Seven tornadoes have hit Florida in advance of Hurricane Milton, the National Weather Service in Miami said on Wednesday. Hurricanes and tropical storms have the ability to produce tornadoes. The National Weather Service said there had been 53 tornado warnings issued by 3pm ET on Wednesday, 41 of which were issued by the weather service…

Milton downgraded to category 3 hurricane Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a category 3 storm with winds of 125mph on Wednesday afternoon as it moved closer to Florida, but forecasters warn that it remained a grave threat. The storm has fluctuated in strength – on Tuesday it intensified to a category 5 hurricane. The National…

A police department in California has purchased a flashy new piece of equipment to impress local children: a $150,000 Tesla Cybertruck. In a Facebook video featuring lightning graphics, the Irvine police department said it believed the vehicle to be “the first police cybertruck in the nation”. It’s unlikely to be in any high-speed chases: police…

The Florida health department has fired off cease-and-desist letters to local news stations over an advertisement urging people to vote in favor of a ballot measure that would expand abortion rights in the state. In the ad, a woman identified as Caroline from Tampa, Florida, talks about being diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant. The…

The Indian business tycoon and former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has died, aged 86. Tata, who had headed India’s largest conglomerate for over 20 years, had been receiving intensive care at Mumbai hospital, according to Reuters. He was famous for making large acquisitions, including buying the British tea firm Tetley in 2000 for $432m…

Ministers are facing questions over whether they intervened to grant Taylor Swift VIP police protection in order to stop her cancelling her London concerts. James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, wrote to his opposite number, Yvette Cooper, on Wednesday to ask whether she had personally made representations. Swift performed at Wembley in August, days after…

Feeding wild raccoons around her home had seemed harmless enough, if odd, for one woman in the north-west for 35 years – until about 100 of them surrounded her home and demanded food. The woman, who has not been named, was essentially trapped in her home near Poulsbo, Washington, and scared as the animals can…