Dispatches

More snow, More cold

It’s the winter that won’t let up. Storms continued dumping snow on the United States through February and early March, causing thousands of flight cancellations and triggering a 75-vehicle pileup in Maine. Boston approached its record season snowfall of 107 inches, while a stream of frigid air from Siberia set record low monthly temperatures for February in Syracuse, N.Y., Cleveland, Chicago, and Bangor, Maine, (where thermometers averaged 6.1 F). Some anonymous good Samaritans made the best of the chilly weather in downtown Indianapolis, tying scarves around parking meters and light poles with kindhearted notes: “Please take this if you’re cold!”

March 3

Chile eruption

The Villarrica Volcano in central Chile erupted around 3:00 in the morning, launching lava and plumes of ash high into the night sky. About 4,000 local residents and tourists temporarily evacuated the region, including the nearby towns of Pucon and Conaripe. A major lava flow did not appear likely, although Chile officials were monitoring the situation. The 9,380-foot volcano, a popular hiking destination for adventure tourists, last erupted in 2000 and 1984. Behind Indonesia, Chile has the second largest chain of volcanoes in the world (about 2,000).

Feb. 26

Decapitator unveiled

The black-masked, knife-wielding terrorist who appeared in Islamic State beheading videos and issued taunts in a British accent now has a face and a name. The Washington Post identified so-called “Jihadi John” as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Briton who grew up in a prosperous Muslim family in London and attended an Anglican elementary school. He earned a computer programming degree at the University of Westminster, but was later detained by British counterterrorism officials when he tried to move to Kuwait. He somehow left the UK in 2013 and traveled to Syria. Emwazi, 26, could be responsible for beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto along with three Americans and two Britons: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, David Haines, and Alan Henning.

March 1

Putin critic remembered

As many as 30,000 mourners and protesters marched in Moscow to remember Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, 55, assassinated two days earlier on a bridge near the Kremlin with four bullets to the back. Nemtsov, Russia’s former deputy prime minister, was a relentless critic of President Vladimir Putin and had been compiling a report on Putin’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. “I have no doubt this was a political killing,” said an opposition ally of Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin. “He had no foes other than political ones.” Putin’s government quickly deflected blame for the crime, suggesting allies of Nemtsov killed him as a “sacrificial victim” in order to destabilize Russia.

Feb. 24

Arctic joints

Joining Colorado and Washington, Alaska became the third state to legalize recreational marijuana, allowing users to grow up to six plants in their homes and smoke in private. Hours before the voter-approved law took effect in the otherwise conservative state, City Council members in Wasilla—the hometown of conservative celebrity Sarah Palin—banned homemade brownies or candies infused with pot. On Feb. 26, recreational marijuana also became legal in Washington, D.C., and Oregon will legalize it in July. Twenty-three states already permit marijuana use for “medical” purposes.

Feb. 26

Controlling the internet

In a 3-2 vote along party lines, the Federal Communications Commission approved a “net neutrality” regulatory scheme that will treat internet service providers like Comcast or Verizon as public utilities and bar them from creating paid “fast lanes” for certain websites and web-based services. The scheme, promoted by President Obama and Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, is meant to keep a level playing field for online companies, but internet service providers may challenge the rules in court. Conservative lawmakers said they would challenge them in Congress. Ajit Pai, one of the two Republican commissioners who voted against the plan, said it marked “a monumental shift toward government control of the internet.”

Feb. 23

Assyrian Christians captured

Hundreds of residents from about 30 Christian villages in the northeast corner of Syria fled their homes as Islamic State (ISIS) militants moved to expand their territory into the fertile Hasaka Province. Many villagers retreated to the larger cities of Hasaka and Qameshli, but some couldn’t escape: Locals said the Islamic militants captured over 250 persons, including women and children, and killed at least 15 Assyrians who fought back. ISIS afterward released 19 of the captives, but the condition of the others remained uncertain. The jihadi group is known to conduct mass executions and enslave women.