Power is restored after severe storms

BEIJING - China lifted an extreme winter weather alert yesterday as the crisis sparked by the worst ice and snow storms in half a century began to wind down. By last evening, power had been restored to 162 counties, including the city of Chenzhou in hard-hit Hunan province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Seven other counties were using temporary power supplies, Xinhua said. The storms knocked out power to large sections of the country's central and eastern regions, disrupting rail and road connections just as millions of migrant workers headed home for today's Lunar New Year holiday, the only chance most have to see their families all year. (AP)

QUITO - Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano shot columns of ash miles into the air yesterday, as officials ordered the evacuation of 3,000 villagers living near its slopes. Some 1,000 villagers from the western flanks of the 16,575-foot volcano fled their homes for shelters at dawn, officials said. Experts at the Geophysics Institute warn that the activity shows no sign of slowing down, and compared it to the 2006 eruptions that buried entire villages, leaving four dead and thousands homeless. (AP)

ANKARA - Lawmakers voted early today to approve a constitutional amendment allowing female students to enter universities wearing Islamic head scarves, a move some Turks see as a threat to the traditional separation of church and state. Lawmakers voted, 401-110, in a preliminary vote in favor of the government's proposed amendment to the secular constitution. The government has defended its plan as a reform needed to give its citizens religious liberty and bring Turkey in line with European Union human rights guidelines. A second and final round of voting was slated for Saturday. (AP)