Severe thunderstorms may block the view of Monday’s solar eclipse; sorry to the southerners out there.

Happening in the World: Monday’s Israeli strikes on Gaza have now officially left at least 196 humanitarian aid workers dead, those workers including those associated with the UN and Palestinian locals. World Central Kitchen, an aid organization working to ease Gaza’s hunger crisis which saw extreme fatalities in Monday’s strikes, has officially stopped all current work in Gaza and has reversed the import of hundreds of tons of resources to the area. Military officials from Israel have called the strikes the result of a “misidentification” and claim they were accidental. (NYT)

Happening in the US: Large regions of the central and southern United States can expect intense thunderstorms, severe winds, and potential tornadoes ahead of Monday’s total solar eclipse. States including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are of the highest risk for severe, damage-inducing weather. These weather patterns may affect the visibility of the eclipse in this area, the path of totality passing over these regions. The eclipse will be visible to a large portion of the United States, though not in complete totality outside of the 100-mile wide path encompassing Texas, Maine, and everything in between. (CNN)

Happening in NYC: The NYC Department of Investigation (DOI) has revealed that city workers are abusing their parking permits at extreme rates—and citizen complaints aren’t doing anything to stop it. Across NYC, employees of the city are often granted free parking permits which allow illegal parking across all boroughs. However, it appears that these workers are overusing their permits which, according to the DOI Commissioner, Jocelyn Strauber, “sends a message of special treatment” for members of city government. It was also found that many permits currently in circulation have expired. The DOI is still waiting for comment from Mayor Eric Adams. (The Gothamist)

Happening in Our Community: Thursday, April 4 is Data Science Day at Columbia University’s Data Science Institute! This event brings together some of the data science industry’s most groundbreaking innovators for a day of discussion, education, and research presentations. The keynote speaker for 2024 will be Prabhakar Raghavan, the Senior Vice President of Google, and talks will be given by Columbia faculty members in computer science, industrial engineering, biomedical informatics, and philosophy, among other disciplines. Data Science Day requires pre-registration and admission is $20 for Columbia University students. More information can be found on the Data Science Institute’s website.

Lightning via Bwarchives