A powerful and rapidly intensifying typhoon is barreling toward Taiwan, disrupting ongoing military drills and prompting authorities to close financial markets, schools and offices.

Typhoon Gaemi is expected to strengthen into a super typhoon before making landfall on Taiwan’s northeastern coast Wednesday evening.

It is then forecast to continue toward China’s Fujian province on Thursday, bringing more strong winds and downpours to a country already hit hard by weeks of extreme rain and deadly flooding.

Gaemi is currently the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

It will land near the epicenter of April’s earthquake in Hualien county. The 7.4 magnitude quake was the largest Taiwan had seen in 25 years, injuring more than 1,000 people and collapsing buildings.

Taiwan is often struck by typhoons and has a generally strong track record in preparing for the damaging winds and downpours they can bring, especially in the cities. The more at risk populations tend to be more remote and mountainous areas, especially on the east side of the island, where landslides can be pose a major danger.

Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Agency has issued a sea and land typhoon warning for the entire main island as Gaemi’s powerful winds are expected to strengthen further to 240 kph (150 mph).

Heavy rain hit Taiwan ahead of the storm’s landfall on Wednesday, with the island’s mountainous areas already reporting rainfall approaching 200 millimeters (8 inches). Rainfall well over 500 mm (20 inches) is possible for the central mountains of Taiwan, according to the CMA.

Typhoon Gaemi is strengthening in Pacific waters that have been at their warmest temperatures on record. Scientists have found that hotter oceans caused by the human-caused climate crisis are leading storms to intensify more rapidly.

Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season to affect Taiwan, has strengthened by 96 kph (60 mph) in the last 24 hours, well exceeding the definition of rapid intensification which is 56 kmh (35 mph) in 24 hours.

Most Taiwanese cities, including the capital Taipei, chipmaking hub Hsinchu and the southern city of Kaohsiung, closed schools and offices on Wednesday while Taiwan Railways suspended some rapid train services.

Dozens of flights have also been canceled for Wednesday and Thursday, with three of Taiwan’s largest carriers – EVA Air, China Airlines and Starlux Airlines – announcing disruptions due to the typhoon.

Taiwan’s defense authorities said they had to modify ongoing annual five-day Han Kuang War Games due to the typhoon. The live-fire drills are the biggest annual military exercises of their kind in Taiwan, where the armed forces are increasingly vigilant against the threat of invasion from China.

“We will adjust some of the air and naval elements given the typhoon situation,” defense ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fiang told reporters in Hualien.

Typhoon Gaemi has also forced the closure of schools and government offices in the Philippines as heavy rains hit the Manila capital region and the main island of Luzon. Some flights have been canceled and the Philippine Stock Exchange said it would cease all trading Wednesday.

Images show roads and streets in Manila flooded by rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi, as people wade through knee-deep water.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said more than 770,000 people have been affected by the typhoon and southwest monsoon in the country’s southern regions, and 4,500 personnel were on standby to assist with search and rescue operations.

More extreme weather misery for China

Because the storm is strengthening prior to hitting Taiwan, Gaemi will also be stronger than previously expected when it hits China Thursday afternoon local time (early Thursday morning ET).

Though weakened, Gaemi is expected to make landfall in China as the equivalent to a strong Category 1 or low-end Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 to 160 kph (90 to 100 mph.)

The worst of the winds are expected to occur in coastal areas of Fujian province, but heavy rain will spread across Fujian, southern Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces for the rest of the week.

By the weekend, the remnants of Gaemi will likely spread heavy rainfall farther north into areas of China like Henan, Shanxi and Hebei provinces which have been hit hard by flooding in recent days.

For many in China, the prospect of another major storm bringing more water is a big concern.

In the past two weeks, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated across multiple provinces in China following deadly floods and landslides, which have blocked highways, destroyed homes and caused devastating financial losses as they wiped out crops and livestock.

Torrential rainfall hit southern, central and eastern parts of the country and led to major emergency response efforts in a flood season that has started some two months ahead of its typical schedule.

In Henan province, the flooding came after a period of scorching temperatures that complicated efforts to grow and irrigate vital crops in parts of central China’s agricultural heartland. Then, extreme rain inundated tens of thousands of acres of cropland and forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes, according to state media.

The flooding in Henan and surrounding provinces – and the double hit of arid heat and floods in a matter of weeks – has prolonged what has already been a devastating period of extreme weather across China that’s forecast to continue.

A reality show contestant who killed and ate a protected bird has been let off with a warning after New Zealand wildlife officials said cast members were tired, hungry and placed in a “unique” situation.

The weka, named on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species, is protected in mainland New Zealand, where the penalty for killing one is a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of nearly $60,000.

“Race to Survive” pits nine teams of two contestants in a 150-mile race across New Zealand’s harsh terrain, in which they must find their own food and water to compete for a $500,000 prize, according to USA Network, which airs the show.

In a clip from the show, Jones apologizes and says he knew eating the weka was against the law, but he was desperate and hungry, RNZ reported.

Jones and his teammate Oliver Dev were disqualified after the incident.

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation said following an investigation it had issued written warnings to Jones and the show’s producers – but stopped short of tougher action.

“The unique set of circumstances – cast members were fatigued and suffering from significant hunger, in an unusual group dynamic situation – meant we felt a warning letter was prudent,” said Dylan Swain, the department’s team lead for investigations.

“Nonetheless, killing and eating a native protected species in this matter is unacceptable and the company is ‘on notice’ about the need for its program participants to adhere to conservation legislation.”

The weka has a “famously feisty and curious” personality, according to the department, and is known for its loud “coo-et” call, which is presented as a duet, with the male taking on the lower, slower part.

“Weka are usually heard, not seen,” the department says on its website.

Once widespread, its populations now fluctuate depending on food conditions, which had led to the bird’s legal protection in mainland New Zealand. The harvest of weka is legal on some of the country’s surrounding islands.

Swain said the producers of “Race to Survive” had a permit to film on public conservation land and were aware that protected species and plants could not be harvested or eaten.

In a statement, “Race to Survive” production said it alerted authorities as soon as they became aware of the weka incident.

“Contestants were all thoroughly briefed ahead of time, and reminded throughout the competition, of all of New Zealand’s wildlife rules and guidelines,” its statement said.

“It was determined that a contestant did in fact violate a rule, so appropriate action was taken, and the team was disqualified from the competition.”

Jones and Dev were favored to win before they were pulled off the course, according to USA Network.

New Zealand has a plethora of unique flora and fauna due to its long geological isolation from the supercontinent Gondwana, according to independent conservation organization Forest and Bird.

This long isolation and the absence of mammalian predators means many native species are defenseless against attack – including flightless birds like the weka.

At least 18 people were killed after a small plane skidded off the runway in Nepal’s capital on Wednesday, according to local officials.

One person survived the Saurya Airlines crash, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. All aboard – 18 Nepalis and a Yemeni citizen – were employees of the carrier, according to police.

Images from Nepal police showed thick smoke billowing from the burning aircraft on the the airport runway.

The plane was en route for technical maintenance, he added.

“Rescue efforts were started immediately and the situation was brought under control,” the aviation authority said.

The crash once again highlights the dangers of air travel in Nepal, a country often referred to as one of the riskiest places to fly due to multiple factors including its mountainous terrain.

The Himalayan country, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains including Everest, has a record of air accidents. Its weather can change suddenly, and airstrips are typically sited in difficult-to-reach, mountainous areas.

Aircraft with 19 seats or fewer are more likely to have accidents due to these difficulties, according to a 2019 safety report from the Civil Aviation Authority.

While the country has made improvements in safety standards in recent years, challenges remain, and a lack of investment in aging aircraft only adds to the risks of flying.

Last year, Nepal saw its worst plane crash in more than 30 years when at least 68 people died when a Yeti Airlines flight went down near Pokhara.

In May 2022, a Tara Air flight departing from Pokhara crashed into a mountain, killing 22 people.

In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight from Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fire, killing 51 people.

And in 2016, a Tara Air flight crashed while flying the same route as the 2023 crash.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Authorities in the city of Moscow are offering a record signing-on bonus for new recruits to fight in Ukraine, in the latest sign of a scramble to boost Russian troop numbers.

The financial sweetener comes as President Vladimir Putin struggles to recruit soldiers for his army as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine grinds on in its third year.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin introduced the one-time signing bonus of 1.9 million rubles (about $22,000) for city residents who join the military, according to a statement on Tuesday.

Anyone taking up the offer would earn as much as 5.2 million rubles ($59,600) in their first year of service, the statement added.

Those willing to join the fight in Ukraine can also receive one-time cash payments of about $5,690-$11,390 for injuries, “depending on the severity,” and the family of a soldier killed in action could be paid $34,150.

While Russia’s casualty numbers remain shrouded in secrecy, estimates say the death toll among troops is high. More than 70,000 soldiers were likely killed or wounded in May and June alone, the UK defense ministry said in an update on July 12, as the Russian army faced high losses on a new front in the Kharkiv region.

Social media is filled with video footage taken by drones of Russian troops being killed or left with life-changing injuries in what soldiers grimly call “meat grinder” battles against Ukrainian defenders. Ukrainian soldiers have often spoken of how their outnumbered forced face so-called human wave assaults from an enemy whose commanders appear happy to tolerate brutal attrition rates.

As personnel deaths mount, the Kremlin is looking all over the place to find fighters to send to the front.

Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase troop numbers by 170,000, which would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to more than 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops, according to a decree published by the Kremlin in December.

That equates to boosting the Russian army’s size by 15% and marks the second such expansion of the army since Putin launched its invasion.

Putin initially ordered an immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens in September 2022 following a string of defeats that caused recriminations in Moscow. The mobilization meant citizens who were military reservists could be called up and that those with military experience were subject to conscription.

The conscription campaign led to fierce demonstrations – particularly in Russia’s ethnic minority regions where mobilization efforts were concentrated – and has sparked an exodus of military-age men fleeing the country to avoid joining the war.

Although the mobilization campaign was suspended in November 2022 after officials said the target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met, Russia has been recruiting fighters beyond its borders to fight in Ukraine.

Trash-laden North Korean balloons were found on the grounds of South Korea’s presidential office compound, officials said Wednesday, the latest in a series of incidents that have raised tensions and rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula.

More than 3,000 North Korean balloons, often filled with garbage such as cigarette butts, discarded batteries and even manure have fallen in the South since May, according to South Korean officials – who have responded by resuming loudspeaker broadcasts of propaganda and entertainment like K-pop songs along the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

The discovery at the presidential office Wednesday came after South Korean authorities warned the public to beware of falling objects as suspected North Korean trash balloons moved south toward the northern area of Gyeonggi province.

“While monitoring trash balloons sent by North Korea in cooperation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff today, we identified trash that fell in the presidential office area in Yongsan,” the presidential security service said later in a statement.

“No harmful or contaminating substances were found from an analysis by the response team.”

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has advised people not to touch fallen balloons and to report any found to authorities.

“North Korea’s actions clearly violate international law and seriously threaten the safety of our citizens,” JCS said in a statement after an earlier balloon incident. “All responsibility arising from the North Korean balloons lies entirely with North Korea, and we sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop its inhumane and low-level actions.”

Pyongyang has previously said it sent balloons south in response to a civilian campaign in South Korea to float balloons carrying anti-North Korean propaganda in the opposite direction.

For many years, South Korean activists and North Korean defectors have sent balloons to the North, loaded with material criticizing dictator Kim Jong Un and USB sticks filled with K-pop songs and South Korean television shows – all strictly prohibited in the impoverished, highly isolated nation.

In a statement carried by North Korean state media earlier this month, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, said dozens of balloons, “dirty leaflets” and other material sent from South Korea were again found in her country and near the border.

Despite repeated North Korean warnings, the South Korean activists were “not stopping this crude and dirty play” she said.

“It seems that the situation we cannot overlook is coming,” Kim Yo Jong said in a “stern warning” published by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), adding there would be “a gruesome and dear price” to pay that could change the South’s “mode of counteraction” with the North.

While the balloons have been going across the border, North Korea has kept up a stream of criticism against military drills by the United States and South Korea on the peninsula, the latest of those being the deployment of US Marine Corps F/A-18 and F-35B fighter jets to Suwon Air Base for joint aerial training this week.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said the US planes will join with South Korean F-15, F-16 and FA-50 fighters in exercises that will end August 8.

A US Defense Department release said the Marine Corps jets were dispatched “to enhance their standard of readiness and lethality with our South Korean allies and joint forces.”

But a KCNA commentary claimed the joint maneuvers were an example of Washington “running high fever in its move to expand the overall structure of confrontation against” North Korea.

North and South Korea have been divided since 1953, when an armistice ended the Korean War three years after the North invaded the South. But a peace treaty has never been signed, so the two technically remain at war.