10 things you need to know today: September 6, 2019

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1. Hurricane Dorian lashes Carolinas as Bahamas death toll rises
2. Longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe dies at 95
3. Michigan State fined over handling of Nassar abuse case
4. Boris Johnson vows to resist Brexit delay despite setbacks
5. Treasury proposes ending government control of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
6. GAO: Trump administration broke law to keep parks open through shutdown
7. U.S. says it's talking to Houthi rebels in push to end Yemen's war
8. Serena Williams advances to potentially historic U.S. Open final
9. CVS, Walgreens join chains urging customers not to openly carry guns
10. Ghost Ship warehouse fire trial ends in acquittal, hung jury

published 6 September 2019

1. Hurricane Dorian lashes Carolinas as Bahamas death toll rises

Hurricane Dorian battered parts of the North Carolina coast with high winds early Friday as it continued to move up the coast with its eyewall just offshore. Dorian's top sustained winds weakened to 90 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane. It spawned several tornadoes in North Carolina and caused flooding in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday as it grazed the coast. On Friday, parts of the Virginia coast could get tropical-storm force winds before Dorian heads deeper into the Atlantic. In the northern Bahamas, where Dorian first hit land with sustained winds reaching 185 mph and gusts over 200 mph, the death toll climbed to 30 and was expected to rise further. Relief workers rushed to help people in devastated communities.

Former Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe, who was forced to resign in 2017 after 37 years in power, died on Friday. He was 95. Mugabe led the African nation to independence in 1980, ending white minority rule and serving as the country's first prime minister and later president. Mugabe's successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, confirmed Mugabe's death and mourned him as "Zimbabwe's founding father" and an "icon of liberation." Over nearly four decades in power, Mugabe became a polarizing figure, crushing rivals and denying free expression as the country descended into poverty and conflict. He once vowed to rule for life, but growing discontent prompted his own military to step in and force him to resign, sparking street celebrations in the capital, Harare.

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Thursday that Michigan State University must pay a record-breaking $4.5 million fine for gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's "abhorrent" sex-abuse crimes, and for Michigan State's response to the case. DeVos characterized Nassar's abuse, as well as former MSU Dean William Strampel's failure to properly oversee Nassar, as "disgusting and unimaginable." Nassar was sentenced last year to more than 100 years in prison for molesting patients while working at MSU and for the U.S. Gymnastics Team. Strampel was sentenced to 11 months in jail for neglect of duty regarding Nassar's abuse. The university settled with families of Nassar's abuse victims for $500 million last May. MSU Provost June Youatt resigned Thursday in the wake of the investigation into her handling of complaints against Strampel.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday continued to push lawmakers for snap elections following a string of bitter defeats in Parliament, which is pushing through a proposal that would block a no-deal Brexit as Johnson vows to lead the U.K. out of the European Union in late October with or without an agreement. Johnson said he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than allow any more Brexit delays. With Johnson's effort to crash out of the EU shaky, even his younger brother, Jo Johnson, turned away, resigning as a member of Parliament and government minister to end weeks of being "torn between family loyalty and the national interest." Jo Johnson has long disagreed with his brother on leaving the EU, and he voted against Brexit in the 2016 referendum.

The Treasury Department on Thursday unveiled a proposal to end government control of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The plan calls for reducing taxpayers' financial risk by returning Fannie and Freddie to private ownership. They nearly collapsed during the 2008-2009 financial crisis before the government bailed them out, costing taxpayers $187 billion. President Trump called for developing the proposal in March after unsuccessfully pushing Congress to pass legislation returning the companies' ownership to private investors. Under the proposal, their profits would be used as protection against future losses instead of going to the Treasury. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee nearly half of the nation's $10 trillion home-loan market.

The Trump administration broke federal law by dipping into entrance fees to keep national parks open during the early 2019 government shutdown, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday. The GAO said the Interior Department had a legal obligation to get authorization from Congress before shuffling money between accounts, but it failed to do so. The GAO now must report the violation to lawmakers and figure out who was responsible for the illegal move. The Interior Department did not cooperate with the investigation. "We take our responsibility to Congress seriously, and will not allow an agency's lack of cooperation to interfere with Congress' oversight of executive spending," the GAO wrote. The Interior Department did not comment immediately on the report.

The Trump administration is preparing direct talks with Houthi rebels in a bid to broker an end to Yemen's more than four-year civil war. "We are narrowly focused on trying to end the war in Yemen," said David Schenker, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs on Thursday. A leader of the Iran-backed Houthis declined to confirm that discussions with the U.S. were underway. The reported talks come after the two sides failed to make progress after a United Nations-brokered 2018 agreement once considered a first step toward peace. The U.S. has supported the Yemeni government and Saudi bombing against the Houthis since 2015. President Trump vetoed a resolution Congress passed earlier this year seeking to end U.S. involvement.

Serena Williams beat No. 5 seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 to advance to another U.S. Open final. Williams will be playing in the fourth final of her last six major tennis tournaments. She was runner-up in last year's U.S. Open, losing to Naomi Osaka in the finals. Williams will play No. 15 Bianca Andreescu in Saturday's final. If she wins, she will tie Margaret Court's record for 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Her semi-final was her 101st career match victory at Flushing Meadows, equaling a tournament record set by Chris Evert. "It's just impressive, I guess," Williams said. "I don't think about it. I just come out here and do what I can."

Walgreens and CVS on Thursday joined Walmart and Kroger in asking customers not to openly carry guns in their stores. The only exception is for shoppers who are also authorized law enforcement officers. "We support the efforts of individuals and groups working to prevent gun violence, and continually review our policies and procedures to ensure our stores remain a safe environment," CVS said in a statement. "We join a growing chorus of businesses in requesting that our customers, other than authorized law enforcement personnel, do not bring firearms into our stores." Walmart and Kroger made the same request earlier in the week. The move comes after two deadly shootings in Walmart stores over the summer.

A California jury on Thursday declined to convict two men over a deadly 2017 fire at a party in a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse that had been converted into a warren of artist spaces. Family members of the 36 victims had opposed a deal that would have sent the defendants, Max Harris and Derick Almena, to prison in exchange for a plea of no contest on manslaughter charges. After nearly two weeks of deliberations, jurors failed to reach a unanimous agreement on whether to convict Almena, who ran the building, and acquitted Harris, the building's "creative director." Prosecutors said the men turned the Ghost Ship warehouse into a death trap with illegal construction, shoddy wiring, and clutter that blocked exits.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.