Hong Kong, parts of southern China shut down ahead of typhoon

Residents and businesses hunkered down in Hong Kong and at least 10 cities in southern China on Tuesday as Super Typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful tropical cyclone of the year, barreled toward land. Authorities urged residents to stay in their homes, where people taped up windows to protect against high winds. Supermarket shelves emptied in some areas as panicked residents stocked up on supplies. Residents in Hong Kong stock up on supplies at a supermarket to prepare for the approaching Typhoon Ragasa on Sept. 22, 2025.(Tyrone Siu/Reuters) Packing winds of up to 220 km per hour, or 137 miles per hour, Ragasa is expected to pass around 100 km to the south of Hong Kong on Wednesday, the Hong Kong Observatory reported just before 1 a.m. local time. Residents should prepare for “heavy squally showers and thunderstorms” and “overtopping waves over the shoreline,” particularly on the eastern and southern coasts, the Observatory said. A reporter for Agence France-Presse saw waves nearly five meters high crash into the seaside promenade of the city’s Heng Fa Chuen residential district around nightfall. The storm is expected to make landfall from midday to late Wednesday along the coast of Guangdong, where authorities evacuated more than 770,000 people, according to state broadcaster CCTV. On Monday, Ragasa tore through the northern Philippines, where thousands sought shelter in schools and evacuation centers. In Taiwan, officials said that 30 people were missing in the eastern county of Hualien, where a barrier lake in the mountains burst as Ragasa stormed through. Includes reporting from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Analysis: Nepal’s protests are being closely watched in Vietnam

RFA Perspectives — Nepal’s streets have exploded in protest. Thousands of young people, angered by a government ban on social media, are standing up against corruption and inequality. In Vietnam, the youth are watching closely, because Nepal’s story feels eerily familiar. Video: Why Vietnam is paying attention to the protests in NepalWhy Vietnam cares So why are Vietnamese youth paying attention to what’s happening in Nepal? Because Nepal’s uprising highlights struggles they know all too well. Censorship, corruption, unemployment, and the communist party – these challenges echo in both societies. For Vietnam’s younger generation, Nepal’s story is not only a warning, but also a source of reflection and, perhaps, inspiration. Social media control The protest in Nepal was triggered by the state’s decision to block social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube. In Vietnam, social media is tightly monitored, with posts taken down and activists punished. For both countries, digital spaces aren’t just entertainment; they are lifelines for free expression and e-commerce. When governments try to silence them, the youth push back. Protesters take selfies and celebrate at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal’s government’s various ministries and offices, after it was set on fire during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept. 9, 2025.(Niranjan Shrestha/AP) When a fellow communist party-led system shows cracks, it challenges the narrative that Vietnamese citizens have heard for decades. In both countries, young people feel decisions are made without them, and often at their expense. In closing As Nepal’s protests unfold, Vietnamese youth are watching with interest. The events in Nepal may not predict Vietnam’s future, but they highlight questions many young people across Asia are asking today. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Philippine defense chief condemns Chinese activity near Second Thomas Shoal

China has deployed an array of armed coast guard forces near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea — one in a series of Chinese actions that the Philippines’ defense chief on Friday called “a matter not only of concern but of condemnation.” Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro spoke Friday during a joint press conference with Richard Marles, the defense chief for Australia, as the two countries engaged in combat drills that began Aug. 15 and worked toward an enhanced joint defense pact. “We work really closely with the Philippines in terms of asserting the rules-based order in the South China Sea,” Marles said. “That’s really important for us to jointly do.” The Philippine military reported this week that China has deployed coast guard and militia ships in the area, as well as a cadre of speedboats, some fitted with high-caliber machine guns. A helicopter and a drone were also reported in the area. According to the Philippine report, one of China’s boats came within 50 meters of the Sierra Madre, a warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded in 1999 to serve as a base of operations on Second Thomas Shoal. Two Filipino boats were deployed to keep the Chinese from coming closer, the Philippine military said. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, right, shakes hands with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles prior to their meeting at a hotel in Makati, Philippines, on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)(Aaron Favila/AP) China’s coast guard on Friday released a statement warning the Philippines to “immediately stop all infringement activities, provocations and false accusations” in the area, saying it would continue to “carry out law enforcement activities.” The Philippines and China have long fought and negotiated over territory in the South China Sea. Second Thomas Shoal sits within the Philippines’ U.N.-defined exclusive economic zone. It’s also within the wide swath of the sea that China claims as part of its maritime territory. In March, the Philippines accused China of “deceptive messaging” after state-run television accused the Philippine military of burning trash aboard the Sierra Madre. Last June, members of China’s coast guard used pikes and machetes to puncture Philippine boats and seized firearms during a Philippine mission to resupply the Sierra Madre. By December, China said it had granted permission for such resupply missions on humanitarian grounds. Philippine fishermen told RFA’s BenarNews last year that the heavy presence of Chinese vessels caused them to send out fewer boats, leading to a reduced catch and economic hardship. Includes reporting from The Associated Press. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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RFA wins two National Murrow awards for Myanmar coverage

Recognition comes as military junta and China dominate Burmese information space WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) has won two National Edward R. Murrow awards for chronicling the struggles facing young people from post-coup Myanmar. The recognition for this coverage comes as RFA was forced to suspend much of its news-gathering operations due to the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s illegal cancellation of its grant and RFA’s uncertain future. “It is hard to believe that right now, Myanmar’s media is dominated by its military junta and China,” said Bay Fang, RFA President and CEO. “Challenging those narratives through hard-hitting, fact-based reporting has been RFA’s mandated mission by the U.S. Congress. “These awards serve as a stark reminder of RFA’s critical role in the Asia-Pacific region even as many of our language services, including RFA Burmese, have gone silent.” The multimedia feature Myanmar’s Gen-Z fighting for a nation’s future, produced last November, includes videos, images and text profiling the challenges and resilience of the generation coming of age after the February 2021 military takeover. An RFA team based outside the country returned to Myanmar to speak to people on the front lines in one eastern region to learn about their stories – and their hopes for the revival of their blood-stained country. More than three years of fighting has displaced more than 3 million people inside the country, and refugees continue to spill across borders to the west, south and east. While the military maintains control of the country’s largest cities, anti-junta forces have made unprecedented territorial gains. A 2023 survey of Myanmar found more than 5.1 million Myanmar adults accessed RFA content regularly either online or through shortwave broadcasts. The awards will be presented by the Radio Television and Digital News Association in New York on the evening of October 13. State of play at RFA: Until March, RFA was one of the only international outlets to have a sustained in-country presence since the 2021 military coup. RFA’s Burmese Service was forced to stop operations after the USAGM in March 2025 illegally cancelled the grant that funds Radio Free Asia. At present, 90 percent of RFA’s staff has been either put on unpaid leave or has resigned. RFA continues to fight the illegal termination of its grant funds. The matter is currently being litigated in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, with a hearing scheduled for late September. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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