By Peter Barker
LONDON http://www.pittsburghpenguinsteamstore. … ere-jersey , Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The St Jude storm in Britain has left a trail of death and damage in its wake on Monday.
A man and a woman were killed in a gas explosion in the west London area of Hounslow after a tree fell and severed a gas main. The explosion destroyed three properties. A Metropolitan Police Spokesman told Xinhua that three more people were injured taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl was killed in Kent when the caravan she was sleeping in was crushed by a falling tree, and a man, 50, died after a tree fell on his car in Watford, north of London.
Police are still searching for a boy who went missing on Sunday from the coastal town of Newhaven, Sussex, when heavy seas hit the shore.
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION
The storm, dubbed St Jude because Monday is St Jude's day, had been tracked by weather experts for nearly a week as it built up in the Atlantic before blowing across Britain.
The rail network in southern England and the English Midlands was especially badly hit, with the storm sweeping north and east across the country from its south west, hitting many areas during the morning rush hour.
However the experience of cooperation among transport, government and emergency bodies during the London Olympic Games in 2012 had proved useful this time, according to a spokeswoman from Transport for London (TfL) which handles London's public transport.
"That level of preparation and being able to respond has meant we have been able to keep as many services going as possible," she said.
During the morning rush hour, many of London's 11 underground lines had suffered delays caused by the storm, but none were closed.
"This evening things are pretty much back on track. Everything is running fine, with a couple of minor delays in the outer areas," the spokeswoman said.
Sir Peter Hendy, London's Transport Commissioner said the TfL services "coped well with the stormy conditions. We put into action well-rehearsed plans to minimize disruption across our road and rail networks, working quickly to remove fallen trees and debris."
"On the Tube, DLR and Tramlink, services started up as normal and extra staff were on hand to move fallen trees and branches and ensured any local service disruptions were quickly resolved," he added.
Surface train services were badly hit, with the extensive London Overground network canceling all early morning trains.
Train services were also cancelled at many of London's main rail terminals such as Victoria, Marylebone, and Waterloo, causing massive disruption for morning commuters.
However the situation had improved by the evening, and a Network Rail spokesman said "most routes are now open."
The spokesman said about 200 fallen trees had been cleared from blocked rail lines, and added that a normal service had not yet been fully resumed.
At London's main airport Heathrow, about 130 flights were canceled throughout the day.
A spokeswoman told Xinhua that the cancellations had been planned the day before because the danger the storm posed to transport had been publicized earlier.
"We were aware the storm was coming and yesterday we cancelled 130 of today's flights," she said, adding that the airport was operating normally by the early evening.
At London's Gatwick Airport, which handles about 700 flights each day, just six were canceled because of the weather.
The effect of the storm also hit the top of British government with high winds blowing over a crane in the early morning which fell on the Cabinet Office in the Downing Street area, causing the cancellation of a press conference by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
On the south coast of England at Dungeness in Kent, a nuclear power station had to shut down because of rough seas, and elsewhere across southern England up to 200,000 homes lost power at one point or another.
MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for strengthening the country's armed forces to tackle challenges posed by other countries.
"We can see how other countries are openly declaring their geopolitical claims without stopping short of open interference in the internal affairs of independent states. In addition to that, they are actively building up and modernizing their military arsenals," he was quoted by TASS as saying at a meeting of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission.
The president compared Russia's defense spending with those of other world powers, stressing that "these are incommensurable quantities. They are just incommensurable. They spend many times more than we do."
"We can and should respond to this challenge but without being dragged into a costly arms race," Putin said, adding "Russia is not threatening anybody and seeks to resolve all disputable issues at the negotiating table. This is the way we are going to act in future. We are going to stick exactly to this kind of policy."
The Russian head of state asked the country's military industry to focus on the development of high technologies to protect Russia 's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests.
"We are going to further strengthen our armed forces and the military organization on the whole, to take all necessary measures to make our armed forces more modern, mobile, well-equipped and capable of fulfilling the main task - that is to neutralize risks and political threats as well as potential threats to the security of our country," Putin said.
To this end, the president pledged to increase the financing of the foundation for advanced research projects in the defense industry.
"In 2015, the foundation needs to focus its efforts on the accelerated development of the breakthrough industrial know-how which must match the new, sixth technological mode," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agen. Cheap Nike NFL Shirts Cheap Nike NBA Shirts Cheap Adidas NHL Hoodies Cheap College Hats Wholesale Shirts Wholesale Shirts Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys From China Wholesale Authentic Soccer Jerseys