Koinu, which means "puppy" in Japanese, made landfall on Taiwan's Hengchun peninsula as a category four typhoon - indicating winds of up to 252 kph - but it weakened as it crossed into the Taiwan Strait and headed towards China's Guangdong province, according to
The heaviest rain fell in mountainous and sparsely populated parts of Pingtung county in the south, and the east coast counties of Taitung and Hualien, but the typhoon also affected the major southern port city of Kaohsiung. Most cities and counties declared a day off work and school though the island's capital, Taipei, home to financial markets, was not affected and was operating as normal.Concrete barriers placed to block the traffic on a bridge are pictured after Typhoon Koinu passed the southern tip of Taiwan, in Jinlun, Taiwan October 5, 2023.
Taiwan's two main domestic airlines, UNI Air and Mandarin Airlines, cancelled most their flights for Thursday, while ferries to outlying islands were also stopped. A total of 46 international flights were cancelled, the transport ministry, said, but the high speed rail connecting northern and southern Taiwan was not affected.Mexican animal safety authorities confirmed the first case of H5N1 avian influenza in a wild bird on Wednesday, after declaring the country's poultry farms free of the virus earlier in the day.