A cyclone killed at least five people as it swept through eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, accompanied by a surge that swamped embankments and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Authorities moved about 3 million people to safety in both countries this week, as Cyclone Amphan brewed in the Bay of Bengal to become one of the strongest storms to hit the region in years.
The operation was complicated by efforts to avoid a surge in coronavirus cases.
With gusting winds of up to 185kph triggering a surge of about five metres, the cyclone moved inland through India's populous West Bengal state before hitting Bangladesh, weather officials said.
At least three people, including a girl, 13, died in West Bengal, authorities said. Two more were killed by falling trees in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Authorities rushed to move more than three million people from low-lying areas, but the task was complicated by the need to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
As it made landfall, Cyclone Amphan tore through coastal villages, flattening mud houses, blowing off roofs, uprooting trees and destroying cropfields.
Videos and photos on social media showed residents heading to shelters, some carrying bags with their belongings and all wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus.
Officials went from village to village with loudspeakers warning people to take shelter.
The highest level of alert was raised in Bangladesh at 6am, said Enamur Rahman, junior minister for disaster management and relief.
In Satkhira district in Bangladesh, local chief government administrator Mostafa Kamal said people in shelters were given dry food, baby food and medicine.
Mr Kamal said they were distributing masks and other safety equipment to keep coronavirus from spreading during their stay in thousands of shelters.
In refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, which reported its first 10 coronavirus cases last week, authorities and UN workers prepared 50 shelters and assigned 256 volunteer groups.
Areas at risk of landslides were stabilised with bamboo and concrete walls.
But the combination of the virus and cyclone could lead to a "new humanitarian crisis", said Manuel Pereira, deputy chief of mission for the International Organisation for Migration in Bangladesh.
"We know that if people are forced to seek communal shelter, they'll be unable to maintain physical distancing and run the risk of contracting or transmitting the virus," Mr Pereira said.
The cyclone is occurring during the month of Ramadan, and reports from Muslim-majority Bangladesh said many villagers were fasting all day on Tuesday, then eating at night before heading for the shelters early on Wednesday.
Kolkata in India was battered by heavy rain and the muddy Hooghly River was rising under dark skies, while large waves pounded the shore in the coastal resort of Digha.
Bangladesh's low-lying coast, home to 30 million people, and India's east are regularly battered by cyclones that have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in recent decades.
While the frequency and intensity of storms have increased, blamed partly on climate change, casualties have fallen because of faster evacuations, better technology and more shelters.
The cyclone could endanger India's fight against the coronavirus, with supply lines cut, roads destroyed and lockdown measures slowing relief work, said T Sundaramanan, a health systems consultant in Pondicherry, south-east India.
Tuhin Ghosh, director of the oceanographic studies at Jadavpur University, said the pandemic's lockdown had already sapped people's resilience.
"Because they are economically down, they are not getting enough food," Mr Ghosh said.
"When another disaster comes, then it's a double impact."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Results
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m; Winner: Dhafra, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Al Ajayib, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
4pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Ashtr, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Majed Al Jahouri
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Falcon Claws, Szczepan Mazur, Doug Watson
5pm: Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Al Mufham SB, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Badar Al Hajri
5.30pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m; Winner: Asraa Min Al Talqa, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The%20specs
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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The five pillars of Islam
Specs%20
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
