By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — Anxiety is growing at Everest Base Camp, more than 5,300 meters above sea level.

Hundreds of climbers and sherpas have gathered, eager to summit the world’s most famous mountain as the annual spring climbing season kicks off – but there’s one problem.

A massive serac, or a block of glacial ice, is hindering the route and keeping alpinists in limbo as they wait for it to gradually collapse and clear the way.

Specialized high-altitude workers known as “icefall doctors” have been on site for weeks already, working to map the serac and its position in the notorious Khumbu Icefall, a steep portion of a glacier that makes up one of the most treacherous sections of the Everest route.

At the start of the season, the “doctors” typically “fix” the route by setting up ropes, ladders and other equipment for climbers to use. But this year, they haven’t yet been able to do this because of the unstable serac.

“Icefall doctors are trying everything in their power. They’re using latest technology, 3D imagery, drones, everything to try and get a clear picture as to timing and how feasible it would be for the serac to actually collapse, for it to be safe enough to go up,” said Adriana Brownlee, co-owner of expedition company AGA Adventures, which guides climbers on their Everest attempts.

“There’s been a few ideas flown around about salt and everything, but we just need to let nature take its course,” she added. “If the mountains say no, it’s no, at the end of the day.”

That has left climbers gathering at base camp, with more people arriving as the days go on – raising concerns of potential traffic jams near the summit when the route does eventually open.

Bianca Adler, who is hoping to become the youngest Australian to summit Everest at just 18, reached the base camp on April 20. Before the final summit push, climbers need several days to do “rotations” – climbing up and down several camps on the way in order for their bodies to adjust to the high altitudes.

She was initially planning to begin her rotations in the coming days, but that has been delayed by the serac.

In the meantime, she and other climbers are filling their time by training – doing smaller hikes, climbing nearby ice towers and practicing walking over metal ladders used to cross deep crevasses.

“These icefall doctors have been working on the mountain for over 20 years and they’re really experienced in their job. I trust that they’re doing their best to make sure that everyone has a safe climbing season,” she said.

CNN has reached out to Nepal’s Department of Tourism and the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which oversees the icefall doctors, for comment.

‘Just respect the mountain’

There’s good reason for caution: seracs have caused fatal disasters in the past.

In 2014, a gigantic serac on a hanging shoulder collapsed, causing an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall, killing more than a dozen sherpas who were fixing the route ahead of the climbing season. It was, at the time, the deadliest single accident on Everest – before an earthquake caused another avalanche the following year.

Just a few years later, in the fall of 2019, mountaineer Garrett Madison abandoned an Everest expedition due to another serac causing unsafe conditions in the Khumbu Icefall.

It’s not as simple as just trekking across the chunk of ice. When groups of people walk over the icefall, the vibrations of their movement could destabilize the serac, said Gelje Sherpa, the other co-founder of AGA Adventures, who

Por Elizabeth Wolfe y Rebekah Riess, CNN

Las fuerzas del orden de tres estados frustraron los planes de un expolicía con experiencia que, según afirman, expresó su deseo de hacer daño a personas negras y amenazó con perpetrar un tiroteo masivo en un festival de Nueva Orleans.

Christopher Gillum, de 45 años y residente de Carolina del Norte, fue reportado como desaparecido el martes por su familia, y la policía rápidamente descubrió que estaba armado y representaba un posible riesgo para sí mismo y para los demás, según informó el Departamento de Policía de Burlington.

Al día siguiente, Gillum fue arrestado a más de 960 kilómetros de distancia, en Florida, acusado por la policía de Louisiana de proferir amenazas terroristas.

“Las autoridades obtuvieron información de que Gillum planeaba viajar a un festival en Nueva Orleans para perpetrar un tiroteo masivo y luego morir a manos de la policía”, informó la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Okaloosa, que arrestó a Gillum.

Todavía no está claro cómo las autoridades se enteraron del supuesto complot, los detalles de la amenaza y qué pudo haber motivado al veterano agente de la ley con más de una década de experiencia policial.

Si bien las autoridades no han confirmado a qué festival apuntaba Gillum, su arresto se produjo justo un día antes de que la ciudad de Nueva Orleans diera comienzo a su Festival Anual de Jazz y Patrimonio, que atrae a unos 400.000 asistentes cada año.

La Policía Estatal de Louisiana ha declarado no tener conocimiento de otras amenazas creíbles, pero la ciudad de Nueva Orleans y sus residentes son plenamente conscientes de la realidad de los ataques públicos.

Otro atentado planeado contra la ciudad fue frustrado en diciembre, casi un año después de una agresión mortal que dejó 14 muertos en el Barrio Francés.

Gillum ahora espera ser extraditado de Florida a Louisiana. Esto es lo que sabemos:

La familia de Gillum lo reportó como desaparecido el martes, según informó a The Associated Press el teniente Clint Lyons de la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Alamance en Carolina del Norte. Lyons señaló que Gillum tiene antecedentes de autolesiones.

Según declaró un agente de la ley a CNN, su familia indicó que poseía una pistola Glock y que había expresado interés en hacer daño a personas negras.

A pesar de sus comentarios sobre las personas negras, Lyons declaró a la AP que no existían motivos penales para detener a Gillum en ese momento “porque no había ninguna víctima”.

Según Lyons, Gillum había abandonado el estado antes de que la policía pudiera redactar la documentación necesaria para internarlo involuntariamente en un centro psiquiátrico.

Los investigadores del condado de Alamance contactaron el martes a la policía de la ciudad de Burlington para alertarlos sobre el caso.

A medida que avanzaba la investigación, las autoridades “encontraron motivos para creer que Christopher Gillum representaba un peligro para sí mismo y para los demás”, indicó el Departamento de Policía de Burlington en un comunicado.

Según la policía de Burlington, los investigadores utilizaron lectores de matrículas para determinar que Gillum se dirigía a Florida y comenzaron a contactar con otros organismos policiales para intentar localizarlo.

Posteriormente, enviaron un boletín de inteligencia a agencias como la Policía Estatal de Louisiana y el Departamento de Policía de Nueva Orleans.

Según informaron los investigadores, estos utilizaron una extensa r

By Francesca Perry

Milan (CNN) — Held every springtime, Milan Design Week is the biggest moment of the year for the world of design – from the makers to the admirers of furniture and interior decor. Creatives converge from all over the globe, new designs are showcased, and trends are set for the forthcoming year. The Italian city, already a thriving metropolis of business and fashion becomes charged with a frenetic energy created by hundreds of exhibitions and happenings.

While Milan Design Week evolved from the Salone del Mobile furniture fair, launched in 1961 and still going strong, much of the most exciting design these days is found well beyond those trade halls. From the historic palazzi and stylish showrooms, to the villas, apartments, unexpected industrial hangars and abandoned buildings that open their doors; this is where thrilling gems can be discovered.

The emerging designers and cutting-edge brands are often more experimental than the long-running commercial producers – so it is the former that visitors look to for inspiration and a taste of what’s to come.

Here, then, are eight of the most surprising and enchanting objects from this year’s showcase that might just inspire your own home design.

A thorny vase (to go with your spiky chair)

One trend taking over the design world right now is spikes. Spiky furniture and home accessories introduce a punk sensibility into the home, and boldly eschew the assumption of comfort. Gast Studio’s Stem Vase, on show at group exhibition Deoron, features glossy oversized thorn shapes that give the object both a hostile presence and a pleasingly jagged profile, like a rose stem on steroids. Produced in 3D-printed resin and available in black or chrome, it’s certainly a statement for the dining table. Speaking of spikes, over at the megalith design exhibition Alcova, CJ Aslan – founder of fashion brand ASLAN WORLD – presents a chair and ottoman covered in a sea of sharp stainless steel ones, interspersed playfully with gemstones.

The sci-fi bed

The work of Astronauts, the Athens-based design studio of Danae Dasyra and Joe Bradford, has a kind of sci-fi, sculptural playfulness that perfectly aligns with the Gen Z fetishization of punky, Y2K style. The duo specializes in hydroforming, an industrial process where hydraulic fluid is used to shape ductile metals into new forms, which it applies to furniture and decor. Agnes, the studio’s new bed design, was presented as part of the “La Casa Magica” (“The Magic House”) exhibition at Milan’s Nilufar Gallery, and proposes a whole new meaning to adventurous bedrooms. Comprising irregular, curling and warped forms, the bed is crafted from stainless steel, powder coated in pink and black shades, with its design reportedly informed by female eroticism and intuition. Just beware the sharp edges.

The chair within a chair

Oh, to be held like a chair. This delightfully confusing creation from Slovenian designer Lara Bohinc features a shiny aluminum chair physically held within the arms of a reclining mahogany copy of the chair below. A skewed assemblage of interlocking shiny, bulbous forms, it’s almost as if a (sophisticated and design-conscious) clown has produced a balloon animal gone wrong. That sense of the zoomorphic is no accident, with Bohinc’s chair discovered as part of the “House of Creatures” show, presented by the Centre for Creativity in Slovenia at Alcova. A statement furniture piece to lounge on, to admire as an artwork, or to introduce what Bohinc describes as a “subtle misbehavior” into the home.

The provocative table

Interior decor has gone kinky. Emerging design studio Atelier Fomenta, based in Montreal, turned to black rubber to create its latest series of tables. “Rubber as a material carries many layers of connotation,” said Julia Arvelo, co-founder along with Flo

CNN, WAFB

By Cindy Von Quednow, Ashley Killough, Isabel Rosales, CNN

(CNN) — One person was killed and at least five others were injured after an apparent argument led to a shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge on Thursday, police said. Five people are in custody.

“Two groups of people got into an argument inside the food court and started shooting at each other,” said Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr, citing surveillance footage. “Unfortunately, there were some innocent people that were in the area that might have also caught some rounds.”

The gunfire erupted just before 1:30 p.m. and sent frightened shoppers running and ducking for cover in stores and dressing rooms at Louisiana’s largest mall, as people warned others to “take cover” and “get down,” witnesses say.

One of the victims is in critical condition, while four suffered minor injuries, officials said. Police initially said there were 10 people injured in the shooting and later revised the number.

It is unclear how many people opened fire. The chief said investigators are reviewing surveillance video and collecting evidence to determine how many weapons were involved.

“This is still an ongoing investigation, and we’re still looking for more people that may be involved,” the chief said.

No arrests have been made. Detectives are interviewing the five people in custody “to unravel their exact involvement in this,” he added.

The shooting does not appear to be a random act of violence, “but a very targeted kind of disagreement between two groups of people,” Morse said, adding there is no known threat to the public.

“As we start developing suspects, we’re going to run down every single lead that we can to get these people in custody,” the chief said.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they responded to the scene.

Some of those affected include students from Ascension Episcopal School, a pre-Kindergarten-12 school in Lafayette, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a post on X.

“We are heartbroken by the news that some of our students were injured in a serious off-campus incident,” the school said in a statement. “We ask our community to join us in holding our school in prayer during this incredibly difficult time.”

The shootout happened just days after another mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“Sometimes the devil lives everywhere,” Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards said. “This is one of those situations – no matter how many law enforcement you’ve got or social programs or whatever, if someone gets in their mind that they’re going to do something like this, they’re going to do it and sometimes all we can do is respond.”

Shoppers run as ‘extremely rapid firing’ is heard

Signi Dreyer, a carousel operator at the mall, was cleaning when she heard loud bangs and thought it was fireworks, she told Read more

By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are scrambling to meet the moment as a wave of resignations and misconduct scandals rock Capitol Hill, sparking calls for accountability.

But even those with the best intentions are realizing that the road to reforming how Congress polices itself will be much longer and more complicated than many had hoped, frustrating those who want to see swift change. The stakes for members are high, as many fear the public’s dismal view of Congress will only worsen if there aren’t clear improvements.

Making changes to how the House Ethics Committee does its work is where most members want to start, but the panel, which leads investigations into lawmakers, is often viewed as something of a black box by nature of its work.

After sexual misconduct allegations against former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales came to light through media reports and both members resigned before the panel could finish its own investigations, a number of lawmakers who do not serve on the panel believe it now has a lot to prove.

After the ethics committee spent years investigating Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the Florida Democrat resigned this week just before the panel was set to meet to recommend punishment after finding her guilty of multiple ethics violations. Some members felt frustrated her resignation allowed her to evade an expected expulsion vote on the House floor, and feel that members should still be able to be held accountable by the chamber even if they move to resign.

“At a time when public confidence in Congress is at an all-time low, it is vitally important that the ethics committee investigates abuses of the public trust in a prompt, thorough and fair manner,” independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California told CNN.

GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida has argued that the ethics committee moves too slowly and is not effective. “The bottom line is that a process that delays accountability to that extent does not deter misconduct, it enables it. Serious reform is long overdue,” the congresswoman wrote this week in a piece for The Spectator.

House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest defended the panel’s work in an interview with CNN, arguing that his committee is holding lawmakers accountable, but laid out three concrete changes he wants House Speaker Mike Johnson to make to speed up and simplify the process. All of the proposed changes would require bipartisan buy in to reform the House rules.

First up, Guest wants to add additional investigators to his committee so the panel can move faster and take on more work. He also wants to bring the Office of Congressional Conduct under his jurisdiction, which he argued would eliminate duplicative efforts.

Currently, a staffer complaint first goes to the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent, non-partisan entity, and if that complaint involves a member, it will then be referred to the ethics panel, which then starts the investigative process over again. And Guest wants to consider expanding the committee’s jurisdiction so it can continue investigations after a member resigns or leaves Congress.

“I think we could simplify it. We could streamline the process and by streamlining the process, hopefully see that cases are moved through qui