TUGUEGARAO, Philippines: Typhoon Mangkhut roared toward densely populated Hong Kong and southern China on Sunday after ravaging across the northern Philippines with ferocious winds and heavy rain that left at least 28 dead in landslides and collapsed houses.
The strongest storm so far this year in the world sliced across the northern tip of Luzon Island on Saturday, a breadbasket that is also a region of flood-prone rice plains and mountain provinces with a history of deadly landslides. More than 5 million people were in the path of the typhoon, equivalent to a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane when it hit the Philippines. On Sunday morning, It packed sustained winds of 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 190 kph (118 mph).
Hong Kong and southern China issued the highest storm signals. The Guangdong provincial office in charge of flood prevention said Sunday that nearly half a million people had been evacuated from seven cities.
The Hong Kong Observatory said although Mangkhut had weakened slightly, its extensive, intense rainbands were bringing heavy downfall and frequent squalls. Storm surge of about 3 ½ meters (9.8 feet) or above is expected at the city’s waterfront Victoria Harbor, the observatory said, appealing on the public to avoid the shoreline.
Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde told The Associated Press that 20 had died in the Cordillera mountain region, four in nearby Nueva Vizcaya province and another outside of the two regions. Three more deaths have been reported in northeastern Cagayan province, where the typhoon made landfall.
Among the fatalities were an infant and a 2-year-old child who died with their parents after the couple refused to immediately evacuate from their high-risk community in a Nueva Vizcaya mountain town, said Francis Tolentino, an adviser to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
“They can’t decide for themselves where to go,” he said of the children, expressing frustration that the tragedy was not prevented.
Tolentino, who was assigned by Duterte to help coordinate disaster response, said at least two other people were missing.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan said at least three people died and six others were missing in his mountain city of Baguio after strong winds and rain destroyed several houses and set off landslides, which also blocked roads to the popular vacation destination. It was not immediately clear whether the dead and missing had been included in the overall death toll.
About 87,000 people had evacuated from high-risk areas of the Philippines. Tolentino and other officials advised them not to return home until the lingering danger had passed.
In Cagayan’s capital, Tuguegarao, where the typhoon made landfall, Associated Press journalists saw a severely damaged public market, its roof ripped apart and wooden stalls and tarpaulin canopies in disarray. Outside a popular shopping mall, debris was scattered everywhere and government workers cleared roads of fallen trees. Many stores and houses were damaged but most residents remained indoors as occasional gusts sent small pieces of tin sheets and other debris flying dangerously.
The Tuguegarao airport terminal also was damaged, its roof and glass windows shattered by strong winds.
The typhoon struck at the start of the rice and corn harvesting season in Cagayan, a major agricultural producer, prompting farmers to scramble to save what they could of their crops, Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said.
In Hong Kong, Security Minister John Lee Ka-chiu urged residents to prepare for the worst.
Cathay Pacific said all of its flights would be canceled between 2:30 a.m. local time on Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday.
“Because Mangkhut will bring winds and rains of extraordinary speeds, scope and severity, our preparation and response efforts will be greater than in the past,” Lee said. “Each department must have a sense of crisis, make a comprehensive assessment and plan, and prepare for the worst.”
In nearby Fujian province in China, 51,000 people were evacuated from fishing boats and around 11,000 vessels returned to port.
China’s National Meteorological Center issued an alert saying Mangkhut would make landfall somewhere on the coast in Guangdong province on Sunday afternoon or evening.
Ferry services in the Qiongzhou Strait in southern China were halted on Saturday and helicopters and tugboats were dispatched to Guangdong to transfer offshore workers to safety and warn ships about the typhoon, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Mangkhut, the Thai word for mangosteen fruit, is the 15th storm this year to batter the Philippines, which is hit by about 20 a year and is considered one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines.
Typhoon death toll in Philippines jumps to 28
Typhoon death toll in Philippines jumps to 28
- Storm warnings remained hoisted in 10 northern provinces, including Cagayan, which could still be lashed by devastating winds
- Tuguegarao airport terminal was badly damaged, its roof and glass windows shattered by strong wind, which also sent chairs, tables and papers flipping about inside
NASA’s oldest active astronaut returns to Earth on 70th birthday
WASHINGTON: Cake, gifts and a low-key family celebration may be how many senior citizens picture their 70th birthday.
But NASA’s oldest serving astronaut Don Pettit became a septuagenarian while hurtling toward the Earth in a spacecraft to wrap up a seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
A Soyuz capsule carrying the American and two Russian cosmonauts landed in Kazakhstan on Sunday, the day of Pettit’s milestone birthday.
“Today at 0420 Moscow time (0120 GMT), the Soyuz MS-26 landing craft with Alexei Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Donald (Don) Pettit aboard landed near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan,” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said.
Spending 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates Ovchinin and Vagner orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission.
It was the fourth spaceflight for Pettit, who has logged more than 18 months in orbit throughout his 29-year career.
The trio touched down in a remote area southeast of Kazakhstan after undocking from the space station just over three hours earlier.
NASA images of the landing showed the small capsule parachuting down to Earth with the sunrise as a backdrop.
The astronauts gave thumbs-up gestures as rescuers carried them from the spacecraft to an inflatable medical tent.
Despite looking a little worse for wear as he was pulled from the vessel, Pettit was “doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth,” NASA said in a statement.
He was then set to fly to the Kazakh city of Karaganda before boarding a NASA plane to the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Texas.
The astronauts spent their time on the ISS researching areas such as water sanitization technology, plant growth in various conditions and fire behavior in microgravity, NASA said.
The trio’s seven-month trip was just short of the nine months that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams unexpectedly spent stuck on the orbital lab after the spacecraft they were testing suffered technical issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.
Space is one of the final areas of US-Russia cooperation amid an almost complete breakdown in relations between Moscow and Washington over the Ukraine conflict.
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Recovering pope expected to delight crowds at Easter Sunday mass
- Catholic faithful gathered Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, hoping Pope Francis would make an appearance despite his frail health that has kept him from
VATICAN CITY: Catholic faithful gathered Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, hoping Pope Francis would make an appearance despite his frail health that has kept him from most Holy Week events.
The 88-year-old pontiff traditionally delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” benediction from a balcony overlooking the square following mass to mark the holiday.
But given his delicate health following treatment for pneumonia, it is still unknown whether the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will be present, and in what capacity.
The Holy See’s press service has said the pope hopes to attend but has not confirmed his participation, insisting it depends on his health.
That did not stop crowds of faithful from gathering Sunday under hazy skies in the sprawling plaza decorated with brightly-colored tulips in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit pope.
Marie Manda, 59, from Cameroon, was one of those thinking positive.
“Of course we hope to see the pope but if he’s not here and he’s still suffering we’ll see his representative,” she told AFP.
“But we want to see the pope, even sick we want to see him!“
Indian tourist Rajesh Kumar, 40, however, said he had no idea it was Easter when he booked his holiday with his wife.
“After coming here we realized there is a festival going on, the pope is going to give a speech, so we just entered and we are ready for it,” he said.
Francis was released from hospital on March 23, after five weeks of treatment for pneumonia, from which he nearly died.
His voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing. In the last week, Francis has appeared in public twice without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.
He could delegate the reading of his Easter text — usually a reflection on conflicts and crises around the world — to someone else.
For the first time since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has missed the majority of Holy Week events, such as Friday’s Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday’s Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he delegated his duties to cardinals.
He did, however, make a brief appearance inside the basilica Saturday, where he prayed and gave candies to some children among the visitors.
Some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests will be present at Sunday’s Easter mass.
Organizers expect even bigger crowds than usual due to the Jubilee, a “Holy Year” in the Catholic Church which comes around once every quarter of a century and attracts thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City.
The weekend was also noteworthy for the presence of US Vice President JD Vance in Rome.
He held talks on Saturday with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.
That came just two months after a spat between Francis and the administration of US President Donald Trump over its anti-migrant policies.
Neither the Vatican nor the vice president’s office have commented on any possible meeting between Francis and Vance, and it was unknown whether the vice president planned to attend Sunday mass.
Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, presided over Saturday night’s solemn Easter vigil in place of Francis.
Francis performed one official engagement this Holy Week, visiting a jail in Rome, but he did not perform the traditional foot-washing ritual, which seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.
Asked by a journalist after his visit what he felt about this Easter week in his current condition, the pope replied: “I am living it as best I can.”
This year’s Easter is unusual as it falls on the same weekend in both the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which follow the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox branch, which uses the Julian calendar.
Saudi Arabia leads GCC fixed income issuances in Q1: Markaz report
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia dominated the Gulf’s primary debt market in the first quarter of 2025, raising $31.01 billion through 41 bond and sukuk issuances, a new analysis showed.
According to the Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz, the Kingdom accounted for 60.2 percent of total issuances across the Gulf Cooperation Council, reaffirming its status as the region’s largest fixed income market.
Despite its lead, Saudi Arabia's issuance volume declined 19.6 percent year on year from $38.55 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Overall, the GCC’s primary debt issuances totaled $51.51 billion in the first quarter, marking a 7.1 percent decrease from the same period last year.
“As for issuer preferences, Q1 2025 saw an increased appetite for conventional bond issuances in the GCC, representing 65.5 percent of total issuances for the quarter,” Markaz noted.
It added: “This follows the same trend as in Q1 2024, where conventional bonds also represented the bulk of issuances, with 52.6 percent of all issuances in Q1 2024 being conventional bonds.”
Regional outlook
The Kingdom’s debt market has grown significantly in recent years, driven by investor interest in fixed income amid rising interest rates.
In February, Saudi Arabia raised €2.25 billion ($2.36 billion) through a euro-denominated bond sale, which included its inaugural green tranche, as part of its Global Medium-Term Note Issuance Program.
The National Debt Management Center also completed a riyal-denominated sukuk issuance worth SR3.07 billion ($818 million) in February, following an issuance of SR3.72 billion in January.
Following Saudi Arabia, the UAE ranked second with $10.17 billion raised from 29 offerings, representing a 19.7 percent market share. The UAE’s issuances also surged 61.6 percent from the same period last year, according to Markaz.
Qatar came third, raising $7.14 billion through 38 offerings, accounting for 13.9 percent of total issuances.
Bahrain recorded issuances worth SR1.53 billion, a 44.5 percent drop year on year.
Kuwait raised $1.41 billion from nine issuances, marking a 40.9 percent increase from the previous year.
Omani entities issued just $260 million from one transaction, the lowest in the region, representing 0.5 percent of the total value.
Issuances by type
GCC corporate issuances totaled $32.11 billion in the first quarter, a 45.3 percent year-on-year increase. These made up 62.4 percent of total issuances.
Government-related corporate entities raised $6.8 billion, accounting for 21.2 percent of corporate issuance.
The report noted that total sovereign primary issuances in the GCC fell to $19.39 billion in the first quarter, marking a 41.8 percent decline from the same period last year.
In December 2024, an analysis by Kamco Invest highlighted the growth of the region’s debt market and projected that Saudi Arabia would account for the largest share of bond and sukuk maturities in the GCC, reaching $168 billion between 2025 and 2029.
Kamco Invest added that maturities in the Kingdom would be driven primarily by government-issued bonds and sukuk, expected to total $110.2 billion during the period.
In its latest report, Markaz noted that conventional issuances rose 15.8 percent year-on-year to $32.12 billion in the first quarter.
In contrast, sukuk issuances declined 32.5 percent over the same period, totaling $17.75 billion.
Sector breakdown
The financial sector led bond and sukuk activity in the first quarter, raising $22 billion through 100 issuances — or 42.8 percent of the total.
The government sector followed with $19.4 billion from 12 issuances, representing 37.6 percent of the market.
The real estate sector raised $4.3 billion from five transactions.
Maturity and currency profile
Markaz said that primary issuances with tenors of less than five years accounted for 53.1 percent of the GCC debt capital markets in the first quarter, with a total value of $27.4 billion across 99 issuances.
Issuances with tenors of five to ten years followed, raising $18.4 billion through 20 deals, representing 35.8 percent of the total.
Offerings with maturities of 10 to 30 years made up 1.6 percent of the market in the first three months of the year, with a single issuance valued at $809 million.
“One issuance also came in with a maturity greater than 30 years, with a value of $1 billion. Finally, perpetual issuances saw an increase in both the size and number of issuances when compared to the first quarter of 2024, with a total value of $3.9 billion through 4 issuances,” Markaz added.
In the first quarter of this year, GCC primary issuances ranged in size from $2 million to $5 billion.
The report noted that issuances valued at $1 billion or more raised the largest share, totaling $31.9 billion across 18 offerings. This segment represented 61.9 percent of the total amount issued in the GCC during the same period.
Issuances between $500 million and $1 billion followed, raising $14.4 billion through 22 deals.
The highest number of issuances came in the under $100 million category, with 65 transactions collectively raising $1.9 billion during the first quarter.
Markaz also highlighted that US dollar-denominated issuances dominated the bonds and sukuk primary market in the GCC, raising $44.9 billion through 92 offerings. These issuances accounted for 87.2 percent of the total value raised in the region.
The second-largest currency for issuances was the euro, which raised $3 billion through four transactions.
In February, credit rating agency Fitch projected that Saudi Arabia would play a key role in driving US dollar debt and sukuk issuance in 2025 and 2026, as the Kingdom’s financial institutions and corporations continue to tap international debt markets for diversified funding sources.
Fitch added that Saudi banks alone are expected to issue over $30 billion in dollar-denominated issuances this year.
The agency further noted that Saudi banks have significantly expanded their international debt capital market activities since 2020, aligning with their growth strategies and foreign-currency requirements.
Additionally, Fitch forecasted that Saudi Arabia’s debt capital market would reach $500 billion by the end of 2025, supported by the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts under Vision 2030.
Pakistan eyes enhanced cooperation with Saudi Arabia to prevent drug trafficking
- Pakistan’s interior minister meets Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki
- Mohsin Naqvi assures Saudi envoy Pakistan has “tightened the noose” around begging mafia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants to enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia in curbing illicit activities such as drug trafficking and human smuggling, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Sunday.
Pakistan this week organized the Pak-GCC Regional Narcotics Conference, organized by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in Islamabad, where delegates from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait gathered to develop a joint strategy against narcotics trafficking and abuse.
Naqvi visited the Saudi embassy in Islamabad on Sunday where he met Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki. The two discussed matters of mutual interest, enhancing bilateral relations and increasing mutual cooperation, the interior ministry said.
“We want to enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia to prevent drug trafficking and human smuggling,” Naqvi was quoted as saying by his ministry.
Islamabad has been worried about the trend of Pakistani beggars abusing visas to beg in foreign countries. Pakistan fears this could impact genuine visa-seekers and particularly religious pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia.
According to widespread media reports, Riyadh raised this issue with Islamabad at various forums last year.
Naqvi assured Malki that the government has “tightened the noose” around the begging mafia in Pakistan.
“New conditions are being imposed for obtaining passports to curb begging and illegal immigration,” he said.
Naqvi thanked Saudi Arabia for releasing a Pakistani family that had been “framed” for smuggling narcotics to the Kingdom earlier this year.
“Saudi Arabia provided significant support for the release and repatriation of the innocent family,” he said.
“Thanks to the cooperation of the Saudi government, five members of the family were released and returned home,” he added.
As per the interior ministry, Malki said Riyadh enjoyed close relations with Islamabad and wanted to strengthen them further.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial relations rooted in shared faith, culture and traditions.
Pakistanis are the second-largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, with over 2.5 million living and working in Saudi Arabia, the top source of remittances to the South Asian country.
Al-Jazira stun star-studded Shabab Al-Ahli and take ADIB Cup final glory
- A 2-1 win for the underdogs at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium proved worthy of the pre-match hype
AL-AIN: Abdullah Ramadan’s remarkable 40-yard wonder strike and fancy footwork from ex-Fulham winger Neeskens Kebano helped fire underdogs Al-Jazira to a deserved 2-1 ADIB Cup final victory against star-studded Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club on Saturday night.
Hazza bin Zayed Stadium was a fitting setting for Saturday’s epic showpiece between two heavyweights of the UAE game. On the day, Sharjah’s serial winner Cosmin Olaroiu was confirmed as new national team head coach, prize midfielder Ramadan shook off an injury-ravaged campaign and generated a jaw-dropping reminder of his mesmerising talents on 18 minutes by blasting in from range.
This slender advantage for Adnoc Pro League’s distant sixth-placed side against the runaway leaders would evaporate five minutes into the second half when prolific Iranian forward Sardar Azmoun followed up his own effort to level. But the momentum of Paulo Sousa’s men was immediately checked on 55 minutes when DR Congo flyer Kebano produced a series of beguiling stepovers and lashed into the bottom corner.
Shabab Al-Ahli continued to predictably boss possession with 62 percent, and attempts on goal (17-9), although theynever truly looked like mounting a comeback to avoid this term’s first domestic defeat. The final whistle handed the spirited Pride of Abu Dhabi their second ADIB Cup crown and just third trophy since the 2017-2018 season off.
Arab News looks at some key talking points from the decider:
A new era for Jazira
The 2024-2025 season has been a time of change for Jazira.
Club legend and record goal scorer Ali Mabkhout made a high-profile summer departure to Al-Nasr, while they began this campaign without a permanent Dutch manager at the helm for the first time since Brazilian Abel Braga’s mistaken summer 2015 return. Bold calls that have not always appeared judicious via mixed fortunes under Morocco’s Hussein Ammouta.
This, however, felt like a fork in the road. Big-name stars stood up tall, France’s World Cup 2018 winning playmaker Nabil Fekir oozed class with every silky touch and ex-Arsenal stalwart Mohamed Elneny battled hard from an unfamiliar centre-back role.
Ammouta’s residual capacity to inspire, as shown with shock 2023 AFC Asian Cup finalists Jordan, was also on display. Heroes emerged across the pitch — including starlets Mamadou Coulibaly, Vinicius Mello, Ravil Tagir and Ilyass Lagrimi.
This could be the start of something very special.
Shabab Al-Ahli continue to stumble at the finishing line
Another big game, another big disappointment for Shabab Al-Ahli.
ADIB Cup final defeat follows elimination in the AFC Champions League Elite play-off round to Qatar’s unexceptional Al-Gharafa and penalty shootout defeat to rivals Sharjah in the AFC Champions League Two quarter-finals.
This campaign could finish with the Adnoc Pro League, President’s Cup, Qatar–UAE Challenge Shield and Emaar Super Cup trophies residing at Rashid Stadium. Yet there is a sense of immense potential being left unfulfilled.
UAE wide men Yahya Al-Ghassani and unused substitute Harib Abdalla could certainly use some more game time, while fellow international Sultan Adil may further freshen up their attack after a lengthy absence.
A monstrous 11-point league gap — albeit with second-placed Sharjah holding a game in hand — gives opportunity for experimentation.
A final worthy of the fanfare
Pre-match ceremonies often feel like duds after kick-off.
This engrossing final, however, most certainly was not.
Early entertainment sparked by traditional dancers allied with booming pyrotechnics before kick-off reached its high point upon the novel sight of sponsors ADIB’s ATM dispensing the match ball. Nobody watching felt short-changed about what followed.
Styles make fights and Jazira’s counter-punching approach took the shine off glittering Shabab Al-Ahli.
Urged on by a strong crowd in Al-Ain, this was a chance for UAE football to show off. It surely did.
