Evacuations as storm approaches Taiwan

TAIPEI: Almost 3,000 people, most of them tourists, were evacuated from outlying islands off Taiwan on Sunday as Typhoon Dujuan gathered strength as it neared, looking set to bring heavy rains and high tides.

Typhoon Dujuan, packing maximum winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour, was 560 kilometers southeast of Hualien county at 2:30 pm, and lay around 350 kilometres from the Japanese island of Ishigaki.