China cancels flights as Typhoon Gaemi nears after killing three
Typhoon Gaemi has made landfall in China, after sweeping across Taiwan, where it flooded streets, knocked out power and killed at least three people.
Emergency responses were put in place and flights and trains have been cancelled in Fujian. More than 240,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
The typhoon killed 22 people in the Philippines on its way past that country, adding to flooding and landslides from already high monsoon rainfall, and taking the total death toll from the storm up to 25.
A cargo ship off Taiwan and an oil tanker off the Philippines sank on Thursday morning, both in rough seas.
In the Philippines authorities are searching for a missing crew member, and warn they face a “race against time” to contain a huge oil spill that is heading for Manila.
In Taiwan, two people were killed on Wednesday before the storm made landfall around midnight, and a 78-year-old man died after his home was hit by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said. Another 380 people were reported injured.
After hitting the Chinese coast, the storm is expected to bring heavy rains to inland areas including the capital Beijing over the next three days, including areas that have already been soaked for days.
Oil spill detected as tanker carrying fuel capsizes near Philippines
A major oil spill is underway off the coast of the Philippines after a tanker ship carrying 1.5m litres of industrial fuel capsized early on Thursday morning, officials said.
One crew member aboard the MT Terra Nova has been reported missing, the country’s transportation secretary Jaime Bautista said.
A total of 17 crew members were on board at the time of the tanker’s sinking when it hit rough seas off the Philippine coastal town of Limay in Bataan province, 16 of whom have been rescued. The ship was headed for the central province of Iloilo when it got into difficulties.
“There is already an oil spill. Right now, we cannot dispatch our resources because of strong winds and high waves,” Mr Bautista said.
Follow our live updates on Typhoon Gaemi here
Authorities have launched a search for the missing sailor.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Armando Balilo said the tanker had encountered rough seas before the ship capsized, citing the accounts of the rescued crew members. “We are racing against time. We will do our best to contain the fuel,” he said.
The coast guard is still investigating whether the incident is connected to Typhoon Gaemi, which has wrought havoc in the region and passed by the Philippines on Tuesday and early Wednesday.
A 97-metre coast guard vessel has been deployed to search for the missing crew and combat the oil spill, Mr Balilo said, adding that smaller vessels are waiting for the weather to clear up before entering the search operation.
An oil slick has been confirmed and already covers roughly two nautical miles, an aerial survey by the coast guard showed. Mr Balilo told a separate briefing that the spill is being driven by strong waves.
There’s a “big danger” that the oil spill could reach the capital as the ship sank relatively close to Manila, he said.
“That’s part of the contingencies that we are preparing for,” Balilo said.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has instructed the country’s environment ministry to assess the damage caused.
Typhoon Gaemi, the first powerful tropical storm of the season, has flooded swathes of the capital and its surroundings, killing at least 14 people, government data showed. Officials have warned the toll could go up.
Last year the oil tanker MT Princess Empress capsized off Naujan in the Philippines while carrying about 800,000 litres of industrial fuel. The subsequent oil spill hit a number of popular tourist destinations and it took authorities three months to complete a clean-up operation.
Harry set to join UK celebrations of world’s most expensive wedding
Prince Harry and Boris Johnson are among guests pencilled in for the UK-leg of the $600m wedding for the son of Asia’s richest man.
A host of A-list celebrities and politicians descended Mumbai last weekend, as the Ambani-Merchant wedding reached its crescendo with three days of celebrations.
From Kim Kardashian to Tony Blair, the great and the good from the world of showbiz and politics were drawn to the extravagant event, which will now turn its attention to the UK.
The happy couple tied the knot on the weekend of July 12 but is expected to continue for months to come – with celebrations resuming at the historic Stoke Park Country Club near Slough, The Sun reported.
The seven-star hotel was bought by the Ambani family in 2021 for £57m and has featured on the silver screen, most famously in Bridget Jones’ Diary when Hugh Grant’s character falls into the water while boating.
Some guests who attended the Mumbai wedding such Boris and Carrie Johnson, who were reportedly paid to attend, may make a second appearance at the hotel. The pair could be joined by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are rumoured to be among the UK guest list.
Around 850 members of the Grade II listed golf club have been warned to steer clear as the family have block-booked the hotel until September for renovations ahead of the event.
However, the Ambanis have reportedly clashed with the local council as questions with raised question as to whether the family was upholding the terms of the estate’s leasehold, according to the Financial Times.
The leasehold is clear the site must be used as a commercial property rather than a private one, making the move to close the hotel to the public while remaining open to the family a contentious one.
Although the celebrations in the UK will likely spare little expense, it is unlikely to upstage the pair’s lavish Mumbai ceremony.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are estimated to have spent $600m on the events, which will last for another two months. Anant is the son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, while Radhika is the heiress to a pharmaceutical dynasty.
Their pre-wedding party consisted of a three-day celebration with a 1,200 person guest list including former world leaders, tech tycoons and a performance by Rihanna. Later, they embarked on European cruise with performances by Backstreet Boys and Katy Perry.
The celebrations culminated with last weekend’s events, which saw the likes of Justin Bieber taking to the stage to perform at their traditional Sangeet night in Mumbai.
The couple married in a traditional Hindu ceremony on the Friday. This was followed by a ‘shubh ashirwad’ on Saturday — a ceremony held for the couple to receive blessings from guests and elders, culminating in a ‘mangal utsav’, the reception.
The weekend saw the Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, John Cena and Tony Blair, walk the red-carpet into the wedding venue.
The Ambanis hired 100 private jets to fly guests in from around the world while every five-star hotel in the area was booked up.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian skipped the red carpet but documented their attendance to their millions of followers on social media.
The sisters wore two show-stopping outfits as they attended both the Friday and Saturday’s programme of events. On Friday, Kim wore a red lehenga while Khloe opted for a white and gold ensemble. On Saturday, Kim wore more neutral colours as Khloe went all out with a bright pink lehenga.
Kim’s red ensemble raised some eyebrows because, according to Indian tradition, guests do not typically wear red to a wedding.
Despite the extravagant efforts of guests, the couple remained very much the stars with groom arriving first wearing a golden sherwani paired with trainers, which he later changed for the ceremony.
Then the bride appeared in a dazzling hand embroidered red and white ensemble, featuring a 16-foot long veil finished with stones and sequins.
Inside the venue, guests walked into a miniature version of the holy Indian city of Varanasi, with finely carved sculptures and bouquets of flowers placed around the venue.
The bride made her entrance on a boat before the couple exchanged their vows under a large alter with white domes.
Later in the evening footage shared on social media showed spectacular performances from Indian singer Daler Mehndi and Afrobeats artist Rema.
The guests also enjoyed the baraat, a lively wedding procession for the groom featuring live music and dancing.
Videos of Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh dancing to popular Bollywood songs quickly went viral on social media.
The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 66, is the world’s 9th richest man with a net worth of $116b, according to Forbes – making him the richest person is Asia.
Ambani senior has begun passing the torch to his two sons and daughter. The eldest, Akash Ambani, is now chairperson of Reliance Jio, their telecoms business; his daughter, Isha, oversees retail, while the groom Anant, the youngest, has been brought into the new energy business.
Anant, 29, has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, according to Reliance Industries’ website, and oversees the renewable and green energy expansion.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
She told the magazine that the two were introduced through mutual friends in 2017. “That first meeting just sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating,” she said.
David Lammy begins four-day visit to ‘reset’ UK-India relationship
British foreign secretary David Lammy arrived in India for a four-day visit to “reset” economic, domestic, and security ties.
This is the first high-level tour to the country by a representative of the UK’s newly-elected Labour government.
The British Foreign Office said Mr Lammy is aiming to “unlock the full potential of the UK-India partnership” and reinforce the commitment to securing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which has hit a roadblock as negotiations have dragged on for two years.
Mr Lammy’s visit has raised hopes for a fresh push to the FTA negotiations that would double trade to £86bn by 2030. However, the deal remains frozen in the final stages after some 14 rounds of talks under the previous Conservative government.
Mr Lammy will meet Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar and commerce minister Piyush Goyal. He is also likely to meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi although it is yet to be confirmed.
Ahead of his visit, Mr Lammy said: “Our free trade agreement negotiations are the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham. We have shared interests in the green transition, new technologies, economic security and global security.
“I am travelling to India in my first month as Foreign Secretary because resetting our relationship with the global south is a key part of how this government will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home.”
Most FTA negotiations were finished in the previous Rishi Sunak government but were put on hold earlier this year as both countries were heading into general elections. Negotiations on tough topics such as business mobility, tariffs, and market access for certain goods continue to remain unresolved, according to reports.
Britain is seeking the trade deal with India which has the potential to grant more favourable access for British companies to a market of 1.4 billion people.
Mr Lammy will also seek to rally support of India for stronger action on the climate crisis and discuss Indian-led global initiatives to build clean power access and climate resilience in the global south and small island states.
The foreign secretary will underscore the importance of the “living bridge” between the UK and India, a reference to the 1.7 million Indian-origin people who live in the UK.
India is expected to again raise with Mr Lammy its concerns about the activities of Sikh activists operating in the UK. Dubbed the Khalistan Movement, its members advocate for the creation of a separate nation for Sikhs in what is currently India’s Punjab state. The Indian foreign ministry issued a diplomatic protest with London last year after supporters of the movement pulled down the Indian flag at the country’s High Commission in London.
The issue of long-pending extradition cases against business tycoons Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi, who live in the UK and are wanted for alleged financial crimes in India, will also be discussed, according to reports.
And Mr Lammy is expected to raise the issue of imprisonment of two British nationals: Jagtar Singh Johal, who was arrested in 2017 on terrorism charges, and Christian Michel, who was extradited from UAE to India in 2017 in an alleged scam.
Government officials, the UN and human rights groups have previously accused India of torture and arbitrary detention without trial in relation to the two cases.
The visit is a stopover for Mr Lammy before he heads to Laos to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the ASEAN group of nations.
As India and the UK struggled to iron out the details of the FTA, the Narendra Modi government last year instead signed a landmark deal with four European nations that it claims will result in $100bn (£78bn) of investment in the country.
The agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (Efta) bloc of non-EU nations – Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein – was concluded after 16 years of negotiations.
Imran Khan’s aide threatened with parents’ kidnapping over UK event
A Pakistani dissident living in the UK was told his parents would be abducted if he attended an event at the British parliament, critical of Islamabad’s government.
Azhar Mashwani, a senior aide to former prime minister Imran Khan, was set to speak at the House of Lords on Tuesday at a hearing discussing the ongoing crackdown of Pakistan’s opposition.
But two days before the meeting, Mr Mashwani received a phone call warning him his mother and father would be kidnapped if he attended – part of what Mr Khan’s supporters claim is a campaign of intimidation and suppression.
Mr Mashwani told The Independent: “I received the call and was told if I went to the meeting, I should forget about my brothers and that my parents would also be abducted.
“It is suffocating that even in the UK I am being threatened and cannot exercise my basic human rights. I am also worried I could be attacked.”
Since Mr Khan’s imprisonment in August 2023, which the UN has described as having no legal basis, hundreds of his supporters have been arrested and the government has signalled the banning of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Mr Mashwani, a key figure in Mr Khan’s government, fled Pakistan last year after his brothers were abducted by what he claimed were Islamabad’s security services, before settling in the UK in May 2024.
Lord Daniel Hannan, who chaired the discussion, told The Independent: “I was disturbed to hear that people involved in our hearing had been warned off attending, with threats made against family members in Pakistan.
“Pakistan is a friend and ally and it needs to restore the rule of law. Every friend of democracy should stand up and call for this.”
Mr Khan’s arrest triggered violent unrest across the south Asian country, with some supporters attacking facilities associated with the country’s military.
The riots have been used as the basis for the arrest of thousands of PTI workers and some of the criminal charges brought against Mr Khan, who was convicted on several charges just before the election in February.
It meant he could not stand for election, and his party was prevented from being registered. Its candidates ran as independents, although most media accredited their victories to the party.
Mr Khan has said all the charges against him are politically motivated and part of a wider effort by the country’s military and political establishment to keep his party – which won the most seats in this year’s general election – from power.
Last week, Pakistan’s information minister said his government was planning to ban Mr Khan’s political party based on the “proven” charge it received foreign funds from illegal sources, as well as rioting by supporters last year.
However, the UN’s working group on arbitrary detention has called for Mr Khan’s immediate release, saying he has been detained “arbitrarily in violation of international law”.
The body added that Mr Khan’s detention had “no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for office”.
The Shehbaz Sharif government denies unfairly targeting the opposition party, and says criminal cases against PTI activists are justified given the attacks on military facilities in May last year.
The authorities accused Mr Khan of instigating violence and called his rioting supporters “arsonists” exhibiting “enmity against the motherland”.
Man relieved to find chili pepper, not cancer, reason behind cough
A man in China, who had a persistent cough going back two years, was relieved to discover that the cause was not cancer but a piece of chili pepper lodged in his lung.
The 54-year-old man, identified only by his surname Xu, is from the Zhejiang province in eastern China. He had been self-medicating with over-the-counter drugs for his cough but saw no improvement, reported Chinese newspaper Dushi Kuaibao.
In June, he finally decided to head to the Thoracic Surgery Department at Zhejiang Hospital for a check up.
A CT scan showed a mass about 1cm-long inside his right lung, which raised concerns about him either having pneumonia or a malignant tumour. Further investigation also revealed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (the central compartment of the chest between the lungs), intensifying Mr Xu’s fear of lung cancer.
On 3 July, Mr Xu underwent surgery to remove a part of his lung tissue through a thoracoscopy so they could test it to confirm cancer.
However, doctors were astonished to discover a foreign object – the tip of a chili pepper.
Mr Xu then recalled choking and coughing severely during a hotpot meal two years ago, possibly inhaling the pepper.
Zhu Xinhai, Director of the Thoracic Surgery Department, explained that the chili pepper had likely travelled into Xu’s lung through his airway, pushed along by the choking. The chili pepper caused an enlarged lymph node in his right lung and was “hidden” under the tissue, making it difficult to detect through a standard examination.
Because the pepper was embedded in his bronchial tubes for a long time, he had developed a lung infection that led to his chronic coughing.
Ye Jian, director of the respiratory medicine department, noted that it’s not uncommon to find foreign objects in patients, including animal bones, earrings, and even dentures.
Mr Xu’s story quickly became a sensation on Chinese social media, with one user remarking: “It’s really impressive that he was able to endure the coughing for two years before going to hospital. He’s truly a master.”
Investigation finds 200,000 people in care were abused in New Zealand
Nearly 200,000 people in New Zealand have suffered abuse and neglect at state and faith-based care institutions since 1950, a report said on Wednesday.
The landmark 3,000-page final report from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission noted widespread physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse, and criticised both state and church institutions for failing to protect the vulnerable.
The investigation found that the indigenous Maori people faced particularly harsh treatment and cultural dislocation.
The Royal Commission, the highest level of inquiry that can be undertaken in the country, called for urgent reform, including the establishment of a specialist investigation unit, an independent Care Safe Agency, and a Care System Office.
It also sought public apologies and accountability from various leaders and institutions.
Speaking in parliament after the report was tabled, prime minister Christopher Luxon said it marked a day of “deep sorrow and regret”.
It was the largest and “most complex public inquiry ever held on our shores”, Mr Luxon said and announced his government would issue a formal apology on 12 November this year.
“At the heart of this report are the stories of 2,400 survivors, many of whom are here today. To every person who took part, I say thank you for your exceptional strength, incredible courage, and confronting honesty. Because of you, we know the truth about the abuse and trauma you have endured,” the prime minister said.
”I cannot take away your pain, but I can tell you this: you are heard and you are believed. Many of your stories are horrific and harrowing. They are painful to read, but not as painful as they were to endure. A number of faith-based schools, institutions and people in positions of authority who you should have been able to trust failed you in the worst possible way.”
Nearly 655,000 children, young people, and adults were in care from 1950 to 2019 and an estimated 200,000 were abused and even more were neglected, the report said.
“The true number will never be fully known as records of the most vulnerable people in Aotearoa New Zealand were never created or were lost and, in some cases, destroyed,” it said, using both Maori and English names for the country. “These gross violations occurred at the same time as Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country in which to grow up as a child in a loving family.”
“If this injustice is not addressed,” the report stated, “it will remain as a stain on our national character forever.”
Royal Commissioners Coral Shaw, Andrew Erueti and Paul Gibson called for wide legal reform, an overhaul of the care system, and urgent implementation of the redress scheme recommended by them.
“Instead of receiving care and support, children, young people and adults in care were exposed to unimaginable physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse, severe exploitation and neglect,” they said.
“Any abuse and neglect, let alone the prevalence of it, could not be justified by the standards of the day and certainly cannot be justified now.”
The commissioners urged swift implementation of their 138 recommendations to prevent future abuse and provide holistic redress to survivors.
The government said it had formed a ministerial group to tackle the report’s findings and recommendations.
Tu Chapman, a survivor and advocate, told the Associated Press that immediate action was needed to prove the government took the findings seriously.
“Announce the redress system as soon as possible,” she said. “Further delay is just impacting survivors even more who have waited 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years.”
Chris Hipkins, leader of the opposition Labour Party, which initiated the inquiry while in power, said children and vulnerable adults were “devalued and dehumanised”.
He described it as “a nationwide intergenerational shame” that remains unresolved.
In a statement, the Archbishops of the Anglican Church said: “We acknowledge and take full responsibility for our failures to provide the safe, caring and nurturing environment those who have been in our care had a right to expect and to receive. There have been clear failures to properly investigate and respond when abuse was reported.”
They also “acknowledged that we have not provided accessible, straightforward processes for the handling of disclosures and complaints of abuse”.
Traumatised children in Japan’s earthquake town given unusual homework
Children in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, who are still reeling under the trauma of this year’s fatal earthquake, have been asked to hug family members as part of their school homework.
The psychological trauma from a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in January this year can be reversed by parents hugging and assuring their children of safety, doctors and experts have said.
The quake rocked Japan on the first day of the year and caused several severe aftershocks, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency officials. At least 260 people were killed and more than 3,300 were evacuated. The fatalities also included those who died later due to stress, illnesses and other causes linked to the earthquake.
The aftershocks were also felt in June this year.
As a result, the children in the Noto Peninsula’s Wajima have become sensitive to noise, their surroundings, and even dark places as complaints of stress-related physical and mental disorders have trickled in, reported The Japan News.
A woman in her 40s told the paper that her daughter is still afraid of dark places and cannot go to the bathroom alone at night, probably because of memories of the disaster still scarring her. “After the earthquake, she became sensitive to noise and scared of even small tremors,” she told the newspaper.
The family’s house was among more than 40,000 of those destroyed.
The Sanno Elementary School in Ishikawa prefecture’s Nanao has asked students to make physical contact of four types with their family members as part of their “homework”. These include hugging, sitting on a parent’s knee, holding their hands for more than one minute, or shaking hands, the report added.
The school took inspiration from another elementary school’s nurse Kimiko Koura who saw the findings of a survey on trauma in children days after the quake when the school reopened. The affected children were throwing up at the sight of collapsed houses or were unable to leave their parent’s side. Ms Koura thought close contact can help children feel safer.
She said she hoped the unconventional homework gave the affected children a sense of comfort and charged them with energy to move ahead in life.
Some parents have already registered the “homework’s” results on their children. “The hugs made me feel much better,” read one parent’s feedback.
Experts told the newspaper that the move can instill parental comfort in children recovering from the psychological effect.
“It is good for children to have physical contact when they start to feel insecure. Even though children may not like it, I want parents to hug their children and tell them they are on their side,” said Norihiko Kuwayama, a psychiatrist who has looked after children from the previous deadly earthquake in 2011.