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Huge Hindu festival under way Indian spiritual leader Swami Maheshwaranandji, center, takes a holy dip along with foreign devotees at the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati on the Makar Sankranti festival. Nearly 70 million Hindus are expected to participate in the festival, one of the largest regular gatherings in the world.
AP photo
OKLAHOMA CITY
Ice storms continue havoc
The ice storms that have been blamed for at least 19 deaths continued to lash much of the nation Sunday, as crews tried to restore power to hundreds of thousands and slick roads spawned accidents.
Waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow since Friday have caused at least 10 deaths in Oklahoma, six in Missouri, two in Texas and one in New York.
Seven adults were killed early Sunday near Elk City, Okla., when the minivan they were in hit a slick spot on Interstate 40, crossed the median and hit a tractor-trailer, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said about 300,000 households there remained without power on Sunday.
GREENVILLE, N.C.
Church incidents up patrols
Police increased their patrols of churches Sunday after fires broke out at two Baptist churches during the night and a break-in was discovered at a third — all within an hour.
The speed of the first fire at the Memorial Baptist Church led investigators to treat both fires Saturday night as crime scenes, fire chief Mike Burton said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and authorities said they found no signs of fires at any other church in Greenville, which is about 75 miles east of Raleigh.
VATICAN CITY
Pope addresses immigration
Pope Benedict XVI urged immigrants on Sunday to respect the social values of their new countries and said laws are needed to protect their dignity.
Benedict, addressing pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square, said migration should be seen as a resource, not a problem. Without naming any country or nationality, he lamented the “painful” conditions refugees, exiles, the homeless and the persecuted often endure.
KABUL, Afghanistan
Hillary visits forces, leaders
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ate breakfast with soldiers from New York and Indiana at the main U.S. base in Afghanistan on Sunday before meeting with the top American general in Afghanistan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, officials said.
Clinton, D-N.Y., came from Iraq with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y. All three are members of armed services committees.
Their meetings in Kabul were closed, and Clinton and her colleagues did not talk with journalists.
WASHINGTON
Cheney: Finance checks OK
Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people’s rights by examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.
“The Defense Department gets involved because we’ve got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets,” Cheney said.
In a statement Sunday, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, promised that his panel would take a careful look at those claims.
From Times Leader wire services