TACLOBAN: At least three people were killed and tens of thousands were driven from their homes by floods as Tropical Storm Kai-Tak pounded the eastern Philippines on Saturday, cutting off power and triggering landslides, officials said.
Kai-Tak, packing gusts of up to 110 km/per hour, hit the country’s third-largest island Samar in the afternoon and tore through a region devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan four years ago, the state weather service said.
Local officials reported three deaths on neighboring Leyte island — a two-year-old boy who drowned in the town of Mahaplag, a woman buried by a landslide and another person who fell into a flooded manhole in Ormoc city.
Samar and Leyte, with a combined population of about 4.5 million, had borne the brunt of Haiyan in 2013, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing.
Bus driver Felix Villaseran, his wife and four children hunkered down in their two-story house in the Leyte city of Tacloban along with 11 relatives whose homes were flooded from incessant rain.
“We have yet to shake off our phobia. I hope we don’t have a repeat of that,” Villaseran, who lost 39 cousins in the Haiyan onslaught, told AFP.
“My missus stockpiled on groceries before the storm hit, but since we also have to feed these three other families we’re now running low on food,” he added.
Military trucks drove through rising floodwaters on Samar and Leyte to rescue trapped residents, with more than 77,000 people now in evacuation centers, local officials said.
Strong winds toppled trees and power pylons, knocking out power throughout the region while floods, small landslides and rock falls blocked roads and buried some homes, local officials and witnesses said.
Farmland in the mainly rural region was also under water, while seven people were injured by landslides and flying objects, the regional civil defense office said in a report.
A spokeswoman for the national government’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told AFP it was trying to confirm reports of two other deaths from landslides and floods on the islands of Biliran and Dinagat.
“It was like a flashback again for residents of Tacloban city,” its Vice Mayor Sambo Yaokasin told Manila TV ABS-CBN, referring to the Haiyan disaster.
The station broadcast images of flooded streets and corrugated iron roofing sheets flying off homes.
“Nearly half the villages here are flooded,” Marcelo Picardal, vice governor of Eastern Samar province told ABS-CBN in an interview.
Three other people were missing in Ormoc after being swept away by floods on Saturday, city Mayor Richard Gomez told CNN Philippines TV in an interview.
“We need a lot of water and a lot of blankets,” Gomez added, citing widespread flooding that may have contaminated the tap water system of the city of 200,000 people.
The state weather service said more heavy rain was expected in the eastern Philippines in the coming hours with Kai-Tak forecast to slice across the rest of the central Philippines over the weekend.
Ferry services on the storm’s path were suspended due to rough seas, the civil defense office in the area said.
About 20 typhoons or weaker storms either make landfall in the Philippines or reach its waters each year, bringing annual misery and death and consigning millions of survivors to perennial poverty.
3 dead, 77,000 flee as storm pounds Philippines
3 dead, 77,000 flee as storm pounds Philippines
Ukraine and Spain qualify for Billie Jean King Cup Finals
RADOM, Poland: Elina Svitolina sent Ukraine to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the first time with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann to level the countries’ qualifier 1-1 on Saturday.
It ensured Ukraine tops Group E to qualify for the tournament in Shenzhen in September. Switzerland needed a flawless record against Ukraine to progress. Ukraine went on to win 2-1.
Spain also secured its place in the finals after Jessica Bouzas Maneiro defeated Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in their meeting.
Bernarda Pera defeated Denmark’s Johanne Svendsen to give the United States a 2-0 lead in Group C. The US next faces host nation Slovakia on Sunday with the winner going through to the finals.
Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima saved two match points before beating Romania’s Anca Todoni 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to win their meeting in Group A. It set up a decider against Canada on Sunday to determine which team qualifies for the finals.
UK government to take control of British Steel under emergency law
- The Chinese owners of British Steel have said it is no longer financially viable to run the two furnaces at the Scunthorpe site, where up to 2,700 jobs have been at risk
- Jingye bought British Steel in 2020 and says it has invested more than £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to maintain operations but is losing around £700,000 a day
A view of British Steel's Scunthorpe plant in north Lincolnshire, northeast England, on April 10, 2025. (AFP)
LONDON : The UK government said it was taking control of Chinese-owned British Steel on Saturday after rushing an emergency law through parliament to avert the shutdown of the country’s last factory that can make steel from scratch.
The struggling plant in northern England had faced imminent closure and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government “stepped in to save British Steel” with legislation to prevent its blast furnaces going out.
At a rare weekend session, parliament approved the law without opposition to take over the running of the Scunthorpe site, which employs several thousand people and produces steel crucial for UK industries including construction and rail transport.
The government saw its possible closure as a risk to Britain’s long-term economic security, given the decline of the UK’s once robust steel industry.
Officials were poised to take over the site after the emergency bill passed into law on Saturday evening, according to UK media reports.
Following its approval Starmer said his administration was “turning the page on a decade of decline” and “acting to protect the jobs of thousands of workers.”
He insisted “all options are on the table to secure the future of the industry,” after a government minister indicated nationalization could be a likely next step.
Earlier, as MPs debated in parliament, the prime minister made a dash to the region where he told steelworkers gathered in a nearby village hall that the measure was “in the national interest.”
He said the “pretty unprecedented” move meant the government could secure “a future for steel” in Britain.
“The most important thing is we’ve got control of the site, we can make the decisions about what happens, and that means that those blast furnaces will stay on,” he said.
It came after protests at the plant and reports that workers had stopped executives from the company’s Chinese owners Jingye accessing key areas of the steelworks on Saturday morning.
The Times newspaper said British Steel workers had seen off a “delegation of Chinese executives” trying to enter critical parts of the works.
Police said officers attended the scene “following a suspected breach of the peace,” but no arrests were made.
State ownership considered
Facing questions about nationalization in parliament, business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said state ownership “remains on the table” and may be the “likely option.”
But he said the scope of Saturday’s legislation was more limited — it “does not transfer ownership to the government,” he explained, saying this would have to be dealt with at a later stage.
Ministers have said no private company has been willing to invest in the plant.
The Chinese owners have said it is no longer financially viable to run the two furnaces at the site, where up to 2,700 jobs have been at risk.
Jingye bought British Steel in 2020 and says it has invested more than £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to maintain operations but is losing around £700,000 a day.
Reynolds said “the effective market value of this company is zero,” and that Jingye had wanted to maintain the operation in the UK but supply it with slab steel from China to keep it going.
The Labour government came under fire from the opposition Conservative party for its handling of the negotiations and faced calls from some left-wing politicians to fully nationalize the plant, while unions also urged the government to go further.
Reynolds explained the government had sought to buy raw materials to keep the furnaces running with “no losses whatsoever for Jingye,” but met with resistance.
Instead Jingye demanded the UK “transfer hundreds of millions of pounds to them, without any conditions to stop that money and potentially other assets being immediately transferred to China,” he said. “They also refused a condition to keep the blast furnaces maintained.”
Saturday’s legislation allowed for criminal sanctions and gave the government powers to take over assets if executives fail to comply with instructions to keep the blast furnaces open.
Trump tariffs partly to blame
MPs had left for their Easter holidays on Tuesday and had not been due to return to parliament until April 22 when the rare session was called.
MPs last sat on a Saturday recall of parliament at the start of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina in 1982.
Scunthorpe in northern England hosts Britain’s last virgin steel plant — which produces steel from raw rather than recycled materials — after Indian firm Tata’s Port Talbot site shuttered its blast furnace last year.
British Steel has said US President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on the sector were partly to blame for the Scunthorpe plant’s difficulties.
However, fierce competition from cheaper Asian steel has heaped pressure on Europe’s beleaguered industry in recent years.
British Steel has its roots as far back as the Industrial Revolution but took shape in 1967 when the Labour government nationalized the industry, which at the time employed nearly 270,000 people.
Ronaldo special keeps Al-Nassr’s SPL title hopes alive
- Brace from superstar keeps the Yellows in the hunt for an unlikely title
RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Al-Nassr to a 2-1 win over Al-Riyadh on Saturday to move his team to within a point of second-placed Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League and eight behind leaders Al-Ittihad.
Those two goals from the megastar, 22 and 23 in the league season so far, not only keep the 40-year-old on top of the scoring standings but, more importantly, mean that the Yellows are, just, in the race for the title with seven games to go.
It was looking very different at the end of the first half however, as Al-Nassr fell a goal behind just before the break. Faiz Selemani made the breakthrough, reacting quickly to score a rebound after Nassr goalkeeper Bento had parried a long-range shot from Abdullah Al-Khaibari into his path.
While the home fans were stunned, a certain five-time Ballon d’Or winner sprung into action four minutes before the hour. Sadio Mane, on the left byline, sent a pass across the edge of the six-yard box for the former Real Madrid and Manchester United legend to score from close range.
Four minutes after then hour, Ronaldo produced a spectacular winner. A clearance looped up to the Portuguese star on the edge of the area and he then smashed an unstoppable volley into the top corner for what will surely be one of the goals of the season.
There was still time for Ronaldo and Jhon Duran to go close to sealing the win and Ibrahim Bayesh almost claimed a point for Riyadh before the woodwork intervened. A late red card for Ahmed Asiri ended the visitors' quest for a point however.
Al-Nassr also moved five points clear of the two teams in fourth and fifth. Al-Ahli won on Friday while Al-Qadsiah’s hopes of a top three finish were dented with a 2-1 defeat at Al-Fayha.
The hosts took the lead just after the half-hour through Renzo Lopez but the visitors, who would have moved to within three points of Al-Hilal with a win, dominated most of the possession and chances but just could not find the back of the net.
Their misery was complete as Lopez added a second just before the hour, which meant that a 93rd minute goal from Julian Quinones was just a consolation.
Saudi energy minister meets US counterpart at KAPSARC
- Meeting underscored growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US in energy, sustainability, and research fields
RIYADH: Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met with US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and his accompanying delegation on Saturday at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The visit came as part of the US official’s visit to the Kingdom.
The meeting underscored the growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US in the fields of energy, sustainability, and research.
During the visit, Secretary Wright was briefed on KAPSARC’s key roles in energy policy research and transformation, climate change mitigation, sustainable transportation, and strategic advisory services.
Discussions also explored collaborative opportunities in energy research, the exchange of expertise, and enhancing joint research initiatives.
KAPSARC’s ongoing work in developing advanced analytical models and tools was recognized as a crucial contributor to shaping forward-looking energy policies and practical solutions to today’s pressing issues, SPA added.
Syrian forces deploy at key dam under deal with Kurds
- Syria’s state news agency SANA reported “the entry of Syrian Arab Army forces and security forces into the Tishrin Dam ... to impose security in the region, under the agreement reached with the SDF”
DAMASCUS: Security forces from the new government in Damascus deployed on Saturday around a strategic dam in northern Syria, under a deal with the autonomous Kurdish administration, state media reported.
Under the agreement, Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces will pull back from the dam, which they captured from Daesh in late 2015.
The Tishrin dam near Manbij in Aleppo province is one of several on the Euphrates and its tributaries in the Syrian Arab Republic.
It plays a key role in the nation’s economy by providing water for irrigation and hydro-electric power.
On Thursday, a Kurdish source said the Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria had reached an agreement with the central government on running the dam.
A separate Kurdish source said on Saturday that the deal, supervised by the US-led anti-terror coalition, stipulates that the dam remain under Kurdish civilian administration.
Syria’s state news agency SANA reported “the entry of Syrian Arab Army forces and security forces into the Tishrin Dam ... to impose security in the region, under the agreement reached with the SDF.”
The accord also calls for a joint military force to protect the dam and for the withdrawal of factions “that seek to disrupt this agreement,” SANA said.
It is part of a broader agreement reached in mid-March between Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, aiming to integrate the institutions of the Kurdish autonomous administration into the national government.
The dam was a key battleground in Syria’s civil war that broke out in 2011, falling to Daesh before being captured by the SDF.
Days after Al-Sharaa’s coalition overthrew Syrian leader Bashar Assad in December, Turkish drone strikes targeted the dam, killing dozens of civilians and Kurdish officials, as Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
