Cyclone Kills Dozens, Displaces Thousands in Madagascar

Dozens of people are dead and thousands displaced in Madagascar after Tropical Cyclone Gezani, packing winds up to 167 mph, ravaged the island nation, according to officials. The storm, which struck on February 12, 2026, has claimed at least 31 lives, left four missing, and injured 36 others, while displacing nearly 7,000 people.

The devastation caused by Cyclone Gezani has left over 250,000 people classified as disaster victims, according to the country's disaster management office. Images from Toamasina show the extent of the damage.

In other news, the developer of the multiplayer shooter "Highguard" laid off multiple staff members just two weeks after the game's release. The game, which was first revealed at The Game Awards in December, was created by a team with experience on successful titles like "Call of Duty." Despite this, the free-to-play game struggled to retain players since its January launch, according to BBC Newsbeat.

Meanwhile, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, defended his platform against claims it caused mental health damage to minors in a California court. Mosseri testified that even seemingly excessive use of social media does not equal an addiction. He is the first high-profile executive to appear in the landmark trial, which is expected to last six weeks.

In the UK, Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe is facing backlash after claiming the country had been "colonised by immigrants." Politicians, campaigners, and fan groups condemned the billionaire's remarks, made in an interview with Sky News, which suggested high immigration levels had damaged the economy.

Also in the UK, bosses at Capita apologized for a backlog that has left thousands of retired civil servants without pension payments. Capita took over the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December but inherited a backlog of 86,000 cases and over 15,000 unread emails, which has since expanded to 120,000 cases. Richard Holroyd, chief executive of Capital Public Services, told a committee of MPs that the backlog "overwhelmed" the company. People trying to phone the company for information about their pension have waited several hours for a response, according to BBC Business.