US blizzard to affect 65 mn across 18 states

Washington, Feb 2 (IANS) As many as 65 million people across 18 states in the US ran the risk of being affected by a winter storm that ramped up in the US Great Plains, while a blizzard warning was sounded in Chicago, media reported Sunday.


 According to a CNN report, Chicago could get as much as 15 inches (nearly 40 centimeters) of snow from the storm, which would affect its population of over 9 million.

 The report added that the storm was headed for northeast US.

 "The streets will stay plowed and passable. So people will be safe and secure," Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, promised Sunday.

 More than 350 pieces of equipment, including plows and salt spreaders, have been deployed across the city, officials said.

 Up to a foot (nearly 31 centimeters) of snow was forecast in parts of Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin states. Multiple winter storm warnings are in place from the eastern part of Nebraska state and the South Dakota state to the Great Plains.

 The storm will move east and affect major metropolitan areas such as New York and Boston on Monday, meteorologist Michael Guy said.

 "New York City could see a wintry mix of precipitation... with a possibility of sleet and ice," and Boston would "get another round of wintry weather with new snow accumulations from 10 to 12 inches (nearly 26 to 31 centimeters)," according to Guy.

 More than 2,000 US flights were cancelled Sunday, many of them arriving at and departing from Chicago, according to flightaware.com, an online flight tracking service.

 "Rain will be the problem across the southern portions of this storm system, with a possibility of scattered storms from east Texas to Mississippi Sunday as the storm moves east," the meteorologist said.

 A snowstorm started last Monday across the US northeast coast and ravaged the region, with millions of people living in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and other metropolises in the area being affected.

Grandmother makes Nicole Scherzinger emotional

London, Feb 2 (IANS) Nicole Scherzinger couldn't hide her emotions when her grandmother travelled from Hawaii to see the singer performing in the West End show "Cats" here.


 The 36-year-old, who performed here at the musical event Saturday, took to her Twitter page to express her feelings over the special visit by her grandmother, reports dailymail.co.uk.

 ìSo blessed to have my Tutu come all the way from Hawaii to see my show tonight #catsmusical #Ohana #GodisGood #Familyiseverything #tearsofjoy,î Scherzinger tweeted.

 She also posted a photograph of herself and her grandmother in which she is in full costume ahead of her performance in the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical.

 Donning a blue dress, her grandmother is seen hugging the singer.

Palestine says decision to join ICC 'irreversible'

Ramallah, Feb 2 (IANS) Palestine's decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) was irreversible, a top Palestinian official said Sunday.


 "All powers on earth will never bring the clock back," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio, in an interview, which was cited by Xinhua in its report.

 Erekat added that the Palestinian leadership was heading towards becoming a member in the ICC.

 He accused the Israeli government of ignoring all international laws and conventions, adding, "Israel counts on the logic of arrogance of power and the protection by the American Congress."

 The veteran politician warned that if Israel continued its policies of expanding settlements and withholding Palestine's tax revenue dues, "we will seriously reconsider our political and security ties with Israel".

 Meanwhile, he said that the central council of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) "is scheduled to convene by the end of February to discuss the future of the ties with Israel".

 "The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was established in order to take the Palestinian people from the status of being under occupation to the status of having independence and having a state," said Erekat.

 After receiving Palestine's request to join the ICC, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that the state of Palestine would become a member of the ICC by April 1.

 However, the US considered the Palestinian move "an unconstructive way to go ahead in the Middle East peace process".

 Israel last month, had called for cutting funding for the ICC over the tribunal's decision to probe possible Israeli war crimes during last year's war with Hamas in Gaza.

 In response to the Palestinian move to join international treaties, mainly the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel withheld the tax revenue it collects from Palestinian imports.

 Erekat had earlier said that the ties between Palestine and Israel would never return to what it used to be before signing up to join international agencies and treaties, mainly the ICC.

Noel Gallagher lacks pop knowledge

London, Feb 2 (IANS) Musician Noel Gallagher says he always gets the music questions wrong at parent quiz nights.


 The 47-year-old has sons Donovan, 7, and four-year-old Sonny with wife Sara MacDonald and 15-year-old daughter Anais with first wife Meg Matthews.

 ìI've been to a couple but the trouble is, I usually get the music questions wrong,î Gallagher said, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

 ìIt's always, 'What was Number 1 for 19 weeks in 1974?' I dunno ... oh, Mungo f***ing Jerry. Which is when everyone on the table looks at me, as if to say, 'I thought you were a musician? 'Yeah, I am, but ask me some questions about Britpop'," he added.

France won't write-off Greek debt

Paris, Feb 2 (IANS) France said Sunday that it would not write off Greece's debt, though French Finance Minister Michel Sapin proposed to discuss ways to reduce the debt burden.


 Sapin said that the French government "would like to discuss ways to reduce the weight of this debt and the reimbursement of this debt", following his meeting with Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis, according to a Xinhua report.

 Varoufakis is on a tour of Europe to find support to ease Greece's 320 billion euro (nearly $362 billion) debt burden, which constituted about 175 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

 "We can discuss, we can delay, we can reduce, but we won't annul (Greece's debt)," Sapin said, reiterating that "there is no question of annulling Greece's debt".

 Varoufakis expressed hope that a comprehensive agreement on the financial situation in Greece would be reached by the "end of May".

 "Until then, we will not ask for new loans", he said.

 "We need a little time to explain the government's position to different partners," he said, wishing to have "until the end of this month (February) to lay on our table the detailed proposals".

 Athens had earlier refused to cooperate with the auditors of the "troika" of lenders comprising the European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), who monitor the Greek economy on behalf of the three lenders.

 Notably, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had ruled out further debt cuts for Greece. 

Aniston was almost replaced as Rachel in 'Friends'

Los Angeles, Feb 2 (IANS) Actress Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green in the popular sitcom "Friends" between 1994 and 2004, says she was almost replaced just before the show got aired.


 Speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the 45-year-old actress said that producers were thinking of recasting the role of Rachel Green because of Anistonís commitment to the short-lived series ìMuddling Throughî, reports dailymail.co.uk.

 ìëFriendsí came when I was off doing ëMuddling Throughí,î Aniston said.

 ìSo there was a period where I had to stand out of the photographs for the group shots, and I had phone calls from girlfriends saying, ëIím auditioning for your part in ëFriends',î she added.

 However, ëMuddling Throughí only lasted for three months in 1994.

 ìThey just took the chance that ëMuddling Throughí would fail after the 10 episodes they picked it up for, and so I just started doing this back-and-forth from Sony to Warner Bros for two weeks,î Aniston said.

Amit Shah to review BJP membership drive in Lucknow

Lucknow, Feb 2 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah would be arriving on a day-long visit to Lucknow Monday, a party spokesman said.


 Shah is scheduled to drive straight from the Amausi airport in the city to the Ganna Sansthan auditorium, where he will review the progress of the party's membership drive in Uttar Pradesh.

 State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpayi, general secretary in-charge of the state Om Mathur, national membership drive in-charge and party vice-president Dinesh Sharma, general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal and other state unit leaders would also be present at the review meeting, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS.

 The BJP national president will later interact with party leaders, office bearers and workers at the state party headquarters at Vidhan Sabha Marg.

 Shah's visit is being seen with surprise in political circles here as he was "very engaged" with the ongoing campaigning and strategy making for the Delhi assembly elections, which are being seen as a close fight between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

 Sources said Amit Shah was keeping a "close tab" on developments in Uttar Pradesh and was not taking any chances with the party organisation, especially with the party aiming to wrest power from the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the assembly elections in the state in 2017.

 With the Uttar Pradesh BJP claiming to have crossed the one crore membership mark in the state, a party leader said that while Shah would take stock of the numbers and audit the data, he would also strategise with state leaders, on what was being seen by political observers as a "weak-visioned state unit".

 Since the party swept the state in the Lok Sabha elections in May last year, winning 71 out of the 80 parliamentary seats on its own, the party has suffered a series of electoral reverses, worrying strategists.

 All but one of the BJP's sitting members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) lost in the assembly bypolls last year, candidates in the Cantonment Board elections supported by the party have bitten the dust in Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad and its candidate lost in the Legislative Council elections.