USA Update

FLIGHTS and ferries have been cancelled due to 70mph winds, adding to the Christmas getaway chaos.

Millions of travellers are continuing to take to the roads in a bid to be with family and friends for the festivities.

Alamy

The Met Office is forecasting 70mph gales[/caption]

MET Office

A wind warning is in place until Sunday evening[/caption]

George Cracknell Wright

Traffic queues on the A102M Blackwall Tunnel approach in Greenwich[/caption]

LNP

A Jet2 aircraft is blown about as it departs Leeds Bradford airport[/caption]

The Met Office said warnings for “severe” gales are expected to remain in place until 9pm today – more than 24 hours after being issued.

Warnings remain in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and in England the warnings cover the North East, North West, South West and West Midlands as well as Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Hampshire.

And this morning, more snow is expected in parts of Scotland.

The Met Office said: “Snow will be focused over hills, where several centimetres may fall, but some sleet, snow and hail may fall to quite low levels for a time, bringing possible icy conditions by Sunday morning.”

HEATHROW

Yesterday Heathrow Airport announced a “small number of flights” had been cancelled due to “strong winds and airspace restriction” and British Airways said disruption was likely to continue throughout the weekend.

A spokesperson for the airline said: “Due to adverse weather this weekend, restrictions have been put on the number of flights able to take off and land at Heathrow and therefore we’ve had to make a small number of cancellations.

“We’re offering free flight changes for those customers booked on short-haul services who don’t wish to travel this weekend, and we will be offering rebooking and refund options as always to those whose journeys are disrupted as a result of the restrictions.

“While the vast majority of our customers will travel as planned, our teams are working hard to help those who have been affected get their travel plans back on track at this important time of year.”

P&O Ferries said journeys between Larne and Cairnryan have been cancelled until at least 8pm on Sunday.

CalMac, which operates ferry services on Scotland’s west coast, said 29 of its 30 routes were either cancelled or affected by disruption on Sunday.

Rail operator ScotRail announced that speed restrictions would be in place for part of the route between Glasgow and Oban/Mallaig, and the Inverness service to Kyle/Wick.

It comes amid warnings of a “perfect storm” created by bad weather and congestion on the roads.

The AA predicted 21.3 million drivers will hit the road on Sunday while 22.7 million had been expected on Saturday, slightly fewer than the 23.7 million on Friday which was expected to be the busiest day on the roads since the group’s records began in 2010.

A spokesperson said “if the congestion wasn’t enough of a headache, the inclement weather could create the perfect storm”.

“We advise those heading out to allow extra time to travel and increase the distance between themselves and other road users.”

The RAC estimated seven million leisure trips would be made on major roads during the weekend, which excludes everyday traffic.

It predicted that congestion hotspots will be on both directions of the M1 to Gatwick via the M25 and the M23; Liverpool to Chester on the M53; Oxford to the south coast via the A34 and the M3; the M25 to the south coast along the M3; and at the Taunton to Almondsbury Interchange in Bristol heading down the M5.

It comes after Heathrow said earlier this week it was preparing for the “busiest Christmas ever”.

The West London airport expects the number of passengers travelling through its terminals on December 25 to be 21 per cent higher than on the same day last year.

It also predicts that passenger numbers for the month as a whole will exceed the previous record of 6.7 million in 2023.

The airport made the forecast after confirming it served 6.5 million passengers last month in the “busiest ever November”.

Alamy

Traffic almost at a standstill with long queues on Southbound carriageway on M5 motorway at Exeter[/caption]

Dave Nelson

Stormy weather hits Blackpool‘s North Shore[/caption]

AT LEAST 38 people have been killed in a horror crash after a packed bus collided with a lorry in Brazil before bursting into flames.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the fatal smash as a “terrible tragedy” with harrowing images showing the burnt out bus left on the side of the road.

AFP

The burnt out wreckage of the bus after the collision[/caption]

AFP

A car was also trapped underneath the lorry[/caption]

AFP

Debris was sent flying across the road in the horror crash with bus seats seen strewn across the ground[/caption]

The coach, carrying 45 passengers, caught on fire after one of its tyres suddenly blew out and sent the motor out of control, horrified witnesses said.

The driver battled to keep it on the road before it ploughed into an oncoming lorry.

Dozens of the passengers were ultimately killed along with the driver as the bus smashed off the concrete road.

Moments later the impact sparked a deadly inferno.

Footage shows firefighters putting out the burning bus wreckage as it laid on the side of the busy main road in the country’s eastern state of Minas Gerais.

Other onlookers also told rescue teams that the bus hit a granite block as it spiralled out of control.

The lorry was left in a severely damaged state with pictures showing it appeared to collide with a separate car just seconds after the initial crash.

The small car was crushed underneath the weight of the truck but the driver and two passengers are said to have miraculously escaped.

The truck driver later fled the scene, say local media.

Another 13 people were taken to hospital following the crash, the local fire department said.

Mr da Silva added in a statement: “I deeply regret and send my prayers to the families of the more than 30 fatalities from the accident in Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais.

“I pray for the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy.”

Local governor Romeu Zema wrote on X that he had ordered “full mobilisation” of the Minas Gerais government to help the victim’s loved ones.

More than 10,000 people have tragically died in traffic accidents in Brazil this year alone.

It comes just months after three people were killed in a horrific bus crash carrying a Brazilian football team to a championship game.

Local media claims the trio who died were players from the American football team the Coritiba Crocodiles of the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba.

In May, Brazilian country music star Ana Paula Vieira was killed alongside her boyfriend in a horrifying head-on car crash.

The 27-year-old was driving home with her partner Marcelo Stocco, 32, after performing her final gig in Cacoal when they collided with a tractor-trailer – leaving the car mangled at the side of the highway.

Reuters

Firefighters inspect the wreckage[/caption]

AFP

A crane works to move the bus from the side of the road[/caption]

A US fighter jet has been shot down over the Red Sea in a “friendly fire” strike after the warplane sent on a secret Houthi mission.

The incident has been dubbed the most serious to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen‘s terrorist Houthi rebels.

Getty

An F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet takes off from the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower[/caption]

Getty

A U.S. Marine McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet is displayed at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar[/caption]

Two pilots had to eject from their stricken aircraft and were thankfully recovered alive, with one suffering minor injuries.

But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis.

This is all while US and European military coalitions patrol the area.

The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemens Houthi rebels at the time – but the US military’s Central Command didn’t disclose just what the mission was.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command confirmed.

On December 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn’t specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

Central Command said in a statement: “The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18.”

From the military’s description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the Red Rippers of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.

However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels.

Incoming hostile fire from the terrorist Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since the Truman’s arrival, the US has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area.

But the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the rebels.

That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel.

Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.

The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US – and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israels campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

But many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict – including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

Getty

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet aircraft of the Spain Air Force participate in the Tactical Leadership Programme[/caption]

Indonesian fans of Netflix's "Squid Game" braved the rain to play a real-life adaptation of the show's iconic "Red Light Green Light" game on Sunday (December 22) in Jakarta.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has denied issuing a memorandum regarding the "cancellation" of the Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) to its personnel.

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu's main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people.

Filipino-German forward Patrick Reichelt has announced his retirement from international football, a day after the Philippines secured qualification to the semifinals of the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

The Philippine National Police on Sunday announced that its anti-narcotics crackdown seized more than P20 billion worth of illegal drugs this year.

Ayon kay Provincial Election Supervisor Vidzfar Julie, ‘di na bago sa kanya ang mga banta sa kanyang buhay.

South Korean actor Jung Hae-in describes the passion of Filipino fans as 'no joke,' following the warm welcome he received at his press conference and fan meet in Manila.