Vehicles slowed and stopped on icy roads, and bundled-up commuters gingerly navigated snow-covered sidewalks as a snowstorm yesterday swept through the South Korean capital of Seoul and nearby regions, extending a frigid cold spell that has the country in its grip.
There were no immediate reports of major disruptions or damage caused by the snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures as of yesterday afternoon, as officials lifted heavy snow warnings for the area after the snowfall weakened following morning commuting hours.
Traffic on the country’s major roads was normal, although 110 hiking trails across three national parks remained closed.
Photo: AP
More than 5cm of snow yesterday fell in Seoul in the 24 hours through 11am, while neighboring city Incheon and Gyeonggi Province received 6cm to 8cm of snow.
Morning temperatures in the region fell to about minus-10°C.
The country’s weather agency forecast similar weather for tomorrow, prompting officials to warn that driving conditions could worsen after a hard freeze of snowy surfaces.
About 2,100 public workers and 1,100 vehicles yesterday were deployed to spray more than 3,100 tonnes of snow-clearing chemicals and salt on major roads and expressways from midnight to 4am to prevent them from becoming dangerously slick during the commuting hours, the South Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.
While the country has so far avoided major traffic accidents, about 540 homes, mostly in the greater Seoul area, reported that their water pressure-gauges or pipes froze and burst.
Air traffic yesterday returned to mostly normal, recovering from a major disruption caused by a snowstorm that hit the southern resort island of Jeju earlier this week.
The disruption resulted in the cancelation of hundreds of flights on Tuesday, and stranded tens of thousands of travelers who visited the island during the Lunar New Year holidays.
The country has increased the number of flights into and out of Jeju since Wednesday to transport the travelers who had been stuck there.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS