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Flights Cancelled in Hong Kong, China's Guangdong as Typhoon Saola Nears

A woman walks past a closed fast food outlet with windows taped up for protection on Lantau island in Hong Kong on September 1, 2023, hours before the expected arrival of Super Typhoon Saola. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)
A woman walks past a closed fast food outlet with windows taped up for protection on Lantau island in Hong Kong on September 1, 2023, hours before the expected arrival of Super Typhoon Saola. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)
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Flights Cancelled in Hong Kong, China's Guangdong as Typhoon Saola Nears

A woman walks past a closed fast food outlet with windows taped up for protection on Lantau island in Hong Kong on September 1, 2023, hours before the expected arrival of Super Typhoon Saola. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)
A woman walks past a closed fast food outlet with windows taped up for protection on Lantau island in Hong Kong on September 1, 2023, hours before the expected arrival of Super Typhoon Saola. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)

Hundreds of flights were cancelled in China's Guangdong province and Hong Kong as Super Typhoon Saola moved closer to the mainland on Friday, forcing authorities to raise a strong storm advisory and closing businesses, schools and financial markets.

Three tropical cyclones have formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean and South China Sea, with Saola and Haikui already labelled typhoons while Kirogi, the most distant from land, still classified as a tropical storm, according to weather forecasters.

Saola is packing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph) and is moving towards the coast of eastern Guangdong, the province which encompasses Hong Kong. It could be among the five strongest typhoons to hit Guangdong since 1949, Chinese authorities said on Thursday as they issued their highest typhoon warning.

Saola could make landfall Friday night or Saturday morning as a severe typhoon along the coast from Huidong to Taishan in Guangdong, China's National Meteorological Centre said, which has kept its highest typhoon red warning in place. Hong Kong and neighboring Macau lie in the center of that coastline.

Weather conditions could deteriorate rapidly as the typhoon makes landfall, the Hong Kong observatory said, adding it would consider the need to issue higher cyclone warning signals later on Friday.

Hong Kong has five rankings for typhoons, 1, 3, 8, 9 and the highest 10, and currently has Signal 8 in force.

All schools in Hong Kong will be closed on Friday, despite being the first day of term for many, Reuters quoted the government as saying.

Nearby cities Shenzhen and Guangzhou also closed schools, while tech hub Shenzhen went a step further, suspending work, businesses and financial markets from Friday afternoon.

In Hong Kong on Thursday, crowds were seen jostling at fresh food markets in downtown Wan Chai district with many vegetables already sold out. Supermarkets saw long queues with people stocking up ahead of the storm.

Hong Kong's observatory said it expects heavy rain and violent winds while the city's water level is expected to "rise appreciably" until Saturday, with the potential for serious flooding.

The city's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said all flights in and out of Hong Kong between 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday and 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Saturday have been cancelled.

Further flight delays and cancellations may be required based on the typhoon's path on Saturday morning, it said.

By 10:55 a.m. (0255 GMT) Friday, Zhuhai and Shenzhen airports cancelled hundreds of flights, data from Flight Master showed.

Guangdong authorities suspended all trains in and out of the province from 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) Friday to 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) Saturday.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that connects the three cities will be closed from 3:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) on Friday to ensure of transport safety, the local Southern Metropolis Daily reported, without giving a date for opening of the bridge.

Macau's Weather Observatory said it would raise its wind warning level to Signal 8 between 1 p.m and 3 p.m. on Friday. It said it expects to raise it to the highest Signal 10 early on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Haikui is approaching Taiwan and expected to make landfall on the northern part of the island on Sunday before heading towards the southeastern Chinese city of Fuzhou, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.

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HRW: At Least 30 Killed in Kenya Anti-government Protests

FILE PHOTO: People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
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HRW: At Least 30 Killed in Kenya Anti-government Protests

FILE PHOTO: People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo

At least 30 people died in protests in Kenya this week sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

"Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on (Tuesday) June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing," the NGO said in a statement.

"Although there is no confirmation on the exact number of people killed in Nairobi and other towns, Human Rights Watch found that at least 30 people had been killed on that day based on witness accounts, publicly available information, hospital and mortuary records in Nairobi as well as witness accounts," the statement said.

"Shooting directly into crowds without justification, including as protesters try to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law," said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

"The Kenyan authorities need to make clear to their forces that they should be protecting peaceful protesters and that impunity for police violence can no longer be tolerated," AFP quoted Namwaya as saying.

The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

After the announcement of the vote, crowds stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out in clashes unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.

President William Ruto's administration ultimately withdrew the bill.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 22 deaths and 300 injured victims, adding it would open an investigation.

"Eight military officers came out and just opened fire on people. They killed several people, including those who were not part of the protests," HRW quoted a rights activist in Nairobi as saying.

"Kenya's international partners should continue to actively monitor the situation... and further urge Kenyan authorities to speedily but credibly and transparently investigate abuses by the security forces," the rights watchdog said.

Ruto had already rolled back some tax measures after the protests began, prompting the treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).

The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were necessary to service Kenya's massive debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70 percent of GDP.

The Washington-based IMF has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms in order to access crucial funding from the international lender.

"The bill was expected to raise an additional $2.3 billion in the next fiscal year, in part to meet IMF requirements to increase revenues," HRW said.

"Widespread outrage should be a wake-up call to the Kenyan government and the IMF that they cannot sacrifice rights in the name of economic recovery," Namwaya said.

"Economic sustainability can only be achieved by building a new social contract that raises revenues fairly, manages them responsibly, and funds services and programs that protect everyone's rights."