Hurricane Isaias hits Florida with wind speeds of 165 km/h
Hurricane Isaias has made landfall on the US Gulf Coast. The tropical cyclone reached the coast near the city of Destin in the state of Florida with wind speeds of up to 165 kilometers per hour, as the US hurricane center NHC announced. The storm had strengthened significantly on its way through the Gulf of Mexico and reached strength three (out of a maximum of five). Before making landfall, however, it weakened and reached the coast as a force two storm. Isaias is the first hurricane of this fall in the Atlantic.
Meteorologists warned of life-threatening storm surges, heavy rain and flooding. Storm surges could cause water to rise up to 2.7 meters above the ground, particularly on the coast of northwest Florida. Tornadoes are also possible. According to the US Hurricane Center, 100 to 200 liters of rain per square meter could fall in the affected areas, and locally up to 380 liters.
As a precautionary measure, a state of emergency was declared in several states. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey had ordered the evacuation of tourists and visitors from several coastal towns, including the popular vacation destinations Gulf Shores and Orange Beach as well as Dauphin Island. In Florida, too, people had to leave particularly vulnerable coastal areas.
Flooded streets in Pensacola, Florida. . Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP
Storm and road damage to trees in Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle Getty/AFP
Strong winds and rain had already reached the coast before the center of the storm hit. Numerous flights were canceled and shops and schools were closed. In the city of Mobile, Alabama, authorities imposed a nighttime curfew.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had prepared the population for longer-lasting power outages and possible road closures.
US oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was also significantly affected by the hurricane. According to the responsible US authorities, around 72 percent of the oil production there and 59 percent of the natural gas production had been stopped as a precautionary measure. The personnel were brought to safety on numerous support platforms.
Conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will be Trump's new press secretary
Donald Trump is getting a new press secretary. The US President confirmed media reports that conservative TV commentator Katie Zacharia will take over the job in the future. Zacharia, who briefly worked at the Department of Homeland Security, replaces Karoline Leavitt, who took a short break after leaving the White House and is now a Fox News commentator. “I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our country as the new White House Press Secretary,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The role of chief press secretary is one of the most prominent in any U.S. administration, as she serves as the president's daily mouthpiece. Trump has long placed great importance on this role and has scrutinized the performance of previous press secretaries. Leavitt earned a reputation for engaging in heated exchanges with reporters in the White House press room and was considered close to Trump.
Vance does not want to watch the planned live execution
US Vice President J. D. Vance has expressed doubts about the announced live broadcast of the execution of a convicted assassin. He said to journalists in Lima, Ohio, that he doesn't know whether this will actually happen. We have to wait and see what happens in December. At the same time, he said: “If it’s livestreamed, I won’t watch it.”
Vance emphasized the seriousness of death row prisoner Nidal Hasan's crimes. In his opinion, this was the worst terrorist attack on American soil since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Regardless of the controversy surrounding the method of execution, it should not be forgotten that Hasan brutally murdered many innocent people.
On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution would be broadcast via livestream. The plans sparked strong criticism.
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Trump wants to reconsider firing the central bank director
US President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his attempt to force US Federal Reserve Director Lisa Cook from office. A commission he appointed is supposed to investigate allegations that Cook made false statements about real estate loans. The panel will then recommend to the president whether there is sufficient legal reason for her dismissal. This emerges from a memorandum from the White House.
A closed hearing at the White House is scheduled for November 5th. Cook will be questioned there and can present evidence and statements with the support of a lawyer. She can then comment again in writing until November 10th. The commission should then submit its assessment to Trump.
Trump had already tried to fire Cook in August 2025. He accuses her of having stated a primary residence in loan transactions for two properties in the states of Michigan and Georgia in 2021, which can enable more favorable loan conditions. Cook denies committing fraud. Her attorney declared a corresponding entry for the property in Georgia to be unintentional. Other loan documents show this as a second home.
The Supreme Court blocked Trump's firing attempt in June with a narrow decision. The judges found Cook should have been given a prior opportunity to respond to the allegations. At the same time, they emphasized that there are high legal hurdles to dismissing Fed directors. They left it open whether the specific allegations against Cook justified dismissal. This also left the possibility of a new dismissal procedure. The dispute is seen as a test of the independence of the US Federal Reserve, whose interest rate policy should not be determined by political interests.
Report: USA imposes far-reaching sanctions against the International Criminal Court
The US government under President Donald Trump imposed far-reaching sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. With the punitive measures, Washington is heading towards a diplomatic conflict with its European allies.
While the US government has long been hostile to the court and has in the past imposed targeted sanctions on individual prosecutors and judges, the new measures go much further. You could also meet companies that provide services to the court.
"President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute US citizens," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement provided to Reuters ahead of the official announcement. "That's why today the United States is imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, curtail its resources and paralyze its work." Washington is particularly offended by the court's arrest warrants issued last year against Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, the ICC conducted investigations into alleged crimes by US soldiers in Afghanistan in the past, but has since discontinued them.
The ICC's deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, sharply criticized the action. "The sanctions are intended to undermine the international rule of law and the work of an independent judicial institution," she told Reuters, emphasizing: "Our work will continue in all our proceedings, investigations and prosecutions."
US Homeland Security justifies ICE shootings in New York
After the US immigration agency ICE shot a man in New York, the US Department of Homeland Security defended the operation. The officers were convinced that their lives, those of their operational partners and the public were in danger and that's why they fired shots, said Marcos Charles, deputy head of the ERO department, which is responsible for enforcing the arrests and deportations of unlawful migrants in the United States.
A suspect was hit “superficially” in the neck by one of the bullets or by shrapnel, Charles said. ICE officials wanted to execute an arrest warrant after he evaded arrest in September. The man belongs to a gang that is known for thefts with weapons and mopeds, Charles said. On Thursday, an ICE officer shot and injured the man. “The man is alive and in a local hospital,” wrote the US Department of Homeland Security on platform X. The suspect was supposed to be arrested during the operation.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said initial reports said emergency services had surrounded the man's car, which also had a five-year-old child in it. Then several shots were fired. According to current knowledge, the child remained physically unharmed. According to Charles, officials knew nothing about the child.
Carim Soliman
Evacuations due to strengthening Hurricane Isaias
Hurricane Isaias has strengthened significantly on its path to the US Gulf Coast. The tropical cyclone reached wind speeds of around 190 kilometers per hour in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday (local time), making it a force three out of five, as the US hurricane center NHC announced. The first hurricane of this year's Atlantic season is expected to hit the coast on Friday evening or Saturday night. Northwest Florida and the states of Alabama and Mississippi are particularly at risk.
Meteorologists warn of life-threatening storm surges, heavy rain and flooding. Tornadoes are also possible. According to the hurricane center, Isaias could strengthen even further. The authorities also expect longer-lasting power outages in the affected areas.
According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, there is a risk of serious damage. “There will be impacts throughout Northwest Florida,” DeSantis said. Meteorologists warned that it was a dangerous storm with potentially life-threatening impacts. At a press conference on Friday morning, Republican DeSantis said that the Emergency Management Department had mobilized emergency supplies: including more than a thousand generators, half a million gallons of gasoline (almost 1.9 million liters), a million gallons of diesel (around 3.8 million liters), as well as ready meals, pallets of food packages and water.
As a precautionary measure, a state of emergency was declared in several states. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered the evacuation of tourists and visitors from several coastal towns, including the popular vacation destinations Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, as well as Dauphin Island. In Florida, too, people had to leave particularly vulnerable coastal areas. The authorities called on the population to complete preparations for the storm as quickly as possible. Some US airlines - including United, Delta and JetBlue - proactively offered passengers affected by the storm to rebook their trip, which was scheduled to take place this weekend, to a few days later, free of charge.
People in Mexico are also currently preparing for extreme weather. On Sunday, Tropical Storm Simon, currently still over the Pacific, could grow into a "powerful Category 4 hurricane" and hit the coast of the state of Jalisco, said Fabián Vázquez Romaña, coordinator of the Mexican Meteorological Service on Platform X.
The meteorologist warned that wind speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour and wave heights of eight to nine meters are to be feared. In addition, one has to prepare for three days of heavy rain in parts of the provinces of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco.
Also this weekend, Mexican weather experts expect Tropical Storm Rachel to hit the Baja California peninsula.
Anna Schimpp
US charges Venezuela's ex-president Maduro with torture
The US government is now accusing former Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were imprisoned in New York, of torture. At a court hearing on Thursday (local time), according to the New York Times, the prosecutor's office listed the previously known charges of "drug terrorism" as well as conspiracy to torture Venezuelan and US citizens.
The ousted president and his wife are accused of having monitored and ordered torture of opposition members since the election victory of Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez in 1999. In their indictment, published by the New York Times, prosecutors said Maduro and Flores were part of a regime that enriched itself through the cocaine trade and worked with drug cartels and guerrillas active in Colombia. The torture was also directed against individual US citizens. An application for relief from custody for Flores due to poor health was rejected.
Maduro and Flores were captured in a US military operation in Venezuela in January and brought to the US. Since then, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has ruled Venezuela under US patronage. The new government and
