The National Weather Service is predicting 4 inches of snow by Saturday evening.

SPRINGFIELD - The National Weather Service is cautioning about a winter storm expected to hit the region sometime early Saturday and bring with it four inches of snow.

Nick Morganelli, meteorologist with CBS 3 Springfield, the media partner for The Republican and MassLive, said he is expecting light accumulation of a few inches or so in Western Massachusetts.

"Most of the storm's moisture field when it makes its closest pass Saturday afternoon will be well east of our area. There will be a short distance between receiving less than an inch of snow and piling up 6 inches. In any case, it will intensify rapidly, but is a quick mover and will depart early Saturday evening," he said.

Morganelli said the eastern portion of Hampden County, including Brimfield, Palmer, Hampden and Wilbraham, have a better chance of seeing 4 to 5 inches of snow than Springfield and other communities to the west. He said areas around Greenfield and Easthampton are likely to see 2 inches or so.

The Tauton office of the weather service on Friday morning issued a winter storm watch for the Springfield area and a winter storm advisory for areas to the north in Hampshire and Franklin counties.

The difference between a watch and an advisory is one of severity. An advisory is issued snow or ice is forecast but accumulations are expected to be light; a warning issued when the forecast calls for the possibility of 6 inches or more of accumulation within a 12-hour period.

The forecast calls for 4 to 8 inches in greater Springfield, and 4 to 6 inches to the north and in the hilltowns.

Both the advisory and the warning are in place from Midnight Friday through 7 p.m. Saturday.

In each forecast, the snow is expected shortly after midnight and is expected to continue through to Saturday evening.

The expected accumulation will likely cover roadways and sidewalks, making travel hazardous for drivers and difficult for pedestrians. Visibility at times will be between a quarter mile and a half mile.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency also issued a statewide notice about the storm, and raised the possibility of power outages in some areas.

In addition to accumulations, coastal regions of Massachusetts are expected to see strong winds of 40 to 50 mph.

The father of the Ramos brothers arrived with a friend and began smoking cigarettes, causing the hotel manager to evict them from the room, the woman said.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — It was 2:30 a.m., and the struggle in Room 70 of the Knights Inn had just ended.

Six former Chicopee Comprehensive High School students had been drinking whiskey and doing cocaine when a fight broke out. A woman was called to drive one of the combatants to the hospital, but the drama was over when she arrived, they said.

"These guys were acting up and showing off," the woman wrote in a police report, quoting one of men. "(He) said they were being bitches and were now fine and didn't need to go anywhere."

Twelve hours later, the woman was at Holyoke Medical Center, claiming she was lured to the motel room, then gang raped by the men who asked for her help.

At least four of the men took turns having sex with her, and one filmed it with his cell phone camera, the 20-year-old Chicopee woman wrote in a police report.

He "was laughing and said 'this is like porn!' " she said.

Five suspects were arrested Wednesday and charged with kidnapping and aggravated rape. A sixth suspect surrendered Thursday. All are Chicopee residents.

Charged were:

• Torre Gamble, 18, of 29 Richelieu St.
• Giovanni Gutierrez, 19, of 70 Broadway St.
• Tyler Gibson, 19, of 95 Ward St.
• Joseph Lopez, 19, of 12 Loretta St.
• Fernando Ramos, 21, of 519 Grattan St
• Raul Ramos 22, also of 519 Grattan St.

After reviewing the woman's five-page police report, Judge Charles Murphy set bail at $25,000 for the Ramos brothers and Gamble, $10,000 for Gutierrez and Lopez, and $5,000 for Gibson.

In her statement, the woman said she began the night of Jan. 15 at the Hampton Inn in Chicopee with another woman, a male friend and the six defendants.

She and the woman rented the room, and then used social media to invite friends.

"Where's the party," one of the defendants messaged her.

She left to pick up one friend in Enfield; when she returned, four of the six defendants had arrived.

"We played music, took pictures and just hung out," she wrote, recalling that she was drinking beer and Fireball whiskey.

"Some of the guys were doing coke (cocaine) in the bathroom. They were also smoking weed (marijuana)," she wrote.

At one point, she joined the six defendants in the bathroom for a group picture in front of the mirror; after discovering the door was locked, her male friend pounded on it, she wrote.

"He told them to unlock the door because it was too sketchy," she wrote.

The father of the Ramos brothers arrived with a friend and they began smoking cigarettes, causing the hotel manager to evict the group from the room, she said.

While she drove her friends home, the six defendants decided to continue the party at the Knights Inn in West Springfield.

Around 2 a.m., Fernando Ramos called the woman with a request: Two of the men had gotten into a fight and one needed a ride to the hospital.

"They have been there for me before so I chose to help him out," she wrote.

Arriving at the motel at 2:30 a.m., the woman saw evidence of a fight, but nobody needing emergency medical care.

She hung out until 4 a.m., drinking one beer, before deciding to leave; too tired to drive, she decided to take a nap, and set her phone alarm for 20 minutes later.

Before dozing off, she asked Torre Gamble to watch her purse. "I didn't know some of these guys well and thought they were a little sketchy," she wrote.

The assault began a few minutes later, and continued well past dawn, according to her account.

"I heard them laughing and saying, 'this is crazy man, this is crazy,' " she wrote, adding that she was saying "no, no, no, really fast."

When someone began filming the assault with his cell phone, another said, 'dude, why are you recoding this. Don't record this,' " she recalled.

"The other guys were laughing about it and enjoying it. They also had regular conversations like they were just watching a movie. I also heard one of them rapping to the song that was currently playing," she said.

Bruised, bleeding and exhausted, she was able to leave around 10:30 a.m., and went to Holyoke Medical Center for treatment, she wrote.

In court Wednesday, defense lawyers challenged the woman's account, noting that she told a friend she was "out of it" during the assault, and later drove two of the defendants home.

None of the suspects have criminal records, and two are not identified as assailants in the woman's report, the lawyers said.

The judge scheduled a pretrial conference for Feb. 19.

One victim's injuries were believed to be life-threatening, according to Boston police, who are asking anyone with information about the shootings to call detectives at 617-343-5628.

Updates story published at 12:33 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24.

Authorities say the gunfire erupted around 11:15 p.m. in the area of 954 Parker St., injuring five males and one female between the ages of 18 and 22. One victim sustained life-threatening injuries, while the others were expected to survive, police said.

The area where the shooting occurred is within the Bromley-Heath housing project, a city-run complex of nearly 1,000 units spread over 23½ acres bordering the Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill and Roxbury neighborhoods. The Boston Housing Authority took over direct management control of the complex in 2012.

"The Boston Police Department is actively investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident," police officials said in a statement, asking anyone with information to call detectives at 617-343-5628.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word "TIP" to CRIME (27463).

Police so far have released few details about the shooting. The Boston Globe, citing police officials, reports that the shooting may have been related to gang violence.

MAP showing approximate location where six people were shot in Boston:

A day before the winter storm forecast to dump up to eight inches of snow on Massachusetts hit, slippery roads caused accidents and road closures across Vermont. The first serious crash reported on Friday took place around 12:45 p.m. in the town of Corinth. According to Vermont State Police a 26-year-old Woodside, New York woman was traveling south on Route...

A day before the winter storm forecast to dump up to eight inches of snow on Massachusetts hit, slippery roads caused accidents and road closures across Vermont.

The first serious crash reported on Friday took place around 12:45 p.m. in the town of Corinth. According to Vermont State Police a 26-year-old Woodside, New York woman was traveling south on Route 25 in a 2008 Toyota Corolla when she lost control of the car on icy pavement. The sedan slid across the pavement and struck a 2000 GMC Sonoma pickup truck driven by a 67-year-old Bradford, Vermont man.

Police say the collision was serious enough that the N.Y. woman and her passenger had to be cut from the wreckage by first responders with both being taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Troopers say both vehicles were totaled and that the driver of the pickup truck and his daughter were also taken to the hospital to be checked out following the crash.

Then around 4:30 p.m., troopers were dispatched to investigate a single-vehcile rollover accident (see photo above) on North Road in Bethel, Vermont. Upon arrival, police found a 2001 Dodge 1500 pickup truck on its roof, down an embankment next to a row of trees.

They say the driver, a 19-year-old Barnard, Vermont man, was taken to the hospital by a friend as he suffered mostly minor injuries in the incident, since he was wearing a seat belt. Troopers say a preliminary investigation revealed defective vehicle equipment and road conditions contributed to the accident, but speed was not thought to be a factor.

Just after 9 p.m., a section of Interstate 91 north was closed due to a car accident. While clearing the scene, troopers shut down the highway from exit 22, St. Johnsbury Center, to exit 23 in Lyndonville. U.S. Route 5 was the detoured path but the highway was reopened a couple hours later.

Parts of southern Vermont have a slight chance of snow on Saturday but the National Weather Service predicts that most of the Green Mountain State will be spared from the round of winter weather forecast to hit southern New England, including the Pioneer Valley, today.

When Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson intercepted Tom Brady in the second quarter, he couldn't sense that the ball had less pressure than it should. He simply gave it to his equipment staff, and intended on saving it as a souvenir. That didn't happen.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, however, was the photo gallery of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra's celebrity bartending event at The Fort, above.

1) DeflateGate: Patriots' footballs may have deflated on own, according to Pathfinder students' experiment (video) [Kevin Dillon]

2) 'I heard them laughing and saying, this is crazy,' victim in alleged West Springfield gang rape recalls [Jack Flynn]

3) Report: Indianapolis LB D'Qwell Jackson says Patriots used Colts' footballs late in first half [Kevin Duffy]

4) Nor'easter to impact much of Massachusetts, including up to 8 inches of snow for eastern Hampden & Hampshire counties [Conor Berry]

5) Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno on beating of U.S. mail carrier: 'Such savage attacks cannot be tolerated' [George Graham]

Despite perceptions of places like Texas and Iran typically being warm places to dwell, they've both had their fair share of snow in the past few days.

As Massachusetts hunkers down for a traditional Nor'easter which is expected to dump several inches of snow on the commonwealth before moving out to sea by evening, the Bay State is not alone in experiencing a significant winter weather event.

But despite perceptions of places like Texas and Iran typically being warm, they've both had their fair share of snow in the past few days.

The photo gallery above, complied of the best shots from Associated Press photographers across the planet, offers a glimpse of how the rest of the country and the world has dealt with snow this week.

So if you don't need to go out, stay in your pajamas and check out the photos above to take a snow-covered trip around the world, courtesy of the AP.

The first significant snowfall means parking bans, Mass Pike restrictions and Route 141 closure.

SPRINGFIELD— A Nor' Easter is passing through the area, dropping the first significant snowfall of the season. With the snowfall, of course, comes parking bans, Mass Pike restrictions and road closures.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning and is forecasting between 4 and 6 inches of snow in Springfield, more as you travel east. Areas north and west of Springfield should see less snow. Areas in Worcester County can expect some freezing rain and snow with accumulations near 10 inches.

In Holyoke, in light of the 5 to 8 inches of snow predicted to fall on Saturday, the Department of Public Works has declared a 32-hour city-wide parking ban.

From midnight on Saturday, Jan. 24 through Sunday, Jan. 25 at 8 a.m., parking is banned on the odd side of the streets.

Sgt. David Usher said earlier this morning that police are already towing cars parked in violation of the ban.

Most cities and towns in the Pioneer Valley have parking bans. Check your city before parking on the streets.

Trooper Gary Herman, attached to the State Police Barracks on the Mass Turnpike at Westfield, said the speed limit on the Pike has been reduced to 40 miles per hour, and tandem trailer rigs and propane tanker trucks have been banned for the duration of the storm. Herman said road conditions are hazardous and, "if you don't need to go, stay home."

The State Police at the Springfield and Northampton barracks report no major accidents thus far, but say I-91 and I-291 are snow covered and slick.

The Easthampton Police Department announced that Route 141, also known as Mountain Road, from the top of the pass on Mount Tom west to Easthampton has been closed to all traffic. Traffic is allowed up the Holyoke side of the mountain to the Log Cabin and Tavern on the Hill. Both businesses remain open.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Prendergast said the victim was sleeping when he was struck. The couple had argued earlier, he said.

SPRINGFIELD - The charge was domestic assault and battery.

The weapon: a frying pan.

In Springfield District Court Friday, Ivey Johnson, 51, of Springfield, pleaded innocent to slamming her husband of 12 years over the head with a frying pan, causing a concussion and other injuries.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Prendergast said the victim was sleeping when he was struck. The couple had argued earlier, he said.

The prosecutor asked Judge William Boyle to impose cash bail, citing Johnson's record for assault and battery and failing to show up for court appearances.

But court-appointed defense lawyer Stephen Newman said the victim was awake and arguing with Johnson when he was struck.

"She was going to call 911 and he was begging her not to call the police," the lawyer said.

As for his client's criminal record, Newman said her last arrest was in 2007 and last conviction was 2003.

He asked Boyle to release Johnson on personal recognizance, if only for her husband's sake.

"They just moved into a new apartment last week," Newman said.

"He doesn't want too see her to spend the weekend in jail," he added.

Boyle released the woman on her promise to appear at the next court session, but warned that she could face jail time if she failed to appear.

Noting that the defendant was a former auto mechanic disabled by a back injury, Newman said imposing $25,000 bail would mean "he will be held for the foreseeable future."

SPRINGFIELD - Doubling the amount requested by a prosecutor, Judge William Boyle imposed $50,000 cash bail on two city men charged with running a high-volume heroin operation in the Mason Square area.

Defense lawyers appealed for $5,000 bail, saying both defendants have chronic medical conditions and rely on monthly disability payments.

Both defendants - Samuel Velez, 46, of 146 Westminster St. and George Delgado, 49, who lists addresses of 127 Gilbert Ave and 106 St. James Ave. - pleaded innocent to heroin trafficking charges during their arraignment in Springfield District Court.

Velez also pleaded innocent to possession of a large capacity firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, possession of a high-capacity feeding device, and improper storage of a firearm.

Both men - arrested within 300 feet of the Rebecca M. Johnson Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School - also pleaded innocent to school zone drug violations.

The arrests were part of a months-long crackdown by Springfield police on drug dealing in high-crime neighborhoods.

Before arresting the suspects, police determined that they were selling several thousand packets of heroin a week to gang members and drug dealers throughout Western Massachusetts, police said. After serving search warrants, detectives seized more than 2,300 packets of heroin, three guns, and $22,500 in cash from the suspects, Springfield police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney said.

In court Friday, a prosecutor said the defendants had lengthy criminal records, and asked for $25,000 cash bail for each.

Court-appointed defense lawyer Stephen Newman said Velez was not a target of the raid, and had no convictions for drug distribution.

Noting that the defendant was a former auto mechanic disabled by a back injury, Newman said imposing $25,000 bail would mean "he will be held for the foreseeable future."

Newman said the case could be particularly vulnerable to challenge because police stopped Delgado at Catherine and McKnight streets for operating with a suspended license, even though he was a passenger in the car.

As police approached the vehicle, they saw Delgado toss a bag into the back seat; after both men were taken into custody, police found 1,000 packets of heroin in the bag, Sgt. Delaney said.

In court, Delgado was described as unemployed and disabled, suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments.

After considering the prosecution's request for $25,000 bail, Boyle set the figure at $50,000, without comment.

He scheduled a pretrial conference for Feb. 23.

The City of Northampton has declared a snow emergency and corresponding parking ban, according to the Department of Public Works. Parking on all city streets and parking lots is prohibited from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., and on Main Street from 2 a.m. until 7 a.m. Those who ignore the ban do so at the risk of being ticketed and...

The City of Northampton has declared a snow emergency and corresponding parking ban, according to the Department of Public Works.

Parking on all city streets and parking lots is prohibited from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., and on Main Street from 2 a.m. until 7 a.m.

Those who ignore the ban do so at the risk of being ticketed and towed, the DPW said.

The ban remains in effect until canceled by the city, and may last more than one night, according to the DPW.

Free overnight parking is available in the city parking lot on Armory Street, except from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to allow for plowing. Overnight parking is available in the John E. Gare parking garage on Hampton Avenue at all hours, although there is a fee.

Makayla Sault, a member of the First Nations tribe, died after suffering a stroke on Sunday.

A coroner in Canada is investigating the case of an 11-year-old girl who died one year after refusing chemotherapy treatments.

Makayla Sault, a member of the First Nations tribe, died after suffering a stroke on Sunday, ABC News reported, citing a statement issued by her parents.

The little girl suffered from a case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which, according to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is a highly treatable form of cancer when it presents itself in children.

This is how the clinic describes the disease on its website:

The word "acute" in acute lymphocytic leukemia comes from the fact that the disease progresses rapidly and creates immature blood cells, rather than mature ones. The "lymphocytic" in acute lymphocytic leukemia refers to the white blood cells called lymphocytes, which ALL affects. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is also known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Back in May, Makayla's family posted a video on YouTube, in which the little girl read a letter stating why she wanted to stop her treatments. She starts the video by introducing herself, and then explains her thinking. Describing the treatments she says,

"It has bought me to the point where I had to get carried everywhere, and I had to get everything done for me because I felt so sick.

"I have asked my mom and dad to take me off this treatment because I don't want to go this way anymore.

"I was sick to my stomach all the time, and I lost about 10 lbs. because I couldn't keep nothing down.

"I know that what I have can kill me, but I don't want to die in a hospital on chemo, weak and sick.

"But when Jesus came into my room, he told me not to be afraid. So if I live or I die, I am not afraid.

"The biggest part is that Jesus told me I am heale, so it doesn't matter what anybody says.

"God, the creator, has the final say over my life."

In issuing its statement, the girl's family blamed her death on the 12 weeks of chemotherapy she went through before treatments were stopped.

"Makayla was on her way to wellness, bravely fighting toward holistic well-being after the harsh side effects that 12 weeks of chemotherapy inflicted on her body," the family said in the statement quoted by ABC. "Chemotherapy did irreversible damage to her heart and major organs. This was the cause of the stroke."

In the video released last May, Makayla said she started feeling much better after she started an alternative form of treatment. She said she had gained some weight, felt more like eating, and was getting her strength back.

"I wish that the doctors would listen to me because I have to live in this body and they don't," she said.

Makayla's parents, Ken and Sonya Sault, who are pastors, told the First Nation newspaper, Two Row Times, that the chemotherapy did "irreversible damage to her heart and major organs. This was the cause of her stroke."

According to a report in the Toronto Star, the results of the coroner's investigation will not be made public, but the investigating coroner will decide whether there should be a public inquest.

"We cannot provide a time frame for completion of investigation as it has only commenced," Cheryl Mahyr, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner wrote in an email to the Star.

The newspaper quoted oncologists who said it is not likely that the chemotherapy treatments caused the stroke.

"I can't think of any of the (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) drugs being associated with that, directly or even as a late complication," Dr. Kirk Schultz, professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia, who isn't directly involved with the case, told the newspaper.

Treatment for the disease usually last more than two years to ensure the disease does not return, doctors told the newspaper.

"Leukemia can also cause a stroke. As well, it's highly unlikely that the brief chemotherapy course that you describe has anything to do (with) a neurological event a year later," Dr. Michael Verneris, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota's department of pediatrics, was quoted by the Star as saying.

In a letter published in the Montreal Gazette, a pediatrician said it is "especially sad" that Canada's legal system allowed Makayla's parents to take the girl off chemotherapy.

"Having practiced pediatric medicine for some 40 years, my colleagues and I have all had our share of parents who place their own misguided needs far ahead of those of their children.

"Some parents have to always prove they are better than others and so when faced with a child's cancer diagnosis, some will leave no rotten stone unturned and find every quack Internet site available to spend the last of their energies in the delusion of "hope," losing special time to comfort, care and often cure in the hands of scientific medicine.

"I ask you, mothers and fathers, protect your children from your own follies."

Murray Katz,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux

According to The Independent newspaper in London, doctors at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, said Makayla Sault would have had a 75 percent chance of survival if she had continued with her chemotherapy treatment.

"Everyone who knew Makayla was touched by this remarkable girl," Peter Fitzgerald, president of the children's hospital said in a statement obtained by ABC News. "Her loss is heart-breaking. Our deepest sympathy is extended to Makayla's family."

Below is the video posted on YouTube by Makayla's family last May 13.

About six inches of snow is in the forecast for most of the Pioneer Valley.

HOLYOKE — About three inches of snow was on the ground downtown by 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and thick flakes were still falling through the late morning hours.

CBS 3 Springfield meteorologist Nick Morganelli's forecast calls for up to six inches in most parts of the Pioneer Valley, with the storm ending by Saturday evening.

So, be ready to get out there and enjoy this winter weather while it lasts -- as Morganelli writes, "This snow will have a very wet and sticky consistency, great for snowman making!"

Above, some scenes from around the area this morning from myself and staff photographer Don Treeger.

Ten months after it dawned on health officials that they were facing an unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa, experts and officials agree the tide is turning, although previous lulls have proved short-lived.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- A top U.N. official in the fight against Ebola greeted just three patients at one treatment center he visited this week in Sierra Leone. Families in Liberia are no longer required to cremate the remains of loved ones to halt the spread of the virulent disease.

And in the streets of Guinea's capital, it is rare to see the formerly ubiquitous plastic buckets of bleach and water for hand washing.

Ten months after it dawned on health officials that they were facing an unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa, experts and officials agree the tide is turning, although previous lulls have proved short-lived.

There is still no vaccine or licensed treatment, nor is it clear whether the international community has actually learned any lessons from an epidemic that killed at least 8,675 people.

"Things have changed drastically for the better -- no one can deny that," said Aitor Sanchez Lacomba, Liberia country director for the International Rescue Committee. "How can we make sure that we don't have these kinds of situations in the future?"

Previous disease outbreaks, including SARS and bird flu, prompted calls to build strong health surveillance systems and to reinforce agencies like the World Health Organization. But little has changed.

After the 2009 swine flu pandemic, WHO commissioned an independent review, which recommended creating a $100 million emergency fund for health crises and beefing up rapid-response health experts. Neither has been done.

The human toll of Ebola can be starkly seen in one plot of land in Liberia's capital where only Ebola victims are buried now. Cards placed on sticks and stuck into the ground carry the names of those who died. One day, families hope they will be replaced with concrete gravestones marking the years of birth and death as sunrise and sunset.

"Recriminations are counterproductive, but it will be necessary to understand whether this outbreak could have been responded to quicker with less cost and less suffering," U.N. Ebola chief, Dr. David Nabarro, told the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week

___

Julius Kamara, a father to two girls who remain home instead of going to school, said sometimes the plastic buckets in Sierra Leone's capital for hand-washing are now empty. There are fewer checkpoints, restrictions on movements are being lifted but gatherings are banned and bars and clubs are closed.

"We are all looking forward to when life can get back to normal," he said. Sierra Leone plans to reopen schools in March, following Guinea which opened them this week. Liberia is set to reopen schools on Feb. 2.

"The epidemic has turned," Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the new head of the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response known as UNMEER, recently declared. The number of cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone is at its lowest since August, and in Liberia it's the lowest since June.

Still, he and other officials caution that they lack critical information about the cases that do remain. Only about half of new cases in Guinea and Liberia are from known contacts, meaning that the remainder is getting infected from unknown sources.

No such statistics even exist for Sierra Leone, where deaths are still being underreported because families want to carry out burials in accordance with tradition, which involves touching bodies -- one of the quickest ways to spread Ebola.

"There are still numbers of new cases that are alarming, and there are hotspots that are emerging in new places that make me believe there is still quite a lot of the disease that we're not seeing," said Nabarro, the U.N. Ebola chief.

The outbreak has not killed as many people as some predictions. At its height, one estimate warned that as many as 1.4 million people could become infected by mid-January if there were no additional interventions. Instead, the probable, suspected and confirmed case toll is 21,797 with 8,675 deaths.

___

Nearly every agency and government stumbled in its response to Ebola, now expected to cost the three most-affected countries at least $1.6 billion in lost economic growth in 2015.

In an internal draft document obtained by The Associated Press last year, WHO acknowledged there was "a failure to see that conditions for explosive spread were present right at the start."

WHO blamed incompetent staff and said it let bureaucratic bungles delay people and money to fight the virus. The document said the agency was hampered by budget cuts and the need to battle other diseases flaring around the world.

"We're always looking to improve and we want to do better next time, so we will listen to what our member states have to say," said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl.

Brice de le Vingne, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, said the Ebola outbreak exposed a vacuum in global health leadership.

"The world today doesn't have a proper organization to respond quickly to this kind of catastrophe," he said.

Officials must also think about changing risky cultural practices in future epidemics, said Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus.

"I think we underestimate how incredibly difficult it is to change behavior," he told AP. "We make guidelines about it, but there is so much more to it than that."

Health officials also agree that time was wasted on nearly every aspect of the Ebola response. It took too long to build treatment centers. The countries that sent soldiers to West Africa -- namely Britain and the U.S. -- did not fully commit to the effort, said De le Vingne. Still, he is optimistic the unprecedented scale of the Ebola outbreak will prompt change, and that future outbreaks will be detected more quickly.

On Sunday, WHO's executive board plans to discuss several proposals that could redefine how the U.N. health agency responds to outbreaks. In a recent report, WHO wondered if the commitment to battling the dreaded disease will remain strong.

"The virus has demonstrated its tenacity time and time again," the report said. "Will national and international control efforts show an equally tenacious staying power?"

The schedule change, announced shortly before Obama left for India, means the president will skip plans to see the Taj Mahal, and instead pay a call on an influential U.S. ally in the volatile Mideast.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will cut short his three-day trip to India and visit Saudi Arabia to pay respects after the death of King Abdullah, U.S. and Indian officials said Saturday.

The schedule change, announced shortly before Obama left for India, means the president will skip plans to see the Taj Mahal, and instead pay a call on an influential U.S. ally in the volatile Mideast.

The king, who died Friday, was aggressive in trying to check the spreading power of Saudi Arabia's chief rival, Iran. Obama visited the ailing monarch in his desert compound last March.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president and first lady Michelle Obama would travel to Riyadh on Tuesday and meet with new Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. Vice President Joe Biden was to lead a U.S. delegation, but Earnest said the White House changed plans after determining that Biden's trip coincided with Obama's departure from India. Biden will remain in Washington.

The more substantive portions of Obama's trip to India appeared unlikely to change.

Obama was due to arrive Sunday for meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then attend Monday's annual Republic Day festivities, which mark the day in 1950 that India's constitution came into force.

Relations between the world's two largest democracies are strengthening after recent tensions. Obama and Modi developed a good rapport during the prime minister's visit in Washington last fall.

Modi's invitation to Obama caught some in the U.S. off guard.

"It took us by some surprise," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. "There's a great affinity between the United States and India and our people, but there's also a history that is complicated and that would have made it seem highly unlikely that a U.S. president would be sitting with India's leaders at their Republic Day ceremony."

While in India, Obama also planned to meet with Modi and attend an economic summit with U.S. and Indian business leaders.

Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit India twice while in office; he also traveled there in 2010 for an economic summit.

His trip was expected to be heavy on symbolism and lighter on substantive advances, though climate change, economics and defense ties are on the agenda. Still, U.S. and Indian officials appear to agree that even a symbolic show of solidarity would mark progress after recent difficulties.

While military cooperation and U.S. defense sales have grown, Washington has been frustrated by India's failure to open up to more foreign investment and to address complaints alleging intellectual property violations. India's liability legislation has also prevented U.S. companies from capitalizing on a landmark civil nuclear agreement between the two countries in 2008.

Relations hit a new low in 2013 when India's deputy consul general was arrested and strip-searched in New York over allegations that she lied on visa forms to bring her maid to the U.S. while paying the woman a pittance. The official's treatment caused outrage in New Delhi, and India retaliated against U.S. diplomats.

Modi's hosting of Obama caps a year of high-profile diplomatic maneuvers by a leader denied a U.S. visa in 2005, three years after religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the Indian state where he was the top elected official.

The visit ties in with Modi's election promise that he would turn around Asia's third-largest economy. It also could send a message to Pakistan and China -- India's closest neighbors and rivals -- that Modi has a powerful ally in the United States.

The White House plans to push India on climate change, particularly after reaching a sweeping agreement with China on limiting carbon emissions. Accompanying Obama are several U.S. business leaders hoping to forge new partnerships with India.

Average accumulations will hover around 6 inches, but towns including Brimfield, Palmer, Hampden and Wilbraham have a better chance of nearing 8 inches of snow.

SPRINGFIELD - The quick and relatively heavy burst of snow that blanketed the region Saturday morning appears to be winding down in Hampden County.

According to to Nick Morganelli, meteorologist with CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican, the region bore the brunt of storm throughout the morning but will hang over the area with flurries until this evening.

Average accumulations will hover around 6 inches, but towns including Brimfield, Palmer, Hampden and Wilbraham have a better chance of nearing 8 inches of snow.

The speed limit remains at 40 mph on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The State Emergency Operations Center is operating at Level 2, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Representatives from that agency, Massachusetts State Police and MassDOT are standing by to monitor the weather and provide updates as needed.

Japanese officials said Saturday they were investigating a new online message purporting to be from the extremist Islamic State group about the two Japanese hostages it holds.

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese officials said Saturday they were investigating a new online message purporting to be from the extremist Islamic State group about the two Japanese hostages it holds.

The purported message claimed one hostage has been killed and demanded a prisoner exchange for the other. But the post was deleted quickly, and militants on a website affiliated with the Islamic State group disagreed about the message's authenticity.

The Associated Press could not verify the contents of the message, which varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group, which now holds a third of both Syria and Iraq.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said government ministers were holding an emergency meeting about the new message.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters as he rushed into his office that the release of the new message was "an outrageous and unforgivable act. We demand their immediate release."

Kyodo News agency reported that the same video has been emailed to the wife of one of the hostages.

The Islamic State group had threatened on Tuesday to behead the men within 72 hours unless it received a $200 million ransom.

Japan has scrambled for a way to secure the release of 47-year-old Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer fascinated by war. Japanese diplomats had left Syria as the civil war there escalated, adding to the difficulty of contacting the militants holding the hostages.

Abe had a telephone call with Jordanian King Abullah II on Saturday, the state-run Petra news agency reported, without elaborating on what they spoke about.

One militant on the Islamic State-affiliated website warned that Saturday's new message was fake, while another said that the message was intended only to go to the Japanese journalist's family.

A third militant on the website noted that the video was not issued by al-Furqan, which is one of the media arms of the Islamic State group and has issued past videos involving hostages and beheadings. Saturday's message did not bear al-Furqan's logo.

The militants on the website post comments using pseudonyms, so their identities could not be independently confirmed by the AP. However, their confusion over the video matched that of Japanese officials and outside observers.

Japanese officials have not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom. Japan has joined other major industrial nations in the Group of Seven in opposing ransom payments. U.S. and British officials said they advised against paying.

Goto's mother made an appeal for the journalist's rescue.

"Time is running out. Please, Japanese government, save my son's life," said Junko Ishido. "My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State."

Ishido said she was astonished and angered to learn from her daughter-in-law that Goto had left for Syria less than two weeks after his child was born in October to try to rescue Yukawa.

After years of campaigning in Iowa for others, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is venturing into new territory as a potential White House candidate appealing to social conservatives who hold sway in the early-voting state.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- After years of campaigning in Iowa for others, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is venturing into new territory as a potential White House candidate appealing to social conservatives who hold sway in the early-voting state.

"He has the opportunity to open some eyes there," says GOP state Rep. Chip Baltimore.

Few would pick him to emerge as the 2016 favorite in the Iowa caucuses among the state's robust Christian right.

To understand why, just look at some of the potential rivals sharing the stage Saturday at the Iowa Freedom Summit: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and others who more naturally resonate with evangelical voters.

 

Yet Christie sees the gathering hosted by U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, as a chance to set him apart from the likely candidates to whom he most is often compared: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

"Do you believe that the next president of the United States is going to be speaking to you today?" King opened the event by asking the crowd, which erupted in applause. "As do I."

Bush and Romney skipped the forum, billed as the first big event of the unfolding 2016 campaign. So, too, did Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida.

"If I do run, I'll be myself and we'll see how Iowans like that," Christie told reporters last week while in Iowa for Gov. Terry Branstad's inauguration.

Christie got a taste of some of the state's more conservative voters at King's annual pheasant hunt luncheon in October.

While Christie has opposed abortion rights for 20 years and is against gay marriage, he said in 2011 that his Roman Catholic faith "does not rule who I am." He has said homosexuality is not a sin and that he believes people who are gay are "born with a predisposition."

Those are statements could haunt him in a state where the past two caucus winners, Santorum and former Gov. Mike Huckabee, closely aligned themselves with Iowa's evangelical pastors and Christian home-school network.

"It's going to be tough for him here," said Justin Arnold, a Republican strategist in Iowa. "There's an image of him as a moderate."

Christie has responded by working over the past five years to build connections with the state's political players, and that includes raising money for King's re-election campaigns.

The two have a relationship that dates to 2009, when King defended Christie before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was called to testify as a U.S. attorney while in the final weeks of his winning campaign for governor.

Christie's big Iowa debut came the next year, when he headlined a fundraiser for Branstad that drew 800 people and netted $400,000 in the closing weeks of Branstad's comeback campaign for governor.

The following spring, some influential Branstad donors went to New Jersey in hopes of persuading Christie to run for president in 2012.

Those efforts have won Christie the loyalty of some influential Branstad staff, including former chief of staff Jeff Boeyink, who set up meetings between Christie and Republican lawmakers and county GOP leaders last week.

"Republicans are not going to win a national election unless voters have an emotional attachment to our candidate," said Boeyink, who would be expected to play a key role in Iowa for Christie. "Chris Christie has that ability."

Gwen Ecklund, the Republican Party chairwoman in a conservative, rural western Iowa county, attended one of those meetings with Christie. Her reaction sums up where Christie stands in Iowa a year before the caucus.

"I was pleasantly impressed with him, more than I thought I would be," Ecklund said. "Is he the best person? I don't know yet."

Caroline Hanna, spokeswoman for Amherst College, said the private college does not discuss the terms of settlements with private citizens.

SPRINGFIELD — A lawsuit filed by an Amherst College student who argued the school unfairly held up his academic career over an old, unproven allegation of an on-campus rape has quietly settled.

According to records in U.S. District Court, the college recently reached a settlement with the "John Doe" but neither his lawyers nor school officials will discuss the terms of the agreement.

Doe filed the lawsuit last year after the college decided to revive a 2009 allegation a week before he was set to earn his diploma in 2014 - and after the college had disciplined him for excessive drinking and acting out sexually. His accuser, identified only as "Student A" in court records, said he complained to school officials at the time of his alleged encounter with Doe but never filed a formal complaint. In the meantime, Doe had taken a school-mandated, yearlong "medical withdrawal" from the college in his native South Africa.

The mandate included that the student seek psychiatric help, according to court records.

Doe returned to the college in 2011, earned good grades, a student ambassadorship and a job with the college after graduation. But, the school held up his diploma and the job when Student A reemerged with the old complaint a week before graduation. During a pretrial hearing last year, Doe's lawyer, David P. Hoose, told a judge that Amherst College was letting negative publicity around its handling of a number of on-campus rape allegations unfairly drive their treatment of Doe.

"Amherst College has taken a beating in the national press for the last two years because of the way they've handled these types of allegations, and now with the benefit of hindsight and the beating that they've taken, they want to expiate all of their sins ... over Mr. Doe's body," Hoose told U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.

Amherst College remains among dozens of colleges under under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for potential mishandling of sexual assault or harassment allegations. A federal statute encourages private colleges to conduct their own, internal investigations and prompted an outcry by critics of the practice.

The college was arguing for a retroactive investigation of the allegations before it would award his diploma. Mastroianni refused to block the stay.

Doe made a $2 million demand when he filed the lawsuit in June, plus his diploma and the job with the college. However, because of the confidentiality clause included in the settlement there is no indication of what the terms of the settlement were.

Caroline Hanna, spokeswoman for Amherst College, said the private college does not discuss the terms of such settlements. She did, however, emphasize that the college has revamped its practices around investigating allegation of sexual harassment and abuse on campus. This included revamping its Sexual Misconduct Board and launching a "Sexual Respect" website.

"Previously, hearing board panels were comprised of Amherst students, faculty and staff. Under the new system, cases are decided by well-trained and experienced professionals from the other four colleges in our community," Hanna said. "We made this change because students requested it. They did not want adjudication of sexual misconduct allegations to include individuals whose classes they might be taking or whom they might see on campus. That change made a lot of sense, and we hope and expect that it will help to establish trust and encourage reporting."

A homeless man wanted in connection with the stabbing death of another this week in New York City was apprehended on Friday at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

MASHANTUCKET, Connecticut — A homeless man wanted in connection with the stabbing death of another this week in New York City was apprehended on Friday at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Arturo Lopez-Valle

Arturo Lopez-Valle, no age given, was arrested by the Mashantucket Pequot Police Department on Friday after NYPD detectives developed information that the suspect in a Tuesday night murder may be at the casino. Detectives reached out to the tribal police with the information and sure enough, Lopez-Valle was found sleeping in the bus lobby of the casino.

According to The Day of New London, Lopez-Valle is thought to have arrived at the casino by bus around 8:30 a.m. Tribal police Chief William Dittman told the news organization that NYPD detectives called the department between 12:30-1 p.m. and that Lopez-Valle was found and taken into custody around 1:30 p.m.

According to tribal police, Lopez-Valle is wanted for allegedly stabbing and killing another homeless man in a deli on Tuesday, just blocks from Times Square in New York City. He is facing extradition to New York to face murder charges, and arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

Lopez-Valle is being held at the tribal police headquarters in Ledyard in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Law enforcement officials found no bombs on two planes at Atlanta's main airport after authorities received what they considered credible threats, FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said.

ATLANTA -- Law enforcement officials found no bombs on two planes at Atlanta's main airport after authorities received what they considered credible threats, FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said.

The threats targeted Southwest Airlines Flight 2492, which arrived at Atlanta from Milwaukee, and Delta Air Lines Flight 1156, which arrived from Portland, Oregon, said Reese McCranie, a spokesman for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Both planes landed safely.

The passengers were taken off the aircraft, and police bomb and K-9 teams examined both planes, authorities said.

The threats were posted on the social media network Twitter, said Preston Schlachter, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. After being alerted, military officials sent two F-16 fighter jets from a base in South Carolina to escort the commercial aircraft to Atlanta.

Upon landing, the Southwest Airlines flight taxied to a remote area where the passengers and the aircraft were rescreened, company officials said in a statement.

"Our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees," Southwest officials said. "We cannot comment on the nature of the security situation."