Big freeze kills over 260

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The death toll from the vicious cold snap across Europe has risen to more than 260, with the winter misery set to hit thousands of those seeking to escape it on Sunday as air traffic was hit.

Ukraine has suffered the heaviest toll with 122 deaths, including many who froze to death in the streets as temperatures plunged to as low as -38.1 C.

Airports were shut, flights and trains delayed, and highways gridlocked as emergency services raced to clear falling snow.

London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest air passenger hub, canceled 30 percent of its flights on Sunday to cope with heavy snowfall overnight and possible freezing fog.

Heathrow said up to 10 cm of snow were expected to fall which, without reductions to the flight schedule, would cause major disruption at the west London airport.

The changes could affect around 400 flights at the world's busiest airport for international passengers.

In Italy, the poor weather also hit boat passengers, when the ferry Sharden hit a breakwater shortly after setting off from a port near Rome on Saturday.

The heaviest snowfall in 27 years in Rome caused the capital, better known for its warm sunshine, to grind to a halt with taxis and buses unable to navigate through the icy streets without snow chains.

In Poland, the death toll rose to 45 as temperatures reached -27 C in the north-east. In Romania, four more victims were found, bringing the number of fatalities in the country to 28.

As Europe huddled indoors for warmth, Russian gas giant Gazprom said it could not satisfy Western Europe's demand for more energy.

"Gazprom at the moment cannot satisfy the additional volumes that our Western European partners are requesting," the company's Deputy Chairman Alexander Kruglov said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to Russian news agencies.

Frigid temperatures even edged into North Africa, with the temperature forecast to drop below freezing in Algiers on Saturday night.

Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at Britain's Met Office, said the severe wintry conditionswere expected to last, and spread to other areas.

Questions:

1. What is Ukraine's death toll?

2. How many flights would be affected by the reductions at Heathrow Airport?

3. What is the name of the Russian gas giant?

Answers:

1. 122

2. Around 400

3. Gazprom

（中国日报网英语点津 Rosy 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.