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Ice from winter storm leaves million customers without power in US

A massive winter storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the US on Sunday, bringing subzero temperatures and paralysing air and road traffic. Tree branches and power lines snapped under the weight of ice, and about a million homes and businesses in the Southeast were left without electricity.

The ice and snowfall were expected to continue into Monday in much of the country, followed by very low temperatures, which could cause “dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts” to linger for several days, the National Weather Service said.

Heavy snow was forecast from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, while “catastrophic ice accumulation” threatened from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

“It is a unique storm in the sense that it is so widespread,” weather service meteorologist Allison Santorelli said in a phone interview. “It was affecting areas all the way from New Mexico, Texas, all the way into New England, so we're talking like a 2,000 mile spread.” President Donald Trump had approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states by Saturday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-positioned commodities, staff and search and rescue teams in numerous states, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

Uttarakhand: 4 wildlife smugglers arrested with leopard skin in Pauri

Police on Sunday arrested four suspected wildlife smugglers with a leopard skin, an officer said. Pauri senior superintendent of police said they had received a tip-off that wildlife smugglers were staying at a hotel in Srinagar, where, subsequently, a raid was made.

The four were identified as Safri Lal, Surjan Lal, Roshan Lal, and Basantu Lal. Safri Lal and Basantu Lal are uncle and nephew. A case has been registered against all four under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

During questioning, Safri Lal of Chapad village in Rudraprayag district revealed that he and Basantu Lal had hunted a leopard in the forest near their village a few months ago.

He said Roshan Lal and Surjan Lal, both from Tehri district and their acquaintances, were interested in buying the leopard skin for a sum that ran into several lakhs. Safari Lal said the four had gathered in the hotel room in Srinagar for a negotiation on the price. 

Ferry carrying more than 350 people sinks in southern Philippines

A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank in the southern Philippines after midnight and rescuers have saved at least 215 passengers and retrieved seven bodies, officials said Monday.

The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry, was sailing to southern Jolo island in Sulu province from the port city of Zamboanga with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it apparently encountered technical problems and sank, said coast guard officials. The officials also provided the figures on passengers rescued and bodies retreived.

Mujiv Hataman, governor of the island province of Basilan near where the ferry capsized, told The Associated Press that passengers and two bodies were brought to Isabela, the provincial capital.

“I'm receiving 37 people here in the pier. Unfortunately two are dead,” Hataman said from the Isabela pier. Search and rescue efforts were being done in good weather off Basilan province by the Philippine coast guard and navy, along with a fleet of fishing boats.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

25 killed in attack by Islamic State-backed group in eastern Congo

An attack by an Islamic State-linked militant group in eastern Congo killed at least 25 people early Sunday, a rights group based in Ituri province said.

The dead from the attack by the Allied Democratic Force, or ADF, include 15 men who were burned alive in a house and seven who were shot in the village of Apakulu in the Irumu territory of Ituri province. Three others were killed in Walese Vonkutu administrative area.

“This tragedy occurred around 4 am and claimed the lives of at least 25 people. This incursion by the ADF is a true massacre,” Christophe Munyanderu, president of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, said.

There was no immediate statement from the ADF. The eastern region of Congo has witnessed several attacks in recent months by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

The ADF, which operates in the border region between Uganda and Congo, has killed several civilians. The group grew out of an insurgency against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's rule but was pushed into Congo after Ugandan military assaults. Last July, it carried out a series of attacks that killed more than 100 people.