TYPHOON DOLPHIN HITS OKINAWA, HEADS TOWARD EASTERN CHINA

Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on Japan's Okinawa Island on Saturday, injuring five elderly people and cutting power to 14,000 buildings. According to the Okinawan prefectural government, the five injuries were non-life-threatening, with three people falling due to wind conditions. The typhoon subsequently headed towards eastern China's coast, prompting Chinese authorities to declare a level-three emergency response, the second-lowest level of alert.

The storm caused widespread flight disruptions across the region. At Shanghai Pudong International Airport, 130 flights were delayed and 66 cancelled by noon on Saturday, with another 72 arriving flights cancelled. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport reported 69 flights cancelled, comprising 35 departures and 34 arrivals. Airlines offered passengers flexible rebooking and refund options. The National Meteorological Centre identified Zhejiang province and Shanghai as being in the storm's "dangerous semicircle", where stronger winds and heavier rainfall were expected. Chinese authorities shut down ports, schools and tourist sites ahead of the typhoon's arrival.

Typhoon Dolphin developed from a tropical depression that emerged on 26 July, strengthening to a very strong typhoon by 28 July. As of 03:00 GMT on Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported the storm was approximately 160 kilometres northwest of Kume Island, moving northwest at 15 kilometres per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 216 kilometres per hour. The typhoon emerged amid a record-breaking heatwave across East Asia; three lions in a Japanese zoo died from suspected heatstroke during the extreme temperatures.