Sluggish storm to keep dumping snow over Midwest

A slow-moving storm already responsible for dumping more than half a foot of snow on parts of Missouri and Iowa will continue to produce fresh powder over a portion of the Midwest as it sluggishly drifts eastward through Saturday.As snow returns to Chicago and Milwaukee and reaches Detroit, air and ground travel disruptions are likely to mount. This satellite loop from Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, shows the organized storm swirling over the middle of the nation. (NOAA / GOES-East) The storm became better organized late this past week as it managed to attach to the upper part of the atmosphere. Rather than remaining weak and taking a swift eastward track, spreading snow over huge swath from the Plains to the Northeast, the storm matured and stalled over the Mississippi Valley for a time.The result was a swath of light to moderate snowfall from part of northern Arkansas to northern Michigan. The swirl of snow near and north and west of the center of the storm has held together and will drift eastward through Saturday. "Up to a few additional inches of snow is forecast to fall on portions of northern and western Illinois, central and southeastern Wisconsin and northern Michigan," AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis said.This is on top of what has already fallen, bringing the storm total to 6-10 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches in portions of the area.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP"An advancing cold pocket of air with moisture is forecast to produce snowfall in the 1- to 3-inch range from central Illinois to northern and central Indiana and the northwestern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan on Saturday," Travis added.Americans who live in this zone, including in Indianapolis and South Bend, Indiana; Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Flint, Michigan; and Champaign, Illinois; may yet have enough snow to sweep off of their cars and shovel.Up to a few more inches of snow is likely to fall on Chicago.Meteorologists urge motorists to use caution on Saturday morning across the region, as untreated roadways are likely to be slippery.Even though blustery conditions will develop as the storm moves along this weekend, the air is of Pacific origin and not from the Arctic. Aside from snow showers near the old center of the storm, lake-effect snowfall is likely to be minimal in the storm's wake.Saturday night, slightly colder air with snow showers will continue to advance eastward along with the old storm center. Motorists around Detroit and Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Youngstown, Ohio, could encounter slippery conditions with a coating of snow possible. By Sunday, the main focus of snow showers will retreat to the central Appalachians and around the eastern Great Lakes.Temperatures are likely to be above average during the last few days of January and the first few days of February for the North Central states. Highs will generally average within a few degrees of freezing in the northern tier to the lower 40s over portions of the central Plains and the Ohio Valley.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Trump attorney Robert Ray: No new evidence needed for ‘standardless impeachment’

Robert Ray, a member of President Trump’s impeachment defense team, tells Yahoo News Editor in Chief Daniel Klaidman and Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff that despite polls showing a majority in favor of allowing new witnesses and evidence in the impeachment trial, the upcoming Senate vote to allow or deny new witnesses and evidence “will be the end of it.”

Billionaire Draws Ire For Saying Africa Loves Donald Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterSouth African billionaire Patrice Motsepe told President Donald Trump in Davos that Africa loves the U.S. president. Not everybody in his home country shares that sentiment.“Africa loves America,” Motsepe told Trump at a business dinner during the World Economic Forum this week. “Africa loves you. It’s very, very important, we want America to do well, we want you to do well.”The country’s only black billionaire, and a brother-in-law of President Cyril Ramaphosa, said the success of the U.S. is the success of rest of the world.His comments came just days after it emerged that Trump is considering a proposal to extend travel restrictions to four African nations, including Nigeria, and sparked outrage on local radio stations and social media. South African Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Twitter he doesn’t agree that Africa loves Trump.Others cut Motsepe slack for spending millions to treat South Africans to a football match between Mamelodi Sundowns, which he owns, and Spanish giants Barcelona, and for supporting a concert in Johannesburg where Beyonce and Ed Sheeran performed in 2018. Some comments on Twitter also highlighted the importance of U.S. aid to South Africa.“He was well within his rights to express his views,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni told reporters on Friday when asked what he thought of the comments by Motsepe, who was part of South Africa’s delegation in Davos. “He doesn’t have the kind of arrogance to speak on behalf of the South African government.”Motsepe capped off the week in which his holding firm announced a multi-million dollar deal to become the largest shareholder in South African retirement services provider Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Ltd. by being appointed to the WEF’s board of trustees.\--With assistance from Paul Richardson.To contact the reporter on this story: Prinesha Naidoo in Johannesburg at pnaidoo7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Mike CohenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Use of 'rescues' by Mexican migration officials criticized

For many people who watched the moments when hundreds of Mexican national guardsmen with helmets and riot shields confronted hundreds of migrants who had been resting in the shade after walking all morning, “rescues” didn’t seem to be the right word. Defenders of migrants' rights say rescues typically don’t involve spraying those being rescued with pepper spray.

Mexico seeks US extradition of drug lord's son for reporter murder

Culiacán (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexico is seeking the extradition from the United States of the son of a Sinaloa cartel drug lord over the 2017 murder of acclaimed journalist Javier Valdez, the attorney general's office said Thursday. Damaso Lopez Serrano, the son of former top "El Chapo" lieutenant Damaso Lopez Nunez "El Licenciado", is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of Valdez. An arrest warrant for Lopez Serrano was approved Thursday afternoon after prosecutors interviewed members of the Sinaloa cartel who testified against him, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

Philippine President Duterte threatens to end military deal with U.S.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the United States on Thursday he would repeal an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises if Washington did not reinstate the visa of a political ally.

Trump impeachment: Senators accused of falling asleep, playing games and reading books during trial

A Republican senator appeared to fall asleep for 15 minutes during Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — while others were spotted doodling, reading books and playing with fidget spinners.Jim Risch, representing Idaho, sat slumped with his eyes closed and his head resting on his right hand as the charges against the US president were outlined.

Canada identifies first case of coronavirus

Canada on Saturday declared the first "presumptive" confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus in a resident who had returned from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak of the viral disease.

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Migrants stranded in Mexico cling on to hopes of reaching U.S. border

Guatemalan migrant Wilfredo Gomez said on Saturday he had been asking God to make him "invisible" as Mexican security forces started rounding up and detaining other U.S.-bound Central Americans who had illegally crossed into the country.

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Residents fret as China's virus exclusion zone widens

Walking through the drizzle outside the railway station in the city of Changsha on Chinese New Year, local residents said it was only a matter of time before they became part of a lockdown aimed at containing China's most lethal new contagious disease since 2003.

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Full Recording: Trump’s 2018 Dinner With Donors

By BY IGOR FRUMAN/JOSEPH A. BONDY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2GkkQWB

Des Moines Register Endorses Elizabeth Warren

By BY SYDNEY EMBER AND MICHAEL LEVENSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Gmk7E2

Pompeo Denounces News Media, Undermining U.S. Message on Press Freedom

By BY EDWARD WONG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RQq7KH

Impeachment Briefing: Working on the Weekend

By BY NOAH WEILAND from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2uuCIv8

Tweets urge calls to Supreme Court for fair Senate trial

The Supreme Court doesn't have a public comment line for its own work, much less the Senate's. The court is receiving “a higher than usual number of public calls," Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. Roberts is presiding over the Senate impeachment trial.

A 62-year-old Chinese doctor in Wuhan 'at the front line' of the coronavirus outbreak has died after treating patients

Chinese state media confirmed that Liang Wudong, an ENT specialist who retired in March 2019, died after treating coronavirus patients in Wuhan.

Kamala Harris Is Said to Be Weighing an Endorsement of Joe Biden

Sen. Kamala Harris is weighing an endorsement of Joe Biden, according to multiple Democratic officials familiar with her deliberations. Such a move could lift Biden's campaign and perhaps do even more to enhance Harris' chances of becoming vice president, but it could also anger her liberal base in California.An endorsement by Harris, if she wades into the primary race at all, would be unlikely to happen until after the Senate impeachment trial, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.Yet she and Biden, the former vice president, have remained in contact since she exited the race and had a long conversation in the immediate aftermath of her departure."Senator Harris remains focused on the ongoing impeachment trial of President Trump," said Chris Harris, a spokesman for the senator. "No decisions have been made about whether she will endorse, which candidate, nor when an endorsement decision will be made."Democrats close to Harris said she wanted to carefully consider the potential impact of her endorsement; was mindful that two of her female colleagues, Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, were still in the race; and was uneasy about the prospect of backing a candidate only to see him or her lose in California.Biden has lavished praise on Harris since she departed the race, predicting she would have a wealth of political opportunities in the future. And when asked directly if he would consider her as his running mate, he said, "Of course I would."A Biden-Harris rapprochement would represent an extraordinary turnaround in their relationship after she so memorably confronted him on the debate stage last summer. Yet their would-be alliance is less surprising on closer inspection.At the outset of the Democratic contest, they were collegial with each other. That was in large part because Harris served as state attorney general in California at the same time that Biden's son Beau was attorney general of Delaware, and the two young, ambitious Democrats had bonded. (Beau Biden died in 2015.)But Harris' friendship with the former vice president became badly strained after the first primary debate, in June, when she criticized him for his past opposition to school busing.Harris was trying to loosen Biden's grip on African American primary voters, and her searing reference to her own childhood experience with integration might have been the high point of her campaign. But it came at the expense of an older, white candidate who was already fending off questions about his record on matters of race. And Biden was personally stung by her attack, his advisers said, because he considered her a friend.Yet Harris' surge in the polls did not last, and the two candidates never sparred again in the same way. By October, aides to both Democrats recall, they were getting along well when they ran into each other at the Des Moines, Iowa, airport before heading to Ohio for the debate there.More significant than their personal rapport, a Harris endorsement of Biden would be politically useful for both of them.A 55-year-old woman of African and Indian descent with law enforcement credentials, Harris was already likely to be on Biden's shortlist, should he emerge as the nominee. Yet she could bolster her chances to be his running mate if she backed his campaign at a critical time, particularly if he did not win in either Iowa or New Hampshire next month and needed a boost in Nevada and South Carolina. And even if she is not chosen for vice president, she would be a leading contender for a Cabinet post, such as attorney general.For Biden, who is working to consolidate support from Democratic leaders as Sen. Bernie Sanders' progressive candidacy gains strength, an endorsement from Harris would signal that party leaders were rallying behind his candidacy and offer him a well-known surrogate to stump on his behalf as the race goes on.The risk for Harris would be if she were to get behind Biden only to see him lose in California, which votes March 3 as part of Super Tuesday. A survey of the state's Democratic voters, conducted this month by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that Biden was in second place to Sanders, of Vermont. But the poll highlighted the strength of the progressive bloc in the state: Sanders and Warren combined were capturing 50% of the vote.Rose Kapolczynski, a longtime Democratic strategist in California, said Harris would not damage her prospects for reelection in 2022 by backing Biden. But if Democrats were to lose the presidency this fall, supporting him could shape how she was perceived by the left, were she to run again for president four years from now."It just depends on where she wants to go," Kapolczynski said. "Is she interested in vice president or a Cabinet position? Or is she looking ahead to another campaign and how she'll be positioned then?"Bill Carrick, another California consultant and an adviser to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also said it would be unlikely that voters in the state would "make a judgment about the Senate race next time out based on whom she endorsed in the presidential race." But Carrick added that Biden's multiracial coalition overlapped with Harris' own core base of support and that it would be logical for her to side with him."She's going to have a lot of people allied with her who will be for Joe," he said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

In southern Poland, archaeologists discover WW2 plane wreck

Archaeologists have discovered the wreck of a U.S.-made bomber flown by the Soviet Red Army in World War Two, along with the remains of four crewmen killed when it crashed in southern Poland, private broadcaster TVN reported. Marta Wrobel in the town of Bierun during the war and told TVN that the blast from the crash had been powerful enough to blow out windows and doors. The remains of the four Soviet crewmen who perished in the crash will be laid to rest at a nearby Red Army cemetery.

Groundhog Day storm brewing? Forecasters monitoring the situation closely

The weather pattern seems to be stuck in "weekend storm mode," and one such potential weather system could take shape and impact the eastern United States in early February, making it the third weekend in a row that the region faces a storm threat. A storm affected the central and northeastern United States with a wide variety of wintry precipitation during the weekend of Jan. 18 and 19, and another storm has continued that trend this weekend.Snowstorms have been hitting on a regular basis over the northern tier of the Northeast, as well as parts of the Midwest during January, but that has not been the case for the coastal mid-Atlantic, southeastern New England and the central Appalachians, where rain and mixed precipitation events have been the norm.This far out, a wide range of possibilities is associated with the track, strength and timing of the storm centered on the weekend of Feb. 1 and 2. However, early indications are that a sizable and potent storm is likely to form over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday and take a northeastward path.Whether that track is west of the Appalachians, just inland of the Eastern Seaboard or just off the Atlantic coast will make a huge difference in precipitation types expected in the eastern third of the nation, in particular across the Northeast.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP"The track of the storm is highly prone to shift in the coming days, so deep discussion of the forecast is a moot point this far out," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said. "This is merely a heads-up on a storm that has the potential to disrupt travel by way of heavy rain, heavy snow, severe thunderstorms or strong winds or perhaps all of these weather extremes.""It does appear that the jet stream will become greatly amplified later this week and next weekend over the eastern half of North America, which suggests a major storm somewhere in the eastern part of the U.S.," Anderson stated.If the storm treks west of the Appalachians, then it would bring rain to much of the East Coast and mountains. Compare that to a storm that would parallel the coast and bring heavy snow to the mountains and the potential for the same in the Interstate-95 corridor of the Northeast."Until we get to the final day of January, a fairly benign pattern is in store for much of the U.S. and Canada with the exception of the Northwest and the Southeast corners," Anderson said. "The greatest temperature departures from average on the warm side will be across southern Canada and the northern U.S. Cloud cover will tend to hold temperatures back in parts of the South," he added.The period from February through March can be very stormy as building warmth from the strengthening sun and warming air in the southern parts of the U.S. can meet up with lingering cold across the northern part of the nation. Based on average, it is generally easier for snow to fall over the next six weeks when compared to the prior 12 weeks as the upper levels of the atmosphere are quite cold and water temperatures are generally at their lowest point of the year.However, the key to whether or not a big storm comes about and dumps heavy snow on the thus-far snow-deprived I-95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic and central Appalachians will depend on if an atmospheric traffic jam develops over the central Atlantic and Greenland. Such a road block might allow a storm to strengthen and slow down -- a factor that has been missing so far this winter. And yet meteorologists say a lack of cold air in the northern states this coming week poses a strong argument against heavy snow in general, let alone along the mid-Atlantic coast.Even without blocking in place, a storm could still get strong enough for heavy rain, strong winds and flooding along the coast and perhaps a rain and higher-elevation snow event for the central and northern Appalachians assuming a track near the coast. A man watches the surf as heavy seas in Wintrhrop, Mass., Saturday, March 3, 2018, a day after a nor'easter pounded the Atlantic coast with hurricane-force winds and sideways rain and snow, flooding streets, grounding flights, stopping trains and leaving 1.6 million customers without power from North Carolina to Maine. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) The same weather pattern that could generate a significant storm along the Atlantic coast during the first weekend of February might also allow benign and mild weather to hold over the Plains, including through the Iowa Caucuses on Feb. 3.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Iran Cannot Defeat American Stealth Planes, but They Could Cause Real Damage

Not so lopsided?

Islamic leaders make 'groundbreaking' visit to Auschwitz

Muslim religious leaders joined members of a U.S. Jewish group at Auschwitz on Thursday for what organizers described as “the most senior Islamic leadership delegation" to visit the site of a Nazi German death camp.

Only one quarter of Americans trust the US Senate to hold a fair impeachment trial

Republicans are more split than one might imagine: While 42% trust the Senate to do a fair trial, 33% do not.

Canada identifies first presumptive confirmed case of coronavirus

Canada declared on Saturday that Toronto Public Health has received notification of the first presumptive confirmed case of coronavirus in a resident who recently returned from Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province in central China, the government said in a statement.

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Lev Parnas Says He Has Tape of Trump Calling for Ambassador’s Firing

By BY KENNETH P. VOGEL AND BEN PROTESS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RPo0Xw

Citing stonewalling of congressional subpoenas, Nadler calls Trump ‘a dictator.’

By BY CATIE EDMONDSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/38EbvoI

Warren responds after angry dad confronts her on student loans

In the exchange, a father asked Warren if he is getting "screwed" because he saved money for his daughter's education.

US military investigating after finding Pornhub video of Navy service members shot through peephole

The Navy is reportedly investigating videos found on the website Pornhub that they believe show unsuspecting service members through a peephole in a bathroom.The videos were discovered earlier this month by an agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Series, according to a report by NBC News.

Judge OKs classified information status in terrorism case

A judge in Arkansas has allowed a U.S. government official to help guard against the release of classified information during the upcoming terrorism trial of a Yemeni citizen accused of providing material support to al-Qaida. U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright on Thursday granted the Justice Department's motion to allow a designated classified information security officer to participate in the case.

2 elephants escaped a circus in Russia and rolled around in the snow before being recaptured

Two elephants escaped a circus in Yekaterinburg, Russia. One of them rolled around in the snow. It took a dozen people to wrangle them.

Donald Trump is suddenly scared of Mike Bloomberg — as he should be

Mike Bloomberg probably isn’t going to win the Democratic nomination for president. But he might beat Donald Trump anyway. The reason? Well, there are a couple billion of them — namely, the $2 billion Bloomberg plans to spend on Democrats' behalf.

Thunberg fires back at Mnunchin after college degree jab

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin said Greta Thunberg can discuss fossil fuel divestment "after she goes and studies economics in college."

China Puts 13 Cities on Lockdown as Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs

China is striving to contain a deadly virus outbreak the World Health Organization has termed a domestic health emergency

U.S. charges former Mexican police commander in El Chapo-linked cocaine investigation

U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged a former Mexican federal police commander with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Mexican drug cartels to help them send cocaine into the United States, in a case linked to imprisoned drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Elizabeth Warren clashes with Iowa father who calls her student loan policy unfair

Elizabeth Warren was confronted by an angry father at a campaign event in Iowa by an angry father who took issue with her plan to forgive student loan debts.Arguing that those who paid for college tuition themselves would be “screwed” by her proposal, he confronted the Democratic senator on Monday at a presidential campaign town hall in Grimes, Iowa.

Senators struggle without their phones at Trump's impeachment trial, where all electronics are banned

Senators had a hard time following the strict no-phone policy while listening in on 12-hour days of arguments during Trump's impeachment trial.

US Vice President Pence to Pope Francis: You made me a hero

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, discussing the anti-abortion march in Washington and telling the pontiff, "You made me a hero" back home by granting him a private audience. Pence was beaming after the meeting, which appeared to be particularly cordial. The hero description apparently referred to Pence's Catholic family upbringing.

U.S. calls on Haiti to set a date for elections: Pompeo

Pompeo did not specify which elections he was referring to, but Haiti failed to hold scheduled legislative elections last year. The U.S. State Department provided a transcript of Pompeo's interview with the newspapers.

'End of the world': Wuhan a ghost town under quarantine

Wuhan residents called for help and shared worries of food shortages Thursday, with streets in the virus-hit central Chinese city left deserted after it was put on lockdown. After he bought some, the person behind him in the queue bought the remaining stock in the shop.