Japan Urges Evacuations as ‘Unprecedented’ Super Typhoon Approaches

A director of the Japan Meteorological Agency's Forecast Division holds a press conference on Typhoon Nanmadol in Tokyo on September 17, 2022. (AFP)
A director of the Japan Meteorological Agency's Forecast Division holds a press conference on Typhoon Nanmadol in Tokyo on September 17, 2022. (AFP)
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Japan Urges Evacuations as ‘Unprecedented’ Super Typhoon Approaches

A director of the Japan Meteorological Agency's Forecast Division holds a press conference on Typhoon Nanmadol in Tokyo on September 17, 2022. (AFP)
A director of the Japan Meteorological Agency's Forecast Division holds a press conference on Typhoon Nanmadol in Tokyo on September 17, 2022. (AFP)

The Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents to evacuate parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, ahead of a large and powerful typhoon expected to bring up to half a meter (20 inches) of rain when it makes landfall on Sunday.

Nanmadol, classified as a super typhoon by the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, has the potential to be the most destructive tropical storm to strike Japan in decades.

Japan's weather agency said it may issue a "special warning" for Kagoshima prefecture and other parts of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, as early as Saturday evening with the possibility of high waves and heavy rains in the regions. It would be the first such alert for any prefecture north of the Okinawa island chain, domestic media reported.

"Unprecedented" storms and rainfall could strike the area, JMA official Ryuta Kurora said at a televised press conference, urging residents there to evacuate before it gets dark.

Southern Kyushu could receive 500 millimeters of rain on Sunday, while the central Tokai region could see 300 millimeters, the agency forecast.

Kyushu Railway Co began halting some train lines on Saturday ahead of wider suspensions on Sunday. Dozens of weekend flights in the southern region have been canceled, broadcaster NHK reported.

Nanmadol, the 14th typhoon of the season, was near Japan's southern Minami-Daito Island heading northwest at 20 km (12 miles) per hour on Saturday afternoon. Winds at the center of the storm are blowing at 198 km per hour (123 miles per hour), gusting up to 270 kph, according to the JMA.

The storm, equivalent in strength to a class 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, is forecast to curve east and pass over Tokyo on Tuesday before moving out to sea by Wednesday.

Domestic broadcasters aired footage of strong winds and rain are already lashing down on Japan's southern island chain of Okinawa as the storm approached.



Ukraine Drone Attacks Target Moscow, Kill One in Russia's Southwest, Russia Says

An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Ukraine Drone Attacks Target Moscow, Kill One in Russia's Southwest, Russia Says

An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukraine's overnight drone attacks targeted Moscow and scores of other Russian regions, killing one person and damaging an agricultural enterprise in the country's southwest, Russian authorities said on Friday.

Russian air defenses downed 155 Ukrainian drones between 11 p.m. on Thursday (2000 GMT) and 7 a.m. on Friday, including 11 bound for Moscow, Russia's defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Three of the four airports serving the Russian capital, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky, suspended operations temporarily but later resumed, Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia said late on Thursday. A drone crashed onto the territory of an agricultural enterprise in the Lipetsk region, sparking a short-lived fire and killing one person and injuring another, regional governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.

The Russian defense ministry said that its air defense systems destroyed four drones over the Lipetsk region that lies in Russia's southwest. The ministry only reports the number of drones that its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launched, said Reuters.

Most of the drones overnight were destroyed over Russian regions bordering Ukraine: Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk, the ministry added.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Kyiv says its attacks on the territory of Russia are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's continued strikes on Ukraine throughout the war.