2025-07-20 12:20
HONG KONG, July 20 (Reuters) - Rains from Typhoon Wipha pounded Hong Kong on Sunday as the storm skirted southwards before making landfall on the coast of China's Guangdong province, leaving fallen trees and scaffolding and sending over 200 people to seek refuge at temporary shelters. Hong Kong's weather authorities downgraded the typhoon warning to a No. 3 strong wind signal at 7:45 p.m. Sign up here. Just after 4 p.m., they had lowered the typhoon signal in the Asian financial hub to 8 from the maximum of 10, which had been hoisted for nearly seven hours. "Compared to previous typhoons like Mangkhut and Hato, which caused much more astonishing destruction, the impact this time was primarily limited to fallen trees and collapsed scaffolding," Eastern District councillor Kenny Yuen told Reuters. He was speaking in front of collapsed bamboo scaffolding that had fallen from a residential compound under renovation in North Point near the city's harbour and been swept onto the road. As the storm passed Hong Kong, more than 110 mm (4 inches) of rain fell within three hours and maximum wind gusts had exceeded 167 kph (103 mph) at some points. Much of the rain concentrated on the northern region neighbouring the mainland, the city's observatory said. In a statement, the government said 26 people sought treatment in public hospitals during the typhoon, while 253 flocked to its shelters, and 471 fallen trees were reported. Wipha moved westward and made landfall on the coast of Taishan city in Guangdong at around 5:50 p.m., and then weakened to a severe tropical storm, China's state-run CCTV reported. Authorities in neighbouring Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, also downgraded the typhoon signal to 8 from 10, warning of flooding in its inner harbour area and urging residents to stay safe, public broadcaster TDM said. Hong Kong's airport authority said 80,000 travellers were hit by the rescheduling of 400 flights forced by the typhoon. Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) , opens new tab cancelled all flights with Hong Kong airport between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. It waived ticket-change fees and arranged for rebooking. Most public transport in Hong Kong was suspended, including ferries amid high sea swells. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/typhoon-rains-batter-hong-kong-before-wipha-weakens-severe-tropical-storm-2025-07-20/
2025-07-20 11:26
Government revises death toll down to 35 Four still missing after boating accident in Halong Bay Storm caused damage in Hanoi, temporarily disrupted air travel HALONG BAY/HANOI, Vietnam, July 20 (Reuters) - Dozens of rescuers were scrambling in Vietnam on Sunday to trace four missing people after retrieving the bodies of dozens killed when a thunderstorm capsized a boat in the top tourist destination of Halong Bay, authorities said. Despite a calm sea, rescuers, from police and border guards to divers and navy personnel, were battling limited visibility hours before the expected landfall in northern Vietnam of Typhoon Wipha, which is now approaching Hong Kong. Sign up here. The government said rescuers had managed to retrieve the sunken boat and revised down the death toll to 35 from an initial 38 on Saturday, while cutting an estimate of those aboard to 49 from 53, though officials fear the toll could still rise. All the tourists aboard were Vietnamese, including several children, the official Vietnam News Agency said. "My brother can swim, but I was told everything happened too fast," Tran Trung Tu, 39, whose sibling was 32, told Reuters at a funeral parlour on Sunday. The accident was one of the worst in recent years in the UNESCO-protected archipelago of thousands of limestone islands about 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Hanoi, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. The sudden thunderstorm turned the sky dark in a matter of minutes, felling trees in the capital of Hanoi, where officials at the Noi Bai international airport said nine flights were diverted and three departures temporarily halted. "It is the first time I have experienced an accident with so many casualties here," said insurance agent Do Thi Thuy. A tour boat sank in Halong Bay in 2011, killing 12, with some foreign tourists among them. The government said the accident was caused by a "sudden" storm. Strong winds, heavy rain and lightning were reported around the time of the event, at 2 p.m. on Saturday. "I was told life vests were available, but it was too sudden," said Do Van Hai, 42, a Halong resident. "Hopefully, the missing ones will be found soon." https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-hunts-four-missing-after-sudden-thunderstorm-capsized-tourist-boat-2025-07-20/
2025-07-20 11:20
CAIRO, July 20 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday the planned establishment of a new national low-cost airline with a fleet of 45 planes to be ready by 2030, state media reported. The United Arab Emirates's carrier Air Arabia was among an alliance of three companies that won a bid to operate the new airline, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said. Sign up here. The new carrier would operate domestic and international flights from and to King Fahd international airport in Dammam, the authority added. The airline will serve 24 domestic destinations and 57 international destinations, with the aim of transporting 10 million passengers annually, state media said. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-announces-new-low-cost-airline-with-fleet-45-planes-2025-07-20/
2025-07-20 10:39
DHAKA, July 20 (Reuters) - Bangladesh signed a deal on Sunday to import 700,000 tonnes of wheat annually from the United States over the next five years, in a move aimed at securing tariff relief from the Trump administration amid growing trade tensions, officials said. The agreement — formalised through a memorandum of understanding inked in Dhaka between the Ministry of Food and trade group U.S. Wheat Associates — comes at a critical moment, with Washington set to impose a 35% tariff on Bangladeshi exports from August 1. Sign up here. Officials in Dhaka hope the pact will help narrow Bangladesh’s $6 billion trade deficit with the U.S. and pave the way for more-favourable treatment of key export items, particularly garments, which dominate shipments to the United States. Bangladesh's de facto food minister, Ali Imam Majumder, said at the signing ceremony that the agreement would not only ensure a steady supply of high-quality wheat at competitive prices but also strengthen trade ties between the two nations. “This step reflects our willingness to build mutual trust and deepen economic cooperation with the United States,” he said. The U.S. tariff hike has rattled Bangladesh’s export sector, especially the ready-made garments industry, which fears losing competitiveness in one of its largest markets. The wheat initiative is widely seen as part of a broader diplomatic and trade strategy to soften Washington’s stance and open the door for further negotiations. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce said talks are ongoing with U.S. counterparts in an effort to lower the duty, arguing that such high tariffs could significantly undermine Bangladesh’s competitiveness in the American market. Bangladesh imports around 7 million tonnes of wheat each year, with the bulk sourced from the Black Sea region due to its lower cost. Smaller volumes of higher-quality wheat, including some from the United States, are also imported for blending. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/bangladesh-signs-us-wheat-import-deal-bid-curb-tariff-pressure-2025-07-20/
2025-07-20 09:49
HONG KONG, July 20 (Reuters) - Rain pounded Hong Kong on Sunday as Typhoon Wipha skirted southwards, packing winds exceeding 167 kph (103 mph), disrupting 400 flights and public transport, felling hundreds of trees, and damaging a construction site. Just after 4 p.m. on Sunday, weather authorities lowered the typhoon signal in the Asian financial hub to 8 from the maximum of 10, which had been hoisted for nearly seven hours, while more than 110 mm (4 inches) of rain fell within three hours. Sign up here. Much of the rain concentrated on the northern region neighbouring the mainland, the city's observatory said, warning of more to come. In a statement, the government said 26 people sought treatment in public hospitals, while 253 flocked to its shelters, and 471 fallen trees were reported. In North Point near the city's harbour, large swathes of scaffolding were swept off a residential building and onto the road. As Wipha tracks westward across the South China Sea it is expected to make landfall later on Sunday between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang in the southern province of Guangdong, state-run broadcaster CCTV said. Authorities in neighbouring Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, also downgraded the typhoon signal to 8 from 10, warning of flooding in its inner harbour area and urging residents to stay safe, public broadcaster TDM said. Hong Kong's airport authority said 80,000 travellers were hit by the rescheduling of 400 flights forced by the typhoon. Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) , opens new tab cancelled all flights with Hong Kong airport between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. It waived ticket change fees and arranged for rebooking. Most public transport in Hong Kong was suspended, including ferries amid high sea swells. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/rains-typhoon-wipha-batter-hong-kong-it-heads-mainland-china-2025-07-20/
2025-07-20 09:12
DUBAI, July 20 (Reuters) - Iran, Britain, France and Germany will hold nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said early on Monday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran. "The meeting between Iran, Britain, France and Germany will take place at the deputy foreign minister level," Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state media as saying. Sign up here. The talks scheduled for Friday come after foreign ministers of the E3 nations, as those European countries are known, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief, held their first call on Thursday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago. The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran - from which the United States withdrew in 2018 - that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme. The E3 have said they would restore U.N. sanctions on Tehran via the "snapback mechanism" by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results. "If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly, and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they lack absolutely [any] moral and legal ground," Araqchi said earlier in the week. The snapback mechanism can be used to restore U.N. sanctions before the U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires on October 18. Prior to the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation. Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-hold-nuclear-talks-with-european-powers-friday-2025-07-20/
