East Coast snow, Spotify's COVID-19 advisories, end of Dry January: 5 things to know Monday
Crews continue clearing snow on East Coast after 'historic nor'easter'
Crews and residents are continuing to clear snow on the East Coast Monday after a "historic nor'easter" swept across the region over the weekend. Authorities on Long Island reported three storm-related deaths. More than 100,000 lost power at the height of the storm, mostly in Massachusetts. Boston tied its record for biggest single-day snowfall on Saturday, with 23.6 inches, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, some sections of New York City were blanketed by more than foot of snow. The storm stretched from Maine to the Carolinas and the cold reached even farther: The temperature in Tallahassee, Florida, dipped below 20 degrees for the first time in more than 10 years. The storm became a bomb cyclone when it rapidly strengthened, or underwent bombogenesis, between Friday and Saturday afternoon as it rolled up the East Coast, AccuWeather said.
- What is a nor'easter? Storms can batter East Coast with snow, impact millions of people
- What is wind chill? Understanding the wind chill index and how it's calculated
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American woman accused of leading Islamic State battalion to appear in court
A former Kansas resident charged with joining the Islamic State and leading an all-female battalion of AK-47-wielding militants in the Syrian city of Raqqa in late 2016 is scheduled for an initial appearance at U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday. Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, according to the U.S. attorney. The criminal complaint was filed under seal back in 2019 but made public Saturday after Fluke-Ekren was brought back to the U.S. Friday to face charges. Her alleged participation in the Islamic State had not been publicly known before Saturday's announcement. Prosecutors say Fluke-Ekren wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed a terrorist attack on a shopping mall.
- 'Fringe ideas' are going mainstream in U.S. politics: That's a danger to democracy, extremism experts say
- From Oklahoma City to Jan. 6: How the U.S. government failed to stop the rise of domestic extremism
'America's Golden Girl': NBC to air special honoring the life and career of Betty White
NBC will air a one-hour special, "Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl" Monday night (10 ET/PT), a month after the beloved actress died at the age of 99. President Joe Biden will join a lineup of A-list stars featured in the event dedicated to the life of the star of such iconic TV comedies as "The Golden Girls" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Other celebrities scheduled to appear include Cher, Carol Burnett, Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Jean Smart, Tracy Morgan and Bryan Cranston. The NBC special comes several weeks after the documentary "Betty White: A Celebration" was released in theaters nationwide by Fathom Events.
- Hilarious back-and-forth: Betty White and Joan Rivers' hysterical interview on 'Tonight Show' goes viral
- 'He stays': Betty White refused to remove Black dancer from her show in 1954
- 'What could be better than show business?': Betty White's quips and quotes through the years
Spotify to add advisories to podcasts discussing COVID-19 information
Following protests of Spotify kicked off by Neil Young over the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, the music streaming service said that it will add content advisories before podcasts discussing the virus in the coming days. In a post Sunday, Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek laid out more transparent platform rules, saying that the advisories will link to Spotify’s fact-based COVID-19 hub in what he described as a “new effort to combat misinformation.” The move comes after backlash stirred by Young, who had his music removed from Spotify after the tech giant declined to get rid of episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience," which has been criticized for spreading virus misinformation. Ek did not specifically reference Rogan or Young in his post.
- Nils Lofgren, Joni Mitchell join Neil Young in exiting Spotify. Could more artists follow suit?
- Spotify makes changes as Harry and Meghan join calls to address COVID misinformation: Sunday's COVID-19 updates
Dry January: Booze-free living doesn't have to end today
Monday marks the end of the month of January, and with it the official end of Dry January, the popular trend in which people go alcohol-free for 31 days to reflect on the influence drinking has on their lives. Dry January can have a range of health benefits, doctors told Paste BN, including feeling more alert and well rested. So why not keep it going all year? Staying off the sauce means having a good plan, says research psychologist Dawn Sugarman. "If you enjoy drinking because you feel less stressed, you can work on figuring out what are some other ways you can reduce stress in your life. It's really examining your relationship with alcohol."
Contributing: The Associated Press