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"Black Lives Matter" is written across Samaria Muhammad's cheek at a demonstration in Atlanta on Dec. 4 against the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.(Photo: David Goldman, AP)
Ferguson juror sues for right to talk
Grand Juror Doe doesn't want to be silenced. The anonymous juror sat on the panel that reviewed evidence in the August shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown and ultimately decided not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson. Now the juror is suing to lift a lifetime gag order that prevents members of the grand jury from speaking publicly about the case. The federal suit filed today names St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch as the defendant, because he would be the person to bring charges against a grand jury member who violated the gag order. The member is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, which says the juror wants to weigh in on the national conversation on race.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch announces in November the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9, 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown.(Photo: Cristina Fletes-Boutte, AFP/Getty Images)
'That's who they were. They were risk takers'
Two U.S. ski team developmental athletes were killed in an avalanche today. Ronnie Berlack, 20, of New Hampshire, and Bryce Astle, 19, of Utah, were skiing off trail with four others in an area of Soelden, Austria, where the U.S. team's European training base is located. Berlack and Astle were buried by the avalanche; the other four were able to ski out. "It's our worst nightmare come true," head coach Sasha Rearick told USA TODAY Sports. Berlack's father, Steve Berlack, said he is "still sort of numb" over the news of his son's death, but he's "not bitter." His son died doing what he loved, he said. "That's who they were. They were risk takers."
This undated handout provided by the U.S. ski team shows Bryce Astle.(Photo: Sarah Brunson, AP)
Get ready to love your weatherman even more
Your weather forecast is getting an upgrade. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today that the forecasting power of top U.S. weather supercomputers will leap tenfold this year thanks to a $45 million upgrade that should put it near the head of the class alongside the rival European system (yes, a supercomputer arms race is happening). If you want to know the difference between our current top computer model and Europe's, all you need to do is look at Hurricane Sandy. In 2012, our model forecast showed the powerful storm spinning harmlessly out to sea, while the European model — correctly, as it turned out — showed it making a direct hit on the East Coast.
Homes and vehicles in Sandy Point, in Queens, New York, were destroyed by high winds and a fire triggered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.(Photo: Ramin Talaie, EPA)
This is why the Dow had such a bad day
Investors have high expectations for the stock market in 2015, but stocks haven't gotten off to the best start this year. The Dow closed Monday's session with a loss of more than 330 points. What's going on? Many analysts are blaming falling oil prices. But there are more factors at play: 1) Today the euro fell to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in nearly a decade. 2) Net negative credit balances that investors have in their brokerage accounts have reached record levels and are now starting to raise concerns about overuse of margin debt among ordinary account holders. 3) With potential short-term interest-rate hikes coming as soon as later this year, paying interest on margin debt could become a much bigger burden.
Floor official Rudy Maas, center, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)
Key update in hunt for AirAsia Flight 8501's black box
It looks like a search vessel located the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501, which is where the crucial black box voice and data recorders are located. Indonesian authorities haven't confirmed the discovery yet. Bad weather has hampered search efforts for the plane, which plunged into the water on Dec. 28 with 162 people aboard. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered. Also today, Indonesia announced sanctions against airport officials who allowed the flight to take off without proper permits from Surabaya, Indonesia, bound for Singapore.
Search teams hunting for AirAsia Flight 8501, which had been carrying 162 people, find four large plane parts on the seabed but haven't been able to take images of the suspected wreck yet. Mana Rabiee reports.
Extra Bites
Day in Pictures: Our favorite photo from today's gallery.
A Sumatran tiger eyes visiting children at the London Zoo in England.(Photo: Dan Kitwood, Getty Images)
It's Monday. You need a feel-good. Watch a paraplegic bride walk on her wedding day.
After breaking her back in a car accident, Tami Martin was told she'd never walk again -- but she refuses to accept "no." VPC
There aren't enough facepalms in the world to adequately relay this tragedy that happened on Twitter over the weekend.
This is how cold it was today.
Real Housewife Teresa Giudice started serving her 15-month sentence for tax fraud today. People reports that she could be assigned to a job scrubbing toilets or washing dishes.
There's etiquette for everything. Here's some on reclining your seat in-flight.
Stop getting trigger happy with the copy/paste. This 'copyright' Facebook message is a hoax.
ICYMI: Jury selection began today in the Boston Marathon bombing trial.
If you want to keep up with all the buzz from CES this year, we've got you covered.
Short on time? Listen to today's top stories:
Stories you're clicking on today:
NFL referees aren't corrupt, they're just incompetent
Passengers describe nightmare flight from Abu Dhabi
Baby found dead in dumpster after parents shot
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This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY
Contributing: John Bacon, David Leon Moore, Doyle Rice, Aamer Madhani, John Waggoner, Arienne Thompson, USA TODAY; Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool
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