
-
Lives on hold in India's border villages with Pakistan
-
Musk's dreams for Starbase city in Texas hang on vote
-
Rockets down Warriors to stay alive in NBA playoffs
-
Garcia beaten by Romero in return from doping ban
-
Inflation, hotel prices curtail Japanese 'Golden Week' travels
-
Trump's next 100 days: Now comes the hard part
-
Mexican mega-port confronts Trump's tariff storm
-
Trump's tariffs bite at quiet US ports
-
Ryu stretches lead at LPGA Black Desert Championship
-
Singapore votes with new PM seeking strong mandate amid tariff turmoil
-
Five things to know about the Australian election
-
Scheffler fires 63 despite long delay to lead CJ Cup Byron Nelson
-
Israel launches new Syria strikes amid Druze tensions
-
Finke grabs 400m medley victory over world record-holder Marchand
-
Apple eases App Store rules under court pressure
-
Polls open in Australian vote swayed by inflation, Trump
-
Russell clocks second fastest 100m hurdles in history at Miami meeting
-
Germany move against far-right AfD sets off US quarrel
-
Billionaire-owned Paris FC win promotion and prepare to take on PSG
-
Teenager Antonelli grabs pole for Miami sprint race
-
Man City climb to third as De Bruyne sinks Wolves
-
Mercedes' Wolff backs Hamilton to come good with Ferrari
-
'Devastated' Prince Harry says no UK return but seeks reconciliation
-
Elway agent death likely accidental: report
-
Turkish Cypriots protest new rule allowing hijab in school
-
Germany's AfD dealt blow with right-wing extremist label
-
Trump NASA budget prioritizes Moon, Mars missions over research
-
Hard-right romps through UK polls slapping aside main parties
-
Rangers hire two-time NHL champion Sullivan as coach
-
Haaland on bench for Man City as striker returns ahead of schedule
-
US designates two Haitian gangs as terror groups
-
Lower profits at US oil giants amid fall in crude prices
-
NBA icon Popovich stepping down as Spurs coach after 29 seasons
-
'Devastated' Prince Harry says no return to UK but seeks royal reconciliation
-
Grande scratched from Kentucky Derby
-
Carney vows to transform Canada economy to withstand Trump
-
Prince Harry says he would 'love' to reconcile with family
-
Major offshore quake causes tsunami scare in Chile, Argentina
-
GM cuts shift at Canada plant over 'evolving trade environment'
-
F1 extends deal to keep Miami GP until 2041
-
Popovich mixed toughness and spirit to make NBA history
-
US asks judge to break up Google's ad tech business
-
Trump eyes huge 'woke' cuts in budget blueprint
-
Ruud downs Cerundolo to book spot in Madrid Open final
-
Gregg Popovich stepping down as San Antonio Spurs coach after 29 seasons: team
-
Guardiola to take break from football when he leaves Man City
-
Vine escapes to Tour of Romandie 3rd stage win as Baudin keeps lead
-
Olympic 100m medalist Kerley arrested, out of Miami Grand Slam meet
-
Chile, Argentina order evacuations over post-quake tsunami threat
-
Arteta 'pain' as Arsenal fall short in Premier League title race

Cyclone Batsirai nears Madagascar, 'widespread damage' feared
Powerful Cyclone Batsirai was closing in on eastern Madagascar Saturday as residents sought secure shelter or reinforced their roofs with sandbags after warnings that "widespread damage" was feared.
Batsirai is expected to lash the eastern parts of the cyclone-prone Indian ocean island with powerful winds and torrential rains at around 8pm (1700 GMT) on Saturday, according to the country's national weather forecasters.
It will make landfall in Mananjary district, more than 530 kilometres (310 miles) southeast of the capital Antananarivo, as a "tropical cyclone or intense cyclone at around 8pm local time," said Meteo Madagascar.
By that time, the wind speed is forecast to be 165 kilometres per hour (102 miles per hour).
"Significant and widespread damage is therefore feared," warned the metereological services.
The Meteo-France weather service had earlier warned of winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour (162 miles per hour) and waves as high as 15 metres (50 feet).
It said Batsirai would likely make landfall as an intense tropical cyclone, "presenting a very serious threat to the area" after passing Mauritius and drenching the French island of La Reunion with torrential rain for two days.
Residents hunkered down before the storm made landfall in the impoverished country still recovering from the deadly Tropical Storm Ana late last month.
- 'Help us' -
In the eastern coastal town of Vatomandry more than 200 people were crammed in one room in a Chinese-owned concrete building while waiting for Batsirai to hit.
Families slept on mats or mattresses.
Community leader Thierry Louison Leaby lamented the lack of clean water after the water utility company turned off supplies ahead of the cyclone.
"People are cooking with dirty water," he said, amid fears of a diarrhoea outbreak.
Outside plastic dishes and buckets were placed in a line to catch rainwater dripping from the corrugated roofing sheets.
"The government must absolutely help us. We have not been given anything," he said.
Residents who chose to remain in their homes used sandbags and yellow jerrycans to buttress their roofs.
Other residents of Vatomandry were stockpiling supplies in preparation for the storm.
"We have been stocking up for a week, rice but also grains because with the electricity cuts we can not keep meat or fish," said Odette Nirina, 65, a hotelier in Vatomandry.
"I have also stocked up on coal. Here we are used to cyclones," she told AFP.
Gusts of winds of more than 50km/h pummelled Vatomandry Saturday morning, accompanied by intermittent rain.
- 'We are very nervous' -
The United Nations said it was ramping up its preparedness with aid agencies, placing rescue aircraft on standby and stockpiling humanitarian supplies.
The impact of Batsirai on Madagascar is expected to be "considerable", Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian organisation OCHA, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
At least 131,000 people were affected by Ana across Madagascar in late January. At least 58 people were killed, mostly in the capital Antananarivo. The storm also hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, causing dozens of deaths.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) pointed to estimates from national authorities that some 595,000 people could risk being directly affected by Batsirai, and 150,000 more might be displaced due to new landslides and flooding.
"We are very nervous," Pasqualina Di Sirio, who heads the WFP's programme in Madagascar, told reporters by video-link from the island.
Search and rescue teams have been placed on alert.
Inland in Ampasipotsy Gare, sitting on top of his house, Tsarafidy Ben Ali, a 23-year-old coal seller, held down corrugated iron sheets on the roof with large bags filled with soil.
"The gusts of wind are going to be very strong. That's why we're reinforcing the roofs," he told AFP.
burs-str-sn/dl
D.Kaufman--AMWN