MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong typhoon slammed into a northern Philippine province on Thursday as thousands were evacuated in a region still recovering from back-to-back storms that hit a few weeks ago.
Typhoon Yinxing is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago in 2024.
"I really pity our people but all of them are tough,” Gov. Marilou Cayco of the province of Batanes said by telephone. Her province was ravaged by recent destructive storms and is expected to be affected by Yinxing’s fierce wind and rain.
Tens of thousands of villagers were returning to emergency shelters, and disaster-response teams were again put on alert in Cagayan and other northern provinces near the expected path of Yinxing. The typhoon blew into Santa Ana town in Cagayan province on Thursday afternoon.
The slow-moving typhoon, locally named Marce, was packing sustained winds of up to 175 kilometers (109 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph) just before it made landfall in the coastal town of Santa Ana in Cagayan province, government forecasters said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
Aside from flash floods, authorities were concerned about the higher possibilities of landslides in northern mountainous region, which has been inundated by pounding rains from two previous storms.
The coast guard, army, air force and police were on high alert. Inter-island ferries and cargo services and domestic flights were suspended in northern provinces.
Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey hit the northern Philippines in recent weeks, leaving at least 151 people dead and affecting nearly 9 million others. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) in rice, corn and other crops and infrastructure were damaged.
The death and destruction from the storms prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a day of national mourning on Monday when he visited the worst-hit province of Batangas, south of the capital, Manila. At least 61 people perished in the coastal province.
Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some regions, including in Batangas.
"We want to avoid the loss of lives due to calamities,” Marcos said in Talisay town in Batangas, where he brought key Cabinet members to reassure storm victims of rapid government help. “Storms nowadays are more intense, extensive and powerful.”
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.
In this photo provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-lo, workers clear a tree that fell due to strong winds from Typhoon Yinxing nin Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)
In this handout provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-Lo, workers clear a road from a tree that fell due to strong winds from Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, in Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s government coalition has collapsed in dramatic fashion after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats in a late-night move following a marathon of crisis meetings.
The three remaining ministers of the Free Democrats resigned in response, leading to the downfall of the government coalition. Scholz is expected to lead the country with a minority government, but the opposition is calling for an immediate no-confidence vote.
But early Thursday, Transport Minister Volker Wissing from the Free Democrats unexpectedly took back last night's resignation and told reporters that after talking to Scholz, he had decided to stay on as minister and leave the party instead.
Lindner will receive his certificate of dismissal from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday afternoon and, to ensure a smooth transition, a successor will likely be named right after. The posts of the research and justice ministers who resigned may also be filled Thursday, German news agency dpa reported.
Scholz announced late Wednesday that he would seek a vote of confidence on Jan. 15 that he said might lead to an early election as soon as March — which otherwise would have been be due next September.
Scholz had accused Lindner of breaching his trust and publicly calling for a fundamentally different economic policy, including what the chancellor said would be tax cuts worth billions for a few top earners while at the same time cutting pensions for all retirees.
“That is not decent,” Scholz said.
Scholz's left-leaning Social Democrats will now effectively lead a minority government with the remaining coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens.
The chancellor announced late Wednesday that he would reach out to the leader of the biggest opposition leader in parliament, Friedrich Merz from the center-right Christian Democrats, to confer on possible ways of strengthening the economy and defense, and passing important legislation through parliament.
But Merz on Thursday vehemently rejected Scholz's plan to wait to hold a vote of confidence until January.
“The coalition no longer has a majority in the German Bundestag, and we therefore call on the chancellor (...) to call a vote of confidence immediately, or at the latest by the beginning of next week.”
“We simply cannot afford to have a government without a majority in Germany for several months now, and then campaign for several more months, and then possibly conduct coalition negotiations for several weeks," Merz added.
He said he was planning to meet with Scholz later Thursday to push for a quick vote of confidence.
Since Scholz's government doesn't have a majority in parliament any longer, he would likely lose the vote. In that scenario, Germany's president could dissolve parliament within 21 days and an early election could then be held as soon as January.
“During these 21 days, we will have enough time to find out whether there are any issues that we may have to decide on together,” Merz said, offering his party's cooperation with the minority government. "We are, of course, prepared to hold talks (..) we are also prepared to take responsibility for our country.”
Indeed, pushing through new legislation and plugging the billion-euro hole in the 2025 budget won’t become easier for Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens as their government no longer has a majority in parliament. But Scholz has said his government needed that time to pass important legislation.
Achim Wambach from the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research cast doubt that a prolonged period with a minority government would help Germany's economy get back on track.
“Germany’s problems are too big to tolerate political gridlock," the analyst said.
“The government set out to reconcile the transformation towards climate neutrality with economic growth and social security,” the analyst said in a statement. “It has not lived up to this claim. The economy is stagnating and investments are failing to materialize.”
“This daunting task was compounded by geo-economic tensions: wars in Europe and the Middle East as well as economically damaging interventions through tariffs and national subsidy policies,” he added. “ The election of Donald Trump has exacerbated these problems. Europe must do more for its security and will have to reckon with increased tariffs.”
The collapse of the coalition came after weeks of disputes among the coalition partners over ways to boost the country’s ailing economy.
Lindner's pro-business Free Democrats had rejected tax increases or changes to Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on running up debt. Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens wanted to see major state investment and rejected the Free Democrats’ proposals to cut welfare programs.
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, from left, joins Bijan Djir-Sarai, Free Democratic Party Secretary General, and Christian Dürr, Chairman of the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group, for a press statement after his dismissal by the Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Berlin, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)
Parts of the Reichstag building with the Bundestag and the Paul Löbe House in Berlin's government district are reflected in the Spree at night, early Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, right, gets into his limousine in front of the Reichstag building after his dismissal by the Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and a parliamentary group meeting in Berlin, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner makes a press statement following his dismissal by the Federal Chancellor in Berlin, Wednesday Nov. 6, 2024. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner makes a press statement following his dismissal by the Federal Chancellor in Berlin, Wednesday Nov. 6, 2024. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a statement after a meeting with government leaders in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Germany's Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks in Berlin, Wednesday Nov. 6, 2024. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves a statement after a meeting with government leaders in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
