Frigid temperatures are nothing new in Minnesota, but the forecast here goes far beyond the average winter cold snap. By Sunday night temperatures in the twin cities metro could fall to minus 27, the coldest here in 17 years. Governor Mark Devin has ordered all public schools closed Monday. The last time a Minnesota governor ordered schools closed because of cold weather was in 1997. The pakers fourty-niners gain in Green Bay, Wisconsin Sunday could be the NFL’s chilliest ever with a high of minus one and a nighttime woe of minus twenty-two with gusty winds. The cold snap is expected to end Wednesday and temperature could climb above freezing by next weekend. For NPR News, I’m Mets Sepic, in Sinpaul.

 

One of Mexico’s top drug traffickers is under arrest in the Netherlands. Terry Schults reports the US is seeking his extradition to face charges in California. 

 

Dutch prosecutors say they are holding Herzira Rigo Aliachigal Gambour, a 33-year-old Mexican suspected being a leader in the powerful Sinalower cartel. Aliachigal was nabbed in Amsterdam’s Tripal Airport as he disembarked a keierlin flight from Mexico City. Dutch police say US authorities tipped them off that Aliachigal would be flying there under a false and asked them to arrest him. The US Attorney’s Office in San de Egle is seeking to extradite Aliachigal on charges of trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. He is also suspected of being a top assassin in a group of hitmen who called themselves the Anthrax. For NPR News, I’m Terry Schults.

 

In Iraq’s Ambar province, the head of police says al-Qaeda-linked fighters have seized control of the center of Falluja, the same strategic city US forces secured 10 years ago and lost more than 140 troops in the battle. The State Department says the US is working with Iraq’s Shiite-led government and tribal leaders fighting to push the extremists out.

 

After several delays, South Sudanese rebels and government negotiators are due to meet tomorrow in Ethiopia to try a negotiated peace deal. More than 1,000 people have been killed and 200,000 driven from their homes in several weeks of ethnic violence. EU representative Elic Zuangdou says at talks, demanding an immediate ceasefire.

 

"That must happen now. People are suffering and dying. We cannot afford to tolerate people suffering in that way while politicians haggle in a nice hotel.”

 

Participants are gathered in Addis Ababa to find consensus on how to proceed with a ceasefire that both sides have agreed to in principle.

 

This is NPR.

 

President Obama is calling on Congress to restore the government’s long-term unemployment benefits program as soon as he gets back to business. Some 1.3 million out-of-work Americans lost the federal supplement because the program expired last week. In his weekly address, Mr. Obama said he would sign a legislation that renews the benefits for three months.

 

France is moving to make it easier to get a divorce. The French government says it’ll amend the Civil Law Code to allow couples to divorce without appearing before a judge. NPR’s Eliner Bierdsley reports critics accuse the government of simplifying a process they say is already too easy.

 

The majority socialist party says it will present a proposal to speed up divorces of consenting couples next week. French Justice Minister Christian Tovira will be in charge of the proposal. She is a minister who pushed through France’s new law authorizing same-sex marriage and adoption last year. The divorce measure isn’t likely to endear her any further to conservatives. Under the proposal a court clerk could approve divorces if both spouses agree on the separation. A spokesman for France’s socialist government says simplifying the process will let highly-trained court clerks to handle easy divorces while freeing up judges for difficult breakups. Opponents say the plan will further weaken the institution of marriage. Eliner Bierdsley, NPR News.

 

A small plane made an emergency landing this afternoon on a busy New York City expressway. The single-engineered craft had three people on board when it landed on the Major Digen expressway in the Bronx. There are no reports of serious injuries and remarkably there are also no reports of car accidents resulting from the surprising landing.