TAITUNG, Taiwan: Taiwan canceled flights and closed schools in parts of its southern region on Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Koinu’s expected landfall, the second major storm to make a direct hit on the island in a month.
Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November but last month’s Typhoon Haikui was the first to slam into it in four years – unleashing torrential rains, high winds and forcing nearly 8,000 people to evacuate from their homes.
Experts say climate change has made the paths of tropical storms harder to forecast while increasing their intensity, which leads to more rains and flash floods.
Ahead of Thursday’s expected typhoon, more than 100 international and domestic flights have been canceled, while ferry services to Taiwan’s outlying islands have also been halted.
More than 200 people were evacuated for fear of landslides in the south of the island, and waves lashing the coast could reach up to seven meters (22 feet) high, authorities said.
Fishing boats were crammed into a fishing harbor in Pingtung county on Wednesday to shelter ahead of the typhoon, while primary schools in the agricultural region of Taitung allowed children to go home early.
“It’s barely a month, and we have another typhoon,” 65-year-old Yang Pi-cheng lamented said, as she waited to pick up her grandchildren from Dawang Primary School.
A major highway along the coast has also been closed as a precaution.
Koinu – which has been charting a jagged course for Taiwan’s southern tip – is currently just 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the island, moving toward it at 10 kilometers per hour.
The typhoon has already brought heavy rains to the mountainous northeast regions of Yilan and New Taipei City.
“We forecast that its center will pass through the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of Taiwan tomorrow morning,” said Lu Kuo-chen, head of Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
After making landfall in Taiwan, Typhoon Koinu is forecast to move toward the eastern coast of China’s Guangdong province, said the weather observatory in nearby Hong Kong.
The Chinese territory – which last month was skirted by another typhoon before being flooded by the heaviest rainfall in 140 years days later – will issue its lowest typhoon signal on Wednesday evening.
Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon
https://arab.news/gm26z
Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon
- Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November but last month’s Typhoon Haikui was the first to slam into it in four years
Prominent figures, doctors urge restoration of medical care in Gaza
- Letter will be presented to UK, EU leaders
LONDON: Dozens of prominent figures, including Cynthia Nixon, Mark Ruffalo and Ilana Glazer, have joined doctors, human rights leaders and humanitarian organizations in calling for the immediate restoration of medical care in Gaza, in a letter addressed to Israel and world leaders.
“Israel’s systematic attacks on hospitals and unlawful blockade have collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system,” the letter says.
“Through its policies and military activities the government of Israel has deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, and then denied the very help that could save them.”
The letter, shared with The Guardian, will be presented to UK and EU leaders this week and calls for the “immediate, unconditional, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access into Palestine,” including the entry of medical and humanitarian personnel.
The first signatory was Wesam Hamada, the mother of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli fire in January 2024 while waiting for Palestinian paramedics whose ambulance was shelled as it tried to reach her.
Her story is told in Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-shortlisted film “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”
Ben Hania said: “Hind Rajab did not die because help was impossible, but because it was denied.”
Human rights groups, including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have also signed the letter, along with figures such as Brian Eno and Rosie O’Donnell.
The UN Human Rights Office estimates that 94 percent of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed since the conflict began in 2023, and at least 1,722 healthcare workers have been killed.
Many medical items, including wheelchairs and walkers, have been barred from entering the territory. UN experts have described the attacks on the healthcare sector as “medicide”.
Israel recently banned dozens of aid agencies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, from working in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, also known as COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza, said “the registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas,” although a US analysis found no evidence of Hamas systematically looting aid convoys.
More than 18,500 Palestinians are awaiting medical evacuation from Gaza, MSF estimated in December, with at least 1,000 people having died while waiting for care.
Dr. Thaer Gazawneh, a Chicago-based emergency physician who has signed the letter, said: “(They) are making the living conditions in Gaza so unbearable that people will be forced to be displaced again.”
Ilana Glazer said: “This call for medical access is urgent because medicine and care is the bare minimum of humanity, and when even that’s blocked, it puts every person on the planet at risk of being treated the same way: subhuman.”
Rajab’s mother said the issue was deeply personal because her daughter had dreamed of becoming a doctor.
Hamada said: “Hind never bought any ordinary toys or dolls like other children. She always chose doctor’s toys: a stethoscope, a plastic syringe, a small first-aid kit. She would treat her dolls, pat them, and promise them that everything would be all right.
“Hind’s dream is no longer to become a doctor, but for the children of Gaza to find a doctor, a hospital, medicine, and safety.”
