NATIONAL BRIEFS

ILLINOIS: 6th state OKs civil unions

For the first time in state history, gay and lesbian couples will be afforded many of the same rights as their married counterparts under landmark legislation signed into law Monday. Illinois is now the sixth state to recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. Another five states and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. Gov. Pat Quinn signed the sweeping new legal protections before a jubilant standing-room crowd at the Chicago Cultural Center. The law, to take effect June 1, allows gays and lesbians to use civil unions as a way to get many of the same rights given to heterosexual couples when they marry. It also applies to opposite-sex couples to signify a commitment short of marriage.

NATIONWIDE: Winter storm widespread

A monster winter storm took aim at a third of the nation Monday, threatening to lay a potentially deadly path of heavy snow and ice from the Rockies to New England, followed by a wave of bitter cold that could affect tens of millions of people. Cities including St. Louis, Kansas City and Milwaukee could be hardest hit, with expected midweek snowfalls of up to 2 feet. Even hardy Chicago could be in for its third-worst blizzard since record-keeping began. Warmer areas were not safe, either. The system could spawn tornadoes in parts of the South.

Foreign adoptions down

The number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell by 13 percent last year, reaching the lowest level since 1995, caused in large part by a virtual halt to adoptions from Guatemala because of corruption problems. China remained America's No. 1 source of adopted children, accounting for 3,401, according to figures released by the State Department on Monday for the 2010 fiscal year. Ethiopia was second, at 2,513, followed by Russia at 1,082 and South Korea at 863. Guatemala was the No. 1 source country in 2008, with 4,123 adoptions by Americans. The latest figures did not include the more than 1,100 children airlifted from Haiti to the United States after the earthquake in January 2010. Most of those children were in the adoption pipeline, but the adoptions had not been finalized by the fiscal year's end.