Rains slam Hong Kong as Typhoon Wipha skirts past
Hong Kong — Rain pounded Hong Kong on Sunday as Typhoon Wipha skirted southwards, packing winds exceeding 167km/h, disrupting 400 flights and public transport, felling hundreds of trees and damaging a construction site.
Just after 4pm on Sunday, weather authorities lowered the typhoon signal in the Asian financial hub to 8 from the maximum of 10, which had been hoisted for nearly seven hours, while more than 110mm of rain fell within three hours.
Much of the rain concentrated on the northern region neighbouring the mainland, the city’s observatory said, warning of more to come.
In a statement, the government said 26 people sought treatment in public hospitals, while 253 flocked to its shelters, and 471 fallen trees were reported. Reuters
Cypriots mark 51st anniversary of Turkish invasion
Nicosia — Greek and Turkish Cypriots marked on Sunday the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, an event that split the island and remains a source of tension between Nato partners Greece and Turkey.
Air raid sirens sounded across the southern Greek Cypriot-populated parts of Cyprus at 5.30am (2.30am GMT), the exact time when Turkish troops landed on the northern coast in a military intervention triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to attend celebrations in north Cyprus, a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south to commemorate the more than 3,000 people who died in the Turkish invasion, which also drove tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their homes. Reuters
Two die, two missing after South Korean landslide
Seoul — Two people died and a further two were missing in the South Korean resort town of Gapyeong on Sunday, after a landslide engulfed houses and flooding swept away vehicles during a period of heavy rainfall.
This brings the nationwide death toll to 17 with 11 people missing since the rain began on Wednesday.
The rainfall is likely to stop on Sunday and be followed by a heatwave, the government weather forecaster said.
The heavy rainfall, which had earlier lashed southern parts of South Korea, moved north overnight, it said. Reuters
Iran heeds warning, agrees to talks on nuclear plans
Dubai — Iran, Britain, France and Germany have agreed to hold talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, after warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
“The principle of talks has been agreed on, but consultations are continuing on the time and place of the talks. The country in which the talks could be held next week has not been finalised,” Tasnim reported, quoting an informed source. Reuters
Trump files $10bn defamation case against WSJ
Washington/New York — US President Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for at least $10-billion on Friday, over the newspaper’s report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, and two Wall Street Journal reporters as defendants, saying they defamed Trump and caused him to suffer “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm.
Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. His case has generated conspiracy theories that became popular among Trump’s base of supporters who believed the government was covering up Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful. Reuters
Putin wants peace but main objective to achieve goals
Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to move towards a peace settlement for Ukraine but Moscow’s main objective is to achieve its goals, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state television in a clip published on Sunday.
Peskov said that the world was now accustomed to US President Donald Trump’s sometimes “harsh” rhetoric but pointed out that Trump had also underscored in comments on Russia that he would continue to search for a peace deal.
“President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy,” Peskov said told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin. Reuters
Strong earthquake hits Russia’s far eastern region
Bengaluru — A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck near the coast of the Kamchatka region in the Far East of Russia on Sunday, earthquake monitoring agencies said.
The earthquake struck off the east coast of Kamchatka at a depth of 10km, shortly after a previous quake, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) data.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency later reported that a tsunami warning for Kamchatka had been lifted, citing local emergency services. Reuters
Trump and Xi likely to meet around October
Bengaluru — US President Donald Trump might visit China before going to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit between October 30 and November 1, or he could meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Apec event in South Korea, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday citing multiple sources.
The two countries have been trying to negotiate an end to an escalating tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains. They have discussed a potential meeting between the leaders in the region this year, but they have not confirmed a date or location yet, a source said.
Trump has set a deadline of August 12 for the US and China to reach a durable tariffs agreement. Reuters
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