Typhoon Podul intensifies as its near Taiwan

The typhoon is packing wind speeds of 155 kilometres (96 miles) per hour at its centre and "is strengthening", Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lin Ting-yi told AFP. Podul is on track to hit lightly populated Taitung County at around noon (0400 GMT) before sweeping across the island and into the Taiwan Strait. "We are worried about this typhoon," Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei told AFP as he used more ropes to tie down his boat and checked on other vessels. "We had already made general typhoon preparations yesterday...