February 2, 2022

WEATHER | An estimated 90 million people in the U.S. are under winter weather alerts today due to a strengthening winter storm that is expected to affect areas ranging from Colorado to Vermont through Friday [more]

RACE RELATIONS | Campuses were closed or classes cancelled yesterday at more than 12 historically Black colleges and universities across the United States due to bomb threats. The threats took place on the first day of Black History Month. [more]

USA ROADWAYS | U.S. transportation officials yesterday reported that at least 31,720 people died in motor vehicle crashes on the nation's roads in the first nine months of 2021 – the highest nine-month count in 15 years. [more]

OPIOID SETTLEMENT | The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and the three largest drug distributors in the U.S. have reached an agreement with hundreds of Native American tribes under which the companies will pay about $590 million for their role in fueling the opioid crisis in tribal communities. [more]

UKRAINE | In his first public comments on the Ukraine standoff in more than a month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the U.S. and its allies are ignoring Russia's top security concerns regarding Ukraine. [more]

NFL | Quarterback Tom Brady officially announced his retirement from the National Football League yesterday. Brady finished his career as the league's record-holder for most career passing attempts, completions, touchdowns, and wins by a quarterback. [more]

WHOOPI GOLDBERG | Television network ABC has suspended actress Whoopi Goldberg from her co-hosting role on "The View" for two weeks following her recent statement that the Holocaust was "not about race." [more]

EURO INFLATION | Consumer prices increased by an annual rate of 5.1% in January in the 19 countries that use the euro currency, according to the the European Union statistics agency Eurostat. The inflation rate is the highest since euro recordkeeping began in 1997. [more]

TECH | Google parent company Alphabet yesterday reported $20.64 billion in profit on revenue of $75.32 billion for the last three months of 2021. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress on this day in 1990. The action prompted the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and is considered to marked the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa. [more history]