More than 100 domestic flights in Japan were grounded on Sunday due to heavy snow in the northern and western parts of the country, Japan's two biggest airlines said.
ANA Holdings had halted 79 flights as of 4:00 pm (0700 GMT), affecting about 5,100 passengers, said Hiroaki Hayakawa, an operations director for the airline.
Japan Airlines Co had cancelled 49 flights as of 4:00 pm (0700 GMT), affecting 2,460 passengers, a representative with the airline's operations division said.
Worldwide, thousands of flights have been cancelled over the Christmas weekend because of the rapid spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Japan, which tightened border controls to counter the threat from Omicron, has reported only about a dozen cases of community spread of the new variant and 231 total Omicron infections, including overseas arrivals, according to the health ministry.
Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week.
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the island province of Leyte in central Philippines on Friday, with damage and aftershocks expected, its seismology agency said.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi will contest the general election from the family bastion in the north, his Congress party announced on Friday, a move that will challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a region he dominates.
A bus veered into a ravine in Pakistan's far north early on Friday, a local government spokesman said, killing 20 passengers, while 21 injured were rescued and taken to hospital.