Old Questions and Few Answers as Japan's Shinzo Abe Meets with President Obama

Toru Hanai / REUTERS

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at his official residence Jan.19, 2013.

On Shinzo Abe?s first trip to the United States as Japan?s prime minister, the key issues included the rise of China, North Korea?s quest for nuclear weapons and whether Japan would revise its constitution to allow a standing military.?The year was 2007, the U.S. president was George W. Bush and the global economy had yet to begin its spectacular implosion. Since then Japan has had five prime ministers, but as Abe, who resumed his country?s top office in December, visited Washington again Friday, the agenda was remarkably similar to what he discussed with President Obama?s predecessor six years ago.

?Prime Minister Abe himself is no stranger to the United States. I think he and I studied in California around the same time, and this is not his first visit to the Oval Office,? Obama said Friday, before listing security issues and economic cooperation as some of the key topics of their meeting.?While many of the issues have remained the same, Abe?s approach has shown a dramatic shift, particularly when it comes to China. While Abe has long advocated a muscular Japanese foreign policy, he spent much of his first term in office trying to ease regional tensions. He made his first overseas trip as prime minister to China, and didn?t visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where millions of Japanese war dead?and most controversially 14 class-A war criminals?are enshrined. That helped ease tensions with China and South Korea, which were occupied by Japan during World War II and were infuriated by repeated visits to the shrine by Junichiro Koizumi during his 2001-2006 term as prime minister.

Sino-Japanese tensions are inflamed once again, this time over a group of uninhabited islets northeast of Taiwan known as the Senkaku in Japanese or the Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan?s annexed the islets in 1895, and following Japan?s defeat in World War II the U.S. administered them until 1972, when they were handed back to Japan. China argues that the Diaoyu were originally Chinese territory and should have been returned to its control. Last year, after Tokyo?s rightwing governor Shintaro Ishihara said he wanted the municipality to purchase the islands from the Japanese family that owned them for 40 years, Japan?s central government stepped in, buying three of the islands with the hope that it could manage them in a less provocative manner than the nationalist Ishihara.

China was furious that Japan?s purchase had changed the uneasy status quo that had existed for decades. Protests erupted in Beijing and other large Chinese cities, and China began near daily patrols by its civilian maritime and fisheries ships and aircraft in waters near the islets. Japan says that in January Chinese navy ships twice used targeting radar to lock onto Japanese defense forces craft in the East China Sea, moves that?can prelude an attack. Japan protested the use of targeting radar, and China strongly denied the incident.

The unstated goal of China?s escalating patrols is to force Japan to acknowledge the Diaoyu are disputed territory, which Tokyo has so far refused to officially admit. The U.S. government doesn?t take a position on the sovereignty dispute, but says that because the islands are presently administered by Japan, they fall under a defense treaty that could call for U.S. military involvement in the event of armed conflict.?Many Chinese observers have questioned the U.S. position, saying that by recognizing Japan?s administration and even using the Japanese pronunciation of the islands? name means it is hardly a neutral player. On Friday Abe argued that the alliance would help prevent tensions from worsening.??Concerning the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands, we agree that the very existence of the Japan-U.S. alliance is a stabilizing factor, which contributes to peace and stability of the region,? he told reporters.

The escalating Sino-Japanese tensions have prompted some concerns that the Diaoyu dispute could, 100 years after World War I, set off a similar devastating armed conflict.?Certainly some parallels exist with the great conflagration that tore apart Europe. China, like Germany before, is a rising economic and military power that craves greater respect and global influence. It is engaged in disputes with several of its neighbors over islands that it says are rightly its territory. Japan?s defense treaty with the U.S. only increases the risk that a small incident at sea could, like the assassination of a little-known archiduke in 1914, lead to a broader war.

But just as there is a risk of ignoring history, there?s a risk at being trapped by it. While the Sino-Japanese conflict is very real and worrying, it does not necessarily mean a new world war. ?I don?t put much stock in the recent claims or arguments that the China-Japan dispute is somehow analogous to the start of World War I,? says M. Taylor Fravel, a China expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ?I do believe the situation is dangerous, and such analogies may help bring attention to the dangers. ?Nevertheless, we are most likely not on the cusp of a war involving all the major powers of the world for dominance over a region. ?This is a conflict over rather limited aims.?

An all-out conflict would harm both sides, with both China and Japan?the world?s second and third largest economies?suffering significant economic loses, says Linda Jakobson, East Asia program director at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. ?I fear a naval or air incident that leads to loss of life, which in today?s world could not be kept secret, would ignite national sentiments to a much higher degree than we?ve seen so far,? she says. ?That would really box in the leaders of each side and drastically curtail maneuvering room.??And while China?s military clout is growing rapidly?it?s posted double-digit budget increases for much of the past two decades and recently launched its first aircraft carrier?it hasn?t been tested in combat since a short, bloody border war with Vietnam in 1979. An unsuccessful military campaign could have serious repercussions for the Communist Party?s hold on power, its overriding priority.

In an interview with the Washington Post before his trip to meet Obama, Abe complained that Chinese schools teach a form of patriotism that promotes ?anti-Japanese sentiment.? A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that China was ?strongly dissatisfied with the Japanese leader?s comments that distort facts, attack and defame China and stir up confrontations between the two countries.?

Meanwhile in the waters northeast of Taiwan the dispute over the islets continued this week, as a Japanese fishing boat captain said his ship was pursued by three Chinese maritime surveillance vessels on Feb. 18, according to reports from Japan?s?Asahi Shimbun?newspaper and Tomas Etzler, a Czech television correspondent who was on the Japanese vessel. On Friday, Japan?s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga complained that China?s State Maritime Administration had installed buoys near the islets, the New York Times reported. War may still be a distant prospect, but so too is a solution.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/time/topstories/~3/4PNY3w0ovsI/

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More than 200 kidnapped Syrian villagers released

BEIRUT (AP) ? Gunmen from rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim villages in northern Syria have freed more than 200 people snatched in tit-for-tat kidnappings this month, easing tensions that threatened to touch off more sectarian violence, activists said Friday.

In Syria's largest city of Aleppo, three explosions that appeared to be caused by missiles killed at least 14 people, activists said, adding that dozens of others were feared to be trapped under the rubble of damaged buildings.

The wave of abductions in a rural part of Idlib province highlighted how much the civil war between the regime of President Bashar Assad and the hundreds of rebel groups seeking his ouster has enflamed tensions between Syria's myriad religious groups.

The Syrian regime, established more than four decades ago by Assad's father, Hafez, has largely stocked the upper ranks of the country's security agencies and armed forces with members of the ruling family's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Most of the rebels fighting Assad's forces are poor, rural members of Syria's Sunni majority. Other religious minority communities, like Christians and Druze, have largely remained on the sidelines.

As the conflict approaches its third year, its sectarian divide is worsening. This month, clashes broke out between Sunni and Shiite villages in the area of Qusair, near the Lebanese border. Islamic extremists who have joined the rebels have destroyed Christian liquor stores, and sometimes refer to their dead adversaries with derogatory names insulting their sects.

The Idlib kidnappings showed how quickly sectarian tensions can escalate, but also that local communities are still capable of pulling back from the brink.

Opposition activists say the abductions began Feb. 14 when a bus carrying dozens of Shiite civilians, mostly women and children, disappeared on the road to Damascus. Gunmen from the area's two Shiite villages, Fua and Kifarya, responded by snatching civilians from the Sunni villages nearby.

Some of the Sunnis were nabbed at makeshift checkpoints on rural roads, while others were taken while entering the provincial capital, which government troops still control. Many of the Sunnis captives, too, were woman and children.

"They started taking over buses from the opposition villages that were heading to Idlib city," said activist Hamza Abu al-Hassan from the village of Binnish. "Some of them had government jobs or had to file papers or were just going to visit their families."

The total number of those kidnapped remains unclear. Abu al-Hassan said they included about 35 Shiites and more than 250 Sunnis. Other activists gave higher figures.

It also remains unclear who hijacked the bus carrying the Shiite civilians. Local activists said no rebels claimed responsibility, possibly because the kidnappers were criminals seeking ransom or because the move was immediately criticized by opposition groups.

Local rebels threatened to storm the Shiite villages, whose residents they say have been armed by the government. But the crisis was resolved early Thursday when the Shiite captives returned home, followed by the release of the Sunni captives later in the day, activists said.

Residents of the Shiite villages could not be reached for comment, though a Facebook page for the larger of the villages, Fua, said in a post Thursday that the captives had returned.

"With God's help we have liberated our kidnapped sisters from hands of the enemies of God," the post said. It also called for "retribution."

Although the abductees have all been freed, the fundamental divide between the Sunni and Shiite villages remains.

"There will have to be a battle in the future because the army is there," Ismael Khatib, a rebel from the village of Taftanaz, said via Skype. "They have tanks there that shell us, so it is natural that the rebels will liberate the area to stop the shelling."

The explosions Friday in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial capital, hit the eastern neighborhoods of Ard al-Hamra and Tariq al-Bab, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Observatory said at least 14 people were killed, while the Aleppo Media Center activist group put the death toll at 16.

Videos posted online showed what appeared to be the aftermath of the explosions.

In one video that the caption said was from Ard al-Hamra, dozens of people, many of them with flashlights, scour the rubble in the dark in search of survivors. In another clip, at least nine bodies are laid out on a floor, some of them wrapped in blankets.

The videos appeared authentic and corresponded to other AP reporting.

In Cairo, the Syrian National Coalition, an opposition umbrella group, said it would welcome U.S. and Russian mediation to negotiate a peace deal to end the country's civil wall but insisted it would not allow Assad or members of his security services to participate in the talks. The announcement came in a statement posted on the coalition's Facebook page following two days of meetings in Cairo meant to firm up the group's position on whether to engage in talks.

"Bashar Assad and the security and military leadership responsible for the state of Syria today must step down and be considered outside this political process," the statement said. "They cannot be part of any political solution for Syria and must be held accountable for their crimes."

Coalition chief Mouaz al-Khatib has angered some in the opposition by offering to sit down with regime figures to help end the civil war. Friday's announcement appeared aimed at setting the boundaries for any future talks by stressing that Assad and his aides cannot be part of any negotiations.

The Coalition also agreed to form a transitional government in rebel-held areas and said it will meet on March 2 in Turkey to choose a leader for the administration, spokesman Walid al-Bunni told reporters in Cairo.

The opposition umbrella group has been struggling to agree on the leadership of a provisional administration since the Coalition was formed late last year. The group has met on previous occasions to agree on an interim prime minister, but failed to reach a compromise.

Also Friday, Reporters Without Borders said French freelance photographer Olivier Voisin was seriously wounded a day earlier in Idlib province.

The media watchdog said Voisin sustained shrapnel wounds to his head and arm, and underwent surgery at a hospital in Antakya, Turkey.

Hospital officials in Turkey confirmed that Voisin was in the country for treatment. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. on Friday to require Syrian authorities to grant international monitors access to its detention facilities, following the death of a peace activist in custody.

Omar Aziz, 64, died on Feb. 16 of health complications at a military hospital, the group said in a statement. It also described how a newly released detainee also reported witnessing the death of Ayham Ghazzoul, an imprisoned 26-year-old rights activist. Both had been detained by security forces in November.

Human rights groups and the opposition accuse Syrian authorities of holding tens of thousands of prisoners, many of whom it is feared have been tortured.

___

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Ryan Lucas in Beirut, and Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-200-kidnapped-syrian-villagers-released-145608625.html

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Caves point to thawing of Siberia

Friday, February 22, 2013

Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius could see permanently frozen ground thaw over a large area of Siberia, threatening release of carbon from soils, and damage to natural and human environments.

A thaw in Siberia's permafrost (ground frozen throughout the year) could release over 1000 giga-tonnes of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, potentially enhancing global warming.

The data comes from an international team led by Oxford University scientists studying stalactites and stalagmites from caves located along the 'permafrost frontier', where ground begins to be permanently frozen in a layer tens to hundreds of metres thick. Because stalactites and stalagmites only grow when liquid rainwater and snow melt drips into the caves, these formations record 500,000 years of changing permafrost conditions, including warmer periods similar to the climate of today.

Records from a particularly warm period (Marine Isotopic Stage 11) that occurred around 400,000 years ago suggest that global warming of 1.5?C compared to the present is enough to cause substantial thawing of permafrost far north from its present-day southern limit.

A report of the research is published in this week's Science Express. The team included scientists from Britain, Russia, Mongolia and Switzerland.

'The stalactites and stalagmites from these caves are a way of looking back in time to see how warm periods similar to our modern climate affect how far permafrost extends across Siberia,' said Dr Anton Vaks of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, who led the work. 'As permafrost covers 24% of the land surface of the Northern hemisphere significant thawing could affect vast areas and release giga-tonnes of carbon.

'This has huge implications for ecosystems in the region, and for aspects of the human environment. For instance, natural gas facilities in the region, as well as power lines, roads, railways and buildings are all built on permafrost and are vulnerable to thawing. Such a thaw could damage this infrastructure with obvious economic implications.'

The team used radiometric dating techniques to date the growth of cave formations (stalactites and stalagmites). Data from the Ledyanaya Lenskaya Cave ? near the town of Lensk latitude 60?N ? in the coldest region showed that the only period when stalactite growth took place occurred about 400,000 years ago, during a period with a global temperature 1.5?C higher than today. Periods when the world was 0.5-1?C warmer than today did not see any stalactite growth in this northernmost cave, suggesting that around 1.5?C is the 'tipping point' at which the coldest permafrost regions begin to thaw.

Dr Vaks said: 'Although it wasn't the main focus of our research our work also suggests that in a world 1.5?C warmer than today, warm enough to melt the coldest permafrost, adjoining regions would see significant changes with Mongolia's Gobi Desert becoming much wetter than it is today and, potentially, this extremely arid area coming to resemble the present-day Asian steppes.'

###

University of Oxford: http://www.ox.ac.uk/

Thanks to University of Oxford for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126980/Caves_point_to_thawing_of_Siberia

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Mayo Clinic's debt outlook dropped to negative by S&P

The debt outlook for Rochester's Mayo Clinic has been dropped to "negative" by
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

In a statement, S&P credit analyst Martin Arrick said:

"We revised the outlook to negative to reflect our opinion of Mayo Clinic's weaker operating performance, especially in the second half of 2012, and additional debt with this issue, which we did not expect and did not include in our last rating analysis. In addition, Mayo Clinic had to absorb multiple impacts from a sharply lower pension discount rate for the second straight year that, in turn, drove large pension contributions limiting growth in unrestricted cash and investment and lowering unrestricted net assets while raising pro forma leverage to levels we consider high for the rating."

The Rochester Post-Bulletin says Mayo officials will respond to the S&P announcement next week.

The giant health care concern has asked the state to help with a multi-billion-dollar expansion over the next 20 years. Some legislators haven't embraced the proposal which calls for the state to fund $585 million in parking, transportation, utilities, bridges and other improvements, to be financed with bonds that would be repaid with the new taxes generated by the expansion.

The S&P report wasn't all bad, the paper said:

S&P reaffirmed Mayo's AA long-term rating on Mayo's $300 million series 2013 taxable bonds and reaffirmed ratings on other debt issued for, or guaranteed by, Mayo, according to the statement. The reaffirmed ratings were based on the clinic's "solid revenue growth," debt service coverage and growth in unrestricted reserves.

But the statement says Mayo's "overall leverage and unrestricted net assets were hurt by the very large pension charge for the second year in a row due to a lower discount rate. Nevertheless, net patient service revenues and revenues overall improved significantly, as did unrestricted reserves despite a large cash contribution to the pension plan."

Source: http://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2013/02/mayo-clinics-debt-outlook-dropped-negative-sp

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UK's "Big Four" accountants under fire from watchdog

LONDON (Reuters) - Companies in Britain could be forced to switch accountants to break up the cozy relationships between the "Big Four" and their clients, blamed for masking weaknesses exposed by the financial crisis.

The "Big Four" - KPMG, PwC , Ernst & Young and Deloitte - check the books of nearly all listed companies in Britain and around the world, and have often served the same clients for decades.

The UK's Competition Commission proposed that companies put out their audit work to tender every five to seven years, and change accounting firms every seven to 14 years - roughly in line with changes being discussed at the European Union level.

Investors would also play a role in selecting an auditor, according to plans put forward by the commission, which published preliminary findings from a probe it began in 2011.

The industry was put under scrutiny after auditor "complacency" was blamed by UK lawmakers for deepening the financial crisis.

The Competition Commission found that 31 percent of the top 100 companies in the UK and a fifth of the next 250 firms had had the same auditor for over 20 years.

Competition in the UK is restricted by factors that make it hard for companies to switch accountants, the Competition Commission found, and there is a tendency for auditors to focus on satisfying management rather than shareholder needs, it said.

The findings add weight to a draft European Union law which contains plans for boosting competition in the 27-country bloc's audit market which would override UK changes.

The United States is also mulling auditor rotation as the sector faces questions for giving banks a clean bill of health just before governments had to step in and rescue them in the 2007-09 financial crisis.

Critics have said the Big Four should separate out their audit and advisory units, a step the draft EU law looks at.

"The real issue we have identified is stickiness in the market," Laura Carstensen, who chaired the probe, told Reuters. "The question of break-up was not on our list."

There was "significant dissatisfaction" among big investors, the commission said, but changing the "long standing and entrenched" system would take time.

Its proposals go further than a recent change introduced by Britain's Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which requires companies to consider changing accountants every decade. The FRC said it was pleased the Commission was looking at taking more steps to enhance competitiveness and switching.

PIRC, which represents pension funds and fund managers, said mandatory rotation was the best way to ensure auditor independence and large shareholders increasingly favored this.

The commission also proposes banning "Big Four only" clauses, meaning banks could not insist on a borrower using one of the four top audit firms.

"GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED"

The Big Four insist there is strong competition and point to downward pressure on fees and some recent switchings of auditors among big companies.

PwC said the Competition Commission had "grossly underestimated" the critical role the audit committees at client firms play in protecting shareholder interests.

Ernst & Young said it was pleased the watchdog found no collusion, abuses or excess profits but rejected accusations that the audit market was not serving shareholders, as did Deloitte and KPMG.

"In addition, we believe that competition between audit firms is healthy and robust and that the evidence supports this," E&Y said.

But second tier audit firms, such as Mazars, BDO and Grant Thornton, welcomed the findings after having argued it would not be worthwhile expanding unless there was some intervention to help prise open the market.

"It's clearly going to make a significant contribution in Brussels as the European institutions decide the way forward," said David Herbinet, Mazars' UK head of public interest markets.

The watchdog did not propose curbing the Big Four's advisory services such as tax to clients they audit and also said joint audits, whereby one of the Big Four must share a customer with a smaller accountant, was a non-starter for now.

Joint audits were a top demand from several mid-tier firms and could still be included in the EU law.

The Competition Commission will publish its full report next week and final, binding recommendations by mid-October.

The European Parliament's legal affairs committee is due to vote on the bloc's audit shake-up next month.

(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-watchdog-takes-aim-uk-accounting-deals-101916316--finance.html

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Snowstorm dies down, Midwest travel woes tick up

Amy Wolf and her daughter Audrey Wolf, 6, shovel the sidewalk on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in Minneapolis. A major snowstorm that buried parts of the Midwest grazed southern Minnesota, where two to three inches of snow snarled the morning commute in the Twin Cities area. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

Amy Wolf and her daughter Audrey Wolf, 6, shovel the sidewalk on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in Minneapolis. A major snowstorm that buried parts of the Midwest grazed southern Minnesota, where two to three inches of snow snarled the morning commute in the Twin Cities area. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

Heavy snow, especially toward the south suburbs made for slow traffic along Diffley Road in Eagan, Minn., Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. A major snowstorm that buried parts of the Midwest grazed Minnesota, where two to three inches of snow snarled the morning commute in the Twin Cities area. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES

Tracks tell teh story of a vehicle that had trouble maintaining it's course on a snowy road in Omaha, Neb., Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following a large winter storm that travelled through the heartland. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Jackie Arrandondo, 19, is covered with snow as she waits for the city bus, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in Minneapolis. A major snowstorm that buried parts of the Midwest grazed southern Minnesota, where two to three inches of snow snarled the morning commute in the Twin Cities area. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

Traffic moves slowly during a snowstorm on North on I-275 as seen from the bridge on I-96 in Livonia, Mich. on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. A snowstorm left behind varying amounts of snow and ice across the Midwest, causing difficult travel conditions. Powerful wind gusts created large snow drifts on many roadways, making navigating the slick conditions a challenge. Accidents and slide-offs were reported from Kansas to Michigan as the storm pushed east Friday. (AP Photo/Detroit Free Press, Eric Seals) DETROIT NEWS OUT; NO SALES

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? Gusty winds and iced-over roadways made for treacherous Midwest travel Friday as a major winter storm headed east over the Great Lakes.

Two deaths have been linked to the storm, including one in a fatal traffic accident in Minnesota. Accidents and slide-offs were widespread across the affected states. Commuters faced strong winds of Lake Michigan in eastern Wisconsin. While Chicago's large fleet of snowplows salted and cleared the city's streets of 3 inches of snow, commuters slogged through slush to get to their offices.

About 270 flights in and out of Chicago's two airports were canceled Friday morning. Arrival delays of up to 90 minutes were reported at O'Hare airport. The Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo., airports both reopened Friday morning but had numerous cancellations and delays.

The snow began falling in Detroit just in time for the morning rush, turning streets and freeways into a mess.

Head bowed and arms crossed, 45-year-old Patrice Denham pushed forward into Detroit's swirling snow. She had just walked several blocks to her townhouse complex's leasing office for a new mailbox key and was heading back home.

"You live in the city of Detroit and you do what you have to do," Denham said referring to the rough winter weather that regularly affects the city. "If it's going to be cold, it's going to be cold. But this has been only an average winter."

Where the storm struck hardest Wednesday and Thursday, impressive snow totals rolled in ? 17 inches in Hays, Kan.; 13 inches in northern Oklahoma; 13 ? inches in northeast Missouri and south-central Nebraska; and 12 inches in parts of Kansas City, Mo.

As it moved farther north and east overnight and into Friday, the system lost strength. Illinois' totals ranged from 7.5 inches in the west-central town of Rushville to a mix of sleet and freezing rain in the St. Louis, Mo., suburbs. Dodge County in southeastern Minnesota received 8 inches by Friday morning, and Trempealeau County of western Wisconsin had 7 inches.

Students across a large swath of Kansas spent a second day at home as crews continue to excavate residential neighborhoods. Schools also were closed Friday in parts of Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The Kansas Legislature was back in session Friday after canceling its meetings Thursday, but lawmakers' schedule was light.

Travel continued to be the major issue Friday.

A United plane slid off a slick runway at the Cleveland airport onto a grassy area Friday morning. No injuries were reported.

The Minnesota State Patrol blamed the snow for over 200 accidents during the Friday morning commute. One driver was killed when a vehicle lost control, slid into oncoming traffic and was broadsided on a highway in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan.

A death in western Iowa was also linked to the storm when a woman was run over Thursday by her car, which had gotten stuck on her steep, slippery driveway.

Also in Iowa, a bus carrying members of a college softball team was involved in a multi-vehicle crash Friday morning. It closed part of Interstate 80 east of Des Moines, and no serious injuries were reported.

In some locations, the storm didn't live up to the hype. At the Pilot Flying J station near Interstate 29 in southwest Iowa, shift manager Kelly Malone said Friday his company had taken precautions by reserving seven rooms for employees at the nearby Super 8 Motel.

"We were prepared for the worst, but it didn't happen that bad," he said. Iowa's snow totals topped out at 9.7 inches near Sioux City.

"To me it was just an average storm, but I'm a person who drives through anything," he said.

___

Associated Press reporters Corey Williams in Detroit; Jim Suhr in St. Louis, Mo.; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo.; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; Nelson Lampe in Omaha, Neb.; and Tom Sheeran in Cleveland contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-22-Winter%20Storm/id-f1d1f3a23b6547f68903739ba2f91bcd

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Winter storm rakes Midwest with snow, freezing rain

Record snowfall in Wichita, Kansas, creates havoc at the airport where crews had to dig out a plane stuck on the tarmac. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

A winter storm moved Friday into the Midwest, where it dumped a band of snow over the Great Lakes states and made for an icy morning commute after sweeping through the Great Plains.

The Weather Channel said Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Detroit could all expect up to 6 inches of snow on Friday. Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Charleston, W.Va., were expecting up to a quarter-inch of ice, enough to make roads dangerous.

The storm is expected to move into the Northeast and deliver a third straight weekend of significant snow. Interior sections of New England could get as much as a foot.

Full coverage from weather.com

In Cleveland, a United Airlines 737 jet skidded off the runway into the grass and snow after landing from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., airport officials said. There were no reported injuries, and the passengers were taken by bus to the terminal.

The runway was in good condition at the time of the landing, said Jacqueline Mayo, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland airport. Freezing rain had just moved out of the area.

On Thursday, as the storm hammered the Plains, a United regional jet from Denver got stuck in the snow after landing at the airport in Wichita, Kan. Workers tried to clear a path so that buses could collect the passengers, but the tarmac was too slick, and the plane was stuck for about two hours.

Passengers said that flight attendants passed out cookies and that passengers and crew stayed upbeat.

?By far the most entertaining delay I?ve ever had in my life,? passenger Joshua Locke said. ?This has just been laughable to me.?

Wichita reported 14.2 inches of snow, the second-largest total on record there. More remote parts of Kansas got 18 inches. Omaha, Neb., reported 8 inches and Sioux City, Iowa, 10 inches.

On Friday, O?Hare airport in Chicago reported delays of an hour and a half, and Cincinnati reported more than 45 minutes. The airport in Kansas City, shut down earlier this week in heavy snow, reopened, but most morning flights were delayed.

In Cincinnati, a semi lost control on an icy overpass, leaving one wheel dangling over the edge. No one was hurt, but part of Interstate 71 was closed for a time, and the truck was leaking fuel, NBC affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati reported.

A medical helicopter crashed in Oklahoma City, killing two people and injuring a third, but it was not immediately clear whether the storm played a role, The Associated Press reported.

Earlier this week, the storm forced road closures in California and delays in a pro golf tournament in Arizona, where it dusted cactus-tops with snow.

PhotoBlog: Winter whiteout slams central US

The storm was blamed for two deaths on Wednesday. A 19-year-old Nebraska woman was killed in a two-car collision, and an 18-year-old man in Oklahoma died when his truck slid into a tractor-trailer on a slushy highway.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Much of the Midwest is covered in a blanket of white as a massive winter storm has covered parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas with over a foot of snow. NBC's John Yang reports.

This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:32 AM EST

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17056288-winter-storm-rakes-the-midwest-new-england-headed-for-3rd-straight-weekend-of-snow?lite

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