Marco Rubio is visiting the Caribbean, where he's defending the Trump administration's military operation to capture Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. The secretary of state tells leaders from the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc that Venezuela and the region are better off as a result of that U.S. raid. Rubio said Wednesday that he offered the defense without "apology" or "apprehension." Caribbean leaders have been unsettled by the Maduro operation, particularly because it was accompanied by a significant hardening of U.S. policies in the Western Hemisphere.
By DÁNICA COTO and AMAR SPENCER-SAYERS Associated Press
Hurricane Beryl is roaring across the Caribbean Sea as a powerful Category 4 storm on a path toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. At least six people have died after Beryl slammed the southeast Caribbean. A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl is expected to start losing intensity but still to be near major hurricane strength as it passes near or over Jamaica, near the Cayman Islands and into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Beryl is the earliest Category 5 storm ever to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Caribbean island of Carriacou. The dangerous and powerful Category 4 storm is the earliest one of its strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters. Carriacou is one of the islands of Grenada. Officials there reported damage on Monday that included roofs being blown off in maximum winds increasing to top winds of 150 mph, or about 240 kmph, just shy of a Category 5 storm. Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as thousands of people hunkered down in homes and shelters
