Chinese Cities Suspend Schools, Cancel Flights ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi

A man looks up on a promenade at Victoria harbor in Hong Kong on September 5, 2024, as super typhoon Yagi tracked across the South China Sea towards the southern China coast. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)

Asharq Al Awsat

08:22-5 September 2024 AD ـ 02 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

08:22-5 September 2024 AD ـ 02 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1446 AH

Chinese Cities Suspend Schools, Cancel Flights ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi

Cities in southern China suspended schools and canceled some flights on Thursday, as tropical storm Yagi strengthened into a super typhoon and barreled straight for the holiday island province of Hainan.
Yagi triggered floods and landslides on the main Philippine island of Luzon this week, leaving at least 13 dead, according to official figures.
The tropical storm intensified into a super typhoon as it tracked west across the South China Sea, China's Xinhua news agency said, packing winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour as it headed for Hainan.
"Hainan upgraded its emergency response to Yagi to the highest level at 11:30 am Thursday, according to the provincial disaster management authority," Xinhua said.
The typhoon is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon in either Hainan or neighboring Guangdong, AFP said.
Work, school and local transport services were suspended from Thursday noon (0400 GMT) in Haikou, Hainan's capital.
In Hong Kong, which Yagi is expected to bypass, the weather observatory said it will issue the city's third-highest typhoon warning at 6:20 pm (1020 GMT), limiting public transport across the finance hub.
Classes at kindergarten and special schools in Hong Kong were suspended Thursday, while budget airline Hong Kong Express said six flights have been rescheduled.
Greater Bay Airlines said they would cancel four flights and reschedule two more due to the weather.
"Yagi will remain at super typhoon intensity and skirt around 300 kilometers (186 miles) to the southwest of Hong Kong tomorrow morning," the observatory said.
"Gale winds associated with Yagi are expected to affect the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary tonight and tomorrow morning."
After southern China, Yagi will move towards Vietnam, on course to hit the northern and north-central regions around the famed UNESCO heritage site Halong Bay.
Vietnam's meteorological agency issued a storm warning on Thursday, and the government mobilized more than 2,700 military personnel for storm response.
Coastal provinces are planning a sailing ban on Friday, while Vietnam's mountainous provinces were ordered to prepare rescue vehicles.

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Gazan Teen Musician Sings for Children Who Endure the Daily Horrors of War

Palestinian teenager Youssef Saad sits on the rubble of his house as he plays oud to bring joy to children, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip September 2, 2024. (Reuters)

11:43-4 September 2024 AD ـ 01 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1446 AH

Gazan Teen Musician Sings for Children Who Endure the Daily Horrors of War

Braving the constant threat of airstrikes and bombings, 15-year-old Youssef Saad, a Gazan oud player, rides his bicycle through the war-ravaged streets of northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, his instrument strapped to his back.

Saad sings for children who have endured daily horrors in 11 months of conflict, trying to offer them a little joy or distraction.

"The homes in my city were once full of dreams," Saad said, gazing at the rubble of the decades-old urban refugee camp, which before the war was built-up and heavily populated.

"Now, they're gone," he says.

Saad was studying at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in nearby Gaza City before it was reduced to ruins in the war that has devastated much of the enclave.

Now, living with relatives after his own home was destroyed, he is one of five siblings whose futures have been upended.

His father, a government employee with the Palestinian Authority, always supported Saad's dream of becoming a musician.

But now, Saad's focus has shifted. He spends his days at a Jabalia day center, playing his oud and singing for children traumatized by war.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has since killed more than 40,800 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, displaced almost the entire population and laid the besieged enclave to waste.

"Every house holds a tragedy," Saad said. "Some have lost their mother, others their father, their neighbor, or their friend."

Despite the danger, Saad is determined to continue his mission.

"We try to help improve their mental health, even if it means putting myself at risk," he said. "This is my duty to the children."

And he refuses to give up on his dreams for the future: "We, the children of Palestine, strive to stay resilient, even in the face of genocide."

Saad says he lives by a saying that carries him through the darkest days: "If you live, live free, or die standing like trees."

Chinese Cities Suspend Schools, Cancel Flights ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi

Chinese Cities Suspend Schools, Cancel Flights ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi

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Gazan Teen Musician Sings for Children Who Endure the Daily Horrors of War

Gazan Teen Musician Sings for Children Who Endure the Daily Horrors of War

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