Syria: A new report says Syria has systematically tortured and executed 11,000 prisoners since the start of its civil war. The report from three former war crimes prosecutors is based upon 55,000 digital pictures of victims brought to them by a military police photographer who defected. The investigators say Syria has killed political prisoners “on an industrial scale.” Peace talks are scheduled to begin in Switzerland today. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “The situation on the ground is so horrific that we need to get a political transition in place, and we need to get the Assad regime out of power.” An estimated 100,000 people have died in the conflict.

Frozen: Bitter cold is settling into the East as a winter storm makes its exit. Philadelphia got a foot and parts of Massachusetts up to 18 inches. Schools are closed in much of the Northeast. It’s 8 degrees in Philadelphia, 9 in New York and Boston. Nearly 1,600 air flights have been cancelled today, an improvement over yesterday.

Nation: Thousands of documents related to sexual abuse by 30 priests were released online yesterday by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Many of the accused priests are dead and the accusers have received settlements, but the victims insisted on the archdiocese making public how it often covered up sex abuse years ago. The documents list priests by name and detail how four were prosecuted and 14 were returned to duty, despite being found a danger to minors.

>Virginia’s former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges. They are accused of improperly accepting $135,000 in gifts and loans from a political donor. The charges say the couple accepted golf outings and financial help for their daughters’ weddings. The feds are looking to seize Louis Vuitton shoes, a silver Rolex watch engraved with “71st Governor of Virginia,” golf clubs and iPhones. While in office, McDonnell blocked raises for state workers.

World: Thailand’s prime minister declared emergency rule yesterday in the face of massive protests demanding her ouster. The decree allows the government to use military force to “restore order”.

The Games: Hundreds of thousands of tickets to events at the Sochi Olympics remain unsold, raising the specter of empty seats filling the television background. With this development, the Sochi games have hit the Olympic cliché trifecta: high security alert, unfinished facilities, and unsold seats.

>US track stars Lolo Jones and Lauryn Williams made the Olympic team again … as pushers for the bobsled. They give the sled a quick start then jump in as ballast for the ride down. Jones is a pusher, but not a pushover. She knocked out an annoying drunken woman in a Lake Placid bar fight last summer.

Slam Dunk: In a backhanded admission that he has too much money, billionaire Warren Buffet promised $1 billion to anyone who can guess the results of all 67 NCAA basketball playoff games. “This will be the most fun. Just imagine if there’s one person left at the last game,” Buffett said Tuesday. “I will go to that final game with him or her and I’ll have a check in my pocket…. I think we’ll be rooting for different teams.”

 Alternatively, Buffett could just lower the price of everything his companies sell to a crippled middle class America.

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