'Isis' dropped from UN hurricane name list

The UN weather agency announced Friday it was dropping "Isis" -- the name of an ancient Egyptian goddess that also happens to be the acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group -- from its stocklist of Pacific hurricane names.

"Isis" was replaced with "Ivette" on an alphabetical list of hurricane names for the eastern north Pacific region next year, World Meteorogical Organisation (WMO) spokeswoman Clare Nullis said.

The decision to scratch "Isis" from the list was taken by the WMO's Hurricane Committee at a meeting in Costa Rica.

The WMO has six rotating list of storm names that run from A to Z.

The list can also be changed to remove the name of a storm that was too deadly.

"Odile" was removed and replaced with "Odalys" in the 2020 name list, after Hurricane Odile killed 11 people and caused widespread devastation on Mexico's Baja Peninsula last year.