Arctic blast spreads shivers from Maine to Deep South
PORTLAND, Maine — An arctic blast that sent shivers across the Midwest spread to the eastern U.S. on Wednesday, with bitter weather breaking records from Mississippi to Maine.
In the Northeast, temperatures dipped to single digits early Wednesday in some communities. Forecasters projected even lower temperatures late Wednesday and early today in some locations.
More than 200 records had fallen since Monday, and the number was expected to exceed 300 by the time the cold snap ends, said Patrick Burke, lead forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.
The temperatures reflect a normal winter weather pattern that broke loose early in the season, unleashing cold air from Arctic Circle, he said.
Record low temperatures for the date were recorded Tuesday in New York City; Buffalo, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt.; Augusta, Maine; and parts of Ohio. More daily records were broken Wednesday morning in Burlington, Augusta and several locations in Pennsylvania.
To the south, daily records fell Wednesday across a large swath of the region accustomed to milder weather.
The temperature dropped to 18 degrees in Birmingham, Ala., early Wednesday, breaking the previous low record of 22 degrees set in 1911. In Greenville, Miss., the temperature dropped to 17 degrees, breaking a record of 23 degrees set 108 years ago, officials said.
Even the Gulf Coast saw temperatures below freezing, producing “sea smoke” as chilly air moved over warmer water.
Venice ‘on its knees’ after second-worst flood ever recorded
VENICE, Italy — The worst flooding in Venice in more than 50 years prompted calls Wednesday to better protect the historic city from rising sea levels as officials calculated hundreds of millions of euros in damage.
The water reached 6.14 feet above average sea level Tuesday, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city and just 2 1/2 inches lower than the historic 1966 flood. Another wave of exceptionally high water followed Wednesday.
“Venice is on its knees,’’ Mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted. “St. Mark’s Basilica has sustained serious damage, like the entire city and its islands.”
One death was blamed on the flooding, on the barrier island of Pellestrina. A man in his 70s was apparently electrocuted when he tried to start a pump in his dwelling, said Danny Carrella, an official on the island of 3,500 inhabitants.
In Venice, the crypt beneath St. Mark’s Basilica was inundated for only the second time in its history. Damage was also reported at the Ca’ Pesaro modern art gallery, where a short circuit set off a fire, and at La Fenice theater, where authorities turned off electricity as a precaution after the control room was flooded.
Many sites remained closed to tourists, and La Fenice canceled concerts Wednesday and today.
Tourists floated suitcases through St. Mark’s Square, where officials removed walkways to prevent them from drifting away. Wooden boards that shop and hotel owners placed on doors in previous floods couldn’t hold back the water.
Powell sees steady growth, signals pause in rate cuts
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Fed is likely to keep its benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged in the coming months, unless the economy shows signs of worsening.
But for now, in testimony before a congressional panel, Powell expressed optimism about the U.S. economy and said he expects it will grow at a solid pace, though it still faces risks from slower growth overseas and trade tensions.
“Looking ahead, my colleagues and I see a sustained expansion of economic activity, a strong labor market and inflation near our symmetric 2% objective as most likely,” Powell said before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.
Fed policymakers are unlikely to cut rates, he said, unless the economy slows enough to cause them to make a “material reassessment” of their outlook.
The Fed cut short-term rates last month for the third time this year, to a range of 1.5%-1.75%.
But when asked if he expected rates to remain unchanged during the next year, Powell said, “I wouldn’t say that at all.”
Islamic Jihad says cease-fire reached
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s militant Islamic Jihad group announced a cease-fire with Israel early Thursday, ending two days of heavy fighting that left at least 32 Palestinians dead, including a 7-year-old boy.
Spokesman Musab al-Berim said the cease-fire was based on a list of demands presented by his group late Wednesday. The fighting broke out early Tuesday after Israel killed one of the group’s senior commanders.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, and shortly after al-Berim’s announcement, two rockets were fired, setting off air-raid sirens in southern Israel.
Chinese, other students flee Hong Kong as violence worsens
HONG KONG — University students from mainland China and Taiwan are fleeing Hong Kong, while those from three Scandinavian countries were moved or urged to leave as college campuses become the latest battleground in the city’s five-month-long anti-government unrest.
Marine police used a boat Wednesday to help a group of mainland students leave the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which remained barricaded by demonstrators after violent clashes with police Tuesday.
Authorities announced that primary and secondary school classes would be suspended Thursday as clashes turn increasingly violent.
The protests have taken on a strong anti-China bent, with radical demonstrators trashing branches of mainland banks, China’s official Xinhua News Agency and restaurant chains whose owners support the Beijing government.
Hong Kong is part of China but has its own legal system and greater freedoms than the mainland. The protesters say those freedoms are under threat from a city government that is beholden to Beijing. China says the protesters are rioters who want to break away from Chinese rule.
For the third day in a row, protesters widely disrupted train service, blocked streets and rallied in the central business district. They hunkered down for possible clashes with police at university campuses.