India Weather News Live Updates: 2000 vehicles stuck in J-K’s Anantnag after first snowfall of the season, CM Omar Abdullah assures relief efforts

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her agency will need to start taking “extraordinary measures,” or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling, as early as January 14, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon. “Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23,” Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation’s debt ceiling – which has been suspended until Jan 1, 2025.

The department has in the past deployed what are known as “extraordinary measures” or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. But once those measures run out the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the US government’s ability to borrow.

“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” she said.

Russian air defense systems may have brought down an Azerbaijani airliner this week, a U.S. official said Friday after an Azerbaijani minister also suggested the plane was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor accounts.

Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. These statements raised pressure on Russia, where officials said a drone attack was underway in the region where the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was heading for a landing. They did not address statements blaming air defenses.

Kirby told reporters on Friday that the U.S. “have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” but refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.

Two Canadian Cabinet ministers met with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary at Mar-a-Lago on Friday as Canada tries to avoid sweeping tariffs when Trump takes office. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, as well as North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department.

Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products if Canada does not stem what he calls a flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States – even though far fewer of each cross into the US from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened.

“Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a follow-up to the dinner between the Prime Minister and President Trump last month,” said Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar concluded a two-day conference of the team at the Indian Embassy in the US and Consuls General. He expressed confidence in the deliberations and noted that they would plummet the India-US partnership.

Jaishankar wrote on X, “Concluded a very useful two day conference of team @IndianEmbassyUS and our Consuls General in Washington DC today. Confident from the deliberations that the continuous growth of the India-US partnership will be accelerated.”

Dozens of Chinese workers found by authorities in poor condition at a construction site in Brazil for electric vehicle automaker BYD have been taken and placed in hotels in the country’s tropical northeast region.

Local prosecutors alleged that the laborers are victims of human trafficking who were living in “slavery-like conditions” under contractor Jinjiang Group, but offered no evidence to back up their claims.

It’s unclear if the Chinese workers were in Brazil without proper papers and working permits. The Bahia state Labor Prosecutor’s Office could not comment when reached by The Associated Press, saying an investigation was underway.

Incessant rains continued to lash parts of Delhi in the early hours of Saturday. Heavy rainfall and gusty winds led to the uprooting of trees in several areas of the national capital.

In Sector-9, RK Puram, a portion of a road caved in, causing a motorcycle and a car to fall into the affected area.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms at several locations across Delhi and NCR, with more rainfall expected in the day.

This includes areas like Palam, Safdarjung, Lodi Road, IGI Airport, Mehrauli, Chhattarpur, Ayanagar, Deramandi, Gurugram, Faridabad, and Manesar. Noida and Manesar are also likely to witness moderate to heavy rainfall and lightning.

A collision between a bus and a truck on Mexico’s Gulf coast Friday left eight people dead and 27 others injured. Prosecutors in Veracruz state said the accident happened before dawn on a stretch of highway near the state capital, Xalapa.

Most of the victims were apparently passengers aboard the ADO-line bus. The dead included three men, four women and a girl.

The 27 injured were being treated at local hospitals, but there was no immediate information on their condition.

Around 2,000 vehicles were stuck at Qazigund town in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J-K) Anantnag following the valley’s first snowfall of the season on Friday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said.

CM Abdullah mentioned that he has spoken with the Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag about the current situation, adding that heavy vehicles are being allowed to move & efforts are on to clear the rest of the stranded vehicles.”

In a post on X on Friday night, CM Omar Abdullah said, “Just spoke to DC Anantnag about the current situation of the road between Qazigund & the tunnel. The icy conditions have caused traffic to back up. The stranded vehicles, in both directions, are slowly moving & where necessary being assisted.”