- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
Key tiger habitat swamped by deadly Bangladesh cyclone
Bangladesh forest experts warned Tuesday a key tiger habitat hit by a deadly cyclone had been submerged by seawater deeper and longer than ever before, raising fears for endangered wildlife.
Cyclone Remal, which made landfall in low-lying Bangladesh and neighbouring India on Sunday evening, killed at least 38 people in both nations and affected millions more.
More than a million people fled inland to concrete storm shelters before the cyclone hit.
But it was the vast Sundarbans mangrove forest straddling Bangladesh and India -- where the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers meet the sea -- that took the brunt of the force.
The forest, which hosts one of the world's largest populations of Bengal tigers, was swamped, said Mihir Kumar Doe, the head of Bangladesh's southern forest department.
"The entire Sundarbans was under water for more than 36 hours during the cyclone," Doe told AFP.
"All its freshwater ponds, numbering more than 100, were washed away by saline tidal water."
At least 114 Bengal tigers live in Bangladesh's portion of the Sundarbans, according to official figures.
Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, Bangladesh's senior forest official for the Sundarbans, had said he feared for the wildlife if the freshwater lakes were tainted.
"We are worried," said Hossain. "These ponds were the source of fresh water for the entire wildlife in the mangroves -- including the endangered Bengal tigers."
- 'Tigers can climb trees' -
The Sundarbans, the world's biggest mangrove forest, is regularly battered by intense monsoon storms.
But Azizur Rahman, director of the state-run Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said the cyclone was "one of longest in the country's history", blaming climate change for the shift.
Doe said his teams had recovered dozens of dead spotted deer, as well as boars, the tigers' main prey.
"We are very concerned over the wild animals including tigers," Doe said.
"The Sundarbans is such a dynamic ecosystem, it is tough to know whether any tigers or wild animals were washed away or died."
Mangroves grow mainly in seawater or brackish water but Doe said the flooding was on a scale he had not witnessed before.
"This 36-hour inundation is very unusual," he said, noting that it was three times longer than during Cyclone Sidr in 2007.
During the latest cyclone, areas nearer the sea were three metres (10 feet) underwater, while areas further upstream were under 1.2-1.5 metres (4-5 feet) of water.
"Even during low tide, the water did not recede," Doe said. "This is very unusual."
Tiger expert Monirul Khan, zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University, said he feared smaller animals such as deer would be hardest hit.
"I fear for the animals who are less strong such as spotted deer," he said.
"Spotted deer are helpless to strong tides during cyclones or longer inundation of the forest. But Bengal tigers can climb trees."
D.Cunningha--AMWN