Barbara Bush dies at 92 Barbara Bush the

Barbara Bush dies at 92

Barbara Bush, the matriarch of a Republican political dynasty and a first lady who elevated the cause of literacy and promoted women's rights, died Tuesday in her Houston home of complications from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD is a type of lung disease characterized by long -term breathing problems and poor airflow. She was 92. Only the second woman in American history to have had a husband a son elected President (Abigail Adams was the first), Bush was seen as a plainspoken public figure who was instantly recognizable with her signature white hair and pearl necklaces and earrings. She became a major political figure as her husband, George H. W. Bush, rose to become vice president and president. After they left the White House, she was a potent spokeswoman for two of her sons -- George W. and Jeb -- as they campaigned for office. In 2001, when George W. Bush took office, Barbara Bush became the only woman in American history to live to see her husband son elected president. Among the flood of tributes pouring in, perhaps the most poignant came from her family, including former first lady Laura Bush, who tweeted, "The world is poorer without her in it. "

In Other News n n For 20 minutes, the Southwest Airlines jet was a normal flight from New York City to Dallas with 149 people aboard. The plane was flying at 32, 500 feet Tuesday morning as passengers settled in for the three-hour flight. Suddenly, the alarms blared in the cockpit as what sounded like explosions boomed from the left side of the plane. Oxygen masks swiftly dangled from the ceiling. What followed was a terrifying sequence of events that ended with one woman dead, seven people injured an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. Something in the engine broke apart midair and burst through the window, passengers said. The shattered window partially sucked a woman out of the plane as passengers struggled to pull her back in. The National Transportation Safety Board said a preliminary look at the engine shows one of its 24 fan blades was missing. A first look showed evidence of metal fatigue where the blade attached to a hub. The plane took a steep dive after the engine failure, dropping from 31, 684 to 10, 000 feet over five minutes before the pilot regained control. Jennifer Riordan, the woman sucked half way out of the shattered window, died at a Philadelphia hospital after the plane made an emergency landing. CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret trip to North Korea a few weeks ago and met with Kim Jong Un. Pompeo reportedly was laying the groundwork for direct talks between Kim, the reclusive nation's brutal dictator, and President Trump. That meeting -- planned for late May or early June -would be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader. More than 200 child soldiers in South Sudan were freed in a special "laying down of arms" ceremony organized by UNICEF. Some of the children were as young as 14. UNICEF hopes to release a thousand more in coming months. The UN agency has freed 500 child soldiers this year. But the work is far from done. Thousands of children have been forced to take up arms in the oil-rich country, which has been in a civil conflict for five years. An estimated 19, 000 children serve in the armed forces and other groups in South Sudan. Starbucks says it will close its 8, 000 company-owned stores in the United States for one afternoon to educate employees about racial bias.