Wind-whipped snow buries Canadian city
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland -- Canada's weather agency ended a blizzard warning for the St. John's, Newfoundland, area Saturday, but a rare state of emergency and storm-surge warning remained in effect after a monster storm buried Newfoundland's capital city.
The intense snowfall that brought St. John's and other communities to a standstill on Friday slowed overnight, according to the weather agency.
At the peak of the storm, which some described as a blizzard in a hurricane, even snowplows were pulled off roads because visibility was near zero. However, plowing in St. John's resumed overnight.
Blizzards are common in Newfoundland but strong winds and the amount of snow that fell and the fact that there was already a lot snow on the ground made this unique.
A statement issued by the city of St. John's on Saturday morning said the state of emergency declared Friday "will remain in effect until further notice."
Air traffic in the region was shut down Friday, and all but a handful of flights at St. John's International Airport remained canceled Saturday morning.
Other car mishaps reported at U.K. base
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LONDON -- A British police chief requested an urgent meeting with a U.S. military commander Saturday after learning of two more traffic incidents in the area where a young motorcyclist died in a collision with a car driven by an American diplomat's wife.
Harry Dunn was killed when he was hit by a car driven by a woman whose husband was an intelligence officer at a military base in central England used by U.S. forces. The woman is believed to have been driving on the wrong side of the road when the head-on collision occurred.
Northamptonshire Police Chief Nick Adderley said his department learned Saturday about a video that showed a car driving on the wrong side of the road near the base having a near-miss with another vehicle.
Adderley said he also heard Friday about an October crash in the same area involving another wrong-way driver whose vehicle struck a police car. No one was injured in that collision.
Police have not indicated if the cars in the other incidents had any connection to the Air Force base. Britain's Press Association reported that the car involved in the close calls appeared to have a registration number indicating it possibly was a U.S. government vehicle.
Putin rebuffs idea of unlimited terms
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he opposes the idea of an unlimited term in office for the country's leader like the system that existed in the Soviet Union.
Putin's comment at a meeting with World War II veterans in St. Petersburg came days after he called for constitutional changes that could help him remain in power once his presidential term ends in 2024.
When a veteran at Saturday's meeting proposed not having term limits for Russia's president, Putin responded that "it would be very disturbing to return to the situation of the mid-1980s, with the leaders of the state, one by one, staying in power until the end of their days."
There has been uncertainty about Russia's future political course since Putin suggested in his Wednesday state-of-the-nation address amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The president currently holds the authority to make those appointments.
Observers speculated that after increasing the powers of parliament and the Cabinet and curtailing presidential authority, Putin might repeat a strategy he used before to stay in charge -- shifting into the prime minister's seat.
Rebel missiles kill 25 Yemeni soldiers
SANAA, Yemen -- A missile attack launched by Shiite rebels in Yemen hit an army camp Saturday, killing at least 25 troops, Yemeni officials said.
The strike in the central province of Marib wounded about 10 others. Officials said they expected the death toll to rise as burn victims were rushed to hospitals. Marib is about 70 miles east of the capital, Sanaa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media.
The Houthi attack on the military training camp followed an ongoing barrage of assaults by Saudi-backed government forces on rebel targets east of Sanaa. Those attacks killed at least 22 people on both sides, according to officials. The combat signaled a major escalation in the capital's eastern suburbs after months of relative quiet.
Also on Saturday, Houthi fighters and government forces traded heavy volleys of artillery fire just south of the Hodeida port, killing at least seven people, including two civilians, according to Wadah Dobish, a spokesman for government forces on Yemen's western coast. The statement said residential areas were caught in the cross hairs of indiscriminate mortar fire.
The fighting breaches a U.N.-brokered cease-fire in Hodeida, which is the main entry point for humanitarian aid and food into Yemen.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 01/19/2020