Deadly storm Melissa strengthened Saturday afternoon into a Category 1 hurricane, with rapid intensification expected over the weekend as it cut a worryingly slow course toward the Caribbean island of Jamaica, forecasters said.Currently packing winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, Melissa was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in Jamaica, as well as in southern portions of Hispaniola, the island comprised of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.”Rapid intensification is forecast to occur over the next couple of days and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane by Sunday,” the NHC said in a Saturday afternoon bulletin, referring to storms with sustained winds in excess of 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour.Melissa was about 145 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital Kingston, and about 235 miles southwest of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince. The hurricane was moving at crawl of 1 mph.Three people in Haiti have already been killed this week as storm bands from Melissa lashed the impoverished nation with heavy downpours, provoking landslides.Haiti could see hurricane conditions by late Saturday, the NHC said. Tropical storm conditions were expected in Jamaica by Saturday night, with hurricane conditions expected by Sunday or Monday. Melissa could batter both countries for multiple days before heading north and threatening eastern Cuba.Fears were growing that Melissa’s extreme winds and rains could provoke life-threatening floods in the mountainous terrain of eastern Jamaica and western Haiti.Melissa could bring total rainfall of 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 cm) in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said, with isolated areas receiving as much as 35 inches.Residents in southwestern Haiti should begin “immediate preparations to protect life and property,” the NHC said, warning the storm will likely cause “extensive infrastructural damage and potentially prolonged isolation of communities.”Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday urged residents of flood-prone areas to heed warnings and be prepared to evacuate.”If you live in an area that was flooded before, expect that it will flood again,” he said.Rains from Melissa already flooded several roads in Kingston, images from local media showed.Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in early July 2024 — an abnormally strong storm for the time of year.Beryl brought downpours and heavy winds to Jamaica as it moved past off the island’s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.

It’s nearly 10:00 pm on Friday night, and a group of children shine their flashlights on the imposing skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex.Though the scene seems like something out of a movie, it is in fact a whimsical sleepover at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.Once a month, and for a not insignificant fee, parents and kids can once again spend the night at the venerable institution — a program that had been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.”We live really close to this place. So we can come here anytime we want,” said eight-year-old Jake Nelson. “It’s crazy to sleep (here) — like, I don’t know who would come up with this crazy idea.”Jake, nestled into his sleeping bag on a cot underneath the museum’s gigantic suspended model of a blue whale, said he was “so happy to be here.”The museum first launched its “Night at the Museum” programs in 2006, riding the success of the movie of the same name, released that year, starring Ben Stiller as a security guard who realizes that the animals and fossils come to life overnight.The return of the sleepovers is good news for the museum and its visitors.”They were an iconic part of our itinerary here, and very sought after by all of our visitors,” Aaron Anleu, senior director of visitor service, told AFP.”Unfortunately, during the pandemic, we had to pause the experience for a few years, but we really wanted to take a pause and understand how we can make this experience exciting and memorable for our visitors, and now we’re here.”Friday’s overnight visit was sold out, as are the November and December events, but in the end, a few cots were empty when the lights dimmed.A few hundred children ages six to 12 arrived at the museum at 6:00 pm with their parents or other caregivers, sleeping bags and pillows in tow. Some were already wearing their pajamas.For a fee starting at $225 a person, attendees get flashlight tours of exhibits including the fossil halls, do scavenger hunts, play trivia games and have bedtime snacks. Breakfast is served before the event ends. Admission also includes a souvenir and a voucher for free admission during regular hours.- Tours and karaoke -Amid the games, crafts, live presentations and self-guided visits to the live insect displays, one of the most popular events is…. karaoke.Kids belt out a mix of Broadway tunes, viral YouTube hit “The Duck Song” and the inescapable soundtrack from the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.”Shortly before midnight, the children get into their beds to listen to a live reading of the 1993 children’s book “The Night at the Museum” by Milan Trenc — the inspiration for the film.Wake-up comes early at 7:00 am, before the event ends at 8:30 am.”It’s magical. I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and I’ve never done anything like this,” said Jaclyn Rice Nelson, Jake’s mother. “There’s the whale above us.”Her son skipped a few hours of the night’s activities to read a Harry Potter book in the unusual setting. “This is tiring,” Jake said. “I think I’ve done a lot of stuff.”His mother explained that the pair had indeed visited several exhibits.”We went up to the dinosaurs, and all the lights were off, and so it was like walking around with flashlights with these big, kind of scary dinosaurs. And that’s just a very, very special experience,” she said.Hollywood media outlets have reported that a new “Night at the Museum” film is in the works. Stiller starred in the first three installments. So the magic is set to endure.

Donald Trump met Saturday with Qatar’s leaders to discuss the fragile truce in Gaza, stopping in the emirate on his way to Asia and talks with China’s Xi Jinping that the US president predicted could yield a “comprehensive deal.”Trump’s refueling stop in Qatar, a key ally in the Gaza negotiations, came as Israel conducted an air strike targeting an alleged Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza, despite the ceasefire brokered by the US president.Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump has also said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on the trip, his first to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.Aboard Air Force One at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, when asked about ending the trade row with Beijing, Trump said: “I think we have a really good chance of making a really comprehensive deal.”Such an agreement would stave off further 100 percent tariffs on China that are due to come into effect on November 1.During the pit stop at the base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military, Trump greeted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.”What we’ve done is incredible peace to the Middle East, and they were a very big factor in it,” Trump said.Ahead of the long trip, the US president fueled speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019, saying: “I’m open to it.”Asked if he would consider North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.- Peace and trade deals -Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, and will witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.The US president’s next destination is Tokyo. He will meet Japan’s first woman prime minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative, on Tuesday.Takaichi said Saturday that she had a “good and candid” initial conversation with Trump.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”- Trump and Xi -The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.Trump said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.burs-jhe/sst/acb