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Russia Says It Advances Near Chasiv Yar in Eastern Ukraine 

A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
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Russia Says It Advances Near Chasiv Yar in Eastern Ukraine 

A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)

Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced towards the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine and seized control of the settlement of Bohdanivka, as Kyiv said it urgently needed promised US support to fend off a full-scale offensive.

"Units of the Southern grouping group of forces have fully liberated the settlement of Bohdanivka ... and have improved the situation along the front line," Russia's defense ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Control of Bohdanivka, located just to the west of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, has been in doubt for some time.

The village lies some 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of Chasiv Yar, a heavily fortified hilltop town and forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army, providing protection for some of the area's largest cities including Kramatorsk and Slaviansk.

The Russian report could not be independently verified and there was no comment from Ukraine regarding Bohdanivka.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in its daily report, mentioned Bohdanivka as one of a series of villages where it said Ukrainian forces repelled 13 enemy attacks. But it gave no specific details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily video address that he held talks on Sunday with army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov about Chasiv Yar and other hot spots on the frontline.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press", aired on Sunday, Zelenskiy urged Washington, where the US House of Representatives has approved a $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the transfer of weapons ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive.

"We are preparing (for an offensive)," Zelenskiy said, reiterating Syrskyi's warning that Russia aims to capture the Chasiv Yar by May 9, one of Russia's largest public holidays and which marks Moscow's victory over Nazi forces in World War II.

"I hope we will be able to stay, and the weapons will come on time, and we will repel the enemy, and then we'll break the plans of the Russian Federation with regards to this full-scale offensive."

Ukraine says it expects Russia to launch a broad offensive in spring and summer after capturing the town of Avdiivka, east of Chasiv Yar, during the winter.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry denied last week that Russia had captured all of Bohdanivka, while acknowledging it had lost some positions in the village in eastern Donetsk region.

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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.