An intense winter storm has battered large sections of the US killing at least 28 people, knocking out power to almost one million people, and closing roads and airports.
The “bomb cyclone” storm, one of the fiercest in decades, forced the cancellation of 2,300 US flights on Saturday and delayed 5,300 more, adding to the Friday’s misery which saw almost 6,000 flights grounded.
At least 28 weather-related deaths have been confirmed across eight states as heavy snow, howling winds and dangerously frigid temperatures kept much of the nation in a frozen grip for a third straight day.
Across the six New England states, more than 273,000 customers remained with no power on Saturday, and in North Carolina there were another 169,000 customers without power. At its peak there had been about 1.6 million homes and businesses without power from Texas to New England.
Road ice and whiteout conditions forced the closure of some of the nation's busiest transport routes, including the cross-country Interstate 70, parts of which were temporarily shut down in Colorado and Kansas.
The National Weather Service warned about lethal conditions and urged residents in affected areas to remain indoors.
Temperatures are forecast to top out on Saturday at just -13ºC (7ºF) in Pittsburgh, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The storm unleashed its full fury on Buffalo, with hurricane-force winds and snow causing whiteout conditions, paralysing emergency response efforts and shutting down the airport until Monday, according to officials.
200 million threatened
Christmas holiday plans were thrown into disarray for millions on Friday as a historic deadly winter storm wrapped most of the country in bone-chilling temperatures and unleashed heavy blizzards that grounded flights and sparked widespread power cuts.
More than 200 million people — about 60 per cent of the US population — were under some form of winter weather advisory or warning, the National Weather Service said. The cold came just as people were readying for the holiday weekend and preparing to visit loved ones across the country. At Denver airport, temperatures fell to -31°C.
The weather service’s map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” forecasters said in a statement on Friday.
Passenger rail service was also affected, Amtrak reported.
More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power as of Friday evening, according to the PowerOutage.us tracker.
The huge storm stretched from border to border. In Canada, WestJet cancelled all flights Friday at Toronto Pearson International Airport, beginning at 9am.
In Mexico, migrants waited near the US border in unusually cold temperatures as they awaited a US Supreme Court decision on whether and when to lift pandemic-era restrictions that prevent many from seeking asylum.
“This is not like a snow day when you were a kid,” President Joe Biden warned on Thursday in the Oval Office after a briefing from federal officials. “This is serious stuff.”
In the Midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio temperatures plunged to below -17°C and the city got more than 13 centimetres of snow overnight.
Treacherous road conditions caused multiple crashes overnight, including a lorry fire near the major Brent Spence Bridge.
TJ Mobilio, a Cincinnati-area cab driver said prices had gone up for those brave enough to work in the snowy conditions.
“In my little ride-share world, prices are going to be extremely expensive and this is an opportunity to make some really good money,” he told The National.
“The flip side is running your car in this weather may damage it and not be able to work the rest of the year … so few drivers want to drive in such dangerous conditions to themselves and their cars. This means we’re actually taking a hit financially at a crucial time when we’re used to making good Christmas holiday money.”
Forecasters expected the bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — to develop near the Great Lakes. That stirred up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.
Among those with cancelled flights was Ashley Sherrod, who planned to fly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Flint, Michigan, on Thursday afternoon. Ms Sherrod told the Associated Press she was debating whether to drive or risk booking a Saturday flight that she worries will be cancelled.
“My family is calling, they want me home for Christmas, but they want me to be safe, too,” said Ms Sherrod, whose bag — including the Grinch pyjamas she was planning to wear to a family party — was packed and ready by the door.
“Christmas is starting to, for lack of a better word, suck.”
— With additional reporting by AP
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Scoreline
Liverpool 4
Oxlade-Chamberlain 9', Firmino 59', Mane 61', Salah 68'
Manchester City 3
Sane 40', Bernardo Silva 84', Gundogan 90' 1
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
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Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
GAC GS8 Specs
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Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
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The five pillars of Islam
Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
