People living in low lying areas in India's southern city of Chennai have been evacuated and more than 150 relief centres are on standby ahead of a "very severe cyclonic storm".
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said 'Nivar' was likely to cross between "midnight of 25th and early hours of 26th November" and was likely to bring very heavy rainfall.
Areas in and around Chennai witnessed intense spells of rain, accompanied by strong winds on Wednesday.
The cyclone was likely to damage houses and roads, uproot power lines and trees and destroy crops along India's south-east coast, the IMD said.
Edappadi Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu state's chief minister, has declared Wednesday and Thursday as public holidays in some areas, ordered the halting of bus services, advised fishermen not venture to sea and asked people to stay indoors.
Local government officials in Chennai released water from a major reservoir, cleared fallen trees and readied relief centres as they evacuated people from low lying areas.
Israeli forces raided Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an operation that the Palestinian health ministry said killed seven Palestinians, including a doctor, and left nine others wounded.
Recovery teams refloated the huge cargo vessel in the Port of Baltimore two months after the boat crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge and caused the span to collapse.
An infected blood scandal in Britain was no accident but the fault of doctors and a succession of governments that led to 3,000 deaths and thousands more contracting hepatitis or HIV, a public inquiry has found.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office said on Monday it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.