Mystery of why 22 long-finned whales washed up to their deaths on Spanish beach

 22 long-finned pilot whales have died after coming ashore on the Manon beach, north of La Coruna, Galicia today

22 long-finned pilot whales have died after coming ashore on the Manon beach, north of La Coruna, Galicia today. Conservationists and authorities battled to save the animals, and now a mystery surrounds why they beached in the first place

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Mayhem in the city: 25 people shot in 48 hours

Three killed Sunday after three were killed Saturday. One of the wounded includes an 11-year-old girl who will never walk again.

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 Cops check the scene of a deadly gun battle at Bedford Ave. and Lenox Road in Brooklyn on Sunday.  Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News

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Violence surged like the mercury Sunday, with three more fatalities from gun violence — and eight others wounded in shootings — bringing the total number of bullet-riddled in the city to 25 in less than 48 hours.

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Search for suspects after 19 injured in shooting at New Orleans Mother’s Day parade

New Orleans Mother's Day shooting

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New Orleans police are searching for as many as three gunmen after 19 people, including two children, were injured in a shooting at a Mother’s Day parade. 

Police say they saw three suspects running from the scene, but no arrests had been made as of early Monday. Grainy surveillance video released by New Orleans police shows a crowd suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man who turns and runs out of the picture. The person is wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The image isn’t clear, but authorities hope someone will recognize him and notify investigators.

At least three of the victims were seriously wounded. Of the rest, many were grazed and authorities said that overall most wounds were not life threatening. No deaths were reported.

The victims included 10 men, seven women, a boy and a girl. The children, both 10 years old, were grazed and in good condition. Police said at least two people were in surgery Sunday night.

The shooting — described by the FBI as a flare-up of street violence — shattered the festive mood surrounding the parade that drew hundreds of people to the 7th Ward neighborhood of modest row houses not far from the French Quarter. Cell phone video taken in the aftermath of the shooting shows victims lying on the ground, blood on the pavement and others bending over to comfort them.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu urged witnesses to come forward with information during a news conference Sunday night at a hospital where gunshot victims were taken.

“These kinds of incidents will not go unanswered. Somebody knows something. The way to stop this violence is for you all to help,” he said.

Outside the hospital on Sunday night, Leonard Temple became teary as he talked about a friend who was in surgery after being shot three times during the parade. Temple was told the man was hit while trying to push his own daughter out of the way.

“People were just hanging out. We were just chilling. And this happened. Bad things always happen to good people,” said Temple, who was at the parade but didn’t see the shootings.

In the late afternoon, the scene was taped off and police had placed bullet casing markers in at least 10 spots.

Second-line parades are loose processions in which people dance down the street, often following behind a brass band. They can be planned events or impromptu offshoots of other celebrations. They trace their origins to the city’s famous jazz funerals.

A social club called The Original Big 7 organized Sunday’s event. The group was founded in 1996 at the Saint Bernard housing projects, according to its MySpace page.

The neighborhood where the shooting happened is a mix of low-income and middle-class row houses, some boarded up. As of last year, the 7th Ward’s population was about 60 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level.

The crime scene was about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter and near the Treme neighborhood, which has been the centerpiece for the HBO TV series “Treme.”

Sunday’s violence comes at a time when the city is struggling to pay for tens of millions of dollars required under a federal consent decree to reform the police department and the city jail.

Shootings at parades and neighborhood celebrations have become more common in recent years as the city has struggled with street crime. Earlier this year, four people were shot following an argument in the French Quarter during the last weekend of partying before Mardi Gras. The victims survived, and several suspects were eventually arrested.

Police vowed to make swift arrests. Serpas said it wasn’t clear if particular people in the second line were targeted, or if the shots were fired at random.

“We’ll get them. We have good resources in this neighborhood,” Serpas said.

Police also say a reward of $10,000 is being offered for information leading to arrests and indictments in the case.

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Vatican releases pope’s installation mass details

Vatican Pope mar18.JPG

March 17, 2013 – Pope Francis gestures as he delivers his Angelus prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican. (AP)

SOURCEVATICAN CITY –  The Vatican is releasing details of the pope’s installation Mass on Tuesday as well images of his coat of arms and fisherman’s ring.

In addition to more than 132 government delegations, the Vatican said 33 Christian delegations will be present, as well as representatives from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain communities.

The ring that Pope Francis will put on during the Mass once belonged to Pope Paul VI, and is made of gold-plated silver.

Francis’ papal coat of arms is based on the same simple one as he had previously, with the symbol of his Jesuit order.

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