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MANILA, Philippines — Super Typhoon Henry (international name Hinnamnor) gained strength on Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour and a gustiness of up to 240 kilometers per hour, according to state meteorologists.
Henry, plotted 430 kilometers east-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, has overwhelmed former Tropical Depression Gardo, now downgraded to a low-pressure system. The low-pressure area did not dampen Super Typhoon Henry’s force, but the storm’s radius vastly expanded, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
“Bahagya itong lumakas dahil natapos na ang tinatawag nating eyewall replacement cycle, wherein dinadaanan talaga ito na stage ng isang malakas na bagyo, at inaasahan na natin na ma-maintain na niya ang kanyang intensity within the next 24 hours,” said Pagasa weather specialist Raymond Oridinario in a press briefing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 1) — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials at the Subic port who were transferred to another office amid a sugar smuggling investigation have been reinstated and cleared of the allegations.
BOC Acting Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz on Thursday said he has directed the six officials to return to their posts after the bureau concluded its probe on the shipment of some 7,000 metric tons of refined sugar from Thailand.
“Results of the investigation conducted by the Internal Inquiry and Prosecution Division of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service showed that there was no negligence on the part of the BOC-Port of Subic personnel in the discharge of their duties,” he said in a statement.
BEIJING — China on Thursday said a major United Nations report into alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region was a “political tool” against Beijing.
A long-awaited report by the UN human rights office said allegations of torture in the far-western region were credible and cited possible crimes against humanity.
“The so-called critical report you mentioned is planned and manufactured firsthand by the US and some Western forces, it is wholly illegal and invalid,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
KYIV — The Red Cross on Thursday demanded a halt to all military operations around a Russian-held nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, warning the consequences of a strike could be “catastrophic.”
His remarks came as a top-level team of inspectors from the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, were en route to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is located on the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
“It is high time to stop playing with fire and instead take concrete measures to protect this facility and others like it from any military operations,” Robert Mardini, director general of the ICRC, told reporters in Kyiv.
