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Cyclone Remal slams into Bangladesh coast as hundreds of thousands evacuate
Cyclone Remal has smashed into the low-lying coast of Bangladesh as authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, officials said.
The storm started crossing the coast in the southern district of Khepupara in Bangladesh at around 8pm (14:00 GMT), meteorologist Shamim Ahsan told a news briefing in Dhaka on Sunday.
The cyclone, named Remal, was lashing the coast with wind speed up to 120 kilometres per hour (75mph), he said.
Authorities have raised the danger signal to 10, its highest level, and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief’s Secretary Kamrul Hasan said people have been ordered to move from “unsafe and vulnerable” homes.
At least 800,000 people have fled their coastal homes and have been shifted to cyclone shelters, government ministers and disaster officials said.
But as people fled, Bangladeshi police said that a heavily laden ferry carrying more than 50 passengers – double its capacity – was swamped and sank near Mongla, a port in the expected path of the storm. “At least 13 people were injured and were taken to a hospital,” local police chief Mushfiqur Rahman Tushar told AFP.
Bangladesh has set up more than 7,000 cyclone shelters and mobilised 78,000 volunteers, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohibur Rahman told Reuters.
Cyclones have killed hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh in recent decades. In May last year, Cyclone Mocha became the most powerful storm to hit Bangladesh since Cyclone Sidr in November 2007. Sidr killed more than 3,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
The number of superstorms hitting its densely populated coast has increased sharply, from one a year to as many as three, due to the impact of climate change.
India’s weather department said it was expecting the storm to make landfall in India overnight.
(Aljazeera)
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea in separate deals with the US, after three days of peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
Washington said all parties would continue working toward a “durable and lasting peace” in statements announcing the agreements, which would reopen an important trade route.
They have also committed to “develop measures” to implement a previously agreed ban on attacking each other’s energy infrastructure, the White House said.
But Russia said the naval ceasefire would only come into force after a number of sanctions against its food and fertiliser trade were lifted.
US officials have been separately meeting negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv in Riyadh with the aim of brokering a truce between the two sides. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have not met directly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deal to halt strikes in the Black Sea was a step in the right direction.
“It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps,” he told a press conference in Kyiv.
“No-one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this,” he added, after US President Donald Trump had previously accused him of blocking a peace deal.
But shortly after Washington’s announcement, the Kremlin said the Black Sea ceasefire would not take effect until sanctions were lifted from Russian banks, producers and exporters involved in the international food and fertiliser trades.
The measures demanded by Russia include reconnecting the banks concerned to the SwiftPay payment system, lifting restrictions on servicing ships under the Russian flag involved in the food trade, and on the supply of agricultural machinery and other goods needed for the production of food.
It was unclear from the White House’s statement when the agreement is meant to come into force.
When asked about lifting the sanctions, Trump told reporters: “We’re thinking about all of them right now. We’re looking at them.”
Washington’s statement on the US-Russia talks does say the US will “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports”.
Speaking in Kyiv, Zelensky described this as a “weakening of positions”.
He also said Ukraine would push for further sanctions on Russia and more military support from the US if Moscow reneged on its commitments.
Later, in his nightly address to Ukrainians, Zelensky accused the Kremlin of lying when it said the Black Sea ceasefire depended on sanctions being lifted.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said “third countries” could oversee parts of the deal.
But he warned that the movement of Russian warships beyond the “eastern part of the Black Sea” would be treated as a violation of the agreement and a “threat to the national security of Ukraine”.
“In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defence,” he added.
A previous arrangement allowing safe passage of commercial ships in the Black Sea was agreed in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.
Both Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters, and prices rocketed after the start of the war.
The “Black Sea grain deal” was put in place to allow cargo ships travelling to and from Ukraine to safely navigate without being attacked by Russia. The deal facilitated the movement of grain, sunflower oil and other products required for food production, such as fertiliser, through the Black Sea.
It was initially in place for a period of 120 days but, after multiple extensions, Russia pulled out in July 2023, claiming key parts of the agreement had not been implemented.
[BBC]
New (or returning) players have hogged the limelight this first week of IPL 2025 and it was no different in Ahmedabad where last season’s title-winning captain announced himself in grand style. Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings’ batting line-up to their highest total of all time, and then victory over Gujarat Titans by 11 runs.
Iyer had a century for the taking. He was 97 off 42 when the final over began, but he did not face a single ball of it, having told his partner Shashank Singh not to worry about the landmark. He had said prior to the start of the season that he wanted to bat at No. 3 and he showed against GT the extent of damage he can do from there. His career-best IPL score included nine sixes. Only once in this tournament has he cleared the boundary more often, and to bat this way was a conscious decision.
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Gananath Obeyesekere has passed away at the age of 95.
Russia and Ukraine agree naval ceasefire in Black Sea
Shreyas Iyer’s IPL best leads Punjab Kings to winning start
Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere passes away aged 95
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