Hurricane Melissa batters Cuba; Air traffic controllers warn of safety crisis
Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica as a Category 5, and now it’s hitting Cuba with dangerous Category 3 winds and flooding rain. It moves to the Bahamas next, bringing life-threatening conditions across the Caribbean.
Plus, President Donald Trump’s high-stakes Asia tour rolled into South Korea, where he was awarded the country’s highest honor. But all eyes are looking ahead to Thursday’s face-to-face with China’s Xi Jinping.
And thousands of air traffic controllers and TSA officers are working without pay. Now, fellow employees and volunteers are stepping up with food drives and free meals to keep them going until paychecks return.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba as Category 3 storm after devastating Jamaica
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 3 storm after slamming Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded, reaching Category 5 strength.
The National Hurricane Center says Melissa is moving over eastern Cuba and is expected to cross the southeastern and central Bahamas later Wednesday. By Thursday, it will be approaching Bermuda.
Forecasters warn of five to 10 inches of rain across the Bahamas, raising the risk of flash flooding and mudslides.
So far, at least seven people have died across the Caribbean, three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic. Jamaican officials say the victims were killed in accidents while preparing for the storm.
In a post on X, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his nation had been “ravaged,” but it “will rebuild” and “do so even better than before.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is prepared to send humanitarian aid to Jamaica.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the strongest so far. It is not expected to have major impacts on the mainland U.S.
Trump receives South Korea’s highest award before APEC summit
President Trump’s trip to Asia continues on Wednesday as he landed in South Korea ahead of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
During a keynote address at an APEC CEO luncheon, Trump said the world is entering a “new era of trade,” one that will require deals that are “good for everybody.”
On his arrival in Seoul, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung awarded Trump the nation’s highest honor, the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, for his efforts to promote peace on the Korean peninsula.
He’s the first U.S. president to ever receive the award.
Trump was also presented with a replica of the golden Cheonmachong crown, a 1,500-year-old royal artifact considered one of the heaviest gold crowns ever discovered.
Trump is set to hold trade talks with South Korean leaders today.
According to the Associated Press, officials in Washington and Seoul say the main sticking point remains Trump’s demand that South Korea invest $350 billion in the United States.
But it’s his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping set for Thursday in Busan that’s drawing the most attention.
Trump said he expects to walk away with a deal after months of trade tension.
“I think we’re gonna have a great meeting with President Xi of China, and a lot of problems are gonna be solved. I’m very optimistic, I am. And I know a little bit about what’s going on because, you know, we have been talking to them,” Trump said. “I think we’re gonna have a very good outcome for us and for the world, actually. I think it’s important for the world.”
China’s foreign ministry said Wednesday it hopes the meeting “yields positive outcomes” and that Beijing is ready to work with the U.S. to “inject new momentum” into the relationship between the two countries.
Israel strikes Gaza as Netanyahu accuses Hamas of staging hostage video
Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza less than three weeks after President Trump brokered a ceasefire.
Hospital officials say at least 104 people were killed in the new barrage. Now, rescuers are working to pull those trapped from the rubble in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered what he called “forceful strikes” after accusing Hamas of violating the U.S.-brokered truce. He said the group staged the return of a hostage’s remains.
Israel released drone video that it claims shows Hamas operatives burying a body bag, then digging it back up. It claims the group was trying to fake a discovery for Red Cross observers. The Israeli government called it a “disgraceful deception.”
Hamas called the claims baseless and accused Israel of fabricating a pretext for new attacks.
Hospitals across Gaza are now bracing for more casualties.
From Washington, Vice President JD Vance downplayed the violence, saying small “skirmishes” don’t mean the ceasefire has collapsed.
Airlines stepping in to help air traffic controllers as shutdown drags on
The government shutdown is now seriously affecting America’s skies. At airports from Chicago to Newark, air traffic controllers and other federal workers have just missed their first full paycheck.
United, Delta and JetBlue are now providing meals at hubs across the country, donating food to essential workers who keep flights running without pay.
The airlines said it’s a small gesture of support as frustration grows 29 days into the government shutdown.
At LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday, transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA budget did not have much flexibility to cover payroll, adding that the only real fix is to reopen the government.
Duffy also warned that staffing shortages account for up to 40% of flight delays this week. The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said this makes our air less safe.
“We are the rope in this tug-of-war game, and that is what we’re trying to raise awareness about. As the pressure mounts, as the stress continues, our air traffic controllers are thinking about how to have a side job instead of about safety, instead of about the American flying public. We’re going to have to slow it down, as these people cannot focus on their jobs. That makes it less safe.”
— Nick Daniels, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President
The union stated that many controllers are taking on gig work just to cover their bills. Others said they’re choosing between medication and rent.
“We have to figure out what we’re going to do with what little money we may have left in savings, or how we’re going to figure out, are we going to get more money coming in? Are we going to start driving Uber? Are we going to start doing maybe DoorDash? Figure some other kind of way to generate income, while still going to our jobs in air traffic control facilities and doing the work in aviation safety professions across the country without getting paid.”
Mark Rausch, National Air Traffic Controllers Association Region 10 Vice President
More than a million military and federal employees could miss pay again on Friday as the stalemate in Washington drags on and pressure rises far above the runways.
On Tuesday, the Senate failed to pass the House bill funding government operations through Nov. 21 for the 13th time. Republicans were again six votes short of the 60 necessary.
Trump replaces fine arts panel amid $300M ballroom project
As construction continues on a new $300 million grand ballroom at the White House, the Trump administration has fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts.
In an email to media outlets, the White House said it was preparing to appoint a new slate of members who are more aligned with Trump’s America First policies. All six members — who were dismissed — had been appointed by former President Joe Biden.
The commission’s role is to advise the president and Congress on “matters of design and aesthetics,” ensuring that new projects reflect and uphold the dignity of the nation’s capital.
In addition to the ballroom project, which involves gutting parts of the east wing to create space, Trump has now announced plans to build an arch along the Potomac River.
According to CBS News, there is a precedent: In 1947, former President Harry Truman fired members of the same commission after they opposed his plan to add a balcony to the White House’s south portico.
Soldiers’ century-old message in a bottle found in Australia
Volunteers cleaning up trash on a beach discovered a message in a bottle that turned out to be a century-old capsule written by two Australian soldiers during World War I.
A family found a Schweppes bottle in early October on Wharton Beach in Western Australia.
Inside are two handwritten notes from Private Malcolm Neville, 27, and William Harley, 37, who both sailed from Adelaide in 1916 to join the fighting on Europe’s Western Front.
Neville’s note to his mother said, “Having a real good time. Food is real good so far, with the exception of one meal, which we buried at sea.”
Harley wrote that they were somewhere at sea and that the finder should be “as well as we are present.”
Despite being soaked, the paper remained legible — even after more than 100 years.
Harley’s granddaughter described the discovery as “stunning, a miracle.”
More from Straight Arrow News:
Trump’s conflict with ‘narco-terrorists’ could be a prelude to war with Venezuela
Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis has the United States deployed so many military assets to the Caribbean. President Donald Trump has now given the green light for the CIA to carry out covert operations in the region, intensifying tensions with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, who accuses Washington of plotting regime change.
Maduro condemned the growing military presence as “a fabrication of war,” claiming the U.S. is inventing a pretext to invade.
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” Maduro said in a nationally broadcast speech.
He added that Venezuela “does not produce cocaine leaves” and accused Trump of “creating a vulgar and totally fake narrative.”
Read SAN anchor and reporter Ryan Robertson’s full story on Trump’s conflict with “narco-terrorists” when it publishes Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
