MANILA: Strong winds and rain lashed the northern Philippines as Typhoon Doksuri made landfall on Wednesday, causing rivers to overflow and leaving thousands without power.
Residents in coastal communities had been evacuated ahead of the storm, which brought winds of up to 175 kilometers per hour (108 miles per hour) and is expected to sustain strength as continues its course toward Taiwan and China.
“We are being battered here,” Manual Mamba, governor of northern Cagayan province told Reuters, adding that no casualties had been reported so far.
More than 4,000 passengers were stranded at various ports in the country after sea travel was suspended, the Philippine coast guard said.
Storm warnings are in place in many parts of the northern island of Luzon, which is home to about half of the Philippines’ 110 million population. Authorities have warned of storm surges, landslides, and damage to infrastructure. Doksuri, locally known as Egay, is the fifth storm to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year, which is hit by an average 20 typhoons each year. Scientists have warned that global warming will only make storms wetter, windier and more violent.
Categorized as a super typhoon on Tuesday, Doksuri had weakened slightly on Wednesday. It is expected to brush past Taiwan and make landfall in China’s Fujian province on Friday, according to the Philippines weather bureau.
Thousands without power as typhoon Doksuri lashes Philippines
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Thousands without power as typhoon Doksuri lashes Philippines
- Residents in coastal communities had been evacuated ahead of the storm, which brought winds of up to 175 kilometers per hour
France sends aircraft carrier to Mediterranean over Iran war
- France is also sending air defense capacities to Cyprus a day after Iranian-made drones hit the British air base at Akrotiri
- Macron said French forces downed drones “in self-defense” during the opening hours of the conflict on Saturday
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said France was sending an aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean in response to the widening conflict in the Middle East following US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
“I have ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, its air assets, and its escort of frigates to set course for the Mediterranean,” he said in a televised speech a day after he warned of the risk of the conflict spilling over Europe’s borders.
Macron said he was also sending air defense capacities to Cyprus a day after Iranian-made drones hit the Mediterranean island’s British air base at Akrotiri.
“I have also decided to send additional air defense assets and a French frigate, the Languedoc, which will arrive off the coast of Cyprus this evening,” he said.
The United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on Saturday, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran has responded by targeting US allies across the Middle East.
“The United States of America and Israel decided to launch military operations, conducted outside international law, which we cannot approve of,” said Macron.
But “the Islamic republic of Iran bears primary responsibility for this situation,” he said, because of its “dangerous” nuclear program, support for regional proxies, and orders to shoot “its own people” during protests in January.
Macron said French forces downed drones “in self-defense” during the opening hours of the conflict.
“We reacted immediately and shot down drones in self-defense in the early hours of the conflict to defend the airspace of our allies, who know they can count on us,” he said, referring to defense agreements with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
