HONG KONG: Hong Kong planned to evacuate thousands of residents on Friday as a bomb left over from World War II was discovered at a construction site.
Police said that the bomb measured approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in length and weighed about 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds), adding that they believed it remained “fully functional.”
“Due to the extremely high risks involved in dismantling and disposing of the bomb, we must activate the emergency evacuation plan,” said Hong Kong Police’s district commander Andy Chan.
About 6,000 people from 18 residential buildings in the Quarry Bay area will be evacuated Friday night, with demolition work set to begin early Saturday morning, police added.
Hong Kong was an early target in what would become a full-blown Asian campaign for imperial Japan during the Second World War.
The city saw fierce fighting between Japanese and Allied forces during wartime, and hikers and construction workers still occasionally discover unexploded bombs in the territory nearly 100 years later.
In May 2018, a bomb was discovered in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, which led authorities to evacuate 1,200 residents.
Police said the unexploded ordnance unearthed on Friday was of the same type as the one found in 2018.
At that time, the bomb disposal process took about 20 hours to complete.
Hong Kong to evacuate 6,000 after WWII-era bomb found
https://arab.news/y7x4j
Hong Kong to evacuate 6,000 after WWII-era bomb found
- Police said that the bomb measured approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in length and weighed about 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds), adding that they believed it remained “fully functional”
- Hong Kong was an early target in what would become a full blown Asian campaign for imperial Japan during the Second World War
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
