Cyclone warning

DHAKA: A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was expected to hit the southeast coast of Bangladesh within a day, a government meteorologist warned on Thursday, as disaster management officials met for urgent talks. “Cyclone Nargis is intensifying and is heading towards the coast. It will hit the Chittagong area on Friday afternoon,” Shah Alam, assistant director of the Meteorological Department, said. — AFP

Blasts in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR: Eight people, including two children, were killed in a double roadside bombing in troubled southern Afghanistan, police said on Thursday. The first of the roadside bombs late on Wednesday struck a civilian car in the town of Spin Boldak near Pakistan border. A second

bomb struck a minivan that had stopped to help. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attack. — AFP