Hurricane Beryl strengthened as it neared the Texas coast on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said, forcing the closure of major oil ports, flight cancellations and a warning it would be a deadly storm for communities hit.
Beryl, the earliest category 5 hurricane on record, last week swept through Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, toppling buildings and power lines and killing at least 11 people, Reuters reported.
The storm weakened after its deadly trail of destruction across the Caribbean, but strengthened into a category 1 hurricane as it crossed the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
By the time it reaches landfall near Houston on Monday it could be a category 2 storm.
"Additional strengthening is expected before landfall on the Texas coast," the NHC said in its latest advisory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help secure an end to its war under US President Donald Trump's plan.
Two suspects in the brazen daylight heist of some of France's crown jewels from the Louvre were arrested in Paris on Saturday evening and are being questioned, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the investigation.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for new strong sanctions against Russia and its allies after Russian drones killed three and injured 31, including six children, in an overnight air attack on Kyiv.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Sunday it was withdrawing from Turkey as part of a disarmament process it is coordinating with the government, and pressed Ankara for concrete measures to move the process along.