Top News Stories for Today – feb 1, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – feb 1, 2019
Death toll from Midwest cold snap rises
At least 10 deaths are linked to the polar vortex hitting the Midwest, where many cities are recording their lowest temperatures in years. An elderly man in Illinois was found dead after he fell while trying to get into his house, a Milwaukee man was found frozen to death in a garage, and a man was killed in Chicago when he was hit by a snowplow, The Associated Press reports. Chicago’s temperature dropped to 23 degrees below zero, while wind chills made it feel like 50 below zero in cities across the Midwest.
At least 2,700 flights were canceled, more than half of them in Chicago, and over two dozen water mains froze in Detroit. Temperatures will remain bone chilling through Thursday, and are expected to hit the 20s on Friday. The Associated Press and CNN via The Week
US to exit from nuclear arms treaty
he Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race.
An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles). Russia denies that it has been in violation. VOA
Trump rebuked on withdraw of troops
The Senate voted Thursday to advance legislation opposing President Trump’s withdrawal of US forces from Syria and Afghanistan. The measure, an amendment to a Middle East policy bill, was drafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and passed in a bipartisan vote of 68-23. In December, Trump said the Islamic State has been defeated, and he would pull 2,000 troops from Syria and 7,000 from Afghanistan.
The amendment states that “the precipitous withdrawal of United States forces from either country could put at risk hard-won gains and United States national security.” It was backed by almost every Senate Republican, with some liberal senators voting against it, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The New York Times via The Week
Hate crimes rise in US
The attack comes as hate crimes in major US cities such as Chicago rose for the fifth consecutive year last year, fueled in large part by attacks on African-Americans and Jews, according to preliminary police department data from around the country.
There were a total of 905 bias incidents in nine of the 10 largest US cities last year, up 12 percent from 2017, according to data compiled by the Center for Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino. Hate crime data for Phoenix, the fifth-largest US city, were unavailable, but police departments in nearly 20 other cities reported an overall increase in bias incidents. VOA
Australia records hottest month ever
Australia recorded its hottest month ever in January, with average temperatures exceeding 30C (86F) for the first time. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the extreme heat was “unprecedented” during the country’s summer period. At least five January days were among the 10 warmest on record, with daily national temperature highs of 40C.
The heat has caused wildfire deaths, bushfires and a rise in hospital admissions. Several wildlife species have also suffered, with reports of mass deaths of wild horses, native bats and fish in drought-affected areas. BBC
Trump: Wall talk a waste of time
US President Donald Trump has dismissed the federal investigation into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 election and talks about a proposed border wall. His lawyers had been reassured he was not a target in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, he said. Talks in Congress about wall funding – the issue behind the recent government shutdown – were a “waste of time”.
Trump was interviewed by the New York Times, a paper he repeatedly described as “failing” in the past. The paper’s interview with Trump came after he contacted its publisher, AG Sulzberger. BBC