A view of the LaGuardia airport in New York. Photo used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: AP

The incident has drawn criticism from devotees and authorities in Odisha
| Photo Credit: X/@ISKCONofHouston

Despite assuring the Odisha government and Puri’s Gajapati Maharaja that it would not hold an untimely Rath Yatra outside India, ISKCON has organised a ‘chariot parade’ in Houston in the United States.

The parade, featuring a replica of Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosa’ chariot without the deities of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra, and Sudarsan Chakra, was held on November 9 as part of ISKCON’s ‘Festival of Bliss’, triggering a strong backlash from devotees and authorities in Odisha.

The incident has drawn criticism from Puri Govardhan Peeth spokesperson Matru Prasad Mishra, who condemned the event as a “conspiracy against our religion” and demanded a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in India.

“Though Houston ISKON had given written assurance to Puri Gajapati Maharaja and Odisha government that they will not hold untimely Ratha Yatra, they did it, which is a conspiracy against our religion,” Mr. Mishra said.

Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Sunday (November 10, 2024) said the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration in Puri would make a decision on the matter and the State government would back whatever action it decides to take.

Meanwhile, in a statement uploaded on its website, Houston ISKON chief Saranga Thakur Dasa said the temple had initially planned the chariot parade with the deities.

“However, there was a concern raised by some of our friends in the local community, so we decided to make a slight change of plans,” it said.

For ISKCON, the opportunity to have festival attendees have a darshan of Lord Jagannath is a central feature of the event. For others, however, compliance to ancient tradition and calendars is the priority, it added.

“We understand there is a meeting planned in India next month between ISKCON and Puri officials to discuss these points in detail, and to seek mutual agreement whereby – as much as possible – the traditional calendar as well as the Lord’s desire for people all over the world to have His darshan and participate in His festivals can be honoured,” the statement said.

Houston, United States:

Superstar Beyonce provided the latest shot of stardust to Kamala Harris’s White House campaign on Friday, as the vice president and rival Donald Trump courted voters with just 11 days to go in a neck-and-neck election.

Taking the stage with her Destiny’s Child co-star Kelly Rowland, the Grammy-winning diva introduced Harris to over 20,000 roaring supporters in the Texas metropolis of Houston, Beyonce’s hometown.

“It’s time for America to sing a new song,” Beyonce said, urging voters to show up.

While the superstar did not perform any hits, her presence brought even more attention to Harris’s rally, which focused on abortion restrictions in Republican-led states.

Beyonce said she was not there as a celebrity but as “a mother who cares deeply about the world… a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies.”

Texas is not one of the handful of battlegrounds that are expected to decide the presidential election, or where the Democrat and her rival would normally be campaigning in the home stretch.

But Harris is banking on her star-studded show — which also featured 91-year-old country legend Willie Nelson, who sang “Mamma, don’t let them babies grow up to be cowboys” — to energize her campaign ahead of the final week.

“Voting has already started, and we know this will be a tight race until the very end,” Harris said.

“We are 11 days out from an election that will decide the future of America, including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body.”

‘Fascist’ row

While Harris was in Houston, Trump was in the state capital Austin, taping an interview with “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the United States’ most popular podcast.

Trump’s follow-on rally, in battleground Michigan, was delayed after his taping with Rogan ran on for three hours.

Harris and Trump also locked horns earlier Friday over accusations that the Republican ex-president has been running as a “fascist.”

The two camps traded barbs over claims by Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, echoed by Harris, that Trump is a “fascist” who cannot be trusted with power again.

Republican leaders in Congress attacked her over that characterization, in a statement revealing they had been briefed on “ongoing and persistent” threats to Trump, and accused Harris of encouraging “another would-be assassin” after he survived an attempt on his life in July.

‘Garbage can’

Half the country agrees with Harris that Trump is a fascist, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll of registered voters, and she hit back at an impromptu news conference.

“The truth is that some of the people closest to Donald Trump, when he was president… have been very clear about the danger and the threat that (he) poses to America, and the fact that he is unfit to serve,” Harris said.

“The American people deserve to hear that, and know about that, so they can make a decision.”

Trump described the United States as a “garbage can for the world” for a second time this week while giving remarks in Austin — the latest in a string of inflammatory comments on immigration.

The race is a dead heat, according to polls. A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday showed Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent each.

Both candidates have sought to broaden their support by sidestepping newspapers and the big TV networks in favor of podcasts and YouTube shows consumed by uncommitted young voters who could make the difference.

Trump hopes to woo Rogan’s massive audience. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the world’s most listened-to podcast on streaming giant Spotify in 2023 and has 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube. 

‘Bad things happen’

Trump’s latest remarks ahead of the recording aimed at undermining trust in US elections and alarming Americans about crime committed by undocumented immigrants, who are statistically more law-abiding than the native population.

He complained that elections “go on forever, and bad things happen.”

Harris is “here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn’t that exciting? But she’s not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she’s here,” he said.

Harris is banking on the issue of abortion to help sell her message that Trump is a threat to Americans’ freedoms.

“Texas, what is happening across this state and our country is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris said, describing the agony of several women who were forced to travel out of state for emergency medical care.

“Please know, no one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban.”

November’s presidential election will be the first held after a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling overturned nationwide protection of abortion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A horrific video has surfaced online showing a trans woman in the US running over a man twice with a car before kissing and stabbing him multiple times in broad daylight. According to Fox News, Steven Anderson, 64, was on his way to pick up the mail in his Houston neighbourhood on May 3 when the incident happened. A CCTV clip of the incident which has gone viral on social media, shows Mr Anderson getting struck by a white vehicle that then backed over him, hitting him for a second time. 

The suspect, with a knife in hand, was then seen flipping the elderly man over, straddling him, kissing him and then stabbing him nine times. She then tried to enter another car before leaving the scene on foot, jumping over the victim’s lifeless body. Mr Anderson was found by officers with multiple stab wounds already dead. 

NEW: Man killed by transgender driver who plowed into him, backed over him and stabbed him 9 times before kissing him and prancing over his body.

Absolutely horrific.

20-year-old suspect Karon Fisher is a man according to court papers.

After trying to flee the scene in a car,… pic.twitter.com/XuG8KcPIZw

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 11, 2024

”It’s very disturbing. I have kids here; they could have been out here playing, and imagine them,” one neighbour told Eyewitness News.

”Broad daylight. People around every time and it happened right under our noses,” another added.

Witnesses led officers to the suspect at a nearby location. According to KTRK, the suspect identified as Karon Fisher is identified in court records as a man but was described by officers as a woman. Fisher was eventually arrested and charged with murder, evading arrest with a vehicle, and assaulting hospital personnel, according to Harris County records.

“Charges have been filed against a suspect arrested in the fatal stabbing of a man in 7000 block of Woodridge Square Drive about 7:50 p.m. last Friday (May 3), “The suspect, Karon Fisher, 20, is charged with murder in the 185th State District Court,” the police statement read.

After the disturbing footage of the incident went viral, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also reacted to it and called it ”Terrible.”

Terrible

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2024

She is expected to appear in court on May 24.

An 8-year-old girl in the United States died after being “violently sucked” into a large pipe while swimming at a hotel in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, as per a lawsuit filed by the victim’s family. Aliyah Jaico was swimming with her family in a lazy river at the Doubletree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow Hotel when she suddenly disappeared, Fox News reported. Hours later, her body was found “inside a large pipe in the pool area,” Houston police said in a statement. 

“Her poor little body was contorted when she was sucked into this hole and pipe 20 feet back,” Richard Nava, a lawyer representing the family, told reporters at a news conference. “They had to break up concrete and cut pipe in order to extract her… it was absolutely horrific,” Mr Nava said, per Fox News. 

The lawsuit states that the young girl was suddenly pulled into a 12 to 16-inch unsecured open gap in the swimming pool flow system. When she initially disappeared, her family did not know where she had gone, triggering a frantic search. According to the police, she was reported missing at about 5:45 pm Saturday. She was found around 11:30 pm and was pronounced dead by paramedics, cops said, adding that they were “continuing to investigate the incident”. 

The family filed the lawsuit earlier this week, seeking wrongful death damages of $1 million. According to the suit, the 8-year-old “loved to swim,” and her mother, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, had rented a room at the hotel that day “to enjoy a day of swimming with her family”. 

“It took the fire department 13 hours to actually get her physical body removed from the pipe,” Justin Martinez, a communications representative for the Nava Law Group and the Jaico family, told The Washington Post. 

Separately, Mr Nava said that there was “an issue with the flow of the water” inside the pool that caused Aliyah to be sucked into what the lawsuit describes as an “unsecured open gap”. The hole was about 12 to 16 inches wide and the fire department had to “break up” the concrete pipe to retrieve the 8-year-old’s body, he added. 

“We are seeking justice for Aliyah, because this could have been avoidable,” Mr Nava said, adding that Aliyah’s loved ones were “devastated” by her death. 

The hotel is operated by Unique Crowne Hospitality LLC, according to the lawsuit. 

Also Read | After Sneakers And NFTs, Donald Trump Is Selling “God Bless The USA” Bibles For $60

In a statement to the Post, a Hilton spokesperson said the company was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a young girl”. But it also added that the property is “independently owned and operated by a third party”. Hilton said it “does not own, manage, or control the day-to-day operations of the property and does not employ any of the property’s staff or its third-party operators”. 

A spokesman for Unique Crowne Hospitality said that the company is “deeply saddened” by Aliyah’s death. “We offer our sincere and deepest condolences to her family and loved ones at this difficult time,” the statement said. “Our commitment to providing a safe and secure environment for our guests is paramount and we will continue to cooperate fully with all authorities investigating this incident,” it added.