China Lashed by Year’s First Typhoon, Record Rains Forecast

A person holding an umbrella walks in the rain at a waterfront, amid a typhoon warning on the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China July 1, 2022. (Reuters)
A person holding an umbrella walks in the rain at a waterfront, amid a typhoon warning on the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China July 1, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
20

China Lashed by Year’s First Typhoon, Record Rains Forecast

A person holding an umbrella walks in the rain at a waterfront, amid a typhoon warning on the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China July 1, 2022. (Reuters)
A person holding an umbrella walks in the rain at a waterfront, amid a typhoon warning on the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China July 1, 2022. (Reuters)

China's first typhoon of the year brought gales and rain to its southern shores on Saturday, as forecasters warned of record rainfall and high disaster risk in provinces including Guangdong, the country's most populous.

Typhoon Chaba, the Thai name for the hibiscus flower, was moving northwest at 15 to 20 km (10 to 15 miles) per hour after the eye of the storm made landfall in Guangdong's Maoming city on Saturday afternoon, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement.

Chaba, though medium in intensity and expected to lose strength over time, is likely to bring extremely heavy rains and may break the record for cumulative rainfall as it pulls the monsoon rain belt in the region inland, said Gao Shuanzhu, the center's chief forecaster.

"The abundant monsoon water vapor will lead to intense downpours and huge cumulative rainfall of an extreme nature," Gao said, predicting up to 600 mm (24 inches) of cumulative rainfall in some areas.

At risk are the west of Guangdong, where China's typhoons usually linger, the east of Guangxi autonomous region and the island province of Hainan, with rainstorms causing landslides, urban waterlogging and floods, Gao said.

Hainan upgraded its emergency response to Level II, the second-highest, on Saturday. It suspended railway service across the island and cancelled more than 400 flights to and from the cities of Haikou and Sanya.

In Macau, one person was injured due to the wind and rain on Chaba's approach, state televisions reported.

In waters off Hong Kong, which is 270 km (170 miles) northeast of Maoming, more than two dozen crew on an engineering vessel with 30 people on board were missing after it snapped in two in waters off Hong Kong as Chaba passed through, authorities said.

In recent weeks, historic rainfall and flooding in southern China have destroyed property, paralyzed traffic and disrupted the daily lives of millions in one of the country's most populous and economically key regions.

Extreme weather including unusually heavy flooding is expected to continue in China through August, forecasters predicted this week, with climate change partly blamed.



Russia Starts First Moscow-Pyongyang Passenger Flights in Decades

FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
TT
20

Russia Starts First Moscow-Pyongyang Passenger Flights in Decades

FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Russia will launch direct passenger flights from Moscow to North Korea's capital Pyongyang on Sunday, Russian authorities said, as the two former communist bloc allies move to improve ties following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The start of regular flights between the capitals for the first time since the mid-1990s, according to Russian aviation blogs, follows the resumption of Moscow-Pyongyang passenger rail service, a 10-day journey, in June.

The first flight will leave Sheremetyevo airport at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT), according to the airport's timetable.

The eight-hour flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER with a capacity of 440 passengers, Russia's RIA state news agency said on Sunday. It said tickets started at 44,700 roubles ($563), and the first flight quickly sold out.

Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia has granted Nordwind Airlines permission to operate flights between Moscow and Pyongyang twice a week. The transport ministry said in a statement that for now flights would operate once a month, "to help build stable demand".

The only direct air route between Russia and North Korea has been flights by North Korean carrier Air Koryo to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East three times a week.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery and ballistic missiles. Moscow and Pyongyang deny the allegations.

Pyongyang has deployed more than 10,000 troops and arms to Russia to back Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said this month his country was ready to "unconditionally support" Moscow's efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.