The polar vortex of 2019 will become one of the city’s legendary winters, one to be reminisced about with a sense of wonder as much as woe
Brian Marchal isn’t afraid of a little cold weather.
As the founder of the Chicago Polar Bear Club, he has been jumping into frigid Lake Michigan every January for more than 15 years now.
Continue reading...Legal analysts say sizable amount of potential evidence seems to go well beyond the current known charges against Stone
Special counsel Robert Mueller has signaled to defense lawyers for Roger Stone, the longtime adviser to Donald Trump, that prosecutors might brandish Stone’s bank records and personal communications going back several years as evidence in the case against him.
Legal analysts said the move could be significant because the sizable amount of potential evidence listed by Mueller – and its nature, in the case of the bank records – seemed to go well beyond the current known charges against Stone.
Continue reading...Four victims have been rescued, authorities say, as more than 600 DHS officials will be in the city on Sunday for protection
Federal authorities say 33 people have been arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on sex trafficking charges before the Super Bowl this weekend.
Related: The NFL is 70% black, so why is its TV coverage so white?
Continue reading...The dozens of models who took part in the Battle of the Brands fashion show in Boston, Massachusetts, shared a common thread: all had lost relatives to gun violence
Continue reading...Just a quarter of stations in the nation’s largest transit system are accessible, leaving wheelchair users and parents with small kids struggling
New Yorkers have stepped up their criticism of the lack of elevators in city subway stations after the death of a young mother shed new light on the inaccessibility of the nation’s largest transit system.
Only a quarter of subway stations – 118 out of 472 – are accessible, leaving people who use wheelchairs, parents with small kids, and others struggling to get around the city.
Continue reading...As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law
The US health secretary sat for an interview with a man experts say is the leader of a hate group known for “defaming gays and lesbians”, just two days after Karen Pence, the US second lady, was criticized for teaching at a Christian school that bans homosexuality.
Alex Azar, secretary of health and human services, was interviewed by the Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins, at an anti-abortion event called ProLifeCon in mid-January.
Continue reading...Thousands of flights canceled, schools close, and post office halts deliveries as Chicago lows approach record
Frozen Arctic winds brought record-low temperatures across much of the US midwest on Wednesday, as a blast of Arctic air known as the polar vortex unnerved residents accustomed to brutal winters.
As of Wednesday evening, at least eight deaths were linked to the system, including an elderly Illinois man who was found several hours after he fell trying to get into his home and a University of Iowa student found behind an academic hall several hours before dawn. A man was struck by a snowplow in the Chicago area, a young couple’s SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man froze to death in a garage, authorities said.
Continue reading...Latest case comes after dozens of American embassy workers in Havana were affected, some suffering mild brain injury
Canada has announced it is removing up to half of the Canadians at its embassy in Cuba after another diplomat was found to have fallen mysteriously ill.
Canada has confirmed 14 cases of mysterious health problems since early 2017. Twenty-six American embassy workers in Cuba have also been affected, suffering a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion.
Continue reading...Four fatalities recorded, with the US and Australia experiencing the most attacks
The number of shark attacks around the world fell by about one-quarter last year, with the US and Australia reporting the highest number of them.
There were four fatalities worldwide, in line with the long-term average of six, according to the annual release of the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 files shared confidentially appeared to have been uploaded to a filesharing site, according to court documents
Evidence gathered by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, was obtained by Russians and leaked online in an attempt to discredit his inquiry into Moscow’s interference in US politics, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Related: Mueller investigation is almost finished, says acting attorney general
Continue reading...In this little city of 6,000 people, people are carrying on as usual, using a few tricks they’ve learned from a lifetime of frigid temperatures
International Falls is known as the “Icebox of America” for good reason. The average high temperature in January is -9C, or 15F. In a typical year, the city will experience 109 days of subzero weather.
But this week the nickname seems particularly appropriate.
Continue reading...Wind chills fell as low as -47C in Chicago, with the temperature hitting -23C, as bitterly cold weather moved into Illinois, US. A local newscaster published this video of Lake Michigan, as viewed from Chicago’s Edgewater neighbourhood, appearing like a ‘boiling cauldron’ on Wednesday. State and local officials have asked residents to stay indoors if possible and check on neighbours
Continue reading...Officials say temperatures could reach as low as -40C as the polar vortex spreads across the midwest and the east. On Wednesday morning Chicago was significantly colder than Antarctica
Continue reading...Actor says $3.1m lawsuit filed in Utah alleging she injured another skier in a 2016 crash is ‘without merit’
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow has been accused in a lawsuit of breaking a man’s ribs and leaving him with a concussion when she smashed into him while skiing at a Utah ski resort in 2016.
Terry Sanderson, 72, claimed during a news conference in Salt Lake City that he heard a “hysterical scream” and was then struck between his shoulder blades on a beginner run at Deer Valley Resort on 26 February 2016. He remembers being thrown forward and losing control of his body before losing consciousness. An acquaintance, Craig Ramon, who witnessed the event, claimed he saw Paltrow hit him squarely in the back.
Continue reading...Government employees – especially in science, research and technology – could find higher pay and more stability
The longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end, but experts fear its long-term consequences will include a brain drain among professionals who won’t want to work for a federal government they can’t count on to stay open.
The pain of the shutdown and fear of another one may drive away current and would-be government employees – especially those in highly skilled fields such as science, research and technology who can often command bigger paychecks in the private sector.
Continue reading...A museum in New York claims to be the only collection focusing on the KGB’s espionage operations in the world. The newly opened exhibition hall, housed in a former warehouse on 14th Street, is home to 3,500 original period objects, which the designer of the museum, Julius Urbaitis, has gathered after 30 years of research around the world
Continue reading...A blast of Arctic air from the polar vortex has caused temperatures to drop to as low as -46C (-50F) in Chicago. Cities in the midwest opened warming shelters as temperatures plummeted well below zero. The Illinois governor warned the weather 'poses a serious threat' to people's wellbeing. The polar vortex, a mass of freezing air, usually spins around the North Pole
Continue reading...Extradition case in Canada drags on as Donald Trump prepares to meet Beijing’s top trade envoy in Washington
The chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, has made her first appearance in a Canadian court in more than a month, part of a high-stakes dispute that threatens to cast a pall over this week’s US-China trade talks.
Meng, the daughter of the Chinese telecoms company’s founder, attended the hearing in British Columbia supreme court on Tuesday, just two days before Donald Trump and Chinese vice premier Liu He are scheduled to meet in Washington.
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George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign aide who served a brief prison stint for lying to FBI agents in the Russia investigation, has a new job at a medical marijuana company.
Papadopoulos joins a medical marijuana startup https://t.co/oIAw6Jzcqs
Coffee magnate Howard Schultz will take his time to decide to pursue a third party presidential bid. The former Starbucks CEO has become a lightning rod on the left in recent days with his public musing about running as an independent.
New: @HowardSchultz may not decide on a presidential run until "summer or fall," his political adviser Bill Burton tells me.https://t.co/0nYekuZNUD
Continue reading...Indictments packed with emails and transactions allegedly showing how technology giant carried out criminal conspiracies
The twin criminal indictments against Huawei unveiled by US authorities on Monday are packed with emails and financial transactions allegedly showing how the Chinese technology giant carried out criminal conspiracies.
But the finer points of the 23 charges are less important than the overall shot they deliver across China’s bows. The US considers Huawei to be an arm of the Chinese state – and their devices to be potential spying equipment for Beijing.
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