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Spring snow had some areas digging out

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — Spring came falling down Monday on winter-weary residents in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa with more than a foot of new snow in some areas.

Schools in southwestern Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota canceled classes as snowplows hit the highways and streets and the locals fired up their snow blowers or brought out their shovels for another round.

The National Weather Service measured 15 inches of snow in the Grant County, Wisconsin, community of Fennimore and 13 inches in neighboring Crawford County. Decorah, Iowa was dealing with 11½ inches of snow, while 10 inches fell in Rochester, Minnesota. A sprinkling of snow disrupted rush hour traffic in Chicago.

The accumulating snow stands in contrast to a week ago, when temperatures hit the 70s in some spots.

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SPRING FLOWERS, FOOT OF SNOW:

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A city plow truck rumbles down a Mankato, Minn. street Monday, March 23, 2015, clearing away more th …

Flowers on Main in Zumbrota, Minnesota, where 12.3 inches of new snow was on the ground, received a shipment of spring flowers Monday.

"We just got in all of our Easter lilies and hydrangeas. It just doesn't feel right," employee Jan Ryan said with a chuckle.

"We kind of feel like we're in a ghost town today. It halts people walking around town. It just halts operations," she said of the snowfall.

She said last week was "gorgeous" in the upper 40s.

"That's just the nature of March," Ryan said. "In like a lamb, out like a lion."

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A biker makes his way along Minnehaha Parkway where the overnight snowfall blankets the trees, Monda …

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BELIEVE THE FORECAST:

Customer traffic was minimal at the Hungry House restaurant in Prairie du Chien, where 13 inches of snow fell since Sunday.

Manager Sam Etemi said he didn't take much stock in the forecast, which predicted a mountain of new snow, until he woke up Monday morning.

"I certainly wasn't a believer until I stepped outside. I was just amazed and shocked."

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Daniel Garcia Sr. and his two sons Daniel and Giovannie shovel the snow in front of a residence Mond …

Etemi said it was quite a contrast to the upper 40s and 50s of last week.

"Mother Nature has its ways," he lamented. Many roads are still closed, Etemi added.

Schools in the Prairie du Chien School District were among those closed Monday.

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ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S MOTORCADE IN CRASH:

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Commuters remove an overnight snowfall that coveres streets, cars, and trees, early Monday, March 23 …

The Illinois governor's motorcade was among the vehicles involved in scores of accidents Monday as the early spring storm caused near white-out conditions and slippery roads in northern Illinois.

Reports of crashes and spinouts started coming in after 5:30 a.m., a State Police spokesman said. Some caused minor injuries, including to a state trooper traveling in Rauner's motorcade.

Police said one of the vehicles driven by a member of the State Police unit that protects the governor lost control on Interstate 55 near the Chicago suburb of Countryside around 8:15 a.m. and struck the rear tandem axle of a truck trailer. The driver was treated and released from a hospital.

More than 250 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport and more than 20 were canceled at Midway International Airport. Flights that were getting out were experiencing significant delays.

The mess should be short-lived.

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Snowfall Monday, March 23, 2015 adds a seasonal dressing to a statue outside the Paul Bunyan Logging …

Meteorologists said Tuesday's high temperatures were expected to be in the mid-40s, and that the Wednesday high could hit 63 degrees.

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SPRING CLEANING DAMPENED:

The snowstorm in northern Iowa has dampened Mason City's efforts to get a jump-start on spring cleaning.

City officials had rescheduled the town's first yard waste collection day of the year for Monday because of a recent bout of pleasant weather. But the storm that dumped about 2 inches of heavy snow in Mason City by early Monday left officials questioning their decision to switch their original April 6 start date.

Despite the weather, City Administrator Brent Trout told the Mason City Globe Gazette (http://bit.ly/1CRFVSR ) that the city did expect some yard waste to be picked up.

Wochit
Netanyahu Tells Israel's Arabs He 'regrets' Election-day Rallying Call

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Israel's Arab citizens on Monday for remarks he made during last week's parliament election that offended members of the community.

The move appeared to be an attempt to heal rifts and mute criticism at home and in the United States. Netanyahu drew accusations of racism in Israel, especially from its Arab minority, and a White House rebuke when, just a few hours before polling stations were to close across the country, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves."

But President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, rejected Netanyahu's attempt to distance himself from his comments, telling an Israel advocacy group Monday that the U.S. can't just overlook what Netanyahu said on the eve of his re-election.

Netanyahu, whose Likud Party won re-election in the vote, met with members of the Arab community at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on Monday and apologized.

He said he knows his "comments last week offended some Israeli citizens and offended members of the Israeli-Arab community."

"This was never my intent. I apologize for this," Netanyahu said. "I view myself as the prime minister of each and every citizen of Israel, without any prejudice based on religion, ethnicity or gender."

"I view all Israeli citizens as partners in the building of a prosperous and safe state of Israel, for all Israelis," he also said.

A recently established alliance of four small, mostly Arab parties called the Joint List made unprecedented gains in the March 17 election, earning enough votes to make it the third-largest party in Israel's parliament. Arab citizens make up 20 percent of Israel's population. Equality is guaranteed in Israel's laws but many Arabs have long complained of discrimination, mainly in the job and housing market.

Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List, told channel 2 TV that Netanyahu's apology was not accepted.

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Israel's mostly ceremonial president says it must begin a "healing process" after a stormy election …

"This is not a real apology," Odeh said. "He incited against citizens who were exercising their basic right to vote for Knesset."

Odeh also accused Netanyahu of "zigzagging" by saying one thing one day and a different another.

In the final days of the campaign, Netanyahu angered the U.S. by taking a tough stance toward the Palestinians and by saying a Palestinian state will not be established on his watch in the current climate of regional chaos and violence. Resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in a two state solution is a key U.S. foreign policy priority.

In his speech to J Street, an Israel advocacy group that is sharply critical of Netanyahu, McDonough warned Israel against annexing the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to establish their future state. He said Netanyahu's prediction that a Palestinian state wouldn't come about on his watch was "very troubling" and questioned Netanyahu's broader commitment to the two-state solution the U.S. and Israel have officially supported for years.

"We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made," McDonough said.

Obama's decision to dispatch his chief of staff to speak to J Street was seen as another sign that Obama intends to take a tougher tack toward Netanyahu.

Israelis and Palestinians are closely watching to see how U.S. policy will change in practical terms after Netanyahu's success in the elections. Obama has said the U.S. must reevaluate its approach to pursuing Mideast peace because of Netanyahu's comments, and has entertained speculation the U.S. will be less willing to come to Israel's defense in the United Nations. The U.S. has voted against U.N. resolutions supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state, insisting the matter should be negotiated directly with Israel.

Netanyahu's tough talk was part of a last-ditch attempt to spur his more hard-line supporters to the polls after it appeared he was losing voters to a more hawkish party.

Netanyahu defended his election-day remarks in the days after the vote. He told NBC last Thursday that he remains committed to Palestinian statehood — if conditions in the region improve — and to the two-state vision first spelled out in a landmark 2009 speech at Israel's Bar Ilan University. "I haven't changed my policy," he said. "I never retracted my speech."

He told NBC that his government has spent billions in Arab towns to upgrade infrastructure, schools and narrow gaps.

Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu secured a majority of backers in the new parliament and will later be tasked with forming the next government.

Israel's ceremonial president, Reuven Rivlin, has been meeting with the parties in parliament to hear their recommendations before appointing who will form the next coalition government. Kulanu, a new centrist party gave its nod to Netanyahu on Monday, giving him 61 backers out of the 120 in parliament.

Netanyahu appears poised to set up a coalition with hawkish, centrist and religious parties.

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Associated Press writers Matt Lee and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

Washington (AFP) - The White House on Monday bluntly warned Israel that its occupation of Palestinian land must end, dismissing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to take back controversial campaign pledges.

In unusually tough language that underscores the fracture in relations between Washington and Israel, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said "an occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end."

McDonough criticized Netanyahu's pre-election pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state -- the supposed end goal of decades of fruitless peace talks -- and he questioned Netanyahu's efforts to undo the damage.

"We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don't raise questions about the Prime Minister's commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations," he said.

"The Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state," he added.

McDonough is one of President Barack Obama's closest advisors, and his speech to the liberal pro-Israel lobby group J Street was followed closely in Washington.

Netanyahu's pledge deepened a long-running disagreement with Obama but his top aide said, the row was not based on "personal pique."

"America's commitment to a two-state solution is fundamental to US foreign policy," McDonough said. "It's been the goal of both Republican and Democratic presidents, and it remains our goal today."

On Monday, Netanyahu apologized for election day comments claiming Arabs were voting in "droves," comments which also brought US criticism.

He has also tried to downplay his pledge to oppose a two-state solution, insisting Israel's policy has not changed.

London (AFP) - Britain must urgently rebuild defence capabilities abandoned after the Cold War to face growing global threats, including from Russia, a committee of lawmakers warned on Tuesday.

The Commons Defence Committee, which examines the spending and policy of the defence ministry, said nuclear capacity, tanks, warships and aircraft were needed to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The world is more dangerous and unstable than at any time since the end of the Cold War," the report said, referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea and seizure of territory by Islamic State and Boko Haram militants.

"But the UK's current defence assumptions are not sufficient for this changed environment... The UK must rebuild its conventional capacities eroded since the Cold War."

The report comes as a truce between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces was tested in east Ukraine, in a conflict that has damaged relations between Russia and the West and has claimed 6,000 lives since April.

The committee said it would be necessary for Britain to stick to its NATO commitment to spend two percent of GDP on defence, but that this would "not be sufficient".

"It is vital to rethink the fundamental assumptions of our defence planning, if we are to help arrest the descent into chaos, which threatens to spread from the Western Mediterranean to the Black Sea," the report said.

It pointed out weaknesses in NATO's defence, saying that Russia could deploy 150,000 troops in 72 hours, while it would take NATO six months to do so.

NATO's newly announced "very high readiness joint taskforce" could deploy 5,000 troops in 48 hours, but would not be ready until 2016, the report said.

The report said it was difficult to mobilise "critical mass" in the air as Britain's Royal Air Force had been cut to seven squadrons from 33, while the Royal Navy's frigates and destroyers fleet had more than halved since 1990.

However, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon dismissed the report, saying the Conservative-led government of David Cameron had plugged a "black hole" in the defence budget.

"The UK has the second largest defence budget in NATO and the largest in the EU," Fallon said.

"We are the US's largest partner in the coalition air effort against Isil (Islamic State) - bearing more of the load in terms of strikes in Iraq than we played in either of the Gulf wars."

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands marched through the Afghan capital Tuesday, demanding justice for a woman who was beaten to death by a mob after being falsely accused of burning a Quran.

Men and women of all ages carried banners bearing the bloodied face of Farkhunda, a 27-year-old religious scholar killed last week by the mob. Farkhunda, who went by one name like many Afghans, was beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body was thrown into the Kabul River.

Organizers of Tuesday's march estimated 3,000 people took part, calling it one of the biggest demonstrations in Kabul's history. Marchers chanted "Justice for Farkhunda!" and "Death to the killers!"

Police say 18 people have been arrested and 13 police officers have been suspended, though many suspect that figure will rise as the investigation continues.

The demonstrators also called for action against officials and religious leaders who had initially supported the attack on Farkhunda by saying her killing was justifiable if she had burned pages of a Quran.

The country's Interior Ministry said the spokesman for the Kabul police, Hashmat Stanikzai, had been fired over comments he made on social media supporting Farkhunda's killers. Stanikzai could not be immediately reached for comment.

Among the crowd were prominent rights activists, including Fatana Gailani, the head of the Afghanistan Women's Council, who said she hoped the incident would be a catalyst for change in a society traumatized by war, corruption and lack of leadership.

"We are getting fed up," Gailani said. "The new generation has known nothing but war, they are not educated, and now they have no jobs."