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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)
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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.

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World

Ten US Warships in Middle East as Trump Threatens Iran

A US Navy officer walks past fighter jets sitting on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a media tour in Port Klang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
A US Navy officer walks past fighter jets sitting on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a media tour in Port Klang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Ten US Warships in Middle East as Trump Threatens Iran

A US Navy officer walks past fighter jets sitting on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a media tour in Port Klang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
A US Navy officer walks past fighter jets sitting on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a media tour in Port Klang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on November 26, 2024. (AFP)

The recent arrival of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East brings the number of US warships in the region to 10, putting significant firepower at President Donald Trump's disposal if he decides to strike Iran.

The number of ships in the Middle East is now roughly equal to that sent to the Caribbean ahead of the stunning US operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, which American forces carried out at the beginning of the year.

A US official on Wednesday put the total number of US ships in the Middle East at 10. The figure includes the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group, which boasts three destroyers and F-35C stealth warplanes.

There are also six other US warships operating in the region -- three destroyers and three littoral combat ships.

"A massive Armada is heading to Iran," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, saying: "Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary."

"Time is running out," he added, urging Tehran to "MAKE A DEAL!"

Tehran's mission to the United Nations hit back, saying in a post on X that the country "stands ready for dialogue" but "IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!"

The carrier and its accompanying ships were ordered to the Middle East as Iran cracked down on protests that were initially driven by economic grievances, but which turned into a mass movement against the regime.

The clerical leadership that took power after the 1979 revolution responded to the demonstrations with deadly force and has held onto power, with many opponents of the system looking to outside intervention as the most likely driver of change.

Trump had repeatedly warned Iran that if it killed protesters, the United States would intervene militarily, and also encouraged Iranians to take over state institutions, saying "help is on the way."

He pulled back from ordering strikes earlier this month, saying Tehran had halted more than 800 executions under pressure from Washington, but has since renewed threats against Iran.

World

Storm Kristin Kills at Least Three in Portugal, Barrels into Spain

A picture taken on January 28, 2026 shows tree branches fallen on a kiosk in Lisbon after storm Kristin hit Portugal. (AFP)
A picture taken on January 28, 2026 shows tree branches fallen on a kiosk in Lisbon after storm Kristin hit Portugal. (AFP)
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Storm Kristin Kills at Least Three in Portugal, Barrels into Spain

A picture taken on January 28, 2026 shows tree branches fallen on a kiosk in Lisbon after storm Kristin hit Portugal. (AFP)
A picture taken on January 28, 2026 shows tree branches fallen on a kiosk in Lisbon after storm Kristin hit Portugal. (AFP)

Storm Kristin killed at least three people and left over 800,000 residents of central and northern Portugal without electricity on Wednesday, as it toppled trees, damaged homes, and disrupted road and rail traffic before moving inland to Spain.

One person died when a tree fell on their car in Vila Franca de Xira, on the outskirts of Lisbon, according to emergency services. Two more were killed in the central ‌district of Leiria - ‌one of the most ‌affected ⁠areas - according to ‌the local council.

Civil protection authorities reported more than 3,000 weather-related incidents, triggered by wind gusts of up to 150 km/h (93 mph), heavy rain and snowfall in the country of nearly 11 million people.

Grid operator E-Redes said technical teams were working to reestablish power supplies to some ⁠half a million customers in the afternoon, while earlier as many ‌as 855,000 had been left without electricity.

After ‍sweeping through Portugal, the ‍storm then pushed east into Spain, which is ‍still recovering from a previous system, Storm Joseph. In the coastal town of Torremolinos, strong winds felled a palm tree on Tuesday, killing a woman.

More than 160 roads across Spain were affected by snow early on Wednesday. That included 27 motorways on the main ⁠highway network, among them the A-6 linking Madrid with the northwest. Snow also blanketed rooftops in parts of central Madrid but caused no major disruptions.

Spain's national weather agency, AEMET, warned that large areas of the country would face very strong winds, with some gusts reaching hurricane force. Authorities issued a red alert in parts of southern Almeria province due to the intensity of the winds.

Local authorities closed parks, and in some areas ‌outdoor sports and educational activities were suspended.

World

Iranian ‘Regime’s Days Are Numbered’, Says Germany’s Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
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Iranian ‘Regime’s Days Are Numbered’, Says Germany’s Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday that the Iranian government's "days are numbered" as US President Donald Trump renews threats of intervention after a crackdown on protests in the country.

"A regime that can only hold onto power through sheer violence and terror against its own population: its days are numbered," Merz said at a press conference alongside Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.

"It could be a matter of weeks, but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country," Merz added.

A reported death toll in the thousands during recent demonstrations "shows that the mullahs' regime can apparently only cling to power through sheer terror", the chancellor said.

One rights group -- the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA -- said that it had verified over 6,200 deaths, mostly of protesters killed by security forces, in the wave of demonstrations that rocked the clerical leadership since late December but peaked on January 8-9.

Activists say the actual toll could be many times higher, with an internet shutdown still complicating efforts to confirm information about the scale of the killings.

Merz also threw his weight behind Italy's push to have the European Union designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

"I very much regret that there are still one or two countries in the European Union that are not yet prepared" to support such a designation, Merz said.