Connect with us

World

AP PHOTOS: Powerful Hurricane Milton destroys homes, shreds stadium roofs apart

Published

on

AP PHOTOS: Powerful Hurricane Milton destroys homes, shreds stadium roofs apart

Many Florida residents were returning to their homes Thursday after Hurricane Milton pummelled the state, the second major hurricane in two weeks.

Millions of people in several counties had been ordered to evacuate earlier this week as Milton approached.

Siblings Saboria, 4, left, and Messiah Tyler, 3, nap in the backseat of a car after the roof was torn off the home where they lived with their mom, grandparents, an aunt and an uncle during the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The family of 7 rode out the storm in a government shelter, and returned home to find most of the roof gone and their furniture and belongings destroyed by rainwater. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Advertisement

In Palmetto, southwest of Tampa, resident Natasha Ducre and her family of seven returned from a government shelter to find their home demolished and unlivable — furniture and other belongings destroyed by heavy rainwater. The roof in her kitchen had collapsed, with debris now carpeting the floor. Their home destroyed, siblings Saboria, 4, and Messiah Tyler, 3, had nowhere to sleep but the backseat of a car.

Image

The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Advertisement

Farther north in St. Petersburg, powerful winds and rain shredded the roof of the Tropicana Field Stadium, home to the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, where several stadium workers were taking shelter. The team said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done.

Image

Max Watts, of Buford, Ga., walks in the parking lot to check on a trailer parked outside the hotel where he is riding out Hurricane Milton with coworkers, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. Watts, who works for a towing company, was deployed with colleagues to Florida to aid in the aftermath of the storm. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Image

The Segundo family, who evacuated from nearby Davis Island, plays a board game with their dog Cassie looking on, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, at Hyatt Place Tampa Downtown hotel in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Advertisement
Image

A man rests as other carry supplies into Gibbs High School, a government storm shelter where 1,700 people had already sought shelter by late morning, ahead of the arrival Hurricane Milton, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Advertisement

Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, killing at least 5 people, spawning tornadoes and leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power. The state’s central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.

The storm came after Hurricane Helene ravaged several southeastern states as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 220 people.

Image

A water rescue boat moves in floodwaters at an apartment complex in the aftermath of hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Advertisement
Image

A man and child leave a rescue boat after high floodwaters entered their apartment in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Image

A water rescue team member walks through flood waters at an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Advertisement
Image

A high rise construction crane broke apart and crashed into the building across the street during Hurricane Milton on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Image

A house, center, lies toppled off its stilts after the passage of Hurricane Milton, alongside an empty lot where a home was swept away by Hurricane Helen, in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Advertisement
Image

A car is submerged in floodwater at an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Advertisement
Image

Ron Rook, who said he was looking for people in need of help or debris to clear, walks through windy and rainy conditions on a deserted street in downtown Tampa, Fla., during the approach of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Advertisement

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

World

Video: Pope Calls for Humanitarian Aid and Peace in Gaza

Published

on

Video: Pope Calls for Humanitarian Aid and Peace in Gaza

new video loaded: Pope Calls for Humanitarian Aid and Peace in Gaza

transcript

transcript

Pope Calls for Humanitarian Aid and Peace in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV made a renewed appeal to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza during his first general audience at the Vatican.

Dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to be with you in this, the first general audience of my pontificate.

Advertisement

Recent episodes in International

International video coverage from The New York Times.

International video coverage from The New York Times.

Continue Reading

World

At least 82 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as critical aid fails to reach Palestinians

Published

on

At least 82 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as critical aid fails to reach Palestinians

Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip Wednesday, despite a surge in international anger at Israel’s widening offensive. The attacks killed at least 82 people, including several women and a week-old infant, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and area hospitals.

Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but the aid has not yet reached Palestinians in desperate need.

Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the U.N.’s humanitarian agency, said no trucks were picked up from the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the Israeli border crossing with southern Gaza.

A truck loaded with humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip makes its way to the Kerem Shalom crossing as border police officers prevent activists from blocking the road in southern Israel, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Tuesday that although the aid had entered Gaza, workers were not able to bring it to distribution points after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time.

Advertisement

The Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza said trucks entered Wednesday morning, but it was unclear if that aid would move deeper into Gaza for distribution. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said its staff had waited several hours to collect aid from the border crossing but were unable to do so on Tuesday.

ISRAEL BLOCKS HUMANITARIAN AID INTO GAZA AFTER HAMAS REJECTS CEASEFIRE EXTENSION PROPOSAL

A few dozen Israeli activists opposed to Israel’s decision to allow aid into Gaza while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages attempted to block trucks carrying supplies Wednesday morning, but were kept back by Israeli police.

Diplomats come under fire in Jenin

A group of diplomats came under fire while visiting Jenin, a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority. The diplomats were on an official mission to observe the humanitarian situation in Jenin when shots rang out.

Advertisement

An aid worker, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said a delegation of about 20 regional, European and Western diplomats were standing near the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp when they heard gunshots Wednesday, she said. No one was injured, she added.

The Israeli military said the delegation “deviated from the approved route” and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots to distance them from the area. The military apologized and said they will contact all countries involved in the visit.

Palestinian man carries a wrapped body

Palestinians carry the bodies of their relatives including children who were killed in an Israeli army airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Footage shows a number of diplomats running for cover as rapid shots rung out. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said firing even warning shots was unacceptable and called on Israel to investigate.

The Italian government of Premier Giorgia Meloni also demanded an explanation, saying that its vice consul was among those who came under fire.

Jenin has been the site of Israel’s widespread crackdown against West Bank militants since earlier this year.

Advertisement

On Jan. 21 — just two days after its ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza — Israeli forces descended on Jenin as they have dozens of times since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The fighting displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians, one of the largest West Bank displacements in years.

International pressure on Israel

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault, a step that came a day after the U.K., Canada and France promised concrete steps to prompt Israel to halt the war. Separately, the European Union was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza, according to its foreign policy chief.

Israel says it is prepared to stop the war once all the hostages taken by Hamas return home and Hamas is defeated, or is exiled and disarmed. Hamas says it is prepared to release the hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory and an end to the war. It rejects demands for exile and disarmament.

ISRAEL FIRES BACK AT UK OVER SUSPENDED TRADE TALKS, REJECTS ‘EXTERNAL PRESSURE’

Advertisement

Israel called back its senior negotiating team from ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday, saying it would leave lower-level officials in place instead. Qatari leaders, who are mediating negotiations, said there was a large gap between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued across Gaza. In the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel recently ordered new evacuations pending an expected expanded offensive, 24 people were killed, 14 from the same family. A week-old infant was killed in central Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but has said it is targeting Hamas infrastructure and accused Hamas militants of operating from civilian areas.

Desperate need for food

Experts have warned that many of Gaza’s 2 million residents face a high risk of famine. At one displacement camp in Gaza City, a charity group distributed thin and watery lentil soup.

Advertisement

Somaia Abu Amsha scooped small portions into bowls for her family, saying they have not have had bread for over 10 days and she can’t afford rice or pasta.

Children look at a destroyed building

Palestinians inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

“We don’t want anything other than that they end the war. We don’t want charity kitchens. Even dogs wouldn’t eat this, let alone children,” she said, pointing at the soup.

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for aid to reach the Gaza Strip and for an end to the “heartbreaking” toll on its people during his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Hospitals surrounded

Israeli troops also have surrounded two of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said this week.

Advertisement

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday urged world leaders to take immediate action to end Israel’s siege on Gaza, issuing the appeal during a visit to Beirut, where he was expected to discuss the disarmament of Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

ISRAEL ENCIRCLES 2 OF NORTHERN GAZA’S LAST FUNCTIONING HOSPITALS, GROUPS SAY

“It is time to end the war of extermination against the Palestinian people. I reiterate that we will not leave, and we will remain here on the land of our homeland, Palestine,” Abbas said, demanding the immediate entry of aid, the release of detainees, and a full withdrawal from Gaza.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

 

Advertisement

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

Continue Reading

World

Member of Irish rap band Kneecap charged with ‘terrorism’ offence

Published

on

Member of Irish rap band Kneecap charged with ‘terrorism’ offence

British police say Mo Chara displayed a flag of Lebanon’s Hezbollah at a concert.

A member of the Irish rap band Kneecap has been charged with a “terrorism” offence in the United Kingdom for waving a flag of the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah at a concert in November 2024 in London.

Liam O’Hanna, whose stage name is Mo Chara, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on June 18, charged under the Terrorism Act, British police said on Wednesday.

Kneecap has been vocal in its support for the Palestinian cause since the October 7, 2023-led Hamas attacks and Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, equating the struggles of the Irish under British colonial rule to that of Palestinians under that of Israel.

Pro-Palestinian chants are a regular fixture in their gigs. The band says they have been targets of a smear campaign for calling out Israel’s genocidal war.

Advertisement

The Belfast trio is also well known for its political and satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish Republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the UK, with the Republic of Ireland.

More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” involving the Irish Republican Army (IRA), pro-British Loyalist militias and the UK security forces.

Advertisement

Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment, which involved being shot in the kneecaps, that was meted out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.

The band has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between Protestant British Unionists and Catholic Irish Nationalist communities.

It has also been criticised for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references.

Kneecap came under intense scrutiny and criticism last month during their performance at the music festival Coachella in California when they projected the words “F*** Israel. Free Palestine.” on stage.

“The Irish not so long ago were persecuted by the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f****** skies with nowhere to go! The Palestinians have nowhere to go – it’s their f****** home and they’re bombing them from the sky. If you’re not calling it a genocide what the f*** are you calling it?” read the words projected by Mo Chara.

Advertisement

Kneecap came under renewed scrutiny at the start of this month when UK intelligence said they would investigate comments made by the rap group about UK and Middle East politics.

They were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” – the UK considers both to be “terrorist” organisations.

In response, Kneecap said it had “never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” and accused “establishment figures” of taking comments out of context to “manufacture moral hysteria” because of the band’s criticism of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.

Several Kneecap gigs have been cancelled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organisers of June’s Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending