At least 6 dead, 12 wounded in mass shooting in Sacramento
After more than two years of empty streets and withering commerce, California’s capital city seemed to be getting back to its pre-pandemic self this weekend. Thousands turned out for a concert at the downtown Golden 1 Center featuring Tyler, the Creator, and crowds filled the nearby bars, spilling into the spring night. In an explosion of violence with echoes across the country, however, that buoyant mood was shattered early Sunday with a barrage of gunfire as revelers were leaving nightclubs. At least six people were killed and at least 12 were wounded in the largest mass shooting in Sacramento history, authorities said.
Some states are seeing new cases increase
Across the United States, officials have dropped mask mandates and are closing mass vaccine and testing sites as new coronavirus cases have fallen nationally to about 27,000 a day on average. But several states — mostly in the Northeast — have had some increases in case numbers over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Although their average number of new cases remains much lower than during the winter omicron surge, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have seen cases jump by more than 40% over the latest 14-day period as of Saturday, according to the Times database.
US nursing home deaths appear to be at pandemic lows
Deaths at American nursing homes from COVID appear to be at their lowest levels since the coronavirus first swept the country more than two years ago, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 67 residents died during the week ending March 27. While that number could be adjusted in the coming weeks, it mirrors the lows last reached during June 2021 before facilities were hit with the delta and omicron variants. Although cases among residents climbed much more sharply in the fall and winter, deaths reached roughly 1,500 in January before steadily dropping.
Taliban outlaw opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan
The Taliban announced Sunday that cultivating opium poppy in Afghanistan was banned, a move that will have far-reaching consequences for the many farmers who have turned to the illicit crop as a brutal drought and economic crisis have gripped the country. Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the prime minister’s administrative deputy, read the official decree to local and international media during a news conference at the Ministry of Interior. “All compatriots are informed from the date of the issuance of this decree, poppy cultivation is absolutely prohibited in the whole country and no one can try to cultivate the plant,” said the decree, issued by the Taliban’s leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada.
By wire sources