HONG KONG: A powerful storm lashed Hong Kong and Macau on Sunday, just days after a punishing typhoon swept through southern China and claimed at least 18 lives.
Both cities raised a Typhoon 8 signal, the third-highest warning level, early Sunday morning as severe tropical storm “Pakhar” made landfall in the region, where emergency workers are still battling to repair Wednesday’s damage.
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon canceled 50 flights on Sunday morning and are expecting more delays and cancelations.
All ferry services in Hong Kong were suspended.
The Typhoon 8 storm warning level would typically shut down Hong Kong’s stock market, schools and businesses.
Packing winds of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour, Pakhar — named after a freshwater fish in the lower Mekong river — smashed into southern China as worst-hit Macau was still picking up the pieces after Typhoon Hato.
Hato ripped through the gambling hub Wednesday, plunging casinos into darkness and causing destructive floods.
The official death toll in Macau reached 10, as the enclave’s government faces recriminations over its lack of preparation.
A further eight people are known to have died from Typhoon Hato in the neighboring Chinese mainland province of Guangdong.
Hong Kong and Macau both raised the most severe Typhoon 10 warning last week, only the third time a storm of this power had pounded Hong Kong in the past 20 years.
In Macau, it was the strongest typhoon in 53 years, according to the city government.
Pakhar, which also brought occasional heavy rain, is expected to persist for most of Sunday morning, moving toward the Pearl River Estuary, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Summer is typhoon season for Hong Kong, which can experience storms of such severity that the entire city shuts down.
Second storm hits Hong Kong and Macau amid typhoon recovery
Second storm hits Hong Kong and Macau amid typhoon recovery
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
