Breaking News Live: Cyclone Montha makes landfall on Andhra coast, to lash for 3-4 hours

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Cyclone Montha has damaged standing crops on 38,000 hectares and horticulture crops across 1.38 lakh hectares in several parts of the state.

The severe cyclonic storm, which is set to make landfall south of Kakinada tonight, has affected large areas in coastal and nearby districts.

“Heavy rains triggered by the cyclone have destroyed standing and horticulture crops in multiple regions,” the CMO said in a statement, quoted by PTI.

VIDEO | Machilipatnam: Cyclone Montha brings heavy rains to Chilakalapudi village.

(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/biXzqrRrJb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 28, 2025

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the landfall process of Severe Cyclonic Storm Montha has begun and will continue for the next 3–4 hours.

The cyclone, moving north-northwestwards at around 15 kmph, was centred at 4:30 pm IST on October 28, 2025, over the west-central Bay of Bengal — about 50 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam, 130 km south of Kakinada, and 230 km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam.

According to the IMD, Cyclone Montha is likely to continue its path towards the north-northwest and cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, as a severe cyclonic storm with winds of 90–100 kmph gusting up to 110 kmph.

A US Air Force aircraft flew straight into Hurricane Melissa, capturing rare footage from inside the eye of what is being described as the year’s most powerful storm.

The mission, carried out by the USAF’s elite “Hurricane Hunters,” aimed to collect crucial meteorological data for the US National Hurricane Center as the Category 5 storm advanced toward Jamaica.

A thread of videos from today’s flight into Hurricane Melissa

In this first one we are entering from the southeast just after sunrise and the bright arc on the far northwest eye wall is the light just beginning to make it over the top from behind us. pic.twitter.com/qGdpp7lbCN

— Tropical Cowboy of Danger (@FlynonymousWX) October 27, 2025

The plane entered the eye from the southeast shortly after sunrise, passing through thick grey clouds before emerging into the calm centre. Surrounding it, the massive eye wall curved in a perfect circle, with a bright arc of sunlight breaking over the storm’s rim on the northwest side.

President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to take a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet at the Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana on Wednesday.

This will be her second fighter jet flight, following her Sukhoi-30 sortie at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam on April 8, 2023.

Authorities in Andhra Pradesh have barred heavy vehicles from plying on national highways across coastal districts from 7 pm on Tuesday as Cyclone Montha approaches the state’s coast.

The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) said movement restrictions have been imposed in areas likely to be affected by the storm and urged residents to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.

Mehli Mistry is set to step down from the Tata Trusts after a majority of trustees voted against extending his term on the boards of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. His three-year tenure concludes on October 28.

According to reports, a circular resolution circulated last week saw three of the six trustees — Chairman Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, and Vijay Singh — oppose Mistry’s reappointment, while Darius Khambata, Pramit Jhaveri, and Jehangir H.C. Jehangir backed his continuation. The divided vote ultimately blocked the extension of his term.

Mistry, who joined the trusts in 2022, is known to have been a close confidant of the late Ratan Tata. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust collectively hold the largest stake in Tata Sons and play a pivotal role in board nominations and overall governance within the Tata Group.

In a first-ever attempt to fight toxic air, Delhi carried out an artificial rain operation on Tuesday to curb severe pollution levels. The cloud-seeding exercise was conducted over Burari, Mayur Vihar, and Karol Bagh, and officials said another round could follow later in the evening depending on weather conditions.

The experiment marks Delhi’s maiden use of artificial rain as a pollution-control measure, with aircraft releasing silver iodide and salt-based particles into moisture-laden clouds to trigger rainfall.

The Election Commission of India has served a showcause notice to poll strategist and Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor after discovering that his name appears on the electoral rolls of both Bihar and West Bengal.

Kishor admitted that his name is listed in both states but blamed the duplication on the Election Commission’s oversight rather than his own mistake.

As per the notice issued by the Returning Officer of Kargahar Assembly Constituency in Sasaram’s Rohtas district, Kishor is registered as a voter in Part 367 (Middle School, Konar, North Section) under polling booth number 621, with EPIC number 1013123718.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday warned of a catastrophic situation in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall, bringing wind gusts exceeding 300 kilometres per hour, along with flash floods and landslides. The storm is expected to be the most severe to hit the island this century.

“It’s a catastrophic situation expected in Jamaica,” WMO tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan said during a press briefing in Geneva. “For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure.”

In view of Cyclone Montha, forming over the central Bay of Bengal, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-deployed its 25 teams across the likely affected coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Puducherry. A total of 20 additional… pic.twitter.com/9P9PlLvRzI

— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2025

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday reviewed the Indian Railways’ preparedness for Cyclone Montha as it approaches the country’s east coast.

According to an official statement, Vaishnaw instructed the concerned railway zones to implement precautionary measures to mitigate the cyclone’s potential impact.

The review focused on key action points, including the activation of divisional war rooms and deployment of essential materials, machinery, and manpower, particularly in the Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Guntur divisions. The minister also emphasised close monitoring of train operations to ensure passenger safety and minimise disruptions.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday said the state is fully prepared to deal with the impact of Cyclone Montha, which is expected to affect several southern districts. The government has opened more than 2,000 disaster relief centres across eight districts to accommodate people likely to be impacted by the severe storm.

According to Majhi, 11,396 people have already been moved to 2,048 shelters set up by the state government. He made the announcement after a high-level review meeting with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, DGP Y.B. Khurania, and other senior officials.

The Chief Minister said all precautionary measures have been taken to meet the state’s target of “Zero Casualty” during the cyclone.

Malaysia handed over the chairmanship of Southeast Asia’s regional bloc to the Philippines on Tuesday, with territorial disputes in the South China Sea expected to be a key focus when Manila assumes leadership in 2026.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will continue as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) until the end of the year, symbolically passed the gavel to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the conclusion of a summit in Kuala Lumpur.

“On the first day of 2026, ASEAN will begin a new chapter,” Anwar said.

The Philippines is among four ASEAN member states—along with Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam—that have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, a key waterway linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

“This is a frightening situation for Jamaica,” the country’s Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme.

Matthew Samuda said that 70% of the population lives within 5 km (3.1 miles) of the sea and that the storm will impact several low-lying areas, including Kingston, Old Harbour Bay, Rocky Point, and St Elizabeth.

“We hope we have done enough in terms of preparation,” he said, noting that authorities have spent the past week informing residents about shelters across the island and encouraging them to use sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.

India’s state-owned aircraft manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), announced on Tuesday that it has signed a preliminary agreement with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a firm under Western sanctions, to jointly produce civil commuter aircraft.

The deal marks a significant step toward developing a passenger aircraft in India for the first time but could strain New Delhi’s relations with Western nations seeking to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Dozens of heavily armed men stormed the town of Bhag in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province and attacked several government buildings, killing a police official and setting a police station and a paramilitary outpost on fire, according to the PTI news agency.

SSP Mazur Rehman said up to 50 armed men stormed Bhag in Kacchi district on motorcycles and attacked a paramilitary pickup truck, a police station, and a paramilitary post. He said the police station was completely gutted.

Moreover, Rehman said that a building of the National Bank was also damaged in the attack.

Rehman said that Bhag Police Station chief Lutaf Khosa was killed in the attack and two other policemen were injured.

He said Bhag SHO Lutaf Khosa received multiple injuries and lost his life while two other policemen were injured.

Earlier on Monday, militants attacked the convoy of Kech district’s deputy commissioner with bomb. While the DC was unhurt, 10 persons were injured.

Austrian privacy advocacy group noyb announced on Tuesday that it has filed a criminal complaint against US-based Clearview AI, accusing the company of illegally collecting photos and videos of European Union residents to build its facial-recognition database.

In a statement, noyb said Clearview violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), noting that Austria’s criminal provisions could hold the company and its executives personally liable, potentially leading to jail time.

An aircraft carrying 12 people crashed in Kenya’s Kwale County on Tuesday, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.

The plane was travelling from Diani to Kichwa Tembo when it went down. Government agencies are at the scene to determine the cause of the crash and assess the situation.

At least three people were killed in Jamaica while preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton said. The victims died in separate incidents while cutting down trees ahead of the storm.

The eye wall of Hurricane Melissa remains south of Jamaica, but much of the island is already experiencing tropical storm conditions.

The storm is moving slowly at just 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in a north-easterly direction, though it may gain some speed as it continues northward. Sustained wind speeds have reached 175 mph (282 km/h) with even stronger gusts, making it an extremely dangerous Category Five hurricane.

With a central pressure of just 901 millibars, it is the strongest storm on Earth so far this year. Landfall is expected later today in Jamaica, with catastrophic and life-threatening hurricane-force winds forecast to begin this morning.

As Cyclone Montha moves toward the Andhra coast, heavy rainfall, strong winds, and emergency evacuations have affected several coastal districts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert, warning of wind speeds reaching up to 110 kmph, which could lead to power outages, uprooted trees, and communication disruptions.

For rescue and rapid response, 11 NDRF teams and 12 SDRF teams have been deployed on standby across Andhra Pradesh. Each unit is equipped with boats, life jackets, outboard motors, swimmers, and medical kits. The State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has activated 24-hour control rooms, while emergency ambulance services 108 and 104 remain fully operational.

Archaeologists in Senegal are conducting excavations at the Thiaroye military cemetery near Dakar to uncover the truth behind a World War II-era massacre of West African soldiers by French colonial forces. The soldiers, captured by Germany while fighting for France, were brought to Thiaroye in 1944, where unrest over unpaid wages and unequal treatment led to French troops opening fire, killing an unknown number of men.

Recent excavations have uncovered skeletons, some with bullet wounds and iron chains, offering new evidence of the violence long denied in official accounts. Researchers now believe the massacre was premeditated and covered up, with the death toll likely between 300 and 400—far higher than the 70 reported by French authorities at the time.

Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to a police spokesperson.

Police and military officials said the militants, who were planning attacks in the Jenin refugee camp area, were fired upon and later targeted in an airstrike. Palestinian officials have not yet commented on the incident.

The main runway at Hong Kong International Airport has resumed operations, authorities announced Tuesday, just over a week after the city’s deadliest air disaster since 1998.

The incident on October 20 saw a Boeing cargo plane veer off the northernmost runway, hit a security car, and skid into the sea, killing two airport security staff.

Following the completion of the rescue operation on Monday night, Chief Executive John Lee confirmed the runway was fully operational, with dozens of flights already using it.

The city’s air accident investigation authority, assisted by US and Turkish agencies and Boeing experts, is currently investigating the crash, including crew qualifications and maintenance. Investigators have retrieved the black box recorders and expect a preliminary report within a month.

The trial for Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022, is set to begin on Tuesday. The assassination of Japan’s longest-serving premier by a homemade gun during an election campaign speech in Nara shocked a nation with next to zilch gun crime.

Yamagami, 45, is expected to admit to the assassination but dispute charges related to violating firearms laws.

Local media reports indicate that his motivation stemmed from a grudge against the Unification Church, which he blamed Abe for promoting, after his mother made large donations to the group.

After undergoing rapid intensification this past weekend, Hurricane Melissa has become a rare Category 5 storm, making it the strongest on Earth this year.

In simple terms, a Category 5 storm is the most powerful kind of hurricane or cyclone, where winds are extremely strong—over 157 miles per hour (252 km/h).

WOW! Amazing view from inside the eye of hurricane Melissa. Video credit: The NOAA Hurricane Hunters. #Melissa pic.twitter.com/t2ySqKwd83

— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) October 27, 2025

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi informed President Donald Trump she had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This nomination comes as President Trump has openly expressed his desire to win the award, making Takaichi the latest international figure to nominate him or suggest he deserves the honour.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump met with the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago. After the families asked for assistance in locating their loved ones, President Trump assured them of the US’s complete and unwavering support.

This meeting and show of support is significant because it occurred just before President Trump travelled to South Korea for the next part of his Asia tour and ahead of a potential meeting between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.