Typhoon Khanun approaches Japan's Okinawa

Typhoon Khanun, described as "very strong" by the Japanese weather agency, approaches the southern island chain of Okinawa, bringing maximum sustained wind speeds of 180 kilometres an hour. One person was reportedly killed and hundreds of thousands were without electricity.

Flights to Okinawa and other regional islands were cancelled, stranding thousands of tourists at the region's tropical beach resorts. An evacuation warning issued across Okinawa and the southern part of Kagoshima region was in place, urging more than 690,000 residents to move to safety.

The typhoon was about 70 kilometres south of Okinawa's remote Kumejima island at 2300 GMT and was moving west-northwest according to Japanese weather agency. It was expected to cross to eastern China later in the week.