(FLORIDA KEYS, Fla.) — Hurricane Rafael strengthened to a major Category 3 hurricane as it neared the coast of Cuba on Wednesday afternoon.
Rafael is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flash flooding to the western part of the island.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, where heavy rain, gusty winds and even tornadoes are possible on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
Rafael will move into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and start weakening.
Rafael isn’t posing a major threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but some of the tropical moisture could move toward the coast and add to the rain from an approaching cold front.
Most models predict Rafael sitting in the Gulf into next week and possibly moving southwest toward Mexico.
(FLORIDA KEYS, Fla.) — Hurricane Rafael, now a powerful Category 2 hurricane, could strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane later in the day before making landfall in Cuba on Wednesday night.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, where heavy rain, gusty winds and even tornadoes are possible on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
By the weekend, Rafael will weaken as it stalls in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rafael isn’t posing a major threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but some of the tropical moisture could move toward the coast and add to the rain from an approaching cold front.
Most models predict Rafael sitting in the Gulf into next week and possibly moving southwest toward Mexico.
Parker McCollum has been a dad for almost three months now and to him, fatherhood has been a “major, major blessing.”
“It’s just been so good. Hallie Ray’s healthy and feeling great. And, you know, Major‘s starting to smile a little bit and I get to give him a little bottle every now and then, which is cool,” Parker shares with the press.
“Every time I hold him, he starts to get fussy and I don’t really have the touch yet. So the bottle helps with that,” the “Pretty Heart” singer notes.
“But man, it’s just been so good and everybody was right. It took a few weeks for me to kind of get it and for me to really get over the fact that it’s going to be different from here on out,” says Parker. “I was kind of freaked out there for a little while. Man, everybody was right.”
“It’s the greatest thing in the world,” he adds. “That’s my boy.”
Parker’s slowing things down for the rest of the year with five remaining shows on his tour schedule. But he’ll ramp things up in January for his What Kinda Man Tour, which kicks off Jan. 23 in Athens, Georgia.
Jason Derulo is opening up about his most trusted critic.
The singer appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Wednesday, where he said his 3-year-old son, Jason King, previews all of his new music before it gets released.
“Yeah, he’s the new A&R,” Jason said.
He also explained kids are great critics because they tell the truth.
“Sometimes you gotta let your kids do the work because they don’t know how to lie yet, so they going to keep it real,” Jason said.
This honesty goes towards more than just music, it seems.
“If you like, ‘Bubba, what you think of about this outfit?’ he be like, ‘Nah, uh-uh,’ ” Jason said. “But if you ask a random person, they’re going [to] be like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s cool.’”
Jason shares his son with his ex, Jena Frumes. The three of them wore matching Toy Story costumes for Halloween this year — with Jason dressed as Woody, Frumes as Bo Peep and their son as Buzz Lightyear.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory is already beginning to elicit requests from his supporters charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for delays in their cases due to the potential they could be pardoned after Trump’s inauguration.
Attorneys for Christopher Carnell, a 21-year-old defendant from North Carolina who was found guilty earlier this year of felony and misdemeanor charges over his participation in the Capitol assault, requested Wednesday morning that D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell delay a status hearing in his case scheduled for later this week, citing Trump’s past promises to pardon his supporters.
“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump made multiple clemency promises to the January 6 defendants, particularly to those who were nonviolent participants,” their filing said. “Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6, is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.”
Judge Howell denied Carnell’s request to delay his status hearing in an order on Wednesday.
The filing had stated that Carnell’s attorneys reached out to Trump’s office to get further information “regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions relevant to his case.”
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,500 people across the country in the last four years over their roles in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, part of what the Justice Department has described as one of the largest criminal investigations in its history.
The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office has continued to arrest individuals on a near-daily basis, many of whom have been charged with carrying out violent assaults on police protecting the building.
In addition to Trump’s promises to pardon many of those who participated in the attack, it’s widely expected the ongoing criminal investigation will be shuttered once Trump takes office.
Yara Shahidi and Keith Powers are in talks to star in a coming-of-age romance called Bloom, as are Kedar Williams-Stirling and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Deadline reports.
Directed by Cole Swanson, who also wrote the script, Bloom follows Ace (Williams-Stirling), a young, talented Black artist, who moves to Italy for university and winds up on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, he finds love and friendship within “a defiant and opulent circle of wealthy young Black adults deemed ‘The Casa Rosa Kids,'” some of whom navigate a “steamy love triangle.” Bloom has been described as Love Jonesset in Italy.
Bloom will mark the feature debut of Swanson. Pineloft Entertainment will produce alongside Jolene Rodriguez of Broken English Productions, while UK-based 1PLUS1 Productions and Adam Strawford come together for music consulting.
Travis Kelce is reminiscing about attending his last Eras Tour concert to support his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
While speaking to his brother Jason Kelce on the latest episode of their New Heights podcast, Travis talked about attending the show in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Nov. 2.
“I wanted to see Tay one more time before this thing got closed up,” Travis said. “I’ll tell you what, man, the American crowds, they did not disappoint. I heard that it was a lot more rowdy this time around, knowing she was coming back to stop through America one last time before the tour was over with, and I’ll tell you what, that thing was rocking. Absolutely rocking.”
Travis ran into fellow athlete Caitlin Clark at the concert, and said it was awesome to meet her.
“She’s a Swiftie through and through, man. Loves the show. I went to night two. She had already been to night one,” Travis said. “I think she’s just having fun going up to the shows and taking her friends and family and getting everybody to experience Tay up there onstage, making the entire 69,000, 70,000 people go f****** nuts for three and a half hours, four hours.”
The Eras Tour starts back up on Nov. 14 for the final nine shows in Canada. Taylor will perform six nights in Toronto, before finishing up with three concerts in Vancouver.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory is already beginning to elicit requests from his supporters charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for delays in their cases due to the potential they could be pardoned after Trump’s inauguration.
Attorneys for Christopher Carnell, a 21-year-old defendant from North Carolina who was found guilty earlier this year of felony and misdemeanor charges over his participation in the Capitol assault, requested that D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell delay a status hearing in his case scheduled for later this week, citing Trump’s past promises to pardon his supporters.
“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump made multiple clemency promises to the January 6 defendants, particularly to those who were nonviolent participants,” their filing said. “Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6, is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.”
The filing further stated Carnell’s attorneys have reached out to Trump’s office to get further information “regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions relevant to his case.”
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,500 people across the country in the last four years over their roles in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, part of what the Justice Department has described as one of the largest criminal investigations in its history.
The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office has continued to arrest individuals on a near-daily basis, many of whom have been charged with carrying out violent assaults on police protecting the building.
In addition to Trump’s promises to pardon many of those who participated in the attack, it’s widely expected the ongoing criminal investigation will be shuttered once Trump takes office.
Bonnie Britain/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Jackson 5 member Tito Jackson has been laid to rest at the same cemetery where his brother Michael Jackson is buried.
According to the Associated Press, Tito was buried Nov. 4 in a private ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. In addition to Michael, who died in 2009, Jackson patriarch Joe Jackson, who died in 2018, is also buried there.
Tito’s siblings La Toya and Marlon Jackson attended the ceremony, as did Michael’s children Paris and Bigi,aka Blanket.
Tito’s sons announced his death on Sept. 16. He was 70. His final show was with the Jacksons on Sept. 10, 2024 in Munich, Germany.
Tito was the third eldest of the nine Jackson siblings. He’s survived by Jackson matriarch Katherine, 94, and siblings Janet, Jermaine, Randy, Marlon, Jackie, Rebbie and La Toya.
After Tito’s death, Janet wrote on an Instagram Story, “May you rest in eternal peace. I will miss you so much.”
On Oct. 15, which would have been Tito’s 71st birthday, his three sons wrote on Instagram, “His presence will always be deeply missed, but his music, kindness, and love will forever live on in our hearts. Tito brought so much joy to the world, both as a member of The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, and as an amazing father, brother, son, uncle and friend who touched the lives of many.”
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heatwaves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
Study finds use of renewable energy sources reduces risk of blackouts
The Texas freeze of 2021 knocked out power for more than 10 million people, leaving some without heat for days. In the aftermath of the storm, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a national news network that “Wind and solar got shut down.” He added, “They were collectively more than 10% of our power grid, and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis.”
However, in the aftermath, a research study found that renewable energy sources (RES) weren’t to blame. Instead, the researchers found that Texas “failed to sufficiently winterize its electricity and gas systems after 2011.”
Other blackouts have also been blamed on RES, including the 2016 blackout in South Australia and a 2019 outage in the U.K., both of which involved disruptions to wind farms.
Now, according to a new study from The University of Tennessee, grids with higher renewable energy penetration are actually less vulnerable to blackouts than those more reliant on traditional, non-renewable sources.
The analysis found that as the proportion of renewable energy in the grid increases, the intensity of blackouts — measured by the number of affected customers and the length of outages — decreases. This finding challenges the notion that renewable energy inherently makes power grids more fragile.
The researchers analyzed over 2,000 blackouts across the U.S., looking specifically at how renewable energy levels and various weather patterns influenced outage severity. They discovered that high levels of renewables didn’t contribute to an increase in weather-related blackouts.
In grids where renewables made up more than 30% of the energy supply, blackout events were generally less intense and shorter in duration. This trend held even during extreme weather, like high winds and storms, which can place heavy demands on power systems.
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
Researchers say they’ve devised the perfect placement for EV chargers
When you buy a gas-powered car, you rarely worry about where to fill it up. That’s because gas stations are everywhere. A 2022 McKinsey survey found that more than 40% of prospective electric vehicle (EV) buyers want that same degree of convenience when it comes to public charger availability for EVs.
Engineers at Cornell University say they have devised a solution for where to place EV charging stations so they are convenient for drivers and profitable for companies.
Using Bayesian optimization, a mathematical method that efficiently analyzes complex data to achieve these results, the research team discovered that for urban areas that it’s best to install an equal percentage of medium-speed and fast chargers. And because motorists use different speed chargers for different reasons, the researchers said it is essential to consider how they are being used when placing them around town.
For example, the engineers found that fast charging is more important at grocery stores when consumers are only inside for 20 minutes. Work and home charging stations should be medium speed because drivers usually park for hours at a time at those locations.
The researchers say their approach can boost investor returns by 50% to 100% compared to random placement strategies.
The team simulated the behavior of 30,000 vehicles over 113,000 trips in the Atlanta region, considering various traffic patterns and driver decisions. This method allowed them to determine optimal charging station placements.
Yeuchen Sophia Liu, the study’s lead author, told the Cornell Chronicle that, “Placing publicly available charging stations around cities sounds like a simple thing, but mathematically, it’s actually very hard.”
She added, “Economically strategic placement of charging stations could play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles.”
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
Nearly 40% of the world’s trees face extinction, according to new assessment
Climate change, deforestation, invasive pests and disease all threaten to permanently wipe out nearly 40% of the earth’s trees, according to a new assessment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The organization, comprised of 1,400 member organizations worldwide and 16,000 experts, said more than one in three tree species across 192 countries is now facing extinction, especially trees found on islands.
development and agriculture, as well as the other threats faced by tree species across the globe.
Since 1964, the IUCN has hosted its “Red List,” a database of threatened species from around the world. The research group found that 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species on their list are at risk of extinction — more than 2,000 of which are used for medicines, food, and fuels.
“Trees are essential to support life on Earth through their vital role in ecosystems, and millions of people depend upon them for their lives and livelihoods,” said Grethel Aguilar, IUCN director general, in a statement.
According to their analysis, “the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.”
The group is calling for more habitat protection and restoration to protect these species and the creation of seed banks and botanical gardens to ensure they don’t disappear forever.
“The significance of the Global Tree Assessment cannot be overstated, given the importance of trees to ecosystems and people. We hope this frightening statistic of one in three trees facing extinction will incentivize urgent action and be used to inform conservation plans,” said Eimear Nic Lughadha from the Royal Botanic Gardens, in a statement.
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
Report finds climate change increased heat deaths among older adults by 167%; worsened food security
The health and economic costs of climate change are rising worldwide, according to the newly released 2024 Lancet Countdown, a yearly report hosted by University College London and involving more than 300 researchers.
According to the report, “Of the 15 indicators monitoring climate change-related health hazards, exposures, and impacts, ten reached concerning new records in their most recent year of data.”
With global communities facing an additional 50 days of “dangerous heat,” heat-related deaths among older adults increased by a record-breaking 167% in 2023 compared to the 1990s, according to the report’s findings.
In addition to the heat impact, the Lancet report found that climate change is significantly worsening food insecurity, with 151 million more people facing shortages compared to previous decades. And more than 3 million people died in 2021 because of air pollution and fine particulate matter.
The researchers also found that global extreme weather costs have increased by 23% from 2010-14 to 2019-23, amounting to $227 billion annually.
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston and ABC News Medical Unit’s Sony Salzman
