KHULNA, Bangladesh: Several million people were taking shelter and praying for the best on Wednesday as the Bay of Bengal’s fiercest cyclone in decades roared toward Bangladesh and eastern India, with forecasts of a potentially devastating and deadly storm surge.
Authorities have scrambled to evacuate low lying areas in the path of Amphan, which is only the second “super cyclone” to form in the northeastern Indian Ocean since records began.
But their efforts have been hampered by the need to follow strict precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with infection numbers still soaring in both countries.
“At least 50 people took shelter in my concrete-built house. They came last evening. We gave them food,” Abdur Rahim, a Bangladeshi shrimp farmer on the edge of the Sundarbans mangrove forest said.
“There is panic. The women are worried ... A few months ago, Cyclone Bulbul smashed our village, destroying at least 100 homes. We hope Allah will save us this time.”
Early Wednesday the vast weather system — visible from space — was 125 kilometers (80 miles) offshore with gusts up to 200 kilometers per hour (125 mph), the equivalent of a category three hurricane, the Indian Meteorological Department said.
It was expected to ease slightly but still pack a ferocious punch when it crosses the coasts of West Bengal state and neighboring Bangladesh on Wednesday “afternoon to evening” with gusts up to 185 kph.
Bangladeshi forecasters said it would hit around 6:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), with a potential storm surge up to five meters (15 feet).
The storm could “cause large-scale and extensive damage,” said the head of India’s weather office Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, with a surge of several meters.
Storm surges can force a wall of water to cascade several kilometers inland, and are often the biggest killers in any cyclone, typhoon or hurricane.
Sanjib Banerjee from West Bengal weather office said that parts of Kolkata could see “severe damage.” Early Wednesday the sky there was ominously grey. At the coast it was raining and the sea rough.
“We have mobilized more than 20,000 policemen, emergency workers and volunteers, boats and buses to evacuate around 300,000 people from coastal villages,” state premier Mamata Banerjee said.
“It’s a very difficult task when the state is combating the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.
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.
The eastern Indian state of Odisha was hit by a super cyclone that left nearly 10,000 dead in 1999, eight years after a typhoon, tornadoes and flooding killed 139,000 in Bangladesh. In 1970 Cyclone Bhola killed half a million.
While the storms’ frequency and intensity have increased — a phenomenon blamed partly on climate change — deaths have fallen thanks to faster evacuations, better technology and more shelters.
But Bangladesh authorities still fear that Amphan will be the most powerful storm front since Cyclone Sidr devastated the country in 2007, killing about 3,500 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.
The country has been feverishly working to bring 2.2 million people to safety, while West Bengal was relocating 300,000 others.
The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) aid group said people faced “an impossible choice” of braving the cyclone by staying put, or risking coronavirus infection in a shelter.
Authorities in both countries said that they were using extra shelter space to reduce crowding, while also making face masks compulsory and providing extra soap and sanitizer.
“We are also keeping separate isolation rooms in the shelters for any infected patients,” Bangladesh’s junior disaster management minister Enamur Rahman said.
Although outside the predicted direct path of the storm, there are fears for the safety of almost a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in southeastern Bangladesh — most living in vast camps and housed in flimsy and makeshift shacks.
The first coronavirus cases were reported there last week, and by Tuesday there were six confirmed infections.
The UN said emergency items such as food, tarpaulins and water purification tablets had been stockpiled, while authorities said the refugees would be moved to sturdier buildings like schools.
“Heavy rains, flooding (and) the destruction of homes and farmland, will increase the likelihood of the virus spreading, particularly in densely populated areas like the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar,” ActionAid said.
“It will also undoubtedly increase the number of lives and livelihoods already lost to this pandemic.”
‘Super cyclone’ Amphan bears down on Bangladesh, India
https://arab.news/cvt3r
‘Super cyclone’ Amphan bears down on Bangladesh, India
- Amphan is only the second ‘super cyclone’ to form in the northeastern Indian Ocean since records began
- The storm could ‘cause large-scale and extensive damage’
India announces successful hypersonic missile test
- Defense ministry says missile designed to carry payloads over distances greater than 1,500 km
- Other countries known to have hypersonic missile capabilities are the US, China and Russia
NEW DELHI: India has test-fired its first long-range hypersonic missile, the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, marking the country’s entry into a small group of nations known to possess such weapons programs.
The Defense Research and Development Organization — an agency under the Ministry of Defense — conducted the test on Saturday night on Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.
The missile, designed to carry payloads over 1,500 km, was “indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile complex, Hyderabad along with various other DRDO laboratories and industry partners,” the ministry said in a statement Sunday.
“The flight data obtained from down range ship stations confirmed the successful terminal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy.”
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh took to social media to say the test was a “historic moment” that has put India country in the “group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies.”
Hypersonic missiles can travel at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, or 6,115 km per hour — much faster than other ballistic and cruise missiles, making them more difficult to track than traditional missile technology.
The other countries known to have such capabilities are the US, China, and Russia.
Defense expert Ranjit Kumar told Arab News that the successful launch of the hypersonic missile has enhanced the deterrent capabilities of the Indian missile arsenal.
“(The) hypersonic missile will add more teeth to the Indian missile firepower. (The) Indian Armed Forces already possess over 300 km range (supersonic) Brahmos cruise missile and over 5,000 km range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile, but the latest, over 1,500 km range hypersonic missile will ... give more confidence to the Indian military to be able to hit the target with sure success,” he said.
“At a time when India is surrounded with adversaries possessing long-range ballistic missiles, the latest hypersonic missile will deter them from launching a preemptive strike on Indian locations.”
More than 1.2 million people flee as new super typhoon hits Philippines
- Authorities warn of ‘life-threatening’ impact of sixth storm hitting the country in one month
- Risk of landslides is high, as soil in many affected regions is saturated from previous storms
MANILA: More than 1.2 million people have been evacuated in eight regions of the Philippines as the country braces for the impact of the sixth tropical cyclone to hit in the past month, the Office of Civil Defense said on Sunday.
Super Typhoon Man-yi slammed into the coastal island of Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone Bicol region on Saturday evening, as the national weather agency warned of “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situations.”
Five other storms — Usagi, Trami, Kong-rey, Yinxing and Toraji — struck the Philippines since late October, killing at least 163 people, displacing millions and causing widespread destruction mainly in the country’s north.
OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said there were no immediate reports of casualties from Man-yi’s impact, but government agencies were on alert as they expected flooding and landslides on Sunday and Monday.
Residents were evacuated in eight regions covering the northwestern, northeastern and central parts of Luzon — the country’s most populous island — as well as the Bicol Peninsula in its southernmost part, the island provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, and Palawan, and parts of the Eastern Visayas, including Samar island.
“We did worst-case planning … In total, 361,079 families cooperated, that means 1.24 million individuals who went to the evacuation centers,” Nepomuceno told Arab News.
“Fortunately, so far no one has been reported injured or killed. But we are not done yet because the storm is heading towards mainland Aurora … then to southern Aurora and northern Quezon, and then the typhoon will cross Central Luzon. It may exit La Union or Pangasinan, so we will look at that whole area.”
He said the main danger at the moment was from landslides as “the soils in the affected areas are already saturated.”
In Catanduanes, which was so far the worst hit, 11 of the island province’s 16 towns sustained major damage.
“Many houses were destroyed … because electric poles were toppled, there is no electricity in almost all of Catanduanes,” Nepomuceno said.
The Philippines is considered the country most at risk from natural disasters, according to the 2024 World Risk Report.
Each year, the Southeast Asian nation experiences around 20 tropical storms and typhoons, impacting millions of people as weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable and extreme due to climate change.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, displaced millions and left more than 6,000 people dead or missing in the central Philippines.
India announces successful hypersonic missile test
- Defense ministry says missile designed to carry payloads over distances greater than 1,500 km
- Other countries known to have hypersonic missile capabilities are the US, China and Russia
NEW DELHI: India has test-fired its first long-range hypersonic missile, the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, marking the country’s entry into a small group of nations known to possess such weapons programs.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation — an agency under the Ministry of Defense — conducted the test on Saturday night on Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.
The missile, designed to carry payloads over 1,500 km, was “indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile complex, Hyderabad along with various other DRDO laboratories and industry partners,” the ministry said in a statement Sunday.
“The flight data obtained from down range ship stations confirmed the successful terminal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy.”
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh took to social media to say the test was a “historic moment” that has put India country in the “group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies.”
Hypersonic missiles can travel at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, or 6,115 km per hour — much faster than other ballistic and cruise missiles, making them more difficult to track than traditional missile technology.
The other countries known to have such capabilities are the US, China, and Russia.
Defense expert Ranjit Kumar told Arab News that the successful launch of the hypersonic missile has enhanced the deterrent capabilities of the Indian missile arsenal.
“(The) hypersonic missile will add more teeth to the Indian missile firepower. (The) Indian Armed Forces already possess over 300 km range (supersonic) Brahmos cruise missile and over 5,000 km range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile, but the latest, over 1,500 km range hypersonic missile will ... give more confidence to the Indian military to be able to hit the target with sure success,” he said.
“At a time when India is surrounded with adversaries possessing long-range ballistic missiles, the latest hypersonic missile will deter them from launching a preemptive strike on Indian locations.”
UK plans to sign deals with Turkiye, Iraqi Kurdistan to halt migrants
- Top nationalities for small boat crossings to Britain are Afghan, Iranian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Syrian
- Italy has reduced migrant numbers by 62% after agreements with Libya, Tunisia
London: The UK is set to agree deals with several countries in a bid to prevent thousands of illegal migrants reaching Britain, the Sunday Times reported.
The deals will mirror those signed by Italy with other countries, with money exchanged in return for stopping migrants from setting off.
Those in discussions with the UK include Turkiye and Vietnam, as well as the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. Deals are expected to be signed by the year’s end.
Italy has managed to reduce the number of people crossing to it by 62 percent after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni struck deals with Tunisia and Libya.
Tunisia received patrol boats and €100 million ($105.4 million) to invest in education, energy and companies employed to halt migration, while Libya’s coast guard will be trained and equipped by Rome. The EU has paid Tunisia an additional €105 million.
However, both agreements have been criticized by human rights organizations over the treatment of migrants in Tunisia and Libya by local authorities.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Meloni in September, during which he praised Italy’s “upstream work” in North Africa.
“I have always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived,” he said.
The UK has seen continuous increases in the number of people entering the country illegally, with the Labour government pledging to “smash the gangs” running the trade across the English Channel.
By Nov. 11, the total to have made the crossing for 2024 stood at 32,900 people. In 2023, the total number of crossings was 29,437.
According to UK government statistics, the top five nationalities for small boat crossings for the year up to June were Afghan at 5,730 (18 percent of the total), Iranian at 3,844 (13 percent), Vietnamese at 3,031 (10 percent), Turkish at 2,925 (10 percent) and Syrian at 2,849 (9 percent).
A deal signed by the previous UK government and France gave Paris £500 million ($630.9 million) to stop the crossings. The UK also gives Turkiye significant funds to stop migrants reaching Europe.
Last week, Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of being a “major supplier” of small boat equipment in Amsterdam following a joint operation by the UK’s National Crime Agency.
The UK government is keen to strike a deal with Iraqi Kurdistan, from which a number of trafficking gangs operate.
Earlier this year, high-profile trafficker Barzan Majeed, known as The Scorpion, was arrested in Iraq after being tracked down by the BBC in the city of Sulaymaniyah.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is known to have sent fact-finders to the region to assess the viability of an Italy-style deal.
Any deals are likely to involve funding and training for local security services, as well as potentially including return clauses for migrants who reach the UK.
A source told the Sunday Times: “The assessment made after that trip was that Kurdistani nationals monopolise every part of the journey made by small boat migrants from the procuring of the craft to putting people on the boats on the beaches in France.”
Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’
- First time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip
- Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war
ROME: Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year.
It’s the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.
The book, by Hernan Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims toward a better world.” It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope’s 2025 jubilee. Francis’ yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope said in excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa.
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.
Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”
Francis spoke at the time about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced.
The pontiff, who last week also met with a delegation of Israeli hostages who were released and their families pressing the campaign to bring the remaining captives home had editorial control over the upcoming book.
The war started when the militant Hamas group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 as hostages and taking them back to Gaza, where dozens still remain.
Israel’s subsequent yearlong military campaign has killed more than 43,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, whose count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters, though they say more than half of the dead are women and children.
The Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has triggered several legal cases at international courts in The Hague involving requests for arrest warrants as well as accusations and denials of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
In the new book, Francis also speaks about migration and the problem of integrating migrants in their host countries.
“Faced with this challenge, no country can be left alone and no one can think of addressing the issue in isolation through more restrictive and repressive laws, sometimes approved under the pressure of fear or in search of electoral advantages,” Francis said.
“On the contrary, just as we see that there is a globalization of indifference, we must respond with the globalization of charity and cooperation,” he added. Francis also mentioned the “still open wound of the war in Ukraine has led thousands of people to abandon their homes, especially during the first months of the conflict.”
