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Second Cold Wave Envelops China's Beijing in Snow, Ice

People walk past the Bell Tower amid snowfall in Beijing, China December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
People walk past the Bell Tower amid snowfall in Beijing, China December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
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Second Cold Wave Envelops China's Beijing in Snow, Ice

People walk past the Bell Tower amid snowfall in Beijing, China December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
People walk past the Bell Tower amid snowfall in Beijing, China December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

Snow, blizzards and plunging temperatures swept northern China in what could be one of its most severe cold snaps in December, spurring authorities in the capital to halt train services, shut schools and tell people to stay home.
A mass of cold air drifted into Beijing from the west, the second cold wave this week. City officials have issued the second-highest alert for blizzards through Thursday, the only such warning yet in the country, Reuters reported.
To avert chaos threatened by what was expected to be a "long-lasting" round of snowfall, the city of nearly 22 million shut all schools from Wednesday and moved classes online. Businesses were told to offer employees flexible working conditions and staggered commutes.
Scenic spots in the mountainous north and west have been temporarily shut.
Some railway services with key cities, such as the commercial hub of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuhan, were suspended. Trains that still ran went at slower speed, causing delays. But Beijing's Capital Airport continued to operate.
Beijing could face temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius (minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this weekend, compared to the mid-December average of about minus 8 C (17.6 F).
Even Shanghai in the south, now experiencing balmy weather of 20 degrees Celsius (68 F), is forecast to be buffeted by weather as frigid as minus 4 C (24.8 F) on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 6,000 rescuers have been put on call for road emergency rescues and more than 5,800 sets of snow-removal equipment and machinery are on standby.
About 32,000 metric tons of snow-thawing agent has been readied for use on icy roads and motorways.
City officials canvassed volunteers to clear snow and shovel ice, in addition to 73,000 people on duty to tackle these tasks, and ordered indoor heating stepped up.
Beijing last experienced such cold weather on Jan. 7, 2021, when the temperature fell to minus 19.6 C (minus 3.28 F). The city's all-time low of minus 27.4 C (minus 17.32 F), was recorded on Feb. 22, 1966.
This week's cold snap, compared with the autumn-like conditions of a week ago, reflects recent sharp temperature swings. October was one of Beijing's warmest in decades, in a year of weather extremes.

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Bangladesh’s President Dissolves Parliament, Clearing the Way for Elections to Replace Ousted Leader

People celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
People celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
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Bangladesh’s President Dissolves Parliament, Clearing the Way for Elections to Replace Ousted Leader

People celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
People celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Bangladesh’s president dissolved parliament Tuesday, clearing the way for new elections to replace the longtime prime minister who resigned and fled the country following weeks of demonstrations against her rule that descended into violent unrest.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin also ordered opposition leader Khaleda Zia released from house arrest. Zia, a longtime rival of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted on corruption charges by Hasina's government in 2018.
The streets of Dhaka appeared calmer Tuesday, with no reports of new violence as jubilant protesters thronged the ousted leader’s residence. Some posed for selfies with soldiers guarding the building where a day earlier angry protesters had looted furniture, paintings, flower pots and chickens.
As the country waited for a new government to emerge, a key student leader said protesters wanted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus to head an interim government.
Yunus, who is currently in Paris for the Olympics, called Hasina’s resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” He could not immediately be reached for comment, but student leader Nahid Islam said Yunus had agreed.
Bangladesh’s figurehead president and its top military commander said late Monday that an interim government would be formed soon to preside over new elections.
Hasina fled to India by helicopter on Monday as protesters defied military curfew orders to march on the capital, with thousands of demonstrators eventually storming her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family. Protests against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favored people with connections to her party grew into broader challenge to her 15-year rule in recent weeks.
A crackdown on the demonstrations led to clashes that left scores dead — and only fueled the movement.
Military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zamam said he was taking temporary control of the country after Hasina resigned, and he and the country’s figurehead president promised an interim government would be formed soon to preside over new elections. The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since independence in 1971.
Earlier Tuesday, protest leader Sarjis Alam told reporters that they had asked the president to dissolve Parliament by 3:00 p.m., and threatened to renew demonstrations otherwise as they seek to “repair the state.”
“We have proposed the name of Muhammad Yunus with his consent, now if someone else comes from among the MPs, we will not allow that to happen,” he said.
A longtime opponent of the ousted leader, Yunus was accused of corruption by her government and tried on charges he said were motivated by vengance. He received the Nobel in 2006 for work pioneering microlending.
Islam, the organizer, said protesters would propose more names for the cabinet, and suggested that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.
Amid celebrations, student Juairia Karim said it was a historic day: “Today we are getting what we deserve,” she said. “Everyone is happy, everyone is cheerful.”
But the country was still counting the toll of weeks of violent unrest that produced some of the country’s worst bloodshed since the 1971 war of independence. Many fear that Hasina's departure could lead to even more instability in the densely populated South Asian nation, which is already dealing with crises from high unemployment to corruption to climate change.
Violence just before and after Hasina's resignation left at least 109 people dead, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured, according to media reports, which could not be independently confirmed.
Amid security concerns, the main airport in Dhaka, the capital, suspended operations for eight hours.
In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and detainees escaped from a jail after an attack on the facility Monday evening, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.
Police in Dhaka mostly left their stations and assembled in a central barracks in fear of attacks after several stations were torched or vandalized.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party Tuesday urged people to exercise restraint in what it said was a “transitional moment on our democratic path.”
“It would defeat the spirit of the revolution that toppled the illegitimate and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina if people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process,” Tarique Rahman, the party's acting chairman, wrote on the social media platform X.
In a statement Monday, the United Nation’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the transition of power in Bangladesh must be “in line with the country’s international obligations” and “inclusive and open to the meaningful participation of all Bangladeshis.”
Hasina landed at a military airfield near New Delhi on Monday after leaving Dhaka and met India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Indian Express newspaper reported. The report said Hasina was taken to a safe house and is likely to travel to the United Kingdom.
The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the polls, and the US and the UK denounced the result as not credible, though the government defended it.
India’s external affairs minister confirmed her presence in the country, but did not indicate whether she intends to stay.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told parliament that Hasina "at very short notice she requested approval to come for the moment to India.”