least 497 lives.

New Mexico’s Democratic governor and gubernatorial nominee rejected President Trump’s social media suggestion that the state be renamed “New America.” (More)

The U.S. military says suspicious drone activity along the southern border has dropped about 75% after it deployed a high-energy laser weapon that has downed 11 drones. (More)

Ohio authorities arrested a man carrying two pistols and a taser after he allegedly forced his way through a crowd toward gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton. (More)

IAEA inspectors uncovered about 73 tons of natural uranium concealed behind walls at an undeclared Syrian site, adding to evidence of the Assad government’s secret nuclear program. (More)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, including women and children, amid renewed escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. (More)

North Korea put its second 5,000-ton destroyer into service as Kim Jong Un outlined plans to expand the country’s navy with larger warships and nuclear-capable weapons. (More)

US stock markets closed lower on Friday (S&P -0.38%, Nasdaq -0.29%, Dow -0.51%) after a strong jobs report renewed fears of an interest rate hike. (More)

Japan’s foreign reserves fell a record 6.18% in August to $1.21 trillion, driven largely by government efforts to support the yen and declining bond values. (More)

German rocket maker Isar Aerospace successfully delivered satellites to orbit for the first time and is now scaling production to meet growing demand for European launch capacity. (More)

Coco Gauff advanced to the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since winning the tournament in 2023, defeating fellow American Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4. (More)

The U.S. women narrowly beat Italy 55-52 at the FIBA World Cup, their closest victory during a 32-game tournament winning streak dating to 2006. (More)

Ole Miss opened its season with a 41-38 win over Louisville as Lucas Carneiro hit a 48-yard field goal at the buzzer after the Cardinals rallied to tie the game. (More)

Pancreatic cancer drug daraxonrasib showed promise against hard-to-treat lung cancer, reducing tumors in 31% to 37% of patients across three dosage groups in an early trial. (More)

Researchers traced Antarctica’s unusual 695 billion-ton ice gain from 2021 to 2023 to tropical ocean warming that redirected moisture toward East Antarctica and produced heavy snowfall. (More)

Scientists mapped every neuron in a male fruit fly’s brain, allowing researchers to compare its neural wiring with a previously completed female brain and study differences between the sexes. (More)

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