NEW YORK: A brutal winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and misery to millions of Americans Sunday as intense snow and frigid cold gripped parts of the eastern United States, with weather-related deaths rising to at least 31.

A crisis situation was unfolding in Buffalo, in western New York, where a blizzard has left the city marooned, with emergency services unable to reach high-impact areas.

“It is (like) going to a warzone, and the vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, where eight-foot (2.4-meter) snow drifts and power outages have made for life-threatening conditions.

Hochul told reporters Sunday evening that residents were still in the throes of a “very dangerous life-threatening situation” and warned anyone in the area to remain indoors.

More than 200,000 people across several eastern states woke up without power on Christmas morning and many more had their holiday travel plans upended, although the five-day-long storm featuring blizzard conditions and ferocious winds showed signs of easing.

The extreme weather sent wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states below freezing over the weekend, stranded holiday travellers with thousands of flights cancelled and trapped residents in ice- and snow-encrusted homes.

Thirty-one weather-related deaths have been confirmed across nine states, including four in Colorado who likely died of exposure and at least 12 in New York state, where officials warned the number would likely rise.

Officials described historically dangerous conditions in the snow-prone Buffalo region, with hours-long whiteouts and bodies discovered in vehicles and under snow banks as emergency workers struggled to search for those in need of rescue.

The city’s international airport remains closed until Tuesday and a driving ban remained in effect for all of Erie County, where the lake-side metropolis is located.

“We now have what’ll be talked about not just today but for generations (as) the blizzard of ’22,” Hochul said, adding that the brutality had surpassed the region’s prior landmark snowstorm of 1977 in “intensity, the longevity, the ferocity of the winds.”

Due to frozen electric substations, some residents were not expected to regain power until Tuesday, with one frozen substation reportedly buried under 18 feet of snow, a senior county official said.

The National Weather Service warned that blizzard conditions in western New York’s Great Lakes region caused by lake-effect snow was continuing Sunday, with “additional snow accumulations of 2 to 3 feet through tonight.”

One couple in Buffalo, across the border from Canada, told AFP Saturday that with the roads completely impassible, they would not be making a 10-minute drive to see their family for Christmas.

“It’s tough because the conditions are just so bad… a lot of fire departments aren’t even sending out trucks for calls,” said 40-year-old Rebecca Bortolin.

A broader travel nightmare was in full effect for millions.

The storm, one of the fiercest in decades, forced the cancellation of more than 2,400 US flights on Sunday, in addition to some 3,500 scrapped Saturday and nearly 6,000 Friday, according to tracking website Flightaware.com.

Travellers remained stranded or delayed at airports throughout Christmas Day including in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York.

Road ice and white-out conditions also led to the temporary closure of some of the nation’s busiest transport routes, including the cross-country Interstate 70.

Drivers were being warned not to take to the roads — even as the nation reached what is usually its busiest time of year for travel.

The extreme weather has severely taxed electricity grids, with multiple power providers urging millions of people to reduce usage to minimize rolling blackouts in places like North Carolina and Tennessee.

At one point on Saturday, nearly 1.7 million customers were without electricity in the biting cold, according to tracker poweroutage.us.

The figure dropped substantially by Sunday evening, although more than 70,000 customers in eastern states still lacked power.

In British Columbia, Canada, a Saturday bus rollover believed to be caused by icy roads left four people dead and sent 53 to the hospital, including two still in critical condition early Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands were meanwhile left without power in Ontario and Quebec, many flights were cancelled in major cities and train passenger service between Toronto and Ottawa was suspended.

MELBOURNE: Two dairy stores owned by Indian-origin businesspersons were targeted by armed robbers this week in New Zealand, according to media reports, nearly a month after a businessman of Indian descent was killed in a similar attack.

Ajit Patel, who owns a dairy on Melrose Road, said that five masked men with baseball bats came into his store for about 10 to 15 seconds early on Monday, a report by 1News said.

Patel said the men tried to take the till but did not succeed.

In another attack, a group of people ram-raided Sandra Dairy on Marua Road in Ellerslie and stole several items before fleeing in a second vehicle, said a police spokesperson.

The two shops were among six stores across Auckland and Waikato areas that were targeted by robbers earlier this week.

The country has seen increasing cases of violence and crime against small business owners among which Indian-origin businesses have been the target of many of them.

Last Saturday, four men entered Indian-origin Puneet Singh’s dairy store in Hamilton and cut off two of his fingers with a machete.

Last month, a 34-year-old Indian-origin dairy shop worker, Janak Patel was murdered in Sandringham following which the country erupted in protests.

Following the murder, the New Zealand government announced new measures to combat retail crime – including a fog cannon subsidy scheme open to all small shops and dairies.

WASHINGTON: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US leader Joe Biden and address Congress in Washington on Wednesday, a visit the White House said will send Russia a strong message of Western unit

The secretly arranged trip comes on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet his top military officials to assess the conflict in Ukraine and set goals for next year in what the Kremlin described as an “important, voluminous speech”.

The visit will “underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

It will be Zelensky’s first trip outside Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February, when they planned for a rapid takeover of Kyiv and much of the country.

Instead, the visit to Washington comes on the 300th day of a war that has seen Russian forces halted by a stubborn Ukrainian army backed by Western arms, forced to retreat from captured territory and struggling to avoid further setbacks.

“On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of (Ukraine),” Zelensky tweeted, also confirming that he will make a speech to Congress.

Zelensky will visit the White House where Biden is to announce a new arms package worth almost $2 billion that a senior administration official said includes Patriot air defense missiles.

Patriot missiles are seen as crucial to help Kyiv fend off Russia’s punishing missile and drone attacks on its infrastructure.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that new weapons deliveries would lead to an “aggravation of the conflict” and do not “bode well for Ukraine”.

He added that Moscow does not expect Ukraine to change its stance on peace talks — including refusing to negotiate while Putin is in power — during the visit.

Zelensky is also expected to address a joint session of Congress, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said would be “a very special focus on democracy.”

The visit was quietly planned, beginning with a phone call between Biden and Zelensky on December 11, followed by a formal invitation one week ago and confirmation of the visit on Sunday.

Details of the visit leaked on Tuesday afternoon, with officials stressing to US media that there were still security concerns over Zelensky’s travel.

In White House talks, Biden and Zelensky will discuss the arms and training provided by the United States and allies, sanctions and other pressure on Russia, and economic and humanitarian aid that Ukraine needs, the senior White House official said.

“They will discuss every element of this conflict, including the situation on the battlefield and including the question of where the war goes from here,” the official said.

The visit will send Putin “a strong message of unity and resolve from the White House, from Washington, from the free world, on behalf of all the nations supporting Ukraine,” the official added.

But that does not include pressuring Zelensky into talks with Putin, the official stressed.

Zelensky flies to the United States after a risky visit to the frontlines in Bakhmut, where both sides have endured heavy tolls in constant shooting and shelling over the past two months.

Brutal trench warfare and artillery battles around Bakhmut — once known for its vineyards and salt mines — have flattened large portions of the city and its surroundings.

“Here in Donbas, you’re protecting all of Ukraine,” Zelensky told Ukrainian fighters.

“This is not just Bakhmut, this is fortress Bakhmut,” he said, handing out honors to Ukraine servicemen.

Soldiers gave Zelensky a Ukrainian flag with their names signed on it and asked him to present it to Biden and the US Congress.

Zelensky said they told him: “We have a difficult situation, the enemy is increasing their numbers. Our guys are braver but we need more weapons.”

Dueba-led Nepali Congress coalition has 132 seats and he needs around 10 more to form the government.

Quite a few parties are ready to support them including, CK Raut-led Janamat party which has seven seats, NagarikUnmukti Party which has four and Independent party which has 20 seats,’’ say former Nepalese bureaucrat, V K Karna. The parties that are going to be a part of the coalition may do so on their own demands, however, as of now, getting the requisite number of seats would not be a problem for Deuba.

“As the process of counting votes has neared completion, a report would be submitted by Nepal’s Election Commission to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at 5 pm on December 12. After going through the party lists and numbers, the President will invite them to the Parliament (on December 13) to share their result and those with maximum numbers will form the government. The formation can take a week or less as decided by the President,’’ Karna added.

The Deuba-led government is likely to enable smooth ties with India. When he succeeded Oli in 2021, he made his first visit as PM to India where he also visited Varanasi. Deuba had also invited India to invest in the 750 MW West Seti Hydropower Project. India wanted to buy power from Nepal, however, it was hesitant to do so from companies that had Chinese investments. New projects like Seti and Pancheswar are being developed by India at present.

India’s main concerns have been growing influence of China in their infrastructure development and also Pakistan’s ISI activities. In the last border talks too India had raised concerns of Chinese and Pakistani inflitrators from the Nepal border. Over coming week, Nepal will form a new government and after Deuba is sworn in as the Prime Minister, diplomatic and bilateral ties will be on the ascendant with India.

BEIJING: Residents of China’s capital were emptying supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps Friday as the city government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centres and field hospitals.

Uncertainty and scattered, unconfirmed reports of a lockdown in at least some Beijing districts have fuelled the demand for food and other supplies, something not seen in the city for months.

Daily cases of COVID-19 across the country are hitting records, with 32,695 reported Friday. Of those, 1,860 were in Beijing, the majority of them asymptomatic.

Improvised quarantine centres and field hospitals hastily thrown up in gymnasiums, exhibition centres and other large, open indoor spaces have become notorious for overcrowding, poor sanitation, scarce food supplies and lights that stay on 24 hours.

Most residents of the city have already been advised not to leave their compounds, some of which are being fenced in.

At entrances, workers clad head to toe in white hazmat suits stop unauthorised people and make sure residents scan their cellphone health apps to gain entry.

Some of Beijing’s grocery delivery services have reached capacity.

An increase in demand combined with a worker shortage left some customers unable to book same-day slots on Friday for food and supplies from popular online grocery services such as Alibaba’s Freshippo and Meituan Maicai.

Online, some Chinese users said there were delivery workers whose compounds were locked down, contributing to the worker shortage.

The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm those reports. Alibaba did not immediately comment.

At a Friday afternoon news conference, city government spokesperson Xu Hejian said it was necessary “to strengthen the management and service guarantee” of quarantine centres and field hospitals where those who test positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with an infected person are transported to by police.

Authorities must “further accelerate” their construction and “coordinate the allocation of space, facilities, materials, personnel and other resources,” Xu said.

Officials have in recent days repeatedly insisted that China must stick with its hard-line ‘zero-COVID’ policy that mandates lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines for anyone suspected of having come into contact with the virus.

The policy is seen as taking a harsh toll on the economy and upending lives in many Chinese cities, leading the World Health Organisation and others to call for a change in tack — calls the ruling Communist Party has angrily rejected.

WASHINGTON: Religious freedom and related human rights in India are under ongoing threat, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom alleged on Tuesday in an unusual year-end update of the status of its assessment of religious freedom in the country

India has previously rejected the USCIRF’s observations, terming them as “biased and inaccurate”.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a Congressional-appointed body. Its recommendations are, however, not mandatory to be implemented by the US State Department.

In its 2022 Annual Report early this year USCIRF recommended that the US Department of State-designate India as a ‘country of particular concern’ for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as set forth by the International Religious Freedom Act.

The US State Department has refused to incorporate the commission’s recommendations so far.

Reiterating its recommendations of early this year, USCIRF argued that such a designation would reinforce the United States’ concern regarding the conditions discussed in this country update and would encourage the Indian government to diverge from policies that violate religious freedom and promote communal divides.

In its six-page country update report on India, USCIRF has published its map three times.

Two of the maps are distorted and do not reflect a true geographical map of India.

The report said in 2022, religious freedom conditions in India remained poor.

During the year, the Indian government at the national, state, and local levels continued to promote and enforce policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, and cow slaughter, that negatively affect Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Adivasis.

The national government also continued to suppress critical voices, particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf, including through surveillance, harassment, demolition of property, arbitrary travel bans, and detention under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and by targeting nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) under the Financial Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), the report said.

The pilot implementation of the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state of Assam continued to exacerbate fears of losing citizenship among Muslims, who lack protection under the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), it said.

In July this year, the Ministry of External Affairs, responding to the USCIRF’s report said, “We have seen the biased and inaccurate comments on India by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).”

“These comments reflect a severe lack of understanding of India and its constitutional framework, its plurality and its democratic ethos. Regrettably, USCIRF continues to misrepresent facts time and again in its statements and reports in pursuance of its motivated agenda. Such actions only serve to strengthen concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the organisation,” the spokesperson of MEA said in New Delhi.

Islamabad: The man who attacked Imran Khan on Thursday during a political march in Punjab province said he tried to assassinate the former Pakistan prime minister because “he was misleading the public” and could not tolerate it.

Khan, 70, was injured when the unidentified gunman opened fire on the container-mounted-truck carrying him during his protest march, but he was out of danger in what his party claimed was an “assassination attempt.”

The incident occurred near Allahwala Chowk of Wazirabad town in Punjab when Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, was leading the long march to Islamabad demanding early elections.

The gunman was immediately nabbed by security officers and workers of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The clip of his confessional statement, which is now being circulated on local media, shows a man in his late twenties, sporting a dishevelled look.

“He (Imran) was misleading the people and I could not bear watching it. So I killed him attempted to kill him,” the suspect said in a video statement.

“I tried my best to kill him. I wanted to kill him (Khan) only and no one else,” he confessed.

The gunman admitted that he has was not affiliated to any political, religious or terror outfits.

He asserted that the idea to assassinate the PTI chief germinated after he announced the mega rally on October 28.

“I decided to kill him today. This idea came to me when Khan started his long march. I am alone and nobody is with me. I came on my motorbike and I parked the bike in the shop of my uncle,” he explained.

“I decided to kill him because when a call for prayer was given, songs were being played (from the container),” he added.

According to eyewitnesses, the gunman fired on the container-mounted truck carrying Khan from a close range.

They said one person has been arrested from the spot and police took him to an unknown location.

Video footage showed a PTI worker tackling the attacker from behind and trying to grab the gun of the attacker.

Ehtisam, who tackled the attacker, told the media that he forced the gun of the attacker downward and stopped further mayhem.

“If something tragic had happened to Khan in our area, then we all would have been ashamed,” he said, adding that he was sorry that he could not stop the gunman from firing the first shot.

ARY News, which is considered as a mouthpiece of Khan’s party, reported that he was out of danger.

Khan, who was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, has talked about a ‘threat letter’ from the US and claimed that it was part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy.

The US has bluntly rejected the allegations.

He has been demanding early elections and he is leading the long march towards Islamabad to force his demands.

The term of the National Assembly will end in August 2023 and fresh elections should be held within 60 days.

Injured people are helped at the street near the stampede scene in Seoul

Seoul: At least 120 people were killed and 100 more were injured as they were crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical conditions.

He said 74 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 who had been kept on the streets were being transported to a nearby gym so that workers could identify them.

Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

At least 59 people were killed and 150 more were injured after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise as emergency workers were continuing to transport the injured to hospitals across Seoul following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon on Saturday night. He said 13 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 were still on the streets.

Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

More than 400 emergency workers and 140 vehicles from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.

The National Fire Agency separately said in a statement that officials were still trying to determine the exact number of emergency patients.

TV footage and photos from the scene showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency workers moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency workers and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets.

In one section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more people who lied motionless under blue blankets.

Police, which were restricting traffic in nearby areas to speed up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the city, also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the area to swiftly return home.

A local police officer said he was also informed that a stampede occurred on Itaewon’s streets where a crowd of people gathered for Halloween festivities. The officer requested anonymity, saying the details of the incident was still under investigation.

Some local media reports earlier said the crush happened after a large number of people rushed to an Itaewon bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity visited there.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement calling for officials to ensure swift treatment for those injured and review the safety of the festivity sites. He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in nearby hospital to treat the injured.

Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the biggest since the start of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.

Manila: A strong earthquake rocked the northern Philppines late on Tuesday, but officials said no serious damage was expected and no tsunami warning was issued.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.4 quake was centered 16.2 kilometers (10 miles) below the surface about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from Dolores on Luzon island.

The US Tsunami Warning System said no warning or advisory was issued.

The quake was felt across a wide area of northern Luzon, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it did not expect any major damage.

The Philippine archipelago lies on the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In July, a magnitude 7 earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines, killing at least five people and injuring dozens.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

New Delhi,: In a fresh advisory, the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday asked all Indians there to leave the country immediately in view of increasing hostilities.

The new advisory came less than a week after a similar advisory was issued following the deteriorating security situation in Ukraine.

“In continuation of the advisory issued by the embassy on October 19, all Indian citizens in Ukraine are advised to immediately leave Ukraine by available means,” the embassy said.

It said some Indian nationals have already left Ukraine pursuant to the earlier advisory.

The embassy has asked the Indian nationals to contact it for any guidance or assistance to travel to the Ukrainian border for exiting the country.

There has been an intensification of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine with Moscow carrying out retaliatory missile strikes targeting various Ukrainian cities in response to a huge blast in Crimea around three weeks back.

Moscow blamed Kyiv for the blast.

India has been pressing for a resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue.