Category Archives: Florida

Carnival to resume cruises in August despite infections and deaths on ships

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Eight cruise ships to resume operations from 1 August, sailing from Texas and Florida

Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to resume operations at the beginning of August despite dozens of deaths on cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic and investigations into the industry’s possible role in spreading the disease around the planet.

In a statement on Monday, the operator said eight cruise ships would resume operations from 1 August, sailing from Galveston, Texas, and Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida, once a no-sail order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had expired.

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Revealed: leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus ‘cure’ wrote to Trump this week

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Mark Grenon wrote to Trump saying chlorine dioxide ‘can rid the body of Covid-19’ days before the president promoted disinfectant as treatment

The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “miracle cure” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week.

In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.

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‘Designed for us to fail’: Floridians upset as unemployment system melts down

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Officially 472,000 people in the state filed for unemployment – but the true number is much higher due to the failing system

Lynne Reback developed a rote routine while trying to file for unemployment in her home state of Florida: log into the system, watch the loading bar slowly inch across the screen, get kicked out. Then she would start over.

It took three days for Reback to get her application through Connect, Florida’s online portal for unemployment insurance applications. Though it has been almost a month since her application was submitted, it is still “pending” whenever she checks its status.

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Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre tested in hospital for Covid-19

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Giuffre, 35, from Florida, says she is ‘so scared right now’ and having trouble breathing

A US woman who claims she was trafficked to the UK as a teenager to have sex with Prince Andrew is in hospital, where she has been tested for Covid-19.

Virginia Giuffre said on Twitter on Tuesday: “I’m so scared right now, having trouble breathing, fever & cough. Getting tested for Covid-19 praying it’s not positive.”

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‘Not going to stop me’: Miami spring breakers unfazed by coronavirus warnings – video

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Crowds of young Americans have flocked to Florida to celebrate spring break, defying guidelines from health officials to practise social distancing and avoid large gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic

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‘Help me!’: video shows Florida officer arresting six-year-old after tantrum

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Body camera footage shows first-grader Kaia Rolle placed in a police car with her wrists bound

Newly released body-camera footage shows the moment a police officer in Florida arrested a six-year-old girl as she cried and begged not to be taken from school.

Kaia Rolle was led to a police vehicle with her hands fastened behind her back in zip ties after having a tantrum at her school in Orlando that included kicking and punching school personnel.

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Strong earthquake shakes vast area from Mexico to Florida

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  • 7.7 magnitude quake struck in the sea south of Cuba
  • No immediate reports of damage or injuries

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake has struck in the sea south of Cuba, shaking a vast area from Mexico to Florida and beyond, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

Tsunami warnings for Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were issued but lifted shortly afterward with no reports of major damage.

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Frozen iguanas fall from trees in Florida as temperatures plummet – video

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Iguanas are falling from trees in south Florida as unusually low temperatures sweep through the region. The invasive species can become sluggish when the temperature drops below 50F (10C) and are susceptible to freezing once temperatures drop to around 40F (4.5C). Once frozen, these cold-blooded creatures lose their grip on the trees they call home. Residents have expressed shock at the sight of rigid reptiles lying motionless in the middle of sidewalks and backyards. But while they appear lifeless, they are simply too cold to move

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Out cold: unseasonal temperatures litter south Florida with stunned iguanas

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The weather forecast warned it would be raining reptiles and Floridians recorded encounters with lizards feeling the chill

It truly was the night (and day) of the iguana.

After the National Weather Service (NWS) sent an unusual alert to south Florida residents on Tuesday night warning them of possible “falling iguanas” in light of unseasonably low temperatures, residents were indeed treated to a show of rigid reptiles out of the sky (or, actually, the trees).

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Frozen iguanas forecast to shower south Florida as temperatures drop

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National Weather Service warned of reptiles falling from trees as iguanas are susceptible to freezing once temperatures fall to 40F

The National Weather Service (NWS) took the unusual step on Tuesday of warning that frozen iguanas are expected to shower south Florida as temperatures drop to unusually low levels for the region overnight.

Iguanas, as it turns out, are susceptible to freezing once temperatures drop to around 40F (4.44C). When frozen, these cold-blooded creatures lose their grip on the cozy trees they call home and slip. But the experts informed the public to be aware that the chilled reptiles may be stiff and appear lifeless – but they are not dead.

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US to expel a dozen Saudi trainees in wake of Florida naval base shooting

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Trainees not involved in attack but reportedly accused of having extremist links or possessing child abuse images

The US will expel at least a dozen Saudi military students accused of extremist links and possessing child sexual abuse images, after an investigation into a shooting rampage by a Saudi officer in Florida, according to media reports.

In December Mohammed Alshamrani, who was in the US as part of a Saudi military training program, opened fire in a classroom at the Pensacola naval air station, killing three sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police.

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Florida ended a Jim Crow voting law. A year later, people are still fighting for a voice

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Amendment 4 should restore the vote to 1.4 million people. But those affected say the struggle is far from over

One year ago, Florida enacted the biggest expansion of the right to vote in America in a generation.

For 150 years, Florida had upheld a law that banned anyone convicted of a felony from voting, even after they had served the full sentence. The policy, rooted in the Jim Crow south, stood out as a stain on American democracy.

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Rod Stewart charged over alleged altercation at Florida resort

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Police report says singer punched a hotel security guard on New Year’s Eve


Sir Rod Stewart has been charged with battery after an alleged scuffle at the entrance to a private New Year’s Eve party for children at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

The altercation is also believed to have involved Stewart’s 39-year-old son, Sean, who is accused of pushing a security guard.

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‘He was sent to us’: at church rally, evangelicals worship God and Trump

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Friday’s rally recognized Trump’s need to retain the loyalty of the evangelical voting bloc that propelled him to victory in 2016

They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him. Donald Trump’s Friday launch of his so-called “coalition of evangelicals”, an attempt to shore up the support of the religious right ahead of November’s election, had the feel of any other campaign rally, except this time with gospel music.

An estimated 7,000 “supporters of faith” packed the King Jesus international ministry megachurch in Miami to hear the word of the president, and decided that it was good. The Maga hat-wearing faithful cheered Trump’s comments on issues calculated to resonate with his churchgoing audience, including abortion, freedoms of speech and religion, and what he claimed was a “crusade” from Democrats against religious tolerance.

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Jeffrey Epstein: woman sues estate alleging encounter when she was 14

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Lawsuit filed in Florida says teen was approached in 2003 when she was ‘a vulnerable child without adequate parental support’

A woman who says she was 14 when she had a sexual encounter with the financier Jeffrey Epstein at his mansion sued his estate in Florida court on Monday for coercion, inflicting emotional distress and battery.

The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach county asks for an undisclosed amount of money. The lawsuit doesn’t give the woman’s name and only refers to her as “JJ Doe”.

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Pentagon suspends military training of Saudi students after Pensacola shooting

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  • Decision grounds more than 300 military aviation students
  • Three US military members were killed in shooting Friday

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday it was halting operational training of all Saudi Arabian military personnel in the United States until further notice in the wake of the deadly shooting by a Saudi air force officer.

The decision will have far-reaching impacts, including grounding more than 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students.

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Pensacola shooting: FBI working with presumption it was ‘act of terrorism’

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No arrests made, FBI said, while Mark Esper instructed US armed forces to review security at military bases

Three days after a Saudi air force lieutenant shot dead three people at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, the FBI said it was working “with the presumption that this was an act of terrorism”.

The gunman who struck in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning was killed by sheriff’s deputies, two of whom were among eight people wounded. All were expected to survive.

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Banana artwork that fetched $120,000 is eaten by ‘hungry’ artist

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Performance artist consumes masterpiece in front of crowd at Art Basel in Miami, but ‘the idea’ apparently lives on

An artwork that sold last week for $120,000 and was hailed as “a symbol of global trade” has been eaten, in what might seem a fitting end for something that was an ever-ripening banana duct-taped to a wall.

The piece, titled Comedian, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was on show at the international gallery Perrotin at Art Basel in Miami when New York performance artist David Datuna ate it, saying he was hungry.

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Pensacola: suspect watched mass shooting videos at dinner party, official says

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  • Three killed before gunman shot at US navy base
  • Student who attended dinner party filmed outside building where shooting took place, official says

The Saudi student suspected of killing three people at a US navy base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a US official told the Associated Press on Saturday.

Related: Pensacola shooting: Saudi student kills three at Florida naval air station, says official

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Saudi student kills three in attack at Florida naval air station, says official

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  • Shooter killed by sheriff’s deputies who responded
  • Saudi government condemns the attack

An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom building at the naval air station (Nas) in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday morning, a US official said, an attack the Saudi government quickly condemned and that US officials were investigating for possible links to terrorism.

The assault, which left three dead in addition to the assailant, was the second at a US navy base this week and prompted a massive law enforcement response and a lockdown at the base.

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