Florida Seeks Raúl Castro’s Arrest

Florida announced Monday it had obtained a state arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raúl Castro, 95, charging him with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the 1996 shootdown of two Miami exile planes.

The no-bond warrant names Castro and brother Fidel as final decision-makers in the Feb. 24, 1996, attack, which killed four men aboard unarmed Brothers to the Rescue planes. Castro later recalled telling generals to “shoot them down at sea when they show up.”

“It was not an accident. What happened was murder,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in an FIU law school courtroom named for the four victims. A May federal indictment already charges Castro with murder.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called May’s indictment a political stunt. Uthmeier acknowledged that Castro is “probably not looking to march himself into Miami,” but said the warrant prevents him from traveling to any country with a U.S. extradition treaty.

Florida Driver Records Hit by Hackers

Florida’s highway safety department is mailing letters to drivers whose license and vehicle records may have been exposed when a hacker logged into a state system on Sept. 4 with stolen credentials.

The intruder gained access using a Plant City Police login that an employee had improperly stored on a personal device, the state said. Officials blamed an unnamed “international cybercriminal organization” and said there’s no sign the data has been misused.

A hacking group called ShinyHunters, which said it hacked the FBI, posted a dark web claim in September and gave officials a Sept. 11 deadline to pay to stop a leak. The state hasn’t named the group or disclosed how many records were taken.

Affected drivers will receive free identity and credit monitoring for a year, plus $1 million in identity theft insurance.

Gators Open Season Ranked No. 1

Florida will open the men’s college basketball season at No. 1 after claiming 47 of 59 first-place votes in Monday’s preseason AP Top 25, with Duke and Illinois taking the rest.

It’s the Gators’ first preseason No. 1 since 2006, when Florida opened on top and repeated as national champion. Todd Golden’s team returns four starters, including Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon, from a 27-win squad that earned a No. 1 seed.

The Gators started last season ranked No. 3 and lost to Iowa as a No. 1 seed in the tournament’s second round. 

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➤ Marathon: The Coast Guard pulled four boaters from a capsized 26-foot catamaran about 5 miles south of Boot Key Harbor Sunday after they radioed a mayday. Photos show them huddled atop the nearly submerged hull. No one was hurt. (See Photos)

➤ Punta Gorda: A 47-year-old man is charged with slashing a 70-year-old Publix shopper’s face and neck with a box cutter on Oct. 10, just over three months after a mental health court ended his probation early for an attack on a teenager. (More)

➤ Chiefland: Firefighters borrowed a mini excavator from a local masonry business, then chipped through lime rock Friday to reach a border collie trapped 10 feet down a sinkhole. Its owner’s voice helped coax it out. (See Photos)

➤ Sanford: Auto Train passengers sat in a line of cars for seven hours or more at the Amtrak station Sunday night after the inbound train from Virginia ran about eight hours late. Riders blamed mechanical problems. (See Delays)

➤ Tallahassee: A pile of cardboard caught fire at Marpan Recycling on Woodville Highway early Monday, drawing firefighters around 4:45 a.m. Crews used hose lines and two aerial trucks to bring it under control. (See Fire)

➤ Casselberry: City leaders called a special meeting Monday to revisit bird sanctuary rules protecting Lost Lake’s peacocks. One 90-year-old neighbor said the heavy birds once tore down part of his pool screen. (More)

➤ Miami Beach: Rescuers pulled a surfer from rough water near South Pointe Park Pier Sunday after waves battered him against the rocks for 5 to 10 minutes. A passing runner who filmed the struggle helped alert them. (Watch Video)

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➤ Down 2-1 in the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to win three straight, beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Monday’s Game 6 to reach their third World Series. Neither the Rays nor the Milwaukee Brewers, their opponent starting Friday, has ever won a title. (More)

➤ The Florida Panthers became the first NHL team to post natural hat tricks in three straight games when Carter Verhaeghe scored three in a row during Saturday’s 8-3 win over Seattle. Brady Tkachuk had the first two. (More)

➤ Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is training in Delray Beach for his Dec. 11 fight with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff, Wales. The 38-year-old is ending his fifth retirement, and the Netflix bout sold out in under an hour. (More)

➤ The Florida State Seminoles’ top rusher, Ousmane Kromah, had season-ending leg surgery after getting hurt in Saturday’s 43-35 double-overtime loss at Miami. (More)

Yesterday’s Results: MLB | NFL | NHL | Soccer | NCAA Volleyball

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➤ Florida gas prices averaged $4.11 a gallon Sunday after peaking at $4.23 midweek. AAA warned that oil prices moving back above $100 a barrel could push gas prices higher. Filling a 15-gallon tank costs $62, $18 more than it did a year ago. (See Prices)

➤ Northeast Florida’s jobless rate fell to 4.5% in September, down from 4.8% in August but still above Florida’s 4.2% rate. The Jacksonville metro area added a net 2,400 nonagricultural jobs over the year, led by a gain of 4,300 in education and health services. (See Numbers)

➤ Florida home sales edged up 0.2% for single-family houses in the third quarter, but September closings fell 3.5% from a year earlier, the second straight monthly drop, as mortgage rates climbed. The median price rose to $415,000, up 1.2%. (More)

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➤ A water park with 19 slides has opened on Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas. Eight of the slides run from a 170-foot tower. A new pier there can dock two ships at once. (See Water Park)

➤ Lionfish hunters pulled a record 36,187 of the invasive fish from Florida waters this summer, beating 2025 by more than 5,000. Monroe County’s Hunter Ledbetter, a Marine veteran, was crowned Lionfish King with 1,541. (More)

➤ A single mother who commuted seven years from Orange Park to her Jacksonville Beach job is helping build a Mayport townhome for herself and her 10-year-old son. Beaches Habitat for Humanity buyers put in 300 hours of labor. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ The million-dollar retirement dream is shrinking, and the biggest threat isn’t the one most retirees expect. (Listen Now)

➤ Ukrainian drone operators completed a frontline medical evacuation that had never been done before. (Hear Details)

➤ A National Guard member was shot after troops stepped in to break up a late-night street fight in Washington, D.C. (Hear Story)

Did you watch any of the Rays’ ALCS game last night?

1. Yes
2. It was on
3. No

Yesterday’s Results:

How cold does it have to get before you call it cold?

1. Below 50: 29%
2. Below 60: 26%
3. Below 40: 18%
4. Below 70: 17%
5. Florida cold isn’t: 10%

Who is the subject of a 9-foot-tall bronze statue submerged 25 feet below the water off the coast of Key Largo?

Show me the answer