A dangerous super typhoon in the Pacific Ocean is barreling toward a group of remote U.S. islands.
Super Typhoon Sinlaku is expected to make landfall Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands and bring destructive winds, widespread heavy rain and flooding, the National Weather Service said Monday.
Power outages on the islands could be lengthy, forecasters warned.
Guam, a U.S. territory with American military installations and about 170,000 residents, also could see damaging winds and is under a tropical storm warning. The U.S. Coast Guard issued flood and high wind warnings over the weekend.
The tropical typhoon — the strongest on Earth so far this year — was producing sustained winds of 173 mph (278 kph) on Monday as it neared the islands of Rota, Tinian and Saipan, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
While it's expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku should cross near the islands as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon.
About 50,000 people live on the three islands, with most on Saipan, known for its laid-back resorts, snorkeling, and golf as well as the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Saipan was the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific, in which more than 50,000 Japanese and American soldiers and local civilians died.
In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to prepare for the storm and shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on the island, a critical hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.
President Donald Trump on Saturday approved emergency disaster declarations for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing for additional help with emergency services.
A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones that brew in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where Earth’s most intense storms usually form.
Monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam, super typhoons are the equivalent of category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified since the warning center started using that name nearly 80 years ago.
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows super typhoon Sinlakua in the Pacific Ocean, Monday, April 13, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
Russian swimmers, divers and water polo players will be allowed to compete without restrictions and with their national flag and anthem.
The decision by governing body World Aquatics marks a major shift in how a key sport treats Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and prompted condemnation by Ukraine.
World Aquatics said on Monday it will remove restrictions which required Russian and Belarusian athletes to be vetted and to compete as neutrals.
It excluded Russia and Belarus from its events like the world championships after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then allowed limited participation as neutrals a year later, and further eased the rules since.
“Senior athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality will be permitted to compete in World Aquatics events in the same way as their counterparts representing other sport nationalities, with their respective uniforms, flags and anthems,” World Aquatics said in a statement. It had previously relaxed the rules for junior athletes.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam added: “We are determined to ensure that pools and open water remain places where athletes from all nations can come together in peaceful competition.”
World Aquatics isn't the first sports body to reinstate Russia in full — judo did it in November and taekwondo in January — but it's by far the biggest.
Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov thanked Al Musallam “for his firm position on this issue” and said they'd discussed the issue together in January.
“It is very important that international sporting dialogue is bearing fruit and enables the orderly restoration of sporting ties,” Degtyaryov, who also heads the Russian Olympic Committee, wrote on the social media app Max.
Ukraine Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnyi condemned the decision.
“Sport should unite around fair rules and respect for life. Returning the flag to a country that disregards and systematically destroys these rules is a wake-up call for the entire sports community,” Bidnyi said. “Today, our athletes are training under fire, and against this background any talk of 'neutrality' or the return of the aggressor’s paraphernalia looks shameful and divorced from reality.”
Ukraine has previously objected to efforts to allow Russian athletes to return to competition. Last month it led boycotts of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies after Russians were allowed to compete under their national flag.
Ukraine's men's water polo team forfeited a scheduled World Cup game Monday against a team of Russians in Malta. The Russians were handed a 5-0 win by default because Ukraine “voluntarily chose not to start," World Aquatics said.
Ukrainian media reported the boycott was a protest against the involvement of the Russian team, which was officially labeled as “Neutral Athletes B,” in any capacity, rather than Monday's announcement from World Aquatics.
World Aquatics says Russian and Belarusian athletes will have to undergo four anti-doping tests and background checks before competing after Monday's decision. It wasn't immediately clear what would be checked.
Its decision applies only to its own events like the world championships but could add momentum within the Olympic world for a full return of Russian athletes ahead of the 2028 LA Games.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the International Olympic Committee.
In December, the IOC recommended removing restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes for international youth events and letting them compete under national flags. The IOC still kept its neutral requirements for senior competitions and Russians and Belarusians were officially referred to as Individual Neutral Athletes at the Winter Olympics in February.
Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Neutral Athlete Russia, Kliment Kolesnikov reacts after winning gold medal in the men's 50-meter backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, on Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
