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Typhoon Saola Makes Landfall in Guangdong after Slamming Hong Kong, Macau

People pose for photographs in the wind during Typhoon Saola in Tseung kwan O, in Hong Kong on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Billy H.C. Kwok)
People pose for photographs in the wind during Typhoon Saola in Tseung kwan O, in Hong Kong on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Billy H.C. Kwok)
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Typhoon Saola Makes Landfall in Guangdong after Slamming Hong Kong, Macau

People pose for photographs in the wind during Typhoon Saola in Tseung kwan O, in Hong Kong on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Billy H.C. Kwok)
People pose for photographs in the wind during Typhoon Saola in Tseung kwan O, in Hong Kong on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Billy H.C. Kwok)

Typhoon Saola made landfall in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong early on Saturday as violent winds lashed nearby Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, leaving at least one dead and a trail of destruction and flooding in many areas.

The Asian financial hub of Hong Kong and China's neighboring populous province of Guangdong had cancelled hundreds of flights on Friday and shut businesses, schools and financial markets as Saola had edged closer.

Packing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph) as a super typhoon, Saola was among the strongest storms to menace the southern province since 1949. It became a severe typhoon, Chinese authorities said, as it made landfall in Zhuhai city with winds slowing to around 160 kph.

Railway operations in Guangdong were allowed to gradually resume from 8:30 a.m. (0030 GMT), the railway operator said.

Despite weakening, Saola continues to affect the region, Chinese authorities said, as it moves towards Taiwan's eastern coast.

More than 300 people were stranded at Hong Kong's airport after some 460 flights were cancelled, the city's Airport Authority said.

Flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said flights would resume from noon (0400 GMT) on Saturday after being suspended since Friday afternoon.

Hong Kong imposed its highest hurricane storm signal 10 on Friday night, lowering it to 8 by Saturday morning. The city's observatory said the warning would remain in force until 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) as heavy rain and flooding were still affecting the territory.

Fallen trees were strewn over many roads, particularly in the more exposed outlying islands. In the bustling Causeway Bay district, many building signs had flown off, Reuters reported.

A large window was blown out of an office building in the Tseung Kwan O district, footage from broadcaster TVB showed. Photos posted on Facebook showed water levels at Repulse Bay beach surging several meters higher than normal level, partially submerging its landmark Tin Hau temple.

More than 500 people sought refuge in government shelters while more than 50 people were admitted to hospitals due to the typhoon, the government said.

In Macau, the world's biggest gambling center, casinos were allowed to reopen from 8 a.m. on Saturday, the government said, after shutting Friday night.

One person was killed in Shenzhen after a tree fell and hit their vehicle, local media reported.

Haikui, a typhoon not as strong as Saola, was forecast to make landfall on Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated far southeastern coast on Sunday afternoon and bring heavy rain across the island into next week.

Taiwan's two main domestic airlines cancelled all flights for Sunday, and the government warned people to stay away from beaches and mountain areas.

"The waves along the coast are gradually getting bigger and bigger. Please do not go to the beach to watch the waves, or play in the water, let alone carry out any dangerous activities," President Tsai Ing-wen wrote on her Facebook page.

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World

France Has a New Government, Again. Politics and Crushing Debt Complicate Next Steps

France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou makes an address after observing a minute of silence as part of an official day of mourning for the victims of Cyclone Chido which hit the archipelago on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte a week ago, at The Hotel Matignon in Paris on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou makes an address after observing a minute of silence as part of an official day of mourning for the victims of Cyclone Chido which hit the archipelago on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte a week ago, at The Hotel Matignon in Paris on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
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France Has a New Government, Again. Politics and Crushing Debt Complicate Next Steps

France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou makes an address after observing a minute of silence as part of an official day of mourning for the victims of Cyclone Chido which hit the archipelago on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte a week ago, at The Hotel Matignon in Paris on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou makes an address after observing a minute of silence as part of an official day of mourning for the victims of Cyclone Chido which hit the archipelago on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte a week ago, at The Hotel Matignon in Paris on December 23, 2024. (AFP)

France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part.

Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Middle East: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024.

What's wrong with French finances? The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would threaten the stability and prosperity of all countries that share the euro currency.

France’s debt is currently estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due.

But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough.

“The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office.

“The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.”

How long will this government last? This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left.

Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force.

That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the most seats in the summer's snap legislative elections but failed to secure a government.

The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it's not clear how many parties would support it.

What about Macron? Macron has repeatedly said he will remain president until his term expires in 2027.

But France's constitution and current structure, dating from 1958 and called the Fifth Republic, were designed to ensure stability after a period of turmoil. If this new government collapses within months and the country remains in political paralysis, pressure will mount for Macron to step down and call early elections.

Le Pen's ascendant National Rally is intent on bringing Macron down. But Le Pen faces her own headaches: A March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her barred from running for office.

What else is on the agenda? The National Rally and hard-right Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau want tougher immigration rules. But Bayrou wants to focus on making existing rules work. “There are plenty of (immigration) laws that exist. None is being applied,” he said Monday on broadcaster BFM-TV, to criticism from conservatives.

Military spending is a key issue amid fears about European security and pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump for Europe to spend more on its own defense. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who champions military aid for Ukraine and ramping up weapons production, kept his job and stressed in a statement Tuesday the need to face down “accumulating threats” against France.

More immediately, Macron wants an emergency law in early January to allow sped-up reconstruction of the cyclone-ravaged French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa. Thousands of people are in emergency shelters and authorities are still counting the dead more than a week after the devastation.

Meanwhile the government in the restive French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia collapsed Tuesday in a wave of resignations by pro-independence figures — another challenge for the new overseas affairs minister, Manuel Valls, and the incoming Cabinet.