hSix more weeks of winter in store?

hSix more weeks of winter in store?

punxsutawney, pa.

Inner Circle President Bill Deeley shows Punxsutawney Phil to tourists a day before Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Monday. Members of the Inner Circle planned to reveal their forecast at sunrise today. A German legend says if the furry rodent sees his shadow Feb. 2, winter will last an additional six weeks. If not, spring comes early. In reality, Phil’s “prediction” is decided ahead of time by the group.

Syrian peace talks officially begin

GENEVA

Syrian peace talks gained a small measure of momentum Monday with the U.N. special envoy formally declaring the start of indirect negotiations, even as the opposition spokesman accused Russia of producing a “new Hitler” in Moscow and supporting another Hitler in Damascus.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy, is working to keep a wobbly process alive and compel world powers who helped set the stage for the talks to do more to bring about a cease-fire in a five-year Syrian civil war.

De Mistura said the mere arrival of a delegation from the main Syrian opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, at the U.N. offices in Geneva was enough to allow him to declare the talks formally open.

Homicides rise sharply in Chicago

CHICAGO

Chicago saw a dramatic spike in the number of homicides and shootings in January — the bloodiest start to a year in at least 16 years and a blow to a police force struggling to regain public trust after the release of a video of a white officer fatally shooting a black teen.

In a news release Monday, Chicago police reported that 51 homicides were committed in the city last month, compared with 29 in January 2015. The number of shooting incidents more than doubled, from 119 last January to 242 this January.

Ruling may be weeks away on voter ID

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

A federal judge’s decision appears to be at least several weeks away in litigation over North Carolina’s photo ID mandate for voters, making it likely that the new requirement will begin when early in-person voting begins March 3.

Trial ended Monday in multiple lawsuits over the new statute, which is supposed to be implemented for the first time during the March 15 primary.

The requirement, first approved by Republican elected officials in 2013 but eased somewhat last summer, makes North Carolina one of more than 30 states with some kind of voter ID requirement now in force. But the U.S. Justice Department, state NAACP and others challenged the requirement in a state with a history of racial discrimination and racially polarized voting.

Man charged with attack on plane

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Authorities say a Virginia man flying from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., had to be restrained after attacking another passenger and two flight attendants.

The U.S. attorney’s office reported Monday that 36-year-old Joseph Michael Sharkey is charged with assault or intimidation of a flight crew. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

A criminal complaint says Sharkey was on a JetBlue flight Sunday when he verbally assaulted another passenger and then placed that passenger in a headlock. The complaint says Sharkey then fought with two flight attendants before he could be restrained.

Associated Press