The Indian city of Mumbai has been placed on high alert as Cyclone Nisarga is forecast to make landfall around noon on Wednesday.
Authorities, who are already grappling with the pandemic, have been advising people to stay indoors. They've also moved nearly 150 COVID-19 patients from a recently built field hospital in Mumbai to a more secure facility.
Meanwhile, Mumbai airport has restricted operations to only 19 flights, from the earlier permitted 50.
According to the Indian weather bureau, the cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea "is very likely to intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during next 6 hours".
More than 100,000 people along the coastal border region of Maharashtra and Gujarat states have also been moved to safer locations, as the storm threatens the west coast with winds gusting up to 120kph.
It comes as coronavirus infections in the country crossed 200,000, with the health ministry claiming that a peak could still be weeks away. So far, 5,815 people have died from the virus in the country.
Israel's military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs in the southern Gaza Strip city, a senior Israeli defence official said, despite international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Marine wildlife experts were frantically trying to rescue some 140 pilot whales stranded on Thursday in the shallow waters of an estuary in the southwest of the state of Western Australia.
A grand jury has charged 18 people with allegedly participating in an Arizona fake elector scheme to re-elect then-US President Donald Trump in 2020, the state's attorney general said on Wednesday.
India is inspecting facilities of spice makers MDH and Everest for compliance with quality standards after sales of some of their products were halted in Hong Kong and Singapore for allegedly containing high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide.
The UAE has welcomed a review report on the performance of the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), affirming its crucial role in supporting relief and development efforts for the Palestinian people.
The local Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Team in Sharjah has confirmed the reopening of all roads, which had been blocked after record rains last week left several parts indundated.