A rare heavy blanket of snow in Tokyo  today left thousands of travellers stranded and scores  injured, as frozen conditions snarled public transport in the  Japanese capital.
Japan's weather agency recorded as much as 23 centimetres
of snow in some parts of Tokyo, the biggest snowfall since  February 2014.
The weather paralysed yesterday evening's commute as  millions of workers battled to get home in one of the world's  most populous cities.
Notoriously hard-working Japanese employees were urged to  knock off early but this did not prevent delays and crushes at  major stations.
Public broadcaster NHK said at least 180 people had  sustained minor injuries on the frozen streets and there had  been around 700 traffic accidents, police said.
Cars became trapped in a tunnel, sparking a 10-  kilometre-long tailback from Monday evening through early  morning today, broadcasters said.
And for the second day running, dozens of domestic and  international flights departing from and arriving ..

Thousands stranded, scores injured in snowbound Tokyo

PTI Automatic

The House of Representatives  followed the Senate in approving a temporary funding bill that  clears the way to ending a three-day government shutdown  triggered by feuding over immigration policy.
The stopgap bill, which in addition to funding the  government through February 8 also reauthorizes a popular  children's health insurance program, now heads to the White  House where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into  law.
The package cleared the House by a vote of 266 to 150,  hours after Senate Democrats dropped their opposition to the  plan after winning Republican assurances of a vote on  immigration in the coming weeks.

Congress votes to end US shutdown, sends bill to Trump

The UN Security Council  discussed Turkey's intensifying offensive against Kurdish  militias and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria but  did not condemn or demand an end to the sensitive Turkish  operation.
Already scheduled to hear a report from UN aid chief Mark  Lowcock on his recent visit to Syria, at France's request the  Security Council also touched on the latest Turkish offensive  as well as the Syrian campaign in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed no  stepping back to the air and ground offensive seeking to flush  out the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia from its  enclave of Afrin, despite concern from Ankara's allies and  neighbours.
"It was of course part of the conversation," French  Ambassador Francois Delattre said of Afrin after the closed-  door talks at UN headquarters in New York.
"The call for restraint, I believe, was widely shared  during the discussion," he added, saying that France was  "attentive to the ...

UN Security Council refrains from condemning Turkey

The UN's Secretary-General Antonio  Guterres has called for "credible investigations" after at  least six people were killed in the Democratic Republic of  Congo during a crackdown on a protest against President Joseph  Kabila.
Guterres said the government should "hold those  responsible accountable" in a statement issued by his  spokesman in New York after live rounds and tear gas were  fired to disperse demonstrators in Kinshasa.
The country's powerful Catholic Church, one of the few  institutions to enjoy broad credibility nationally, had called  for the rallies despite a government ban on all  demonstrations.
Guterres "urges the Congolese security forces to exercise  restraint", his spokesman said in the statement, and "called  upon all concerned to ensure full respect for places of  worship".
The UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO said six people were  killed in Kinshasa and scores injured nationwide in the  rallies.
Congolese authorities said two of the deaths were caused  by ...

UN chief urges 'restraint' in DR Congo after deadly protest

Five Oklahoma drilling rig workers  were missing after an explosion caused a serious fire that  burned for hours, according to authorities in the central US  state.
The rig, near the small city of Quinton in eastern  Oklahoma, exploded at approximately 8:45 am, officials said at  a news conference. Emergency workers accounted for 17 workers  who escaped the flames, but five others remained missing.
Crews searching the surrounding areas for other workers  had not been able to find additional survivors, authorities  added.
"The personnel that got off the location, they got  together and knew who was on the location," said emergency  manager Kevin Enloe of Pittsburg County, where the accident  took place.
Officials did not know whether the new well was drilling  natural gas or oil. They said the fire continued to burn hours  after the incident and that all of the rig's components were  ablaze.
"Pretty much everything that is on location is on fire,"  Enloe said, adding that personnel had 

Five missing in Oklahoma drilling rig explosion

A Turkish soldier was killed as the  country pressed its offensive against Kurdish militia targets  in northern Syria, the army said, confirming the operation's  first Turkish fatality on its third day.
"One of our heroic soldiers was martyred during clashes"  with Kurdish militants from the People's Protection Units  (YPG) militia southeast of the Turkish border town of Gulbaba  in Kilis on Monday, the Turkish army said in a statement.
The Turkish military launched operation "Olive Branch" on  Saturday, its second major intervention in Syria's seven-year  civil war.
The operation, with Turkish war planes and artillery  backing a major ground offensive involving Ankara-backed  Syrian opposition fighters and Turkish tanks, aims to remove  the YPG from its Afrin enclave.
Turkey views the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed  Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a decades  long insurgency against the Turkish state.
It is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its  Western .

Turkish soldier killed in Syria operation

The Louvre Abu Dhabi said today  it has replaced a map of the Arabian Peninsula that omitted  Qatar, embroiled in a months-long diplomatic dispute with its  Gulf neighbours.
The museum said the map was an "oversight" that had been  rectified.
The map, one of several aiming at placing exhibits in  their geographical context, was located in the children's  section of the museum.
The error was pointed out on January 19 by Qatar's  museums head, Al Mayassa Al-Thani, who retweeted a picture of  the map showing Bahrain and the Gulf coast with blank sea in  the place of Qatar.
"Although the notion of museums is a new one to Abu  Dhabi, surely the @MuseeLouvre is not okay with this?" she  wrote.
The following day, Emirati foreign minister Anwar Gargash  said he had been "mystified" by Al-Thani's tweet, which "blew  a slight oversight out of proportion".
"Culture is superior to such trifles," he added.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated with great pomp in  November by French President ...

Louvre Abu Dhabi replaces Gulf map that omitted Qatar

The US has ordered more  stringent inspections of air cargo from five Middle East  countries, citing a June 2017 attempt in Australia to bring  down a plane as evidence that extremist groups continue to  target civilian aviation.
The Transportation Security Administration said today it  had ordered seven airports in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,  Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to provide advance data on  US-bound air cargo to US Customs and Border Protection for  vetting before the cargo is loaded.
The agency did not cite any new specific threat for the  move.
"The persistent threat to aviation calls for the world to  raise the baseline on global aviation security across the  spectrum," it said.
"These countries were chosen because of a demonstrated  intent by terrorist groups to attack aviation from them."
TSA also pointed to Australian security officials'  foiling of an advanced plot by three men with ties to the  Islamic State group last June to bring down an aircraft with  an ..

US tightens rules on Middle East air cargo after Aus bomb plot

Pope Francis today  offered "apologies" to victims of sexual abuse after he caused  outrage by appearing to support a controversial Chilean  bishop.
The pope acknowledged he had "hurt" people by suggesting  there was no "proof" against Juan Barros, who is accused of  covering up another priest's abuse of boys.
"The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, then  I will speak. There is not a single piece of proof against  him. Everything is slander. Is this clear?" the Argentine  pontiff said abruptly on Thursday when questioned by  journalists in Chile.
The pope also shocked many by giving Barros a hug during  his visit.
"I have to present my apologies because the word 'proof'  has hurt so many victims of abuse," Francis said at a press  conference on the flight back to Rome.
"To hear the pope tell them to their faces, 'bring me a  letter with the proof', it's a slap and I realise now that my  expression was unfortunate," he said.
However, Francis said the Vatican had ...

Pope offers 'apologies' for comments on accused bishop

Three days of fighting since Turkey  launched an offensive on the northern Syrian region of Afrin  have left at least 54 Syrian combattants dead, a monitor said  today.
Among them were 26 Kurdish fighters from the Syrian  Democratic Forces that have controlled the region on the  border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights  said.
Another 19 fighters from the ranks of the pro-Ankara  rebels who are fighting alongside Turkey were also killed, the  monitoring group said, adding that nine more unidentified  bodies were found on the battlefield.

'Afrin clashes kill 54 Syrian Kurd and pro-Turkey fighters'

South Africa's ruling party  confirmed today that discussions were underway on President  Jacob Zuma's departure from office, possibly signalling the  coming end to his scandal-tainted nine-year reign.
Zuma has been under growing pressure to resign since he  was replaced as head of the African National Congress (ANC) in  December by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa.
The party executive "discussed this matter... there will  be interaction between officials, President Zuma and (party)  president Ramaphosa," ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule told  reporters.
"There are no timelines... we don't do things that way,  we engage, we discuss," he added, saying no final decision had  been made on a departure by Zuma.
Zuma's presidency has been mired in corruption scandals  and tarnished by a weakening economy, with the party losing  public support ahead of next year's general election.
Ramaphosa's backers are keen for him to take over as  president immediately and try to revive the economy before ..

S Africa's ANC confirms talks on Zuma exit

Ousted Catalan leader Carles  Puigdemont today vowed to form a new government despite  "threats" from the central government in Madrid, after a  Spanish judge refused to re-issue a European warrant for his  arrest.
Speaking at a debate on Catalonia at the University of  Copenhagen, Puigdemont said: "We will not surrender to  authoritarianism despite Madrid's threats."
"Soon we will form a new government... it's time to end  their oppression and find a political solution for Catalonia,"  the 55-year-old politician added.
Puigdemont's comments came hours after the speaker of the  Catalan parliament proposed him as president of Catalonia  following an election in December in which separatist parties  once again won an absolute majority.
Roger Torrent said Puigdemont's candidacy to once again  head Catalonia's regional government is "absolutely  legitimate", even though the secessionist leader faces  criminal proceedings in Spain over his role in Catalonia's  independence ...

Sacked Catalan leader vows to lead despite Spain 'threats'

At least 21 people, including  children, suffered breathing difficulties today, a monitor  said, in a suspected Syrian regime chemical attack on a  besieged rebel enclave near Damascus.
United Nations inspectors have accused President Bashar  al-Assad's regime of being behind multiple deadly poison gas  attacks during the country's devastating seven year war.
Today's attack targeted the city of Douma in the rebel-  held region of Eastern Ghouta, the Syrian Observatory for  Human Rights said.
"After regime forces fired rockets into the western part  of the city of Douma, white smoke spread, causing 21 cases of  suffocation," it said.
An AFP correspondent at a hospital in the city saw people  carrying babies wrapped in blankets, breathing through oxygen  masks, some of them screaming.
Young girls and men sat on hospital beds, tears in their  eyes, unable to stop coughing.
A doctor at the hospital who gave his first name as  Bassil said patients were suffering "respiratory irritation,  ..

Syria regime accused of chemical attack in rebel enclave

US Vice President Mike Pence  vowed today in an address to the Israeli parliament that  Washington will never allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
"I have a solemn promise to Israel, to all the Middle  East and to the world - the United States of America will  never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon," Pence said to  applause from Israeli MPs.
The 2015 deal that was meant to curb Iran's nuclear  capabilities was fiercely opposed by Israel, but backed by  then US president Barack Obama.
His successor Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the  agreement, accusing Tehran of not sticking to it and saying it  still allows the Islamic republic to support terrorist  organisations across the globe - including Israel's  longstanding enemies.
Earlier this month Trump again waived nuclear-related  sanctions - as required every few months to stay in the  agreement - but demanded European partners work with  Washington to improve the terms of the deal.
"The Iran nuclear deal is a disaster ...

US will 'never allow' Iran to have a nuclear weapon: Pence

Wounded 12-time Grand Slam winner  Novak Djokovic was sent tumbling out of the Australian Open by  Korean giant-killer Chung Hyeon today, but ice-cool Roger  Federer roared into the quarter-finals.
The Serb, who was returning from six months out with a  right elbow injury, was clearly in pain as his hopes of a  seventh Melbourne Park title were extinguished on Rod Laver  Arena 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
He was keen not to take away from the glasses-wearing  Chung's huge achievement after the 21-year-old followed up his  win over fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the last round.
"Congratulations. Amazing," said Djokovic, who also had  an apparent hip or groin problem, screeching at times when  stretching for the ball.
"He was the better player on court today and he deserved  to win."
Djokovic said the injuries started troubling him at the  end of the first set and a decision on where he goes from here  would be made after talking with his medical team.
Chung's reward is a last-eight ...

Struggling Djokovic out but Federer into quarters

Novak Djokovic says he will  reassess his fitness situation after a painful defeat to South  Korean youngster Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open today.
The Serb former world No.1 played in great discomfort  with a recurrence of his right elbow injury and a possible  hip/groin problem sustained during the three-set loss in the  fourth round on Monday.
The six-time winner said his physical situation was "not  great" and he would discuss matters with his team medical  staff in deciding what to do in the early part of the season.
"Yeah, unfortunately, it's not great. Kind of end of the  first set it (elbow) started hurting more. So, yeah, I had to  deal with it till the end of the match," Djokovic told  reporters after the match.
"Now I don't know. I have to reassess everything with my  team, medical team, coaches and everybody, scan it, see what  the situation is like," he added.
"In the last couple weeks I've played a lot of tennis.  Let's see what's happening."
Djokovic came to ...

Djokovic to reassess fitness situation after shock exit

Former Olympic champion Greg  Rutherford announced on Monday he will not defend his long  jump title at this year's Commonwealth Games in Australia  because he feels underprepared.
Rutherford topped the podium in Glasgow in 2014,  bettering the silver he earned in Delhi four years earlier,  but an ankle injury forced him to miss the world championships  in London last August and he underwent surgery to correct a  hernia problem.
Having taken some time away from competitive athletics,  the 31-year-old, who has won gold medals at Olympic, world and  European level, feels he would not be sufficiently ready to  compete on Australia's Gold Coast in April.
"Withdrawing from Team England is not a decision that's  been easy for me to make," he said.
"However, in previous years I've attended major  championships without a good training block behind me and my  performance has suffered as a result.
"I am planning on easing myself back into competition,  possibly indoors, and then building to the 

England's Rutherford to miss Commonwealth Games

Hundreds of thousands of US  federal employees were staying home without pay today after  lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on ending a government  shutdown before the start of the working week.
Although leaders of President Donald Trump's Republican  Party and the opposition Democrats said progress had been made  in a weekend of talks, they pushed back a scheduled late-night  vote to noon (2230 IST) today.
The impasse, the first of its kind since 2013, had  already cast a huge shadow over the first anniversary of  Trump's inauguration as president on Saturday.
After special weekend sessions of Congress which had seen  bitter recriminations traded by both parties, Senate Majority  Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to address Democrat concerns  over key issues such as immigration reform in a speech to the  chamber late yesterday.
The Senate's top Democrat Chuck Schumer responded by  saying he was "happy to continue my discussion with the  majority leader about reopening the ...

US govt workers home without pay as shutdown impasse drags on

US Vice President Mike Pence  pledged in front of Israeli lawmakers today that the US would  move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem "by the end" of  2019.
In a speech to parliament he also urged Palestinians to  "return to the table" of negotiations and resume long-stalled  peace talks with Israel.

Pence says US embassy in Jerusalem to open by end of 2019

Former international football star  George Weah was sworn in as Liberia's new president today, in  the country's first transition between democratically-elected  leaders since 1944.
Weah, 51, took over from Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson  Sirleaf, who spent 12 years at the helm, steering the West  African nation away from the trauma of a civil war.

Weah sworn in as Liberian president, completes historic

South Korean star Chung Hyeon  dumped six-time champion Novak Djokovic out of the Australian  Open today in a sensational fourth round upset.
The 21-year-old beat the battle-weary Serb, who was  clearly in pain as he stretched for balls, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 7-6  (7/3) in 3hr 21 min in a night match on Rod Laver Arena.
Chung, the first South Korean man to reach the round of  16 at the Australian Open, will face American bolter Tennys  Sandgren in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Two years ago Djokovic outclassed Chung in straight sets  in the opening round of the Australian Open, but the South  Korean spectacularly reversed the result with three hard-  fought sets against the wounded Serb in the fourth round.
Djokovic, who sought treatment for his troublesome right  elbow and an apparent hip injury when stretching for a ball,  battled through in great discomfort, as Chung stayed composed  and mentally tough to claim his biggest win.
"I didn't know if I was going to win this match tonight,  

AFP

AFP

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