Hurricane Melissa arrives, Trump addresses the troops, Schools exam failure

Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica, unleashing fierce winds and heavy rain on the Caribbean nation and conditions are tipped to worsen by the hour.

Donald Trump has hailed long-standing ties between the US and Japan while speaking to troops onboard an aircraft carrier near Tokyo.

Students at Brisbane State High School will be made to sit an exam for a topic they didn't actually study.

7NEWS Headlines with Edwina Bartholomew for October 29, 2025.

For more news, head to www.7news.com.au 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good morning, straight to break in news overseas this morning,
and Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica, unleashing fierce
winds and heavy rain on the Caribbean nation, and conditions
are tipped to worsen by the hour. Like to our
US correspondent Rob Scott, Rob, this is the strongest storm
of the year. It is Eddie.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
But not only that, Hurricane Melissa is the second strongest
hurricane to ever hit the Atlantic. She is an absolute monster,
a rare Category five storm.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
As you say.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
She made landfall on the southwestern part of Jamaica in
the last hour or so, and the people in those
zones are going through absolute hell as we speak. Because
Melissa is packing winds at its core of two hundred
and ninety five kilometers an hour. She is bringing torrential
rainfall that, combined with huge storm surges, is already causing
potentially deadly flash flooding, and authorities are warning that mud

(00:56):
slides could be next. We are now starting to get
early reports of damage from those zones that have been
in the direct firing line of Melissa. We are hearing
that homes have been destroyed and that roofs have been
ripped from hospitals and from medical facilities. Yesterday, the Jamaican
Prime Minister warned that in those vulnerable zones, he did
not think that there was any infrastructure that could withstand

(01:16):
a direct hit from a category five storm. What's making
this worse is the fact that Melissa is incredibly slow moving.
The longer she hangs around over land, the more damage
she is likely to cause. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued yesterday.
The problem is many people chose to ignore them, and
they are in their homes as we speak. It's too
late for them to leave. They are being told that

(01:37):
they cannot go anywhere. They have to bunker down and
ride this out. The next few hours incredibly dangerous.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
Before the aid gets to you, you would have passed
through one of the most intense parts of this hurricane.
It means that you will experience wind speeds that are
approaching three hundred kilometers per hour. You will have that
in most intense wind speeds, but also the most torrential
donpours of reinvolved.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
The next few hours will be the most dangerous for
the people of Jamaica. The good news is that Melissa
will slowly start to weaken. Are the further north she heads.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
But the bad news is she.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Will be still incredibly strong as she leaves Jamaica. The
next country in the firing line is Cuba, and nine
hundred thousand people in parts of that country have already
been told to evacuate immediately.

Speaker 5 (02:27):
All right, Well, keep an eye on that this morning,
Thank you, Rob.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
British committic actress Vanella Scales has died at the age
of ninety three. Scales was best known for playing Sibil Faulty,
the long suffering and domineering wife of John Cleese's Basil
in Faulty Towers.

Speaker 6 (02:43):
Well, do you remember when we were first manicled together.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
We used to laugh quite a lot, Yes, but not
at the same time.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
She had a career spanning almost seventy years, but dementia
forced her into retirement, and her sons confirmed her death,
saying she'd been watching Faulty Towers the day before she passed.
Clase paid tribute, describing Scours as a really wonderful comic actress.
Scene after scene, she was absolutely perfect. The shocking sabotage

(03:16):
of two city hospitals is the focus of an urgent
review This morning. A woman will face court accused of
sneaking into restricted areas at Sutherland Hospital and Koreena Private,
cutting off water and gas, and even switching off oxygen supplies.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
She was out on bail at the time.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Doctors raised the alarm and she was arrested two hours later.
It's raised serious questions about hospital security. Social media platforms TikTok,
Snapchat and Meta have finally revealed their plans for how
things will work under Australia's world leading social media ban
in a Senate hearing. The platforms confirm they will comply
with the ban, which comes into effect in December by

(03:55):
deactivating the accounts of users age thirteen to fifteen. Will
be able to freeze their Snapchat accounts until they're legally
allowed to access them, and parents will be able to
dob in their kids if they're court using TikTok. Investigators
are working to determine what caused an explosion and an
underground mind that killed two people in far western New

(04:17):
South Wales. Sixty six year old Patrick McMullen and twenty
four year old Holly Clark died when explosive discs detonated
unexpectedly in the Endeavor Zinc mine outside Kobar, about three
hundred kilometers west of Dubo. The sole survivor of the
blast was twenty four year old Mackenzie Sterling, who's recovering
from hearing damage and shock in the Orange Hospital. The

(04:40):
mine has been closed and it's unclear at this stage
if human or equipment error was to blame. We've heard
from US Ambassador Kevin Rudd for the first time since
he was publicly scolded by Donald Trump. Mister Rudd returned
to Parliament House last night, a week after the uncomfortable
White House meeting when mister Trump told him I don't
like IQ and I probably never will.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
So let's see what he has to say about that.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Now, mister Rudd, what do you think of those comments
from Donald Trump that he doesn't forget people who quote
say bad about him.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
I would say is that I'm from America and I'm
here to help, and my name's Kevin.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
You go.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Mister Rudd was in Canberra speaking in an American Chamber
of Commerce event. Donald Trump has hailed long standing ties
between the US and Japan. While speaking to troops on
board and aircraft carrier near Tokyo. The US President heaped
praise in the new Japanese Prime Minister in front of
American service members in what's being hailed as another successful
trip for the US President.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
This woman is a winner.

Speaker 6 (05:42):
So you know, we've become very close friends, Olivers, and
the cherished alliance between the United States and Japan is
one of the most remarkable relationships in the entire world. Really,
there's never been anything like it.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Mister Trump is on a six day tour of Asia,
and we'll speak with China's President Shijinping when he heads to.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
South Career tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Ant Andy Abnezi wishing to pair well for the meeting,
which could have significant trade ramifications for Australia, and Tim
Lester is traveling with the Prime Minister and FA This
report a short time ago.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Among the Prime Minister's last commitments at the Regional Asian
Summit meeting host PM anwa Ibrahim, the two marked to
Monash University plan to build a one billion dollar campus
in Kuala Lumpur, The PM of the predominantly Muslim nation
then praising his guest for the approach the Alberanzi government

(06:34):
has taken to Gaza. The Prime Minister now heads to
South Korea as Presidents Trump and She prepare to meet
there and potentially settle their trade war.

Speaker 7 (06:46):
It's a good thing that President She and President Trump
are meeting, are on the sidelines of APEK and we'll
look forward to engage in constructively.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
The Prime Minister will attend the APEC summit in South Korea,
but first will lay a wreath in honor of Australian
soldiers who died during the Korean War.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Thank you, Tim Krisliner Coral Expeditions has serious questions to answer.
AFT an elderly passenger died when her cruise ship left
without her. The eighty one year old was one of
more than one hundred people traveling on the Coral Adventurer
and had been hiking a bush trail on Lizard Island
in Far North Queensland when.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
The ship left port.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
She had been missing for five hours before the alarm
was raised.

Speaker 5 (07:35):
Her body was found the next day.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
Students at Brisbane State High School will be made to
sit an exam for a topic they didn't actually study.
Year twelve, students taking Ancient history were taught about the
Roman emperor Augustus the semester instead of Julius Caesar. The
school was notified about the exam topic last year and
is now making an Illness and Misadventure application on behalf

(07:58):
of the entire cohort. The Education Department has apologized for
the blunder checking Wednesday's webin our shower too in Brisbane
and twenty five degrees showers and Sydney in twenty a
possible shower in Canberra, sixteen degrees mostly sunny in Melbourne
and nineteen putlic Clardian Hobart and.

Speaker 5 (08:16):
Eighteen sunny in Adelaide and twenty two degrees a shower
two for Perth

Speaker 1 (08:20):
And twenty one degrees and thirty four bit of storm
activity around in Darwin.