Winter storm brings white Christmas and havoc to eastern US
Anasty winter storm slammed the eastern United States on Christmas Eve, pushing drivers off the roads and threatening to spoil the plans of holiday travelers and last-minute shoppers in a season already dampened by the coronavirus.
The snow and rain extended from Atlanta to Buffalo, New York, on Thursday. Forecasters issued warnings about an array of possible hazards — heavy snow, flooding, even tornadoes — from Tennessee to Maine.
The storm has already shown its ferocity, blanketing the Midwest on Wednesday and bringing more than 8 inches of snow to Minneapolis. Blizzard conditions delayed hundreds of flights and turned roads into dangerous white sheets.
In Nebraska, the state police responded to more than 250 crashes or calls for help, including one with tragic results: A couple and a 4-year-old child were killed when the family’s car skidded over a median along Interstate 80 and into an oncoming semi.
Other parts of the country were pummeled Thursday by a treacherous mix of rain and snow. Forecasters said parts of West Virginia could get more than 1 inch of rain during the day and then up to half a foot of snow in the evening.
“Combine that, and it’s kind of a travel nightmare,” said James Zvolensky, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia.
In the South, temperatures dropped unusually low Thursday, and severe thunderstorms led forecasters to issue a tornado warning for parts of central and southeastern North Carolina. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was under a tornado watch until 10 p.m.
Tornadoes were also possible in Virginia and in Florida, where temperatures were expected to plummet by more than 30 degrees over the course of the day as wind and rain moved into the state.
Vatican appeals: Pope Francis told the leaders of South Sudan and Lebanon on Thursday that he hopes to visit their countries but demanded they do more to bring peace and stability to their nations.
Francis issued a pair of Christmas messages on Thursday, with his South Sudan appeal co-signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Rev. Martin Fair.
Francis has been hoping to visit South Sudan for years but has been prevented by security concerns. In 2019, Francis invited South Sudan’s rival leaders to the Vatican for an Easter summit, stunning onlookers when he knelt down and kissed their feet in a humble plea for peace.
Earlier this month, U.N. experts reported that the peace effort in the country has stalled. The coalition government formed in February failed to meet deadlines, while President Salva Kiir locked opposition leader and now First Vice President Riek Machar out of the government’s decision-making process.
On Lebanon, Francis said he wanted to offer the Lebanese faithful “words of comfort and encouragement” after a particularly difficult year and said he hoped to visit them “as soon as possible.”
Drug price setback for Trump: A late-term maneuver by President Donald Trump to use lower drug prices paid overseas to limit some of Medicare’s own costs suffered a legal setback that appears likely to keep the policy from taking effect before the president leaves office.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake in Baltimore issued a nationwide injunction Wednesday that prevents the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, from carrying out the “most favored nations” rule as scheduled Jan. 1. The judge wrote in her temporary order that CMS had failed to follow required procedures for notice and comment before imposing such sweeping changes.
The Trump regulation would tie what Medicare pays for certain drugs administered in a doctor’s office to the lowest price paid among a group of economically advanced countries.
It would apply to 50 medications that account for the highest spending under Medicare’s “Part B” benefit for outpatient care.
20 migrants dead at sea: About 20 African migrants were found dead Thursday after their smuggling boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, Tunisian authorities said. Five survivors were rescued, and the Tunisian navy is searching for up to 20 others still believed missing.
Tunisian coast guard boats and local fishermen found and retrieved the bodies in the waters off the coastal city of Sfax in central Tunisia, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ben Zekri told Associated Press.
The boat was overloaded and in poor condition, and faced strong winds Thursday morning that may have contributed to the sinking, said National Guard spokesman Ali Ayari.
Threat from Libya: A Libyan commander who launched an offensive last year to capture the capital Tripoli from the U.N.-recognized rival government threatened Thursday to use force against Turkish troops if Ankara doesn’t stop interfering in the war-stricken North African country.
Khalifa Hifter’s comments came in response to the Turkish parliament’s decision to extend for 18 months a law that allows the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya. Turkish military assistance to the Tripoli-based government — including advisers, equipment and intelligence — helped stop Hifter’s year-long offensive on the capital. Turkey has also been accused of sending thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya.
“There will be no security or peace as long as the boots of the Turkish military are desecrating our immaculate soil,” Hifter said in comments from his eastern stronghold, Benghazi, on the 69th anniversary of Libya’s independence day. “We will carry weapons to bring about peace with our own hands and our free will.”
Fugitive politician arrested: A former New York town supervisor who was wanted for over 20 years has been arrested in Ohio.
Former Mentz Supervisor William Jones is being held at the Butler County jail in Ohio and awaits extradition to New York’s Cayuga County, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Jones, 71, was convicted of the criminal sale of a firearm in 1997, and while out on a $20,000 bond, he failed to show up for sentencing.
Jones was accused of selling eight handguns after his pistol permit was suspended following an eight-month prison sentence for official misconduct as Mentz town supervisor.
An officer in Waverly, Ohio, found Jones by chance Sunday when he stopped to help a limping man, who did not have identification and turned out to be Jones.