10 things you need to know today: September 7, 2019

(Image credit: NOAA via Getty Images)

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1. North Carolina island experiences 'catastrophic flooding' after Dorian
2. Iran breaches nuclear deal again
3. NOAA criticizes National Weather Service for contradicting Trump
4. Russia, Ukraine exchange prisoners
5. CDC warns against vaping as 3rd death is reported from mystery lung disease
6. Texas' Republican Lt. Gov. calls for more gun background checks
7. Hong Kong protests continue for 14th consecutive weekend after Lam's concession
8. Powell appears optimistic U.S. will avoid recession
9. India's attempted historic moon landing appears to go wrong
10. Serena Williams to face Bianca Andreescu in historic U.S. Open finals

published 7 September 2019

1. North Carolina island experiences 'catastrophic flooding' after Dorian

Ocracoke Island, which is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, suffered "catastrophic flooding" after Hurricane Dorian swept through on Friday. About 800 people remained on the island during the storm and were stranded. There is reportedly no electricity and many homes and buildings are reportedly under water; helicopters airlifted food and water to the residents. Meanwhile, the death toll in the Bahamas rose to 43 and is expected to increase as hundreds of residents remain missing nearly a week after Hurricane Dorian severely damaged parts of the Caribbean nation. Dorian, now a Category 1 hurricane, was on the move again Saturday morning with sustained 90 mph winds, veering swiftly away from Mid-Atlantic states. It is now reportedly headed to Nova Scotia.

Iran announced Saturday that it has once again breached the nuclear pact it signed in 2015. Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said Tehran has begun using advanced centrifuge machines — devices that enrich uranium — and is now capable of raising uranium enrichment past the 20 percent level. The information appears to serve as a bargaining chip with the European powers trying to salvage the 2015 deal after the U.S. dropped out of the agreement last year. Kamalvandi warned Europe that it has little time to save the accord. "Our stockpile is quickly increasing," he said. "We hope they will come to their senses." Iran, which maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, began exceeding limits on its nuclear capacity in May in retaliation for mounting U.S. pressure.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday backed President Trump's claim earlier this week that Hurricane Dorian had threatened Alabama. In a statement the NOAA criticized the Birmingham, Alabama, National Weather Service, which it oversees, for denying in a tweet that Alabama faced any danger from the storm. "The Birmingham National Weather Service's Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time," the NOAA statement said. Additionally, the statement said information provided to Trump and the public between Aug. 28 and Sept. 2 did leave open the possibility that Dorian's winds could affect Alabama. Many meteorologists were reportedly confused by the NOAA's statement and stand by the NWS's tweet.

Russia and Ukraine began a prisoner swap Saturday in what is considered a significant breakthrough in relations between the neighboring countries that have been mired in turmoil since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, launching a five-year war between Ukraine government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the region. The exchange reportedly included 70 prisoners overall, including 24 Ukraine sailors detained by Russia last year. The long-anticipated act of diplomacy serves as the first major campaign promise fulfilled by recently-elected Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, who called it "the first stage to unblock our dialogue" and "the first step to stop the war." The swap may also represent a sign to Europe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to compromise. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the exchange was "hopeful."

A third person has died from a lung disease linked to vaping, the Indiana Department of Health announced Friday. The lung illness has now caused 450 potential cases across 33 states and one territory, but save for a warning that it's likely tied to a "chemical" in vaping products, there has been minimal news on what's causing the mysterious disease. That uncertainty has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn Americans against vaping. News of a third vaping-related death came just as the New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial Friday pushing for further awareness around "the harmful effects of vaping," The New York Times reports. The CDC's investigation has not found that any one device or substance is responsible for the disease.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) defied the National Rifle Association on Friday when he endorsed expanding the state's background checks to include private gun sales less than a week after a mass shooting in the Odessa, Texas, area. Patrick, who has previously received an A-plus grade from the NRA for his stance on Second Amendment rights, said he is "willing to take an arrow" to tighten background checks. Patrick did advocate for allowing sales between family members and friends to remain exempt from triggering a check, but he said Texas must strongly discourage stranger-to-stranger sales without one. "Look, I'm a solid NRA guy, but not expanding the background check to eliminate the stranger to stranger sale makes no sense to me and...most folks," Patrick said.

Anti-government, pro-democracy protests broke out in Hong Kong on Saturday for the 14th consecutive weekend. Demonstrators reportedly initially sought to once again seize the city's airport, but tightened security measures led to a change of plans, and people wound up gathering in malls throughout the city. Saturday's rallies follow a night of violence, which ended with riot police firing tear gas and sponge rounds to disperse the crowds. The protests have continued even after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Wednesday her plan to formally withdraw the extradition bill that sparked the demonstrations. The opposition movement has maintained they will not cease demonstrating until all of their demands were met, including an inquiry into possible police brutality.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday he was not "forecasting or expecting a recession" and that the economic outlook in the United States is a "favorable one," despite fears that Washington's trade war with Beijing could spell doom. Powell did acknowledge that trade uncertainty was weighing on business investment and confidence, but he attributed his optimism to the Fed's decision to cut rates earlier this year for the first time in a decade. He also said the Fed will do whatever it takes to maintain economic growth in the U.S., which some analysts believe signals another rate cut. "We're going to continue to act as appropriate to sustain this expansion," Powell said.

India's Vikram spacecraft — part of its unprecedented Chandrayaan-2 mission — attempted to land on the moon on Friday afternoon, but mission control reportedly lost contact with the lander before it touched ground. If successful, the mission would have made lunar history as the southernmost soft, controlled landing on the moon's surface. While Indian officials did not immediately detail what may have gone awry, Indian Space Research Organization chair Kailasavadivoo Sivan had previously said the mission's landing was set to be its most "terrifying moment." Sivan said the mission studied previous failures and hoped its 15-minute descent would go more smoothly this time. The mission aims to uncover information about the unexplored south-pole region of the moon to further understand the moon's origin and evolution.

Serena Williams will face Bianca Andreescu in Saturday's U.S. Open final at 4 p.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York. It will air on ESPN. It's Williams' fourth final in her last six major tournaments. Williams beat No. 5 seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday in her 101st career match victory at Flushing Meadows, equaling a tournament record set by Chris Evert. She was runner-up in last year's U.S. Open, losing to Naomi Osaka in the finals. This year, Williams will take on 19-year-old Andreescu, who is ranked No. 15. If Williams wins, she will tie Margaret Court's record for 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Andreescu, meanwhile, is the first woman since Venus Williams to reach a U.S. Open final in her debut tournament. Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams' coach, said on Friday he believes Andreescu will "be No. 1 soon."

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.