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<keyword id="24240143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chennai-International-Airport" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Chennai International Airport" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Chennai International Airport">Chennai International Airport</keyword> has been temporarily shut down till 7 PM on Saturday in view of <keyword id="24172195" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cyclone-Fengal" source="keywords">cyclone Fengal</keyword> making landfall today evening. As heavy rainfall and strong winds intensified ahead of the cyclone, it is expected to cross between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram coasts, near Puducherry tonight. Multiple airlines companies already issued travel advisories and updates on their flight plans due to the continuing heavy rainfall in Chennai Tamilnadu. Earlier, <keyword id="19900374" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IndiGo-airlines" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="IndiGo airlines" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="IndiGo airlines">IndiGo airlines</keyword> diverted all flights scheduled to come to Chennai. "Due to the impact of CycloneFengal in Chennai, flights operating to the city are being diverted. Our crew and airport teams are dedicated to providing all possible support &amp; assistance during this time. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding," the X post by IndiGo said. Meanwhile, security at the Puducherry coast has also increased as Puducherry Senior Superintendent of Police, Kalaivanan visited the beaches and the coastal roads in the region and inspected them for preparedness. The authorities have advised the public to not visit beaches in Puducherry as well as in Tamil Nadu's Chennai, including Marina Beach, Pattinapakkam and Edward Elliot Beach. The tourist spots in Puducherry have been closed as a precautionary measure, owing to the impending cyclone Fengal. <keyword id="24240138" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Puducherry-police" source="keywords">Puducherry Police</keyword> in a post on X advised citizens, "In view of Cyclone Fengal, we urge you to exercise extreme caution and avoid visiting beaches and coastal areas" The SSP said that 300 police personnel have been deployed on various coastal roads and beaches. "For the last four days, we have been deploying police personnel along the beaches and apart from that we are also informing the fishermen and people living in the low-lying areas to be careful. Fishermen are not venturing into the sea. Since last night, we have closed all beaches. We have deployed nearly 300 personnel across all the beaches of Puducherry and we are coordinating with the NDRF also," the SSP said. The coastal areas of Puducherry witnessed rough sea and gusty winds on Saturday morning due to the impact of the cyclone. Puducherry received moderate rain, as per IMD, in the morning today but the rough sea was seen more than usual.

Cyclone Fengal: Chennai airport shut till 7 PM

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US Army Green Berets are on the ground in <keyword id="6372754" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="mozambique">Mozambique</keyword> training the army to take on a growing insurgency linked to ISIS.</li><li>Mozambique's inability to quell the violence has already drawn in Russian and South African mercenaries, who've failed to counter the militants.</li></ul>Last week, militants stormed the city of Palma in northeastern Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province.The fighters attacked civilians with machetes and assault rifles, leaving behind beheaded and bullet-ridden bodies. Thousands of people have fled the besieged city for the coast.The violence lasted several days and culminated at the Amarula Palma Hotel, an oasis for expats and foreign workers, where helicopters evacuated people barricaded inside and searched for others hiding nearby. Reports put the death toll anywhere from scores to hundreds.The bloodshed was a surprise to most but likely not to the US Army Green Berets who have been in Cabo Delgado for weeks training Mozambique's army, according to a March report by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/world/africa/mozambique-american-troops-isis-insurgency.html">The New York Times</a>.According to The Times, "two dozen" of the elite soldiers were in the region as part of an ongoing effort to contain the militant group Ansar al-Sunna, known locally as al-Shabbab (unrelated to the Somali jihadist group), which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/world/africa/isis-mozambique-attack.html">recently confirmed its affiliation with ISIS</a>.<div type="image" title="C-130J soldier Maputo Mozambique" height="1333" width="2000" msid="81993117" hostid="261"></div>The soldiers were part of what the Special Forces refers to as a Joint Combined Exchange Training, or JCET. Special Operations Command <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword> initiated the JCET in Mozambique in March, sending two Special Forces teams, each with 12 soldiers, to Cabo Delgado.A source close to <keyword id="1976377" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Army-Special-Forces">Army Special Forces</keyword> told Insider that the JCET has been reinforced with a Crisis Response Force - the Special Forces equivalent of a Tier 1 counter-terrorism force.According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, six 12-person Special Forces teams have been deployed to Mozambique.Special Operations Command Africa, however, denied any CRF had deployed."There are no Contingency Response Forces from 3rd [Special Forces Group] or any other US unit in Mozambique," a spokesperson said. "The team currently in Mozambique is only there to conduct a Joint Combined Exchange Training."<h2>Militants, mercenaries, and civilians under fire</h2><div type="image" title="Car ambush Palma Mozambique" height="728" width="970" msid="81993118" hostid="261"></div>Carried out all over the world, JCETs are billed as a way for Special Forces soldiers to get first-hand experience with foreign militaries, learn mission-essential skills, and build their local knowledge.JCETs also allow the US military to put eyes on the ground in regions where conflict may be brewing, but they have been criticized for inadvertently equipping foreign forces with skills that are misused when the US departs.On March 10, the US State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-affiliates-and-leaders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-mozambique/">designated</a> Ansar al-Sunna as a terrorist organization and officially confirmed its ties to ISIS. Conservative estimates put the current al-Sunna fighting force at 800 insurgents and growing rapidly.The designation is not unfounded, based <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/world/africa/mozambique-palma-hotel-insurgents.html">on the violence</a> attributed to <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/03/mozambique-civilians-killed-as-war-crimes-committed-by-armed-group-government-forces-and-private-military-contractors-new-report/">the group's fighters</a> in recent years. But it has become common for the US to issue such designations prior to clandestine operations against those organizations.Such designations allow special-operations forces to receive air support and, more importantly, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep11764">US Predator drones</a>. US laws allow authorization for strikes to be made by US commanders on the ground when US forces are conducting counter-terrorism operations.Mozambique's government has attempted to subdue al-Sunna, and many have criticized the government for <a href="https://www.greydynamics.com/blood-fields-mozambique-insurgency-and-isis-resurgence/?highlight=Mozambique">draconian measures and heavy-handed military operations</a> that do little to distinguish civilians from insurgents and only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.<div type="image" title="Pemba Cabo Delgado Mozambique soldiers" height="1333" width="2000" msid="81993121" hostid="261"></div>Unable to quell the violence, the government first turned to the Wanger Group, a Russian security firm linked to the Kremlin. The group is owned by Yevgeny Preghozin, a Russian oligarch who is very close to Putin, and its fighters are deployed across Africa and the Middle East, often acting in alignment with Moscow's interests.In 2019, Wagner mobilized a large force, including helicopter gunships, against al-Sunna in Cabo Delgado. The militant group was supported by ISIS and with fighters and equipment from neighboring nations. Wagner's forces were foiled, in large part by a lack of experience in the region, and <a href="https://sofrep.com/news/wagner-group-russian-mercenaries-still-foundering-in-africa/">quickly retreated to Nacala</a>, roughly 250 miles to the south.The Mozambique government then turned to the <keyword id="11075211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dyke-advisory-group">Dyke Advisory Group</keyword>, or DAG, a South African private military contractor.DAG encountered the same problems: a growing insurgency supported by <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> terror organizations and enmeshed with the local population. The <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/03/mozambique-civilians-killed-as-war-crimes-committed-by-armed-group-government-forces-and-private-military-contractors-new-report/">Amnesty International report</a> also attributes atrocities to DAG, citing eyewitness accounts of DAG operatives firing from helicopters "indiscriminately into crowds of people" as well as repeatedly firing on civilian infrastructure, like hospitals and homes.DAG had little success against al-Sunna. When the insurgents stormed Palma, the helicopters DAG used for assault operations became rescue birds. DAG helos reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/world/africa/mozambique-palma-hotel-insurgents.html">helped evacuate 200 civilians</a> from the cut-off Aramula Palma Hotel.<div type="image" title="Palma Mozambique Dyck Advisory Group helicopter" height="1200" width="1600" msid="81993124" hostid="261"></div>The recent violence comes at a crucial moment for DAG, whose relationship with the Mozambique government has frayed.DAG personnel have spent months training Mozambique's military with helicopters the group <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/aerospace/military-helicopters/gazelles-delivered-to-mozambican-air-force/">imported</a> from Britain to supplement the military's own helicopters, which are variants of the Mi-24 attack helicopter.But DAG has struggled with this assignment in Cabo Delgado. Several reports of downed aircraft have leaked out of the wartorn province over the past year, including one that <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/aerospace/military-helicopters/gazelle-crash-in-mozambique-confirmed/">militants carrying the now trademark ISIS flag</a> celebrated in a video released by ISIS's media wing.DAG's owner, Lionel Dyke, has bristled about the difficulties the group has faced."We are doing something that nobody else can do or has wanted to do, so use what you have got. And if it is not efficient, fire us. It's as simple as that," <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/30/africa/lionel-dyck-mozambique-insurgents-hold-palma-intl/index.html">he told CNN</a> on March 31.Mozambique's government <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/mozambique-government-terminates-south-african-military-company-s-contract-1.4526386">terminated the contract</a> the next day.<h2>Scramble for Cabo Delgado's resources</h2><div type="image" title="Afungi liquified natural gas Mozambique" height="533" width="800" msid="81993126" hostid="261"></div>The backdrop to the violence and efforts to quell it is Cabo Delgado's valuable natural resources, which Mozambique's government is using to lure foreign support.Cabo Delgado is home to one of Africa's largest natural gas reserves. Discovered in 2010, the gas was initially a source of hope for the people of Cabo Delgado. Locals believed the reserves would lead to good jobs and boost the beleaguered local economy.But Mozambique's central government - particularly its ruling party - dealt with gas companies directly <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54183948">in exchange for most of the profits</a>. Locals, mostly struggling subsistence farmers and fishermen, were left out, with many losing access to their farmland and fisheries.People in Cabo Delgado, a majority-Muslim province, were already frustrated by long-standing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54183948">government corruption</a> as well as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52532741">isolation and discrimination</a> from the rest of the country. As it has elsewhere, ISIS capitalized on local anger to expand its operations, spreading its message of radicalization.Islamists from elsewhere in Africa set up mosques in Cabo Delgado and promoted rumors that local imams were allied with the corrupt government, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54183948">Mozambique expert Joseph Hanlon wrote in a report for the BBC</a>. These Islamists began providing financial assistance to local communities and told residents their lives would be better under stringent Islamic law, known as Sharia.<div type="image" title="Cabo Delgado Mozambique displaced persons" height="1333" width="2000" msid="81993129" hostid="261"></div>To receive support from ISIS - mostly in the form of weapons - all the locals, and later the members of Ansar al-Sunna, had to do was recognize ISIS, promoting the group's propaganda and efforts to expand.For its efforts, ISIS can extend its reach to a new region - where ungoverned spaces further facilitate that expansion - and access valuable resources, profits from which can be <a href="https://www.rand.org/blog/2018/10/the-power-of-affiliates-which-islamic-state-franchise.html">redistributed to other needy franchises</a>.That violence and the stakes involved are why US Special Operations Command has tripled its forces in the province.The response likely reflects a mix of political and commercial interests. Washington may see continued chaos in Cabo Delgado as a threat that will surely benefit ISIS and its operations in Africa. US firms may also be looking to secure <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/34573/despite-oil-gloom-total-rallies-14bn-for-mozambique-project/">access to the precious natural gas</a> that foreign companies are already jockeying to exploit.Mozambique is now on the list of African nations where the US is deeply involved. The fighting in Cabo Delgado is far from over, but what remains uncertain is whether the elite Green Berets and deadly drones they wield will be stymied like the Russians and South Africans before them.J.W. Sotak is a defense and foreign-policy reporter who focuses on the Middle East and Africa. He is a 10-year veteran of the US Army and served as part of a Army Civil Affairs Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. His reports have been published on SOFREP and the New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter at @JWSotak.

How a growing fight against a little-known ISIS affiliate pulled in US Green Berets and foreign mercenaries

Sarah Lempa for Business Insider<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2018, I packed up my life in Minneapolis after graduating college and hopped on a plane to Vietnam with the goal of building a location-independent career.</li><li>Since then, I've traveled across six continents and lived in both Australia and Indonesia while working full-time as a freelance travel writer and creative media strategist.</li><li>I was in Indonesia when the US issued the level 4 travel advisory urging travelers to return to America.</li><li>When your "home base" is a storage unit, stay-at-home orders due to a pandemic pose an entirely different obstacle.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Some say home isn't a place - it's a feeling. And that's what I keep telling myself while quarantined in Bali precisely 9,386 miles from my home in the United States.I've had the great privilege of choosing a base-free lifestyle. As a digital nomad, my livelihood comes from my laptop. I have a pile of belongings - contents ranging from childhood trinkets to my college diploma - stashed in a five-by-ten-foot storage unit in Minneapolis. I pop back to the US intermittently to change out worn-in clothes and catch up with everyone I miss while abroad, but I don't stay very long.When I heard of the coronavirus for the first time back in January, I was sitting in a bedroom in Australia. The headline sent a prickly shockwave across my skin but I shook it off, chalking it up to my propensity for overthinking worst-case scenarios. One month later, I found myself in Indonesia as the US Department of State<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/travel-advisory-alert-global-level-4-health-advisory-issue.html"> released a Level 4 Health Advisory</a> urging travelers to return as soon as possible.Texts about going home began flooding in, and I found myself facing questions I wasn't ready to answer. Would home mean Minneapolis? Australia? Perhaps the hole-in-the-wall hostel I fell in love with in French Polynesia? Images of residences I had briefly called home flooded my mind.Sarah Lempa for Business InsiderThe risk of getting stranded on the way home, coupled with thoughts of rocking up to a storage unit in a jet-lagged haze, put me off from trying to get back to my homeland. Healthcare in Bali has its own complications for expats, but with the virus progressing stateside, I knew that thousands of people in higher risk categories would likely need that space more than me if I were to fall ill.After several days of anxious deliberation and a 30-day travel insurance purchase for $42.51, I decided that hunkering down in Bali until further notice was my best course of action.<h2>What it's like to be in Bali during the global pandemic</h2>Grocery store runs have now replaced my routine visits to local warungs, Indonesia's traditional family-style eateries. Fragrant coconut-marinated jackfruit curry isn't on the menu for now; instead, I'm biding my time at home making recipes like chili.Facebook groups for rental accommodation in Bali make finding like-minded housemates a simple process. For $650 USD per month, I'm renting a private room in a villa with four other expats from England and Poland. With a garden, lotus flower-filled pond, two kitchens, and a palm-fringed pool to boot, it never feels crowded. Sarah Lempa for Business InsiderI've been living in Canggu, which is one of the more popular areas for expats. On one of my periodical "sanity drives," I ride past the once-buzzing cafés and formerly cheery beachside bars that I frequented during my first few weeks in Bali.My thoughts turn to the locals who will be affected by the lack of tourism. Most restaurants have switched to takeout or have completely ceased operations, cutting their losses as the streets saw less and less activity. A surprising handful remain open despite their largely vacant dining areas. Handmade signs instructing patrons to "use hand sanitizer before entry" remain standing.Sarah Lempa for Business InsiderThough there's a notable absence of tourism and the streets see much less traffic, parts of life hum on as usual in Bali.Street vendors with pushcarts full of pisang goreng (deep fried bananas) continue to sell their treats. The fishermen perched atop the creek near the end of my road still trade smiles with me when I pass by on supply runs, peppering my day with much-needed normalcy.Sarah Lempa for Business Insider<h2>Keeping a career going during lockdown in a foreign country</h2>Although my coworking space shuttered its doors weeks ago, the structure of my career remains mostly unchanged.I still spend way more hours every day staring at my phone and laptop than I probably should. I still rely heavily on Slack and Zoom to keep up with clients and colleagues around the world. Freelance work, however, is not an infinite spring, especially when you primarily operate in the travel industry and no one can leave the house.Some of my ongoing work has been frozen or reduced until further notice, but I'm lucky enough to say that I'm still pretty busy at the moment. On the bright side, choosing a freelance career has to some extent equipped me to deal with this particular pandemic-induced income anxiety. This is not the first time I've dealt with financial uncertainty, nor is it the first time I've had to manage my professional life sans traditional office guidelines.Sarah Lempa for Business InsiderCosts of living are far lower in Bali than they are in the US. A carton of eggs costs as little as $1; a bottle of water will run you around $0.30, and a loaf of bread hovers around $1.50. Other items that aren't as commonly consumed in Bali, like wine, cost a bit more than you'd expect - think $10-15 for a decent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.There's no shortage of ways to spend exorbitant amounts of money in Bali (looking at you, floating brunches). Before the coronavirus outbreak, I would say my average cost of living was around $1,700 a month, but I've since reduced spending as much as possible. Adhering to stay-at-home orders has helped me slash my cost of living; gone are the days of last-minute spa days and cocktail hours that glide into late nights. With life largely on hold until further notice, my costs have cut themselves.In the meantime, I'm sticking to necessities and keeping things simple. Concerns for the future loom on the horizon for us all right now. I'm just trying to focus on my priorities one day at a time.One day, I ride down the road I'd normally take to the beach and find weathered bamboo poles and other improvised objects barricading the sandy entryway. There's a serious-looking security guard to enforce it, too. He breaks his solemn demeanor and we smile at each other with our eyes only - a heartening, wordless exchange, even if it's trapped behind by protective masks.It is then that I remember community extends far beyond language and background. That feeling of solidarity is all the "home" I could ask for during a time like this.Editor's note: This article is not intended to encourage travel during the pandemic, nor is to intended to serve as guidance for travelers' actions during the pandemic.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus business &amp; economic impact analysis</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/online-school-learning-teachers-chabad-jewish-nigri-2020-4">A group of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn became experts in online learning before the coronavirus. Now educators are seeking their help.</a></h3>

I was in Bali when the US released its level 4 travel advisory urging Americans to return home - but I decided to stay put. Here's what it's like being a digital nomad during a pandemic.

Mumbaikars can now easily know about pollution level and weather forecast of the city, using <keyword id="289484" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="SAFAR">SAFAR</keyword> (System of Air Quality &amp; weather Forecasting and Research). This new air quality and weather forecasting system was recently launched in Mumbai by Minister for Science &amp; Technology and <keyword id="2916127" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Earth-Science-Minister">Earth Science Minister</keyword> <keyword id="196226" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Harsh-Vardhan">Harsh Vardhan</keyword>. 

	SAFAR is a monitoring and forecast system conceived to provide three days weather information with health advisories, levels of Ultra-Violet radiation and pollution among others, reported PTI. 
 The system was developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, in association with Regional Meteorological Center Mumbai-India Metrological Department, and the <keyword id="48285" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Municipal-Corporation">Municipal Corporation</keyword> of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). 

	Speaking on the occasion, Vardhan praised the Met department whose weather forecasts for farmers and fishermen, he said, have contributed towards the economic development of the country to the tune of Rs 32,000 crore. 
 

	He said the Met department is technically qualified and equipped to make weather forecasts. “There is a lot of misunderstanding in the public about this. The department is doing a very good job," Vardhan told PTI. 
 <keyword id="26806" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Maharashtra-Chief-Minister">Maharashtra Chief Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6355042" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Devendra-Fadnavis">Devendra Fadnavis</keyword>, who was also present on the occasion, said SAFAR was a responsibility given to the state and the state will take care of it. SAFAR-Mumbai will deliver services like color-coded index based current and 3-days forecast with health advisories, severity of <keyword id="451104" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="UV-Radiation">UV radiation</keyword> with associated skin advisories, current and 3-days advance forecast, tidal levels and severe weather alert for extreme pollution and weather events, and accounting location-wise sources of air pollution. 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Know weather forecast and air quality via SAFAR

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Eva zu Beck is an <keyword id="6359225" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="adventure">adventure</keyword> traveler who gained her following by documenting her travels to destinations such as Syria and Pakistan.</li><li>She landed in <keyword id="2602516" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Socotra">Socotra</keyword> Island, <keyword id="44789" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yemen">Yemen</keyword>, on March 11, to run the remote island's first marathon.</li><li>Shortly after the race, she and her fellow runners were informed that they had to leave immediately, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading and countries around the world were closing their borders.</li><li>She decided to stay. Little did she know she would spend three months on the island.</li><li>At the time of writing, zu Beck told Insider via email that she managed to leave Socotra on a cargo ship on May 30 — a full three months after arriving.</li></ul>Socotra Island is not your usual vacation destination.Despite being part of Yemen, the <a href="https://www.insider.com/man-walking-uk-coast-self-isolating-uninhabited-scottish-island-2020-4">remote island</a> is actually closer to Somalia, sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is often described as one of <a href="https://www.insider.com/most-alien-looking-places-on-earth-2016-5">the most "alien-looking" places on Earth</a>, thanks to its unusual dragon's blood trees, which grow nowhere else in the world. In fact, the island is so remote that <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1263/">37% of its plants are completely unique to it</a>, making it comparable to the Galapagos Islands in terms of endemic species. While <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTINI9skkeZNY2ZXnBqIkQ">Eva zu Beck</a>, 29, an adventure <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword> vlogger from London via Poland, gained her 521,000 subscribers on YouTube with off-the-beaten-path travel to destinations such as Syria and Pakistan, she did not expect to be on Socotra Island for three months. When her Canadian boyfriend went back home, in March, she thought she'd see him a few weeks later. She only recently left the island by way of a cargo ship heading to the United Arab Emirates, almost exactly three months after arriving.<h2>Eva zu Beck had been to Socotra before, in 2019, and said she fell in love with the island</h2><div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="1229" width="1639" msid="76165938" hostid="261"></div>When the island hosted its first marathon this March, she jumped at the chance of returning and signed up.On March 11, zu Beck and a group of about 40 runners from all corners of the world descended on Socotra for the race, planning to stay until at least March 18 since flights to the island were only once weekly, from Cairo, Egypt.A few days after the race, however, they were all awakened in the middle of the night and encouraged to leave as soon as possible: The island was closing its borders."After being offline for several days we got a call that suddenly the world is shutting down, and that if we want to make a connection to our home country, then we should probably get on the last commercial flight available," zu Beck told Insider.This was on March 15. Zu Beck says that most of the people in her group chose to leave then, but that she decided to stay, along with four others. <div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck" height="1080" width="720" msid="76165940" hostid="261"></div>"I figured I love the island, it's safe to stay there, and my local friends were very encouraging of the idea to just stay and wait out," she said, adding that she thought it would be a good time to practice her Arabic and participate in a few local projects to support the community. She took the opportunity as a sign. However, she also says that she had nowhere else to go. "I also have nowhere to go back to, I travel full-time. I don't have a flat, I don't have a car or a mortgage anywhere. There was nowhere for me to go, so I decided to stay," she said.However, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAXxkLonU5F/?igshid=1ip7kpat02ncz">in a recent Instagram post</a> she wanted to make clear that she doesn't encourage active travel to a remote location during a pandemic. "Rather, I wanted to share the beauty of a place I was already in, a place that's little-known and needs to be protected," she writes.It's worth noting that nonessential <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-in-the-us.html">travel within the US</a> and internationally is currently not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, so if you do choose to travel, it's best to check <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/healthdepartments.html">each state's health and travel advisories</a> and the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html">CDC's travel recommendations for each country</a>.<h2>To date, zu Beck hasn't heard of any reported cases of the coronavirus on the island, which has a <a href="https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Socotra">population of around 42,000</a></h2><div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="1536" width="2048" msid="76165941" hostid="261"></div>She adds that without any testing kits, however, no one can be sure, and that to her knowledge there have been no reports by health professionals of anyone on the island having COVID-19-like symptoms either. Socotra is hard to reach in the best of times, but now, during a global pandemic, there are no commercial flights in or out of it, and she says the cargo ships bringing in provisions are asked to quarantine off the coast before allowing anyone to disembark. Furthermore, Socotra is <a href="http://socotra.info/weather-and-seasonality-of-socotra.html#.XtZdxZ5KgXo">heading into its monsoon season;</a> high winds tend to blast the island from June through August."Basically it means that for about four months in the summer, the island becomes pretty much cut off from the rest of the world," zu Beck said. "In a way, it's a bit of a blessing in disguise, because it means less of a likelihood of bringing the coronavirus to the island from, for example, mainland Yemen." Mainland Yemen has had 354 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 84 deaths, according to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center</a>.<h2>'I don't think any of us expected this to last quite so long,' she said of her time on the island</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="1066" width="1421" msid="76165942" hostid="261"></div></h2>For the first six weeks, zu Beck and her fellow runners set up camp on a beach, watching the sunrise from their tents, fishing and bartering for their meals, cooking on an open fire, and exploring the island on extended hikes. She then moved in with a local family — she spent most of her nights camping outside of their home — and taught herself how to ride a motorbike, which she used to get around, though she said she spent the last few weeks mostly staying put."I'm so happy that I got kind of a semi-normal reality here on the island. We've been very lucky and I realize that I'm very privileged to even be able to be here, and in time like this," she said. "I feel extremely lucky."She says that while the island's professional class is growing, most locals are farmers and fishermen."People live quite modestly, there are no luxuries here. I think the most Western thing that you can purchase on the island is a jar of Nutella," she said, adding that items like ice cream and pizza are nonexistent."People who have very little are actually keen to share. I've been on the receiving end of this incredible hospitality here," she said, explaining that locals have what she calls a "code of honor" called "Karam," in which hosts welcome any and all guests, and are reluctant to take anything in return. She says she contributed as much as her host would allow her to towards food and rent.<h2>All in all, she said one of the biggest obstacles was reliable internet, which means that she couldn't have video calls with her boyfriend or family</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="1152" width="2048" msid="76165944" hostid="261"></div></h2>"Being so far away from everything and everyone just means that you have to take good care of your mental health," she said, adding that she often found herself struggling with the distance to her friends and family, and not knowing when she could get off the island.At the time of writing, zu Beck emailed Insider with an important update: She and her four fellow marathon runners who remained managed to evacuate on a cargo ship on May 30 — a full three months after arriving. They're currently headed to the United Arab Emirates, which will take them about a week. She says getting off the island wasn't easy, given the pandemic, but also because of the political situation on mainland Yemen, which has been in the midst of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423">a civil war for years</a>. While zu Beck says the violence of the mainland rarely reaches Socotra, and while she adds that the island "has its own set of political issues," she notes that "they're nowhere near as dangerous as those affecting mainland Yemen."In fact,<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/socotra-yemen-civil-war-uae-miltary-base-island-life-emirates-a8342621.html"> in 2018, the United Arab Emirates sent hundreds of troops to the island</a> without Yemeni permission: Despite the two countries being allies, this led to power clashes. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423">According to the BBC</a>, Mainland Yemen's civil war can be traced back to 2011, when the country's then-president was forced to hand over power after 33 years, following pro-democracy protests. His successor, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, struggled to bring much-anticipated stability to Yemen, and fighting began in 2014 when the Houthi Shia Muslim rebel movement seized control of the capital, exiling Hadi in the process. The crisis escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, intervened against the Houthi rebels to restore Hadi's government. An estimated <a href="https://acleddata.com/2020/01/23/ten-conflicts-to-worry-about-in-2020/#Yemen">100,000 people have died</a> in the conflict.<h2>Zu Beck says she doesn't regret her time on the island</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="2850" width="3800" msid="76165945" hostid="261"></div></h2>She said she spent the last few weeks there reading, writing, and meditating a lot."All those things are good for your mental health, just kind of keeping you distracted and keeping you productive," she said. "I know that a lot of people have been struggling with productivity and feeling like nothing's moving forward, nothing's progressing because of the pandemic. But I've been trying to avoid that by just, you know, just doing little things like that."She adds that her time on the island taught her not to rely on external distractions to find happiness. "The atmosphere is kind of conducive to that because things just move quite slowly on the island. Life is peaceful and very calm — definitely nothing like the kind of life that I used to have back in London, just a couple of years ago," zu Beck said. "It feels like I'm living a completely different life." <div type="image" title="Eva zu Beck Socotra" height="1349" width="1798" msid="76165947" hostid="261"></div>"I feel like I'm emerging out of this crisis a bit stronger than I was, and I'm much more content with whatever I do," she said. "It's not about the external things, it's not about the distractions, it's all about what's in your head and what's in your heart. That's been quite enlightening. It's one of the things that we all know, but sometimes you kind of really have to live it and experience it to truly believe it."When asked whether she would make the decision of staying in Socotra again, given what she knows about the pandemic now, she says "The luxury of hindsight is a beautiful thing, but you know how they say, 'all's well that ends well.'"<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/man-walking-uk-coast-self-isolating-uninhabited-scottish-island-2020-4">A man walking the entire length of the UK coast is self-isolating on a tiny, uninhabited Scottish island with his dog</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/ebony-thyme-travel-nurse-solo-travel-photos-2020-5">Meet the 27-year-old frontline nurse who is a travel influencer in her spare time</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/countries-reopen-to-tourists-visitors-june-2020-5">12 tourist hot spots planning to reopen this June</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/eva-zu-beck-spent-lockdown-on-socotra-island-yemen-2020-6">Insider</a>

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