- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
- Author John Grisham joins bid to save Texas death row inmate
- Venezuela arrests fourth American over alleged 'plot' against Maduro
- 'Happy' Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- Man Utd hit Barnsley for seven in League Cup rout
- Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa facing concussion layoff
- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
- Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march
- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
- Arizona to ask court to rule on voting rights
- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
- Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
- Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens
- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
- Activist urges repatriation of Native Americans dead in Paris 'human zoo'
- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
- Jihadist group claims rare attack on Mali capital
- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Menacing Florida, Hurricane Ian nears catastrophic Category 5
Hurricane Ian intensified to just shy of catastrophic Category 5 strength Wednesday as its heavy winds began pummelling the US state of Florida, with forecasters warning of life-threatening storm surges after leaving millions without power in Cuba.
Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with voluntary evacuation recommended in several others, according to the state's emergency officials as they girded for a potentially historic storm.
In a pre-dawn advisory the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said "Ian has strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane," warning later of "catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding."
At 7:00 am (1100 GMT) it said "data from a Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 155 miles (250 kilometers) per hour" -- just shy of Category 5, the strongest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
"This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days," Governor Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday as he warned residents of a "rough stretch" ahead for Florida.
"It could make landfall as a Category 5, but clearly this is a very powerful major hurricane that's going to have major impacts, both on... southwest Florida but as it continues to work through the state."
The NHC for its part said Ian was "rapidly intensifying," while conditions along the Florida coast were "rapidly deteriorating."
Tropical storm-strength winds were already battering the Florida Keys, as the storm was expected to make landfall later Wednesday near Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, along the state's west coast, before moving across central Florida and emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.
With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 16 feet (3.6 to 4.9 meters) above ground, authorities were warning of catastrophic conditions.
"This is a life-threatening situation," the NHC warned.
DeSantis said on Tuesday night that there had already been at least two "radar-indicated tornadoes" in the state, and warned those in areas projected to be hit hardest that their "time to evacuate is coming to an end."
Calls to heed evacuation warnings were echoed by US President Joe Biden, who earlier said Ian "could be a very severe hurricane, life-threatening and devastating in its impact."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had spoken with DeSantis -- a potential 2024 election challenger -- Tuesday evening to discuss storm preparations.
- Widespread blackout -
Ian plunged all of Cuba into darkness on Tuesday after battering the country's west as a Category 3 for more than five hours before moving back out over the Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said.
The storm damaged Cuba's power network and left the island "without electrical service," state electricity company Union Electrica said.
Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had access to electricity on the island of more than 11 million people. Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at home, and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets.
In the western city of Pinar del Rio, AFP footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and damaged rooftops.
"Desolation and destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here," a 70-year-old resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.
About 40,000 people were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province, which bore the brunt of the storm, local authorities said.
Cuban residents described "destruction" and posted images on social media of flooded streets and felled trees.
At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.
In Consolacion del Sur, southwest of Havana, 65-year-old Caridad Fernandez said her roof was seriously damaged and water came through her front door.
"Everything we have is damaged," she said. "But we'll get through this, we'll just keep moving forwards."
- 'Life and death' -
In the US, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.
Authorities in several municipalities were distributing sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.
Tampa International Airport suspended operations from Tuesday at 5 pm.
NASA, on the state's east coast, also took precautions, rolling back its massive Moon rocket into a storage hanger for protection.
Like DeSantis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it was the agency's "biggest concern."
"If people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference between life and death," she said.
M.Thompson--AMWN