cede

power to the man internationally recognised as having won last month's presidential election, Alassane Ouattara. As John James reports from Abidjan, the atmosphere remains tense.

A general strike called by political parties that back Alassane Ouattara was announced late on Sunday night and

initially

changed little here on the ground. This evening local time, the taxis and buses were starting to go on strike, and workers are rushing home early to avoid getting caught out. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone fears a military intervention in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, supporters of Alassane Ouattara have peacefully taken over the Ivory Coast embassy in Paris. The move came after France, the former colonial power, recognised Mr Ouattara's proposed envoy as the

legitimate

ambassador.

Heavy snow and high wind continues to cause widespread disruption across a large area of the northeast of the United States as some of the worst weather in recent years sweeps across the region. Jonny Dymond reports.

It's not just the scale of the snow that has thrown the northeast coast into transport chaos, it's also the speed of it. In a matter of hours, 30, 40, in one place almost 75cm of snow fell.

Six states have declared a state of emergency. In New York, all three airports remain closed. Some passengers spent hours on board grounded planes

only to

disembark

and spent an uncomfortable night in the terminals.