USA
A major winter storm was moving Northeast after dumping heavy snow from the Ohio Valley to New York and causing floods and mudslides in some Southern states. At least a dozen weather-related deaths were reported. Accumulations above two feet closed airports and roadways, and the governors of Maryland and Virginia declared emergencies. The biggest storm to hit Washington in three years also caused President Bush to cut short a weekend trip to the Camp David retreat in Maryland. Schools and many businesses already were closed for the Presidents' Day holiday.
The Bush administration will submit a new resolution on Iraq to the UN Security Council, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, The New York Times reported, while planning a series of tests designed to convince reluctant Council members that Iraq is unwilling to disarm peacefully. The administration also is developing proposals for sanctions against North Korea if that nation's leaders continue efforts to develop nuclear weapons, the Times reported. Last week, administration officials ruled out immediate sanctions.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended antiwar protests in New York, Chicago, and other cities and towns over the weekend, joining calls from around the globe for Bush not to pursue military action against Iraq. In Denver, meanwhile, about 300 people carried signs reading "war is bad, evil is worse" at a rally Sunday in support of the president.
A melee at a nightclub on Chicago's South Side killed at least 21 people early Monday. Thirty others were hurt. Security personnel used pepper spray and mace to break up a fight, the Chicago Tribune reported, prompting a panicked dash toward the exits by an estimated 1,500 patrons at the club, located above the Epitome restaurant in the largely black district. Emergency teams called to the scene reportedly found the back doors locked.
A pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles baseball team died after being hospitalized Sunday for exhaustion and other heat-related problems. Steve Bechler, who was in his 20s, had complained of dizziness following a workout at the team's spring training facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Bechler made his major league debut last September but was widely expected to open this season with the team's top minor league affiliate in Ottawa.
