Hurricane Milton threatens a battered Florida still reeling from Helene. Israel begins ground operations in southwest Lebanon. The mayor of the capital of Mexico’s violence-plagued state of Guerrero was killed on Sunday, less than a week after he took office. And Reuters has found that nearly half of the election boards in the five largest counties in each of the seven must-win states has at least one member who has expressed pro-Trump skepticism about the electoral process.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] Today, Hurricane Milton is set to cause massive disruption in a region already devastated by Helene. Mexico is new president grapples with a gruesome assassination in Guerrero. And concerns grow over how pro-Trump election officials would handle a Trump loss. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's Tuesday, October 8. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool. And I'm Jonah Green in New York. [MUSIC PLAYING] It became a hurricane very quickly. And so not only is it a hurricane, it's already a major hurricane. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warning residents to prepare for Hurricane Milton. Milton has weakened from a category five to a category four hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center says in an advisory St. early Tuesday morning. But analysts say it's still capable of causing catastrophic damage, including power outages expected to last days. It's set to make landfall near Tampa Bay on Wednesday. With it could come a high storm surge and torrential rains that could impact 6.5 million people. Here's Florida's Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. If you're in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate. If they have called for your evacuation order, I beg you, I implore you to evacuate. In Florida's Tropicana Field Stadium in St. Petersburg, green-colored beds are set up on the field. An update posted on DeSantis's website said a 10,000-person base camp was being established at the stadium to support operations of first responders. Parts of Florida are still digging out after Hurricane Helene slammed into the Gulf Coast less than two weeks ago, killing more than 200 people. Video producer Nathan Frandino has been following the massive recovery efforts in North Carolina. I saw several vehicles submerged in the water and stuck on the embankment of the river. Power lines, trees, and other debris lay trapped against some of the surviving bridges. Farther away, there are many communities still isolated and trapped by washed-out roads and mudslides. Personal vehicles and commercial trucks from North Carolina and beyond are both bringing in aid around the clock. We're in here. These are both cars. President Biden on Sunday sent 500 more troops to North Carolina and declared an emergency for Florida allowing federal disaster relief operations to begin. Over to the Middle East, where Israel's military says has begun ground operations in southwest Lebanon. According to an army statement, Israel has killed the commander of Hezbollah's HQ in a Beirut strike. If confirmed, the death of Suheil Hussein Hussein would be the latest in a string of assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. Reuters spoke to exiled Hamas leader Khaled Michelle. Who says the Palestinian group will rise like a phoenix from the ashes, despite its heavy losses during a year of war with Israel. Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile hit a vessel in Ukraine's southern port of Odessa on Monday, killing a Ukrainian national and injuring five crew members. Russia's defense ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. On land, Russian forces have entered the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian frontline town of Terezk, Ukraine's military says, less than a week after the fall of a Bastian town of Fuhlada. And it's Nobel Prize season. On Monday, American scientists Victor Ambrose and Gary Ruffkin won for medicine for discovery of micro RNA and its crucial role in how multicellular organisms grow and live. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday. A bang or a whimper? China's runaway stocks rally began losing steam on Tuesday and Hong Kong shares slumped as officials disappointed markets by providing few specific details on plans to bolster China's slowing economy. Mainland markets had roared back from a week-long break, hitting two-year peaks with turnover surging past a trillion yuan inside the first 20 minutes of trade. But the benchmarks were soon off their highs and proxies for Chinese growth slipped across Asia as the stimulus-backed buying frenzy showed signs of cooling. And econ fans, you should know by now you can get your weekly fix diving into the economic principles behind the buzzwords on Carmel Crimin's econ world pod. There's a new episode out tomorrow and a link in the description. The gruesome killing of a mayor in Mexico is highlighted security concerns in the violence plagued state of Guerrero. Chiu Pansingo Mayor Alejandro Arcos was killed just six days into his term. Later this week, newly inaugurated Mexican president, Claudia Schamberm, will lay out his security plan for addressing such violence. Brendan O'Boyle is in Mexico City. This murder was quite jarring in a state that unfortunately has grown quite accustomed to political violence. Rumors of his murder first started circulating on Sunday afternoon when photos were being spread on social media and on WhatsApp, showing a severed head on top of a pickup truck. The lead up to Mexico's June election was actually the bloodiest on record in Mexico. And Guerrero was the site of more assassinations against political candidates than anywhere else in the country with at least six candidates killed in the state. And this comes just as president. Shane Baum is set to unveil her security plan. What should we expect from that? The gruesome details of the murder have really been a painful reminder for a lot of people of just how bad violence and especially political violence is in Mexico. It only adds to the pressure for Shane Baum to present a plan that will really take on criminal groups which have become emboldened in recent years, especially with the booming fentanyl trade. We have a whole special episode about the challenges Shane Baum will face having just taken office. There's a link to listen in today's pod description. - It's been four years since Donald Trump trying to overturn his election loss. And as this election approaches, his false conspiracy theories about voter fraud have become an article of faith among many Republican members of local election boards that certify results. - Reuters has found that nearly half of election boards in the five largest counties in each of the seven battleground states had at least one member whose expressed pro-Trump skepticism about the electoral process. That's raising concerns that pro-Trump officials in multiple jurisdictions will be able to delay or sow doubt over the election if Trump loses again. - Political correspondent, Nathan Lane has a story. So Nathan, how did you go about determining this makeup of election boards? - We pulled up the individual information on all of the different board members and took a look at their social media feeds, took a look at some of their public statements. And we looked for people that had made comments about the 2020 election or after basically sowing doubt about the result. - How might these officials try to muck up the process? What would that look like? - Ultimately, the top state officials have tools at their disposal to compel certification. But the way this thing could get gummed up is if election board members in counties, say multiple counties across these seven battleground states scream fraud, right? Or say, I think there's something fishy with the results. Maybe it's an election board member in a rural county in Michigan who points to things in Detroit and says, you know what, I don't like the process and I'm not gonna vote to certify my results. Ultimately, certification goes forward most likely, but that person by raising those doubts is creating fodder that Trump and his allies could use later on in Congress to challenge the state's results. - And when it gets to Congress, is it rubber stamped or are there still opportunities for complications? - Congress passed a law in 2022 in the wake of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol that tightened up the process. The vice president, his or her role is now codified as ministerial. And in order to challenge a state's results, you now need one fifth of both chambers of Congress previously. You just needed one lawmaker in each chamber. So the threshold is higher. But ultimately, the question will come down to the new Congress, which is sworn in on January 3rd and whether Trump is really pressuring those members to try to overturn the results. (upbeat music) - For today's recommended read, we're pointing you to our insight on Sudan, where we take a look at local volunteers who've helped feed the country's most destitute during 17 months of war. They say attacks against them are making it impossible to provide the life-saving aid amid the world's biggest hunger crisis. You can read more by following the link in our pod description. And for more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. To never miss an episode, subscribe on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
