This morning Pope Leo XIV met Bob Dylan
📸: Vatican Media
— @CatholicSat Nov 4, 2026
Category: Articles and Tweets
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ᴠ ɪ ɴ ᴛ ᴀ ɢ ᴇ ᴍ ᴏ ᴏ ᴅ
This is the Pacific in 1969. Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, a few young sailors on the USS Hornet take a rare break from the tension at sea. They’re just catching some sun, but the helicopters on deck are a constant reminder of where they are. It’s these brief, normal moments from another era that really stay with you. The friendships, the quiet afternoons, the heavy reality just out of frame. They were so far from home, caught up in a massive moment in history.
Photograph by Lynn Pelham for LIFE, 1969.
— @ThatOtherJJ Nov 4, 2026
🇺🇸 Today, I had the privilege and the joy of accompanying #BobDylan to meet Pope Leo, together with Andrea Monda. It was hard not to feel the emotion of being part of an encounter that had a real sense of history about it, with the feeling that, at every step through the Apostolic Palace, absolutely anything could happen! Carlo Feltrinelli and Susan Pullman were also with us. On July 31, Pope Leo had met with Patti Smith. I’m writing about it in L’Osservatore Romano.
🇮🇹 Oggi ho accompagnato #BobDylan da Papa Leone insieme ad Andrea Monda. Non senza l’emozione di vivere un incontro che ha il sapore della storia e la sensazione che, ad ogni passo nel Palazzo apostolico, sarebbe potuta accadere qualunque cosa! Con noi Carlo Feltrinelli, e Susan Pullman. Il 31 luglio Leone aveva incontrato Patti Smith. Ne scrivo sull’Osservatore Romano.
— @antoniospadaro Nov 4, 2026
RT @sarasufi20: وعندما رأى السلطان عبد الحميد الثاني وجه مصطفى كمال من النافذة، سأل مرافقه قائلًا:
«مَن هذا؟»
فقال له مرافقه:
«مصطفى كما…
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Nov 4, 2026
Trump ‘paralyzed’ by fury as he hides in private residence and refuses to see anyone
— @DailyMail Nov 4, 2026
Plainclothes KGB officers arrested Adolf Tolkachev in June 1985.
Tolkachev was an avionics engineer who volunteered to spy for the CIA in 1977. The Agency initially ignored his approaches, believing him to be a Soviet ‘dangle’, a common tactic to bait case officers into revealing themselves. Ultimately Tolkachev proved himself and a relationship began that would be incredibly valuable to the US government. The first face to face meeting with Tolkachev, after months of deliberation, was considered by CIA to be a watershed event.
For seven years Tolkachev provided insights into Soviet research and development programs, including stealth technology, that led to him being known as the ‘Billion-Dollar Spy’ for the value of his intelligence. He conducted at least 25 high-risk, high-stakes personal meetings with different case officers over the years.
Tolkachev was paid well for his efforts but explained via clandestine letters to his CIA handlers that he was a dissident who had fallen in love with the idea of America, though he had never seen it himself. He discussed the possibility of donating some of his remuneration to Soviet dissident groups, since he had no plans for a grand lifestyle.
Tolkachev was ultimately betrayed by Aldrich Ames, a turncoat CIA employee in the Soviet division who in a single day turned over the names of every CIA asset in the Soviet Union.
In the photo you can see the KGB officers put their hands over Tolkachev’s mouth to prevent him from swallowing a poison pill. He had been issued one by the CIA but left it at home that day. After months of harsh interrogation, he was given a one-day trial, found guilty, and executed all on the same day.
For episode 11 of the Spycraft 101 podcast I spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning author David E. Hoffman about his book “The Billion Dollar Spy”, the definitive work on Tolkachev’s incredible story. The episode is available now.
#kgb #coldwar #cia #ussr #soviet
— @spycraft101 Nov 4, 2026
BREAKING:
🇮🇱 Benjamin Netanyahu officially loses majority in Israel’s election and failed to form a government
— @Megatron_ron Nov 4, 2026
🇮🇱 Netanyahu loses his majority as Israel certifies election results
Israel’s Central Elections Committee has certified the October 27 election, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc with 53 of 120 seats, eight short of a majority and down from 64 in 2022.
The opposition bloc led by former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats, while Arab-led parties took a record 19, so neither bloc can form a government alone.
The committee said it found no evidence of fraud, a blow to Netanyahu’s camp. Likud had claimed, without evidence, that Arab-led parties “stole” the election with Qatari money, which Qatar rejects. Likud abstained from the certification, and Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party opposed it.
President Isaac Herzog has now begun talks on who should form the next government, and Eisenkot reportedly looks set to get the first shot. He would hold a 67-seat majority with the Arab-led parties, but has previously ruled out a coalition with them.
— @DD_Geopolitics Nov 4, 2026
The lying-in-state of Pope Pius XII in October 1958, whose funeral proceedings became infamous due to a disastrous experimental embalming method….
Pope Pius XII’s personal physician, Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi (who was an ophthalmologist rather than a trained mortician), attempted a non-invasive, “aromatic osmosis” method. Instead of traditional arterial embalming and the removal of internal organs, the body was treated with oils, resins, and wrapped tightly in cellophane or plastic sheets.
. . . .
Pius XII died on October 9, 1958, at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome. He had led the Catholic Church since 1939, through all of World War II.
His personal physician, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, convinced the Vatican to let him use a new embalming method he had developed. Instead of the traditional process, the body was wrapped in cellophane with herbs, oils and resins, an approach he claimed was inspired by ancient techniques.
Because internal organs and fluids were left intact inside an airtight, warm environment, bacteria proliferated rapidly. The technique failed badly….
During the hot October transfer from Castel Gandolfo to Rome and the subsequent viewing, the body severely discolored, swelled, and emitted a powerful putrid odor. Swiss Guards had to rotate shifts every few minutes due to the fumes, and a wax mask was eventually used to help cover his face.
Rumors and contemporary accounts spread that built-up gases caused the body to rupture or leak during the ceremonies. Dr. Galeazzi-Lisi was subsequently disgraced, dismissed from his position, and banned from Vatican City for life after attempting to sell photographs and details of the pope’s final hours to the press.
The pope was buried in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica on October 13.
Galeazzi-Lisi caused another scandal around the same time. He secretly took photos of the dying pope and tried to sell them to the press. He was banned from the Vatican and expelled from Italy’s medical association.
— @Dr_TheHistories Nov 4, 2026
Royal Family In Trouble As Prince Harry SLEEPOVER with Diddy surface after moving back to the UK with Meghan Markle and their Kids Archie and Lilibet
galaxyhub24.com/royal-family…— @SamDave2023 Nov 4, 2026