AP-Newswatch

Tampa Bay hasn’t been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921. Milton may be the one

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida work crews are hustling to remove wreckage from one hurricane ahead of another. Meanwhile, thousands of people fearing a once-in-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton are streaming out of the populous Tampa Bay region to seek safety inland. Though slightly weakened, Milton is still a powerful Category 4 storm. It was expected to plow ashore late Wednesday or early Thursday and remain fairly strong as it crosses Florida. The system could bring towering storm surges and the power to turn debris from Hurricane Helene into dangerous projectiles.

An unusual hurricane season goes from ultra quiet to record busy and spawns Helene and Milton

Explosively intensifying Hurricane Milton is the latest freaky system to come out of what veteran hurricane scientists call the weirdest storm season of their lives. Before this Atlantic hurricane season started, forecasters said everything lined up to be a monster busy year and it began that way when Beryl was the earliest storm to reach Category 5 on record. Then nothing. From Aug. 20 to Sept. 23 it was record quiet. Then five hurricanes popped up between Sept. 26 and Oct. 6, more than double the old record of two. Hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach calls the season neurotic and weird.

Hezbollah steps up rocket fire as Israel sends more troops into Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah has fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, and the militant group’s acting leader vows to keep up pressure that has forced thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military says it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday, and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike. Dozens of rockets fired by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned residents to the north of the coastal city to limit activities. The Israeli military says Hezbollah launched more than 170 rockets across the border.

Harris can’t point to anything she would have done differently than Biden in ‘The View’ appearance

NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris says she can’t think of anything she would do differently than President Joe Biden did over the last four years. The comment came during a conversation with the women of “The View,” part of a media blitz by the Democratic nominee on Tuesday. Harris also spoke with radio host Howard Stern, and she’s scheduled to tape a show with late-night comedian Stephen Colbert. The series of media appearances comes after Harris largely avoided interviews since replacing Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. Long past the midway point of her unexpected presidential campaign and with voting already underway, Harris is still introducing herself to Americans who will determine this year’s presidential election.

Supreme Court seems open to upholding regulations on ghost guns, hard to trace weapons used in crime

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to uphold a Biden administration regulation on ghost guns, the difficult-to-trace weapons found at crime scenes in increasing numbers. Key conservative justices seemed open to the government’s argument that kits for quickly making nearly untraceable guns at home can be regulated like other firearms, with background checks and serial numbers. The court previously allowed the rule to go into effect, and ghost gun numbers have since dropped in several cities. But manufacturers and gun rights groups argue the Biden administration overstepped by trying to regulate gun parts that had long been legal with hobbyists.

Biden sets a 10-year deadline for US cities to replace lead pipes and make drinking water safer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A decade after the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised alarms about the dangers of lead in tap water, President Joe Biden is setting a 10-year deadline for U.S. cities to replace lead pipes and make drinking water safe for all Americans. Biden is expected to announce a final Environmental Protection Agency rule Tuesday in the swing state of Wisconsin during the final month of a tight presidential campaign. The announcement by the Democratic president highlights an issue — safe drinking water — that Kamala Harris has prioritized as vice president and in her presidential campaign. The rule supplants a looser standard set forth by former President Donald Trump’s administration that didn’t include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes.

Retired Houston officer gets 60 years in couple’s drug raid deaths that revealed corruption

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer is being sent to prison for the deaths of a married couple during a drug raid. A jury sentenced Gerald Goines to 60 years on Tuesday after convicting him of murder in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas. An investigation of the January 2019 raid revealed systemic corruption in the Houston Police narcotics unit. Prosecutors said Goines lied to get a search warrant by falsely portraying the couple as dangerous drug dealers. Goines’ lawyers admitted he lied but said his actions did not amount to murder. They’ve filed notice they’ll appeal.

France’s minority government survives a no-confidence vote, 2 weeks after taking office

PARIS (AP) — France’s minority government has survived a no-confidence vote, two weeks after taking office, getting over the first hurdle placed by left-wing lawmakers to bring down new conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The vote was a key test for Barnier, whose cabinet is forced to rely on the far right’s good will to be able to stay in power. The no-confidence motion was brought by a left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front. It received 197 votes, far from the 289 votes needed to pass. The far-right National Rally group, which counts 125 lawmakers, abstained from voting on Tuesday.

Pioneers in artificial intelligence win the Nobel Prize in physics

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two pioneers of artificial intelligence have won the Nobel Prize in physics. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton were awarded the prize Tuesday for discoveries and inventions that formed the building blocks of machine learning. Hinton said he was flabbergasted at being honored. He said AI is revolutionizing the way we work and live but also creates new threats to humanity. The physics prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. Six days of Nobel announcements opened Monday with Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the medicine prize.

A former aide to New York Mayor Eric Adams is charged with destroying evidence as top deputy quits

NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York City official was charged Tuesday with witness tampering and destroying evidence as a federal investigation led to Mayor Eric Adams’ bribery indictment. Federal prosecutors allege that Mohamed Bahi told a businessman and campaign donors to lie to the FBI. They also accuse him of deleting an encrypted messaging app from his cell phone as FBI agents searched his home. Prosecutors said Bahi had used the Signal app to communicate with Adams. Bahi resigned Monday as a community affairs liaison. The mayor told a news conference on Tuesday that he would “never tell anyone to do anything illegal.”