World/National

BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Milton has become a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico on a path toward Florida’s west coast. Milton’s growth Monday sets the stage for a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline. Milton’s center could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa area, and it could remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. It is threatening Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused deaths and catastrophic damage in that state and well inland.

DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The International Longshoremen’s Association is to resume working immediately. The union also reached a tentative deal with the ports on wages, according to a joint statement issued Thursday night. The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at the ports from Maine to Texas. A person briefed on the deal said the ports raised their wage offer to 62% over six years. The person didn’t want to be identified because the deal is tentative.

PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to phase out large-scale confined animal farms will be put before voters in a Northern California county. Sonoma County residents will decide whether to approve Measure J. Proponents say the move to phase out what federal authorities call concentrated animal feeding operations is about the humane treatment of animals. Critics say it is a misguided effort that could harm egg farming and dairies in the county and that California already has strict rules to ensure farm animals’ well-being.

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. is struggling to replant forests destroyed by increasingly destructive wildfires, with some areas unlikely to recover. Researchers are studying which species are likely to survive — and where — as climate change makes it difficult or impossible for many forests to regrow. But researchers say the U.S. also lacks enough seed collection, nursery capacity to grow seedlings and workers trained to plant them on a scale needed to stem accelerating losses. The Forest Service says the biggest roadblock is the yearslong task of completing environmental and cultural assessments and preparing severely burned land for replanting.

WYOMING, Iowa (AP) — Taking a country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone. Snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls, the corn seems to block out nearly everything other than an occasional water tower. But soon, that towering corn might become a miniature of its former self, replaced by stalks only half as tall as the current green giants. The short corn offers farmers a variety that can withstand powerful windstorms that could become more frequent due to climate change. The smaller plants also let farmers plant at greater density, so they can grow more corn on the same amount of land and increase their profits. That is especially helpful as farmers endure low prices.

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl. Officials in Lebanon say more than 2,700 were wounded on Tuesday, 200 critically. Hezbollah officials tell The Associated Press that the explosions affected a new brand of pagers used by the militant group. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel. AP has reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential election campaigning is revving back up. Donald Trump heads on Tuesday to Michigan and Vice President Kamala Harris answers questions at a Black journalists forum in Pennsylvania. Their travels come as authorities continue to investigate a second apparent assassination attempt against Trump that’s roiled the race. Trump is holding a town hall in Flint, Michigan, and has appearances later in the week in New York, Washington and North Carolina. Harris will participate in a Philadelphia gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists. That follows a recent appearance before the group by Trump that sparked an uproar when he questioned the vice president’s racial identity.