Month: April 2019

Mangkhut weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it moved deeper into southern China on Monday, leaving a trail of death and destruction from Hong Kong to the Philippines.

The storm was still raging across southern China’s coast and the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan and rain and strong winds were expected to continue through Tuesday.

Hong Kong residents were told to stay away from the coastline and be on alert for occasional gales.

Bus, ferry and rail services were suspended and almost 900 flights were cancelled at the city’s airport, one of the world’s busiest. The South China Morning Post said Hong Kong’s hospitals had to use backup power due to outages caused by the storm.

Authorities reported four deaths from falling trees and building materials in Guangdong, China’s manufacturing hub.

Mangkhut earlier lashed the Philippines, sparking landslides and building collapses that killed at least 65 people, with another 43 missing.

Officials were taking stock of the damage on the northern island of Luzon as aid workers rushed to rescue the victims of landslides, including one which overwhelmed a church where people were taking shelter and another which engulfed a miners’ bunkhouse.

Between 40 and 50 people were thought to be inside the bunkhouse at an old mining site when the landslide occurred. 

“I can’t begin to accept this, but it looks like the casualties here are going to go up to at least 100,” said Victorio Palangdan, the mayor of Itogon, Benguet, in Luzon’s central highlands, according to the New York Times. 

A baby and a toddler were among the dead in several smaller landslides in mountainous areas that happened as some residents returned to their homes. 

Francis Tolentino, a senior adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, estimated that 5.7 million people had been affected by the storm, and that delivering aid supplies would be a major challenge. 

In the town of Baggao, Mangkhut demolished houses, tore off roofs and downed power lines. Some roads were cut off by landslides and many remained submerged.

Farms across northern Luzon, which produces much of the nation’s rice and corn, were sitting under muddy floodwater, their crops ruined just a month before harvest.

"We’re already poor and then this happened to us. We have lost hope," 40-year-old Mary Anne Baril, whose corn and rice crops were spoilt, told AFP. "We have no other means to survive," she said tearfully.

Almost a quarter of the five million in the direct path of the storm survive on just a few dollars a day. 

An average of 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people. The country’s deadliest storm on record was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in November 2013. 

In Hong Kong, the city shut down and social media posts of the storm’s impact went viral, showing roofs being torn off, people being blown off their feet, and a crane toppling over at a construction site. One post showed a hotel door shattering as the glass caved in to the wind’s pressure. 

Close to 900 flights were cancelled and many residents taped up their windows and huddled indoors.  

Waters surged in Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbour and coastal fishing villages, from which hundreds of residents were evacuated to storm shelters. 

Some roads were waist-deep in water with parts of the city cut off by floods and fallen trees on Sunday afternoon as the rains continued.

In the fishing village of Tai O, where many residents live in stilt houses built over the sea, some desperately tried to bail out their inundated homes. 

"Floodwater is rushing into my home but I’m continuously shovelling the water out. It’s a race against time," Tai O resident Lau King-cheung told AFP by phone.

In the neighbouring gambling enclave of Macau, all 42 casinos shut Saturday night and businesses were shuttered Sunday morning, some boarded up and protected by piles of sandbags. 

As the storm moved south past Macau, streets became submerged under water gushing from the harbour.

Urgent preparations were made as the typhoon turned towards China’s southern coast, including in Yangjiang, a city of 2.4 million where people were bracing for a direct hit.

Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, issued its highest typhoon emergency alert, according to the People’s Daily, and more than 100,000 people were evacuated.

Six men were arrested in Germany Monday on suspicion of forming a far-Right terror cell and planning violent attacks on politicians and immigrants in order to overthrow the government.

The six men, who are all German nationals aged between 20 and 30, tried to obtain semi-automatic weapons and were planning to carry out a terror attack Wednesday, prosecutors said in a statement. 

They were held in a series of early morning police raids in Chemnitz, the east German city that was the scene of neo-Nazi riots in August. A seventh suspect was arrested two weeks ago.

“According to investigations so far, the accused had a “revolutionary” aim based on their far-Right beliefs of overthrowing the democratic constitutional state,” prosecutors said.

The German press described the arrested men as planning a “far-Right revolution”. It is unclear how close they were to achieving their aims.

The seven suspects were planning violent attacks on politicians and prominent members of society as well as immigrants, according to prosecutors.

They formed an extremist group under the name “Revolution Chemnitz” no later than September 11, two weeks after the east German city was shaken by violent protests over the death of a man in a suspected stabbing by migrants.

Five of the men carried out an attack on immigrants in central Chemnitz on September 14, armed with glass bottles, knuckle-dusters and electric stun guns. One migrant was seriously injured after he was hit in the head with a bottle.

“According to the investigation, the attack was supposed to be a ‘dry run’ for an event the suspects planned for October 3, details of which are not yet fully clear,” prosecutors said.

It appears the group may have been planning considerably more violence. 

According to prosecutors, they were trying to obtain semi-automatic weapons when police decided to act.

Wednesday, the day of the planned attack, is a national public holiday to mark the reunification of Germany.

Prosecutors identified one of the seven suspects, named only as Christian K under German privacy laws, as the ringleader of the group. He was held two weeks ago in connection with the “dry run” attack in Chemnitz and it may have been his arrest which led police to the group.

Police intercepted phone calls and online chats in which the group spoke of carrying out attacks on politicians and journalists, who they described as “the media dictatorship and its slaves”, according to an unconfirmed report in Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The cell planned a bigger campaign of violence than the National Socialist Underground (NSU), Germany’s deadliest postwar far-Right terror group, the newspaper claimed.

The arrests appear to vindicate Angela Merkel’s claims that immigrants were “hunted” during far-Right protests in Chemnitz. Hans-Georg Massen, the former head of German domestic intelligence, was removed from his post after he publicly contradicted Mrs Merkel over the claim.

Viktor Orban, the populist prime minister of Hungary issued a personal behind-the-scenes challenge to the French president Emmanuel Macron to contest the ideological future of Europe, The Telegraph can reveal.

European sources said that Mr Orban announced a political tug-of-war on the sidelines of June’s quarterly EU leaders summit, telling Mr Macron that Europe’s destiny would play out between the two of them, “the populist and the European”.

Mr Orban told Mr Macron that there would “only be two winners” from the EU elections next May – himself and the French President – but that he would be “the biggest winner of all”.

The encounter, which is understood to have irritated senior French officials, is typical of Mr Orban’s confrontational style which is seeing him forging nationalist alliances across Europe to in a bid to dethrone the EU’s liberal establishment.

The increasingly raw divisions of European politics were exposed last week when MEPs voted by a margin of 448-197 to demand Hungary face ‘Article 7’ proceedings for the alleged anti-democratic behaviour.

Mr Orban, who is accused of fostering anti-semitism and undermining universities, the free media and Europe’s liberal values, railed against the move in an address to the Parliament accusing it of “blackmailing” his country.

“Hungary will protect its borders, stop illegal migration and… if needed, we will stand up to you,” he threatened, turning the focus back onto the migration issue which has energised nationalist political sentiment all across Europe.

Experts and diplomats saw the encounter as the latest opening skirmishes in a coming fight for the "soul of Europe" in which nationalists like Mr Orban and the Matteo Salvini, the Italian interior minister, will line up against Mr Macron and the forces of liberalism.

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, increased the sense of battlelines being drawn by raising the prospect of Article 7 actions against Malta, Romania and Slovakia.

In many respects, battle has already been joined. Last month Mr Orban held a press conference with Mr Salvini, speaking of “two camps” in Europe that were pro- and anti-immigration, in a bid to paint Mr Macron as soft on the issue.

The French president quickly accepted the challenge, acknowledging what he called a “nationalist-progressive” rift in Europe.

“I will not give an inch to nationalists and those who defend hate speech, so if they want to see me as their main opponent they are right to do so.”

A senior French diplomatic source said that Mr Macron – as he had in his battle for the French presidency with Marine Le Penn – would “not shy away from this cleavage in Europe” but confront the nationalist-progressive division head on.

“The same dynamic will apply with the European elections as the French, because when you really ask people what kind of Europe they really want, whether they want the Euro or the EU to fail, the majority clearly say ‘no’. The reaction to Brexit in Europe clearly showed that.”

The contest will play out most most directly in the European parliamentary elections next May which, after years of declining turnout, look set to recapture public interest.

“The federalist-nationalist faultline in EU politics is now well exposed, and the election campaign should be meaningful,” said Andrew Duff, the chair of the federalist Spinelli group. “The citizens could begin to take notice.”

Polling experts say there is now the potential for a re-ordering of Europe’s main political alliances, as the current grand coalition between the Centre-right EPP group and the Socialists splinters, potentially opening a route for Mr Macron to fill the middle.

Research by Hanbury Strategy, the political analytics firm, predicts that on current polling Socialists will suffer major losses, shrinking from its current 190 seats to 110-130, with the EPP also getting shaved down, from it’s current 217 seats to 180-190.

Mr Macron’s "En Marche" political party is now actively exploring coalition options with the liberal ALDE grouping run by Guy Verhofstadt, a committed EU federalist and implacable opponent of Mr Orban.

If the predicted results do make coalition-building much more difficult, then En March-ALDE would be the only party with coalition options in the centre, on the right and on the left, according to the Hanbury Strategy calculations.

Mr Verhofsttadt is eager to join battle and said he would provide a European alternative to “the nationalists and populists inside and outside this house”.

“The inconvenient truth is that the alt-Right in Europe is trying to undermine the European Union and is in fact trying to take over the European politics from within,” he said in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week.

The decision to demand censure of Mr Orban has also split the EPP, the main centre-right political grouping that also includes Angela Merkel’s CDU party and, until last week, had been accused of ‘shielding’ the Hungarian leader from Article 7 proceedings.

Emmanuel Macron has provoked ridicule and anger by telling an unemployed man that he could find him work "just by crossing the road”.

The 25-year-old aspiring gardener complained of being unable to find a job when he spoke to the French president during a public open day at the Elysée Palace on Saturday. 

Mr Macron advised him to change his line of work, saying jobs were readily available in catering or construction. 

“Hotels, cafés, restaurants, I can find you [work] by crossing the road. They just want people who are ready to work,” he said. There’s not a single place I go to where they don’t say they’re looking for people."

Industry officials say about 100,000 vacancies in hotel and restaurants need filling in France. They have urged Mr Macron to allow immigrants to take the jobs. 

But the off-the-cuff remark by Mr Macron, often derided by critics as the "president of the rich”, was immediately mocked on social media.

A video of the exchange went viral, prompting a torrent of posts saying that Mr Macron, 40, a former Rothschild banker married to a chocolate heiress, was out of touch.

“Completely disconnected from the reality of French people,” one post read. “How can someone show that much contempt, lack of empathy and ignorance in just 30 seconds?” said another.

The exchange drew furious criticism from opposition parliamentarians. Laurence Rossignol, a Socialist senator and former minister for families, deplored the president’s “unfortunate remarks” three days after he announced a plan to wean the French off welfare.

Mr Macron’s €8 billion “anti-poverty” proposals aim to end the French practice of lavish benefits payments for the poor. Instead, they are to be offered a way out of penury by finding jobs.

Mr Macron, who has so far failed to fulfil election pledges to slash unemployment and revive economic growth, is struggling to restore his image after a summer of political scandals and plunging approval ratings.

The president came under fire from Left and Right last month for describing the French last month as “Gauls who are resistant to change”.

The head of Mr Macron’s party rejected accusations that his latest remarks showed contempt for the poor.

“Is what the president said false? If you go to the Montparnasse area, you won’t find that they need workers?” Christophe Castaner said in a TV interview yesterday.

“Would you prefer empty words? I prefer a president who speaks the truth.”

Police in California have adopted a novel way of hunting down a British millionaire suspected of killing his wife before vanishing while free on bail.

Capitalising on the viral success of true-crime podcasts such as Serial, they have written and produced their own six-part audio series in the hope it will spread the name of Peter Chadwick – and the story of his fall from quiet family man to fugitive – around the world.

Police in Newport Beach this week unveiled Countdown to Capture and issued a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Chadwick.

"Peter could be anywhere in the world," Jon Lewis, police chief, told a news conference.

"He’s got the financial means to avoid the restrictions placed on his travel.

"He’s taken every opportunity to hide his tracks. We want to spread his picture and the story of his crimes far and wide."

The story begins on a Wednesday in October of 2012. A neighbour calls police to let them know that two of the couple’s three young sons had been left waiting for their lift home from school.

An officer drops by their house, but finds no-one home. Chadwick and his wife Quee Choo “QC” Chadwick had apparently disappeared.

A day later Chadwick telephoned 911 from a San Diego petrol station.

"The guy broke into my house. He drove me here. He had a friend. They, they just gone, they’ve gone in a pickup truck," he tells the dispatcher in a call included in episode two.

He explains that his wife has been killed by a handyman.

Officers arrive to find him covered in blood and scratches. They arrest him and his wife’s body was found a week later in a rubbish bin in San Diego.

He was released on $1 million bail but disappeared two years later after making 13 court appearances.

Chadwick, 54, had been married for 17 years.

He was born in the UK but became a naturalised US citizen in 1991, according to police, who said he had surrendered both passports.

"Peter Chadwick has a great deal of money at his disposal," said Jennifer Manzella, a police spokeswoman. "If you listen to the podcast you’ll find that he was able to empty millions of dollars out of bank accounts that he had access to, take out cash advances on credit cards."

She added that officers had discovered that Chadwick had been researching how to change identity and live out of sight. 

He has also now been placed on the US Marshals Service Most Wanted List.

Hurricane Florence may have been downgraded to a tropical depression but American authorities on Sunday warned that the worst is yet to come as catastrophic flooding continued to spread, pushing the death toll to 17.

Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, said: "The risk to life is rising with the angry waters."

The storm continued its lingering crawl westward, dumping more than 30 inches of rain in some places since Friday. 

Tens of thousands more were ordered to evacuate their homes as rivers threatened to burst their banks, bringing the risk of flash flooding.

Mr Cooper said the storm had "never been more dangerous than it is now", with waters expected to peak on Monday in some places.

He also warned of the risk of landfalls in elevated areas.

Having roared ashore as a hurricane before losing force, local authorities say they are battling complacency as much as the weather.

Authorities in the North Carolina city of Fayetteville ordered residents living near two rivers to evacuate.

"If you are refusing to leave during this mandatory evacuation, you need to do things like notify your legal next of kin because the loss of life is very, very possible," Mayor Mitch Colvin said.

In Wilmington , with roads leading in and out of the city underwater and streams still swelling upward, residents waited for hours outside stores and restaurants for basic necessities like water. Police guarded the door of one store, and only 10 people were allowed inside at a time.

Woody White, chairman of the board of commissioners of New Hanover County, said officials were planning for food and water to be flown into the coastal city of nearly 120,000 people.

"Our roads are flooded," he said. "There is no access to Wilmington."

About 70 miles away from the coast, residents near the Lumber River stepped from their homes directly into boats floating in their front yards; river forecasts showed the scene could be repeated in towns as far as 250 miles (400 kilometers) inland as waters rise for days.

Half way around the world, meanwhile, Typhoon Mangkhut barreled into southern China on Sunday after lashing the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rain that left dozens dead.

More than 2.4 million people were evacuated from China’s southern Guangdong province ahead of the massive typhoon, the strongest to hit the region in nearly two decades.

In North Carolina, fears of what could be the worst flooding in the state’s history led officials to order tens of thousands to evacuate, though it wasn’t clear how many had fled or even could. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said officials were focused on finding people and rescuing them.

"We’ll get through this. It’ll be ugly, but we’ll get through it," Long told NBC’s "Meet The Press."

President Donald Trump said federal emergency workers, first responders and law enforcement officials were "working really hard." As the storm "begins to finally recede, they will kick into an even higher gear. Very Professional!" he declared in a tweet.

Death toll rises

The storm’s death toll climbed to at least 17 when a 3-month-old child was killed when a tree fell across a mobile home in North Carolina. Earlier, officials said three people died in separate, weather-related traffic accidents in South Carolina.

Victor Merlos was overjoyed to find a store open for business in Wilmington since he had about 20 relatives staying at his apartment, which still had power. He spent more than $500 on cereal, eggs, soft drinks and other necessities, plus beer.

"I have everything I need for my whole family," said Merlos. Nearby, a Waffle House restaurant limited breakfast customers to one biscuit and one drink, all take-out, with the price of $2 per item.

Kenneth Campbell had donned waterproof waders intending to check out his home in Lumberton , but he didn’t bother when he saw the Coast Guard and murky waters in his neighbourhood.

"I’m not going to waste my time. I already know," he said.

Environmental risk from industrial farming

As rivers swelled, state regulators and environmental groups were monitoring the threat from gigantic pig and poultry farms located in low-lying, flood-prone areas.

The industrial-scale farms contain vast pits of animal faeces and urine that can pose a significant pollution threat if they are breached or inundated by floodwaters. In past hurricanes, flooding at dozens of farms also left hundreds of thousands of dead pigs, chickens and other decomposing livestock bobbing in floodwaters.

Stream gauges across the region showed water levels rising steadily, with forecasts calling for rivers to crest Sunday and Monday at or near record levels. The Defence Department said about 13,500 military personnel had been assigned to help relief efforts.

Authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of up to 7,500 people living within a mile of a stretch of the Cape Fear River and the Little River, about 100 miles from the North Carolina coast. The evacuation zone included part of the city of Fayetteville, population 200,000.

John Rose owns a furniture business with stores less than a mile from the river. Rain-soaked furniture workers helped him quickly empty more than 1,000 mattresses from a warehouse in a low-lying strip mall.

"It’s the first time we’ve ever had to move anything like this," Mr Rose said. "If the river rises to the level they say it’s going to, then this warehouse is going to be under water."

Fayetteville city officials, meanwhile, got help from the Nebraska Task Force One search and rescue team to evacuate 140 residents of an assisted-living facility to a safer location at a church.