Category: NYTimes

Typhoon Mawar is expected to make landfall on Guam by Wednesday morning, bringing high winds and possible flooding to the Mariana Islands. Forecasters predict that the storm will reach Guam with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour and gusts up to 95 m.p.h. The eye of the storm is expected to pass through the 20-mile gap between the islands of Guam and Rota. The Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory, warning of large breaking waves of seven to nine feet. Guam and its military bases have been placed on alert, and residents are urged to commence heavy-weather preparedness efforts. Mawar is the second named storm in the West Pacific this season and is expected to peak at about 4 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

On Friday, the first direct flight from Russia to Georgia in more than three years arrived at Tbilisi International Airport, sparking protests from a crowd of about 200 people. The resumption of flights, and the resulting protests, underscore the tensions within Georgia over its relationship with Russia, and the wariness that many Georgians feel about moving closer to a country that it was at war with 15 years ago.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili of Georgia said the decision to resume flights was made with the “interests of the Georgian people” in mind. He said that Georgia is not at risk of facing Western sanctions since the government would only permit airlines that are not subject to sanctions to operate in the country.

Victor Kipiani, chairman of the Geocase think tank in Tbilisi, said the Georgian government is attempting to perform a “balancing act” by trying to keep its overall pro-Western orientation while also exploiting the economic benefits of being next door to Russia.

The government, in explaining its decision, pointed to the economic and social benefits of cooperating with Moscow in some areas. Direct flights between Georgia and Russia can bring the mountainous nation of 3.7 million people up to $400 million per year, according to its economy minister. And the visa-free policy with Russia will allow thousands of Georgians to see their relatives in Russia.

Thomas de Waal, a leading expert on the region, said he would not describe the government as overly pro-Russian. “The No. 1 priority of this government right now is regime survival,” he said in a phone interview, “and they are highly transactional in that regard.”

Kristina Siritsyan, one of the passengers, said she did not see the resumption of direct flights as a betrayal by Georgia. “I think the opposite,” she said as she strode past the demonstrators. “There should be peace and people must be friends.”

As fighting continues in Sudan, thousands of Sudanese citizens are stranded in the war zone, unable to get out. This is due to the destruction of their passports by foreign embassies during the hasty evacuation of diplomats. The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum destroyed passports on security grounds, as it was standard operating procedure during these types of situations. The French Embassy also destroyed passports on security grounds.

The decision to destroy passports was gut-wrenching for American officials who realized it would hinder Sudanese citizens from fleeing. It was practically impossible to operate in Khartoum after the first shots were fired, making it too dangerous to even reach an office, much less hand out passports.

The Chinese Embassy provided some relief by posting a phone number online for visa applicants to retrieve passports. Other embassies are offering to help visa applicants left behind, but many are still stuck in the war zone with no way out.

The destruction of passports has left many Sudanese feeling abandoned and frustrated. It is a reminder of the importance of a passport, which can be a lifesaving piece of property.

Northern Italy is struggling with the aftermath of deadly floods that have left at least 14 people dead and thousands homeless. The region received half its annual rainfall in 36 hours, causing rivers to break their banks and leaving fields soaked. Rescue workers have been toiling through the night to evacuate residents, free roads from mud and debris, restore electricity and repair telephone towers. The Italian government is expected to declare a state of emergency in the region and has already allocated €30 million to help with the response. Residents have shown resilience and determination to overcome the anger and despair, with volunteers cleaning up the streets and hoteliers announcing that hotels will be open and ready to welcome vacationers next week.

Israelis were recently sent running to bomb shelters due to rocket fire from Gaza. But a rare Mediterranean monk seal, known as Yulia, has provided a welcome distraction from the turmoil. Yulia, estimated to be two decades old and six feet long, arrived on a beach in Jaffa last Friday and promptly fell asleep. She has since become a symbol of hope and sanity, inspiring memes and captivating the nation. Conservation experts are also celebrating her arrival, as it is a small victory in the decades-long effort to revive the near-extinct species. Yulia has since returned to the sea, but Israelis are hoping for her return.

Every night, South Korean poet Hwang In-suk takes to the streets of her Seoul neighborhood, Haebangchon, pushing a shopping cart and trailed by stray cats. She feeds them out of recycled instant-rice containers, and her nocturnal routine has informed her poetry about loneliness and impermanence. Hwang’s work documents the milieu of convenience store clerks, street sweepers and other late-night workers, as well as her favorite muses, cats. She has written about one-fifth of her oeuvre on cats, making wistful, whimsical observations about them and the humans who struggle to understand them. Hwang’s poems often fuse details of her corner of Seoul with the emotions of their wry, melancholic speakers. Her work has earned her many national literary prizes, and her readings draw diverse audiences. Hwang’s relationship with cats is more than perfunctory, and her poems reflect her conviction that Seoul is a place where the rich and poor live in separate worlds.

Thailand’s election on Sunday saw a stunning victory for the progressive Move Forward Party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat. The 42-year-old Harvard graduate promised to undo the military’s grip on Thai politics and revise a law that criminalizes criticism of the monarchy. However, his path to prime minister remains uncertain as he needs to gather enough support in the 500-member House of Representatives to overcome a 250-member, military-appointed Senate.

Mr. Pita has promised to reset Thailand’s foreign policy, saying the country would “not be part of the Chinese umbrella or the American umbrella,” but will have the ability to determine its own destiny. He also wants to have a comprehensive discussion in Parliament about what the role of the monarchy in a constitutional democracy should be in modern Thailand.

Thais are now waiting to see if their choice will be allowed to lead or if he will be blocked from becoming prime minister by prevailing powers, an outcome that could plunge the country into political chaos.

The Group of 7 nations are taking a page out of China’s playbook to counter its economic power. The wealthy democracies are investing trillions of dollars in a new climate-friendly energy economy, while also imposing restrictions on the export of technology to China. The US has led the way with its Inflation Reduction Act, which has spurred a wave of newly announced battery plants, solar panel factories and other projects. The US has also signed deals with Japan and the EU to allow battery materials made in those countries to qualify for the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. The G7 is also discussing further restrictions on certain kinds of Chinese chip technology, including a likely ban on venture capital investments. The goal is to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing and to help their own companies compete in a new energy economy.

On April 11, a group of 12 migrants, including men, women, children and an infant, were locked inside an unmarked van on the Greek island of Lesbos. They were then forced onto a speedboat, transferred to a Greek Coast Guard vessel, and abandoned in the middle of the Aegean Sea in an inflatable emergency raft. This was in violation of Greek, European Union and international law.

The ordeal was captured on video by an activist and verified by The New York Times. 11 of the asylum seekers were located at a detention center in Izmir, Turkey, and recounted their experience. This incident highlights the mistreatment of asylum seekers by the Greek government, and the need for greater protection of vulnerable migrants.The Turkish Coast Guard has been at the forefront of the migrant crisis in the Aegean Sea. In a recent video, the Coast Guard was seen rescuing a family of seven from a raft in the sea. The family, consisting of Sulekha Abdullahi and her six children, had been cast adrift by the Greek Coast Guard. The video was verified by a frame-by-frame analysis, geolocating key events and confirming the time and day using maritime traffic data. The family was interviewed in Turkey and their accounts matched the events in the video. The Turkish Coast Guard has been praised for their efforts in rescuing migrants and upholding international laws and E.U. rules governing how asylum seekers must be treated.The plight of 12 asylum seekers who were set adrift in the Aegean Sea by the Greek authorities has highlighted the increasingly hardline stance taken by the European Union towards migrants. The group, which included several small children, had been rounded up by masked men and put in a van before being taken out to sea in a speedboat. They were then pushed onto a black inflatable life raft and set adrift in the Aegean. The incident was captured on video and verified by the European Commission, who expressed concern and said they would take the matter up with the Greek authorities.

The incident is part of a wider trend of European countries cracking down on migrants, with Poland, Italy and Lithuania recently changing their laws to make it easier to repel migrants and to punish those who help them. The Greek authorities have gone even further, resorting to extrajudicial expulsions that sweep up even the most vulnerable with the participation of its maritime forces.

The 12 asylum seekers had all fled war and dictatorship in their home countries, including Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen. After being rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard, they were taken to a detention center in Izmir, where they recounted their ordeal. They had been taken from the brush where they had been hiding, their hijabs torn off and their belongings taken.

The incident highlights the desperate plight of migrants and the lengths they will go to in search of a safe home. It also serves as a reminder of the need for the European Union to fully respect its obligations under the E.U. asylum rules and international law, including ensuring access to the asylum procedure.Mahdi, a young Ethiopian man, had high hopes when he left his home country for Turkey in 2020. He was looking for a fresh start after his college, the Jimma Institute of Technology, temporarily closed due to the pandemic. However, his dreams were quickly dashed when he realized that the Turkish economy was in free-fall and Turks were no longer welcoming of migrants.

His roommate, Miliyen, had fled to Sudan from Eritrea with his mother when the two countries reached a peace agreement in 2018. But when the Ethiopian government, aided by Eritrea’s dictator, unleashed a brutal war, Miliyen had to flee again. He has since lost contact with his mother and has no idea if she is alive.

The fate of Mahdi and Miliyen, along with the Somali women and children they were travelling with, is now unclear. They are stuck in limbo in a Turkish detention center, where they are denied the right to apply for international protection.

The group’s only hope is to be granted asylum in the European Union, where more than 80 percent of Eritreans and more than half of the Somalis who applied for protection last year were successful. Until then, they remain in limbo, hoping for a better future.

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific on Friday, triggering tsunami warnings for a number of Pacific island nations. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s tsunami warning system reported waves as high as three feet could hit Vanuatu, an island nation with a population of about 300,000. The authorities in Vanuatu urged people in coastal areas to move to higher ground. The U.S. agency issued a tsunami alert for coasts within 600 miles of the earthquake epicenter, including Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Kiribati, Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency urged people along its northeastern shore to move away from beaches, harbors and rivers. People in the affected areas should remain vigilant and follow the advice of local authorities.