World
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, strengthened into an extremely hazardous Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph Sunday morning as it approached the Windward Islands.
Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and the only Category 4 storm to occur in June.
Tropical storm-force winds will likely hit the Windward Islands late Sunday or early Monday.
The early timing of the season’s first storm is rare, considering the average date is August 11.
As of 11 a.m, ET, Beryl was about 355 miles east-southeast of Barbados and headed west.
“A life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow near where the eye makes landfall in the hurricane warning area,” the National Hurricane Center stated, adding that the surge could bring huge and damaging waves near the shoreline.
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
The hurricane is rapidly strengthening, reaching 55 mph in the 24 hours preceding Sunday morning. The National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in maximum sustained wind speed of 35 mph or more within 24 hours.
“We’re forecasting rapid intensification and expect Beryl to become a major hurricane before it reaches places like Barbados and the Windward islands, and to continue to be a powerful hurricane as it moves into the eastern and central Caribbean as we go into the early portions of next week,” Mike Brennan, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center, told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday.
Brennan advised residents in hurricane-prone areas to prepare for major storm consequences. Beryl increases the possibility of torrential rainfall, damaging hurricane-force winds, and severe storm surges and waves. According to the center, rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches could cause localized flooding in the Windward Islands on Sunday night and Monday.
According to the weather center, the hurricane is anticipated to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on Barbados and the Windward Islands through Monday.
Beryl is the Atlantic’s first big hurricane (Category 3 or higher) in 58 years. According to Brennan, the storm’s quick intensification is rare at this early stage of the hurricane season. According to NOAA statistics, only a few tropical systems, particularly powerful ones, formed in the central Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles in June.
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Beryl is not only early for this hurricane season but also the third-earliest significant hurricane in the Atlantic. The first was Hurricane Alma on June 8, 1996, followed by Hurricane Audrey, which became a significant storm on June 27, 1957.
The storm has already broken the record for the easternmost hurricane to form in the Tropical Atlantic in June, surpassing the previous record established in 1933.
August is generally a more active month in the Middle and Eastern Atlantic because warmer water temperatures fuel emerging systems.
This year, the Atlantic basin has had above-normal water temperatures and a lack of wind shear due to the shift from El Niño to La Niña season, fueling tropical development.
“Beryl has found an environment with very warm ocean waters for this time of year,” she said.
Warmer waters in the Atlantic Basin have allowed tropical storms and hurricanes to develop at a faster rate in an eastward direction, according to Brennan. This allows storms to become more powerful and thus more destructive earlier in the hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30.
“These are ocean water you’d normally see like in August or September, but now we’re seeing them in late June,” according to Brennan. “It’s kind of opening up more of the deep tropical Atlantic for formation before we get to what would be the traditional peak of the hurricane season.”
Caribbean islands encourage citizens to prepare ahead of the hurricane.
Authorities are encouraging inhabitants to take precautions, with many Caribbean nations under hurricane watches and warnings as Hurricane Beryl approaches and intensifies.
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Officials in Barbados believe the hurricane will hit the island as early as late Sunday night. Its meteorological agency predicts storm-force winds, 3 to 6 inches of rain, “hazardous” maritime conditions, and strong thunderstorms that may cause power outages.
“All of the regular hurricane preparations that we do are in full swing,” Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams stated. “We have less than 48 hours till we may observe the consequences of this system on Barbados. Please spend your time wisely.”
According to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and research scientist at Colorado State University, systems forming in this section of the Atlantic early in the summer signify the upcoming hyperactive hurricane season. Normally, water temperatures in June and July do not support tropical ecosystems.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service estimate 17 to 25 named storms this season, with eight to 13 developing into hurricanes, including four to seven major hurricanes.
“That’s well above average,” Brennan said.
The National Weather Service says that’s “due to a confluence of factors, including near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, development of La Nina conditions in the Pacific, reduced Atlantic trade winds and less wind shear, all of which tend to favor tropical storm formation.”
SOURCE – (CNN)
World
Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War
Speaking in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a clear warning to the West: do not allow Ukraine to deploy its long-range missiles to hit Russian territory. Russia would interpret this as NATO’s’ direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine and an act of war.
“This would substantially change the very essence, the nature of the conflict,” Vladimir Putin continued.
“This will mean that NATO countries, and especially the USA and European states, are at war with Russia.”
He said that Ukraine would need data from US satellites to launch missiles into Russia, and that only personnel from NATO member nations and the US defence department would be able to “input flight missions into these missile systems”.
Russia has already drawn red lines with NATO on its border. I’ve seen them cross before these lines before.
On February 24, 2022, when he announced the launch of his “special military operation” – a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – President Putin issued a warning to “those who may be tempted to interfere from the outside”.
“No matter who tries to stand in our way or create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately,” Putin said. “The consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”
The Biden-Harris administration has widely ignored what they largely perceive as nuclear sabre-rattling. The West has since supplied Ukraine with tanks, advanced missile systems, and, most recently, F-16 American fighter jets.
According to the BBC, Russia has already accused Ukraine of employing American long-range ATACMS missiles to target Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that Russia has occupied.
The tone of Putin’s most recent words suggests that he believes that hitting Russian territory with Western missile systems will escalate the confrontation, possibly to WWIII.
What Putin did not specify yesterday was how Moscow would retaliate.
“We will take corresponding decisions based on the threats to us that will be created,” Putin told reporters.
On Friday, Russia expelled six British diplomats, accusing them of “subversive activities” and endangering Russian security.
During a meeting with the leaders of international news agencies, he was asked how Russia would react if Ukraine was given the opportunity to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by Europe.
“First, of course, we will upgrade our air defence systems. “We will destroy their missiles,” President Putin responded.
“Second, we believe that if someone is thinking it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us, why can’t we supply our weapons of the same class to those regions around the world where they will target sensitive facilities of the countries that are doing this to Russia?”
In other words, Moscow has considered arming foes of the US to strike Western targets abroad.
Earlier this month, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, indicated that the country was planning to update its nuclear doctrine, which outlines the parameters under which Moscow may consider using nuclear weapons.
He claimed that the decision to alter the doctrine was “connected with the escalation course of [Russia’s] Western adversaries”.
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World
Australia Launches Manhunt for Man Who Poured Scolding Coffee on Baby
Police in Australia have launched an international manhunt to find a man they believe fled the country after dumping hot coffee on a newborn in Brisbane. The random attack stunned the nation, left the nine-month-old infant with “serious burns” on his face and arms.
Queensland Police have issued an arrest warrant for a 33-year-old man wanted for causing grievous bodily injury, a charge that carries a maximum life sentence.
However, on Monday, they stated that their prime suspect flew out of Sydney Airport after the crime and only 12 hours before they could establish his identification.
According to Queensland Police the infant was having a picnic with his family in a suburban park when a “strange man” came up and emptied a flask of scolding hot coffee on him before fleeing on foot. An off-duty nurse who witnessed the horrific incident quickly poured cold water on the infants burns, before rushing the boy to the local hospital.
The baby boy sustained severe injuries that required multiple surgeries, and his parents believe he will need to recuperate for years.
Detective Inspector Paul Dalton of the Queensland Police told media that the motive for the horrific crime is still unknown, adding that the case was one of the “most complex and frustrating” he has ever led.
He stated that police knew where the suspect had fled and his name, but that revealing the information at this time could compromise their investigation. The individual is a itinerant worker who has travelled to Australia several times since 2019, with addresses in both New South Wales and Victoria.
According to Pol Inspector Dalton the suspect was aware of “police methodologies” and had been “conducting counter-surveillance activities” to avoid detection. The Queensland Police is working with Australian Federal Police and Interpol to bring the man to justice.
On Monday, the baby’s parents informed the ABC News media that they were “devastated” to learn that the suspect had fled the country, but also relieved that he had.
“It sounds like they were very, very close to catching him, and this obviously means that we’re going to have to wait who knows how long to get justice for our son,” his mother said The young baby is “in good spirits,” according to his father, but he may yet require additional skin graft surgeries.
An internet fundraising website for the infant boy has raised over AUD$150,000 for the little boy.
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World
Fugitive Philippines Mayor Alice Guo Captured in Indonesia
Alice Guo, a former mayor from the Philippine who is thought to have ties to Chinese crime groups, was caught in Indonesia.
The Philippine Senate wants Guo, who is also Chinese and goes by the name Guo Hua Ping, because she refused to go to a congressional investigation into her alleged crime ties, according to the Ministry of Justice.
She has denied the claims, saying that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and that the charges are “malicious.”
Police in Indonesia have confirmed that Ms. Guo is currently in their custody, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
Guo was caught in Tangerang City in Jakarta at 11:58 p.m. on Tuesday. He used to be the mayor of Bamban town, which is about 100 km (62 miles) north of Manila. Asian media shared a video on X that showed police agents leading her up a white-walled staircase.
In the Philippines, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and other law enforcement agencies charged Guo and 35 others with money laundering multiple times with the Department of Justice last month.
The AMLC says that Guo and her crime partners laundered more than 100 million pesos ($1.8 million) in stolen money.
Lawyer Stephen David, who is officially Guo’s lawyer, did not reply right away to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
Al Jazeera news said that Justice Secretary Boying Remulla said in a statement, “The arrest of Alice Guo is a testament to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement agencies and the strength of international cooperation in bringing fugitives to justice.”
People removed Guo from her job as mayor, and she left the country in July, using her Philippine visa to go to Malaysia, then Singapore, and finally Indonesia.
In May, two months after police raided a casino in Bamban town and found scams being run from a building on land partly owned by the mayor, the Senate began an investigation into her activities.
Public outrage followed the finding, and later, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned online gaming companies because he thought they had ties to organised crime.
Marcos also said she would go after those who “helped her escape.”
The government thinks that several hundred illegal online gambling businesses may be running scam sites right in front of them.
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