Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida; charismatic pitcher Luis Tiant dies

Hot Off The Wire

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton is churning closer to the west coast of Florida. Some residents are insisting they will ride out the potentially catastrophic storm. The National Hurricane Center predicts Milton will make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday near the Tampa Bay region, which hasn’t seen a direct hit from a major storm in a century. The storm has been a Category 5 hurricane during much of its approach.

Israel's offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. It has said women and children make up over half of the dead. The offensive has also caused staggering destruction across the territory and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for their work with proteins. Baker works at the University of Washington in Seattle, while Hassabis and Jumper both work at Google DeepMind in London.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team. February marks the 45th anniversary of the Americans beating the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal on home ice in Lake Placid.

Scientists say human-caused climate change boosted the rainfall of deadly Hurricane Helene by about 10% and intensified its winds by about 11%. The rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution comes just as another big hurricane, Milton, is taking aim at the Florida coast less than two weeks after Helene hit.

In other news:

• Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld will all close ahead of Milton.
• Biden cancels trip to Germany and Angola because of hurricane.
• Tampa Bay hasn’t been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921. Milton may be the one.
• The National Hurricane Center warns residents about the dangers of Milton as some ignore evacuation orders.
• Woodward book reveals Trump's calls with Putin and Biden's private remarks on Obama and Netanyahu.
• FBI arrests Afghan man who officials say planned Election Day attack in the US.
• States sue TikTok, claiming its platform is addictive and harms the mental health of children.
• Supreme Court takes up death row case with a rare alliance. Oklahoma inmate has state's support.
• A former aide to New York Mayor Eric Adams is charged with destroying evidence as top deputy quits.
• Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban who pitched the Red Sox to the brink of a championship, dies at 83.
• The Mets get within a game of advancing to the National League Championship Series, the Padres push the Dodgers to the brink of postseason elimination, the Panthers open the defense of the Stanley Cup by beating the Bruins, the NFL sees its first head coach get fired this season, the Patriots look to make a change at quarterback. and the Lynx set the WNBA Finals matchup.
• Musk's X to be reinstated in Brazil after complying with Supreme Court demands.
• North Korea vows to block border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures.
• Ishiba dissolves Japan's lower house to set up an Oct. 27 parliamentary election.
• MI5 spy chief says Russia and Iran are behind a 'staggering' rise in deadly plots.
• UN Human Rights Council presents report on Ukraine.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.