HONOLULU, Hawaii: The strongest storm to hit any part of the United States this year crumbled concrete houses, smashed cars and killed at least one person in the Northern Mariana Islands, shocking residents and officials used to riding out monster storms in the US territory in the Pacific.
A day after Super Typhoon Yutu slammed into the territory home to 50,000 people, residents on Friday picked through destruction ranging from collapsed houses — including some built to withstand typhoon winds — to snapped utility poles blocking waterlogged roads. They braced for months without power or running water.
Maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 kph) were recorded around the eye of the storm, which passed over the islands of Tinian and Saipan early Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
A 44-year-old woman taking shelter in an abandoned building died when it collapsed in the storm, the governor’s office Facebook page said. Officials couldn’t immediately be reached for additional details.
The territory’s only hospital in Saipan, the most populated island, said it received 133 people in the emergency room Thursday, and three patients had severe injuries that needed surgery.
Officials toured villages in Saipan and saw cars crushed under a collapsed garage, the ground ripped clean of vegetation and some people injured by spraying glass and other debris.
But residents “were stoic and still smiling and they were just thankful to be alive,” said Edwin Propst, a member of the territory’s House of Representatives.
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, the islands’ delegate to Congress, said most of the structures in the southern part of Saipan lost their roofs and many, including a high school, were “completely destroyed.”
“This damage is just horrendous, it’s going to take months and months for us to recover,” he said by phone.
Even the plants were torn up, he said: “There are no shrubs, they’re all gone. There are no leaves.”
On the smaller island of Tinian, which took a direct hit, most of the houses were destroyed, even some concrete ones reduced to rubble, resident Juanita Mendiola said.
“We had to hide inside the bathroom because the house felt like it was going to blow apart,” she said. “It was literally shaking — a concrete house shaking.”
More than 800 people were in shelters across the territory and space was running out, officials said. Electricity and running water shut down Wednesday, residents said. Cellphone coverage was spotty.
The Saipan hospital was running on backup generators but otherwise operating normally, said Esther Lizama Muna, CEO of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. She said she expects more patients to seek medical help Friday and worried they could run out of medical supplies.
“From my experience with previous typhoons, people tend to wait to care for their health as they focus on their homes and others,” Muna said. “So we do expect more injuries trickling in.”
A health center on Tinian sustained damage but was operating normally.
The islands’ emergency management agency said it was trying to clear roadways so first responders could help residents who lost their homes and people could get medical care and head to shelters.
“At its peak, it felt like many trains running constant,” Saipan resident Glen Hunter wrote in a Facebook message. “At its peak, the wind was constant and the sound horrifying.”
Hunter peeked outside and saw his neighbor’s house, made of wood and tin, completely gone.
The 45-year-old has lived on Saipan since childhood and is accustomed to strong storms but said Super Typhoon Yutu is the worst he has experienced. Hunter said he doesn’t expect to get power back for months, recalling how it took four months to restore electricity after Typhoon Soudelor in 2015.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I have been through major typhoons,” said Sablan, the congressional delegate.
He said the territory will need significant help to recover and that colleagues in Congress have offered aid. Sablan expects a presidential disaster declaration to free up resources for storm relief.
Recovery efforts on Saipan and Tinian will be slow, said Brandon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“This is the worst-case scenario. This is why the building codes in the Marianas are so tough,” he said. “This is going to be the storm which sets the scale for which future storms are compared to.”
Propst, the lawmaker, said he has lived through dozens of typhoons but “this is the first time I feared for my life.”
He, his wife and their four children huddled in a bedroom as the storm ripped storm shutters from the windows of his concrete home, shattered a glass sliding door and flooded the floors.
Some poor families can’t afford homes that conform to building codes, Propst said. Some build houses with concrete foundations and walls but that have wooden and tin roofs.
“We’re hoping for some clear skies and some sun so we can dry out,” Propst said. “We want people to remember we are Americans and we exist.”
Typhoon crumbles homes, kills 1 in Northern Mariana Islands
Typhoon crumbles homes, kills 1 in Northern Mariana Islands
- Maximum sustained winds of 290 kph were recorded around the eye of the storm
- The territory’s only hospital in Saipan, the most populated island, said it received 133 people in the emergency room Thursday
Indonesia launches free meals program to combat malnutrition
- With $4.3 billion budget, government is targeting over 19 million recipients by end of 2025
- Stunting afflicts around 21.5 percent of children under 5 years old in Indonesia
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s new government launched an ambitious $4.3 billion free meal program on Monday to fight malnutrition and stunting, a key election promise of President Prabowo Subianto.
The Free Nutritious Meal Program, a centerpiece of Prabowo’s election campaign that catapulted him to power last year, plans to reach more than 82 million students and pregnant mothers across Indonesia in five years.
It is part of a longer-term strategy to develop human resources to achieve a “Golden Indonesia” generation by 2045 and to significantly reduce the problem of stunting that currently afflicts around 21.5 percent of children younger than 5 years old in the country.
“This is a historic moment for Indonesia. For the first time, Indonesia is conducting a nationwide nutrition program for toddlers, students, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers,” Hariqo Wibawa Satria, head of the presidential communications office, said late on Sunday.
The first leg of the program was rolled out on Monday with 190 kitchens involved in preparing the first meals for about 570,000 school children in more than 20 provinces.
With a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion) for 2025, the government is hoping to reach more than 19 million people by the end of the year.
“The number will gradually increase so that the program will reach its 82 million target by 2029,” Satria said.
Prabowo said the program, which was previously estimated to cost $28 billion over five years, is strategic to counter child malnutrition and spur economic growth.
Malnutrition is a prevalent issue in Indonesia, where one in 12 children younger than 5 suffer from wasting, while one in five are stunted, according to estimates from UNICEF.
Tan Shot Yen, a Jakarta-based nutritionist and doctor, said the multi-billion program was unlikely to resolve Indonesia’s stunting and malnutrition problem.
“Stunting is a multidimensional issue, and it mostly has to do with the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, between the time they are in the womb until they are 2 years old. So if there’s a program distributing food to prevent stunting among school children, that is a (political) campaign,” she told Arab News.
In the archipelago nation of around 280 million people, around 70 percent of stunting cases can be traced back to poor parenting, she said, where many disregard the importance of nutrition during pregnancy and in young children.
“The problem is that many people do not understand the basics of nutrition,” Tan said, adding that resolving malnutrition in Indonesia was “an extremely complicated” matter.
“Eating right once a day is not going to change someone’s fate and improve his nutrition for the better.”
Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane: Azeri president
- An Azerbaijan Airlines jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board
- Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones
BAKU: Azerbaijan’s president said on Monday that Russia was “guilty” over the downing of an airline last month that Baku says was shot by Russian air defenses.
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny.
Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized that the “incident” occurred in his country’s air space but has not responded to claims the plane was hit by Russian weapons.
“The guilt for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, according to a statement published by his office.
Aliyev was meeting surviving crew and family members of crew who died in the incident.
The Azerbaijani leader, who is close to Putin, has issued rare fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, admission of guilt and the punishment of those found responsible for the “criminal” shooting of the plane.
On Monday he said Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put forward “cause us justifiable anger.”
Initial statements by Russia’s air transport agency that the plane had been forced to divert after a bird strike have triggered fury in Baku.
Aliyev said air defense measures for Grozny – the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the plane was set to land – were only announced after the plane had been “shot from the ground.”
“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev said.
He also questioned why the plane was sent hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau for an emergency landing.
“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan says preliminary results of its investigation show the plane was hit accidentally by a Russian air defense missile.
Russia has opened its own criminal probe but has not said whether it agrees with Baku’s assessment.
The plane’s black boxes have been sent to Brazil for analysis.
Hundreds of Afghans seeking US resettlement arrive in Philippines for visa processing
- Group of around 300 Afghan nationals, comprising mostly children, arrived from Kabul on Monday
- Under Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no more than 59 days
MANILA: Hundreds of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington.
The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US visa-processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals who had worked for American forces in Afghanistan and were left behind during their chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.
A group of about 300 Afghan nationals arrived from Kabul on Monday and were issued “the appropriate Philippine entry visa,” said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.
“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippine national security agencies,” Daza added
“As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing.”
The applicants were also vetted by US security agencies and had undergone medical screening prior to their arrival.
The group of Afghans will stay at a billet facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and are only permitted to leave for their embassy consular interviews
Under the Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no longer than 59 days.
The Philippines was chosen as a location for the visa processing as the US Embassy in Manila is “one of the largest” and “has the capacity to process them efficiently and smoothly without having to sacrifice the normal operations,” a Philippine official said.
The Afghan nationals who are processing their visas in the Philippines comprised mostly children and “will be the only group” under the agreement between Manila and Washington, a US State Department official told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More than 160,000 Afghans sought resettlement when the Taliban took over Afghanistan as international forces withdrew from the country in 2021 — two decades after the US invaded it.
Thousands of others are in third countries awaiting visa processing. Many of them had worked for the US government.
South Korea’s Yoon set to avoid arrest by warrant deadline
- Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday
- The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced
SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared set to evade arrest ahead of a Monday night deadline after anti-graft investigators asked for more time to enforce a warrant.
The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times over a bungled martial law decree last month and remained holed up in his residence surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.
Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday (1500 GMT) and asked for support from the police, which said the force would help and may arrest anyone shielding Yoon.
“The validity of the warrant expires today. We plan to request an extension from the court today,” said CIO deputy director Lee Jae-seung, whose authority has been refuted by Yoon’s lawyers.
The request was officially filed on Monday evening and an extension can be granted all the way up to the midnight deadline. If the warrant expires, investigators can apply for another one.
The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced, including being met by hundreds of security forces when they entered Yoon’s presidential compound on Friday.
“We will consider the option of arresting any personnel from the Presidential Security Service during the execution of the second warrant,” a police official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The country’s opposition Democratic Party has also called for the dissolution of the security service protecting the impeached president.
If authorities detain Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, he will become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
But they would only have 48 hours to either request another arrest warrant, in order to keep him in detention, or be forced to release him.
While officials have been unable to get to Yoon, the joint investigation team has gone after top military officials behind the martial law plan.
The prosecution’s martial law special investigation unit on Monday indicted Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho on charges of playing an integral role in an insurrection and abuse of power.
Yoon would face prison or, at worst, the death penalty if convicted for insurrection over briefly suspending civilian rule and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
But both he and his supporters have remained defiant.
“We will protect the Presidential Security Service till midnight,” said Kim Soo-yong, 62, one of the protest organizers.
“If they get another warrant, we will come again.”
Early Monday dozens of Yoon’s lawmakers from the People Power Party turned up in front of his presidential residence and police blocked roads.
“I’ve been here longer than the CIO now. It doesn’t make sense why they can’t do it. They need to arrest him immediately,” said anti-Yoon protest organizer Kim Ah-young, in her 30s.
The initial warrant was issued on the grounds that Yoon has refused to emerge for questioning over his martial law decree.
His lawyers have repeatedly said the warrant is “unlawful” and “illegal,” pledging to take further legal action against it.
The vibrant East Asian democracy will find itself in uncharted territory either way — its sitting president will have been arrested, or he would have evaded court-ordered detention.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul early Monday, and did not meet Yoon but held a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.
He praised Seoul’s democratic resilience but his focus was shifted away from domestic politics when North Korea fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea as he met Cho.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
A prosecutors’ report for his former defense minister seen by AFP Sunday showed Yoon ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid, evidence the court may take into account.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.
Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib wins appeal to seek home detention for corruption sentence
- Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009.
- Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday won an appeal to pursue his bid to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.
