Extreme winter weather is causing major disruption in the US as a continuing wave of Arctic storms hit flights, NFL playoff games and election campaigns.
Dangerously cold wind, freezing rain and heavy snow are predicted for much of the country this weekend with temperatures threatening to drop to record lows in the midwest.
Governors from New York to Louisiana warned residents to be prepared for bad weather as parts of Montana fell below -34C on Saturday morning, while the National Weather Service said lows of -46C are possible in the Dakotas.
“We’ve had, now, multiple back-to-back storms,” said weather service meteorologist Zach Taylor.
At least two deaths have been linked to the cold weather, including a man whose truck went through the ice on a Minnesota lake and a skier caught in an avalanche in Idaho.
More than 1,100 internal and international flights were cancelled on Saturday, while there were more than 3,500 delays, according to FlightAware.
Republican contenders Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump all cancelled campaign events because of the winter storm.
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Image: Iowa has been hit by blizzards. Pic: AP
Image: Republican presidential campaign events have been cancelled. Pic: AP
The NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed until Monday because of dangerous weather conditions, New York governor Kathy Hochul said.
The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Miami Dolphins in what is expected to be one of the coldest NFL playoff games in history, with the temperature at kick-off a predicted -18C and the wind making it feel like -31C.
Some fans donned ski goggles, heated socks and other winter gear ahead of the game.
Chiefs season ticket holder Keaton said he and his family and friends considered selling their tickets, adding: “But we decided that it’s all part of the experience, and we didn’t want to miss it.”
There were power cuts in hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country, mainly in Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin, according to poweroutage.
In Iowa, some cars were stuck for five hours in blizzards after trucks blocked traffic on Interstate 80, leaving 100 vehicles trapped, while state troopers dealt with 86 crashes and 535 calls for assistance from drivers since Friday.
State Patrol sergeant Alex Dinkla said road crews were “working the snow-blowers like crazy,” but high winds were blowing snow straight back onto roadways.
On Day 77, US correspondents Mark Stone and David Blevins answer your questions on everything from Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and their impact on American consumers, to Trump’s relationship with Putin and if they have plans for the Arctic, and penguins.
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Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Image: Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Image: Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
Image: People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
Image: A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
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“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
Image: A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
Image: A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Protesters refuse to take Donald Trump’s policies lying down
It was built to honour George Washington, a founding father of the United States.
And in the shadow of the 555ft Washington Monument, protestors were refusing to accept Donald Trump’s policies lying down.
“Stand tall,” they chanted, again and again.
“In every city, stand tall. In every state, stand tall. In truth, stand tall. In justice, stand tall.”
Those words, shouted by thousands on the city’s iconic mall, were reinforced by the words on their placards and t-shirts.
A minister, wearing a t-shirt with ‘Troublesome Priest’ printed on it, told me she found what was happening in the US government “appalling and immortal”.
One man said he had won the long-distance award, having travelled 2,750 miles from Hawaii for the protest.
“I finally reached a breaking point,” he added. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Another woman said: “We have to speak up, we have to act, we have to do something, because this is not America.”
I asked her what she would say to those who argue the people did speak when they elected Donald Trump as president.
She replied: “Some people have spoken and then some people have not and those of us that have not, we need to speak now.”
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Image: People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Image: Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.