Usually, late February is a time when outbreaks of frigid air still regularly plunge into the Lower 48 out of Canada’s tundra. This year, waves of unusually mild weather will occupy this territory instead. Theprevailing warmth is the story of winter in the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast. Nearly the entire contiguous United States is running warmer than average, boosted by warm oceans, the El Niño climate pattern and human-caused climate change.

Ever since video of Oliver Anthony belting out his latest song went viral, Republican politicians have hailed it as a cry of protest from the raw heart of blue-collar, right-wing America. In their telling, the song captures the sufferings and indignities inflicted on the working class by the elites described in its title, “Rich Men North of Richmond.” Anthony’s lyrics surely speak to millions of struggling Americans: “I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day / overtime hours for bulls--- pay,” he sings.

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have evolved into flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sealife caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their lives on land and half in the oceans. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2Bsu6bAjqeYra2imnyovs6up2iamaextHvPnqWgrZmjwHA%3D

WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for significant gun control legislation. The 97-year-old Stevens says in an essay on The New York Times website that repeal would weaken the National Rifle Association’s ability to “block constructive gun control legislation.” Stevens was on the losing end of a 2008 ruling in which the high court held that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own a gun for self-defense.

By Mark SavageBBC Music Correspondent Getty ImagesSean Combs' Bad Boy Records was at one time valued at $100mIn a rare move, Sean "Diddy" Combs has returned some music rights to artists and songwriters who were signed to his label, instead of cashing in on them. Bad Boy Records was one of the biggest rap labels of the 1990s, home to artists like Ma$e, Faith Evans, 112, The Lox and Notorious B.