News

The Associated Press reports: Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted …

The Washington Post reports: The nation’s top health agency is recommending easing restrictions on marijuana in what could portend a landmark shift in federal policy on cannabis. The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be reclassified as a lower-risk, Schedule III controlled substance. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, …

Atlanta’s NBC affiliate reports: Eleven people were hospitalized after a Delta flight landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the airline said. A flight from Milan, Italy to Atlanta “experienced severe turbulence” just before landing in Atlanta. According to records on FlightAware, the flight landed just before 7 p.m. Tuesday. Delta said the plane had 151 passengers and 14 crew aboard …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane I​dalia is beginning to make landfall as a Category 4 along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where it’s likely to bring catastrophic, life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flooding rain. I​dalia will then move quickly inland which will bring significant wind and flooding concerns, as well as the threat of tornadoes, into parts of Georgia, as well …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Idalia is producing bands of heavy rain, gusty winds and coastal flooding in Florida as it continues to intensify over the Gulf of Mexico ahead of its likely landfall at Category 3 strength Wednesday morning. Catastrophic, life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and heavy rain are all expected along portions of the west coast of Florida …

Reuters reports: A U.S. judge has rejected Burger King’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that it cheated hungry customers by making its Whopper sandwich appear larger than it actually is. Customers in the proposed class action accused Burger King of portraying burgers with ingredients that “overflow over the bun,” making it appear that the burgers are 35% larger and …

Penn Live reports: A Pennsylvania man is in custody after police said he pointed a shotgun at two women and a police officer and attempted to enter a predominantly African-American church in Ambridge, Beaver County, Sunday morning. Authorities reported to the intersection of Duss Avenue and Fourth Street shortly after 9 a.m. for a report of a man walking around …

The Associated Press reports: Idalia became a hurricane on Tuesday as it intensified on a path toward Florida’s Gulf coast, with the National Hurricane Center warning of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds in Florida in the next two days. It’s projected to have sustained winds of up to 120 mph (193 kph) as it …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Tropical Storm Idalia is anticipated to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, Florida’s emergency chief said on Monday morning as he urged Floridians to prepare for impacts. “People need to expect, even though they are well off outside of the cone, that we are going to have power …

Deutsche Welle reports: Russian investigators on Sunday confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin was among those who died in a plane crash in Russia earlier this week. Prigozhin was the leader of the Wagner private military group, which staged a mutiny against the Kremlin in late June. Russia’s Investigation Committee said that the results of genetic tests had confirmed the identities of …

Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate reports: Bob Barker, the former longtime host of the popular TV game show “The Price Is Right” and an animal-rights activist, died Saturday morning. He was 99. Details of his passing and the cause of death were not immediately available. Barker was a winner of 19 Daytime Emmy Awards. Also received an Emmy Award for Lifetime …

The New York Times reports: For the first time, Maui County officials publicly blamed Hawaii’s largest electric utility for the wildfires that killed at least 115 people this month, claiming in a lawsuit filed that “intentional and malicious” mismanagement of power lines had allowed flames to spark. The lawsuit accused the utility, Hawaiian Electric, of failing to respond to ominous …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said that Western suggestions Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie” while declining to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results. Russia’s aviation authority has said that Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, was on board a private jet which crashed on …

CBS News reports: Wild monkeys spotted in parts of Florida have prompted authorities to issue warnings about the primates, urging people to not feed or attempt to capture the animals. One photo, shared by the Orange City Police Department on Wednesday, shows a monkey sitting on a green chainlink fence. The monkey was identified as a wild Rhesus Macaques monkey, …

Sky News reports: Ten people have been killed in a private jet crash north of Moscow – with the Russian Civil Aviation Authority saying Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list. Seven passengers and three crew were on board the Embraer aircraft, which was en route from Moscow to St Petersburg, TASS news agency reported. The jet is said to …

NBC News reports: India made history on Wednesday by becoming the first country to reach the lunar south pole. NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon, intends to land its Artemis III mission in the south polar region in 2025. An uncrewed robotic moon lander, operated by India’s space agency and known as the Chandrayaan-3, touched …

Reuters reports: A work of art created by artificial intelligence without any human input cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, a U.S. court in Washington, D.C., has ruled. Only works with human authors can receive copyrights, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said on Friday, affirming the Copyright Office’s rejection of an application filed by computer scientist Stephen Thaler on behalf …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: Five people are confirmed dead in the Tampa Bay area due to a rare, flesh-eating bacteria in the waters. According to Florida Health, Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that naturally occurs in warm, brackish seawater and requires salt. There are two confirmed deaths in Hillsborough County, one in Sarasota County, one in Polk County, and one …

The New York Times reports: While there have been no major U.S. plane crashes in more than a decade, potentially dangerous incidents are occurring far more frequently than almost anyone realizes — a sign of what many insiders describe as a safety net under mounting stress. So far this year, close calls involving commercial airlines have been happening, on average, …

The Weather Channel reports: H​urricane Hilary is spreading gusty winds and heavy rain through northwestern Mexico ahead of a rare California tropical storm strike. The remnants of Hilary will bring damaging wind gusts and potentially catastrophic flash flooding to the American Southwest this weekend. T​he National Hurricane Center warned that “in the Southwestern United States, the potentially historic amount of …