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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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World

Iran Chief Negotiator Ghalibaf Appointed to Oversee Ties with China

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa -
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa -
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Iran Chief Negotiator Ghalibaf Appointed to Oversee Ties with China

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa -
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa -

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who recently emerged as a chief negotiator in talks with the United States, has been appointed to oversee relations with China, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

"Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has recently been appointed as a special representative of the Islamic republic of Iran for China affairs," Tasnim news agency reported, citing "informed sources,” with other media carrying similar reports.

It was not immediately clear who appointed Ghalibaf to the role, but Tasnim said he would "coordinate various sectors of relations between Iran and China.”

Pakistan's Interior Minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday "to facilitate" the peace talks between Iran and the US that have stalled despite a fragile ceasefire, Iranian media reported.

Islamabad has been actively mediating in the peace talks and last month hosted a high stakes meeting between delegations from both sides.

A ceasefire that began on April 8 has largely halted the fighting that erupted when US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on February 28.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran had received messages from Washington indicating that President Donald Trump's administration was willing to continue negotiations.

World

Ukraine Drones Kill 4 in Russia, Moscow Faces Biggest Attack in Over a Year

This handout video grab taken from a footage released on August 14, 2025, on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, shows a scene of a alleged Ukrainian strike in Belgorod. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @vvgladkov / AFP)
This handout video grab taken from a footage released on August 14, 2025, on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, shows a scene of a alleged Ukrainian strike in Belgorod. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @vvgladkov / AFP)
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Ukraine Drones Kill 4 in Russia, Moscow Faces Biggest Attack in Over a Year

This handout video grab taken from a footage released on August 14, 2025, on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, shows a scene of a alleged Ukrainian strike in Belgorod. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @vvgladkov / AFP)
This handout video grab taken from a footage released on August 14, 2025, on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, shows a scene of a alleged Ukrainian strike in Belgorod. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @vvgladkov / AFP)

At least four people were killed in a major Ukrainian drone attack on Russian regions, including Moscow, which faced its largest assault in more than a year.

Three people died in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region, authorities said on Sunday.

Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a woman was killed ⁠when a home ⁠was hit in Khimki, north of the capital, adding that rescuers were searching the debris for another person. Two men were killed in the village of Pogorelki ⁠in the Mytishchi district. Several residential high-rises and infrastructure facilities were damaged, he said.

Air defenses destroyed 81 drones headed for Moscow since midnight, TASS reported, citing Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, making it the largest attack on the capital in over a year.

Sobyanin said 12 people were injured, mostly near the entrance ⁠to ⁠Moscow's oil refinery, while three houses were damaged. The "technology" of the refinery was not damaged, he added.

Russia's defense ministry said 556 drones had been downed over the country overnight and into the morning.

The country's largest airport - Moscow's Sheremetyevo - said drone debris had fallen on its territory without causing any damage.

World

WHO: Ebola Outbreak in Congo and Uganda Declared Public Health Emergency

FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
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WHO: Ebola Outbreak in Congo and Uganda Declared Public Health Emergency

FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.

In a post on X, the World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

Health authorities have confirmed the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported, The Associated Press reported.

Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in neighboring Uganda, the WHO said.

Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Congo's eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.

“There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” Tedros said.

Uganda on Saturday confirmed one case it said was imported from Congo, and said the patient died at a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and the WHO said that a second case has been reported in Kampala. The two cases had no apparent links to each other and both patients had traveled from Congo, it added.

The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37 people.

The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.

WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.

In 2024 when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.