Spread out in a sea of red MAGA hats and T-shirts emblazoned with “Trump won,” the former president’s fans roared in support as he aired complaints about the election and made swipes at the Biden administration. To an almost entirely maskless crowd, Trump taunted infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and criticized vaccine mandates. And he raised popular conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 riots, trying to recast that day one year ago as a peaceful protest and the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol as “political prisoners.”
“These people are living in hell, they’re being hounded like you hound the worst animals,” Trump said. “The real insurrection took place on Election Day, Nov. 3,” Trump said.
The crowd gave a standing ovation.
Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/16/trump-first-rally-2022-maga-527206
A four-foot spike in water levels was observed in Port San Luis, Calif., and Arena Cove, Calif., reported a 3.5-foot jump. Crescent City, Calif., got a 2.7-foot spike, and a tsunami of 2.8 feet was seen in King Cove, Alaska.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/01/16/hunga-tonga-volcano-tsunami-eruption/
- Hundreds of thousands of homes were without power in the Southeast.
- Almost 5,000 flights into, out of and within the U.S. had been canceled or delayed.
- Shoccoe, Mississippi, woke up to inches of snow.
The entire eastern United States was under a weather siege Sunday as a furious winter storm packing heavy snow, ice, gale-force winds and tornadoes rolled out of the Midwest and continued its unforgiving march across the nation.
Almost 250,000 homes and businesses were dark in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Almost 5,000 flights into, out of and within the U.S. had been canceled or delayed as of 3 p.m., according to the tracking website flightaware.com.
The impact of the storm was varying greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood. Jackson, Mississippi, saw trace amounts of snow early Sunday while just 25 miles to the northeast the hamlet of Goshen Springs was blasted by more than 8 inches.
Southern cities were on alert. Nashville could get 3 inches of snow, parts of the state a foot. A tractor-trailer crash near the Tennessee River closed I-40 eastbound in Humphreys County. The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported a the backup stretching for several miles.
The streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, were covered early Sunday, and the National Weather Service called for snow accumulations of 2 to 7 inches in some parts of the state.
“Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice,” the weather service warned. “Travel could be nearly impossible.”
Thundersnow was reported near Waynesville, North Carolina. Accuweather said a strike of lightning was detected during heavy snowfall. Thundersnow is unusual but typically happens in strong snowstorms, Accuweather said. Some of the state was blanketed in a foot of snow. Col. Freddy Johnson Jr., commander of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, said that by late morning, the agency had responded to 200 car crashes and 460 calls for service.
60M+ AMERICANS IN STORM’S PATH: Snow and ice to cause major travel disruptions
Elsewhere, 1 to 4 inches of sleet, snow and ice was forecast for the Atlanta area as well as other parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
“Hopefully, the storm will underdeliver, but it could overdeliver. We just don’t know,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who declared a state of emergency.
In southwestern Florida, rolling tornado warnings were being issued. A truck driver suffered minor injuries when a tornado crossed Interstate 75 near Naples and toppled his truck, the Florida Highway Patrol said on Twitter.
“Please seek shelter and stay safe!!” the tweet urged.
SHOULD I START MY CAR AND LET IT WARM UP? Experts explain the best way to tackle cold weather.
The storm, dubbed a “Saskatchewan screamer” because it originated in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, left over a foot of snow in Des Moines, Iowa, over the weekend. The Ozarks town of Canaan in Arkansas also saw a foot of snow.
WHAT IS THUNDERSNOW?:How this weather phenomenon happens
The storm was expected to head into the Northeast while dropping snow, sleet and rain around the densely populated Eastern Seaboard. Washington, D.C., was forecast to see up to 3 inches of snow followed by a round of ice. Parts of the metro area already saw more snow in one week this month than in the last two years.
Parts of Western Pennsylvania could get a foot of snow, forecasters said. And officials across New England warned residents to stay indoors on Saturday as a blast of Arctic air drives wind chill temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees
Contributing: The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/01/16/power-outages-flight-cancellations-winter-storm/6548045001/
A hostage-taker who detained four people at a synagogue in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, was a British citizen, reports say.
Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60014006
COLLEYVILLE, Texas, Jan 15 (Reuters) – An FBI Hostage Rescue Team stormed a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on Saturday night to free three remaining hostages of a gunman who had disrupted a religious service and began a standoff with police more than 10 hours earlier.
All the hostages were safely released on Saturday night and the gunman was dead, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller told a news conference.
The gunman had initially taken four people hostage, including the rabbi, at the Congregation Beth Israel, officials said. One hostage was released unharmed six hours later.
Reporters said they heard the sound of explosions, possibly flashbangs, and the sound of gunfire shortly before Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the crisis was over.
“Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” Abbott said on Twitter. The FBI said they have confirmed the identity of the gunman but said they would not yet disclose it. The FBI declined to confirm the cause of his death, saying it was still under investigation.
The Colleyville Police Department said it first responded to the synagogue with SWAT teams in response to emergency calls beginning at about 10:41 a.m. during the Shabbat service, which was being broadcast online. FBI negotiators soon opened contact with the man, who said he wanted to speak to a woman held in a federal prison.
No injuries were reported among the hostages.
In the first few hours, the man could be heard having a one-sided conversation in what appeared to be a phone call during a Facebook livestream of the service of the Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, which is about 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Fort Worth. The livestream cut off around 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).
Before the livestream was ended, the man could be heard ranting and talking about religion and his sister, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The man could be heard repeatedly saying he did not want to see anyone hurt and that he believed he was going to die, the newspaper said.
President Joe Biden, who was briefed on the crisis as it unfolded, praised the “courageous work” of state, local and federal law enforcement in freeing the hostages.
Emergency responders are seen near a synagogue where a man has reportedly taken people hostage at a synagogue during services that were being streamed live, in Colleyville, Texas, U.S. January 15, 2022. REUTERS/Shelby Tauber
“There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker. But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate — we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country,” he said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he was praying for the safety of the hostages.
Barry Klompus, a member of the congregation since it opened in 1999, said he tuned into the livestream.
“It was horrible listening and watching,” Klompus said in a telephone interview.
A U.S. official briefed on the matter told ABC News the hostage-taker had claimed to be the brother of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year U.S. prison sentence for her 2010 conviction for shooting at soldiers and FBI agents, and that he is demanding she be freed.
Siddiqui is being held at a federal prison in the Fort Worth area. A lawyer representing Siddiqui, Marwa Elbially, told CNN in a statement the man was not Siddiqui’s brother. He implored the man to release the hostages, saying Siddiqui’s family condemned his “heinous” actions.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim advocacy group, condemned the man’s actions.
“This latest antisemitic attack on Jewish Americans worshipping at a synagogue is an act of pure evil,” CAIR said in a statement.
Klompus said he did not know of any significant previous threats to the congregation.
“We don’t have a security officer on staff but we have what I would say is a very good relationship with the local police,” he said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/police-colleyville-texas-involved-standoff-synagogue-media-2022-01-15/
Tonga’s main island has sustained significant damage from a volcanic eruption and tsunami, New Zealand’s leader said, promising rapid aid for a Pacific archipelago that remains largely cut off from the world a day after the powerful waves crashed onto its shores.
An undersea volcano erupted on Saturday, generating a gigantic ash cloud and triggering a tsunami that was centered on Tonga, and prompted advisories to stay away from beaches in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and parts of the U.S.’s West Coast.
Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/tonga-cut-off-after-volcanic-eruption-tsunami-11642296898
“Russia’s response will be asymmetrical, fast and tough,” Mr. Putin said last April, referring to the kinds of unconventional military action that Russia could take if adversaries threatened “our fundamental security interests.”
The current crisis was touched off by the Kremlin’s release of a series of demands that, if the U.S. and its allies agreed, would effectively restore Russia’s sphere of influence close to Soviet-era lines, before NATO expanded into Eastern Europe. It has also demanded that all U.S. nuclear weapons be withdrawn from Europe, saying it felt threatened by their presence — though the types and locations of those weapons haven’t changed in years. And it wants a stop to all Western troop rotations through former Warsaw Pact states that have since joined NATO.
It has reinforced those demands, which the U.S. calls “non-starters,” with a troop buildup near Ukraine and repeated warnings it was prepared to use unspecified “military-technical means” to defend what it considers its legitimate security interests.
In response, the Biden administration has issued warnings of financial and technological sanctions if the Kremlin should follow through with its threats, particularly in regard to Ukraine. American officials say that for all the talk about moving nuclear weapons or using asymmetrical attacks, so far the U.S. has seen little evidence.
At a White House briefing on Thursday, Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, declined to be drawn into the question of what kind of Russian action would trigger a U.S. response — whether, for example, the U.S. would respond to a cyberattack the way it would an incursion into Ukrainian territory.
“The United States and our allies are prepared for any contingency, any eventuality,’’ he said. “We’re prepared to keep moving forward down the diplomatic path in good faith, and we’re prepared to respond to fresh acts. And beyond that, all we can do is get ready. And we are ready.”
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/16/world/europe/russia-ukraine-invasion.html
For President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Ukraine has often been a testing range for cyberweapons.
An attack on Ukraine’s Central Election Commission during a presidential election in 2014, in which Russia sought unsuccessfully to change the result, proved to be a model for the Russian intelligence agencies; the United States later found that they had infiltrated the servers of the Democratic National Committee in the United States. In 2015, the first of two major attacks on Ukraine’s electric grid shut off the lights for hours in different parts of the country, including in Kyiv, the capital.
And in 2017, businesses and government agencies in Ukraine were hit with destructive software called NotPetya, which exploited holes in a type of tax preparation software that was widely used in the country. The attack shut down swaths of the economy and hit FedEx and the shipping company Maersk as well; American intelligence officials later traced it to Russian actors. That software, at least in its overall design, bears some resemblance to what Microsoft warned of on Saturday.
The new attack would wipe hard drives clean and destroy files. Some defense experts have said such an attack could be a prelude to a ground invasion by Russia. Others think it could substitute for an invasion, if the attackers believed a cyberstrike would not prompt the kind of major sanctions that President Biden has vowed to impose in response.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/16/us/politics/microsoft-ukraine-cyberattack.html
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/weather/winter-storm-ice-snow-sunday/index.html
Thanks to the courageous work of state, local and federal law enforcement, four Americans who were held hostage at a Texas synagogue will soon be home with their families. I am grateful to the tireless work of law enforcement at all levels who acted cooperatively and fearlessly to rescue the hostages. We are sending love and strength to the members of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, and the Jewish community.
There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker. But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate—we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country. That is who we are, and tonight, the men and women of law enforcement made us all proud.
###
Source Article from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/15/statement-by-president-biden-on-the-hostage-situation-at-congregation-beth-israel-in-colleyville-texas/
In the United States, officials urged residents of coastal areas in much of the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii to stay away from the coastline and move to higher ground. The National Weather Service in Portland, Ore., reported possible one- to three-foot waves in some areas of Oregon and Washington. “First wave may not be the highest,” and later waves may “be larger,” the agency said on Twitter.
In California, water surged into Santa Cruz Harbor on Saturday morning, damaging boats, submerging the parking lot and causing people to evacuate the docks, sidewalks and nearby stores. At Port San Luis Harbor, about midway between San Jose and Los Angeles, waves of more than four feet were measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In the Bay Area, the National Weather Service said tsunami surges of up to a few feet could arrive in “pulses” throughout the day, and warned residents not to try to identify their arrival. “These water level surges can overwhelm and overtake people and pull them out to sea,” the agency said on Twitter.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/15/world/asia/tonga-volcano-tsunami.html
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/weather/winter-storm-snow-ice-saturday/index.html
An unhinged homeless man admitted to shoving an Asian woman into an oncoming subway train in Times Square as he was marched out of a Midtown Manhattan police station to face a judge Saturday night.
“Go f— yourself,” Simon Martial, 61, yelled at reporters as he was escorted out of the Midtown South precinct wearing a white Tyvek suit, a cloth mask, slippers and a jacket.
When asked if he had killed Michelle Alyssa Go, a 40-year-old Upper West Side resident, Martial copped to the ghastly attack, and claimed he was “God.”
“Yeah because I’m God. Yes I did. I’m God, I can do it,” Martial shouted to a gaggle of reporters, adding “she stole my f—ing jacket, that’s why,” when asked about his motive.
The victim was waiting on the N/Q/R/W platform at 9:40 a.m. when the suspect shoved her onto the tracks as a southbound R train barreled into the station, officials said.
“This incident was unprovoked and the victim does not appear to have any interaction with the subject,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at an afternoon press conference.
Martial had initially approached another woman, who was not Asian, in the station, but the woman became alarmed and moved away, according to police.
“She feels that he was about to physically push her onto the train,” Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox of the NYPD Detective Bureau said. “As she’s walking away she witnesses the crime where he pushes our other victim in front of the train.”
Martial then took a train to Canal Street, where he turned himself in to transit officers 13 minutes after the attack, police said.
Unprovoked attacks on Asian Americans soared in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic amid anti-Chinese political rhetoric, and were up 368 percent in 2021, according to police data.
Many of the crimes occurred in the subway system, which city and state officials recently pledged to fill with expanded police presence and social service teams to combat rising crime and help shift homeless people living underground into shelters.
“We had a robust plan for this station today. We had six officers assigned to it. There were two officers on the southbound platform to the southern end when this incident occurred,” Assistant NYPD Chief Kathleen O’Reilly said.
“Unfortunately these incidents do occur. They’re rare but this one is very harrowing and disturbing,” she said.
Community leaders said that even if Saturday’s fatal attack was not motivated by racial hatred, it added to a sense of palpable fear among Asian-Americans.
“This is horrifying. It’s a horrible attack on yet another one of our citizens,” said Wai Wah Chin, charter president of the Chinese-American Citizen’s Alliance of Greater New York. “This has to stop.”
Some advocates said they also feared that hate criminals were emboldened by more forgiving law enforcement policies, including the state’s bail reform law and new lenient sentencing guidelines implemented by new Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“People are afraid because we know [Bragg] is going to let violent criminals go free and Asians around the city will be the victims,” said Phil Wong, 55, a Queens businessman and political activist.
Bragg told reporters Saturday afternoon that New Yorkers would not have to worry about Martial — an ex-con who was released from state prison last year after a two-year stint for robbery — getting set free to allegedly kill again. He was charged with murder Saturday night, police said.
“He’s been on medication for over 20 years and in and out of mental hospitals in New York,” a woman who identified herself as Martial’s sister, Josette, told The Post.
Source Article from https://nypost.com/2022/01/15/simon-martial-admits-to-fatally-shoving-michelle-alyssa-go-to-death-in-nyc/
“The fake news and the lamestream media … they refused to talk about it,” Trump said of his false election claims. “They say, ‘well it is unsubstantiated and the big lie.’ The big lie. The big lie is a lot of bullshit. That’s what it is.”
“If an election were held today, we would trounce them so badly in a landslide in every way, just as we really did on Nov. 3. We trounced them. If we had an honest press, the election would have been much different,” Trump said, spreading more falsehoods about the election he lost by over 7 million votes.
The destination of Trump’s first rally in Florence, Ariz., wasn’t accidental. The state is home to ground zero in the “stop the steal” movement’s push to find evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from the former president. State Republican lawmakers from across the country have made the trek to Phoenix to learn more about the Arizona state Senate GOP’s partisan audit of the presidential race, which ultimately ended up affirming Trump’s loss.
House Reps. Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar warmed up the crowd for Trump, attacking Biden and fueling election falsehoods. The crowd cheered as a Republican state senator called for the state’s election results to be decertified.
Trump’s rally was a familiar performance, as the former president attacked everything from the crisis at the southern border to the media. He bounced from inflation to supply chain problems to high crime rates, and he took a few minutes to criticize Biden’s handling of adversaries like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. He then hit the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and jabbed at former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Trump spent at least 10 minutes in his meandering speech addressing Covid and vaccine mandates. At one point, he said Biden has made chief medical adviser and frequent conservative target Anthony Fauci a “king,” which the crowd followed with a “lock him up” chant. The former president didn’t once mention the vaccines developed under his administration, though he slammed “gutless” politicians last week for not saying whether or not they had received a Covid booster (Trump has received three vaccine doses).
“Forcing innocent children to grow up in masks … locking people into their homes … going mandate crazy … they’re just running roughshod all over this country,” Trump said. “I say enough is enough, and we are not going to take it any more.”
Saturday’s rally is the second time Trump has put the spotlight on Arizona since leaving office, another sign of the state’s importance as Republicans look to take back both the House and Senate. Trump, who has maintained a strong grip on the GOP and is expected to run in 2024, is known for endorsements that can shape a race.
In Arizona, Trump has endorsed Kari Lake, a former news anchor who says she wouldn’t have certified the 2020 election, for governor. But he’s held off on endorsing a Senate candidate to go up against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. So far, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, venture capitalist Blake Masters, solar power executive Jim Lamon and state emergency leader Mick McGuire are battling it out for the nomination, and it’s rumored Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey may join the primary, POLITICO reported this week.
Trump didn’t make any endorsements during his rally on Saturday, though he invited Lake on stage and piled on more criticism of Ducey, who he blasted in a statement late Friday over his certifying of Arizona’s election results.
“Your governor is not good. Kari’s the one. She’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said. “But Ducey has been a terrible, terrible representative of your state.”
Trump’s speech came full circle by the end, as he said the “real insurrection” happened on Election Day and blasted the House select committee’s bipartisan investigation into Jan. 6. He then jumped to Democrats’ efforts to expand voting rights and dubbed the legislation a “voting fraud bill.”
Saturday was Trump’s first of many events in 2022: The former president is expected to hold about two rallies per month leading up to the November election, according to an adviser. Trump’s next stop is Conroe, Texas, on Jan. 29.
Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/15/trump-kicks-off-midterm-year-still-stuck-on-last-election-527197
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed nine Executive Orders and two Executive Directives just hours after being sworn into office outside the State Capitol Saturday.
“The important steps we are taking today begins the work of restoring excellence in education, making our communities safer, opening Virginia for business and reinvigorating job growth, and making government work for the people, and not the other way around,” Youngkin said. “My Day One Game Plan also includes 59 pieces of legislation and a package of more than a dozen budget amendments I am working on with General Assembly leaders, including our efforts to double the standard deduction, eliminate the grocery tax, and end the tax on the first $40,000 in veteran retirement pay. It’s a new day in Virginia, but the work is only beginning.”
Part of the directives include rescinding the vaccine mandate for state employees as well as letting parents choose whether their children should wear masks in schools. The reversal comes after former Gov. Ralph Northam and State Health Commissioner Dr. Norm Oliver issued a public health order in August that mandated universal masking in all K-12 schools. Dr. James Lane, the state superintendent at the time, said the order would “ensure uniformity across all school districts and keep students safely in their classrooms — no matter where they live in Virginia.”
Additional executive actions included terminating the Virginia Parole Board and asking Attorney General Jason Miyares to launch “a full investigation of the Board’s actions” as well as investigate “wrongdoing in Loudoun County.”
Youngkin’s first executive order called for ending the use of “inherently divisive concepts” in public education. That includes critical race theory, which is a way of thinking about U.S. history through the lens of racism. Accordingly, the order calls for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to review and end any policies that “promote inherently divisive concepts.”
Additionally, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is tasked with reviewing all Department of Education guidelines, websites, best practices, and other materials produced by the department that promotes or endorses divisive or inherently racist concepts.” Youngkin said any elements that are found should be removed.
“The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall review all changes made to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s public education curriculum within the last 48 months to identify inherently divisive concepts, including concepts or ideas related to Critical Race Theory, and initiate, through the regular curriculum re-evaluation process, changes that will replace them with concepts and lessons that ensure all Virginia students are taught to respect all individuals regardless of their race, sex, or faith,” the order reads.
Additionally, the order calls for ending the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative, reviewing the “EdEquityVA” program and removing anything that “promotes inherently divisive concepts” as well as the reviewing and then ending any portion of any Governor’s School program that includes similar concepts.
That order also calls for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue a report within 90 days to the Secretary of Education and Youngkin showing ways to close the “achievement gap” in K-12 education and make sure “all students are graduating high school career and college ready.”
Here’s a list of the Executive Actions from the Office of the Governor:
Executive Orders:
-
Executive Order Number One delivers on his Day One promise to restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education.
- Executive Order Number Two delivers on his Day One promise to empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school.
- Executive Order Number Three delivers on his Day One promise to restore integrity and confidence in the Parole Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Executive Order Number Four delivers on his Day One promise to investigate wrongdoing in Loudoun County.
- Executive Order Number Five delivers on his Day One promise to make government work for Virginians by creating the Commonwealth Chief Transformation Officer.
- Executive Order Number Six delivers on his Day One promise to declare Virginia open for business.
- Executive Order Number Seven delivers on his Day One promise to combat and prevent human trafficking and provide support to survivors.
- Executive Order Number Eight delivers on his Day One promise to establish a commission to combat antisemitism.
- Executive Order Number Nine delivers on his Day One promise to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Executive Directives:
- Executive Directive Number One delivers on his fulfilling his Day One promise to jumpstart our economy by cutting job killing regulations by 25 percent.
- Executive Directive Number Two delivers on his fulfilling his Day One promise to restore individual freedoms and personal privacy by rescinding the vaccine mandate for all state employees.
Source Article from https://www.wtvr.com/news/virginia-politics/governor-glenn-youngkin-executive-orders-directives
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Clinic employees who are unvaccinated for COVID-19 and who do not have an approved exemption will not be allowed to stay on the job after Feb. 28.
The Clinic is enacting a COVID-19 employee vaccine mandate in order to comply with a federal mandate recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is one of the last major hospital systems in Northern Ohio to put a policy in place requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Source Article from https://www.cleveland.com/coronavirus/2022/01/cleveland-clinic-issues-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-employees-to-comply-with-federal-guidelines.html
(CNN)BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 10:47 P.M.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/colleyville-texas-hostage-situation/index.html
WELLINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Pacific nations and humanitarian groups struggled to establish communications with Tonga on Sunday after a tsunami triggered by a massive volcanic eruption cut telephone and internet connections, raising concerns for the tiny island nation.
An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders on the shores of Tonga as well as several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes.
Internet and phone lines went down at about 6.40 p.m. local time on Saturday, leaving the 105,000 residents on the islands virtually uncontactable.
“The images of the volcanic eruption in close proximity to Tonga are hugely concerning,” Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, located about 1,481 miles from Tonga, said in a statement on Instagram.
“Communication as a result of the eruption has been difficult, but our defence force team and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working as we speak to establish what’s needed and how we can help,” she said.
The New Zealand foreign ministry said there were no reports of injuries or deaths as yet but communications were limited.
Ardern will address the media at 3 p.m New Zealand time (0200 GMT) to give an update on the situation.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Pacific Office in Suva, Fiji said it was monitoring the situation and had no updates on damages or casualties.
Tongan churches in New Zealand organised prayers for their families back home.
“We pray God will help our country at this sad moment. We hope everybody is safe…,” Maikeli Atiola, the Secretary of the Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Auckland said, Radio New Zealand reported.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades but Saturday’s eruption was so loud that residents parts of faraway Fiji and New Zealand said they heard it.
Satellite images captured the volcanic eruption on Saturday as the explosion sent plumes of smoke into the air and about 12 miles above the sea level.
The sky over Tonga was darkened by the ash.
The eruptions triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, with the United States and Japan urging people on their Pacific coastlines to stay away from the shores.
Australia issued a marine tsunami warning for the New South Wales coastlines, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, and said local beaches along the state’s coast have been closed. A tsunami advisory was also issued in New Zealand.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealand-pm-ardern-says-tonga-eruption-hugely-concerning-2022-01-15/
The Virginia Department of Transportation was not taking any chances, and on Thursday its crews began spraying portions of I-95 with a solution of salt and brine, which helps prevent ice from bonding to roadways.
Elsewhere in the South, meteorologists said, northeastern Georgia and the Carolinas were expected to bear the brunt of freezing precipitation on Saturday night into Sunday.
“While much is going to be said about the snow, we’re also raising the alarm of the ice storm that’s going to occur across the Carolinas,” Mr. Porter said. “It looks like that’s a recipe for extended power outages and tree damage in those areas.”
Temperatures fell to well below zero on Saturday throughout New England and parts of New York.
In Saranac Lake, N.Y., the temperature had fallen to 12 below zero by Saturday morning and was expected to drop to minus 20 by nightfall, with wind chills as low as minus 31. That kind of cold is not unusual in the region, said Clyde Rabideau, the mayor of Saranac Lake, a town of about 5,400 people in the Adirondacks.
Up to a foot of snow was expected to fall in the area starting on Sunday — welcome news for residents and ice fishermen who have seen snow accumulations fall and winter temperatures rise in recent years, Mr. Rabideau said.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/15/us/snow-storm-news-updates.html