Death toll rises to 15 after typhoon hits China, Taiwan
Death toll rises to 15 after typhoon hits China, Taiwan
BEIJING
A powerful typhoon has caused at least 15 deaths in China and Taiwan just days before a second storm is expected to batter the region.
Chinese authorities say 13 people have died in the eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang since Typhoon Meranti made landfall early Thursday, with another 14 people still missing. Taiwanese officials have reported two dead. A second typhoon, Malakas, is expected to hit Taiwan on Saturday before moving on to China.
Meranti this week lashed a vast swath of China’s seaboard, including Shanghai, with heavy rain and winds of up to 175 miles per hour.
The typhoon made landfall in China’s southeastern Fujian province, where media reports showed power lines toppled and streets submerged in water.
EU leaders look at 6 months for rebuilding EU
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia
With policy splits among European Union countries putting their bloc under existential threat, national leaders agreed Friday on a six-month time table to come up with solutions for the multiple crises hobbling their union. But they delivered few concrete commitments on ways to bridge the deep differences.
Though not on the agenda, Britain’s decision to leave the EU hung over the meeting, reinforced by the absence of British Prime Minister Theresa May. But the 27 leaders attending talks in the Slovak capital had plenty of other divisive issues to discuss: Migration, a common European defense policy, worrying unemployment and the anemic state of the economy.
In the end, the leaders committed to have a clear roadmap of the way ahead and some practical results when they meet in late March to mark the 60th anniversary of the EU founding Treaty of Rome in the Italian capital.
Israeli settlements have grown during the Obama years
JERUSALEM
In his landmark speech to the Arab world seven years ago, President Barack Obama warned that Israeli settlements on occupied territories were undermining hopes for peace. “It is time for these settlements to stop,” he declared.
As Obama heads into the home stretch of his presidency, he leaves behind an unfulfilled vision. Not only did he fail to stop it, but he watched Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem thrive - despite repeated White House condemnations.
According to Israeli government data obtained by The Associated Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed a wave of construction during the Obama presidency that matched, and even exceeded, the amount of building that took place under his predecessors during the Bush years.
FAA contemplating whether millions of drones will fill skies
WASHINGTON
So many people are registering drones and applying for drone pilot licenses that federal aviation officials said Friday they are contemplating the possibility of millions of unmanned aircraft crowding the nation’s skies in the not-too-distant future.
In the nine months since the Federal Aviation Administration created a drone registration system, more than 550,000 unmanned aircraft have been registered with the agency, said Earl Lawrence, director of the FAA’s drone office.
Speaking at the first meeting of a new government-industry drone advisory committee, Lawrence said new registrations are coming in at a rate of 2,000 a day. By comparison, the FAA says there are 260,165 manned aircraft registered in the U.S.
Associated Press