El Niño will likely shift weather patterns to bring more rain, but much snow still isn’t forecast for the northern states

Winter in the United States looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government’s seasonal outlook and other meteorologists’ forecasts. You can thank or blame El Niño.

El Niño is likely to shift weather patterns to bring more moisture, but with it higher temperatures. That should help erase persistent western drought, but it is unlikely to make northern snow-lovers happy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday.

Authorities say suspect, 19, was allegedly planning a mass shooting and had shared a white supremacist manifesto

A man arrested in a Chicago suburb had shared a ⁠document expressing white supremacist views and outlined an alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting, potentially targeting a Hindu place of worship, police ⁠said on Wednesday.

Alexandros Paporakis, 19, was ​arrested on Sunday after an individual reported receiving concerning electronic communications from him, Palatine police said. It was not immediately clear if he had ⁠legal representation.

Alleged assault follows report of gang-rape at frat house at Cornell, which ignited national uproar and criticism online

A 21-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted last weekend at a fraternity house near the University of Chicago, as Greek life nationwide faces renewed scrutiny for recurrent misconduct.

The incident allegedly took place on Sunday at about 1.50am at the off-campus Alpha Epsilon Pi residence, according to a university daily crime log.

Police used recently discovered DNA to pin murder of eight-year-old girl on Thomas McInerney, who died in 2006

Chicago police on Monday said they recently used newly discovered DNA evidence to tie the 1960 murder of an eight-year-old girl to one of its own former homicide detectives.

Thomas McInerney had been dead for 20 years by the time authorities issued a statement identifying him as the killer of Gloria Kowalewicz – well after retiring from the Chicago police department (CPD) and two federal public defender’s offices in Nevada where he worked as an investigator.

First US memorial for suicide victims dedicated by Chicago archdiocese earlier this year at Queen of Heaven cemetery

The Chicago archdiocese has recognized the Rev Charles Rubey’s work supporting families whose loved ones died by suicide this year by dedicating in his honor a memorial to the lives lost to suicide and the victims’ surviving families.

In 1979 Rubey founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, a counseling and support program run by Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Chicago.

Mike Ditka, the fiery former NFL player and coach who led the Chicago Bears to their lone Super Bowl title and became one of the most recognizable figures in American sports, has died aged 86

• Mike Ditka, legendary Chicago Bears head coach, dies at 86

CBP says in response to lawsuit use-of-force cases are ‘thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented’

A US citizen who was shot one year ago by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent during a sweeping immigration crackdown in Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, alleging the agent lied about the shooting and fired into her vehicle from behind.

Federal prosecutors initially accused Marimar Martinez, then 30, of using her vehicle to strike and box in agent Charles Exum’s sport utility vehicle on Chicago’s south-west side on 4 October 2025 during what the Trump administration named Operation Midway Blitz. Exum then exited his car and opened fire, leaving Martinez with seven gunshot wounds.

Shavdon Gayden killed Eddimar Hernandez-Chacon in broad daylight while walking with her older sister

A woman has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a seven-year-old girl, with police describing it as an unprovoked attack on a sidewalk in Chicago.

Shavon Gayden, 48, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, Chicago police said in a statement on Sunday. The killing happened just before noon on Saturday in the Chatham neighborhood. The victim has been identified by local media and the medical examiner’s office as Eddimar Hernandez-Chacon.