First: Death toll rises as Florida mourns devastation from Hurricane Milton | US News

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The death toll from Hurricane Milton rose to at least 10 on Thursday as Florida continued to assess the devastation from the Category 3 storm, which caused significant property damage across the state and left more than 3.5 million homes and businesses without power.

Five people were killed in a St. Lucie County retirement community hit by a tornado that formed on the outskirts of Milton, authorities there said. The tornado hit near Sarasota on Florida's west coast Wednesday evening before the hurricane made landfall.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man found clinging to an ice box in the Gulf of Mexico after his boat became stranded in the choppy waters off Milton overnight.

• How bad was the storm surge? Although the severe storm surges that authorities had predicted before Milton's arrival were not as severe as forecast, some areas, such as parts of Sarasota County, recorded a storm surge of 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters).

• What role does global warming play? When discussing specific weather events, things are always complicated. But burning fossil fuels has made storms as severe as Hurricane Helene this month about 2.5 times more likely than in the pre-industrial era, scientists at the World Weather Attribution Group said.

• What did Joe Biden say? The president criticized lies and misinformation when asked if he had spoken to Donald Trump, who falsely claimed disaster relief funds had been diverted to migrants. “Former President Trump, get a life, man,” Biden said.

At least 22 people were killed and 117 injured in an Israeli attack on Beirut, health authorities said – alongside the new bombing of the Gaza Strip

At least 22 people were killed and another 117 injured in Israeli attacks on central Beirut on Thursday evening, Lebanese health authorities reported. A passerby told the Guardian that families fled the scene with mattresses and bags, some bleeding from their ears due to the force of the explosions.

Israeli media reported that the target was Wafiq Safa, one of Hezbollah's top political officials. About an hour after the airstrikes, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for residents of Dahiyeh in Beirut's southern suburbs, warning that they would carry out airstrikes.

Separately, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said on Thursday that Israeli forces had deliberately fired on its positions, wounding two peacekeepers – raising new allegations of violations of international law.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, a “catastrophic situation” occurred at a hospital that provides specialized child care, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital said, as Israeli forces launched new ground attacks and airstrikes in Gaza.

• Here are the effects of the Israeli attack on Lebanon so far: According to the Ministry of Health, 2,169 people were killed and 10,212 injured in the past year of conflict, not including the victims of the bombings in Beirut last night.

• Here are the effects of the Israeli attack on Gaza so far: According to health authorities, more than 42,065 people have been killed and 97,886 injured since October 7, 2023, including at least 28 dead, after an Israeli airstrike hit a school for displaced people in central Gaza on Thursday morning.

• You shouldn't miss this: A before and after visualization of how a year of Israeli bombing has devastated the Gaza Strip. About 90% of the 2.3 million residents were displaced, often multiple times.

Trump insults Detroit during his speech…in Detroit

Donald Trump attacked Detroit on Thursday at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan – a crucial swing state.

The former president, whose speeches are often rambling, talked about China being a developing country and said, “Well, we're a developing country too, just look at Detroit.” Detroit, more than most places in China, is a developing area .”

Trump left his teleprompter the entire time and later said, “Our whole country is going to end up like Detroit when (Kamala Harris) is your president.”

Meanwhile, Barack Obama began his campaign for vice president last night.

• What are Trump's tax and tariff policies? He has proposed a flat tariff of up to 20% on all imports and 60% or more on Chinese products, as well as tax cuts that would benefit corporations and billionaires. The plans have been attacked as a recipe for rising inflation and a weaker, less competitive and less equal economy.

In other news…

• An 1865 Claude Monet pastel that the Nazis stole from a Jewish couple during World War II has been returned to the family's descendantsFBI officials said Wednesday.

• More than 370 million women and girls alive today – or nearly one in eight – experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18according to the first global estimates from Unicef.

• Ethel Kennedy, the activist and widow of Senator Robert F Kennedy, died at 96. You can read her obituary here.

Stat of the day: 2.4% September inflation, lowest in three years

Inflation eased last month to its slowest pace in more than three years, with the consumer price index rising 2.4% annually in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was slightly higher than economists' expectations of 2.3%.

Don't miss this: Han Kang's Nobel Prize is a testament to the importance of small publishing presses

Thursday's announcement that South Korean writer Han Kang has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature is not only a triumph for Korean literature, writes Catherine Taylor, but also a reminder of the enormous reach and influence of small publishers.

Climate check: The report warns that wildlife populations are collapsing near “points of no return.”

According to a report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London, global wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% in 50 years. But experts insisted that “nature can recover if given the opportunity.”

Last thing: an opera where 18 people were treated for severe nausea? A sellout

Eighteen theatergoers at the Stuttgart State Opera had to receive medical treatment over the weekend for severe nausea. They had seen a piece by Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger that included live piercing, unsimulated sex and real blood. Since then, seven upcoming shows have sold out.

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