- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
- France's second woman premier makes surprise frontline return
- France's Macron announces fourth government of the year
- Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
- Guatemalan authorities recover minors taken by sect members
- Germany's far-right AfD holds march after Christmas market attack
- European, US markets wobble awaiting Santa rally
- Serie A basement club Monza fire coach Nesta
- Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
- Biden commutes almost all federal death sentences
- Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony
- NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of Sun
- France's new government to be announced Monday evening: Elysee
- London toy 'shop' window where nothing is for sale
- Volkswagen boss hails cost-cutting deal but shares fall
- Accused killer of US insurance CEO pleads not guilty to 'terrorist' murder
- Global stock markets mostly higher
- Not for sale. Greenland shrugs off Trump's new push
- Sweden says China blocked prosecutors' probe of ship linked to cut cables
- Acid complicates search after deadly Brazil bridge collapse
- Norwegian Haugan dazzles in men's World Cup slalom win
- Arsenal's Saka out for 'many weeks' with hamstring injury
- Mali singer Traore child custody case postponed
- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
Texas hunkers down as storm Beryl approaches
Coastal Texas was under hurricane and storm surge warnings on Sunday, as the southern US state braced for the approach of Beryl, which was threatening to make landfall as a hurricane.
The city of Galveston, southeast of Houston, had issued a voluntary evacuation order for some areas, with videos on social media showing lines of cars heading out of town Sunday afternoon.
As Beryl's winds intensified, acting Governor Dan Patrick called on Texans to be on alert, listen to local officials, and leave the danger zone if possible.
"It will be a deadly storm for people who are directly in that path," Patrick told a state emergency management press conference, saying Beryl was likely to roar ashore before dawn Monday between the city of Corpus Christi and Galveston Island.
"Trust me, you don't want to be in a Category 1," he added, referring to the lowest level of hurricane, with winds between 74 and 95 miles per hour (119-153 kilometers per hour).
The White House said it was monitoring the situation.
Hurricane Beryl left at least seven dead after it tore through the Caribbean and Venezuela, as winds at times reached Category 5 strength.
It has since weakened to a tropical storm, with winds recorded at 65 miles per hour, but "steady strengthening is expected, and Beryl is forecast to become a hurricane again later today," the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.
"Continued strengthening is expected overnight before Beryl reaches the Texas coast."
Beryl hit Mexico Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, flattening trees and lampposts and ripping off roof tiles, according to its civil protection authority, though there were no reported deaths or injuries there.
Before that, it hit the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, slamming Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Venezuela.
Rainfall of up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) is expected in parts of Texas, the NHC reported.
"This rainfall will produce areas of flash and urban flooding, some of which may be locally considerable," it said.
"Minor to isolated moderate river flooding is also expected."
Beryl is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June, and the earliest to hit the highest Category 5 in July.
It is extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.
North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1-3 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
M.Fischer--AMWN