ISTANBUL // A heavy snowstorm brought Istanbul to a standstill on Saturday, with hundreds of flights cancelled and the Bosphorus closed to shipping.
The storm dropped about 40 centimetres of snow in parts of the Turkish metropolis overnight, causing havoc on roads as travellers sought to leave the city for the weekend getaway.
The weather was part of a cold spell across Europe that has killd at least 20 people in two days, with the frigid temperatures expected to continue through the weekend.
The treacherous in Istanbul conditions left many stranded overnight. Some spent ten hours or more in their vehicles waiting for conditions to improve but many drivers abandoned their cars and set off on foot.
The municipal authorities reported dozens of accidents by vehicles sliding on icy surfaces and the underground train system operated through the night.
Turkish Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights in and out of the city’s main Ataturk airport and dozens of planes were diverted to other airports because of the heavy snowfall, which began on Friday evening.
About 6,000 of its passengers had to be accommodated in hotels due to the cancellations and 20,000 meals were distributed to those stranded at the airport.
Pegasus Airlines cancelled some 200 flights in and out of Sabiha Gokcen airport, on the Asian side of the city.
The Bosphorus strait, which runs through Istanbul, and the Dardanelles strait further south were closed to transit shipping due to poor visibility on Saturday morning.
The straits are some of the world’s busiest channels for the maritime transit of oil, carrying more than three per cent of global supply, mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea.
The waterways, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, also carry large quantities of grain from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.
The municipal ferry company Sehir Hatlari, which handles the regular passenger crossings between the European and Asian sides of the city, announced that all its routes had been suspended for the day.
For those not travelling, the snow provided a rare chance to see Istanbul’s famous minaret and dome-studded skyline caked in a white layer of snow.
Forecasters predicted that the snowstorm would continue throughout the day before dwindling in the evening. Temperatures well below freezing are expected in the days to come.
Meanwhile, in Bulgaria on Friday the frozen bodies of two Iraqi migrants were discovered by villagers in a mountain forest in the south-east of the country near the border with Turkey.
Greece likewise has seen fierce cold weather this past week. In the north near the Turkish frontier a 20-year-old Afghan migrant died of the cold on Tuesday.
With more than 60,000 mainly Syrian refugees on its territory, Greece has moved many migrants to prefabricated houses and heated tents.
Russia celebrated the coldest Orthodox Christmas in 120 years with temperatures in Moscow falling to minus 30°C overnight.
Ten of the latest victims of the cold perished in Poland where sub-freezing conditions remain with minus 14°C forecast on Saturday.
In Italy in the past 48 hours the cold has been blamed for seven deaths, including five homeless people.
* Agence France Presse
* Reuters
Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Company profile
Company: Zywa
Started: 2021
Founders: Nuha Hashem and Alok Kumar
Based: UAE
Industry: FinTech
Funding size: $3m
Company valuation: $30m
SPEC SHEET: NOTHING PHONE (2A)
Display: 6.7-inch flexible Amoled, 2,412 x 1,080, 394ppi, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7,200 Pro, 4nm, octa-core
Memory: 8/12GB
Capacity: 128/256GB
Platform: Android 14, Nothing OS 2.5
Main camera: Dual 50MP main, f/1.88 + 50MP ultra-wide, f/2.2; OIS, EIS, auto-focus, ultra XDR, night mode
Main camera video: 4K @ 30fps, full-HD @ 60fps; slo-mo full-HD at 120fps
Front camera: 32MP wide, f/2.2
Battery: 5,000mAh; 50% in 30 minutes with 45-watt charger
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC (Google Pay)
Biometrics: Fingerprint, face unlock
I/O: USB-C
Durability: IP54, limited protection from water/dust
Cards: Dual-nano SIM
Colours: Black, milk, white
In the box: Nothing Phone (2a), USB-C-to-USB-C cable, pre-applied screen protector, Sim tray ejector tool
Price (UAE): Dh1,199 (8GB/128GB) / Dh1,399 (12GB/256GB)
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a+£60,000 watch.
- James+‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45'+1 og), van La Parra (red card 90'+6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')
Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)