1 dead, 27 wounded in shooting at Arkansas car show
A community event and car show in Dumas, Arkansas, became a scene of horror Saturday night, as two people engaged in a gunfight and sprayed the crowd with bullets, killing one bystander and injuring 27 other people, including six children. Survivors said the violence erupted with a startling suddenness. “You went from laughing and talking and eating and everything to random firing,” said Candace McKinzie, 26, an event organizer. She said she was eating a funnel cake when she heard a series of pops, and soon saw a stampede of people running and tripping over one another.
Justice Thomas hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, court says
Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, was hospitalized with an infection Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms, the court said in a statement Sunday. Thomas, 73, was being treated with intravenous antibiotics at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, the statement said. A court spokesperson said Thomas’ illness was not COVID-19 or related to the virus. “His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two,” the statement said, adding that he would still participate in the “consideration and discussion” of cases.
Weather conditions continue to fuel Texas wildfires
Unfavorable weather conditions Sunday hindered crews fighting to contain a wildfire that has destroyed scores of homes in Central Texas, as a new blaze emerged nearby, fire officials said. The Eastland Complex fire, which consists of four fires that ignited last week in and around Eastland County was 30% contained Sunday, according to a report by fire tracker InciWeb. It has burned more than 54,000 acres and killed a sheriff’s deputy. The new fire, called the Blowing Basin fire, began near the community of Rising Star. It covered roughly 100 acres and was 5% contained Sunday afternoon.
Fauci predicts an uptick in cases
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration’s top adviser on the pandemic, predicted Sunday an “uptick” in coronavirus infections similar to the current increase in Europe, despite the current decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. It is “no time at all to declare victory, because this virus has fooled us before and we really must be prepared for the possibility that we might get another variant,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week.” “And we don’t want to be caught flat-footed on that.” While anticipating a new rise, Fauci said that at this time he does not expect a surge.
Hospitalizations of young children with virus surged during omicron wave
Babies and children younger than 5 were hospitalized with coronavirus at much higher rates during the latest U.S. surge, when the highly transmissible omicron variant was dominant, compared with earlier periods in the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalizations of these children were about five times higher during the omicron surge, between Dec. 19 and Feb. 19, than during the period when the delta variant was dominant, between June 27 and Dec. 18. Rates of admission to intensive care also rose dramatically among young children, reaching a peak on Jan. 8 of this year.
Ukraine war threatens to cause a global food crisis
The war in Ukraine has delivered a shock to global energy markets. Now, the planet is facing a deeper crisis: a shortage of food. A crucial portion of the world’s wheat, corn and barley is trapped in Russia and Ukraine because of the war, while an even larger portion of the world’s fertilizers is stuck in Russia and Belarus. The result is that global food and fertilizer prices are soaring. The upheaval is compounded by major challenges that were already increasing prices and squeezing supplies. Now, economists, aid organizations and government officials are warning of the repercussions: an increase in world hunger.
Revered Jewish sage buried in one of the largest gatherings in Israel’s history
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered Sunday at the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a spiritual leader in ultra-Orthodox Judaism, in one of the largest public gatherings in Israeli history. Kanievsky died Friday at 94. Estimates suggested that 400,000 to 750,000 mourners attended the funeral or filled nearby streets, balconies and rooftops, hoping to get as close as possible. The crowds shut down not only Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox enclave on the eastern edge of Tel Aviv where the rabbi lived, but also large parts of central Israel, where hundreds of schools stayed closed Sunday, the first day of the Israeli workweek, to prevent students from being stuck in traffic.
Religion-fueled mobs on the rise again in Pakistan
Last month, a man named Muhammad Mushtaq was accused of burning pages of the Quran inside a mosque in Pakistan. A mob armed with sticks, bricks and axes dragged him out. Mushtaq was tortured for hours and eventually killed, his body hung from a tree. A handful of police officers were among those who watched. The Feb. 12 killing, in the district of Khanewal, was denounced across Pakistan. But in recent years, these episodes have risen to an alarming level, with increasing cases of fatal violence. Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government had “zero tolerance” for such mob violence and promised that the police officers would be punished.