Rain showers fall on southern Texas
Residents of Austin and surrounding areas kicked off their Easter weekend with light rain falling across the area.
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(Reuters) -Four members of the Sikh religious community, three women and one man, were killed in a Thursday night shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis that claimed the lives of eight workers, a community group and local leader said on Friday. "Out of eight, four are Sikh community members," said businessman Gurinder Singh Khalsa, who identified himself as a leader of the local Sikh community and said he had spoken with the families of those killed. He said the FedEx operations center near the city's international airport was known for providing employment to older members of the Sikh community who did not necessarily speak fluent English.
The 300-million-year-old shark’s teeth were the first sign that it might be a distinct species. “Great for grasping and crushing prey rather than piercing prey,” said discoverer John-Paul Hodnett, who was a graduate student when he unearthed the first fossils of the shark at a dig east of Albuquerque in 2013. This week, Hodnett and a slew of other researchers published their findings in a bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science identifying the shark as a separate species.
‘When I saw him, he looked healthier and in better physical condition than I had seen him in a long time,’ a Trump advisor says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo violated federal ethics rules governing the use of taxpayer-funded resources when he, and his wife, asked State Department employees to carry out personal tasks more than 100 times, a government watchdog said in a report on Friday. Pompeo, who was former President Donald Trump's last secretary of state, served until Jan. 20, when Republican Trump left the office after being defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in the November election.
Paul Watson Jr. scored 20 of his career-high 30 points in the third quarter Friday night and the Toronto Raptors pulled away to a 113-102 victory over the Orlando Magic. Playing in only his second game after missing 11 games due to the NBA's COVID-19 protocol, Watson converted six straight 3-point shots in the period, in which Toronto outscored the Magic 38-19. Yuta Watanabe also had a career high for the Raptors, contributing 21 points and six rebounds.
Families anxiously awaited news of the 12 people missing from a capsized oil-industry vessel Thursday while divers searching for survivors knocked on the ship's hull without response.
It was one of the more tantalizing, yet unresolved, questions of the investigation into possible connections between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign: Why was a business associate of campaign chairman Paul Manafort given internal polling data — and what did he do with it? A Treasury Department statement Thursday offered a potentially significant clue, asserting that Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian and Ukrainian political consultant, had shared sensitive campaign and polling information with Russian intelligence services. Kilimnik has long been alleged by U.S. officials to have ties to Russian intelligence.
In a new preview for "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," Disick asked the Poosh founder about marriage, which her sisters thought would be "epic."
Lebanon's Hezbollah has made preparations for an all-out collapse of the fracturing state, issuing ration cards for food, importing medicine and readying storage for fuel from its patron Iran, three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. The steps highlight rising fears of an implosion of the Lebanese state, in which authorities can no longer import food or fuel to keep the lights on. The plan chimes with worries in Lebanon that people will have to rely on political factions for food and security, in the way many did in the militia days of the 1975-1990 civil war.
COVID-19 "variants of concern" include the coronavirus variant first found in South Africa. These new strains differ from the original in key ways.
When the photo was taken, Jerry Falwell Jr. was the president of an evangelical Christian university that bans sexual content and alcoholic drinks.
The demonstrators, from protest group Kaputin, were demanding the release from prison of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and denounced the build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine's eastern border.The protesters added a mock golden toilet brush to the effigy's hand and a roll of toilet paper in the other. Inscribed on the stand the words "naked killer".Mock golden toilet brushes were also found hanging next to the entrance sign of the Russian embassy.Toilet brushes became a symbol of pro-Navalny protests in February after the opposition leader published a video in which he and his allies alleged that an opulent palace belonged to the Russian leader.The Kremlin has denied that Putin owned the palace, called the video an information attack on the president and suggested what it described as a "pseudo-investigation" was a scam designed to con gullible Russians into donating to Navalny's organisation.Russia jailed Navalny for two-and-a-half years in February for parole violations he said were trumped up. He was arrested at the border as he returned to Russia from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning.State prosecutors in Moscow asked a court on Friday to label Navalny's anti-corruption group and regional headquarters "extremist" organisations, a move that would ban them and open up activists to long jail terms.The move, if approved, would mark one of the most serious steps taken by authorities yet to target the network of groups set up by the staunch critic of Putin who is on hunger-strike as he serves his jail term.The protesters also called on the Czech government to keep a pro-Western orientation and not order Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
The Ohio county sheriff and his tiny police dog were inseparable, their lives unwaveringly intertwined. It thus seems fitting that retired Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland, 67, and his crime-fighting partner Midge, 16, would both die on Wednesday — McClelland at a hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer, and Midge a few hours later at home, perhaps of a broken heart.
The procedural delay threw a wrench into a rare bipartisan effort in the Senate to counter China's aggressiveness on the global stage.
An unofficial European Union diplomatic note seen by Reuters on redrawing borders along ethnic lines in the Western Balkans has caused angst and distress in Bosnia, which fears an unexpected shift in EU strategy. The document was first leaked to the Slovenian media and ascribed to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who reportedly had sent it to European Council President Charles Michel as a proposal on how to deal with the region after Slovenia takes over presidency of the EU in July. But Jansa denied that he had sent the document and accused "fake media" of trying to harm Slovenia's efforts to help integrate the Western Balkan states into the wealthy bloc.
The British man was hospitalized for two months with serious side effects from drinking nearly half a gallon of caffeinated energy drinks daily.
The window of opportunity to revive the deal is closing, and Biden will need to act quickly and boldly to clear away the political traps set by Trump.
Episode five of the Marvel show indicated that one character fueled by rage is gearing up for battle on next week's season one finale.
President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga showcased the alliance between their two countries as well as their shared resolve in dealing with China as they met at the White House on Friday in Biden's first face-to-face talks with a foreign leader as president. The talks featured unusually frank warnings from a Japanese leader against any effort by China to dominate the Indo-Pacific region by “force or coercion.” Suga said the visit was meant to “reaffirm the new and tight bond between us” as the U.S. and Japan deal with challenges in the region.
Danish Siddiqui/ReutersIn an apparent effort to secure votes for his party in India’s upcoming state elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed at least 50 million Hindus to take to the Ganga river for a holy dip in a religious festival that has turned into an unprecedented COVID-19 superspreader event.The Kumbh Mela, or the pitcher festival, is a mega Hindu gathering that takes place every 12 years along one of four riverbank pilgrimage sites, where millions of people bathe in the Ganga, also known as the Ganges, hoping to wash away their past sins and achieve salvation from the cycle of life and death. The month-long festival has been linked to at least 2,000 coronavirus infections so far.The celebration involves ascetics draped in marigold flowers and carrying tridents—a principal symbol in Hinduism—leading hordes of ash-covered followers to the riverbanks. Crammed together, the festivalgoers sing, dance, and hug each other after taking dips in the water.Despite the obvious public health hazards, Modi has allowed the festivities to continue uninterrupted. Appearing more concerned with bettering his party’s election odds, the prime minister has even promoted potential superspreader events of his own. With five Indian states heading to the polls through April, his de facto deputy—the home minister of India—has been jumping from one venue to another, addressing thousands of people in election rallies and leading grand road shows.Meanwhile, all across the country, patients are laying outside hospitals and gasping for breath before dying unattended. This month, India’s largest crematoriums ran out of firewood as land space fell short in cemeteries. On Wednesday alone, 200,000 Indians tested positive for the coronavirus. Adding to this, India, long celebrated as the “world’s pharmacy,” is running out of vaccines for its own people. Several states have complained of stock shortage while the country's top vaccine manufacturers, Covishield and Covaxin, have decried a lack of resources.Experts fear the current infection rate triggered by the festival is only the tip of the iceberg. After the festival ends, millions will be returning to different parts of the country, where they risk infecting others. 1232270216 XAVIER GALIANA Dr. SK Jha, the chief medical officer of Haridwar province—home to one of the festival’s riverbank sites—told The Daily Beast that “the cases are rising here every day and we are expecting more infections in coming days at Kumbh Mela. The devotees have come from many parts of India where already cases are surging.”The government had earlier promised several layers of screening to curb the spread as ash-smeared ascetics took over the town, but health authorities eventually pulled back the COVID-19 testing crew, fearing a stampede-like situation.Two months ago, Modi had declared an early pandemic victory: “At the beginning of this pandemic, the whole world was worried about India's situation,” announced Modi in a chest-thumping virtual address. “But today, India's fight against [coronavirus] is inspiring the entire world.”That is clearly no longer the case. Last month, a newly detected variant was searingly downplayed by the government. As cases began to rise again, the government refused to budge on the Kumbh festival, apparently fearing backlash from religious leaders in the Hindu-majority country and securing his Hindu vote bank.Modi’s handling of the superspreader festival has also raised concerns about his government fueling religious fanaticism and Islamophobia. Last year, India’s Muslim community was vilified after 4,300 positive cases were linked to a religious gathering. Members of the community were jailed, tried in the courts, and subjected to a smear campaign run by the pro-government national media.Critics have compared the media coverage of the Muslim event with the Kumbh festival, condemning the government’s apparent double standards and wilful ignorance when it comes to the Hindu festival.Responding to the criticism, the chief minister of Uttarakhand—the state hosting the festival—said: “They [Markaz attendees] were all inside a building and here it is out in the open, near the Ganges. The flow and blessings of Ma Ganga (Mother Ganga) will ensure that coronavirus does not spread. The question does not arise of a comparison… The devotees attending Kumbh are not from outside but our own people.” 1231641382 PRAKASH SINGH Though the current pandemic crisis is focused on the handling of the Kumbh festival celebrations, Modi’s planning and policy implementation has fallen on its face before. Last year, when India had around 525 cases, Modi announced an abrupt total lockdown overnight. The unplanned lockdown sparked an exodus of millions of laborers working in metropolitan cities, returning to their homes in the countryside on foot and spreading the virus that was then only limited to the cities.Still, Modi has managed to champion the game of optics and sell his failures as essential steps and successes to the electorate. Modi’s party has relied on his public messaging to appeal to voters—a tactic focused on political leg-pulling and the flaunting of his largely unmasked “massive” rallies. He is unwavering in his celebration of the crowds that flock to him, and dares not dampen the mood by asking voters to adhere to safety precautions.As other politicians follow suit, the Hindu nationalist leadership appears collectively hell-bent on showcasing an illusion of normalcy and preserving its religious sentiments. Meanwhile, the death count continues to soar as India’s historic health crisis spirals out of control.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.