Category: 2. World

Vietnam has evacuated more than half a million people as it braces for Typhoon Kajiki which, at the time of writing, is forecast to make landfall near the city of Vinh on Monday. Boats and flights have been cancelled in preparation for the typhoon’s impact.

Kajiki developed into a typhoon on 23 August as it travelled across the South China Sea. It continued to strengthen, with sustained winds reaching more than 100mph (160km/h), as it travelled just to the south of Hainan, an island province in southern China. A red alert was issued for Hainan, which is the highest alert level in China’s warning system.

The typhoon is expected to bring more than 300mm (11.8in) of rainfall to parts of Hainan and Vietnam on Monday, causing flooding that is likely to have a severe impact on farmland. On Tuesday, Kajiki is forecast to rapidly weaken as it travels inland across Vietnam and Laos owing to the lack of warm seas required to fuel the storm.

Across the Atlantic, despite Hurricane Erin remaining about 200 miles (320km) away from the coast of the US as it moved across the western Pacific last week its impacts could still be seen along the coast as large swells washed away beaches and flooded houses.

Waves of almost 50ft (about 15 metres) were recorded by a buoy in the western Pacific on Wednesday night, with waves breaking at about 20ft along coastal areas. As Erin tracked away from the east coast of the US last week it become a post-tropical cyclone, but still remained a powerful system with sustained winds reaching about 90mph. Erin will stall to the north-west of Britain through this week and weaken without causing much of an impact to western Europe.

However, the swell produced by Erin will continue to propagate into the west coast of Europe causing hazardous rips and large waves. Waves at the popular surfing spots of Mullaghmore on the west coast of Ireland and Nazaré on the west coast of Portugal are expected to be above 20ft on Tuesday.

Brazil also experienced large swells brought by a deep low pressure system in the southern Atlantic that produced the largest wave ever surfed in the country at 48ft. Another tropical system named Fernand developed shortly after Erin in the western Pacific last week, although this system is not expected to make landfall or strengthen into a hurricane, partly owing to a lesser amount of warm water across the western Pacific brought by the upwelling as Erin passed.

Vietnam braces for Typhoon Kajikipublished at 09:30 British Summer Time

09:30 BST

Image source, Reuters

Vietnam has ordered more than 586,000 people to evacuate ahead of a powerful typhoon expected to make landfall on Monday evening local time.

Typhoon Kajiki packs winds of up to 166km/h (103mph) and is expected to bring heavy rain, flooding and landslides.

Vietnamese authorities say they expect it to be as powerful as Typhoon Yagi, which killed around 300 people and caused billions in damage when it hit Vietnam last year.

The storm, which earlier skirted past China’s Hainan island, has already brought heavy rain and strong winds to southern China.

We’ll keep you updated with the latest news as it happens.

More than a dozen Palestinians were killed in a pair of Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza, according to the Nasser Medical Complex, including journalists from multiple outlets.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said at least 20 people were killed in the attack on Monday, with many more injured.

Israel carried out back-to-back strikes on the hospital in Khan Younis separated by only a matter of minutes, the ministry said. The “double-tap” hits killed journalists, health workers, and emergency response crews who had rushed to the scene after the initial attack, the Nasser Hospital said.

Dr. Mohammad Saqer, a Nasser Hospital spokesman and head of nursing, said that five journalists and four health workers had died.

The journalists killed include Mohammad Salama, a cameraman from Al Jazeera, Hussam Al-Masri who was a contractor for Reuters, and Mariam Abu Dagga, who has worked with the Associated Press (AP) and other outlets throughout the war. Moath Abu Taha, a freelance journalist, was also killed, the hospital added.

The Israeli attacks hit a balcony on the hospital used by reporters for an elevated view of Khan Younis.

Gaza’s Civil Defense organization said one of their crew members also died in the attack.

A first strike on the hospital hit the fourth floor of Nasser Medical Complex, the Palestinian health ministry said, followed by a second attack a short time later that hit ambulance crews and emergency responders.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it “carried out a strike in the area of” the hospital. The IDF said it “does not target journalists as such,” and that the military chief has instructed an initial inquiry to be opened as soon as possible.

The IDF statement does not acknowledge hitting the hospital directly, fails to mention the two consecutive strikes on the facility and makes no mention of what the military was targeting.

An Israeli security official with knowledge of the details of an initial inquiry said IDF forces identified a camera on the roof of the hospital that they claim was being used by Hamas to monitor the Israeli military.

The forces received authorization to strike the camera with a drone, the source said. But instead, Israeli forces fired two tank shells: the first at the camera and the second at rescue forces.

The details of the inquiry are a remarkable admission from an Israeli official that it intentionally targeted the first responders that arrived at the scene after the first strike.

Video from the scene shows Dr. Saqer holding up a blood-soaked cloth after the first strike when another explosion rocks the building, filling the air with smoke and sending people running for cover.

A live camera from Al Ghad TV shows emergency workers on a damaged staircase at the hospital when the second attack hits the building.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the attack, calling it a “heinous massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces… which directly targeted media and journalistic crews.”

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, said on social media: “Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented. I beg STATES: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage?”

“This has gone on far too long,” said Israel’s Foreign Press Association. “Too many journalists in Gaza have been killed by Israel without justification. Israel continues to block international journalists from independent access to Gaza.”

CNN profiled Abu Dagga last year as one of the journalists chronicling the conflict as a growing number of her colleagues were killed in Israeli attacks. Then 31 years old, she said: “We are covering the war on Gaza because this is our journalistic duty. It is entrusted upon us.”

At the time, Abu Dagga worked for the Independent Arabic. She also freelanced for AP since the war began. “We challenged the Israeli occupation. We challenged the difficult circumstances and the reality of this war, a genocidal war,” Abu Dagga told CNN in 2024.

AP said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of Abu Dagga’s death along with several other journalists. Her 12-year-old son was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war, the news agency said.

“(Abu) Dagga reported on Nasser Hospital doctors struggling to save children with no prior health issues who were wasting away from starvation,” AP said in a statement.

Al Jazeera condemned the killings as a “horrific crime” committed by Israeli forces who have “directly targeted and assassinated journalists.”

The network said in a statement: “The ongoing campaign by the Israeli occupation against journalists has violated all international norms and laws, amounting to war crimes under the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions, both of which strictly prohibit the deliberate targeting of civilians and journalists in conflict zones.”

In a statement, Hamas said: “The cowardly enemy aims to deter journalists from conveying the truth and covering war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and the catastrophic living conditions of our Palestinian people in Gaza.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Israel has killed 192 journalists since the start of the Gaza war, prior to Monday’s attack. The organization added that: “Israel is engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented.”

Two weeks ago, Israel killed several Al Jazeera journalists in a strike in Gaza City, including one of the network’s most prominent correspondents, Anas Al-Sharif. It came after the IDF accused Al-Sharif of being the leader of a Hamas rocket cell, an accusation he vehemently denied.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reached Jeddah on Monday to attend an important meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers (OIC-CFM) on the Gaza crisis amid Israeli aggression and plans to seize full control of Gaza City, the Foreign Office said.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed over 62,000 people and injured 157,951, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The United Nations warned last week that with Israeli forces blocking aid, half a million people face “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza, with famine conditions likely to spread further across the Strip. Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment after approving a plan to seize control of Gaza City, calling it the “last bastion of Hamas.”

“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar […] has arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the 21st Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being held today at the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah,” the FO said in the statement.

“The DPM/FM was received at the King Abdulaziz International Airport Jeddah by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to OIC, Ambassador Fawad Sher, Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Farooq, and Consul General of Pakistan in Jeddah, Khalid Majid.”

It added that the session will bring together foreign ministers and senior officials from the OIC member states to deliberate on coordinated responses to the escalating developments in Palestine, arising from the ongoing Israeli military aggression, proposed plans for full military control over Gaza, and the continuing egregious violations of Palestinian rights.

Yesterday, the FO said FM Dar will reject Israel’s “outrageous” plan to occupy Gaza at the extraordinary session and emphasise the urgent need for unhindered humanitarian assistance.

“He will reaffirm Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestine and reiterate its principled stance and call for the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, most notably, the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state,” it said.

The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations, with 57 member states. It was established in September 1969 in response to the Israeli terrorist attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

As a founding member, Pakistan has been at the forefront of the OIC’s efforts to champion Muslim causes — from freedom of the Palestinian and Kashmiri peoples struggling under foreign occupation, to upholding the rights of Muslims in Myanmar and Bosnia, to ending conflicts in Muslim lands such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.

‘Complete control’ of Gaza

Last week, Tel Aviv approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas.

Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City would be razed unless Hamas agrees to Israel’s terms.

Hamas said Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire, saying that a ceasefire agreement was the only way to return the Israeli prisoners, holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.

The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living Israeli prisoners held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining Israeli prisoners.

Netanyahu said last Thursday that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 Israeli prisoners held by Hamas — of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living, and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.

‘Manmade’ famine

According to a report released last week by the Famine Review Committee of the United Nations’ Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made” and could be “halted and reversed”, but it required an “immediate, at-scale response” to do so.

“The time for debate and hesitation has passed; starvation is present and is rapidly spreading,” the committee said in a report.

“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay — even by days — will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality.”

The report also warned that avoidable deaths would “increase exponentially” unless a ceasefire was implemented to allow in humanitarian aid and restore the delivery of food and basic supplies to Gaza’s population immediately.

Pakistan dispatches aid

Meanwhile, a fresh consignment of 100 tons of relief goods was dispatched to Palestine from the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore via a special flight on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marking the 21st consignment dispatched for the people of Gaza, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

The consignment includes ration bags, ready-to-eat meals, and canned fruits to meet the urgent food needs of the Palestinian people. With this dispatch, the total volume of aid sent by Pakistan to Gaza has reached 2,027 tons through 21 consignments, the report said.

India fears a planned Chinese mega-dam in Tibet will reduce water flows on a major river by up to 85 per cent during the dry season, according to four sources familiar with the matter and a government analysis seen by Reuters, prompting Delhi to fast-track plans for its own dam to mitigate the effects.

The Indian government has been considering projects since the early 2000s to control the flow of water from Tibet’s Angsi Glacier, which sustains more than 100 million people downstream in China, India and Bangladesh.

But the plans have been hindered by fierce and occasionally violent resistance from residents of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh, who fear their villages will be submerged and way of life destroyed by any dam.

Then in December, China announced that it would build the world’s largest hydropower dam in a border county just before the Yarlung Zangbo river crosses into India.

That triggered fears in New Delhi that its longtime strategic rival — which has some territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh — could weaponise its control of the river, which originates in the Angsi Glacier and is known as the Siang and Brahmaputra in India.

India’s largest hydropower company in May moved survey materials under armed police protection near a prospective site of the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam, which would be the country’s biggest dam, if completed.

Senior Indian officials have also been holding meetings about accelerating construction this year, including one organised in July by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, according to two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.

Delhi’s concerns were described in the undated Indian government analysis of the Chinese dam’s impact, the specifics of which Reuters corroborated with four sources and is reporting for the first time.

Beijing hasn’t released detailed plans about the dam’s construction, but the analysis drew on past work conducted by Indian government-affiliated institutions like the Central Water Commission and accounted for the expected size of the Chinese project, which broke ground in July and will cost nearly $170 billion.

Delhi estimates the Chinese dam will allow Beijing to divert as much as 40 billion cubic meters of water, or just over a third of what is received annually at a key border point, according to the sources and the document.

The impact would be especially acute in the non-monsoon months, when temperatures rise and lands become barren across swathes of India.

The Upper Siang project would alleviate that with its projected 14 BCM of storage capacity, allowing India to release water during the dry season. That could mean the major regional city of Guwahati, which is dependent on water-intensive industry and farming, would see a reduction in supply of 11pc, according to the sources and the document, as opposed to 25pc if the Indian dam isn’t built.

The project could also mitigate any move by Beijing to release devastating torrents of water downstream, the sources said.

If the dam is at its minimum drawdown level — where water is stored at less than 50pc of its height — it would be able to fully absorb any excess water released from a breach in Chinese infrastructure, according to the document and the sources.

India is considering a proposal to keep 30pc of its dam empty at any time in order to account for unexpected surges, two of the sources said.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that the hydropower projects “have undergone rigorous scientific research on safety and environmental protection, and will not adversely impact the water resources, ecology, or geology of downstream countries.”

“China has always maintained a responsible attitude toward the development and utilisation of transboundary rivers, and has maintained long-term communication and cooperation with downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh,” the spokesperson added.

Modi’s office and the Indian ministries responsible for water and external affairs did not respond to Reuters’ questions. State-owned hydropower major NHPC also did not return a request for comment.

India’s foreign ministry has said that top diplomat S. Jaishankar raised concerns about the dam during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on August 18. A Jaishankar deputy also told lawmakers in August that the government was implementing measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens in downstream areas, including building the dam.

India has itself been accused by Pakistan, a Chinese ally that it briefly clashed with in May, of weaponising water. Delhi this year suspended its participation in a 1960 water-sharing treaty with Islamabad and is considering diverting flows from another crucial river away from its downstream neighbour.

An international tribunal has ruled that India must adhere to the agreement but Delhi says the panel lacks jurisdiction.

Development or destruction?

When NHPC workers moved surveying materials near the village of Parong in May, angry locals damaged their machinery, destroyed a nearby bridge and looted the tents of police sent to guard the operation.

Many of them are members of Arunachal’s Adi community, who live off paddy, orange and sweet lime farms in the mist-shrouded hills and valleys nourished by the Siang.

The villagers have set up makeshift watch posts on regional roads to deny access to NHPC workers. That has forced security personnel to trek miles, often under the cover of night, to reach a prospective site of the dam.

At least 16 Adi villages are likely to be lost to the storage area of the dam, directly affecting an estimated 10,000 people, according to two of the sources.

Community leaders say more than 100,000 people will be impacted overall.

“The cardamom, paddy, jackfruit and pear we grow on this land help educate our children and support our family,” said Odoni Palo Pabin, an Adi grocer and mother of two. “We will fight the dam to death.”

The dam has the support of Arunachal’s chief minister, who is a member of Modi’s party and has called the Chinese project an existential threat.

The project will “ensure water security and provide flood moderation to counter any potential water surges,” the state government said in a statement, adding that it decided in June to engage in detailed compensation discussions with families that could be affected by the dam.

Lawmaker Alo Libang, an Adi who represents an area that would be submerged by the Indian project, said he believed locals could be convinced to move if they received generous compensation.

NHPC has plans to spend more than $3 million on education and emergency infrastructure to incentivise the villagers to move elsewhere, three of the sources said, citing instructions from Modi’s office.

In one sign of progress, three villages in the area recently agreed to let NHPC officials carry out dam-related work, according to the Arunachal government and dozens of locals.

India has a history of activist movements against large dams, which have sometimes slowed these projects by years or forced them to scale down.

Even if the Upper Siang dam gets the go-ahead, it could take a decade to build after breaking ground, according to four of the sources.

That means the project would likely be completed after China’s project, which Beijing expects to start generating power by the early-to-mid 2030s.

The delay means an Indian project would be vulnerable during construction if Beijing suddenly releases water during the monsoon season, triggering a surge that could wash away temporary dams, two of the sources said.

International experts and Adi activists have also warned that building large dams in seismically active Tibet and Arunachal could heighten risks for downstream communities.

The Chinese “dam is being built in a zone of high seismicity and in a zone that experiences extreme weather events,” said Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona.

“These kinds of extreme weather events trigger landslides, mudslides, glacial lake outburst flooding,” he said. “So that raises concerns about dam safety… it’s a very legitimate concern, and India should engage with China.”

India will continue to buy oil from wherever it “gets the best deal” in order to protect the interests of its 1.4 billion people, the country’s ambassador to Russia has said.

Vinay Kumar’s statement comes days before US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on India, including a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil and weapons, are set to kick in.

On Sunday, US Vice-President JD Vance said that Trump had announced secondary tariffs on India to apply “aggressive economic leverage” on Russia and force it to stop the war in Ukraine.

Delhi’s increased imports of cheap Russian crude since the war began has strained its ties with the US and impacted negotiations on a trade deal.

Russian crude made up 35-40% of India’s oil imports in 2024, up from 3% in 2021.

The US has alleged that India’s purchase of Russian oil is helping fund the war in Ukraine, a charge Delhi denies.

On Sunday, Kumar told Russia’s TASS news agency that India’s trade was based on market factors and that its priority remains energy security for its population. He also reiterated India’s stand that Trump’s decision to impose secondary tariffs was “unfair, unreasonable and unjustified”.

Kumar’s statement came hours after India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar robustly defended India’s purchase of Russian crude.

“It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business,” he said on Saturday, pointing out that the US has not imposed secondary tariffs on China – the largest importer of Russian oil – or the European Union, which still conducts a huge amount of trade with Russia.

He said that India maintained strategic autonomy in its decision-making, signalling that it would not be pressured by the US into reducing oil imports from Russia.

India maintains friendly relations with Ukraine, while Russia is one of its most important allies.

Delhi has repeatedly called for a “peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy” to the Russia-Ukraine war, but has avoided public condemnation of Russia despite pressure from the West.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Ukraine in 2024, and India has expressed its willingness to “contribute in all possible ways to facilitate an early restoration of peace”.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s ambassador to India, Oleksandr Polishchuk told local media that President Volodymr Zelensky may visit India soon, though the dates haven’t been confirmed yet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to visit India sometime this year.

On Sunday, Vance expressed confidence in Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“He (Trump) tried to make it clear that Russia can be re-invited into the world economy if they stop the killing. But they are going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing,” he said.

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