Tokyo braces for hit from typhoon Faxai Afp, Tokyo

A strong typhoon that could bring record winds and rain was poised to make a direct hit on Tokyo later yesterday, as authorities issued evacuation warnings amid a risk of high waves, landslides and flooding. Typhoon Faxai, packing winds of up to 216 kilometres (134 miles) per hour, is forecast to reach coastal areas near Tokyo in the late hours of yesterday into this morning, Japan's meteorological agency said. Air and rail transport movement in the capital suspended due to the storm.

Russians go to local polls after protests Afp, Moscow

Russians yesterday voted in local elections after weeks of opposition protests in Moscow that led to the biggest police crackdown on dissent in nearly a decade. Municipal and regional polls were held across the country, but attention focused on the Moscow parliament vote following the arrest and jailing of independent would-be candidates and their supporters. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged voters to punish the Kremlin.

Storm Dorian makes landfall in Canada

Afp, Ottawa

Dorian made landfall in Canada on Saturday night south of Halifax with ferocious 100 mph winds and torrential rains, meteorologists said, toppling trees and whipping up debris. The storm churned up 65-foot waves which pounded the coast near the port city that is home to Canada's Atlantic fleet. As it moved north from the US after devastating the Bahamas, the storm was now being called a "very intense post-tropical cyclone."