Officials in Jamaica are warning of an unfolding catastrophe as Hurricane Melissa bears down on the island nation with sustained winds of up to 175 miles per hour. The Category 5 storm is the strongest on Earth this year and the most powerful hurricane on record ever to strike Jamaica, likely to trigger widespread flooding and landslides, with catastrophic damage to buildings in the path of the hurricane’s eye. Some parts of Jamaica could see up to 40 inches of rain — more rain than typically falls in an entire year. Melissa has already killed three people each in Jamaica and Haiti and one person in the Dominican Republic. Hurricane warnings are also in effect for parts of Cuba and the Bahamas.

Meanwhile, many Haitians fear the storm could worsen the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, where residents already face widespread poverty and gang violence. This is Fortune Vital, a resident of a camp for displaced people in Haiti’s western Les Cayes region.

Fortune Vital: “We have nothing in our hands to live on. If a hurricane hits, we’re screwed. If the hurricane comes on top of all the problems we already have, we’ll simply die. My kids, my wife and my family are somewhere else. We have nothing to eat to survive. This adds to the problem of bandits shooting all day. There’s no way out except to die.”

Melissa exploded in strength from a tropical storm on Saturday to a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, a rapid intensification made possible by abnormally warm waters in the Caribbean. Climate scientists say human activity is causing oceans to warm dramatically, making rapidly developing storms more common.

The United Nations’ top official says the world has failed to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement to prevent the most devastating consequences of the climate crisis. Speaking with The Guardian and the Brazilian news outlet Sumaúma ahead of next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said it’s now inevitable that humanity will overshoot the 1.5-degree target, with “devastating consequences” for the world.

Secretary-General António Guterres: “So, overshooting is now inevitable. And so it is absolutely indispensable to change course in order to make sure that that overshooting is as small as possible, and this is a basic condition to avoid tipping points. We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savanna. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course and if we don’t take a dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible.”

Democracy Now! will be in Belém, Brazil, covering the U.N. climate summit.

In the Gaza Strip, aid organizations warn the amount of food and other basic goods Israel has allowed to enter the Palestinian territory continues to fall far short of the 600 truckloads per day promised under Israel’s ceasefire agreement. The U.N. says the daily number of trucks allowed into Gaza has never passed 200 on any single day in October. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians are returning to neighborhoods that Israel forced them to evacuate, only to find their homes in rubble. According to the U.N. migration agency, an estimated 90% of all buildings in Gaza are destroyed or damaged. This is Amal Taleb Alyan, a Palestinian from the al-Shati refugee camp whose home was flattened by Israeli strikes.

Amal Taleb Alyan: “We took the house keys. Here they are, the house keys. We took them so we would come back and find the house. But when the truce happened, we returned, and we didn’t find the house. We didn’t even find the door. … Every day when I come here, I feel like my soul leaves me. This is where I used to go, where I used to walk. This is my place, my home, my house. Here I built my life. Here I built dreams for me and the children. It’s very hard to lose your home.”

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters during an early-morning raid on a village near the city of Jenin. The raid sparked heavy exchanges of gunfire, prompting Israel’s military to call in airstrikes. This comes as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pledging his forces will remain in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank until at least the end of the year. Israeli attacks on the West Bank have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians over the past two years, including 213 children.

U.S. officials who closely examined the 2022 shooting death of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank were deeply divided over the Biden administration’s public conclusions, with some officials convinced that her killing was intentional. That’s according to The New York Times, citing five current and former U.S. officials who worked on the case, including a career military policeman with 30 years’ experience. Speaking publicly for the first time, Colonel Steve Gabavics said the U.S. government had soft-pedaled his office’s findings to appease the Israeli government. He said he and his colleagues were left “flabbergasted” by the Biden State Department’s statement attributing Abu Akleh’s killing to “tragic circumstances.” Colonel Gabavics also spoke with journalist Mehdi Hasan of the news outlet Zeteo.

Col. Steve Gabavics: “My findings were beyond a reasonable doubt that this was an intentional killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.”

Mehdi Hasan: “This is on the 19th or 20th of May, 2022.”

Col. Steve Gabavics: “Yes.”

Mehdi Hasan: “This is within 10 days” —

Col. Steve Gabavics: “Yes.”

Mehdi Hasan: — “of her killing.”

Col. Steve Gabavics: “Yes.”

Mehdi Hasan: “You, on behalf of the United States government, are saying that, beyond reasonable doubt — that’s a legal standard in a criminal court” —

Col. Steve Gabavics: “Yes, it is.”

Mehdi Hasan: — “she was intentionally killed.”

Col. Steve Gabavics: “Correct.”

Venezuelan officials say they’ve captured a group of mercenaries tied to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. In a statement, the government of Venezuela said, “This is a colonial operation of military aggression that seeks to turn the Caribbean into a space for lethal violence and US imperial domination.” Earlier this month, President Trump acknowledged that he authorized the CIA to secretly conduct operations in Venezuela. On Sunday, a U.S. warship arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, leading Venezuela to cancel energy agreements with the Caribbean nation. Here’s Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister, Delcy Rodríguez.

Vice President Delcy Rodríguez: “It’s not a conflict. It’s aggression from the United States, a militaristic aggression against Venezuela. President Maduro has said it: It’s about Venezuela’s oil and gas.”

The U.S. federal government shutdown has entered its 28th day. On Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees, the nation’s top federal workers’ union, called on Congress to immediately end the shutdown by passing a spending bill that does not include the healthcare measures that Democrats want to protect. Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement, “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship.” This comes as the Department of Agriculture posted a notice on its website stating that no federal food aid will go out on November 1. Meanwhile, President Trump has stated that he will not tap into a contingency fund of $5 billion to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program running. One in eight Americans rely on SNAP food assistance.

Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Braun called for a special legislative session Monday to redraw the state’s congressional maps, stating that if Indiana doesn’t take action, “we’ll have consequences of not working with the Trump administration as tightly as we should.” The proposal could allow Republicans to win all nine of Indiana’s congressional seats. It follows similar efforts by Republicans to successfully redraw maps in their favor in Missouri, North Carolina and Texas.

President Trump is urging the Justice Department to investigate the 2020 election, writing on social media, “I hope the DOJ pursues this with as much 'gusto' as befitting the biggest SCANDAL in American history!” Earlier this month, the Trump administration appointed Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer, as a “special government employee” to work on election issues. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, officials said that Olsen has started asking intelligence agencies about information related to the 2020 election. This comes as the Trump administration has instructed the Justice Department to send observers to New Jersey and California to monitor polling sites during elections next week. Californians are set to vote on a ballot proposition that would redraw the state’s congressional districts, allowing Democrats to possibly pick up five additional seats in Congress. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called the Trump’s administration moves an “intimidation tactic,” while California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “All indications, all arrows, show that this is a tee-up for something more dangerous in the 2026 midterms and maybe beyond.”

President Trump met Japan’s newly elected ultra-nationalist Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Tuesday as he continued a six-day trip to Asia. The pair agreed to cooperate on expanding the supply chain for rare earth metals and promised to expand military cooperation, with Takaichi reiterating a pledge to increase Japan’s military spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product. During their summit, Takaichi repeatedly flattered Trump, saying she plans to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi: “In such a short period of time, the world has become more peaceful. I highly value President Trump’s unwavering commitment to world peace and stability. I myself have been deeply impressed and inspired by you.”

Earlier today, Takaichi joined President Trump aboard an aircraft carrier at a U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, where Trump told active-duty soldiers he plans to keep using the National Guard to occupy American cities and that he might deploy soldiers from other military branches, as well. This comes ahead of Trump’s trip to a summit in South Korea, where he’ll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

In Cameroon, the world’s oldest president, 92-year-old Paul Biya, was reelected Monday to an eighth term in office. This follows days of protests during which security forces killed four people. Cameroon’s top court ruled that Biya won the majority of the votes, but the opposition contested the result. Recently, dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders had been arrested.

In Ivory Coast, 83-year-old incumbent President Alassane Ouattara has won a fourth term in office after an election that saw two of his main rivals disqualified. About 50% of eligible voters cast ballots — far fewer than the roughly 80% who voted in the 2010-2011 elections when Ouattara was first elected.