Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest storms to hit Asia in years, whipped waves taller than lampposts onto Hong Kong promenades and turned seas rough on the southern Chinese coast on Wednesday (Sep. 24) after leaving deadly destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines. In Taiwan, 17 people died after floods submerged roads and carried away vehicles in one county, and 10 deaths were reported in the northern Philippines.

Nearly 1.9 million people were relocated across Guangdong province, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse. A weather station in Chuandao town recorded maximum gusts of 241 kph (about 150 mph) at noon, a high in Jiangmen city since record-keeping began. State broadcaster CCTV said the typhoon made landfall along the coast of Hailing Island in Yangjiang city at about 5pm, packing maximum winds near the center of 144 kph (89 mph). Violent winds battered trees and buildings, with torrential rain lowering visibility, video from China's state-run Xinhua news agency showed.

The UK, Australia and Canada formally recognised a Palestinian state, prompting an angry response from Israel, which ruled out the prospect. The coordinated initiative from the three Commonwealth nations and longtime allies reflects growing outrage at Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza and the steps taken by the Israeli government to thwart efforts to create a Palestinian state, including by the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has faced pressure to take a harder line on Israel within his own governing Labour Party over the deteriorating situation in Gaza, said the UK's move is intended "to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis." The moves by the three countries prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that the establishment of a Palestinian state "will not happen". Later Portugal said it too would be recognising a Palestinian state.

At least four people were killed and dozens injured in the remote Indian region of Ladakh as hundreds of people demanding federal statehood from the Indian government clashed with law enforcement, officials and residents said. Some protesters threw stones at officers as police tried to stop them from marching in the high-altitude Leh town. Others set ablaze a paramilitary vehicle and the local office of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, police said.

Police fired bullets and tear gas, and swung batons at the demonstrators, injuring dozens of them, police and residents said. Four among some of the critically injured later died, they said. Officials said at least a dozen policemen were also injured in the clashes. Nestled between India, Pakistan and China, Ladakh was split from Indian-controlled Kashmir after New Delhi removed the disputed region's statehood and semiautonomy in 2019. Over the past three years, Ladakh has seen growing unrest against the direct Central rule, with the residents repeatedly calling for statehood and constitutional safeguards.

Moldovan authorities said they carried out 250 raids and detained dozens as part of an investigation into an alleged Russia-backed plan to incite "mass riots" and destabilise the country around a critical parliamentary election. The raids targeted more than 100 people and took place in multiple localities across the country, police said. Seventy-four people were detained for up to 72 hours, said Victor Furtuna, Moldova's chief prosecutor from the Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases.

Moldovans will vote to choose a new 101-seat legislature on September 28, in an election many view as a choice between Moldova's continued path toward European Union membership or closer ties with Russia. Moldova's police said that the unrest plot was "coordinated from the Russian Federation, through criminal elements." The head of Moldova's police said that some of the suspects didn't know the real purpose of their trips, which were presented as pilgrimages, and only later became involved in "training for disorder and destabilization."