Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category 5 strength Monday as it neared Jamaica, where forecasters said it would unleash catastrophic flooding, multiple landslides and extensive infrastructure damage. It would be the strongest hurricane to hit the island since record keeping began in 1851.
Melissa, blamed for six deaths in the northern Caribbean as it headed toward the island, was forecast to make landfall on Jamaica on Tuesday and then Cuba later in the day before heading toward the Bahamas, but it was not expected to affect the United States.
Former NFL running back Adrian Peterson has been arrested in a Houston suburb on charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon, records show.
Peterson was taken into custody Sunday in Sugar Land, according to Houston television station KHOU. It’s the second DWI arrest in seven months for the 2012 NFL MVP and three-time league rushing champion.
The 40-year-old Peterson was a high school football star in East Texas and has lived in the Houston area. He played at Oklahoma before spending the first 10 years of his NFL career with Minnesota, which drafted him No. 7 overall in 2007.
The world’s oldest president, Cameroon ‘s 92-year-old Paul Biya, has won election again, the country’s top court said Monday, after days of protesters’ clashes with security forces left at least four people dead as opposition supporters demanded credible results.
Biya has led the central African nation since 1982, ruling longer than most citizens have been alive. Over 70% of the population of almost 30 million is below 35. The Oct. 12 election has displayed growing tensions between Africa’s youth and its many aging leaders.
The Constitutional Council said Biya received 53.66% of votes while former ally Issa Tchiroma Bakary got 35.19%. The turnout was 57.7%.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
