More than a dozen dead after violent storms; over 400,000 customers without power
At least 15 people have died in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas as violent storms and tornadoes swept through the region overnight Saturday.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 400,000 customers in Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky had no power. Concerns about severe weather briefly delayed the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The dangerous storms and tornadoes also overturned 18-wheelers, smashed mobile homes and toppled power lines. Storms are expected to affect millions in Chicago; Indianapolis; Nashville, Tennessee, and other cities as they push east.
Meanwhile, the South is faces extreme heat, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 100 to 115 degrees. Four million people are under alerts for critical fire weather across the high and southern Plains from Colorado to Texas.
Sirens sound in Tel Aviv as Hamas fires rockets
The Israeli military sounded sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday, warning of possible incoming rockets after Hamas’ military wing announced it had launched a fresh attack on the city.
Eight projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Rafah into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces said. An NBC News journalist witnessed at least one rocket be intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Video released last week showing female soldiers being captured by Hamas sparked outrage in Israel. One of the hostages, Naama Levy, says in the video, “I have friends in Palestine.”
Levy’s mother said her daughter had been part of a Hands of Peace summer program that brought Israeli, Palestinian and American teens together in a bid to promote dialogue.
“She thought that and she still thinks, maybe, I hope, that the world can be a better place,” she said.
The rise of ‘abortion abolitionists’ who want to lock up women who terminate pregnancies
A growing network of lawyers, lawmakers and pastors who oppose all abortions without exceptions are promoting legislation that would pave the way for women to be investigated and prosecuted for ending pregnancies.
The move to criminalize the choice to have an abortion has historically been rejected by the mainstream “pro-life” movement, but Jason Storms, 45, the leader of fundamentalist Christian group Operation Save America, sees it as a necessary deterrent.
Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, who has written several books about the history of abortion in the U.S., said Storms has been successful in galvanizing support for his cause in large part because of the force of his personality and the rise of far-right lawmakers in blood-red districts.
“There are more legislators who are willing to hear these bills or take them seriously. They are no longer saying this is fringy and ridiculous or we aren’t going to entertain this,” she said.
Nicki Minaj released after arrest in Netherlands
Nicki Minaj’s Saturday night concert in England was postponed after she was arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.
A police spokesperson said officers had “arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs.” She was fined and allowed to “continue her journey,” police said in a translated post on X.
Minaj had shared numerous posts on social media detailing the incident, including a video in which a man says her luggage needs to be searched. In subsequent posts, she said she believed people were trying to “stop this tour” and were lying to her.
They’re headed to the College World Series — playing for a school that won’t exist
Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama is closing its doors on Friday, citing financial shortfalls and declining enrollment.
Despite that stunning announcement, intercollegiate spring sports continued on the Alabama campus and its baseball team has thrived.
And with a big win against Denison University on Saturday, the Panthers are headed to the Division III College World Series, wearing uniforms for a school that will no longer be in business.
‘Meet the Press’
A bipartisan panel of four secretaries of state from key battleground states told “Meet the Press” that they’re prepared to execute a safe and secure presidential election, despite previous threats to election workers.
Asked if they’ve personally been threatened since 2020, Pennsylvania’s Al Schmidt, Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger, Michigan’s Jocelyn Benson and Arizona’s Adrian Fontes all said yes.
“Threats against elections officials in the United States of America is domestic terrorism,” Fontes said.
Asked whether enough people have volunteered to be election workers in Georgia, where two 2020 poll workers were harassed and threatened for months, Raffensperger said, “We’re actually in pretty good shape. The counties have done a great job of recruitment.”
You can watch the full interview with all four secretaries of state here.
Politics in brief
- ‘Ethics crisis’: Two top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked to meet with Chief Justice John Roberts amid new scrutiny on Justice Samuel Alito.
- Libertarian welcome: Insults were hurled at former President Donald Trump as he addressed the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday, with a crowd hostile to Trump’s attempts to solicit their votes.
- A show of support: After China called the inauguration speech of Taiwan’s new leader “the worst ever” and conducted dayslong war games, U.S. lawmakers arrived on the island to meet with President Lai Ching-te.
- No boost: President Joe Biden faces a challenge in Arizona, where an abortion rights amendment might end up on the ballot, but voters are prioritizing other issues such as economy and the border that many feel Trump is better positioned to handle.
PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray dies at 30
Grayson Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner, died Saturday just one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 30 years old.
His parents, Eric and Terry Murray, shared a statement Sunday saying he died by suicide.
“We have so many questions that have no answers,” his parents wrote. “But one. Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and — it seems — by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.”
Inside jokes become a secret language in the latest trend
For a pair of sisters, a cold day isn’t chilly — it’s “Chilean sea bass.”
Best friends, siblings and couples are sharing their “friend dictionaries” on TikTok — compilations of their inside jokes and shared lingo.
TikTok creator Chelsea Lefkowitz posted five videos with her sister guessing the unique slang they share, racking up over 11 million views. Viewers commented which terms were their favorites, including “nosetta” for a nosy person.
“I feel like it’s kind of a universal experience that most sisters or siblings or best-friend duos can relate to,” Lefkowitz said. “It’s easy for us to develop inside jokes and references and we kind of have that unique way of communicating.”
In case you missed it
- Four girls, ages 9 to 17, were injured when someone stabbed them in an apparently random attack at a Massachusetts movie theater, police said.
- Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said Friday he has no regrets about expressing his views after coming under fire for a divisive commencement speech.
- George Floyd’s murder four years ago led to calls for a nationwide reckoning on policing. But in the years since, some of those efforts at change have stalled or been reversed.
- Six family members were sickened with a rare parasitic disease after they ate kebabs made of bear meat.
- Despite signs of a strong economy, high prices have many Americans feeling like they’re stuck on a “hamster wheel.”
- R. Derek Black, the 35-year-old child of former Ku Klux Klan leader Don Black and a onetime close family friend of the notorious former KKK grand wizard David Duke, has come out as transgender.
- Venezuela is believed to be the first country in modern history to lose all of its glaciers after the melting of the Humboldt Glacier, the last in the Sierra Nevada.
- The first-ever Olympic medals for break dancing will be awarded in Paris this summer, and the U.S. Olympic breakers are excited to showcase their unique moves.
- Lizzo expressed wide-eyed shock — and apparent excitement — in response to “South Park” name–dropping her in its obesity-themed special.
