Crosses, each bearing the name of a murder victim, sit on the sidewalk along Michigan Avenue before the start of a Dec. 31 march to call attention to Chicago’s rising murder rate. President Obama will take the stage Tuesday night in his adopted hometown of Chicago, where he will deliver what aides have described as a farewell speech celebrating the achievements of his eight years in office. Last year, according to the Chicago Tribune, 781 people were killed — the highest homicide rate since 1996, when 796 people were murdered.

Die KfW fördert Ihr Vorhaben zu Top-Konditionen ab 2,07 % eff. p. a.
Environmentalists are mobilizing against President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, in the hours leading up to his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. A collection of green and liberal organizations — including Greenpeace USA and Oil Change International — projected “Reject Rex” and similar messages on the side of the Harry S. Truman Building, the headquarters of the State Department, in Washington, D.C., on Monday night. Naomi Ages, the climate liability campaigner for Greenpeace USA, said it’s ridiculous that the chief executive of an oil company would be selected to succeed John Kerry as secretary of state, the chief diplomat representing the interests of the American people around the world.
A 10-year-old girl who lost her favorite stuffed animal in the chaos and evacuation that followed the Fort Lauderdale shooting that claimed five lives Friday has been reunited with her beloved teddy – Rufus. Kim Lariviere, took to Twitter for help finding the beloved bear, who was dressed in a cute red onesie, for her 10-year-old daughter, Courtney, who has had the bear all of her life, according to reports. Crying daughter cannot sleep. #FLLshooting help!' she wrote on Twitter.
Muslim parents in Switzerland cannot refuse to send their daughters to school-run swimming lessons with boys, Europe's top rights court said Tuesday, dismissing a challenge by a Turkish-Swiss couple claiming the rule violated their beliefs. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted that the refusal by Swiss authorities to exempt the couple's two daughters from the compulsory lessons interfered with their freedom of religion. School has become the focal point in several high-profile battles between Swiss authorities and Muslim families who say their religion prevents their children from participating in some mixed activities.

Soldiers: Das grandiose Strategiespiel 2016
As German tanks encircled the Polish town of Katowice, rookie British newspaper reporter Clare Hollingworth picked up the phone and dialed the British Embassy. Hollingworth was 27, and just a week into her job with the Daily Telegraph of London. As the Nazis moved in, Hollingworth scrambled to get out of Poland, sometimes sleeping in cars, and eventually made her way to Romania.
AT&T will raise the prices of its grandfathered unlimited data plans, according to DSLReports. "Our Mobile Share Advantage plans and our AT&T Unlimited Plan provide several benefits that our legacy unlimited plan doesn’t," AT&T said in a statement to DSLReports.com confirming the move. AT&T has revealed that starting in March 2017, it will begin charging $5 more per month for its grandfathered unlimited data plans.
Yesterday's big news out of the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit was all about Ford trucks. Namely, the automaker officially announced the return of the Ford Ranger pickup in 2019, followed by the Bronco in 2020.

Du wirst Deinen Computer nicht mehr ausschalten. 16 Millionen Spieler können sich nicht irren!
Flash floods in southern Thailand washed out a bridge on the country's main north-south highway on Tuesday, backing up traffic for 200 km (125 miles) as the death toll from days of unseasonable rain rose to 25, media reported. More than 360,000 households, or about a million people, have been affected by the floods that have damaged homes and schools and affected rubber and palm oil production, the Department of Disaster Prevention and industry officials said. Television pictures showed abandoned cars submerged in murky waters in Prachuap Khiri Khan province where a torrent washed out a bride on the main road linking Bangkok to the south, causing the 200 km tailback, media reported.
A seat pulled out of Lake Erie from a plane carrying six people when it vanished more than a week ago near Cleveland contained the remains of a male, officials said Tuesday. The plane piloted by a Columbus businessman traveling with his family and two neighbors disappeared shortly after taking off from Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland on Dec. 29. Crews searching for the wreckage are concentrating on an area about the size of a football field, said Khalid Bahhur, commissioner of Burke Lakefront Airport.