China upgrades alert level for Typhoon Wutip as it impacts southern region

China's national observatory on Saturday upgraded the level of alert for Typhoon Wutip from yellow to the orange grade as the first typhoon of the year is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the southern parts of the country.

Typhoon Wutip made landfall near Dongfang City in south China's island province of Hainan at around 23:00 on Friday, according to the Hainan Meteorological Service. It then made a second landfall near Leizhou City in south China's Guangdong Province at around 12:30 Saturday.

The National Meteorological Center forecast that Typhoon Wutip, combined with the southwest monsoon and a cold front from the north, is expected to unleash extreme weather across southern China.

From Saturday to Sunday, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan Island, Fujian, and Hunan will face torrential rainfall, with some areas experiencing up to 250-280 mm of precipitation. Short but intense downpours, thunderstorms, and strong winds are also predicted, raising risks of flooding and landslides.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system for typhoons, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue. An orange typhoon warning indicates that coastal and inland regions could see sustained winds of at least force 10 (24.5-28.4 meters per second) or gusts exceeding force 12 (over 32.7 meters per second) within 12 hours.

Surveillance footage from a pier in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, 45 kilometers from the typhoon's landing point, captured the intensifying conditions - starting with light rain atb around 23:00 on Friday before escalating into horizontal downpours and force-12 gusts by 01:00 Saturday, with waves reaching 4 meters. Conditions eased by mid-morning Saturday.

In Dongfang's urban areas, flooding stranded residents and toppled trees.

Firefighters rescued two people from a submerged car on Donggang Road and evacuated a villager from a collapsing makeshift home in Shangming Village.

Fallen trunks blocked roads in Banqiao Town, requiring emergency clearance, while waist-deep floods in Jiaming Residential Area prompted 10-hour drainage efforts.

China upgrades alert level for Typhoon Wutip as it impacts southern region

Officials from the European Union (EU) and Finland have voiced concerns after the White House said it has been discussing "a range of options" to acquire Greenland, including the use of the military.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told a press briefing in Cairo on Thursday that the message from the U.S. is "extremely concerning," and "not really helping the stability of the world."

Kallas called on all parties to stick to international law, adding that relevant response measures has been discussed among EU members.

"The international law is very clear, and we have to stick to it. It is clear that it is the only thing that protects smaller countries, and that is why it is in the interest of all of us. And we discussed this today, as well, that we uphold the international law on all levels," she said.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Thursday described recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Greenland as "worrying," while reiterating Finland's support for Denmark and Greenland's right to self-determination.

"Finland and the other Nordic countries have exceptional expertise in Arctic conditions, and we are happy to make use of that together with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to strengthen Arctic security, but it cannot be done by threatening allies," she said at a press conference at Finnish parliament after an extraordinary meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee.

Johannes Koskinen, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was "unprecedented" for threats of violence to be made within NATO against another member in connection with seizing territory, adding that such threats run counter to the United Nations Charter and that their inconsistency with international law should be underscored at all levels.

EU, Finnish officials express concerns over US remarks on Greenland