Spain paralysed by snowstorm, sends out vaccine, food convoys
MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies on Monday to areas cut off by Storm Filomena which brought the heaviest snowfall in decades across central Spain and killed four people.
MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies on Monday to areas cut off by Storm Filomena which brought the heaviest snowfall in decades across central Spain and killed four people.
Across central Spain, over 430 roads were affected by the rare blizzard and hundreds of travellers were stranded at Madrid's Barajas airport, which closed on Friday but will reopen gradually later on Sunday.
Forecasters warned of dangerous conditions in the coming days, with temperatures expected to fall to up to minus 10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) next week and the prospect of snow turning to ice and damaged trees falling.
"The commitment is to guarantee the supply of health, vaccines and food. Corridors have been opened to deliver the goods," transport minister Jose Luis Abalos said on Sunday.
About 100 workers and shoppers have spent two nights sleeping at a shopping centre in Majadahonda, a town north of Madrid, after they were trapped by the blizzard on Friday.
"There are people sleeping on the ground on cardboard," Ivan Alcala, a restaurant worker, told TVE television.
Dr Álvaro Sanchez walked 17 km through the snow on Saturday to work at a hospital in Majadahonda, prompting owners of 4x4 vehicles to give health workers lifts to work.
One man and a woman in a car drowned after a river burst near Malaga in the south, while two homeless people froze to death in Madrid and Calatayud in the east, officials said.
Train services from Madrid, which were cancelled since Friday, resumed on Sunday.
The State Metereological Agency (Aemet) said up to 20-30 cm (7-8 inches) of snow fell in Madrid on Saturday, the most since 1971.
(Reporting by Graham Keeley, Juan Medina and Susana Vera Guillermo Martinez; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Frances Kerry and Bernadette Baum)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read
France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States
China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.