Winter storm threatens 115 million people in US

A second wave of winter storms was expected to bring heavy snow, strong winds and frigid temperatures across parts of the US Midwest and Northeast regions over the weekend, threatening about 115 million people, authorities said.

Forecasters expected a substantial amount of precipitation till Sunday up and down the East Coast.

Officials said that snow will start on Saturday evening in Boston and New York, which will then turn into a wintry mix and freezing rain overnight into Sunday. The National Weather Service in New York forecasted 3 to 6 inches of sleet and snow.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a ban on tractor-trailers and buses on most highways in the state will begin on Saturday afternoon.

Travel through Sunday will be affected, with nearly 2,000 flights involving domestic airports cancelled, according to the flight-tracking site Flightaware.com.

Airlines were issuing waivers for travellers in the Midwest and Northeast.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency beginning on Saturday. He told residents to stay off the roads and prepare for possible power outages.

The extreme cold will follow the storm and move into the rest of the Eastern US on Monday. PARIS: “Yellow Vest” demonstrators gathered in the French capital on Saturday for their tenth consecutive weekend of protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Protesters started to assemble by the Champs Elysees and the Invalides esplanade near the Assemblee Nationale lower house of parliament and the Eiffel Tower, with their numbers expected to increase during the day.

The protests began in mid-november over higher fuel taxes, which were subsequently scrapped, and have since morphed into a broader demonstration against the government. December’s protests brought some of the worst violence seen in decades in Paris, as rioters burned cars and damaged shops and businesses.