News on the Go: Nov. 18, 2013

Carrie Blazina

Severe weather hit the Midwest on Sunday, with thunderstorms and tornadoes causing damage in Illinois as they headed west toward Ohio. It was unclear Sunday how much damage Illinois sustained because communications were spotty, but the community of Washington appeared to be hit hard; reports said neighborhoods were wiped out and people might have been trapped in collapsed buildings. Additionally, the Chicago Bears game Sunday afternoon was delayed and the stands were evacuated as the storms arrived, but the game started at about 3:30 p.m.

A passenger plane in Russia crashed Sunday and caught fire while trying to land in the city of Kazan, killing all 50 people on board, officials said. The Tatarstan Airlines plane was attempting a second landing when it hit the surface of the runway near the control tower and caught fire, an agency spokesman said. The Boeing 737 was carrying 44 passengers and six crew members, officials said, and one of the people killed was the son of the republic of Tatarstan’s governor.

In an interview published Sunday, the German collector who hid a priceless trove of art for 50 years said he did so because he loved them and he wants them back. Cornelius Gurlitt told German magazine Der Spiegel he wanted to keep the collection started by his father, an art dealer the Nazis commissioned to sell works they wanted to get rid of. Bavarian officials said the works’ original owners, who officials suspect were Jews, or their heirs might be able to make restitution claims.

United States military are a welcome presence in Philippines-relief efforts, locals say, and Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have sent relief as well in the week since Typhoon Haiyan. U.S. military aircraft have airlifted nearly 2,900 displaced people from the affected areas, and they delivered more than 118 tons of food, water and shelter items to hard-hit cities such as Tacloban, Borongan and Guiuan. The Philippines continues to recover from Nov. 8’s typhoon, which destroyed buildings and killed thousands of people.

Contact Carrie Blazina at [email protected].