SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Hurricane Melissa was grinding across Cuba on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba had been evacuated to shelters. A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguin and Las Tunas provinces as well as the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Melissa had top sustained winds of 105 mph and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered 45 miles northwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, and 205 miles south of the central Bahamas.

The agency warned that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas “should be rushed to completion.”

Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday with top sustained winds of 185 mph before weakening over land.

It was forecast to continue weakening as it crossed Cuba and remain a strong hurricane as it moves across the southeastern or central Bahamas later Wednesday. The storm is expected to make its way late Thursday near or to the west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect.

The storm was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 12 feet in the region and drop up to 20 inches of rain in parts of eastern Cuba. The intense rain could cause life-threatening flooding with numerous landslides, U.S. forecasters said.

The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, as well as fuel and food shortages.

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“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a televised address, adding that “no one is left behind and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population.”

He urged the population not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”

Officials in Jamaica were assessing the damage. More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island had downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.

Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

The storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.

The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.

The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

By WAFAA SHURAFA and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials.

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The strikes — the deadliest since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10 — marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire for handing over body parts this week that Israel said were partial remains of a hostage recovered earlier in the war. That was compounded by the shooting and killing an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump, on a trip to Asia, defended the strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after Hamas killed the Israeli soldier, who also held U.S. citizenship.

Hamas denied any involvement in the deadly shooting and in turn accused Israel of “a blatant violation of the ceasefire deal.” It also said it would delay handing over the body of another hostage to Israel because of the strikes.

Trading accusations

Netanyahu called the return Monday of body parts a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to return all the remains of hostages in Gaza as soon as possible. Israeli officials also accused Hamas of staging the discovery of some of the remains on Monday, sharing a 14-minute, edited video from a military drone in Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said Hamas was responsible for the consequences of its ceasefire violation and attributed the high death toll from the strikes to the militant group using civilians as human shields.

Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli army strike on their tent camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Marmorstein said Washington was informed about the strikes and that they were carried out in full coordination with the United States.

Hamas has said it is struggling to locate bodies of the hostages amid the vast destruction in Gaza, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return.

There are still 13 bodies of hostages in Gaza and their slow return is complicating efforts to proceed to the ceasefire’s next phases, which addresses even thornier issues, including the disarmament of Hamas, deployment of an international security force in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.

Marmorstein said Hamas was “trying to do everything possible to avoid” disarming.

Mounting death toll

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported the overall death toll of 104 from the overnight strikes and said that 253 people were also wounded, most of them women and children. It said the dead include 46 children.

Palestinians injured in an Israeli army strike are brought to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said 45 people — including 20 children — were in critical condition at the hospital. He said the hospital received more 21 bodies, including seven women and six children.

First, the Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s central city of Deir al-Balah reported at least 10 bodies, among them three women and six children. In southern Gaza, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 20 bodies after five Israeli strikes in the area, of which 13 were children and two were women.

Elsewhere in central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said it received 30 bodies, including 14 children.

Trump defends Israel

Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that Israel “should hit back” when its troops come under attack.

But he said he’s still confident the ceasefire would withstand the escalation in violence because “Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace. And they have to behave.”

If not, they will be “terminated,” Trump added.

An Israeli military official said Wednesday that the soldier in Rafah — identified as Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum, 37 — was killed by “enemy fire” that targeted his vehicle on Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential military operations, said Israeli troops in the area came under attack numerous times on Tuesday as they worked to destroy tunnels and Hamas infrastructure.

Hamas insisted it was not involved in the Rafah gunfire, reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire and called on mediators to pressure Israel to stop.

The Israeli military said its forces struck “30 terrorists holding command positions within terrorist organizations” operating inside the Palestinian territory. It said Israeli forces would continue to uphold the ceasefire but would “respond firmly” to any violation of the deal.

Funeral prayers at Gaza hospitals

Ambulances and small trucks carrying bodies crowded hospital entrances overnight across Gaza. In Deir Al-Balah, bodies were wheeled in on stretchers, and others carried in on mattresses. One man walked into the hospital carrying the body of a young child.

“They struck right next to us, and we saw all the rubble on top of us and our young ones,” said a woman standing outside of the hospital.

At dawn, displaced Palestinians at the camp cleared remains of a destroyed tent next to a crater where the strike hit. They found the body of a small child and wrapped it in a blanket.

“What kind of a ceasefire is this?” Amna Qrinawi said.

At the Al-Awda Hospital, scores of people gathered around dozens of bodies wrapped in white shrouds for funeral prayers. Family members wept as they bade farewell to their loved ones.

Yehya Eid, who said he lost his brother and nephews, wept over a small body in a bloodied white shroud outside the hospital. He said the strike came without warning.

“These are children who were killed. What did they do wrong? Did they fight in the war?” Eid asked.

Funeral prayers were also held outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

“These are massacres,” said Haneen Mteir, who lost her sister and nephews. “They burned children while they were asleep.”

Najwa Erian said she was lucky her children survived when their building collapsed in one of the strikes.

“It was thanks to the young men from the neighborhood who all came to check on us and were able to save the children,” she said.

Boak reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Julia Frankel, Josef Federman and Renata Brito in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

By JOHN O’CONNOR, Associated Press

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois jury is set to continue deliberations Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of a sheriff’s deputy who shot Sonya Massey, a Black woman who had called 911 for help and was later killed in her home because of the way she was handling a pan of hot water.

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The nine-woman, three-man jury received the case Tuesday and deliberated for about 6 1/2 hours. Jurors must decide whether Sean Grayson, 31, is guilty of murder for fatally shooting Massey in Springfield.

Grayson and another deputy answered Massey’s emergency call reporting a prowler outside the 36-year-old woman’s home early on the morning of July 6, 2024. They entered the house and, spotting a pan of hot water on the stove, Grayson ordered it removed, according to the other deputy’s body camera video, which was key evidence.

Grayson and Massey joked about how Grayson moved away as Massey moved the hot pan. Then, Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot and threatened to shoot her. Massey apologized and ducked behind a counter.

“She makes it abundantly clear, ‘I want no part of this. Let this be done,’” Sangamon County First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said in her closing argument.

Defense attorney Daniel Fultz beseeched the jury to decide how Grayson felt in the moment, “not to sit back 15 months later and say, ‘This is what I would have done.’”

“It is true that she put the pot down. If it ended there, we wouldn’t be here today, but for reasons we’ll never know, she reacquired the pot, stood up and threw it in his direction,” Fultz said. “Only at that time did he fire his weapon.”

FILE – In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police on Monday, July 22, 2024, former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, left, points his gun at Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help, before shooting and killing her inside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. (Illinois State Police via AP, file)

Massey’s killing raised new questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes. The accompanying publicity, protests and legal action over the shooting prompted the judge to move the trial from Springfield, 200 miles southwest of Chicago, to Peoria, an hour’s drive north of the capital city.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Grayson faces a sentence of 45 years to life in prison. The jury also has been given the option of considering second-degree murder, which applies when there is a “serious provocation” of the defendant or when defendants believe their actions are justified even though that belief is unreasonable.

Second-degree murder is punishable by a term of four to 20 years or probation.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is expected to cut its short-term rate Wednesday for the second time this year despite an increasingly cloudy view of the economy it is trying to influence.

A seal is seen before Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell walks out to speak during a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, at the Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The government shutdown has cut off the flow of data that the Fed relies on to track employment, inflation, and the broader economy. September’s jobs report, scheduled for release three weeks ago, is still postponed. This month’s hiring figures, to be released Nov. 7, will likely be delayed and may be less comprehensive when they are finally released. And the White House said last week that October’s inflation report may never be issued at all.

The data drought raises risks for the Fed because it is widely expected to keep cutting rates in an effort to shore up growth and hiring. Fed officials signaled at their last meeting in September that they would likely implement rate reductions in October and December, and financial markets now consider a cut in December to be a near-certainty.

Yet should job gains pick up soon, the Fed may not detect the change. And if hiring rebounds after weak job gains during the summer, further rate cuts may not be justified.

On Tuesday, payroll processor ADP released a new weekly measure of hiring by businesses, using payroll data from millions of clients. It shows that in late September and earlier this month, companies resumed adding jobs, after shedding workers in July and August.

Still, a key reason rate cuts are so widely expected is that most Fed officials see its key rate, which is now about 4.1%, to be high enough that it is restraining the economy’s growth. Under this view, the Fed can cut several more times before reaching a level that might provide unnecessary stimulus to the economy.

Before the government shutdown cut off the flow of data Oct. 1, monthly hiring gains had weakened to an average of just 29,000 a month for the previous three months, according to the Labor Department’s data. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July.

Meanwhile, last week’s inflation report — released more than a week late because of the shutdown — showed that inflation remains elevated but isn’t accelerating and may not need higher interest rates to tame it.

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The government’s first report on the economy’s growth in the July-September quarter was scheduled to be published on Thursday, but will be delayed, as will Friday’s report on consumer spending that also includes the Fed’s preferred inflation measure.

Fed officials say they are monitoring a range of other data, including some issued by the private sector, and don’t feel handicapped by the lack of government reports.

Also on Wednesday, the central bank may announce that it will no longer reduce the size of its massive securities holdings, which it accumulated during and after the pandemic and after the 2008-2009 Great Recession. The change could over time slightly reduce longer-term interest rates on things like mortgages but aren’t likely to have a major impact on consumer borrowing costs.

The Fed purchased nearly $5 trillion of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds from 2020 to 2022 to stabilize financial markets during the pandemic and keep longer-term interest rates low. The bond-buying lifted its securities holdings to $9 trillion.

When the central bank buys a Treasury note, for example, it pays for it with newly-created money that is deposited into reserve accounts banks hold at the Fed.

In the past three years, however, the Fed has reduced its holdings to about $6.6 trillion. To shrink its holdings, the Fed lets securities mature without replacing them, reducing bank reserves. The risk is if it reduces its holdings too far, short-term interest rates could spike as banks borrow money to top-up their reserves.

In 2019, the Fed was reducing its balance sheet and caused a sharp, unexpected spike in short-term rates that disrupted financial markets, an outcome they want to avoid this time.

The Fed currently is reducing its holdings of mortgage-backed securities by up to $35 billion a month and Treasuries by just $5 billion a month. Powell said two weeks ago that the Fed would consider ending the rolloff “in coming months,” but analysts now expect it to happen sooner because of recent signs that banks are running low on reserves.