Category: World

Philippines hit by 'intense' typhoon as nearly a million evacuate3 hours agoShareSaveKathryn Armstrong, André Rhoden-Paul and Lulu Luo,Aurora, Philippines ShareSaveThe BBC's Jonathan Head says the Philippines is braced for an “absolutely massive storm”Typhoon Fung-wong has made landfall in the Philippines, where more than 900,000 people have been evacuated and two people have died.
The storm hit as a super typhoon, with sustained winds of around 185 km/h (115mph) and gusts of 230km/h (143mph).
The eye of the storm hit Aurora province in Luzon – the country's most populous island – at 21:10 local time (13:10 GMT). By 02:00, the storm weakened to a typhoon and was over La Union in western Luzon.
The country's meteorological service warned of destructive winds and “high-risk of life-threatening” storm surges from the “very intense” typhoon.
Fung-wong – known locally as Uwan – comes days after earlier storm Kalmaegi left nearly 200 people dead.
Eastern parts of the..

BBC on Luzon Island as super typhoon hits PhilippinesTyphoon Fung-wong has made landfall in the Philippines, where more than 900,000 people have been evacuated.
The storm was upgraded to a super typhoon, with sustained winds around 185 km/h (115mph) and gusts of 230km/h (143mph).
The BBC's Jonathan Head is on Luzon Island, and says there is “debris flying everywhere” and “people are sheltering in any solid building they can find”.
Read more on this story.
9 hours agoAsiaPhilippinesSevere weatherShareSave

Six dead as Russia hits energy and residential sites in Ukraine8 hours agoShareSaveJames Landale,Diplomatic correspondent in Kyiv and Alex KleidermanShareSaveReutersTwo people died in a Russian strike on an apartment building in DniproAt least six people have died after Russia launched hundreds of missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure and residential targets in Ukraine overnight.
A strike on an apartment building in the city of Dnipro killed two people and wounded 12, while three died in Zaporizhzhia.
In all, 25 locations across Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv, were hit, leaving many areas without electricity and heating. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram that major energy facilities were damaged in the Poltava, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, and work was under way to restore power.
In Russia, the defence ministry said its forces had shot down 79 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched more than 450 exploding bomber..

What Hungary's Orban did – and didn't – get from Trump8 hours agoShareSaveNick ThorpeBudapest, HungaryShareSaveEPA/ShutterstockOn the surface, the Hungarian prime minister's trip was exactly what he went to Washington for: luxuriant praise and an exemption from sanctions on Russian oil, gas and nuclear supplies.
And all that just five months out from a difficult election.
Look closer, however, and the picture is less clear cut. The US side struck a hard trade deal – and an expensive one for Hungary.
And there's no progress on Viktor Orban's biggest headache: ending the war in neighbouring Ukraine, and with it the long shadow the conflict casts over Hungary.
Let's look first at Orban's key win – an exemption from US sanctions, which a White House official told the BBC was time-limited to one year, although Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, said would be indefinite.
The time span is interesting. Trump clearly wants to help his friend wi..

DNA pioneer James Watson dies at 972 hours agoShareSaveMadeline Halpert and Christal HayesShareSaveGetty ImagesNobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, has died aged 97.
In one of the greatest breakthroughs of the 20th century, he identified the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953 alongside a British scientist, Francis Crick, setting the stage for rapid advances in molecular biology.
But his reputation and standing were badly hurt by his comments on race and sex. In a TV programme, he made a reference to a disputed view that genes cause differences between black and white people on IQ tests.
The death of Watson was confirmed to the BBC by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he worked and researched for decades.
Watson shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Crick for the DNA's double helix structure discovery.
“We have discovered the secret of life,” they said at the time.
Hs later comments on race led ..

Elon Musk's $1tn pay deal approved by Tesla shareholders14 hours agoShareSaveLily Jamali,North America Technology correspondent, Liv McMahon,Technology reporter and Osmond Chia,Business reporterShareSaveWatch: Tesla shareholders cheer Elon Musk's $1tn pay dealTesla boss Elon Musk has had a record-breaking pay package that could be worth nearly $1tn (£760bn) approved by shareholders.
The unprecedented deal was approved by 75% of votes and drew huge applause from the audience at the firm's annual general meeting on Thursday.
Musk, who is already the world's richest man, must drastically raise the electric car firm's market value over 10 years. If he does this and meets various targets, he will be rewarded with hundreds of millions of new shares.
The scale of the potential payout has drawn criticism, but the Tesla board argued that Musk might leave the company if it was not approved – and that it could not afford to lose him.
Following the announcement, Musk took ..