Bitterly cold weather that has claimed hundreds of lives in eastern Europe swept westwards over the continent Saturday, blanketing Rome's Colosseum with snow for the first time in three decades and disrupting air and rail traffic. Russian gas exporter Gazprom said it was unable to meet increased European demand as it battles its own deep freeze, and had reduced supplies "for a few days" before returning them to normal levels. In Bwelgrade, soldiers were deployed to clear the central boulevard. Hundreds of unemployed responded to an offer of 1,600 dinars (10 euros) pay to join snow clearing efforts. "I haven't worked for months and I have a family to feed," said Zoran Djidovac, a 30-year-old former metal worker. "The authorities said we'll be working for several days so this money will make a change for a while." Near Moscow, a couple and seven of their children died in a blaze at their makeshift home overnight, apparently victims of a badly rigged-up stove which burned out of control. A nine-year-old girl was the sole survivor, Russian state TV said. But in the capital tens of thousands took to demonstrated to demand fair elections in a march against Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule despite minus 17 Celsius (1 Fahrenheit) conditions, and supporters of the prime minister staged a similar sized rally. To the west, hundreds of passengers spent the night at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport - one of the busiest in Europe - as their flights were delayed or cancelled. London's Heathrow Airport warned it would operate a much reduced service Sunday with snow and freezing temperatures predicted to hit much of England over the weekend.
0 comments:
Post a Comment