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Hurricane Melissa was cutting a deadly path through the Caribbean on Sunday, strengthening into a Category 4 storm as it crawled along a worryingly slow course toward Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola.Melissa has already been blamed for three deaths in Haiti this week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides to the impoverished nation.In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, a 79-year-old man was found dead after being swept away in a stream, local officials said Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was missing.”You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,” Angelita Francisco, a 66-year-old homemaker who fled her neighborhood in the Dominican Republic, told AFP through tears.Floodwater had inundated her house, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash bobbed around the home.The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday that Melissa had intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of about 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour and moving at 5 mph.The storm was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in parts of Jamaica and southern Hispaniola, the NHC said, forecasting “continued rapid intensification… followed by fluctuations in intensity.”Melissa was “expected to be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning, and southeastern Cuba late Tuesday,” it added.As of Sunday, Melissa was about 120 miles (around 190 kilometers) southeast of Jamaica’s capital Kingston, and 280 miles (450 kilometers) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba.The Dominican Republic’s emergency operations center said nine of 31 provinces were on red alert Saturday due to risk of flash floods, rising rivers and landslides.Melissa could bring 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) of rain in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, with isolated areas expected to receive as much as 40 inches, the NHC said.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.Norman Manley International Airport, which serves Kingston, announced it would close on Saturday evening and urged the public not to travel there.The Jamaica Information Service government agency said on Saturday that all seaports had been closed.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 strong winds to Jamaica as it moved past the island’s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.

US President Donald Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday on the first leg of an Asian tour that will include high-stakes trade talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.US-China trade talks in the Malaysian capital entered a second day on Sunday, ahead of Trump’s meeting with Xi in South Korea, in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hoped for a “comprehensive deal” with Xi, adding that he expected China to make a deal to avoid further 100 percent tariffs that are due to come into effect on November 1.”We’re moving forward to the final details of the type of agreement that the leaders can review,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.As he left Washington, Trump added to speculation that he could also meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time since 2019 while on the Korean peninsula, saying he was “open to it”.The US president will also visit Japan, on his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.It is Trump’s first visit as president to Kuala Lumpur, where his flight was escorted on its final approach by two Malaysian F-18 jets.Greeted with a red carpet welcome and a sea of Malaysian and US flags, a grinning Trump responded with his trademark arm-waving dance to cultural performers.Trump, who is expected to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, rode with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in his armoured Cadillac — nicknamed “The Beast”.A small group of protesters, including some holding placards reading “Dump Trump”, rallied elsewhere in the city.The US president is also expected to witness the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, a truce he helped broker after the deadliest clashes between the neighbours in decades.Trump met Qatar’s leaders — among the guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire deal he spearheaded  — during a refuelling stop, and is expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to improve ties with the leftist leader.- Tariff talks – After Malaysia, Trump is expected in Tokyo on Monday, where the following day he will meet Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.The US leader said he had heard “great things about her” and hailed the fact that she was an acolyte of assassinated former premier Shinzo Abe, with whom he had close ties.Takaichi said she told Trump in a phone call on Saturday that “strengthening the Japan-US alliance is my administration’s top priority on the diplomatic and security front”.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”.The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, where Trump will meet Xi for the first time since his return to office.Trump is due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.On Thursday, global markets will be watching closely to see if the meeting with Xi can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and announced the fresh 100 percent tariffs during that row, before saying he would go ahead after all.South Korea’s reunification minister has said there is a “considerable” chance that Trump and North Korea’s Kim will also meet.The two leaders last met in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas during Trump’s first term.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.burs-pjm/fox

Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Saturday the country is conducting military exercises to protect its coast against any potential “covert operations” as the United States expands its regional military presence.The move comes a day after the Pentagon ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group into the region, an escalation of the ongoing campaign of deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed at least 43 people. “We are conducting an exercise that began 72 hours ago, a coastal defense exercise… to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats but also to protect ourselves from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations that aim to destabilize the country internally,” Padrino said. Tensions are mounting in the region with US President Donald Trump saying he has authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean country.Since September 2, US forces have bombed 10 alleged drug boats with eight of the attacks occurring in the Caribbean. The Republican leader accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel, which Maduro denies.Venezuelan state television showed images of military personnel deployed in nine coastal states and a member of Maduro’s civilian militia carrying a Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. “CIA is present not only in Venezuela but everywhere in the world,” Padrino said Friday. “They may deploy countless CIA-affiliated units in covert operations from any part of the nation, but any attempt will fail.” Since August, Washington has deployed a fleet of eight US Navy ships, 10 F-35 warplanes and a nuclear-powered submarine for anti-drug operations, but Caracas maintains these maneuvers mask a plan to overthrow the Venezuelan government.The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford will enter the region to join the fleet. The warship USS Gravely is also traveling to Trinidad and Tobago Sunday for five days of joint exercises.

Hurricane Melissa was cutting a deadly path in the Caribbean on Saturday night, with rapid intensification expected over the weekend as it took a worryingly slow course toward Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola, forecasters said.As a Category 1 storm packing winds of 100 miles (155 kilometers) per hour, Melissa was already blamed for three deaths in Haiti earlier in the week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides to the impoverished nation.In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, a 79-year-old man was found dead after being swept away in a stream, local officials said Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was missing.Melissa was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in Jamaica, as well as in southern portions of Hispaniola, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.”Rapid intensification is forecast to continue over the next day or so, and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane” Sunday, NHC officials said, adding “it is expected to still be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica early next week.”On Saturday evening Melissa was about 130 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital Kingston, and about 260 miles southwest of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince. The hurricane was moving at crawl of 3 mph.Melissa could batter both countries for multiple days before heading north and threatening eastern Cuba.In the Dominican Republic, Angelita Francisco fled her Santo Domingo neighborhood after her house was inundated by floodwater, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash bobbed around the home.”You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,” the 66-year-old homemaker told AFP through tears.The country’s emergency operations center said nine of 31 provinces were on red alert Saturday due to risk of flash floods, rising rivers, and landslides.Melissa could bring total rainfall of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said, with isolated areas receiving as much as 40 inches.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.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.

An unknown local lawmaker just a few months ago, leftist Zohran Mamdani has burst onto New York’s political scene and is closing in on becoming the first Muslim mayor of America’s most populous city.Since his surprise victory in the Democratic Party primary in June, New Yorkers have become used to seeing his bearded, smiling face on television — and on badges proudly worn by his young supporters. The 34-year-old election frontrunner was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the United States since he was seven, becoming a naturalized US citizen in 2018. He is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding,” “Salaam Bombay!”) and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor and respected Africa expert — leading some of his detractors to call him a “nepo baby.” He followed a path trodden by other youngsters from elite liberal families, attending the elite Bronx High School of Science followed by Bowdoin College in Maine, a university seen as a bastion of progressive thought.Under the alias “Young Cardamom,” he ventured into the world of rap in 2015, influenced by hip-hop outfit “Das Racist” made up of two members of Indian origin who played with references and tropes from the subcontinent.Mamdani’s attempt to break into the competitive world of professional music did not last, with the performer-turned-politician calling himself a second-rate artist. He was bitten by the politics bug when he learned that rapper Heems (Himanshu Suri) was supporting a candidate for city council — and joined that campaign as an activist.Mamdani went on to become a foreclosure prevention counselor, helping financially struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes. He was elected in 2018 as a lawmaker from Queens, a melting pot of predominantly poor and migrant communities, representing the area in the New York State Assembly. – ‘Disaffected voters’ -The self-proclaimed socialist, who has been re-elected three times, forged an image that has become his trademark — a progressive Muslim just as comfortable at a Pride march as he is at an Eid banquet.He has put the goal of making the city affordable for everyone who are not wealthy, the majority of its approximately 8.5 million residents, at the heart of his campaign. He has promised more rent control, free day care and buses, and city-run neighborhood grocery stores. Mamdani is also a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, although his positions on Israel — which he has called an “apartheid regime” while branding the war in Gaza a “genocide” — have drawn the ire of some in the Jewish community. In recent months he has made a point of vocally denouncing antisemitism. Mamdani has attracted scorn from President Donald Trump, who calls him a “little communist” but — like the president — he is something of an establishment “outsider,” according to Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University. “He has managed to galvanize support from disaffected voters and others in New York City who are dissatisfied with the status quo and with an establishment that they perceive to be overlooking their needs and policy preferences,” he said.Mamdani, a keen soccer and cricket fan, recently married US illustrator Rama Duwaji, and put his experience of activism to work in a strategically coordinated canvassing and leafleting campaign that he has paired with a massive and often humorous use of social media. “He really is a kind of an hybrid of a great 1970s campaign and a great 2025 campaign,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a Columbia University professor.

In a cobbler’s workshop in Los Angeles, the footprints of Hollywood history are stacked floor to ceiling, watched over by a man who says his profession is dying.Yellowing boxes hold the lasts — foot-shaped molds — used to create footwear for everyone who was anyone in America’s entertainment capital for more than half a century.Elizabeth Taylor lies toe-to-toe with Peter Fonda, Tom Jones and Harrison Ford.In another stack sit the lasts for Sharon Stone, Liza Minnelli and Goldie Hawn.Action heroes Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are also present.”There’s a bit of everybody here,” says shoemaker Chris Francis, the custodian of the famous feet molds.Francis came into the collection a few years after the 2008 death of Pasquale Di Fabrizio, an Italian cobbler known in Los Angeles as the “shoemaker to the stars.””Di Fabrizio made for everyone, from the casino owners to the actors, the performers in Vegas, Broadway, Hollywood, for film — just anybody you could think of who was performing from the 1960s until 2008.”Some of the aging boxes contain autographs or dedications from the A-listers.Others, like those of Sarah Jessica Parker or “Sound of Music” songstress Julie Andrews, hold drawings from television or film productions.- ‘Something that nobody else had’ – Hollywood was once the ideal place for a shoemaker, says Francis, with its voracious creative industry that churned out a constant stream of people who needed to make themselves stand out from the crowd.”Celebrities would brag about how much they paid for a pair of shoes, and they would want something that nobody else had,” he said, pulling down a box containing the lasts of Adam West, the actor who played Batman in the original 1960s TV series.Francis began his own couture journey making clothes, and was given his first gig after being discovered stitching a leather jacket on a park bench.”Here in LA, it is easy to be in the right time in the right place,” he laughed.But it was footwear that he really wanted to create, and began practicing in his kitchen at home.”They were sort of crude at first; I was just teaching myself how to do it,” he said.In search of someone to teach him the art, Francis traipsed around Los Angeles looking for an internship.”These guys are all old Armenian, Russian guys. They’re all from like the old world — guys from like Iran, Syria.”They wouldn’t talk, or they didn’t speak very good English. So you just have to watch and learn, and then just learn by making over and over and over again.”And if you don’t pay attention, it can all go wrong, he said.”There’s no forgiveness in a shoe. If you miss a step, if you cut a corner, then the next 20 steps after that might suffer. So everything has to be on point the whole time.”- Mass production -But in a changing world, such meticulous craftsmanship is not always rewarded.Where Burt Reynolds or Robert De Niro might once have been happy to shell out thousands of dollars for a pair of handmade shoes, the whole industry has been turned on its head.”I’m finding more and more celebrities wanting shoes for free, which is just killing shoemakers like me,” said Francis.With his aging rockstar looks, Francis says in darker moments he wishes he had taken the advice of some of the old cobblers who taught him the trade.”They told me to go join a band,” he said.”When I first started, (one man) said: ‘Why in the world do you want to be a shoemaker? They can buy shoes for $20 these days.'”Francis, 48, says some of the old-time shoemakers have given up trying to create footwear from scratch, and now just fix the mass-produced shoes that have put them out of business.”As a profession, it’s extremely difficult to survive,” he says.

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