Hurricane Milton weakened slightly to a still powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday as it threatened Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on its way to Florida, where more than a million people were ordered to evacuate from its path.
The densely populated west coast of Florida, still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago, braced for landfall on Wednesday.
The US National Hurricane Center projected the storm was likely to hit near the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people and where some evacuees rushed to dispose of mounds of debris left behind by Helene on their way out of town.
With maximum sustained winds of 270kph, Milton eased overnight from the strongest level storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
Wind speeds could decrease further to 233kph by the time it approaches Florida, according to the hurricane center, but still capable of causing catastrophic damage, including power outages expected to last days.
Fed by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, the Hurricane Center said, as it surged from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours.
Its path from west to east was also unusual, as Gulf hurricanes typically form in the Caribbean Sea and make landfall after traveling west and turning north.
“It is exceedingly rare for a hurricane to form in the western Gulf, track eastward, and make landfall on the western coast of Florida,” said Jonathan Lin, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University. “This has big implications since the track of the storm plays a role in determining where the storm surge will be the largest.”
The Hurricane Center forecast storm surges of 3 to 4.5 meters along a stretch of coastline north and south of Tampa Bay.
Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, said Milton was expected to grow in size before making landfall on Wednesday, putting hundreds of miles of coastline within the storm surge danger zone.
Milton was likely to remain a hurricane for its entire journey across the Florida peninsula, Rhome told a Monday news briefing.
YUCATAN DRENCHED
As of 1 a.m. CDT on Tuesday (0600 GMT), the eye of the storm was 105km north-northeast of Progreso, a Mexican port near the Yucatan state capital of Merida, and 840km southwest of Tampa, moving east at 15kph.
While the eye of the storm appeared to have passed to the north of the Yucatan Peninsula, dangerous conditions were still expected to lash the region the early hours of Tuesday.
“We ask you to be pay attention to the information issued by civil protection officials from the government of Mexico and Yucatan’s government as well and if you live in lowlands it is better to go to the shelters that have been already installed,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said earlier.
The area is home to the picturesque colonial-era city of Merida, population 1.2 million, several Maya ruins popular with tourists and the port of Progreso.
In Florida, counties along the western coast ordered people in low-lying areas to take shelter on higher ground.
Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg, said it ordered the evacuation of more than 500,000 people. Lee County said 416,000 people lived in its mandatory evacuation zones. At least six other coastal counties ordered evacuations including Hillsborough County, which includes the city of Tampa.
With one final day for people to evacuate on Tuesday, local officials raised concerns of traffic jams and long lines at gas stations.
Relief efforts remain ongoing throughout much of the US Southeast in the wake of Helene, a Category-4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, killed more than 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage across six states.
Monster hurricane Milton threatens an already battered Florida
https://arab.news/pmcww
Monster hurricane Milton threatens an already battered Florida
- The densely populated west coast of Florida braces for landfall on Wednesday
- Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean
Tensions rise after Afghan, Pakistani forces trade fire at vital border crossing
- 1 Taliban officer was killed in the incident, according to Afghan interior ministry
- Torkham border key for transit of travelers, goods for landlocked Afghanistan
KABUL: Tensions were high at the main border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday after forces from both sides exchanged gunfire overnight, reportedly killing at least one person.
The Torkham border crossing, located in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar and Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been closed since Feb. 21 after Islamabad shut it down over concerns of Kabul’s construction of a border post.
The shootout started on Sunday night at the border and continued until 11 a.m., Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson from the Afghan Ministry of Interior, told Afghan broadcaster Tolo News.
The incident took place after the neighboring countries failed to reach an agreement to reopen the Torkham border crossing, leaving stranded thousands of trucks and vehicles carrying goods that include fruits and vegetables.
Qani said Pakistani forces were the first ones to shoot, and that the incident had killed at least one Taliban officer and injured two other people.
“The situation has been tense since last night. We are worried more firing can happen after the clashes,” Abdul Rahim, a Nangarhar resident who lives near the border crossing, told Arab News by telephone.
Cross-border fire and shootouts have occurred along the Afghan-Pakistan border for years. In the past, each side has closed Torkham and the Chaman border crossing in southwestern Pakistan for various reasons. For landlocked Afghanistan, the two crossings are vital for both trade and travel.
Thousands of people, mainly Afghans, use the crossing daily to seek medical treatment and work in Pakistan’s border areas.
As tensions rise between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the continued closure of Torkham is creating more uncertainties for Afghans at the border.
Hassan Khan, an Afghan student who studies in Pakistan, has been stuck in Nangarhar after renewing his documents.
“We thought we would spend a day or two with our families and then go back to our studies in Pakistan. But this incident happened, and it’s been two weeks that we are now stuck on this side of the border crossing,” Khan told Arab News.
“We want the gate to reopen soon so we can go to our studies. Many patients and their families spent nights at the crossing hoping for the gate to open.”
Ahmad Zia Rahimzai, a political analyst and an editor at the Gaheez Writers and Journalists’ Association, said that the initial border closure was a way for Pakistan “to maintain its pressure on Afghanistan” and impose its demands.
“From time to time, it finds excuses and closes the routes between the two countries … paving the way for military clashes on the border,” Rahimzai told Arab News.
“Pakistan’s goal is to force the Afghan rulers to accept their demands through such pressures.”
Muslim Americans using iftars to unify community, address important issues
- Arab America Foundation: ‘These gatherings create opportunities for dialogue, hospitality and mutual respect’
- This year, Ramadan is followed by National Arab American Heritage Month in April
CHICAGO: Muslim Americans across the US are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan by hosting iftars to celebrate community engagement in local society and government.
The iftars are themed to showcase public needs and concerns; support charities, needy children and families; increase awareness of US foreign policy; and gather people of all religions.
The Virginia chapter of the Arab America Foundation announced that a Ramadan iftar will be held on March 7 at Raouche Hall in Falls Church.
“These gatherings create opportunities for dialogue, hospitality and mutual respect, helping to bridge cultural and religious divides,” AAF President Warren David told Arab News, adding that the event is part of the foundation’s mission “to strengthen bonds and empower Arab Americans.”
Also on March 7, at Wallace Hall in New York City, the Catholic Organization of St. Ignatius Loyola will co-host with the Peace Islands Institute and local Muslim leaders an iftar featuring panel discussions on the community.
On March 8 in Palo Alto, California, Muslims will host an event to promote the need for foster parents who host and support orphaned children.
In Texas, Houston Mayor John Whitmire will give the keynote address at an iftar at the Bayou Center on March 9. The event is hosted by the Islamic Center of Greater Houston for the 26th year.
“Houston is truly one of the most diverse international cities in the nation, and it will be a great opportunity to show case our religious, cultural and social diversity by participating in this religious celebration with all of our brothers and sisters,” the organizers said.
“This is a remarkable opportunity to show solidarity and unity among not just various Muslim organizations and religious groups, but also to remind all that we share the same human values, respect and dignities as do the rest of our citizens of this great city, irrespective of race, color, religion, or the origin of an individual.”
In Chicago, where elections are in full gear for April 1, several mosques, the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, and community organizations such as the Palestine Club have partnered to host an “Iftar Candidate Town Hall” on March 13 to bring the community and government officials together.
Sponsors said they hope to encourage Muslims to vote in local elections, and to present a strong, positive public profile of the community among non-Muslims.
“There will be thousands of iftar events celebrating Ramadan across the nation, but also demonstrating the patriotism and support Muslims have for this country. The iftar events traditionally address a wide range of community needs during Ramadan from California to New York, and including in Chicago,” Hassan Nijem, chairman of the AACC in Chicago, told Arab News.
“Ramadan isn’t only an important holy event for Muslims, it’s also an opportunity for Muslims here to engage and educate non-Muslims about who we are, what we stand for, and emphasize that we’re no different than any other ethnic or national or immigrant community in this country.
“It’s also very uplifting for our community, which over the years has been the target of racism, discrimination and much misunderstanding.”
Nijem said many Arabs and Muslims are running for local government offices in Illinois elections on April 1.
This year, Ramadan will be followed by National Arab American Heritage Month in April, giving Arabs and Muslims a “needed positive national boost,” Nijem said.
With the rise in Arab candidates running in elections, “we’ve also seen a large number of video Ramadan greetings from American candidates and politicians hoping to appeal for Arab-American votes,” he added.
On March 15 in Newark, California, the charity Human Appeal USA will host an iftar to rally support for rebuilding Gaza at Chandni Restaurant.
US actions may set polio eradication back in Pakistan and Afghanistan, WHO says
- WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and Gates Foundation to end polio
- The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts
LONDON: The eradication of polio as a global health threat may be delayed unless US funding cuts – potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years – are reversed, a senior World Health Organization official has warned.
The WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and the Gates Foundation to end polio. The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts, including stopping collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, UNICEF’s polio grant was terminated as the State Department cut 90 percent of USAID’s grants worldwide to align aid with President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy.
In total, the partnership is missing $133 million from the US that was expected this year, said Hamid Jafari, director of the polio eradication program for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region. The area includes two countries where a wild form of polio is spreading: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“If the funding shortfall continues, it may potentially delay eradication, it may lead to more children getting paralyzed,” he said, adding that the longer it took to end polio, the more expensive it would be.
He said the partners were working out ways to cope with the funding shortage, which will largely impact personnel and surveillance, but hoped the US would return to funding the fight against polio.
“We are looking at other funding sources ... to sustain both the priority staff and priority activities,” he said.
He said vaccination campaigns in both Afghanistan and Pakistan would be protected.
UNICEF did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation reiterated that no foundation could fill the gap left by the US Saudi Arabia gave $500 million to polio eradication last week.
The partnership already faces a $2.4 billion shortfall to 2029, as it accepted last year that it would take longer, and cost more, to eradicate the disease than hoped.
Kremlin: Someone needs to force Zelensky to make peace after clash with Trump
- ‘Someone has to make Zelensky want peace. If the Europeans can do it, they should be honored and praised’
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday that someone needed to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make peace after a clash with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office that showed just how hard it would be to find a way to end the war.
“What happened at the White House on Friday, of course, demonstrated how difficult it will be to reach a settlement trajectory around Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “The Kyiv regime and Zelensky do not want peace. They want the war to continue.”
“It is very important that someone forces Zelensky himself to change his position,” Peskov said. “Someone has to make Zelensky want peace. If the Europeans can do it, they should be honored and praised.”
President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, triggering the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatist forces fighting Ukraine’s armed forces.
President Vladimir Putin, Peskov said, was familiar with the “unprecedented event” in the Oval Office – which showed, Peskov said, Zelensky’s lack of diplomatic abilities at the very least.
“In addition, we see that the collective West has partially begun to lose its collectivity, and a fragmentation of the collective West has begun,” Peskov said.
UK says ‘no agreement’ on Ukraine partial truce proposal
- Emmanuel Macron said such a truce would not, initially at least, cover ground fighting
LONDON: France and Britain have not agreed on a partial truce plan for Ukraine, a UK minister said on Monday, after French President Emmanuel Macron said it had been proposed by the two nations.
Macron told France’s Le Figaro newspaper on Sunday that London and Paris are proposing a one-month truce in Ukraine “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure.”
Macron said such a truce would not, initially at least, cover ground fighting.
“No agreement has been made on what a truce looks like,” UK armed forces minister Luke Pollard told Times Radio.
“But we are working together with France and our European allies to look at what is the path to how... we create a lasting and durable peace in Ukraine,” he added.
A UK government official also played down any agreement.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the person said: “There are various options on the table, subject to further discussions with the US and European partners but a one-month truce has not been agreed.”
Macron’s comments came after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened crisis talks over Ukraine with European leaders, NATO chief Mark Rutte and Canada in central London on Sunday.
“As the PM said in his press conference, we need and want to progress with momentum and are pleased today’s summit has enabled discussions to move forward. Those discussions will continue at pace,” said a Downing Street spokesperson.
