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
Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal
- Greenland, home to a large US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally
- The US returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999
PALM BEACH, Florida: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared US control of both to be vital to American national security.
Speaking to reporters less than two weeks before he takes office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories. Trump’s intention marks a rejection of decades of US policy that has prioritized self-determination over territorial expansion.
“I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military. “It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country.” He added, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
Greenland, home to a large US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim to Greenland.
The Panama Canal has been solely controlled by the eponymous country for more than 25 years. The US returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.
Addressing Trump’s comments in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the United States Denmark’s “most important and closest ally,” and that she did not believe that the United States will use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.
Frederiksen repeated that she welcomed the United States taking a greater interest in the Arctic region, but that it would “have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people,” she said.
“At the same time, it must be done in a way that allows Denmark and the United States to still cooperate in, among other things, NATO,” Frederiksen said.
Earlier, Trump posted a video of his private plane landing in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital, in a landscape of snow-capped peaks and fjords.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,” Trump wrote. “The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
In a statement, Greenland’s government said Donald Trump Jr.’s visit was taking place “as a private individual” and not as an official visit, and Greenlandic representatives would not meet with him.
Trump, a Republican, has also floated having Canada join the United States as the 51st state. He said Tuesday that he would not use military force to invade the country, which is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner.
Instead, he said, he would would rely on “economic force” as he cast the US trade deficit with Canada — a natural resource-rich nation that provides the US with commodities like crude oil and petroleum — as a subsidy that would be coming to an end.
Canadian leaders fired back after earlier dismissing Trump’s rhetoric as a joke.
“President-elect Trump’s comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a post on X.
Justin Trudeau, the country’s outgoing prime minister, was even more blunt.
“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” he wrote.
Promising a “Golden age of America,” Trump also said he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” saying that has a “beautiful ring to it.”
He also said he believes that NATO should dramatically increase its spending targets, with members of the trans-Atlantic alliance committing to spend at least 5 percent of their GDPs on defense spending, up from the current 2 percent.
In June, NATO announced a record 23 of its 32 member nations were on track to hit that target as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has raised the threat of expanding conflict in Europe.
Trump also used his press conference to complain that President Joe Biden was undermining his transition to power a day after the incumbent moved to ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.
Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, used his authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. All told, about 625 million acres of federal waters were withdrawn from energy exploration by Biden in a move that may require an act of Congress to undo.
“I’m going to put it back on day one,” Trump told reporters. He pledged to take it to the courts “if we need to.”
Trump said Biden’s effort — part of a series of final actions in office by the Democrat’s administration — was undermining his plans for once he’s in office.
“You know, they told me that, we’re going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth,” Trump said. “It’s not smooth.”
But Biden’s team has extended access and courtesies to the Trump team that the Republican former president initially denied Biden after his 2020 election victory. Trump incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios in an interview published Monday that Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients “has been very helpful.”
In extended remarks, Trump also railed against the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw now-dropped prosecutions over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and possession of classified documents after he left office in 2021. The Justice Department is expected to soon release a report from Smith summarizing his investigation after the criminal cases were forced to an end by Trump’s victory in November.
Bangladesh’s ailing former premier Khaleda Zia leaves country for treatment in London
- Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, her physician says
- Khaleda Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia left the nation’s capital for London on Tuesday for medical treatment, said one of her advisers.
Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press by phone that the three-time former premier and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance.
“Our senior leaders left the airport seeing her off,” Swapan said.
Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, according to her physician.
Zia left behind a South Asian nation grappling with uncertainty over its political future after her archrival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August. Zia and Hasina are the most influential political leaders in Bangladesh.
An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is running the country and plans to hold elections in December this year or in the first half of 2026.
Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases stemming from 2001-2006 when she was prime minister. Her supporters say the charges against her were politically motivated, an allegation Hasina’s administration denied. Under Yunus, Zia was acquitted in one of the cases in November and an appeal in the second case was being heard on Tuesday.
Zia, 79, was freed from prison on bail under Hasina through a government order and had been undergoing medical treatment in Bangladesh. But Hasina’s administration did not allow her to travel abroad for treatment despite requests seeking approval.
The special air ambulance was sent by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Hundreds of her supporters gathered outside her residence in the city’s upscale Gulshan area to see her off.
Zia’s motorcade took nearly three hours to cross about a 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of road to get to the airport from her residence in Dhaka’s Gulshan area as thousands of her desperate supporters greeted her on the way, creating traffic chaos. Her hours-long journey to the airport was broadcast live by television stations.
Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a close aide of Zia, told reporters that the air ambulance had arrived from Doha to take her to London, where her eldest son and heir apparent Tarique Rahman has been in exile since 2007. Rahman is the acting chairman of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and is expected to lead the party toward the election. The country’s dynastic politics have long focused on the families of Hasina and Zia.
Zia is the wife of late President Ziaur Rahman, a former military chief who rose to prominence during years of tumultuous politics after Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence leader, was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975. Zia’s husband was also killed in 1981 in another military coup after he formed his political party and ruled the country as president for three years. Hasina’s father led Bangladesh’s independence war against Pakistan, aided by India, in 1971.
Zia’s personal physician, A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, said Qatar’s emir arranged the special aircraft with medical facilities for the former prime minister, whose ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems.
Her departure follows dramatic political developments since last August, when Hasina’s 15-year rule ended. Hasina fled into exile in India as she and her close aides faced charges of killing hundreds of protesters during a mass protest movement that began in July.
Zia’s departure could create a symbolic vacuum in the country’s politics amid efforts by a student group that led the anti-Hasina protest to form a new political party. In the absence of Hasina and her secular Bangladesh Awami League party, the rise of Islamist political parties and other Islamist groups has been visible in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
Zia’s party has been bargaining with the Yunus-led government for an election sometime this year. Yunus said his government wants to make some major reforms before the election.
Pakistan’s Punjab offers health, education, religious tourism incentives to Saudi investors
- Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz meets Prince Mansour, former governor of Hafr Al-Batin province
- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have sought closer business and economic ties in recent months
ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province has offered Saudi investors incentives as part of a “special package” to explore opportunities in religious tourism, health, education and infrastructure, state-run media reported this week.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif met Prince Mansour bin Mohammed Al Saud, former governor of Saudi Arabia’s Hafr Al-Batin province, on Monday to discuss promoting bilateral relations and mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Punjab, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
The two nations enjoy cordial ties, with Riyadh frequently assisting cash-strapped Pakistan by supplying oil on deferred payment terms and financial support to stabilize its economy.
“During the discussions, the chief minister invited Saudi investors to explore opportunities in infrastructure, health, education and religious tourism in Punjab,” APP reported. “She assured Saudi investors of her government’s full cooperation and the provision of incentives under a special package.”
Sharif praised Saudi Arabia’s longstanding cooperation with Pakistan, saying Riyadh was like an older brother.
“The hearts of the people of both countries beat together,” she is quoted as saying.
“The Punjab government has ensured foolproof security and established a system based on merit to improve the business environment in the province.”
APP said Prince Mansour assured Pakistan of Saudi Arabia’s support.
“The relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is crucial for the stability and prosperity of the entire region,” he said. “Saudi Arabia will always stand by Pakistan.”
The Kingdom is home to over 2 million Pakistani expatriates and is the source of most overseas workers’ remittances for Pakistan.
The two countries have forged strong business and economic relations in recent months. In October 2024, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed several memorandums of understanding valued at $2.8 billion. In December, Sharif’s office confirmed that seven of 34 MoUs had been converted into agreements worth $560 million.
Indonesia joins BRICS, vows to strengthen Global South cooperation
- BRICS now accounts for about 48% of world’s population, over 37% of global economy
- Jakarta wants to attract more foreign investment, find alternatives to West-led order, expert says
JAKARTA: Indonesia announced on Tuesday its acceptance into the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, vowing to strengthen cooperation with countries of the Global South.
Initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the group expanded last year with the accession of Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the UAE.
Morphing into the most powerful geopolitical forum outside of the Western world, BRICS now accounts for about 48 percent of the world’s population and more than 37 percent of the global economy.
Rolliansyah Soemirat, spokesperson for Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Indonesia is committed to contributing to the agendas discussed by BRICS, which include economic resilience, tech cooperation and public health.
“BRICS is an important platform for Indonesia to strengthen South-South cooperation and to ensure that the voices and aspirations of Global South countries will be represented in the global decision-making process,” Soemirat said.
Indonesia’s accession had been approved by BRICS leaders in August 2023, but the world’s fourth-most populous country opted to formally join the bloc after the formation of the newly elected government following last year’s elections. Its accession was welcomed by the government of Brazil, which holds the group’s rotating presidency in 2025.
“As the largest economy and most populous nation in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other BRICS members the support for the reform of the global governance institutions and contributes significantly to the deepening of Global South cooperation,” Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Brazil holds the BRICS presidency this year under the theme “Enhancing Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance” and will host the annual leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro in July.
Indonesia’s interest in joining BRICS is likely a part of the government’s drive to attract more foreign investment, said Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
“The move is to do with seeking opportunities to expand sources of investment from a group of countries that do not force Indonesia to choose sides or leave traditional partnerships with the West,” Kharisma told Arab News.
“However, this outcome is not guaranteed,” he said. “The investment patterns of BRICS countries have not shown a clear tendency to prioritize or politically favor fellow members. There is no assurance that Indonesia’s investments will increase significantly.”
Joining BRICS may also be a way for Indonesia to showcase the look of a “new global order,” Kharisma added.
“Symbolically, it is a signal from a country like Indonesia, which has benefitted from the West-led order all this time but wants to integrate even more (into) the global order, that it is seeking ‘alternatives’ should the West-led orders become … less friendly to developing countries.”
Ukraine says conducting combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region
- Russia’s army said over the weekend that Kyiv was mounting a “counter-attack” in the region
- Ukraine’s forces have held onto a swathe of territory since a shock incursion last August
KYIV: Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a Russian military “command post” in Russia’s Kursk region during “combat operations,” while backtracking on a claim it had launched a fresh offensive in the border area.
Russia’s army said over the weekend that Kyiv was mounting a “counter-attack” in the region, where Ukraine’s forces have held onto a swathe of territory since a shock incursion last August.
In an English-language statement, Kyiv’s army said it had launched a “high precision” strike near the village of Belaya — south-east of Kyiv-controlled territory — without saying if it had used Western long-range weapons.
An original version of the statement, published by the Ukrainian General Staff on its Telegram account, said Ukraine had launched “new offensive operations” in the Kursk region.
The post was then edited and the reference to a “new offensive” removed.
“This strike is an integral part of the combat operations of units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which conduct combat operations” in the Kursk region, the updated statement said.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers have reported a powerful new Ukrainian offensive, but Kyiv had not commented on those reports, only saying in regular daily briefings that fighting in the region was ongoing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had on Monday also alluded to fighting in the Kursk region in his evening address, stating that Kyiv was “maintaining a buffer zone on Russian territory” and “actively destroying Russian military potential there.”
It is not clear if Ukraine had advanced much in the region, but the assault would come nearly three years into Moscow’s invasion and two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House.
Trump has vowed to begin talks to end the Ukraine war and Kyiv’s hold in Kursk could influence any negotiations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukraine’s “position in Kursk” would “factor in any negotiation that may come about in the coming year.”
Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the western border region in August 2024, before Russia repelled some attacks, including with the help of North Korean soldiers sent by Pyongyang.
