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Cyclone warning as gale-force winds batter Greece
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's civil protection services went on alert Thursday as the country braced for the threat of a cyclone, forest fires prompted evacuations on an island and an earthquake rattled the south of the country.
Gale-force winds of up to 62 mph slammed into Greece from the west, and meteorologists warned about the possibility of a cyclone in the Ionian Sea.
The high winds forced ferries to remain in port Thursday, severing Greek islands' connection to the mainland. The strong winds toppled trees onto power lines in the northern suburbs of Athens, with the fire department saying it received more than 500 calls to remove debris.
Authorities in the Saronic municipality near Athens, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos and the Aegean islands of Tinos, Andros and Mykonos ordered schools to remain shut. Schools in greater Athens will also be closed today.
On the western island of Kefallonia, several villages were evacuated as wildfire was being fanned by the strong winds. The island's emergency services were on alert as weather conditions were expected to worsen.
Meteorologists warned of the high probability that a Mediterranean cyclone known as a medicane -- which combines the words Mediterranean and hurricane -- could form today in the Ionian Sea southwest of the Greek mainland.
Severe weather warnings were issued through Sunday, with the storm expected to gradually move eastward.
The Institute of Geodynamics, meanwhile, said an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 struck off the western coast of southern Greece.
No damage or injuries were immediately reported.
Thursday's quake had an epicenter beneath the seabed 21 miles southwest of the town of Pylos 152 miles southwest of the capital, Athens. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center gave the preliminary magnitude as 5.2.
Greece is in a highly seismically active region and earthquakes are frequent. The vast majority are small and those causing severe damage or loss of life are rare.
Warm waters boosted 2017's major hurricane tally, study says
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Atlantic's warmer waters triggered the unusual number of major hurricanes last year, according to a new study that predicts the region could see a couple of extra whopper storms each year by the end of the century.
Six major hurricanes -- with winds of at least 111 mph -- spun around the Atlantic last year, including Harvey, Irma and Maria which hit parts of the United States and the Caribbean. Since 2000, the Atlantic has averaged three major hurricanes a year. Before that the average was closer to two.
It may go up to five to eight major hurricanes a year around the year 2100, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science.
"We will see more active hurricane seasons like 2017 in the future," said lead author Hiro Murakami, climate scientist and hurricane expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
So far this year, though, only one Atlantic hurricane, Florence, has reached major status.
Warm water acts as fuel for hurricanes. Water has to be at least 79 degrees for a storm to form. The warmer the water, the more it can resist forces that would cause it to weaken, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy, who wasn't part of the study.
Murakami found that a combination of natural conditions and man-made climate change made the waters warmer in one key area, which caused more major storms. That area is essentially a large box from south of Florida and north of South America, stretching all the way east to Africa.
Some of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes form off the coast of West Africa, then chug west toward the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.
Water in that large box -- the main hurricane development region -- averaged 0.7 degrees warmer than normal for the entire 2017 season, which is unusual for a six-month time period, Murakami said.
Murakami's study used computer simulations to isolate different climate conditions. Although his research showed both natural and human-triggered causes from the burning of coal, oil and gas, Murakami said he couldn't separate them enough to see which was bigger.
He used the computer models to look into the future. The Atlantic is projected to warm faster than the rest of the world's oceans. That difference is why Murakami said the number of major storms will probably increase by two or more on average.
Some outside experts had issues with parts of Murakami's study.
McNoldy said it makes sense that the unusual warm water was to blame in 2017, but he wasn't quite ready to point the finger at global warming.
"Hurricane seasons don't just keep getting more active as the climate warms though. There is enormous variability," McNoldy said in an email.
Prosecutor files charge in police shooting of black man
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A prosecutor secured a warrant Thursday to charge a white Tennessee police officer with criminal homicide after surveillance footage appeared to show him chasing a black man and opening fire as the man fled from the officer in July.
Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said in a statement that he requested a warrant Thursday to charge officer Andrew Delke in the death of 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick. A General Sessions judge found probable cause and signed Delke's arrest warrant Thursday after a magistrate judge ruled earlier Thursday that there wasn't enough evidence, The Tennessean reported.
Surveillance video from a nearby school shows the 25-year-old officer chased and shot Hambrick on July 26 as Hambrick ran away on a sidewalk near an apartment complex. Authorities say the incident began with a traffic stop and Hambrick had a gun.
Funk said filing the homicide charge in General Sessions court lets the case be presented in open court as transparently as possible, since grand jury proceedings are secret.
Nashville Mayor David Briley, who announced a comprehensive review of policing procedures when the video was released publicly last month, said he fully supports the police, but officers have to account for their actions when they have been accused of misconduct. He said there must be laws that are "fairly, equally and transparently applied."
"In August, I spoke with Daniel Hambrick's mother to express my condolences for her loss," the mayor said in a statement. "I assured her that we would show respect for the life of her son, because his life mattered. At that time, Ms. Hambrick asked for justice for Daniel. The District Attorney's decision to file charges in this case is a necessary step toward that end."
American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg called Delke's arrest a "crucial first step in setting the wheels of accountability and justice in motion," while cautioning that Delke must receive due process during proceedings.
"The arrest in and of itself sends an important -- yet all too rare -- message to the community that nobody is above the law," Weinberg said in a statement.
The release of the video in August prompted demands from the Nashville NAACP that Delke be fired and charged with murder, and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation open up a civil rights probe and a review of the Nashville Police Department.