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Oct. 21 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Melissa has begun churning in the Caribbean and is moving toward Haiti, to possibly become a hurricane.

In its 2 p.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said Melissa was about 300 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and is moving west at 14 mph.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince, and for Jamaica. Those elsewhere in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba should monitor the progress of Melissa, the NHC said.

A decrease in speed and a gradual turn to the northwest and north is expected in the next few days, the NHC said. Melissa is expected to approach southwestern Haiti and Jamaica later this week, bringing heavy rains.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic can expect 5 to 10 inches through Friday, NHC said. More heavy rainfall is possible after Friday, but forecasters aren’t confident of predictions because of the uncertainty of Melissa’s speed and direction. Areas of significant flash flooding and mudslides are possible.

Over Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica rainfall of 1 to 3 inches is expected through Friday. Flash and urban flooding will be possible across Puerto Rico through at least Friday.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean. This season has seen few storms, which has warmed the Caribbean Sea. Now, the warm water is fuel for stronger, more dangerous storms.

Sept. 28 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Imelda formed in the Atlantic on Sunday evening, making it the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. EDT update.

It was located about 125 miles northwest of the Central Bahamas and about 320 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to the forecasters, who said it was moving north at 9 mph.

“Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and Imelda is forecast to become a hurricane by late Monday or Tuesday,” the NHC update said.

“On the forecast track, the center of the system is expected to move across the central and northwestern Bahamas tonight and Monday and then turn east-northeastward, moving away from the southeastern U.S. by the middle part of this week.”

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and San Salvador, as well as portions of northwestern Bahamas.

Eastern Cuba is expected to see 2 to 4 inches of rain with northwest Bahamas to see between 4 and 8 inches through Tuesday, the forecasters said.

“This rainfall will likely produce flash and urban flooding,” NHC said. “Mudslides are also possible in areas of higher terrain across eastern Cuba.”

Coastal southern North Carolina and its southeast are expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall with a maximum of 6 inches through Tuesday. This could also result in flash and urban flooding, the forecasters warned.

Swells generated by the cyclone, as well as Hurricane Humberto, will affect parts of the Bahamas this weekend and are predicted to spread to the southeast U.S. coast early next week.

The potential for swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, NHC said.

Sept. 24 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Humberto, the eighth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, formed Wednesday afternoon and is forecast to become a hurricane by Saturday and ultimately a major one, the National Hurricane Center said.

In a 5 p.m. EDT posting, NHC said Humberto became a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, which is 1 mph below the minimum to be classified as a tropical storm. Six hours later, NHC said it had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. A storm became a hurricane with winds at least 74 mph.

At 11 p.m., Humberto was about 505 miles east-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph.

NHC said the storm is expected to continue in the same direction over the next few days but with a lower forward speed.

“It may intensify into a hurricane late this weekend or early next week,” Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, said.

NHC forecasters Richard Pasch and Eric Blake said in a discussion: “The system will probably become a hurricane in a couple of days, and then strengthen into a major hurricane.”

Humberto is forecast to pass between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast.

“Towards the end of the forecast period, an approaching trough moving offshore the East Coast of the United States will erode the ridge and allow the system to turn more northward,” NHC forecaster Larry Kelly said in a discussion. “However, there is quite a bit of uncertainty with the forward speed and cross-track spread of the system.”

Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles, NHC said.

No coastal watches or warnings are in effect.

Of the eight named storms, two became hurricanes, both major.

In August, Erin intensified into a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds spreading across a 500-mile area. It did not make landfall in the United States but caused dangerous surf, rip currents and coastal flooding along the East Coast, with the worst conditions in North Carolina and Virginia.

Gabrielle formed in mid-September and also became a major hurricane, a Category 4. In the 3 a.m. GMT update Thursday, Gabrielle had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph as a Category 1 storm and was about 855 miles west of the Azores.

Tropical Storm Chantal was the only storm to make landfall in the U.S. — South Carolina on July 6.

Sept. 17 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed Wednesday morning over the open Atlantic Ocean and is forecast to strengthen to hurricane force over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the storm was about 990 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, the NHC said in its 5 p.m. EST update. Gabrielle had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving northwest at 14 mph.

“A northwest or west-northwest motion is expected to continue over the next few days,” the update said.

The NHC said there will be little strengthening of Gabrielle over the next 48 hours, but it may gradually intensify into a hurricane by Sunday afternoon.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle is the Atlantic hurricane season’s seventh named storm after Tropical Storms Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter and Ferdinand, and Hurricane Erin.

Aug. 31 (UPI) — A new tropical storm formed over the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, making Kiko the 11th named storm in the Eastern North Pacific this year.

Tropical Storm Kiko formed early Sunday and had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as of 5 p.m. HST Sunday, according to an update from the National Hurricane Center.

It was located about 1,120 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California and was moving west at 9 mph.

The forecasters said they expect Kiko to steadily strengthen over the next couple of days. An NHC discussion on Kiko states they believe it will likely cross into the central Pacific basin in four to five days.

It is expected to grow to hurricane strength in a day or two.

“Kiko is currently a compact system,” NHC forecaster John Cangialosi said in the discussion.

“Although it is forecast to get larger, the model guidance suggests that it will likely be on the smaller side through the week.”

Aug. 3 (UPI) — The Iranian government announced Sunday that it had formed a new National Defense Council for handling the country’s affairs in wartime.

The establishment of the council was approved by the Supreme National Security Council within the framework of Article 176 of the country’s constitution, according to reports in Iranian state media agency IRNA and the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

The Iranian government said that the council also aims to review defense plans and centralize military decision-making.

The new council will be chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian and will include the heads of the Iranian Armed Forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, among other ministries, according to the pro-Iranian political blogger Middle East Spectator.

In another article, the Tasnim News Agency likened the structure and purpose of the new council to that of the United States’ National Security Council, noting that the American agency “plays a coordination in national security and defense policymaking.”

The move comes in the aftermath of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel earlier this year, which marked one of the most direct and intense confrontations between the two nations in decades.

Although both sides claimed victory, Iran emerged from the conflict with significant military and economic setbacks. Israeli strikes reportedly damaged key air defense systems, missile infrastructure, and IRGC command centers in western Iran.

Meanwhile, Iran’s retaliatory attacks failed to breach Israeli missile defenses in a meaningful way, highlighting vulnerabilities in Iran’s conventional military capabilities.

Since the conflict, Iran has faced renewed domestic pressure as its economy, which is already strained by international sanctions. The Iranian leadership has focused on consolidating internal power structures, streamlining military command, and projecting efforts of international diplomacy with other Muslim nations.

Iranian Army Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami said Sunday that Iran believes threats from Israel are not over and that it had only witnessed a glimpse of its rival’s “brutality.”

As violence and rights abuses rage on, the coalition pledges to pursue a ‘secular, democratic’ and decentralised Sudan.

A Sudanese coalition led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has announced it is establishing an alternative government in a challenge to the military-led authorities in the capital Khartoum, with the northeastern African country’s brutal civil war in its third year.

The group, which calls itself the Leadership Council of the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS), said RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo will chair the 15-member presidential council of the government, which includes regional governors.

Sudanese politician Mohammed Hassan Osman al-Ta’ishi will serve as prime minister, TASIS said.

“On the occasion of this historic achievement, the leadership council extends its greetings and congratulations to the Sudanese people who have endured the flames of devastating wars for decades,” the coalition said in a statement.

“It also renews TASIS’s commitment to building an inclusive homeland, and a new secular, democratic, decentralized, and voluntarily unified Sudan, founded on the principles of freedom, justice and equality.”

The new self-proclaimed government could deepen divisions and lead to competing institutions as the war rages on between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

In May, the Sudanese army said it had completely driven the RSF out of the capital, Khartoum.

The fighting since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 13 million people, according to United Nations estimates, resulting in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

In recent months, the violence has been intensifying in the western region of Darfur, where the RSF has been besieging the city of el-Fasher, compounding hunger in the area.

Rights groups have accused both the RSF and SAF of rights abuses. Earlier this year, Amnesty International said RSF fighters were inflicting “widespread sexual violence” on women and girls to “assert control and displace communities across the country”.

Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on Hemedti, accusing the RSF of committing “serious human rights abuses” under his leadership, including executing civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.

Sudan has seen growing instability since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 after months of antigovernment protests.

In October 2021, the Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, leading to his resignation in early 2022.

Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti had shared power after the coup, but then began fighting for control of the state and its resources in April 2023.

Although the rivalry between al-Burhan and Hemedti does not appear to be ideological, numerous attempts to reach a peaceful resolution to the crisis have failed.

Helena was fuming in the latest episode and left questioning if her couple with Harry was ‘one-sided’ after Harry went for another flirty chat with new bombshell Angel

Love Island star Helena was left ‘fuming’ in Sunday night’s episode after Harry went for another chat with new bombshell Angel. Helena was sitting at the firepit with Connor and watched as Harry went into the snug with Angel, before she decided to step in and pull him away for a chat.

Helena told Connor: “If he’s acting like this infront of my face here, imagine what he would act like on the outside”, as she questioned if their relationship was ‘one-sided’. Helena then told Harry she didn’t appreciate him flirting with Angel, before Harry agreed and said he needed to ‘bin it’.

Helena was also unhappy after the latest kissing challenge where Harry voted Shakira and Emma as better kissers than Helena, despite her trying to give him clues that it was her kissing him.

It comes after the villa’s latest bombshell walked in and was immediately coupled up with Ty. Angelique ‘Angel’ Swift became one of the new entrants to ITV’s long-running dating show this week, and the ripple effects were immediate.

Lauren, who had been coupled with Ty, was made single and therefore dumped from the Love Island villa. While Angel is coupled up with Ty, she has also expressed her interest towards Harry, who is currently coupled up with Helena.

Harry and Helena have embarked on an on-off relationship since the show started and haven’t yet ‘closed things off’, with Harry saying in Friday evening’s episode that he is ‘open’ to getting to know bombshell Angel. Only time will tell if he has a better connection with Angel than he has with Helena.

Angel’s relationship history reportedly included TOWIE star Dan Edgar, who has appeared on the reality series since 2015 and famously previously dated co-star Ella Rae Wise.

Dan and Ella began dating in early 2024 but broke up at the beginning of this year. In recent months, Dan and Angel reportedly got close. However, it seems the romance did not pan out as Angel is searching for love in the villa.

A friend of the dating show star told The Sun: “They were together during one of the May bank holidays in Marbella and spent time hanging out. They were seen at various events, it was casual dating, but they had fun together.”

A friend of Dan also told the outlet: “It was just one date really, and it was after he split from Ella. Dan was very much single at the time.”

Love Island continues tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX

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BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — Elon Musk said he’s carrying out his threat to form a new political party after his fissure with President Trump, announcing the America Party in response to the president’s sweeping tax cuts law.

Musk, once an ever-present ally to Trump as he headed up the White House advisory team, which he calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, broke with the Republican president over his signature legislation, which was signed into law Friday.

As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk threatened to form the “America Party” if “this insane spending bill passes.”

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk said Saturday on X, the social media company he owns. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

The formation of new political parties is not uncommon, but they typically struggle to pull any significant support away from the Republican and Democratic parties. But Musk, the world’s richest man who spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the 2024 election, could affect the 2026 elections determining control of Congress if he is willing to spend significant amounts of money.

His reignited feud with the president could also be costly for Musk, whose businesses rely on billions of dollars in government contracts and publicly traded company Tesla has taken a hit in the market.

It wasn’t clear whether Musk had taken steps to formally create the new political party. Spokespeople for Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, didn’t immediately comment Sunday.

As of Sunday morning, there were multiple political parties listed in the Federal Election Commission database that had been formed in the the hours since Musk’s Saturday X post with versions of “America Party” of “DOGE” or “X” in the name, or Musk listed among people affiliated with the entity.

But none appeared to be authentic, listing contacts for the organization as email addresses such as ” [email protected]″ or untraceable Protonmail addresses.

Musk on Sunday spent the morning on X taking feedback from users about the party and indicated he’d use the party to get involved in the 2026 midterm elections.

Last month, he threatened to try to oust every member of Congress who voted for Trump’s bill. Musk had called the tax breaks and spending cuts package a “disgusting abomination,” warning it would increase the federal deficit, among other critiques.

“The Republican Party has a clean sweep of the executive, legislative and judicial branches and STILL had the nerve to massively increase the size of government, expanding the national debt by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS,” Musk said Sunday on X.

His critiques of the bill and move to form a political party mark a reversal from May, when his time in the White House was winding down and the head of rocket company SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla said he would spend “a lot less” on politics in the future.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who clashed with Musk while he ran DOGE, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that DOGE’s “principles” were popular but “if you look at the polling, Elon was not.”

“I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,” he said.

Price writes for the Associated Press.

July 5 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Chantal formed in the Atlantic on Saturday morning and is projected to reach South Carolina and North Carolina on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Chantal, the third named storm of the season, will be the first system to impact the United States this Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.

“As tropical cyclones go, this storm will be relatively minor and short-lived,” Frank Strait, severe weather liaison with the South Carolina State Climate Office, told the Island Packet.

In the 2 p.m. EDT update, Chantal had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was traveling northward at 3 mph. In the 11 a.m. update, the winds were 40 mph.

The storm became a tropical depression Friday night off the coasts of Northeast Florida and Georgia.

Chantal was about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and about 185 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, N.C.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the South Santee River, S.C., to Surf City, N.C. A tropical storm watch goes from Edisto Beach to South Santee River.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles east of the center.

“Chantal has barely moved since last night, but a motion to the north-northwest is expected to begin soon,” NHC forecasters said. “The main steering features appear to be a mid- to upper-level low over the Gulf and a narrow mid-level ridge across the mid-Atlantic region.”

Some strengthening is expected before Chantal reaches the coast, NHC said.

A turn to the northeast is forecast by Sunday night, NHC said. On the forecast track, the center of Chantal is expected to move across South Carolina’s coast Sunday morning.

Chantal is expected to produce heavy rainfall in the Carolinas through Monday with 2 to 4 inches and local amounts of 6 inches. NHC said these rains could cause flash flooding

“The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” NHC said.

Storm surge is forecast at 1-3 feet from South Santee River to Surf City and 1-2 feet from Edisto Beach to South Santee River.

Also, isolated tornadoes are possible Saturday night into Sunday along South Carolina’s eastern coast and much of North Carolina, NHC said.

“This was a classic example of homegrown development, by which a tropical storm formed close to the southeast Atlantic coast and in an area where it is typical for July,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.

Andrea and Barry, the first two named systems of the Atlantic hurricane season, have dissipated.

May 16 (UPI) — The United States and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to form an Artificial Intelligence alliance.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in a statement that the United States will launch a one-gigawatt AI data center, which in turn will be a part of a five-gigawatt “UAE-U.S. artificial intelligence technology cluster” in the UAE capital city of Abu Dhabi.

The cluster will manage the region’s computation needs that will operate under American-level security standards and be open to the distribution of new AI infrastructure that can serve on an international level.

A group will be formed between the countries within 30 days of its announcement and will “work together to make more efficient the process of inward investments into the United States by UAE Investment Funds,” which also involves UAE investment in American digital infrastructure.

“We are proud to announce the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick posted to X Thursday. “Together we will build the largest AI data center outside the United States, powered by American companies and high tech manufacturing.”

The deal was made public as President Donald Trump continues a trip through the Gulf region and stopped to visit a new AI campus in Abu Dhabi, where American-produced AI chips will computationally power the facility and become the largest project of its type anywhere outside the United States.

The Biden administration had set an “AI Diffusion Rule” in January, under which the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security added exceptions to the facilitation in regard to the export, reexport of transfer of “advanced computing” to ensure the tech ended up with “users in destinations that do not raise national security or foreign policy concerns.”

The Trump administration rescinded that rule Tuesday, a deregulation that now allows the federal government to make deals with other countries to decide how many American chips they would like to purchase.

“The Trump Administration will pursue a bold, inclusive strategy to American AI technology with trusted foreign countries around the world, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffery Kessler in a Tuesday press release.