Severe thunderstorms rolling through the U.S. Midwest produced several&nbsp;tornadoes Wednesday (April 19) night. The rural town of Cole, Oklahoma was hit hard by a monster&nbsp;tornado, ripping off roofs, knocking down trees, dropping golf ball-sized hail and causing widespread power outages.

Reuters has confirmed with the McClain sheriff’s office that there had been at least two deaths. Sheriff’s deputies were responding to reports of people injured and trapped. The causes of death were not immediately available.

The Cole twister was one of several&nbsp;tornadoes confirmed across central Oklahoma according to the National Weather Service. Officials will survey the extent of the damage at daybreak.

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Severe thunderstorms rolling through the U.S. Midwest produced several tornadoes Wednesday (April 19) night. The rural town of Cole, Oklahoma was hit hard by a monster tornado, ripping off roofs, knocking down trees, dropping golf ball-sized hail and causing widespread power outages.

Severe thunderstorms rolling through the U.S. Midwest produced several tornadoes Wednesday (April 19) night. The rural town of Cole, Oklahoma was hit hard by a monster tornado, ripping off roofs, knocking down trees, dropping golf ball-sized hail and causing widespread power outages. Reuters has confirmed with the McClain sheriff’s office that there had been at least two deaths. Sheriff’s deputies were responding to reports of people injured and trapped. The causes of death were not immediately available. The Cole twister was one of several tornadoes confirmed across central Oklahoma according to the National Weather Service. Officials will survey the extent of the damage at daybreak. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Deadly tornadoes kill two in Oklahoma

In a series of statements on Twitter, late Friday&nbsp;(April 7) the University of Oklahoma in the city of Norman, United States, confirmed reports of an active shooter on campus and imposed a shelter-in-place protocol.&nbsp;However, an hour or so later, the campus police called off the alert "after a thorough search".&nbsp;

“There is an active shooter at the Van Vleet Oval. Take immediate action now. Run. Hide. Fight!” the University had said on its Twitter account following the reports.&nbsp;Subsequently, 15 minutes or so later, in another tweet, they indicated that campus police were investigating “possible shots fired” on the campus. It added, “Avoid South Oval area,” adding that a shelter-in-place was activated and continues to remain in effect.

Officials had previously said an active shooter had been reported at the Van Fleet Oval, a street in the centre of the campus.&nbsp;The campus&nbsp;police received the report of a possible active shooter situation&nbsp;around 9:30 pm (local time).&nbsp;While there was no immediate&nbsp; confirmation of&nbsp;any shots being&nbsp;fired or&nbsp;injuries&nbsp;reported, an hour or so later, the university's official page on Twitter issued an "ALL CLEAR".&nbsp; 
 
As of 10:53 pm (local time), the university said that the&nbsp;campus police have called off the alert,&nbsp;"after a thorough search, no threat was found. There is no threat to campus."&nbsp; Oklahoma State Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Foster confirmed to CNN that the campus is safe and that no injuries were reported. The shelter-in-place order was also lifted after authorities cleared the campus late Friday night.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies) 
 
&nbsp;

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In a series of statements on Twitter, late Friday (April 7) the University of Oklahoma in the city of Norman, United States, confirmed reports of an active shooter on campus and imposed a shelter-in-place protocol.

In a series of statements on Twitter, late Friday (April 7) the University of Oklahoma in the city of Norman, United States, confirmed reports of an active shooter on campus and imposed a shelter-in-place protocol. However, an hour or so later, the campus police called off the alert "after a thorough search". “There is an active shooter at the Van Vleet Oval. Take immediate action now. Run. Hide. Fight!” the University had said on its Twitter account following the reports. Subsequently, 15 minutes or so later, in another tweet, they indicated that campus police were investigating “possible shots fired” on the campus. It added, “Avoid South Oval area,” adding that a shelter-in-place was activated and continues to remain in effect. Officials had previously said an active shooter had been reported at the Van Fleet Oval, a street in the centre of the campus. The campus police received the report of a possible active shooter situation around 9:30 pm (local time). While there was no immediate confirmation of any shots being fired or injuries reported, an hour or so later, the university's official page on Twitter issued an "ALL CLEAR". As of 10:53 pm (local time), the university said that the campus police have called off the alert, "after a thorough search, no threat was found. There is no threat to campus." Oklahoma State Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Foster confirmed to CNN that the campus is safe and that no injuries were reported. The shelter-in-place order was also lifted after authorities cleared the campus late Friday night. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Police issue ‘ALL CLEAR’ after reports of active shooter at University of Oklahoma, calls off alert

Three people were killed and as many injured following a shooting at a bar in southwest Oklahoma City in US.&nbsp;The incident occurred at Whiskey Barrel Saloon near Newcastle Road and South Roff Avenue around 9 pm on Saturday.

According to police, one person is in critical condition, while two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Details regarding who opened the fire or what led up to the shooting have not been provided. Local media reported that the police did not have the suspect in custody.

Police told the residents to avoid the area as investigators are probing the scene, saying they’re responding to a “significant incident with large law enforcement presence,” according to an Oklahoma City Police tweet.

The Whiskey Barrel Saloon is a bar and grill in southwest Oklahoma City. A video by CNN showed police cruisers swarming the business late Saturday night.

This is a developing story

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Three people were killed and as many injured following a shooting at a bar in southwest Oklahoma City in US. The incident occurred at Whiskey Barrel Saloon near Newcastle Road and South Roff Avenue around 9 pm on Saturday.

Three people were killed and as many injured following a shooting at a bar in southwest Oklahoma City in US. The incident occurred at Whiskey Barrel Saloon near Newcastle Road and South Roff Avenue around 9 pm on Saturday. According to police, one person is in critical condition, while two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Details regarding who opened the fire or what led up to the shooting have not been provided. Local media reported that the police did not have the suspect in custody. Police told the residents to avoid the area as investigators are probing the scene, saying they’re responding to a “significant incident with large law enforcement presence,” according to an Oklahoma City Police tweet. The Whiskey Barrel Saloon is a bar and grill in southwest Oklahoma City. A video by CNN showed police cruisers swarming the business late Saturday night. This is a developing story WATCH WION LIVE HERE

US: Three killed, as many injured at Oklahoma bar shooting

The layoff season continues and it is Elon Musk-led Twitter leading the charge once again. According to reports, Twitter has terminated the contracts of at least 200 employees. In other news,&nbsp;James Bond novels have also been rewritten to remove racial references, much to the chagrin of netizens.&nbsp;

Click on headlines to read more:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/twitter-job-cut-latest-mass-layoff-sees-200-employees-fired-says-report-566199">Twitter job cut: Latest mass layoff sees 200 employees fired, says report</a>

As per a report in The New York Times (NYT), Twitter has axed jobs of at least 200 employees. This comes to about 10 per cent of around 2000 employees who were working for the micro-blogging platform before the latest round job cuts.

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/covid-19-virus-likely-was-a-result-of-lab-leak-us-energy-departments-report-says-566200">COVID-19 virus likely was a result of lab leak, US energy department’s report says</a>

A classified and updated document presented to the US lawmakers and White House has claimed that the COVID-19 virus emerged from a lab leak, reports Wall Street Journal newspaper.

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/tornado-watch-issued-for-parts-of-texas-oklahoma-and-kansas-amid-severe-weather-566194">Tornado Watch issued for parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas amid severe weather</a>

A Tornado Watch has been issue for parts of Oklahoma after the Plains reported thunderstorms and winds as destructive as a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday evening.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/james-bond-books-edited-to-remove-offensive-references-netizens-not-impressed-566206">James Bond books edited to remove 'offensive' references, netizens not impressed</a>

Days after Roald Dahl's classics were modified, several James Bond novels have also been rewritten to remove racial references, according to The Telegraph report. The move was authorised after a sensitivity review.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/sri-lanka-local-election-row-10000-protesters-take-to-colombos-streets-566209">WATCH |&nbsp;Sri Lanka Local Election Row: 10,000 protesters take to Colombo's streets</a>

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The layoff season continues and it is Elon Musk-led Twitter leading the charge once again. According to reports, Twitter has terminated the contracts of at least 200 employees.

The layoff season continues and it is Elon Musk-led Twitter leading the charge once again. According to reports, Twitter has terminated the contracts of at least 200 employees. In other news, James Bond novels have also been rewritten to remove racial references, much to the chagrin of netizens. Click on headlines to read more: Twitter job cut: Latest mass layoff sees 200 employees fired, says report As per a report in The New York Times (NYT), Twitter has axed jobs of at least 200 employees. This comes to about 10 per cent of around 2000 employees who were working for the micro-blogging platform before the latest round job cuts. COVID-19 virus likely was a result of lab leak, US energy department’s report says A classified and updated document presented to the US lawmakers and White House has claimed that the COVID-19 virus emerged from a lab leak, reports Wall Street Journal newspaper. Tornado Watch issued for parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas amid severe weather A Tornado Watch has been issue for parts of Oklahoma after the Plains reported thunderstorms and winds as destructive as a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday evening. James Bond books edited to remove 'offensive' references, netizens not impressed Days after Roald Dahl's classics were modified, several James Bond novels have also been rewritten to remove racial references, according to The Telegraph report. The move was authorised after a sensitivity review. WATCH | Sri Lanka Local Election Row: 10,000 protesters take to Colombo's streets ×

Morning news brief: Twitter fires 200, James Bond books edited and more

The cameras installed in the doorbells of residents captured a celestial light passing through the night sky which appeared like a meteor in Oklahoma, United States.&nbsp;

According to the footage shared on social media platforms, a green meteor is seen flying through the sky like a blazing fireball as residents reported that they woke up to a sonic boom that they heard in Friday morning's early hours.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-ufo-citizens-staggered-after-lens-cloud-in-shape-of-ufo-appears-in-turkiyes-sky-554589">A UFO? Citizens astonished after lens cloud in shape of UFO appears in Turkiye's sky</a>

Fox 23 meteorologist Laura Mock shared the footage captured in her dashcam on Twitter. In the video, a bright green blazing meteor is seen passing through the sky.

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Bright meteor over Tulsa this morning! Video is from Patricia Stanton in Broken Arrow. Camera is facing south. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/okwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#okwx</a> <a href="https://t.co/kHBjPmwpir">pic.twitter.com/kHBjPmwpir</a>
— Laura Mock ⛈ (@LauraMockWX) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraMockWX/status/1616388006608359426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Meanwhile, various residents also shared videos of the meteor on social media platforms. Some even reported that they felt their house shake when the meteor passed.&nbsp;

The footage captured in the doorbell camera is being widely shared on social media and is attracting comments from netizens across the world. One user said it was, “Optimus Prime’s return,” while another commented, “I told you Hogwarts is real.” One user wrote, “That’s Superman.” However, an inquisitive user quizzed, “Where it landed though?”

However, an official statement was released by the National Weather Service in Tulsa on Twitter after it was sent multiple reports on the appearance of a meteor in the night sky and stated that it was spotted by a lightning detector over Wagoner country.&nbsp;

WATCH | Meteor lights up the sky over Norway: Spectacular sight of meteors burning up in the atmosphere

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“We have received multiple reports this morning, including videos, of a meteor that occurred over northeast Oklahoma this morning. This was detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) shown as a blue dot over Wagoner county,” the department wrote.&nbsp;

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We have have received multiple reports this morning, including videos, of a meteor that occurred over northeast Oklahoma this morning. This was detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) shown as a blue dot over Wagoner county. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/meteor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#meteor</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GLM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GLM</a> <a href="https://t.co/I8sCseNB76">pic.twitter.com/I8sCseNB76</a>
— NWS Tulsa (@NWStulsa) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWStulsa/status/1616392418282070016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
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According to the meteorologist, an explosion of the fireball took place in the atmosphere which led to a sonic boom that woke up the civilians.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The cameras installed in the doorbells of residents captured a celestial light passing through the night sky which appeared like a meteor in Oklahoma, United States.

The cameras installed in the doorbells of residents captured a celestial light passing through the night sky which appeared like a meteor in Oklahoma, United States. According to the footage shared on social media platforms, a green meteor is seen flying through the sky like a blazing fireball as residents reported that they woke up to a sonic boom that they heard in Friday morning's early hours. ALSO READ | A UFO? Citizens astonished after lens cloud in shape of UFO appears in Turkiye's sky Fox 23 meteorologist Laura Mock shared the footage captured in her dashcam on Twitter. In the video, a bright green blazing meteor is seen passing through the sky. Bright meteor over Tulsa this morning! Video is from Patricia Stanton in Broken Arrow. Camera is facing south. #okwx pic.twitter.com/kHBjPmwpir — Laura Mock ⛈ (@LauraMockWX) January 20, 2023 × Meanwhile, various residents also shared videos of the meteor on social media platforms. Some even reported that they felt their house shake when the meteor passed. The footage captured in the doorbell camera is being widely shared on social media and is attracting comments from netizens across the world. One user said it was, “Optimus Prime’s return,” while another commented, “I told you Hogwarts is real.” One user wrote, “That’s Superman.” However, an inquisitive user quizzed, “Where it landed though?” However, an official statement was released by the National Weather Service in Tulsa on Twitter after it was sent multiple reports on the appearance of a meteor in the night sky and stated that it was spotted by a lightning detector over Wagoner country. WATCH | Meteor lights up the sky over Norway: Spectacular sight of meteors burning up in the atmosphere “We have received multiple reports this morning, including videos, of a meteor that occurred over northeast Oklahoma this morning. This was detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) shown as a blue dot over Wagoner county,” the department wrote. We have have received multiple reports this morning, including videos, of a meteor that occurred over northeast Oklahoma this morning. This was detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) shown as a blue dot over Wagoner county. #meteor #GLM pic.twitter.com/I8sCseNB76 — NWS Tulsa (@NWStulsa) January 20, 2023 × According to the meteorologist, an explosion of the fireball took place in the atmosphere which led to a sonic boom that woke up the civilians. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

WATCH | Green meteor blazes across Oklahoma's sky, people wake up to sonic boom

In Oklahoma, a house fire claimed the lives of eight people, including six children, and authorities said on&nbsp;Friday that they were looking into a murder-suicide angle.&nbsp;

Fire firefighters were called to the location on&nbsp;Thursday around 4 p.m. when the fire&nbsp;broke out in Broken Arrow, which is near Tulsa.

Rescue&nbsp;crews discovered two adults and six children, aged&nbsp;1 to 13 inside.&nbsp;

“At this time we do not believe that any of the victims died from the fire, however the final determination for the cause of death will be made by the medical examiner," Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore said in a news briefing on Friday.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/paul-pelosi-undergoes-successful-skull-surgery-biden-calls-attack-despicable-529299">Paul Pelosi undergoes 'successful skull surgery', Biden calls attack 'despicable'</a>

Two individuals were discovered dead in the home on Friday, according to Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill, and are being looked into as potential suspects in the murder-suicide.

Prior to notifying the victims' next of kin, the identities of the victims were not made public.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/plane-engine-catches-fire-just-when-it-was-about-to-take-off-from-delhi-airport-529367">Firefighters</a> discovered smoke and flames in the home's back yard when they arrived, according to Moore.

“It did become obvious to all the fire personnel on scene that this was a crime scene, and so once the initial fire was knocked down, our crews moved to preserve the evidence, to preserve the crime scene for our fire investigators and the police department,” Moore said.

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In Oklahoma, a house fire claimed the lives of eight people, including six children, and authorities said on Friday that they were looking into a murder-suicide angle.

In Oklahoma, a house fire claimed the lives of eight people, including six children, and authorities said on Friday that they were looking into a murder-suicide angle. Fire firefighters were called to the location on Thursday around 4 p.m. when the fire broke out in Broken Arrow, which is near Tulsa. Rescue crews discovered two adults and six children, aged 1 to 13 inside. “At this time we do not believe that any of the victims died from the fire, however the final determination for the cause of death will be made by the medical examiner," Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore said in a news briefing on Friday. Also read | Paul Pelosi undergoes 'successful skull surgery', Biden calls attack 'despicable' Two individuals were discovered dead in the home on Friday, according to Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill, and are being looked into as potential suspects in the murder-suicide. Prior to notifying the victims' next of kin, the identities of the victims were not made public. Firefighters discovered smoke and flames in the home's back yard when they arrived, according to Moore. “It did become obvious to all the fire personnel on scene that this was a crime scene, and so once the initial fire was knocked down, our crews moved to preserve the evidence, to preserve the crime scene for our fire investigators and the police department,” Moore said. WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

US: Six children die in suspected murder-suicide case at Oklahoma home

Four men who went missing in the Okmulgee area of Oklahoma in the USA last week have been found dead. The investigation which started off as a missing person case has now turned into a full-blown murder probe as the four middle-aged men have been found dismembered in a local river.&nbsp;

Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice&nbsp;said he hadn't seen a case involving such a level of violence in his career so far.

"I've worked over 80 murders in my career. I have worked murders involving multiple victims. I have worked dismemberments, but this case involves the highest number of victims, and it's a very violent event."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-teen-trafficking-victim-sentenced-5-years-in-prison-and-ordered-to-pay-150000-after-killing-rapist-516155">Read more:&nbsp;US teen who killed her rapist sentenced to 5 years in prison, ordered to pay $150,000 fine</a>

Prentice added that all four men, identified as&nbsp;Mark Chastain (32), Billy Chastain (30)&nbsp;Mike Sparks (32)&nbsp;and Alex Stevens (29) were shot. A bystander who saw something unusual in the river alerted the police about it. After the officials arrived, they discovered the bodies with remnants spread in and around the river bank.&nbsp;

Prior to the incident, the men had gathered at Billy Chastain's home before leaving from there on bicycles at around 9 pm. The families lodged a missing person complaint on Monday night or early Tuesday.&nbsp;

According to the police, the males&nbsp;were planning to commit a crime before they left. However, what adds more mystery to the case is the fact that a person whom police spoke to in connection with the cases has gone missing since Saturday night.&nbsp;

Prentice added the said person might be suicidal and that no charges had been brought against him&nbsp;up until now.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-jury-recommends-death-sentence-to-parkland-high-school-shooter-525176">Read more:&nbsp;US jury spares death penalty to Parkland high school shooter, recommends life imprisonment</a>

(With inputs from agencies)

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Four men who went missing in the Okmulgee area of Oklahoma in the USA last week have been found dead. The investigation which started off as a missing person case has now turned into a full-blown murder probe as the four middle-aged men have been found dismembered in a local river.

Four men who went missing in the Okmulgee area of Oklahoma in the USA last week have been found dead. The investigation which started off as a missing person case has now turned into a full-blown murder probe as the four middle-aged men have been found dismembered in a local river. Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said he hadn't seen a case involving such a level of violence in his career so far. "I've worked over 80 murders in my career. I have worked murders involving multiple victims. I have worked dismemberments, but this case involves the highest number of victims, and it's a very violent event." Read more: US teen who killed her rapist sentenced to 5 years in prison, ordered to pay $150,000 fine Prentice added that all four men, identified as Mark Chastain (32), Billy Chastain (30) Mike Sparks (32) and Alex Stevens (29) were shot. A bystander who saw something unusual in the river alerted the police about it. After the officials arrived, they discovered the bodies with remnants spread in and around the river bank. Prior to the incident, the men had gathered at Billy Chastain's home before leaving from there on bicycles at around 9 pm. The families lodged a missing person complaint on Monday night or early Tuesday. According to the police, the males were planning to commit a crime before they left. However, what adds more mystery to the case is the fact that a person whom police spoke to in connection with the cases has gone missing since Saturday night. Prentice added the said person might be suicidal and that no charges had been brought against him up until now. Read more: US jury spares death penalty to Parkland high school shooter, recommends life imprisonment (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

'Never seen such violence,' say Oklahoma police after discovering dismembered bodies of four men

An Oklahoma woman is accused of escaping her restraints, picking the assault rifle, and opening fire from the police vehicle after being arrested. The incident that was caught on camera&nbsp;took place nearby Oklahoma City.&nbsp;

Deputies claimed that the lady, 36-year-old Rachel Zion Clay, was just being held because of unpredictable behaviour and would not be jailed. Grady County Undersheriff Gary Boggess told KOKH-TV about the incident: "While in the back seat of a patrol car, she was able to get her wrist free from the handcuffs and the handcuffs were put on properly."

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According to Boggess, the woman was able to reach inside the console of the patrol car and take a gun. She discovered the gun switch, unlocked the gun lock, and was able to grab an AR-15 rifle. "There are several switches, one is a gun switch to unlock the gun lock.&nbsp;She succeeded in inserting a bullet into it, setting it ablaze, and firing roughly 10 rounds at our deputies and a civilian." Boggess added.

The woman can be seen holding the gun and firing it through the back window in dashcam footage from the police cruiser. Clay locked herself inside the vehicle and eventually gave herself up after more than three hours. She tested positive for methamphetamine, according to authorities. According to the police, the citizens and the officer both suffered non-life-threatening wounds and have since been discharged from the hospital.

Boggess stated that in an effort to protect his deputies, his administration is currently adopting procedure modifications. One of them, he continued, "is our console where it actually said 'gun'. &nbsp;She was able to see that. That's going to be replaced. We're going to put a switch someplace else in the vehicle to lock our gun. It's a freak deal. It's one of these ... I'm not going to say one in a million, but you know, it's one of those deals that, you know, once it happens, then you go back and try to make sure it never happens again. That's what we're looking at."

Clay is currently being jailed on a $1 million bond while being prosecuted on three counts of shooting with the intent to murder.

(with inputs from agencies)

An Oklahoma woman is accused of escaping her restraints, picking the assault rifle, and opening fire from the police vehicle after being arrested. The incident that was caught on camera took place nearby Oklahoma City.

An Oklahoma woman is accused of escaping her restraints, picking the assault rifle, and opening fire from the police vehicle after being arrested. The incident that was caught on camera took place nearby Oklahoma City. Deputies claimed that the lady, 36-year-old Rachel Zion Clay, was just being held because of unpredictable behaviour and would not be jailed. Grady County Undersheriff Gary Boggess told KOKH-TV about the incident: "While in the back seat of a patrol car, she was able to get her wrist free from the handcuffs and the handcuffs were put on properly." × According to Boggess, the woman was able to reach inside the console of the patrol car and take a gun. She discovered the gun switch, unlocked the gun lock, and was able to grab an AR-15 rifle. "There are several switches, one is a gun switch to unlock the gun lock. She succeeded in inserting a bullet into it, setting it ablaze, and firing roughly 10 rounds at our deputies and a civilian." Boggess added. The woman can be seen holding the gun and firing it through the back window in dashcam footage from the police cruiser. Clay locked herself inside the vehicle and eventually gave herself up after more than three hours. She tested positive for methamphetamine, according to authorities. According to the police, the citizens and the officer both suffered non-life-threatening wounds and have since been discharged from the hospital. Boggess stated that in an effort to protect his deputies, his administration is currently adopting procedure modifications. One of them, he continued, "is our console where it actually said 'gun'. She was able to see that. That's going to be replaced. We're going to put a switch someplace else in the vehicle to lock our gun. It's a freak deal. It's one of these ... I'm not going to say one in a million, but you know, it's one of those deals that, you know, once it happens, then you go back and try to make sure it never happens again. That's what we're looking at." Clay is currently being jailed on a $1 million bond while being prosecuted on three counts of shooting with the intent to murder. (with inputs from agencies)

Watch: Oklahoma woman slips out of handcuffs, opens fire at deputies from police car

At least four people killed and several were injured Wednesday in a shooting on a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, The suspected gunman is also dead.

Oklahoma Hospital Shooting: Four dead and multiple injured, suspected gunman also killed

A gunman killed at least four&nbsp;people on a hospital campus in Tusla Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to police. The shootout has taken place as Americans are still grappling with one that took place in a school in Texas.

In the Oklahoma incident, the gunman was armed with a rifle. He was also killed in the incident. There was no immediate clarity on whether police killed him or the gunman killed himself.

"We can confirm 4 people are deceased, including the shooter, in the active shooting situation at St. Francis hospital campus. Officers are still clearing the building. More info to follow," Tulsa police tweeted from their official account earlier.

Earlier, police captain Richard Meulenberg said officers were treating the scene as "catastrophic," with "several" people shot and "multiple injuries."

White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden had been briefed about the Tulsa shooting. The statement said that the administration has offered support to local officials.

The shooting is the latest in a string of deadly assaults by gunmen that have rocked the United States in the past month.

On May 14 a white supremacist targeting African Americans killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The shooter survived and is facing charges.&nbsp;

Ten days later a gunman armed with an AR-15 burst into a school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 21 people -- 19 of them young children -- before being shot dead by law enforcement.&nbsp;

Gun regulation faces deep resistance in the United States, from most Republicans and some rural-state Democrats.

(With inputs from agencies)

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A gunman killed at least four people on a hospital campus in Tusla Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to police. The shootout has taken place as Americans are still grappling with one that took place in a school in Texas.

A gunman killed at least four people on a hospital campus in Tusla Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to police. The shootout has taken place as Americans are still grappling with one that took place in a school in Texas. In the Oklahoma incident, the gunman was armed with a rifle. He was also killed in the incident. There was no immediate clarity on whether police killed him or the gunman killed himself. "We can confirm 4 people are deceased, including the shooter, in the active shooting situation at St. Francis hospital campus. Officers are still clearing the building. More info to follow," Tulsa police tweeted from their official account earlier. Earlier, police captain Richard Meulenberg said officers were treating the scene as "catastrophic," with "several" people shot and "multiple injuries." White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden had been briefed about the Tulsa shooting. The statement said that the administration has offered support to local officials. The shooting is the latest in a string of deadly assaults by gunmen that have rocked the United States in the past month. On May 14 a white supremacist targeting African Americans killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The shooter survived and is facing charges. Ten days later a gunman armed with an AR-15 burst into a school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 21 people -- 19 of them young children -- before being shot dead by law enforcement. Gun regulation faces deep resistance in the United States, from most Republicans and some rural-state Democrats. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Fresh shootout in US, gunman kills at least four in Oklahoma medical centre

The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet.

The legislation allows private parties to sue any such entities that aid in performing an abortion, but it does not per se criminalise abortion.

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BREAKING 
 
Oklahoma’s Governor has signed the strictest abortion ban in the country into law. It prohibits abortion after fertilization. <a href="https://t.co/1j0Q0DSrB0">pic.twitter.com/1j0Q0DSrB0</a>
— Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/byKateSmith/status/1529612823306944513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt said in a statement, ​​"I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today."

 
&nbsp;"From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother," he added.

 
The law bans the abortion of “an embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.” It does not prohibit access to emergency contraceptives.

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An abortion clinic in Wyoming was set on fire last night. Today, the governor of Oklahoma signed a total abortion ban beginning at fertilization—enforced, like SB8, through surveillance and vigilantism by civilians. The attack on women is inventively cruel, and it’s relentless.
— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1529617075462934528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The only exceptions from the new law are medical emergencies and rape or incest victims that have been reported to law enforcement.

Abortion rights advocates have pledged to take the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse the ban, as according to the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade protecting a woman’s right to abortion still stands.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: Oklahoma just became the only state in the U.S. to totally ban abortion while <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoevWade?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoevWade</a> still stands. The Center &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/PPFA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PPFA</a> are suing the state of Oklahoma on behalf of abortion providers and advocates to stop this cruel ban and restore abortion access in the state. <a href="https://t.co/IOxefOqmfV">pic.twitter.com/IOxefOqmfV</a>
— Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1529627029263499273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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According to the World Population Review, an independent data analysis organisation based in the United States, other countries where abortion is completely illegal are Andorra, Aruba (territory), Republic of the Congo, Curaçao (territory), Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tonga, and West Bank &amp; Gaza Strip (Palestinian territories). 
&nbsp;

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The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet.

The Oklahoma state becomes the first in the United States to sign into law a bill that bans nearly all abortions after fertilisation, imposing the country’s strictest ban yet. The legislation allows private parties to sue any such entities that aid in performing an abortion, but it does not per se criminalise abortion. BREAKING Oklahoma’s Governor has signed the strictest abortion ban in the country into law. It prohibits abortion after fertilization. pic.twitter.com/1j0Q0DSrB0 — Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) May 25, 2022 × The Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt said in a statement, "I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would sign every piece of pro-life legislation that came across my desk and I am proud to keep that promise today." "From the moment life begins at conception is when we have a responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect that baby’s life and the life of the mother," he added. The law bans the abortion of “an embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.” It does not prohibit access to emergency contraceptives. An abortion clinic in Wyoming was set on fire last night. Today, the governor of Oklahoma signed a total abortion ban beginning at fertilization—enforced, like SB8, through surveillance and vigilantism by civilians. The attack on women is inventively cruel, and it’s relentless. — Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) May 26, 2022 × The only exceptions from the new law are medical emergencies and rape or incest victims that have been reported to law enforcement. Abortion rights advocates have pledged to take the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse the ban, as according to the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade protecting a woman’s right to abortion still stands. #BREAKING: Oklahoma just became the only state in the U.S. to totally ban abortion while #RoevWade still stands. The Center & @PPFA are suing the state of Oklahoma on behalf of abortion providers and advocates to stop this cruel ban and restore abortion access in the state. pic.twitter.com/IOxefOqmfV — Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) May 26, 2022 × According to the World Population Review, an independent data analysis organisation based in the United States, other countries where abortion is completely illegal are Andorra, Aruba (territory), Republic of the Congo, Curaçao (territory), Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tonga, and West Bank & Gaza Strip (Palestinian territories). WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Oklahoma state in United States implements the strictest abortion ban at conception

The abortion rights fight in the United States has gone bigger now. Oklahoma has approved an anti-abortion bill that prohibits abortion completely.

US abortion rights fight gets bigger as Oklahoma approves anti-abortion bill

Oklahoma has approved one of the most restrictive abortion bans in American history. The legalisation prohibits abortion from the moment of fertilization.

Most restrictive abortion ban in US, Oklahoma approves anti-abortion bill

A series of tornadoes roared through parts of central Oklahoma and Texas yesterday bringing heavy damage. According to reports, more than 14,000 people were left without power in Oklahoma.

Tornadoes roar across parts of Oklahoma, over 14,000 people left without power

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.

The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/even-as-us-introduces-gender-neutral-passports-these-states-still-have-archaic-anti-transgender-laws-470479">Even as US introduces gender-neutral passports, these states still have archaic anti-transgender laws</a>

It has already passed the Senate and is now on its way to Republican governor Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it.

This bill is modelled on a similar bill by Oklahoma’s neighbouring state Texas, which unveiled the controversial law that triggered many protests last year.

Popularly known as the "Heartbeat Bill", the Texas law bans abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around 1.5 months or sex weeks of gestation period. It also allows members of the public to sue abortion providers and seekers, as a way of enforcing the law.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas Plus: Why are women being denied the Right to abortion?

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The Oklahoma bill is similar and it threatens to cause further problems for women from the neighbouring state of Texas.

Since the heartbeat law came into force in September last year, Texan neighbour states like Oklahoma have seen a flood of patients seeking abortions. This has led to long wait times and maxed out clinic capacities.

Now, with a similar law in Oklahoma, these patients would have to go farther and farther.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/texas-abortion-law-creates-a-kind-of-bounty-hunter-heres-how-it-works-412647">Texas abortion law creates a kind of bounty hunter. Here’s how it works</a>

"Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care," the Center for Reproductive Rights' Nancy Northup said in a tweet announcing her organisation’s plan to legally challenge the law.

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“Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care. These bans would further decimate abortion access across the South.” —Nancy Northup, Center president and CEO
— Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1519791901523726341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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What needs to be noted is that Oklahoma is only the latest Republican-controlled state to take this step. Earlier, not only Texas but also Mississippi and Florida passed laws restricting abortion. The question that poses itself: Why is America retreating into the past as the world moves toward equality?

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(With inputs from agencies)

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that lays a ban on abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The bill was passed in the Oklahoma House by a large majority, and even as it includes exceptions for medical emergencies, it has no provisions for cases involving rape and incest. Also read | Even as US introduces gender-neutral passports, these states still have archaic anti-transgender laws It has already passed the Senate and is now on its way to Republican governor Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it. This bill is modelled on a similar bill by Oklahoma’s neighbouring state Texas, which unveiled the controversial law that triggered many protests last year. Popularly known as the "Heartbeat Bill", the Texas law bans abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around 1.5 months or sex weeks of gestation period. It also allows members of the public to sue abortion providers and seekers, as a way of enforcing the law. Watch | Gravitas Plus: Why are women being denied the Right to abortion? The Oklahoma bill is similar and it threatens to cause further problems for women from the neighbouring state of Texas. Since the heartbeat law came into force in September last year, Texan neighbour states like Oklahoma have seen a flood of patients seeking abortions. This has led to long wait times and maxed out clinic capacities. Now, with a similar law in Oklahoma, these patients would have to go farther and farther. Also read | Texas abortion law creates a kind of bounty hunter. Here’s how it works "Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care," the Center for Reproductive Rights' Nancy Northup said in a tweet announcing her organisation’s plan to legally challenge the law. “Oklahoma is a critical state for abortion access right now, with many Texans fleeing to Oklahoma for abortion care. These bans would further decimate abortion access across the South.” —Nancy Northup, Center president and CEO — Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) April 28, 2022 × What needs to be noted is that Oklahoma is only the latest Republican-controlled state to take this step. Earlier, not only Texas but also Mississippi and Florida passed laws restricting abortion. The question that poses itself: Why is America retreating into the past as the world moves toward equality? Watch WION LIVE HERE: (With inputs from agencies)

First Texas, now Oklahoma: Republican-led state passes law banning abortion after 6 weeks

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed a bill that makes it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalising those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

The legislation, which is one of several anti-abortion measures advanced by the state's Republican-controlled legislature this year, will take effect this summer unless it is blocked in court.

"The fact that the governor of Oklahoma passed a criminal ban on all abortion care that would take effect this summer is not surprising, but that doesn't mean we're not shocked and aghast. I mean, the implications for people in Oklahoma are devastating,” said Talcott Camp, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion providers.

If it takes effect, the ban will widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. Oklahoma has become a frequent destination for Texas women seeking abortions since the larger neighboring state in September banned abortions for pregnancies from about six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Planned Parenthood abortion providers in Oklahoma saw a nearly 2,500 per cent&nbsp;increase in Texas patients in the months after the Texas law took effect compared to the same period in 2020, the organization said.

Camp said the increase in demand and shortage of available appointments meant women were waiting longer to have an abortion.

“There is one thing that increases the risks associated with abortion, and that's pushing it later,” she said. “So one thing politicians are doing here, one of the implications for folks in Oklahoma and Texas and the region is that they're getting pushed later into pregnancy, which is a terrible idea."

In the past few months, Republican-led states like Oklahoma have been quickly passing ever-stricter abortion bans with the anticipation that an impending US&nbsp;Supreme Court decision could help the bans withstand legal challenges.

The Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June on a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed a bill that makes it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalising those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed a bill that makes it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalising those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The legislation, which is one of several anti-abortion measures advanced by the state's Republican-controlled legislature this year, will take effect this summer unless it is blocked in court. "The fact that the governor of Oklahoma passed a criminal ban on all abortion care that would take effect this summer is not surprising, but that doesn't mean we're not shocked and aghast. I mean, the implications for people in Oklahoma are devastating,” said Talcott Camp, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion providers. If it takes effect, the ban will widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. Oklahoma has become a frequent destination for Texas women seeking abortions since the larger neighboring state in September banned abortions for pregnancies from about six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant. Planned Parenthood abortion providers in Oklahoma saw a nearly 2,500 per cent increase in Texas patients in the months after the Texas law took effect compared to the same period in 2020, the organization said. Camp said the increase in demand and shortage of available appointments meant women were waiting longer to have an abortion. “There is one thing that increases the risks associated with abortion, and that's pushing it later,” she said. “So one thing politicians are doing here, one of the implications for folks in Oklahoma and Texas and the region is that they're getting pushed later into pregnancy, which is a terrible idea." In the past few months, Republican-led states like Oklahoma have been quickly passing ever-stricter abortion bans with the anticipation that an impending US Supreme Court decision could help the bans withstand legal challenges. The Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June on a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.

Oklahoma governor signs abortion ban

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives brought the bill to a vote this week, after it was passed last year by the Midwestern state's Senate. It now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for signing.

Stitt has signaled his support for anti-abortion legislation. If he signs the measure, it would take effect this summer unless blocked by courts.

An abortion ban in Oklahoma would widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. The state has become a destination for Texas women seeking abortions since Texas in September banned abortions for pregnancies of six weeks or less.

"This bill has no exceptions and would essentially potentially end abortion access in Oklahoma. And what we also know is that for so many reasons, people will have to travel to out of the state to get the care that they need. And we know this because when Texas lost its abortion access, patients traveled to Oklahoma and providers were seeing more Texas patients than they've ever seen before, so this will just continue kind of that domino effect of now Texas and Oklahoma patients going to other states to get care," Tamya (pronounced: tam-EYE-ah) Cox-Toure (pronounced: to-ray), director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said.

The measure approved on Tuesday states, "a person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency."

Republican-governed states like Oklahoma have passed a series of restrictive abortion measures in recent years.

The US&nbsp;Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June in a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. During arguments in the case, the conservative justices signalled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America.

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday (April 5) passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives brought the bill to a vote this week, after it was passed last year by the Midwestern state's Senate. It now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for signing. Stitt has signaled his support for anti-abortion legislation. If he signs the measure, it would take effect this summer unless blocked by courts. An abortion ban in Oklahoma would widen a swath of the country where there is little to no legal abortion access. The state has become a destination for Texas women seeking abortions since Texas in September banned abortions for pregnancies of six weeks or less. "This bill has no exceptions and would essentially potentially end abortion access in Oklahoma. And what we also know is that for so many reasons, people will have to travel to out of the state to get the care that they need. And we know this because when Texas lost its abortion access, patients traveled to Oklahoma and providers were seeing more Texas patients than they've ever seen before, so this will just continue kind of that domino effect of now Texas and Oklahoma patients going to other states to get care," Tamya (pronounced: tam-EYE-ah) Cox-Toure (pronounced: to-ray), director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said. The measure approved on Tuesday states, "a person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency." Republican-governed states like Oklahoma have passed a series of restrictive abortion measures in recent years. The US Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June in a case involving a Republican-backed Mississippi law that gives its conservative majority a chance to undermine or even repeal the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. During arguments in the case, the conservative justices signalled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America.

Oklahoma House passes near-total abortion ban with threat of prison for providers

Oklahoma on Thursday condemned a man to death by lethal injection after he was convicted of committing a double murder. The execution marked the first death penalty execution in the United States this year.&nbsp;

The Oklahoma attorney general John O'Connor's office said in a statement that Donald Grant was executed at 10:16 (1616 GMT) without incident.

An injection containing three lethal substances was given to Grant at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/renowned-marine-hunter-orcas-now-target-planets-largest-animal-blue-whale-find-out-how-448374" hreflang="en">Renowned marine hunter orcas now target planet’s largest animal blue whale. Find out how</a>

The deadly cocktail is believed to cause excruciating pain for the condemned, a violation of the US Constitution. An inmate suffered a convulsion and vomited after receiving the first injection toward the end of October last year.

The 46-year-old's last words were barely intelligible.

Grant had robbed a hotel in 2001 when he was 25 to steal bail money for his girlfriend who was imprisoned.

He opened fire on two hotel employees during the robbery. One of Grant's victims died instantly, and the other’s death was caused by a knife attack by Grant, court documents state.

The man's death sentence was announced in 2005.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-iranian-state-television-hacked-death-to-khamenei-chant-flashed-for-several-seconds-448347" hreflang="en">Watch | Iranian state television hacked, ‘death to Khamenei’ chant flashed for several seconds</a>

Over the course of his imprisonment, he appealed repeatedly, citing, in particular, intellectual deficiencies to have his sentence overturned. In an online petition, his defenders alleged that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and brain damage due to violent abuse from his alcoholic father during his childhood.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court rejected his last appeal regarding the manner in which he was to be executed by the southern US state of Oklahoma.

The number of executions carried out annually in the United States has been declining in recent years.

Watch:&nbsp;Japan defends capital punishment, hangs three death-row inmates

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Currently, 23 states have abolished capital punishment, and three others -- California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania -- have imposed a moratorium on its use.

Following a series of botched executions in Oklahoma, in 2015 the state imposed a moratorium on capital punishment, but it was lifted in 2021. This execution&nbsp;was the third in the state since it resumed lethal injections in October 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)

Oklahoma on Thursday condemned a man to death by lethal injection after he was convicted of committing a double murder. The execution marked the first death penalty execution in the United States this year.

Oklahoma on Thursday condemned a man to death by lethal injection after he was convicted of committing a double murder. The execution marked the first death penalty execution in the United States this year. The Oklahoma attorney general John O'Connor's office said in a statement that Donald Grant was executed at 10:16 (1616 GMT) without incident. An injection containing three lethal substances was given to Grant at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Also read | Renowned marine hunter orcas now target planet’s largest animal blue whale. Find out how The deadly cocktail is believed to cause excruciating pain for the condemned, a violation of the US Constitution. An inmate suffered a convulsion and vomited after receiving the first injection toward the end of October last year. The 46-year-old's last words were barely intelligible. Grant had robbed a hotel in 2001 when he was 25 to steal bail money for his girlfriend who was imprisoned. He opened fire on two hotel employees during the robbery. One of Grant's victims died instantly, and the other’s death was caused by a knife attack by Grant, court documents state. The man's death sentence was announced in 2005. Also read | Watch | Iranian state television hacked, ‘death to Khamenei’ chant flashed for several seconds Over the course of his imprisonment, he appealed repeatedly, citing, in particular, intellectual deficiencies to have his sentence overturned. In an online petition, his defenders alleged that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and brain damage due to violent abuse from his alcoholic father during his childhood. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court rejected his last appeal regarding the manner in which he was to be executed by the southern US state of Oklahoma. The number of executions carried out annually in the United States has been declining in recent years. Watch: Japan defends capital punishment, hangs three death-row inmates Currently, 23 states have abolished capital punishment, and three others -- California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania -- have imposed a moratorium on its use. Following a series of botched executions in Oklahoma, in 2015 the state imposed a moratorium on capital punishment, but it was lifted in 2021. This execution was the third in the state since it resumed lethal injections in October 2021. (With inputs from agencies)

The first death penalty execution in the United States this year: a 2001 murderer

A standoff between the governor of Oklahoma and the Pentagon over a coronavirus vaccine mandate for troops has turned into a stormy test of federal power, as President Joe Biden moves to require vaccinations for a broad swath of the American workforce.

Last week, Oklahoma’s newly appointed adjutant general for the National Guard, Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, announced on behalf of the governor, Kevin Stitt, that guardsmen in the state would not be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defying a Pentagon directive issued in August that makes vaccinations mandatory for all troops, including the National Guard, by deadlines set by each service branch.

“The order I issued came directly from the governor. That is the lawful order to the men and women of the Oklahoma National Guard,” Mancino said in an interview, adding that he had been vaccinated.

Pentagon officials said Wednesday that a failure to follow “valid medical readiness requirements” could “jeopardize” the status of troops.

The officials insist that Stitt has no legal standing to obviate the mandate, although experts on the obscure laws governing the Guard disagree. They note that unless federally deployed, National Guard members are under the jurisdiction of the governor of their state and therefore not subject to federal mandates. “Guard members can only serve one boss at a time,” said John Goheen, a spokesperson for the National Guard Association of the United States.

The Pentagon is not without redress. It could deny funding to state units or impede the promotions of Guard members who refuse to get vaccinated. Officials said Wednesday that Guard members who refused to be vaccinated also could face dismissal, just as with active duty troops.

“Oklahoma may be able to take this step as a legal matter, but there are definitely things the federal government can do in response that might make it a painful Pyrrhic victory,” said Eugene Fidell, an adjunct professor of law at the New York University Law School. “The governor and state adjutant general thus might find themselves commanding some very unhappy personnel.”

The Pentagon is bracing for other states to follow Oklahoma’s lead. So far none have, but many are believed to be closely watching the situation, which could become the subject of lawsuits. “This could be contagious,” Fidell said.

National Guard troops have been caught in the political cross hairs over the years, including in 2018, when several governors said they would withhold or recall their troops from the border with Mexico as the Trump administration separated adults who illegally crossed into the United States from their children. In 1986, several governors balked at sending Guard troops for maneuvers in Honduras ordered by President Ronald Reagan.

But these rare conflicts in the military have never centered on vaccine mandates, which have existed for decades.

The standoff, while so far limited in scope, demonstrates the headaches Biden faces as he pushes the Jan. 4 deadline for large companies to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or start weekly testing of their workers. The new rule, applying to companies with 100 or more employees, would cover roughly 84 million workers, and is already meeting fierce resistance.

Stitt is one of several Republican state officials who have been resisting Biden’s vaccine mandates covering federal employees and contractors.

Some governors who have been more resistant to mandates have so far declined to join Stitt.

“I took an oath, and I intend to do what I promised the country I would do,” Gen. Thomas Carden, the head of the Georgia National Guard, told a local reporter last week. “It’s cut and dry for us.”

Spokesmen for the Guards in North Dakota and Florida — two other states whose governors oppose vaccine mandates — said they were following the Pentagon order, while Texas officials were more vague.

“The decision whether or not to receive a vaccination is a personal matter each Soldier and Airman must weigh. The Texas National Guard provides the resources necessary for each Service member to make informed decisions,” an unidentified spokesperson said in response to an email query.

While the vast majority of active duty troops have been vaccinated, the percentage of those in the Guard has dragged below the averages for the civilian population. In Oklahoma, 89% of airmen in the Guard have been vaccinated, while only 40% of Army guardsmen have had shots.

Mancino issued his memo a day after Stitt dismissed his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Michael C. Thompson, a proponent for vaccines.

A standoff between the governor of Oklahoma and the Pentagon over a coronavirus vaccine mandate for troops has turned into a stormy test of federal power, as President Joe Biden moves to require vaccinations for a broad swath of the American workforce.

A standoff between the governor of Oklahoma and the Pentagon over a coronavirus vaccine mandate for troops has turned into a stormy test of federal power, as President Joe Biden moves to require vaccinations for a broad swath of the American workforce. Last week, Oklahoma’s newly appointed adjutant general for the National Guard, Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, announced on behalf of the governor, Kevin Stitt, that guardsmen in the state would not be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defying a Pentagon directive issued in August that makes vaccinations mandatory for all troops, including the National Guard, by deadlines set by each service branch. “The order I issued came directly from the governor. That is the lawful order to the men and women of the Oklahoma National Guard,” Mancino said in an interview, adding that he had been vaccinated. Pentagon officials said Wednesday that a failure to follow “valid medical readiness requirements” could “jeopardize” the status of troops. The officials insist that Stitt has no legal standing to obviate the mandate, although experts on the obscure laws governing the Guard disagree. They note that unless federally deployed, National Guard members are under the jurisdiction of the governor of their state and therefore not subject to federal mandates. “Guard members can only serve one boss at a time,” said John Goheen, a spokesperson for the National Guard Association of the United States. The Pentagon is not without redress. It could deny funding to state units or impede the promotions of Guard members who refuse to get vaccinated. Officials said Wednesday that Guard members who refused to be vaccinated also could face dismissal, just as with active duty troops. “Oklahoma may be able to take this step as a legal matter, but there are definitely things the federal government can do in response that might make it a painful Pyrrhic victory,” said Eugene Fidell, an adjunct professor of law at the New York University Law School. “The governor and state adjutant general thus might find themselves commanding some very unhappy personnel.” The Pentagon is bracing for other states to follow Oklahoma’s lead. So far none have, but many are believed to be closely watching the situation, which could become the subject of lawsuits. “This could be contagious,” Fidell said. National Guard troops have been caught in the political cross hairs over the years, including in 2018, when several governors said they would withhold or recall their troops from the border with Mexico as the Trump administration separated adults who illegally crossed into the United States from their children. In 1986, several governors balked at sending Guard troops for maneuvers in Honduras ordered by President Ronald Reagan. But these rare conflicts in the military have never centered on vaccine mandates, which have existed for decades. The standoff, while so far limited in scope, demonstrates the headaches Biden faces as he pushes the Jan. 4 deadline for large companies to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or start weekly testing of their workers. The new rule, applying to companies with 100 or more employees, would cover roughly 84 million workers, and is already meeting fierce resistance. Stitt is one of several Republican state officials who have been resisting Biden’s vaccine mandates covering federal employees and contractors. Some governors who have been more resistant to mandates have so far declined to join Stitt. “I took an oath, and I intend to do what I promised the country I would do,” Gen. Thomas Carden, the head of the Georgia National Guard, told a local reporter last week. “It’s cut and dry for us.” Spokesmen for the Guards in North Dakota and Florida — two other states whose governors oppose vaccine mandates — said they were following the Pentagon order, while Texas officials were more vague. “The decision whether or not to receive a vaccination is a personal matter each Soldier and Airman must weigh. The Texas National Guard provides the resources necessary for each Service member to make informed decisions,” an unidentified spokesperson said in response to an email query. While the vast majority of active duty troops have been vaccinated, the percentage of those in the Guard has dragged below the averages for the civilian population. In Oklahoma, 89% of airmen in the Guard have been vaccinated, while only 40% of Army guardsmen have had shots. Mancino issued his memo a day after Stitt dismissed his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Michael C. Thompson, a proponent for vaccines.

Oklahoma governor and Pentagon standoff over vaccines intensifies

The Oklahoma state in the US is being sharply criticised after a few witnesses revealed that a convicted murderer vomited and experienced convulsions as he was executed by lethal injection.&nbsp;

John Grant, 60, who is Black, was sentenced to death after he murdered a white prison cafeteria worker, Gay Carter in 1998. He was the first inmate to be put to death in Oklahoma after a series of mishandled executions led to a temporary prohibition on capital punishment.&nbsp;

Various journalists who witnessed the execution said that Grant had vomited and experienced full-body convulsions about two dozen times before he was declared dead. It took a period of 15 minutes for Grant to be declared unconscious by medical staff. After this, the vecuronium bromide, which paralyses the body, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, were given.

This comes after a federal appeals court had put a hold on Grant's execution over concerns about the drug cocktail which was used.&nbsp;

However, the Supreme Court lifted the last-minute stay and allowed the execution to go ahead.

Grant's attorneys had argued that the use of sedative midazolam would lead to cruel and unusual punishment and also violate his constitutional rights.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/to-halt-illegal-action-us-states-sue-biden-administration-over-vaccine-mandate-425272">Also read |&nbsp;'To halt illegal action': US states sue Biden administration over vaccine mandate</a>

The Oklahoma attorney general's office asked the Supreme Court to vacate the stay and it was done hours ahead of Grant's scheduled execution, with just the three liberal justices objecting.&nbsp;

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said that Grant's execution went as planned. "Inmate Grant's execution was carried out in accordance with Oklahoma Department of Corrections' protocols and without complication," communications director Justin Wolf said in a statement.

Earlier, Midazolam was identified as a potential factor in a series of mishandled executions in Oklahoma. A lawsuit challenging Oklahoma's lethal injection protocols will go to trial in February 2022. Also, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had put executions on hold in the state pending a ruling in the case.

"There should be no more executions in Oklahoma until we go to trial in February to address the state's problematic lethal injection protocol," said Dale Baich, an attorney for Grant and other death row inmates.

The Oklahoma state in the US is being sharply criticised after a few witnesses revealed that a convicted murderer vomited and experienced convulsions as he was executed by lethal injection.

The Oklahoma state in the US is being sharply criticised after a few witnesses revealed that a convicted murderer vomited and experienced convulsions as he was executed by lethal injection. John Grant, 60, who is Black, was sentenced to death after he murdered a white prison cafeteria worker, Gay Carter in 1998. He was the first inmate to be put to death in Oklahoma after a series of mishandled executions led to a temporary prohibition on capital punishment. Various journalists who witnessed the execution said that Grant had vomited and experienced full-body convulsions about two dozen times before he was declared dead. It took a period of 15 minutes for Grant to be declared unconscious by medical staff. After this, the vecuronium bromide, which paralyses the body, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, were given. This comes after a federal appeals court had put a hold on Grant's execution over concerns about the drug cocktail which was used. However, the Supreme Court lifted the last-minute stay and allowed the execution to go ahead. Grant's attorneys had argued that the use of sedative midazolam would lead to cruel and unusual punishment and also violate his constitutional rights. Also read | 'To halt illegal action': US states sue Biden administration over vaccine mandate The Oklahoma attorney general's office asked the Supreme Court to vacate the stay and it was done hours ahead of Grant's scheduled execution, with just the three liberal justices objecting. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said that Grant's execution went as planned. "Inmate Grant's execution was carried out in accordance with Oklahoma Department of Corrections' protocols and without complication," communications director Justin Wolf said in a statement. Earlier, Midazolam was identified as a potential factor in a series of mishandled executions in Oklahoma. A lawsuit challenging Oklahoma's lethal injection protocols will go to trial in February 2022. Also, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had put executions on hold in the state pending a ruling in the case. "There should be no more executions in Oklahoma until we go to trial in February to address the state's problematic lethal injection protocol," said Dale Baich, an attorney for Grant and other death row inmates.

During his execution, man in US vomited and convulsed, causing widespread outcry

A year ago, Tara Jones, an Amazon warehouse worker in Oklahoma, cradled her newborn, glanced over her pay stub on her phone and noticed that she had been underpaid by a significant chunk: $90 out of $540.

The mistake kept repeating even after she reported the issue. Jones, who had taken accounting classes at community college, grew so exasperated that she wrote an email to Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder.

“I’m behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up,” she wrote weeks later. “I’m crying as I write this email.”

Unbeknown to Jones, her message to Bezos set off an internal investigation, and a discovery: Jones was far from alone. For at least 1 1/2 years — including during periods of record profit — Amazon had been shortchanging new parents, patients dealing with medical crises and other vulnerable workers on leave, according to a confidential report on the findings. Some of the pay calculations at her facility had been wrong since it opened its doors over a year before. As many as 179 of the companies’ other warehouses had potentially been affected, too.

Amazon is still identifying and repaying workers to this day, according to Kelly Nantel, a company spokesperson.

That error is only one strand in a long-standing knot of problems with Amazon’s system for handling paid and unpaid leaves, according to dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Together, the records and interviews reveal that the issues have been more widespread — affecting the company’s blue-collar and white-collar workers — and more harmful than previously known, amounting to what several company insiders described as one of its gravest human resources problems.

Workers across the country facing medical problems and other life crises have been fired when the attendance software mistakenly marked them as no-shows, according to former and current human resources staff members, some who would speak only anonymously for fear of retribution. Doctors’ notes vanished into black holes in Amazon’s databases. Employees struggled to even reach their case managers, wading through automated phone trees that routed their calls to overwhelmed back-office staff in Costa Rica, India and Las Vegas. And the whole leave system was run on a patchwork of programs that often did not speak to one another.

Some workers who were ready to return found that the system was too backed up to process them, resulting in weeks or months of lost income. Higher-paid corporate employees, who had to navigate the same systems, found that arranging a routine leave could turn into a morass.

In internal correspondence, company administrators warned of “inadequate service levels,” “deficient processes” and systems that are “prone to delay and error.”

The extent of the problem puts in stark relief how Amazon’s workers routinely took a back seat to customers during the company’s meteoric rise to retail dominance. Amazon built cutting-edge package processing facilities to cater to shoppers’ appetite for fast delivery, far outpacing competitors. But the business did not devote enough resources and attention to how it served employees, according to many longtime workers.

“A lot of times, because we’ve optimized for the customer experience, we’ve been focused on that,” Bethany Reyes, who was recently put in charge of fixing the leave system, said in an interview. She stressed that the company was working hard to rebalance those priorities.

The company’s treatment of its huge workforce — now more than 1.3 million people and expanding rapidly — faces mounting scrutiny. Labor activists and some lawmakers say that the company does not adequately protect the safety of warehouse employees, and that it unfairly punishes internal critics. This year, workers in Alabama, upset about the company’s minute-by-minute monitoring of their productivity, organized a serious, although ultimately failed, unionization threat against the company.

In June, a Times investigation detailed how badly the leave process jammed during the pandemic, finding that it was one of many employment lapses during the company’s greatest moment of financial success. Since then, Amazon has emphasized a pledge to become “Earth’s best employer.” Andy Jassy, who replaced Bezos as CEO in July, recently singled out the leave system as a place where it can demonstrate its commitment to improve. The process “didn’t work the way we wanted it to work,” he said at an event this month.

In response to the more recent findings on the troubles in its leave program, Amazon elaborated on its efforts to fix the system’s “pain points” and “pay issues,” as Reyes put it in the interview. She called the erroneous terminations “the most dire issue that you could have.” The company is hiring hundreds of employees, streamlining and connecting systems, clarifying its communications and training human resources staff members to be more empathetic.

But many issues persist, causing breakdowns that have proved devastating. This spring, a Tennessee warehouse worker abruptly stopped receiving disability payments, leaving his family struggling to pay for food, transportation or medical care.

“Not a word that there had ever been a problem,” said James Watts, 54, who worked at Amazon in Chattanooga for six years before repeated heart attacks and strokes forced him to go on disability leave. The sudden loss of his benefits caused a cascade of calamities: Because he was without pay for two weeks, his car was repossessed. To afford food and doctors’ bills, Watts and his wife sold their wedding rings.

“We’re losing everything,” he said.

The benefits restarted without explanation several months later, but the couple are still struggling to regain their footing. Nantel said that Amazon regretted Watts’ situation, that the process was too confusing and that it was working to simplify the process of navigating leaves.

As the country’s second largest private employer, Amazon offers a wide array of leaves — paid or unpaid, medical or personal, legally mandated or not. While Amazon used to outsource the management of its leave programs, it brought the effort in-house when providers could not keep up with its growth. It is now one of the largest leave administrators in the country.

Employees apply for leaves online, on an internal app, or wade through automated phone trees. The technology that Amazon uses to manage leaves is a patchwork of software from a variety of companies — including Salesforce, Oracle and Kronos — that do not connect seamlessly.

That complexity forces human resource employees to input many approved leaves, an effort that last fall alone required 67 full-time employees, an internal document shows. Reyes said a permanent bridge between the programs is scheduled to be completed in March, with incremental improvements in the meantime.

Current and former employees involved in administering leaves say that the company’s answer has often been to push them so hard that some required leaves themselves. Last year, in an email sent out on a Friday about a Sunday deadline, a corporate manager of the leave system scolded his teams to do more.

“You all know what needs to be accomplished and by when,” he wrote. “No exceptions!”

Reyes said that employee burnout was a huge concern of hers as she was taking on her new role and that she was trying to address it in several ways.

Amazon’s own teams have not always been well-versed in the system, internal documents show. An external assessment last fall found that the back-office staff members who talk with employees “do not understand” the process for taking leaves and regularly gave incorrect information to workers. In one audited call, which dragged on for 29 minutes, the phone agent told a worker that he was too new to be eligible for short-term disability leave, when in fact workers are eligible from their first day.

Reyes said that with improved training, her teams could now resolve more than nine out of 10 issues on the first call.

In some cases, Amazon has been accused of violating the law. In 2017, Leslie Tullis, who managed a subscription product for children, faced a mounting domestic violence crisis and requested an unpaid leave that employers must offer under Washington state law to protect victims. Once approved, Tullis would be allowed to work intermittently; she could be absent from work as much as necessary, and with little notice; and she would be protected against retaliation.

Amazon granted the leave, but the company did not seem to understand what it had said yes to. It had no policy that corresponded to the law of the company’s home state, court documents show. Tullis said she spent as many as eight hours a week dealing with the company to manage her leave. At one point, she was moving regularly to keep her children safe. Despite the legal protections, her bosses would become visibly frustrated when she was behind on work, “like I was betraying them every day,” she said.

 
In June 2019, after she took two days of leave to deal with the latest emergency in a continuing family crisis just before a performance plan was due, she was fired for missing the deadline by two days. The Washington state attorney general’s office took up her case, calling Amazon’s leave reporting system “a failure” and arguing that the company retaliated in violation of the state law.

Amazon is fighting the case. Nantel said the company gave Tullis flexibility and support, as well as the equivalent of about seven months of unpaid leave over two years. She said Tullis was fired not in retaliation but because her performance faltered while she was not on leave.

Just before she was dismissed, she emailed her manager, stunned that the deadline was not pushed back to accommodate the exact type of crisis the leave law was intended to protect. “Domestic violence is a series of emergencies,” Tullis wrote in an email, “and the victims don’t get to pick when it ends.”

A year ago, Tara Jones, an Amazon warehouse worker in Oklahoma, cradled her newborn, glanced over her pay stub on her phone and noticed that she had been underpaid by a significant chunk: $90 out of $540.

A year ago, Tara Jones, an Amazon warehouse worker in Oklahoma, cradled her newborn, glanced over her pay stub on her phone and noticed that she had been underpaid by a significant chunk: $90 out of $540. The mistake kept repeating even after she reported the issue. Jones, who had taken accounting classes at community college, grew so exasperated that she wrote an email to Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder. “I’m behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up,” she wrote weeks later. “I’m crying as I write this email.” Unbeknown to Jones, her message to Bezos set off an internal investigation, and a discovery: Jones was far from alone. For at least 1 1/2 years — including during periods of record profit — Amazon had been shortchanging new parents, patients dealing with medical crises and other vulnerable workers on leave, according to a confidential report on the findings. Some of the pay calculations at her facility had been wrong since it opened its doors over a year before. As many as 179 of the companies’ other warehouses had potentially been affected, too. Amazon is still identifying and repaying workers to this day, according to Kelly Nantel, a company spokesperson. That error is only one strand in a long-standing knot of problems with Amazon’s system for handling paid and unpaid leaves, according to dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Together, the records and interviews reveal that the issues have been more widespread — affecting the company’s blue-collar and white-collar workers — and more harmful than previously known, amounting to what several company insiders described as one of its gravest human resources problems. Workers across the country facing medical problems and other life crises have been fired when the attendance software mistakenly marked them as no-shows, according to former and current human resources staff members, some who would speak only anonymously for fear of retribution. Doctors’ notes vanished into black holes in Amazon’s databases. Employees struggled to even reach their case managers, wading through automated phone trees that routed their calls to overwhelmed back-office staff in Costa Rica, India and Las Vegas. And the whole leave system was run on a patchwork of programs that often did not speak to one another. Some workers who were ready to return found that the system was too backed up to process them, resulting in weeks or months of lost income. Higher-paid corporate employees, who had to navigate the same systems, found that arranging a routine leave could turn into a morass. In internal correspondence, company administrators warned of “inadequate service levels,” “deficient processes” and systems that are “prone to delay and error.” The extent of the problem puts in stark relief how Amazon’s workers routinely took a back seat to customers during the company’s meteoric rise to retail dominance. Amazon built cutting-edge package processing facilities to cater to shoppers’ appetite for fast delivery, far outpacing competitors. But the business did not devote enough resources and attention to how it served employees, according to many longtime workers. “A lot of times, because we’ve optimized for the customer experience, we’ve been focused on that,” Bethany Reyes, who was recently put in charge of fixing the leave system, said in an interview. She stressed that the company was working hard to rebalance those priorities. The company’s treatment of its huge workforce — now more than 1.3 million people and expanding rapidly — faces mounting scrutiny. Labor activists and some lawmakers say that the company does not adequately protect the safety of warehouse employees, and that it unfairly punishes internal critics. This year, workers in Alabama, upset about the company’s minute-by-minute monitoring of their productivity, organized a serious, although ultimately failed, unionization threat against the company. In June, a Times investigation detailed how badly the leave process jammed during the pandemic, finding that it was one of many employment lapses during the company’s greatest moment of financial success. Since then, Amazon has emphasized a pledge to become “Earth’s best employer.” Andy Jassy, who replaced Bezos as CEO in July, recently singled out the leave system as a place where it can demonstrate its commitment to improve. The process “didn’t work the way we wanted it to work,” he said at an event this month. In response to the more recent findings on the troubles in its leave program, Amazon elaborated on its efforts to fix the system’s “pain points” and “pay issues,” as Reyes put it in the interview. She called the erroneous terminations “the most dire issue that you could have.” The company is hiring hundreds of employees, streamlining and connecting systems, clarifying its communications and training human resources staff members to be more empathetic. But many issues persist, causing breakdowns that have proved devastating. This spring, a Tennessee warehouse worker abruptly stopped receiving disability payments, leaving his family struggling to pay for food, transportation or medical care. “Not a word that there had ever been a problem,” said James Watts, 54, who worked at Amazon in Chattanooga for six years before repeated heart attacks and strokes forced him to go on disability leave. The sudden loss of his benefits caused a cascade of calamities: Because he was without pay for two weeks, his car was repossessed. To afford food and doctors’ bills, Watts and his wife sold their wedding rings. “We’re losing everything,” he said. The benefits restarted without explanation several months later, but the couple are still struggling to regain their footing. Nantel said that Amazon regretted Watts’ situation, that the process was too confusing and that it was working to simplify the process of navigating leaves. As the country’s second largest private employer, Amazon offers a wide array of leaves — paid or unpaid, medical or personal, legally mandated or not. While Amazon used to outsource the management of its leave programs, it brought the effort in-house when providers could not keep up with its growth. It is now one of the largest leave administrators in the country. Employees apply for leaves online, on an internal app, or wade through automated phone trees. The technology that Amazon uses to manage leaves is a patchwork of software from a variety of companies — including Salesforce, Oracle and Kronos — that do not connect seamlessly. That complexity forces human resource employees to input many approved leaves, an effort that last fall alone required 67 full-time employees, an internal document shows. Reyes said a permanent bridge between the programs is scheduled to be completed in March, with incremental improvements in the meantime. Current and former employees involved in administering leaves say that the company’s answer has often been to push them so hard that some required leaves themselves. Last year, in an email sent out on a Friday about a Sunday deadline, a corporate manager of the leave system scolded his teams to do more. “You all know what needs to be accomplished and by when,” he wrote. “No exceptions!” Reyes said that employee burnout was a huge concern of hers as she was taking on her new role and that she was trying to address it in several ways. Amazon’s own teams have not always been well-versed in the system, internal documents show. An external assessment last fall found that the back-office staff members who talk with employees “do not understand” the process for taking leaves and regularly gave incorrect information to workers. In one audited call, which dragged on for 29 minutes, the phone agent told a worker that he was too new to be eligible for short-term disability leave, when in fact workers are eligible from their first day. Reyes said that with improved training, her teams could now resolve more than nine out of 10 issues on the first call. In some cases, Amazon has been accused of violating the law. In 2017, Leslie Tullis, who managed a subscription product for children, faced a mounting domestic violence crisis and requested an unpaid leave that employers must offer under Washington state law to protect victims. Once approved, Tullis would be allowed to work intermittently; she could be absent from work as much as necessary, and with little notice; and she would be protected against retaliation. Amazon granted the leave, but the company did not seem to understand what it had said yes to. It had no policy that corresponded to the law of the company’s home state, court documents show. Tullis said she spent as many as eight hours a week dealing with the company to manage her leave. At one point, she was moving regularly to keep her children safe. Despite the legal protections, her bosses would become visibly frustrated when she was behind on work, “like I was betraying them every day,” she said. In June 2019, after she took two days of leave to deal with the latest emergency in a continuing family crisis just before a performance plan was due, she was fired for missing the deadline by two days. The Washington state attorney general’s office took up her case, calling Amazon’s leave reporting system “a failure” and arguing that the company retaliated in violation of the state law. Amazon is fighting the case. Nantel said the company gave Tullis flexibility and support, as well as the equivalent of about seven months of unpaid leave over two years. She said Tullis was fired not in retaliation but because her performance faltered while she was not on leave. Just before she was dismissed, she emailed her manager, stunned that the deadline was not pushed back to accommodate the exact type of crisis the leave law was intended to protect. “Domestic violence is a series of emergencies,” Tullis wrote in an email, “and the victims don’t get to pick when it ends.”

Inside Amazon’s worst human resources problem

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.m., was from Texas. So was the second and the third.

The building houses one of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics, and at least two-thirds of its scheduled patients now come from Texas. So many, in fact, that it is trying to hire more staff members and doctors to keep up. The increase is the result of a new law in Texas banning abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. As soon as the measure took effect this month, Texans started traveling elsewhere, and Oklahoma, close to Dallas, has become a major destination.

“We had every line lit up for eight hours straight,” said Jennifer Reince, who works the front desk phones at the clinic, Trust Women Oklahoma City, describing the first week the measure was in force.

The effects of the new law have been profound: Texans with unwanted pregnancies have been forced to make decisions quickly, and some have opted to travel long distances for abortions. As clinics in surrounding states fill up, appointments are being scheduled for later dates, making the procedures more costly. Other women are having to carry their pregnancies to term.

Marva Sadler, senior director of clinic services at Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, said she believed that many patients were not able to arrange child care or take time off work without losing their jobs to travel to other states.

“I think a majority of women are being sentenced to being parents,” she said.

The law is the latest in a string of successes by the anti-abortion movement, which for years has pushed for more conservative judges and control over state legislatures. Now the Supreme Court is preparing to take up an abortion case — the first to be argued before the court with all three of former President Donald Trump’s conservative appointees — that has the potential to remove federal protection for abortion altogether.

In Texas, the new state law has effectively accomplished that, at least for now.

Samerah, who requested that her last name not be published, was just five weeks pregnant when she lay on an examining table in Houston to get an ultrasound. It was Aug. 31, the day before the law went into effect. She had heard about it on the news and knew that it banned abortions after cardiac activity was detected. But when the doctor performed the ultrasound, there was no sound, and she was told to come back the next day for her procedure.

When she returned and lay again in a darkened room, staring up at a set of paper dancers hanging from the ceiling, the doctor got a different result.

“He said, ‘Take a deep breath,’ and budoom, budoom, budoom, all you hear is a heartbeat,” said Samerah, who is 22. “In that same breath, all the things I had been crossing my fingers about just came out, and I just bawled and bawled and bawled.”

She walked into the hallway, her mind racing, and saw other women there too.

“We were all just crying in the hallway like, ‘What are we going to do?’”

The answer for many women in her position has been to race to get an abortion in a different state. About half the patients at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, are now from Texas, up from about one-fifth before the law. At Little Rock Family Planning Services, in Arkansas, Texas patients make up 19% of the caseload now, compared with less than 2% in August.

Oklahoma does not require two trips to a clinic to get an abortion in most cases, so it has been a common choice. Trust Women had 11 Texas patients in August; it has 110 so far in September. Patients come from as far away as Galveston and Corpus Christi. Some drive through the night in time for a morning appointment. The high demand from Texas has meant that the clinic’s schedule is full for weeks. Last week, the earliest appointments were for mid-October.

Samerah arrived last Monday from Beaumont, a city near Houston, where she lives with her partner and their 2-year-old son.

The news of her pregnancy, she said, threatened the life they had built for him.

Their financial circumstances had only recently stabilized. She had gotten a customer service job. Her partner was driving a van for a medical service. They moved out of his family’s house into their own apartment. Their son has his own room. She bought new furniture: a sectional and a bed.

“This was our first time actually buying a brand-new, out-of-the-box mattress, not off of Facebook or something,” she said.

She felt proud to be able to give her son attention, toys, a stable home, things she said she never had herself. But she could not afford to do that for two. “I don’t want to be that parent,” said Samerah, whose mother was a teenager when she was born. “I don’t want to bring my kid into something that I can’t afford to take care of, because they don’t deserve it. I grew up in that kind of reality. And I know what it does to people.”

Samerah said she had gotten an abortion once before, the year after her son was born, for similar reasons. She said she made an appointment to get an IUD immediately after her procedure Tuesday.

As states pass more abortion restrictions, it increasingly is poor women who must grapple with their effects. Half of American women who got an abortion in 2014 lived in poverty, double the share from 1994, when about one-quarter of the women who had abortions were low-income, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Theories for why include demographic change, increased funding for abortions for low-income women, and higher-income women having more access to highly effective contraception.

The longer women have to wait, the more expensive their procedures become. Abortions at Trust Women range in cost from $650 for earlier stages to $2,350 for later stages. Financial assistance is also available.

Sarah, who works at a roofing company, found out she was 13 weeks pregnant on Aug. 23. But then the law went into effect, and she raced to find a clinic in another state.

“It has just been a scramble to get this taken care of, especially since I just ran out of time so quickly,” said Sarah, 21, who asked that her last name not be published to protect her privacy.

She finally got her abortion at the Oklahoma City clinic Sept. 20. She had to put off a car payment to cover her part of the $1,550 charge. Her partner, a police officer, split the cost and drove her the three hours from Dallas where they live.

She said she had been on her own for some time. Her mother died in a car crash when she was 9, and her father died of cancer when she was 19. And though she feels much more financially stable now than in her teens — she was putting herself through college studying criminal justice until the coronavirus pandemic — she said she could not support a baby.

“I would have to put my life on hold,” she said. “I don’t know if I would be able to go back to school."

Sarah had never been pregnant before, but she said she knew her decision was right. Still, it was difficult. In the weeks that she waited for her appointment, she said it was impossible not to think about what was growing inside her. The ultrasound confirming her pregnancy, which she received at a center run by an anti-abortion group, was performed by a woman who typed ‘Hi, Mommy’ and ‘Hi, it’s me' into the screen and gave Sarah the printout.

“It’s hard not to have the instinct to want to form a bond with it,” Sarah said. “And just having to remind myself every day, you can’t do it. Like, it’s just not the time for you. So that’s been the hardest part.”

Trust Women draws anti-abortion groups too. A recreational vehicle operated by anti-abortion activists that advertises free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds sometimes parks across the street at Rancho Village Food Mart.

Raymundo Marquez, 23, a cashier there, said his brother, an owner of the shop, allows it. But Marquez has conflicted feelings. He believes that abortion is wrong. When his girlfriend got pregnant in high school, they did not consider it. But he said it was hard to judge someone else for doing it, because he knows there are children who are homeless and neglected.

“It’s sad both ways,” he said.

By Tuesday afternoon, one protester had appeared, standing tall in a green flowered jacket and green flats, praying and looking toward the clinic’s security booth. Inside, Louis Padilla, the security guard, was watching her. She is a regular, and sometimes he walks outside to debate her.

Padilla said that he was Catholic and Republican but that he was won over to the cause of the clinic after working there for a while. Each woman has her own story, he said, and who are men like him to judge them? He mows the clinic’s lawn, puts up its flag and sometimes fixes appliances because repairmen refuse to come to an abortion clinic. He even bought a drone with his own money to watch the protesters outside.

The situation in Texas may be temporary. A hearing Oct. 1 will give the law’s opponents another chance to convince a judge to suspend it. But other restrictions are looming. In Oklahoma, there are five, including a law that requires abortion providers to be board-certified obstetricians. If it takes effect as scheduled Nov. 1, four of the eight doctors licensed to work at Trust Women could no longer do so.

Samerah made it to the Oklahoma clinic with the help of financial assistance funds, which covered plane tickets for her and her son. Her abortion was covered too. But her partner had to pay his own way there. He was fired, she said, when he asked for time off. And she lost several days’ pay.

She does not believe that the people who passed the law considered the consequences for women like her. Those officials, she said, go to their jobs in “their car that doesn’t have problems starting up, with a tire that is not flat.”

Meanwhile, she, her partner and her son will go back to Texas to a real fear that they may not be able to pay rent for October.

“I have to go home and figure out what to do in the next month, and the next month is in a couple of weeks. Like, what am I going to do, you know?”

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.

On a windy Tuesday morning, the parking lot outside a small brick building on the Southside of Oklahoma City was filling up fast. The first to arrive, a red truck shortly before 8 a.m., was from Texas. So was the second and the third. The building houses one of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics, and at least two-thirds of its scheduled patients now come from Texas. So many, in fact, that it is trying to hire more staff members and doctors to keep up. The increase is the result of a new law in Texas banning abortions after about six weeks, a very early stage of pregnancy. As soon as the measure took effect this month, Texans started traveling elsewhere, and Oklahoma, close to Dallas, has become a major destination. “We had every line lit up for eight hours straight,” said Jennifer Reince, who works the front desk phones at the clinic, Trust Women Oklahoma City, describing the first week the measure was in force. The effects of the new law have been profound: Texans with unwanted pregnancies have been forced to make decisions quickly, and some have opted to travel long distances for abortions. As clinics in surrounding states fill up, appointments are being scheduled for later dates, making the procedures more costly. Other women are having to carry their pregnancies to term. Marva Sadler, senior director of clinic services at Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, said she believed that many patients were not able to arrange child care or take time off work without losing their jobs to travel to other states. “I think a majority of women are being sentenced to being parents,” she said. The law is the latest in a string of successes by the anti-abortion movement, which for years has pushed for more conservative judges and control over state legislatures. Now the Supreme Court is preparing to take up an abortion case — the first to be argued before the court with all three of former President Donald Trump’s conservative appointees — that has the potential to remove federal protection for abortion altogether. In Texas, the new state law has effectively accomplished that, at least for now. Samerah, who requested that her last name not be published, was just five weeks pregnant when she lay on an examining table in Houston to get an ultrasound. It was Aug. 31, the day before the law went into effect. She had heard about it on the news and knew that it banned abortions after cardiac activity was detected. But when the doctor performed the ultrasound, there was no sound, and she was told to come back the next day for her procedure. When she returned and lay again in a darkened room, staring up at a set of paper dancers hanging from the ceiling, the doctor got a different result. “He said, ‘Take a deep breath,’ and budoom, budoom, budoom, all you hear is a heartbeat,” said Samerah, who is 22. “In that same breath, all the things I had been crossing my fingers about just came out, and I just bawled and bawled and bawled.” She walked into the hallway, her mind racing, and saw other women there too. “We were all just crying in the hallway like, ‘What are we going to do?’” The answer for many women in her position has been to race to get an abortion in a different state. About half the patients at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, are now from Texas, up from about one-fifth before the law. At Little Rock Family Planning Services, in Arkansas, Texas patients make up 19% of the caseload now, compared with less than 2% in August. Oklahoma does not require two trips to a clinic to get an abortion in most cases, so it has been a common choice. Trust Women had 11 Texas patients in August; it has 110 so far in September. Patients come from as far away as Galveston and Corpus Christi. Some drive through the night in time for a morning appointment. The high demand from Texas has meant that the clinic’s schedule is full for weeks. Last week, the earliest appointments were for mid-October. Samerah arrived last Monday from Beaumont, a city near Houston, where she lives with her partner and their 2-year-old son. The news of her pregnancy, she said, threatened the life they had built for him. Their financial circumstances had only recently stabilized. She had gotten a customer service job. Her partner was driving a van for a medical service. They moved out of his family’s house into their own apartment. Their son has his own room. She bought new furniture: a sectional and a bed. “This was our first time actually buying a brand-new, out-of-the-box mattress, not off of Facebook or something,” she said. She felt proud to be able to give her son attention, toys, a stable home, things she said she never had herself. But she could not afford to do that for two. “I don’t want to be that parent,” said Samerah, whose mother was a teenager when she was born. “I don’t want to bring my kid into something that I can’t afford to take care of, because they don’t deserve it. I grew up in that kind of reality. And I know what it does to people.” Samerah said she had gotten an abortion once before, the year after her son was born, for similar reasons. She said she made an appointment to get an IUD immediately after her procedure Tuesday. As states pass more abortion restrictions, it increasingly is poor women who must grapple with their effects. Half of American women who got an abortion in 2014 lived in poverty, double the share from 1994, when about one-quarter of the women who had abortions were low-income, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Theories for why include demographic change, increased funding for abortions for low-income women, and higher-income women having more access to highly effective contraception. The longer women have to wait, the more expensive their procedures become. Abortions at Trust Women range in cost from $650 for earlier stages to $2,350 for later stages. Financial assistance is also available. Sarah, who works at a roofing company, found out she was 13 weeks pregnant on Aug. 23. But then the law went into effect, and she raced to find a clinic in another state. “It has just been a scramble to get this taken care of, especially since I just ran out of time so quickly,” said Sarah, 21, who asked that her last name not be published to protect her privacy. She finally got her abortion at the Oklahoma City clinic Sept. 20. She had to put off a car payment to cover her part of the $1,550 charge. Her partner, a police officer, split the cost and drove her the three hours from Dallas where they live. She said she had been on her own for some time. Her mother died in a car crash when she was 9, and her father died of cancer when she was 19. And though she feels much more financially stable now than in her teens — she was putting herself through college studying criminal justice until the coronavirus pandemic — she said she could not support a baby. “I would have to put my life on hold,” she said. “I don’t know if I would be able to go back to school." Sarah had never been pregnant before, but she said she knew her decision was right. Still, it was difficult. In the weeks that she waited for her appointment, she said it was impossible not to think about what was growing inside her. The ultrasound confirming her pregnancy, which she received at a center run by an anti-abortion group, was performed by a woman who typed ‘Hi, Mommy’ and ‘Hi, it’s me' into the screen and gave Sarah the printout. “It’s hard not to have the instinct to want to form a bond with it,” Sarah said. “And just having to remind myself every day, you can’t do it. Like, it’s just not the time for you. So that’s been the hardest part.” Trust Women draws anti-abortion groups too. A recreational vehicle operated by anti-abortion activists that advertises free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds sometimes parks across the street at Rancho Village Food Mart. Raymundo Marquez, 23, a cashier there, said his brother, an owner of the shop, allows it. But Marquez has conflicted feelings. He believes that abortion is wrong. When his girlfriend got pregnant in high school, they did not consider it. But he said it was hard to judge someone else for doing it, because he knows there are children who are homeless and neglected. “It’s sad both ways,” he said. By Tuesday afternoon, one protester had appeared, standing tall in a green flowered jacket and green flats, praying and looking toward the clinic’s security booth. Inside, Louis Padilla, the security guard, was watching her. She is a regular, and sometimes he walks outside to debate her. Padilla said that he was Catholic and Republican but that he was won over to the cause of the clinic after working there for a while. Each woman has her own story, he said, and who are men like him to judge them? He mows the clinic’s lawn, puts up its flag and sometimes fixes appliances because repairmen refuse to come to an abortion clinic. He even bought a drone with his own money to watch the protesters outside. The situation in Texas may be temporary. A hearing Oct. 1 will give the law’s opponents another chance to convince a judge to suspend it. But other restrictions are looming. In Oklahoma, there are five, including a law that requires abortion providers to be board-certified obstetricians. If it takes effect as scheduled Nov. 1, four of the eight doctors licensed to work at Trust Women could no longer do so. Samerah made it to the Oklahoma clinic with the help of financial assistance funds, which covered plane tickets for her and her son. Her abortion was covered too. But her partner had to pay his own way there. He was fired, she said, when he asked for time off. And she lost several days’ pay. She does not believe that the people who passed the law considered the consequences for women like her. Those officials, she said, go to their jobs in “their car that doesn’t have problems starting up, with a tire that is not flat.” Meanwhile, she, her partner and her son will go back to Texas to a real fear that they may not be able to pay rent for October. “I have to go home and figure out what to do in the next month, and the next month is in a couple of weeks. Like, what am I going to do, you know?”

With abortion largely banned in Texas, an Oklahoma clinic is inundated

An Oklahoma doctor recently said that overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure COVID-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services.&nbsp;

The drug is used to kill internal and external parasites in livestock animals and, in smaller doses, in humans.

Dr Jason McElyea told KFOR, an Oklahoma TV station, "There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous".

He added, "The [emergency rooms] are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/auckland-knife-attacker-was-on-deportation-notice-reveals-new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-410772">Also read |&nbsp;Auckland knife attacker was on deportation notice, reveals New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern</a>

“Ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don’t have any, that’s it. If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.”

Oklahoma, currently, is struggling to cope with a surge in hospitalisations and deaths caused by the Delta virus variant.&nbsp;

As per reports by the Johns Hopkins University, in the past week Oklahoma has recorded more than 18,400 cases and 189 deaths.&nbsp;

The same source puts the death toll in Oklahoma over 8,000, out of more than 647,000 across the US.

An Oklahoma doctor recently said that overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure COVID-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services.

An Oklahoma doctor recently said that overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure COVID-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services. The drug is used to kill internal and external parasites in livestock animals and, in smaller doses, in humans. Dr Jason McElyea told KFOR, an Oklahoma TV station, "There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous". He added, "The [emergency rooms] are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated. Also read | Auckland knife attacker was on deportation notice, reveals New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern “Ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don’t have any, that’s it. If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.” Oklahoma, currently, is struggling to cope with a surge in hospitalisations and deaths caused by the Delta virus variant. As per reports by the Johns Hopkins University, in the past week Oklahoma has recorded more than 18,400 cases and 189 deaths. The same source puts the death toll in Oklahoma over 8,000, out of more than 647,000 across the US.

Oklahoma hospitals deluged by ivermectin overdoses

Five Oklahoma City police officers were charged with first-degree manslaughter Wednesday after they shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who had dropped his gun on the ground, officials said.

The shooting came after the police had responded to a call for an armed robbery at the Okie Gas Express on Nov. 23. Before officers arrived, the clerk had fled the store and locked the teenager, Stavian Rodriguez, inside, according to the police.

Officers ordered Rodriguez to come out, and he climbed out a drive-through window, prosecutors said. Body-camera footage shows officers giving Rodriguez “varying commands,” prosecutors said.

Rodriguez lifted his shirt up and pulled a gun from his pants, holding it with his thumb and forefinger, prosecutors said. He dropped the gun on the ground and put his left hand in his back pocket and his right hand in his front pocket or waistline, prosecutors said.

One officer, Sarah Carli, fired a “less lethal” round at Rodriguez, striking him, prosecutors said. Five other officers then “unnecessarily” fired their guns at Rodriguez, striking him multiple times and killing him, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez had no weapons other than the gun, which he had dropped before being shot, prosecutors said. A cellphone was later found in the back pocket where his left hand had been, prosecutors said.

A medical examiner’s report showed that Rodriguez had been shot 13 times in the head, the chest and other parts of his body.

The five officers who fired lethal rounds and were charged in the death are Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton. First-degree manslaughter carries a penalty of four years to life in prison, prosecutors said. Carli, who fired the “less lethal” round, was not charged, the police said.

Cameo Holland, Rodriguez’s mother, said Wednesday that the officers should go to prison for killing her son.

“The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Praise God,’ and I’m hopeful that they will be convicted,” she said. “The surprise is that the district attorney is willing to do the right thing and to charge all of them.”

Holland said there was no justification for the police to have shot her son. “I don’t defend what he did at the store or even him being there,” she said, “but nobody should expect to be killed for committing a crime — not robbery.”

She said the officers would now go through the criminal legal process, “something they denied my son the opportunity to do.”

It was not immediately clear if the officers who were charged had lawyers. All five have been placed on paid administrative leave, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.

John George, the president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123, which represents the city’s officers, said all five who had been charged had “acted within the law.”

“Officers must make life and death decisions in a split second, relying on their training,” George said. “When an armed robbery suspect did not obey police commands, five officers perceived the same threat and simultaneously fired their weapons. A loss of life is always a tragedy, and we know these officers did not take firing their weapons lightly.”

Wyatt Cheatham, 17, who police say helped Rodriguez rob the gas station but was not there when he was shot, was charged in December with first-degree murder for taking part in a crime that led to Rodriguez’s death, court records show.

The charges against the officers came on the same day that the police released body-camera footage from the shooting that showed multiple officers surrounding the gas station with their guns drawn.

After Rodriguez crawled out of the drive-through window, officers yelled, “Hands!” “Get down!” “Face down on the ground” and “Drop it!” before opening fire, the videos show.

Last month, prosecutors charged another Oklahoma City police officer, Sgt. Clifford Holman, with manslaughter after he shot a Black man, Bennie Edwards, 60, three times in the back as he ran away in December.

Edwards had struggled with mental illness, and the shooting by Holman, who is white, was partly captured on video and touched off protests in the city.

Rand Eddy, a lawyer for Rodriguez’s family, said the family had begun the process of filing a lawsuit against the city in state court and planned to file a federal lawsuit against the city and the five officers who were charged with manslaughter.

Eddy called the criminal charges against the officers “a step toward justice.”

“The Oklahoma City Police Department has been perpetuating the murder of innocent and unarmed people for decades,” he said. “Of the many forms of justice Stavian and his family deserve, we hope to see an end to this senseless violence and tragedy in our community.”

Holland said her son had always been respectful to her and had loved animals and people.

“I love my son, and there was a lot more to his life than the last hour of that incident that happened at that store,” she said. “I’m proud of my son, and I’m not going to stop what I’m going to do until I get what is fair for my child, as fair as fair can be at this point.”

Five Oklahoma City police officers were charged with first-degree manslaughter Wednesday after they shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who had dropped his gun on the ground, officials said.

Five Oklahoma City police officers were charged with first-degree manslaughter Wednesday after they shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who had dropped his gun on the ground, officials said. The shooting came after the police had responded to a call for an armed robbery at the Okie Gas Express on Nov. 23. Before officers arrived, the clerk had fled the store and locked the teenager, Stavian Rodriguez, inside, according to the police. Officers ordered Rodriguez to come out, and he climbed out a drive-through window, prosecutors said. Body-camera footage shows officers giving Rodriguez “varying commands,” prosecutors said. Rodriguez lifted his shirt up and pulled a gun from his pants, holding it with his thumb and forefinger, prosecutors said. He dropped the gun on the ground and put his left hand in his back pocket and his right hand in his front pocket or waistline, prosecutors said. One officer, Sarah Carli, fired a “less lethal” round at Rodriguez, striking him, prosecutors said. Five other officers then “unnecessarily” fired their guns at Rodriguez, striking him multiple times and killing him, prosecutors said. Rodriguez had no weapons other than the gun, which he had dropped before being shot, prosecutors said. A cellphone was later found in the back pocket where his left hand had been, prosecutors said. A medical examiner’s report showed that Rodriguez had been shot 13 times in the head, the chest and other parts of his body. The five officers who fired lethal rounds and were charged in the death are Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton. First-degree manslaughter carries a penalty of four years to life in prison, prosecutors said. Carli, who fired the “less lethal” round, was not charged, the police said. Cameo Holland, Rodriguez’s mother, said Wednesday that the officers should go to prison for killing her son. “The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Praise God,’ and I’m hopeful that they will be convicted,” she said. “The surprise is that the district attorney is willing to do the right thing and to charge all of them.” Holland said there was no justification for the police to have shot her son. “I don’t defend what he did at the store or even him being there,” she said, “but nobody should expect to be killed for committing a crime — not robbery.” She said the officers would now go through the criminal legal process, “something they denied my son the opportunity to do.” It was not immediately clear if the officers who were charged had lawyers. All five have been placed on paid administrative leave, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department. John George, the president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123, which represents the city’s officers, said all five who had been charged had “acted within the law.” “Officers must make life and death decisions in a split second, relying on their training,” George said. “When an armed robbery suspect did not obey police commands, five officers perceived the same threat and simultaneously fired their weapons. A loss of life is always a tragedy, and we know these officers did not take firing their weapons lightly.” Wyatt Cheatham, 17, who police say helped Rodriguez rob the gas station but was not there when he was shot, was charged in December with first-degree murder for taking part in a crime that led to Rodriguez’s death, court records show. The charges against the officers came on the same day that the police released body-camera footage from the shooting that showed multiple officers surrounding the gas station with their guns drawn. After Rodriguez crawled out of the drive-through window, officers yelled, “Hands!” “Get down!” “Face down on the ground” and “Drop it!” before opening fire, the videos show. Last month, prosecutors charged another Oklahoma City police officer, Sgt. Clifford Holman, with manslaughter after he shot a Black man, Bennie Edwards, 60, three times in the back as he ran away in December. Edwards had struggled with mental illness, and the shooting by Holman, who is white, was partly captured on video and touched off protests in the city. Rand Eddy, a lawyer for Rodriguez’s family, said the family had begun the process of filing a lawsuit against the city in state court and planned to file a federal lawsuit against the city and the five officers who were charged with manslaughter. Eddy called the criminal charges against the officers “a step toward justice.” “The Oklahoma City Police Department has been perpetuating the murder of innocent and unarmed people for decades,” he said. “Of the many forms of justice Stavian and his family deserve, we hope to see an end to this senseless violence and tragedy in our community.” Holland said her son had always been respectful to her and had loved animals and people. “I love my son, and there was a lot more to his life than the last hour of that incident that happened at that store,” she said. “I’m proud of my son, and I’m not going to stop what I’m going to do until I get what is fair for my child, as fair as fair can be at this point.”

Five Oklahoma officers charged in shooting death of 15-year-old boy

Future of concerts? 'The Flaming Lips' perform in plastic bubbles in COVID times

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened unspecified action against any protesters at his weekend Tulsa, Oklahoma, re-election rally in a warning that his campaign said was not directed at peaceful demonstrators.

"Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!" Trump tweeted.

Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Trump's campaign, said Trump was referring to agitators and not peaceful protesters.

"The president supports peaceful protests and people who are exercising their First Amendment rights," Lotter told MSNBC in an interview following the tweet. "If we see what we've seen in other cities with rioting, looting, setting buildings on fire and physical violence, then that's going to be something that's going to be met by police."

The rally is Trump's first major re-election event in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic that shuttered much of the country and comes amid weeks of civil unrest over the treatment of African Americans and growing protests over racism and policing.

Trump faced sharp backlash over a tweet during protests following the recent death of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, that said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The phrase evoked a white segregationist who was Miami mayor in the 1960s, though the president later said he was unaware of its origins.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who was scheduled to keynote a Juneteenth event in Tulsa later on Friday, called Trump's tweet "provocative" and "disrespectful," especially following the recent deaths of Floyd and another African-American man, Rayshard Brooks, in Atlanta.

"To have a threat like that you're provoking an incident, and you're provoking an interaction that is unnecessary," Sharpton told MSNBC in a separate interview.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened unspecified action against any protesters at his weekend Tulsa, Oklahoma, re-election rally in a warning that his campaign said was not directed at peaceful demonstrators.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened unspecified action against any protesters at his weekend Tulsa, Oklahoma, re-election rally in a warning that his campaign said was not directed at peaceful demonstrators. "Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!" Trump tweeted. Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Trump's campaign, said Trump was referring to agitators and not peaceful protesters. "The president supports peaceful protests and people who are exercising their First Amendment rights," Lotter told MSNBC in an interview following the tweet. "If we see what we've seen in other cities with rioting, looting, setting buildings on fire and physical violence, then that's going to be something that's going to be met by police." The rally is Trump's first major re-election event in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic that shuttered much of the country and comes amid weeks of civil unrest over the treatment of African Americans and growing protests over racism and policing. Trump faced sharp backlash over a tweet during protests following the recent death of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, that said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The phrase evoked a white segregationist who was Miami mayor in the 1960s, though the president later said he was unaware of its origins. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who was scheduled to keynote a Juneteenth event in Tulsa later on Friday, called Trump's tweet "provocative" and "disrespectful," especially following the recent deaths of Floyd and another African-American man, Rayshard Brooks, in Atlanta. "To have a threat like that you're provoking an incident, and you're provoking an interaction that is unnecessary," Sharpton told MSNBC in a separate interview.

Trump warns protesters to face 'different scene' at his Oklahoma rally

Oklahoma City Police Department release May 20, 2019 footage of a black man's arrest. The newly released body camera footage shows a suspect saying “I can’t breathe” before he died at a hospital. Watch report.

US police release footage of Scott's arrest | Black man arrest in 2019

The growing outbreak of the novel coronavirus is slowly grasping all the sporting events around the world. The latest league to get suspended in the NBA. The basketball world was shocked when United States' world-famous basketball league NBA got suspended indefinitely after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert was tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/all-italian-sporting-events-including-serie-a-suspended-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak-285360" hreflang="en">All Italian sporting events including Serie A suspended due to coronavirus outbreak</a>

This happened just before the start of Oklahoma City Thunder versus Utah Jazz game. Teams were on the court and were ready to tip-off when the officials had a conversation and asked the players to get back in the locker rooms. It later was revealed that one of the Utah Jazz players was tested positive for coronavirus.

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NBA has suspended the season in the wake of a player testing positive for coronavirus. <a href="https://t.co/Dpqp3VA7TK">pic.twitter.com/Dpqp3VA7TK</a>
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardBeck/status/1237914340344422400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The league then confirmed the season had been suspended indefinitely while it considered how to deal with the pandemic.

"The NBA is suspending gameplay following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward regarding the coronavirus pandemic."

Reportedly, the two-time defensive player of the year (Rudy Gobert) is doing well and is under the care of health officials in the Oklahoma City.

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Was just on the phone with Rudy. He is doing good man. Lets not panick everyone. Love you all❤️
— Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanFourmizz/status/1237928886501101574?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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According to the ESPN, players of Jazz and Thunder were quarantined in the arena itself, other teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors have been asked to self-quarantine themselves.

The growing outbreak of the novel coronavirus is slowly grasping all the sporting events around the world. The latest league to get suspended in the NBA. The basketball world was shocked when United States' world-famous basketball league NBA got suspended indefinitely after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert was tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The growing outbreak of the novel coronavirus is slowly grasping all the sporting events around the world. The latest league to get suspended in the NBA. The basketball world was shocked when United States' world-famous basketball league NBA got suspended indefinitely after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert was tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Also read: All Italian sporting events including Serie A suspended due to coronavirus outbreak This happened just before the start of Oklahoma City Thunder versus Utah Jazz game. Teams were on the court and were ready to tip-off when the officials had a conversation and asked the players to get back in the locker rooms. It later was revealed that one of the Utah Jazz players was tested positive for coronavirus. NBA has suspended the season in the wake of a player testing positive for coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/Dpqp3VA7TK — Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) March 12, 2020 × The league then confirmed the season had been suspended indefinitely while it considered how to deal with the pandemic. "The NBA is suspending gameplay following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward regarding the coronavirus pandemic." Reportedly, the two-time defensive player of the year (Rudy Gobert) is doing well and is under the care of health officials in the Oklahoma City. Was just on the phone with Rudy. He is doing good man. Lets not panick everyone. Love you all❤️ — Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) March 12, 2020 × According to the ESPN, players of Jazz and Thunder were quarantined in the arena itself, other teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors have been asked to self-quarantine themselves.

NBA: Basketball league gets suspended after player tests positive for coronavirus

One nominee was flagged for his relationship with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-russia-election-probe-amounted-to-treason-206153">Russia</a>, another for his alleged ties to white supremacist groups, and several others for criticizing <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-rally-trump-says-russia-probe-backers-tried-to-steal-power-illegally-206396">Donald Trump</a> before he became US president.

These are the revelations from a trove of vetting documents published by the news site Axios on Sunday that examine the backgrounds of people considered for, and whom in some cases received, appointments to Trump's administration after his 2017 inauguration.

The documents show that the Trump administration was well aware of allegations of inappropriate relationships that dogged some of his initial cabinet members, many of whom have since resigned or been forced out.

Energy executive Rex Tillerson's relationship with Russia was said to "go deep," but he was nonetheless made Secretary of State, a position he held until Trump fired him last year.

And the administration was well aware of the "allegations of cosiness with big energy companies" surrounding former Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, but Trump still named him chief of the Environmental Protection Agency.&nbsp;

Pruitt resigned last July following a series of ethics scandals.

Axios did not publish the dossiers in full but described them as "political vetting forms" that were standard for top White House officials.

The trove also includes the dossiers of a host of people who didn't get the jobs they were considered for but nonetheless stayed close to Trump.

A document on the "foreign entanglements" of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, compiled as part of his vetting for Secretary of State, ran 25 pages. He didn't get the job but is now Trump's personal lawyer.

Former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach had "white supremacy" flagged as a vulnerability when he was being vetted for homeland security chief based on allegations from political opponents.&nbsp;

Trump didn't end up nominating him for that job but later tasked Kobach with investigating alleged voter fraud.

While he's well-known for hitting back at his critics, the documents show that Trump also hired people who had previously made critical comments about him.

Mick Mulvaney once called Trump "not a very good person," but today he is the White House's chief of staff.

One nominee was flagged for his relationship with Russia, another for his alleged ties to white supremacist groups, and several others for criticizing Donald Trump before he became US president.

One nominee was flagged for his relationship with Russia, another for his alleged ties to white supremacist groups, and several others for criticizing Donald Trump before he became US president. These are the revelations from a trove of vetting documents published by the news site Axios on Sunday that examine the backgrounds of people considered for, and whom in some cases received, appointments to Trump's administration after his 2017 inauguration. The documents show that the Trump administration was well aware of allegations of inappropriate relationships that dogged some of his initial cabinet members, many of whom have since resigned or been forced out. Energy executive Rex Tillerson's relationship with Russia was said to "go deep," but he was nonetheless made Secretary of State, a position he held until Trump fired him last year. And the administration was well aware of the "allegations of cosiness with big energy companies" surrounding former Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, but Trump still named him chief of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt resigned last July following a series of ethics scandals. Axios did not publish the dossiers in full but described them as "political vetting forms" that were standard for top White House officials. The trove also includes the dossiers of a host of people who didn't get the jobs they were considered for but nonetheless stayed close to Trump. A document on the "foreign entanglements" of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, compiled as part of his vetting for Secretary of State, ran 25 pages. He didn't get the job but is now Trump's personal lawyer. Former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach had "white supremacy" flagged as a vulnerability when he was being vetted for homeland security chief based on allegations from political opponents. Trump didn't end up nominating him for that job but later tasked Kobach with investigating alleged voter fraud. While he's well-known for hitting back at his critics, the documents show that Trump also hired people who had previously made critical comments about him. Mick Mulvaney once called Trump "not a very good person," but today he is the White House's chief of staff.

Leaked documents show 'red flags' of Donald Trump officials

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/johnson-johnson-rejects-report-by-rajasthan-government-on-presence-of-formaldehyde-in-baby-shampoo-214079">Johnson &amp; Johnson's</a> greed led the drugmaker to use deceptive marketing to create an oversupply of painkillers that fuelled the US&nbsp;opioid epidemic, the state of Oklahoma alleged at the start of the first trial to result from lawsuits over the drug crisis.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, who filed the multibillion-dollar case, argued in a state court in the city of Norman that J&amp;J should be forced to pay for helping cause the "worst manmade public health crisis in our state's history."

His case is the first to reach trial from around 2,000 lawsuits filed by state and local governments seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for a drug epidemic the US&nbsp;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says led to a record 47,600 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017.

The non-jury trial came after Oklahoma resolved claims against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP in March for $270 million and against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Sunday for $85 million, leaving only J&amp;J as a defendant.

Brad Beckworth, a lawyer for the state, told Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman that New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&amp;J, along with Purdue and Teva, used misleading marketing beginning in the 1990s to push doctors to prescribe more opioids.

Watch: After Teva Pharm to pay Oklahoma $85 mn to settle opioid claims; Johnson &amp; Johnson still set for trial

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Beckworth said J&amp;J, which sold the painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta, marketed the opioids as "safe and effective for everyday pain" while downplaying their addictive qualities, helping create a drug oversupply.

He said J&amp;J was motivated to boost prescriptions not only because it sold opioid painkillers, but because it also grew and imported raw materials opioid manufacturers like Purdue used.

"If you have an oversupply, people will die," Beckworth said.

J&amp;J lawyer Larry Ottway countered that its products made up a small share of opioids prescribed in Oklahoma and carried US&nbsp;Food and Drug Administration-approved labels that warned of the addictive risks.

"You have to examine the details because facts are stubborn things," he said.

He also argued Oklahoma was seeking to "stretch" the bounds of a public nuisance statute in order to force it to pay up to $17.5 billion to help the state address the epidemic for the next 30 years.

The case is being closely watched by plaintiffs in other opioid lawsuits, particularly the 1,850 cases consolidated before a federal judge in Ohio, who has been pushing for a settlement ahead of an October trial.

Some plaintiffs' lawyers have compared the cases to litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to a $246 billion settlement in 1998.

Johnson & Johnson's greed led the drugmaker to use deceptive marketing to create an oversupply of painkillers that fuelled the US opioid epidemic, the state of Oklahoma alleged at the start of the first trial to result from lawsuits over the drug crisis.

Johnson & Johnson's greed led the drugmaker to use deceptive marketing to create an oversupply of painkillers that fuelled the US opioid epidemic, the state of Oklahoma alleged at the start of the first trial to result from lawsuits over the drug crisis. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, who filed the multibillion-dollar case, argued in a state court in the city of Norman that J&J should be forced to pay for helping cause the "worst manmade public health crisis in our state's history." His case is the first to reach trial from around 2,000 lawsuits filed by state and local governments seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for a drug epidemic the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says led to a record 47,600 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017. The non-jury trial came after Oklahoma resolved claims against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP in March for $270 million and against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Sunday for $85 million, leaving only J&J as a defendant. Brad Beckworth, a lawyer for the state, told Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman that New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J, along with Purdue and Teva, used misleading marketing beginning in the 1990s to push doctors to prescribe more opioids. Watch: After Teva Pharm to pay Oklahoma $85 mn to settle opioid claims; Johnson & Johnson still set for trial Beckworth said J&J, which sold the painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta, marketed the opioids as "safe and effective for everyday pain" while downplaying their addictive qualities, helping create a drug oversupply. He said J&J was motivated to boost prescriptions not only because it sold opioid painkillers, but because it also grew and imported raw materials opioid manufacturers like Purdue used. "If you have an oversupply, people will die," Beckworth said. J&J lawyer Larry Ottway countered that its products made up a small share of opioids prescribed in Oklahoma and carried US Food and Drug Administration-approved labels that warned of the addictive risks. "You have to examine the details because facts are stubborn things," he said. He also argued Oklahoma was seeking to "stretch" the bounds of a public nuisance statute in order to force it to pay up to $17.5 billion to help the state address the epidemic for the next 30 years. The case is being closely watched by plaintiffs in other opioid lawsuits, particularly the 1,850 cases consolidated before a federal judge in Ohio, who has been pushing for a settlement ahead of an October trial. Some plaintiffs' lawyers have compared the cases to litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to a $246 billion settlement in 1998.

Johnson & Johnson's greed helped fuel US opioid crisis, Oklahoma claims at trial

A tornado slammed into the US&nbsp;city of Dayton, Ohio on Monday as severe storms were forecast to pound the area overnight, officials and media reports said.

At least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of Dayton, media reports said.

The latest storm comes after a spate of tornadoes and floods killed at least six people in Oklahoma over the weekend, including two people in El Reno, near the state capital on Saturday.

In Ohio, the extent of the damage and injuries was not immediately clear.

"We're right in the middle of it right now. It's a mess," said a phone operator with the Office of Emergency Management in Montgomery County.

Some media outlets reported that rescue workers were going door-to-door in parts of Dayton. Police and sheriff's departments were not immediately available for comment.

Twitter users posted images of debris flying in the air and damaged mobile homes and cars.

The National Weather Service said that there were reports of multiple tornadoes in the Dayton area between 11 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday.

"We'll have to get survey crews on the ground in the morning to confirm the severity of the storms, but yes, there is at least one tornado touch down in the city," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park Maryland.

"The storm system is weakening as it pushes into West Virginia and Virginia, but along with the winds, it has dropped about two or three inches of rain in just two hours," he said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/record-heat-hits-us-southeast-threat-of-flooding-remains-in-central-states-222096">Flooded areas of Arkansas and Oklahoma</a> were bracing for more rain that will feed the already swollen Arkansas River, forecasters said on Monday, as Missouri deployed the National Guard in anticipation of further storms.

Arkansas and Oklahoma have also activated National Guard units.

Millions of Americans were under flood warnings on the Memorial Day holiday with Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois getting a deluge while Oklahoma and Arkansas got a reprieve for the most part.

In Tulsa, officials were monitoring the Arkansas River after the US Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver Keystone Dam by 65% since last week to 275,000 cubic feet per second. The heavier flow is testing two ageing levees in Tulsa, the city said.

In neighbouring Missouri, Governor Mike Parson on Monday activated the National Guard to respond to flooding and prepare for severe storms this week, his office said in a statement.

Tornadoes and severe storms that slammed into the state last week killed three people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes.

A tornado slammed into the US city of Dayton, Ohio on Monday as severe storms were forecast to pound the area overnight, officials and media reports said. At least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of Dayton, media reports said.

A tornado slammed into the US city of Dayton, Ohio on Monday as severe storms were forecast to pound the area overnight, officials and media reports said. At least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of Dayton, media reports said. The latest storm comes after a spate of tornadoes and floods killed at least six people in Oklahoma over the weekend, including two people in El Reno, near the state capital on Saturday. In Ohio, the extent of the damage and injuries was not immediately clear. "We're right in the middle of it right now. It's a mess," said a phone operator with the Office of Emergency Management in Montgomery County. Some media outlets reported that rescue workers were going door-to-door in parts of Dayton. Police and sheriff's departments were not immediately available for comment. Twitter users posted images of debris flying in the air and damaged mobile homes and cars. The National Weather Service said that there were reports of multiple tornadoes in the Dayton area between 11 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday. "We'll have to get survey crews on the ground in the morning to confirm the severity of the storms, but yes, there is at least one tornado touch down in the city," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park Maryland. "The storm system is weakening as it pushes into West Virginia and Virginia, but along with the winds, it has dropped about two or three inches of rain in just two hours," he said. Flooded areas of Arkansas and Oklahoma were bracing for more rain that will feed the already swollen Arkansas River, forecasters said on Monday, as Missouri deployed the National Guard in anticipation of further storms. Arkansas and Oklahoma have also activated National Guard units. Millions of Americans were under flood warnings on the Memorial Day holiday with Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois getting a deluge while Oklahoma and Arkansas got a reprieve for the most part. In Tulsa, officials were monitoring the Arkansas River after the US Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver Keystone Dam by 65% since last week to 275,000 cubic feet per second. The heavier flow is testing two ageing levees in Tulsa, the city said. In neighbouring Missouri, Governor Mike Parson on Monday activated the National Guard to respond to flooding and prepare for severe storms this week, his office said in a statement. Tornadoes and severe storms that slammed into the state last week killed three people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes.

Tornado hits city of Dayton, more storms expected in south, central US

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