Hurricane Milton: According to a tally by CNN, the death toll in Florida from Hurricane Milton has risen to 16. As of this morning there were 2.5 million customers without power. St. Petersburg, Florida, had more than 18 inches of rain in 24 hours, a once-in-one-thousand-years record rainfall with more than five inches of rain falling in one hour. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has not backed down from her contention that the government controls the weather and steers storms to hit Republican states.
Obama: Former President Barack Obama spoke to a rally in Pittsburgh in which he urged Black men to set aside any reluctance they have and vote for the Harris-Walz ticket in the November election. He called for them to show the same sort of energy for this year’s Democratic ticket they had shown for his campaigns. He also urged women not to believe Donald Trump when Trump says he’ll protect them and pointed out that it was Trump who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and that Trump took credit for wiping out the reproductive rights.
Peace Prize: The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. The organization is composed of survivors of the atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War Two. The Nobel Prize Committee noted that the world is under new threats today regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons.
Vatican meeting: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Pope Francis met at the Vatican today. Their private meeting lasted more than a half hour. The Vatican said that their conversation was focused on the state of the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian situation. According to the Vatican, they also discussed various scenarios for bringing an end to the war that was started when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
Elevator: An elevator used to take tourists about 1,000 feet underground to visit the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near the town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, had a mechanical breakdown yesterday, trapping tourists below ground for six hours. One tourist died, while the other 12 were rescued. An investigation into the precise cause of the accident is underway.
Combs: A federal judge in Manhattan has set May 5 as the date for Sean “Diddy” Combs to go on trial in his racketeering and sex trafficking case. Combs appeared in court wearing a prison jumpsuit. His attorney accused the prosecution of leaking a video to CNN that was an important piece of evidence and could taint the jury pool. The prosecution denied it was responsible for the leak. The judge was considering whether to issue a gag order to control what both sides can say publicly.
