Indonesia's panda cub Rio thriving 40 days after birth

CISARUA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s conservation park on Tuesday released a video showing the progress of a giant panda cub, 40 days after his birth in the country.

The panda named Satrio Wiratama and nicknamed “Rio” was examined for the first time outside the incubator while veterinarians at the Indonesian Taman Safari park in Cisarua, West Java province, took his measures. The video shows Rio's growth from a tiny pink baby to a panda with black and white fur.

“The panda cub is developing healthily and growing very well. Its body weight has increased by 46% over the past 30 days, while its body length has increased by 95%," said Bongot Huaso Mulia, a veterinarian who monitors Rio’s progress.

Rio was born on Nov. 27 to Hu Chun, a 15-year-old adult female, and Cai Tao. The pair arrived in Indonesia in 2017 on a 10-year conservation partnership with China. They live in an enclosure built for them at the park about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Jakarta.

Rio’s birth was the result of the fourth artificial insemination, said Mulia.

“So we tried natural mating four times first, followed by four rounds of artificial insemination. It really was not easy,” Mulia said.

Pandas are widely considered as China’s unofficial mascot and its loans of the animals to overseas zoos have long been seen as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power “panda diplomacy.”

Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are less than 1,900 giant pandas in their only wild habitats in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. After years of hard work, finally we’ve got real. The baby panda, joining the global panda family,” China’s Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong said.

Cai Tao, a 15-year-old giant panda, the father of Satrio Wiratama, the first panda cub born in Indonesia, stands up as he is given food by a staff in his enclosure at Indonesia Safari Park, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cai Tao, a 15-year-old giant panda, the father of Satrio Wiratama, the first panda cub born in Indonesia, sits in his enclosure at Indonesia Safari Park, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Staff wear panda plush toys on their shoulder during a press conference announcing the first giant panda cub born in Indonesia, at Indonesia Safari Park, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

An image of Satrio Wiratama, nicknamed 'Rio', the first giant panda cub born in Indonesia idisplayed on a screen during a press conference at Indonesia Safari Park, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Images of Satrio Wiratama, nicknamed 'Rio', the first giant panda cub born in Indonesia displayed on a screen as senior veterinarian and the Vice President of Life Science at Indonesia Safari Park Bongot Huaso Mulia speaks, during a press conference, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power Saturday after high winds raked eastward from the Great Lakes region, leaving trees down and substantial property damage in their wake. Farther west, at least one person died in a massive wind-driven wildfire in Nebraska.

Nearly 450,000 customers were still affected by midafternoon in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

A 66 mph (106 kph) gust at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday was deemed its fourth-strongest on record that was not caused by a thunderstorm, according to the National Weather Service. Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport saw winds hit 85 mph (137 km) that afternoon.

Winds took down a gas station canopy in New Franklin, Ohio, and an auto parts store sign in Baldwin, Pennsylvania. Trees and tree limbs fell into or onto homes and cars from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The roof of a school building in the Chicago suburb of Niles, Illinois, was severely damaged by wind.

High winds fueled multiple wildfires across a broad swath of Nebraska’s range and grassland, causing one death in Arthur County, officials said. The victim was not immediately identified and the sheriff’s office did not disclose other details about the death.

What state officials have dubbed the Morrill County fire has burned at least 735 square miles (about 1,880 square kilometers) across four counties since Thursday. At least 12 structures have been destroyed, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

Chelle Ladely of Sidney said her home was currently safe, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the nearest fire. But she worries for other friends and family in the area.

“Smoke is filling the air, and at night I can see the burn of the fires on the horizon,” Ladely said. “My father is a crop agronomist, and his company as well as other local farmers are all gathering their water trucks to help aid with the fires, and truckloads of bottled water and food is being supplied by our good patrons for our volunteer firemen trying to extinguish the blazes.”

Several other wildfires pushed by winds of up to 65 mph (105 kph) burned another 225 square miles (about 580 square kilometers) for a total of nearly 938 square miles (about 2,430 square kilometers) by midday Saturday. The strong winds have kept firefighters from containing any of the fires, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said. Gov. Jim Pillen toured areas burned by the Morrill County fire.

In Chicago, thousands of revelers turned out to see the city's namesake river dyed bright green and a downtown parade celebrating the St. Patrick's Day holiday, despite the threat of snow and stiff winds that drove the feels-like temperature well below freezing.

Dangerous winds were but one piece of a wild weather mosaic that included heavy rains in Hawaii, triple-digit heat ahead in Phoenix and the return of winter cold to the Midwest and Northeast. Chicago was expected to approach the single digits Fahrenheit by Tuesday, with Minneapolis seeing lows around zero (minus 18 C).

Several Minnesota cities have already declared snow emergencies starting Sunday, when what could be the season’s largest snowfall is expected to hit. Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula are also in the crosshairs.

AccuWeather warned of a “potent triple-threat March megastorm” from Sunday into Monday.

“It’s definitely a very active weather weekend, that’s for sure,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist John Feerick said. “It’s a highly amplified pattern, which means you get a lot of extremes. Also, not just the Lower 48, but Hawaii’s getting hit hard right now with some very heavy rain.”

Feerick said people along the Wisconsin-Iowa border might see some ice as travel conditions become dangerous in large parts of the Upper Midwest.

Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

In this photo provided by Maui County, a boat is grounded on a beach off Kihei, Hawaii, during heavy rain on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Maui County via AP)