Authorities in coastal regions in southern China stepped up precautionary measures and conducted timely evacuations as they braced for the impact of the Super Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in south China’s Hainan Province on Friday afternoon.

The 11th typhoon of the year, Yagi, made landfall at 16:20 local time Friday in the Wengtian Township of Hainan’s Wenchang City, with ferocious wind speeds exceeding 234 kilometers per hour.

The typhoon has brought heavy rainfall across most of the island, with severe rainstorms pummeling many townships and villages. Around 20,000 firefighters, soldiers, and additional rescue personnel have gathered and are on standby to handle any emergency situations which may arise, while the relevant departments stocked up on relief supplies in advance.

As of 17:00 on Friday, more than 460,000 people have been evacuated and more than 500 relocation centers have been set up across Wenchang City. Efforts are also ongoing to assess geological hazards and conduct inspections of the rivers, lakes, and reservoirs deemed at risk.

As the typhoon approaches the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, efforts are also being stepped up to ensure emergency support for power, communication, and transportation.

The typhoon-induced suspension of all ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait between Hainan and Guangdong led to over 3,000 trucks being left stranded in the Xuwen County of Zhanjiang City. Local authorities have dispatched specialized teams to direct people to specific emergency shelters.

Meanwhile, multiple cities in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, including the popular coastal resort city of Beihai, have preemptively implemented various measures, including suspending business operations and closing schools, while more coastal regions are stepping up their preventive work.

Elsewhere, South China’s Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) have taken a variety of precautions for Super Typhoon Yagi. The stock exchange in Hong Kong was shuttered while schools remained closed on Friday. All ferries, buses and taxis have been suspended across the city, and subways are running on a reduced timetable.

Macao also proactively implemented a range of preventive emergency measures that encompassed transportation, water and electricity supplies, and municipal services.

(CCTV +)
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The story of Princess Diana has captivated the world for decades, and now, a new and astonishing chapter has emerged from an unexpected source. 

Billy Campbell, the young son of Australian TV host David Campbell, has made a startling claim that he was Princess Diana in a past life. This extraordinary assertion has sparked curiosity and debate, drawing attention from both skeptics and believers alike.David Campbell, a well-known television personality in Australia, first shared his son’s unusual statements in an interview in 2019.

According to David, Billy began speaking about his past life as Princess Diana when he was just two years old. The family was initially taken aback by the specificity and detail of Billy’s recollections. He mentioned events and places that seemed far beyond the knowledge of a young child.

One of the most striking aspects of Billy’s claims is his very detailed descriptions of Diana’s life. He spoke about Balmoral Castle, the Scottish residence of the British royal family, with an accuracy that left his parents astonished. He mentioned having a brother named ‘John’, famously one of Princess Diana’s brothers who passed away in infancy, is also John Spencer. Billy also mentioned the tragic car accident in Paris that claimed Diana’s life on August 31, 1997. He described the event with a level of detail that seemed eerily precise for someone who had not been exposed to the specifics of the incident.

David Campbell recounted an instance when Billy pointed to a photograph of Diana and said, “That’s me as a princess. Then one day the sirens came and I wasn’t a princess anymore.” This statement, coupled with Billy’s other recollections, has led some to believe that he might indeed have memories of a past life as Princess Diana.Skeptics argue that Billy’s claims could be the result of subconscious absorption of information from his environment. They suggest that he might have picked up details about Princess Diana from conversations, media, or even books without his parents realizing it. However, David and his wife, Lisa, insist that they have not discussed Diana’s life in such detail around their children, making Billy’s knowledge all the more perplexing.

The phenomenon of past life memories in children is not entirely new. Dr. Jim Tucker, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, has studied cases of children who claim to remember past lives. His research suggests that some children, typically between the ages of two and six, exhibit knowledge of events and people from a previous existence. Dr. Tucker’s work has documented numerous cases where children have provided verifiable details about their alleged past lives.

Billy Campbell’s case has drawn comparisons to other well-known instances of past life memories. One such case is that of James Leininger, an American boy who claimed to be the reincarnation of a World War II fighter pilot. James provided specific details about the pilot’s life and death, which were later confirmed through historical records. These cases continue to intrigue researchers and challenge our understanding of consciousness and memory.

While the claims of Billy Campbell remain unverified, they have undoubtedly sparked a renewed interest in the possibility of reincarnation and past lives. Whether one believes in it or not, the story of a young boy in Australia who believes he was once a beloved princess serves as a fascinating reminder of the mysteries that still surround human consciousness and the nature of our existence.

(TOI)

Telegram has apologised to South Korean authorities for its handling of deepfake pornographic material shared via its messaging app, amid a digital sex crime epidemic in the country.

It comes days after South Korean police said they had launched an investigation into Telegram, accusing it of “abetting” the distribution of such images.

In recent weeks, a large number of Telegram chatrooms – many of them run by teenagers – were found to have been creating sexually explicit “deepfakes” using doctored photographs of young women.

Authorities say Telegram has since removed such videos from its platform.

In a statement to South Korea’s Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), Telegram said the situation was “unfortunate”, adding that it “apologised if there had been an element of misunderstanding”.

It also confirmed that it had taken down 25 such videos as requested by KCSC.

In its latest statement to KCSC, Telegram also proposed an email address dedicated to future communication with the regulator.

KCSC described the company’s approach as “very forward-looking” and said Telegram has “acknowledged the seriousness” of the situation.

Deepfakes are generated using artificial intelligence, and often combine the face of a real person with a fake body.

The recent deepfake crisis has been met with outrage in South Korea, after journalists discovered police were investigating deepfake porn rings at two of the country’s major universities.

It later emerged that police received 118 reports of such videos in the last five days. Seven suspects, six of whom are teenagers, have been questioned by the police in the past week.

The chat groups were linked to individual schools and universities across the country. Many of their victims were students and teachers known to the perpetrators.

In South Korea, those found guilty of creating sexually explicit deepfakes can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to 50 million won ($37,500; £28,300).

These discoveries in South Korea follow the arrest of the Russian-born founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, in France, on allegations that child pornography, drug trafficking and fraud were taking place on the messaging app.

Mr Durov has since been charged.

Last Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had instructed authorities to “thoroughly investigate and address these digital sex crimes to eradicate them”.

Women’s rights activists have accused South Korean authorities of allowing sexual abuse to take place on Telegram.

In 2019, it was discovered that a sex ring had used the app to blackmail dozens of women and children to film pornographic content. The ring leader Cho Ju-bin, who was then 20, was sentenced to 42 years in jail.

(BBC News)