Hurricane Erin’s massive footprint battered Caribbean islands with heavy gusts and downpours Monday, as it threatened rip currents and flooding along the US East Coast later this week even without a predicted landfall.The Category 3 storm strengthened dramatically over the weekend in a historic burst of intensification scientists said was fueled by human-caused climate change. It briefly peaked as a Category 5 hurricane before weakening.In its latest advisory the US National Hurricane Center said the Atlantic season’s first hurricane was packing maximum sustained winds of 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour while moving northwest at 8 mph. Erin is “unusually large,” with hurricane force winds extending 80 miles from the center and tropical storm winds extending 230 miles, the NHC said.The storm’s outer bands were forecast to dump rain across Cuba and the Dominican Republic through Monday as well as the Turks and Caicos and the southeast Bahamas — where a tropical storm warning is in place — into Tuesday.These regions could receive localized totals of up to four inches (10 centimeters) of rain, according to the NHC.The agency’s deputy director, Jamie Rhome, warned Americans not to assume the hurricane won’t impact them simply because its track keeps it offshore.”Nothing could be further from the truth for portions of the Mid-Atlantic, especially the Outer Banks of North Carolina,” he said. On Wednesday and Thursday, waves of up to 20 feet (six meters), coastal flooding and storm surge “could overwash dunes and flood homes, flood roads and make some communities impassable,” he said.Evacuations have been ordered for two North Carolina islands, Ocracoke and Hatteras.From Tuesday, much of the East Coast will face a high risk of life-threatening surf and rip currents, which occur when channels of water surge away from the shore. In Puerto Rico, a US territory of more than three million people, weekend flooding swamped homes and roads in the island’s east, and widespread power outages left residents in the dark, though nearly all service has since been restored.- Climate link -“Erin is one of the fastest, most intensifying storms in the modern record,” Daniel Gilford, a climate scientist at the nonprofit Climate Central, told AFP.”We see that it has intensified over these warm surface temperatures — and this makes a lot of sense, because we know that hurricanes act like heat engines taking up energy from the ocean surface, converting that energy into winds.”According to Climate Central, Erin traveled over waters whose extreme warmth was made up to 100 times more likely through climate change.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has now entered its historical peak. Despite a relatively quiet start with just four named storms so far, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continues to forecast an “above-normal” season.A typical season produces 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes and three strengthen into major hurricanes. This year, tropical activity is expected to be elevated by a combination of warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, along with an active West African monsoon, NOAA said.Scientists broadly agree that climate change is supercharging tropical cyclones: warmer oceans fuel stronger winds, a warmer atmosphere intensifies rainfall, and higher sea levels magnify storm surge.Climate change may also be making hurricanes more frequent. 

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood thought to have originated in contaminated cooling towers has killed five people and put 14 in the hospital, health officials said on Monday.”The NYC Health Department is currently investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Harlem,” the New York City health department said in a statement.”As of August 18, there are 108 confirmed cases, five deaths, 14 currently hospitalized.”Legionnaires’ disease, which is not directly contagious from person to person, is caused by bacteria that can multiply in water and air conditioning systems.Spreading through contaminated droplets, the bug can cause fever and pneumonia, especially among people with weak immune systems.The disease takes its name from the first known outbreak, which occurred in 1976 at a hotel in Philadelphia where the American Legion military veterans’ association was holding a conference.More than 220 people fell ill, of whom 34 died.”The Health Department has sampled and tested water from cooling towers in the investigation zone. Any cooling towers with initial positive results for Legionella bacteria have completed the treatment required by the Health Department,” New York’s health department said in its statement. “This community outbreak is not related to a building’s hot or cold water supply.”

Law enforcement used excessive force and deliberate brutality against Los Angeles protesters and journalists during demonstrations against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in June, a Human Rights Watch report said Monday.Scores of people were injured as officers fired hard foam rounds, flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and tear gas from close range, during the largely peaceful response to a dramatic increase in immigration arrests across Southern California.”Law enforcement officers…used brutal, excessive, and unnecessary force against people standing up for human rights and those reporting on the protests,” said Ida Sawyer, the rights group’s crisis, conflict and arms director.The protests erupted on June 6, in anger at raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been ordered by the Trump administration to target undocumented migrants across the sprawling, heavily Latino city.The demonstrations were mainly confined to a small section of downtown Los Angeles. Largely non-violent, they at times spiraled into chaotic scenes that Trump pounced on to send 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines into the city — a move loudly protested by local officials.Compiling the report, Human Rights Watch staff observed protests, visited locations of immigration raids in mid-June, and interviewed dozens of people.The report documented 65 cases in which law enforcement officers injured protesters and journalists but warned that the “actual number is most likely much higher.”On one occasion, a police officer shot three people at “very close range with kinetic impact projectiles,” leaving them in serious pain for days.”Before shooting one of them in the groin, the officer said: ‘I’m going to pop you, as you are taking up my focus,'” the report found.Other reported injuries included broken bones, concussions, an amputated finger, and severe eye damage.In a statement, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it “does not deploy less-lethal tools indiscriminately.” “Such tools are used only when all de-escalation efforts have been exhausted,” it added. The law enforcement agency said any time a deputy uses force, they are required to report it to a supervisor and undergo “a thorough, fair, and objective review,” including analyzing evidence and video footage to determine “that the actions taken were objectively reasonable and fully aligned” with policy.An Agence France-Presse photographer was shot in the face with a rubber bullet by law enforcement while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 14. At least three other journalists were also injured.The US Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, and protects against the use of excessive force by law enforcement. California has laws restricting the use of “less lethal weapons” during protests, and protecting the rights of journalists.

Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky looked set for a peace summit after fast-moving talks Monday between Donald Trump and European leaders that focused on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Kyiv.Hopes of a breakthrough rose after Trump said he had spoken by phone with Russian counterpart Putin — whom he met in Alaska last week — following a “very good” meeting with the Europeans and the Ukrainian president at the White House.It would be the first meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders since Moscow’s brutal invasion nearly three and a half years ago, and comes as Trump tries to live up to his promise to quickly end the war.Trump, 79, wrote on his Truth Social network that “everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.””At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said.Trump said he would then hold a three-way summit with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Putin had agreed to the bilateral meeting within the next two weeks, but there was no confirmation of a date or location.- Zelensky ‘ready’ to meet Putin -Zelensky confirmed to reporters outside the White House he was “ready” for a bilateral with bitter foe Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine has led to tens of thousands of deaths.In Moscow, a Kremlin aide said that Putin was open to the “idea” of direct talks with Ukraine.The Ukraine war has ground to a virtual stalemate despite a few recent Russian advances, but Trump’s summit with Putin last Friday failed to produce any ceasefire.Zelensky then rushed to the White House to meet with Trump after the US president increasingly pushed the Ukrainian leader to make concessions to Russia.The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO then announced that they would be coming too, in a pointed show of support.Zelensky also met one-on-one in the Oval Office with Trump in their first encounter in the heart of the US presidency since their acrimonious blow-up there in February.The Ukrainian president said the meeting was their “best” yet, with little of the tensions that erupted when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him in front of TV cameras for not being “grateful” for US support.Trump even complimented Zelensky on his black jacket, after the Ukrainian was criticized by right-wing media because he failed to change his trademark war-leader’s outfit for a suit during the February visit.- ‘Security guarantees’ -The US president meanwhile said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, adding that Putin had agreed to them despite ruling out Kyiv’s long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance.Trump said the guarantees “would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.” NATO chief Mark Rutte told reporters at the White House it was a “very successful meeting” with “the president really breaking the deadlock.””Today was really about security guarantees, the US getting more involved there, and all the details to be hammered out over the coming days,” he said.The Financial Times, citing a document seen by the newspaper, said Ukraine had undertaken to buy $100 billion of US weapons financed by Europe in return for US guarantees for its security.Zelensky later spoke to reporters about a $90 billion package, and said Ukraine and its allies would formalize the terms of the security guarantees within 10 days.The presence of the European leaders however also underscored continuing nervousness about whether Trump will pivot towards Putin as he has on a number of occasions.Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATO — both key demands made by Putin.French President Emmanuel Macron called Monday for stepping up sanctions against Russia if Putin does not move forward on peace with Ukraine.Finnish President Alex Stubb said Putin was not “to be trusted.”Germany’s Merz meanwhile said Ukraine should not be forced to surrender its Donbas region to Russia in talks.”The Russian demand that Kyiv give up the free parts of Donbas corresponds, to put it bluntly, to a proposal for the United States to have to give up Florida,” Merz told reporters.

The fates of nations have rarely, if ever, been decided by sartorial choices.But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was certainly hoping that a spot of fashion diplomacy Monday could get US counterpart Donald Trump to help his country reach a peace deal with Russia.Despite the life-and-death matters unfolding in Ukraine, much of the speculation among the White House press corps was about whether Zelensky would wear a suit.In February, Ukraine’s wartime leader was ridiculed by a right-wing US reporter for wearing military-style garb instead of a business suit when he visited the Oval Office.That mocking exchange set the tone for an astonishing blow-up a few minutes later when Trump and Vice President JD Vance proceeded to berate Zelensky for not being “grateful” for US support against Russia’s invasion.What a difference six months makes.”I can’t believe it, I love it!” said Trump, 79, as he admired Zelensky’s smart black jacket and collared black shirt upon the Ukrainian leader’s arrival at the White House.”It’s the best I had,” joked Zelensky, a former television comedian before turning president.- ‘You look fabulous!’ -The light-hearted appreciation for the 47-year-old’s outfit continued inside the Oval Office itself — the scene of Zelensky’s earlier humiliation.”President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit!” said Brian Glenn, the reporter for Real America’s Voice who had asked the original question back in February.Trump joined in, saying “I said the same thing” — and telling Zelensky that “that’s the one that attacked you last time.””I remember,” deadpanned the Ukrainian, before adding to the American reporter that “you are wearing the same suit” as six months ago.Zelensky also turned on the charm for Trump — a billionaire who is rarely seen in anything except one of his trademark tailored blue suits — in other ways.He brought a letter for Melania Trump from his wife Olena thanking the US first lady for writing to Putin and urging him to save children’s lives.The focus on Zelensky’s outfit — instead of the nitty-gritty of peace negotiations to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people — may seem bizarre to some.But it also underscores the extent to which foreign leaders have had to woo a notoriously capricious US president.- ‘Do I look ok?’ -Zelensky in particular has had to work hard to win over Trump, who has long been skeptical about US support for Ukraine and its multi-billion-dollar war cost.Trump has also openly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, not least during their extraordinary cordial greetings during their summit in Alaska last week.The US leader had also echoed several of Putin’s talking points about the war, including in recent days on the need for Ukraine to give up Crimea and its ambitions of joining NATO.Hence the multi-pronged diplomatic offensive at the White House on Monday — beginning with Zelensky and his black jacket, and followed up with a posse of European leaders.The Europeans paid homage to what they said were Trump’s efforts to reach a peace deal, but their visit was also designed as a show of support for Kyiv against any call for too many concessions.The Ukrainian was reportedly given training on how to deal with Trump by European leaders, especially Finnish President Alexander Stubb — who himself wore a double-breasted suit and won praise from the American president for his youthful vigor.Zelensky was notably less pugnacious than in February — and even thanked Trump for a map that showed how much territory Russia had taken from Ukraine.NATO chief Mark Rutte meanwhile made light of the debate about Zelensky’s attire.”Do I look OK?” the Dutchman said to Trump’s protocol chief with a laugh as he buttoned up his suit jacket on arrival at the White House.