There are barricades along downtown Baltimore. Traffic is backed up for miles. Most of the businesses downtown have closed early. A major university has closed early. There had been subway stops that have been closed. In many parts of the city, traffic is at a standstill. 

Reporter Donna Marie Owens. Today’s rioting broke out just hours after funeral services were held for Freddie Gray. Gray died of a spinal injury after he was taken into police custody. It’s unclear how he sustained the injury. President Obama has spoken and Baltimore’s mayor was briefed by his new Attorney General Loretta Lynch. A baseball game scheduled for this evening in Baltimore has now been postponed.

 

Prosecutor Loretta Lynch is now the 83rd attorney general of the U.S. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports she was sworn in today by vice President Joe Biden.

Lynch is the daughter of a Baptist preacher and she went on to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn. An in an emotional ceremony at the Justice Department, Loretta Lynch recalled her humble upbringing.

“If a little girl from North Carolina who used to tell her grandfather in the fields to lift her up on the back of his mule so she could see way up high, granddaddy, can grow up to become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, we can do anything.” 

She’s the first black woman to lead the Justice Department. Lynch promised to protect national security and support victims of crime. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

The death toll continues to rise in Nepal as searchers carry out the grim task of digging out bodies from piles of debris. Officials there now say at least 4,000 people are dead following Saturday’s quake with thousands of others injured. Many are still listed as missing. Relief workers say the immediate concerns are water-borne illnesses and infectious disease with many people living outdoors as aftershocks continue to hit the region. Simon Eccleshall is with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. 

“The next 72 hours is critical. There are issues to do with water as well as heavy rainfall that can lead to the subterranean structures in some of these buildings becoming flooded. We also have risks of a spread of diseases.”

Powerful earthquake also killed climbers at a base camp on Mount Everest and claimed lives in neighboring India, China and Tibet.

 

Stocks slipped slightly in afternoon trading. Investors continue to analyze the first quarter earnings numbers and also waiting what if any actions is taken by the Federal Reserve when it meets this week in Washington. The Dow dropped 42 points to 1837. The Nasdaq closed down 31 points today.

 

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With opening statements underway in the trial of accused Colorado shooter James Holmes, a prosecutor warned he will be showing graphic images to jurors. Holmes has admitted to carrying out the shooting inside a crowded movie theater that left 12 people dead and dozens of others injured. His lawyers are expected to argue he’s mentally ill and could not tell right from wrong. The jury will be determining whether Holmes should spend his life in prison or be committed to a mental institution. 

 

The Greek government has sidelined its controversial finance minister. The shake-up comes as the country is running perilously low on cash. Joanna Kakissis reports it’s an attempt by Greece to solve its talks with Eurozone creditors. 

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis used to be a “rock star”. That renowned academic’s passionate anti-austerity speeches vowed Greeks. His shaved head good looks turned him into a sex symbol in Germany, and his frankness made him a media darling. But Eurozone finance ministers say Varoufakis has failed to deliver reforms. Fearing default, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced a new negotiations team coordinated by a soft-spoken economist, Euclid Tsakalotos. The new team has until next month to draw up reforms that are acceptable to the Eurozone. For NPR News, I’m Joanna Kakissis. 

 

Fast-food chain Chipotle says it has finished phasing out genetically modified ingredients from its foods. The Denver-based company announcing today it’s already been using mostly non-GMO ingredients. The move comes despite the fact the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Center says it’s now sincerely found no basis that GMOs pose any different health or safety risk from traditionally bred plants.