European stocks market closes lower
European stocks fell at the end of their trading Wednesday, as the European Stock 600 index fell by 0.1%, under pressure from the decline in energy stocks and the impact of lower oil prices, while the Financial Times 100 index rose by 0.3%.
Shares of European mining companies rose 0.6% as copper prices rose, hoping for a recovery in demand in the world's second-largest economy after China eased its strict restrictions related to Covid, while shares of energy companies fell 0.8%, with the impact of lower oil prices.
The Stoxx 600 index is heading for an annual loss of more than 12%, as concerns about economic recession, due to monetary tightening by central banks worldwide, affected the European index.
Tunisia has foiled eleven attempts by illegal migrants to cross the Mediterranean toward the Italian coast, National Guard Spokesman Houcemeddine Jbabli said Tuesday.
A total of 216 illegal migrants, including 127 migrants of different nationalities, were intercepted late Monday night by the coast guard units off Tunisian coasts, Jbabli said.
More than 37,188 Tunisian illegal migrants have been intercepted this year, according to figures released by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights on Tuesday.
"This year has been the most tragic and the heaviest in terms of deaths among illegal migrants of all nationalities off the Tunisian coast," the statement said. Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe.
Although Tunisian authorities have adopted rigorous measures to tackle the problem, illegal immigration attempts from Tunisia to Italy have been on the rise.
A fearsome winter storm continued to pummel parts of the United States with blizzard conditions Saturday evening after its powerful Arctic winds left over a million customers without power earlier in the day and caused Christmas travel nightmares.
At least 17 weather-related deaths have been confirmed across eight states as heavy snow, howling winds and dangerously frigid temperatures kept much of the nation, including the normally temperate south, in a frozen grip for a third straight day.
In hard-hit New York state, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to Erie County and its main city Buffalo, where authorities said emergency services have essentially collapsed in the face of extreme blizzard conditions. The National Weather Service warned that blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes region caused by lake-effect snow will continue into Saturday night, including in Buffalo.
One couple in the lake-side city, which sits across the border from Canada, told AFP 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. Her fiance Ali Lawson is having back pain, but plans to tough it out at home because driving to the hospital is just too dangerous.
"We can currently see across the street, but last night we couldn't see past our porch," said Lawson. The "bomb cyclone" winter storm, one of the fiercest in decades, had already forced the cancellation of over 3,300 US flights on Saturday and the delay of nearly 7,500 more, a day after nearly 6,000 were scrapped, according to tracking website Flightaware.com.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Saturday that "the most extreme disruptions are behind us as airline and airport operations gradually recover"-words that travelers stranded at airports including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York were holding on to. New York City resident Zack Cuyler, whose flight home to Houston on December 22 has been postponed then canceled twice this week already, was "pretty steamed" about the chaos.
The 35-year-old now hopes to reach his loved ones by December 25. "I'm just glad I'll get to see my family for Christmas," he told AFP. Road ice and white-out conditions also led to 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.