What to Know
- Time is running short to get out of the way of Hurricane Florence, a storm that has 10 million people in its potentially devastating sights
- Regulators are threatening to pull e-cigs from shelves if manufacturers do not control teen use, which they say has reached epidemic levels
- Superman Henry Cavill is parting ways with Warner Bros., sources told The Hollywood Reporter
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Time Nearly Up: Fierce Hurricane Florence Aims at Southeast
Time is running short to get out of the way of Hurricane Florence, a monster of a storm that has a region of more than 10 million people in its potentially devastating sights as it zeroes in on the Southeastern coast. Forecasters said the storm's outer rain bands are approaching the North Carolina coast. Its wind speeds have dropped from a high of 140 mph to 110 mph, reducing it from a Category 4 storm to a Category 2, and additional fluctuations and weakening were likely as it swirled toward land. But authorities warned Florence has an enormous wind field that has been growing larger, raising the risk of the ocean surging on to land and making Florence extremely dangerous. The National Hurricane Center's best guess was that Florence would blow ashore as early as Friday afternoon around the North Carolina-South Carolina line, then slog its rainy way westward with a potential for catastrophic inland flooding that could swamp homes, businesses and farm fields.
US Bishops to Meet Pope Amid Crisis in Confidence Over Abuse
A delegation of U.S. Catholic cardinals and bishops will meet with Pope Francis amid a crisis of confidence in church leadership following new sex abuse and cover-up revelations that have also implicated Francis himself. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, requested the audience last month following revelations that a now-disgraced ex-cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, had risen through church ranks despite allegations of sexual misconduct that were known in U.S. and Vatican circles. As well as requesting a full-fledged Vatican investigation into the McCarrick affair, DiNardo wants answers to allegations that a string of Vatican officials — including Francis — have known of McCarrick's misdeeds since 2000, but turned a blind eye. DiNardo is heading the U.S. delegation and is accompanied by Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Francis' top sex abuse adviser, and other officials from the U.S. conference.
FDA Puts E-Cig Makers on Notice: Fix 'Epidemic' Teen Use
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Federal regulators are threatening to pull e-cigarettes from shelves if manufacturers do not control teen use, which officials say has reached epidemic levels. The Food and Drug Administration was prepared to embrace e-cigarettes as a way to wean adult smokers from cigarettes, but the agency is rethinking its approach after seeing scores of teens vaping. The crackdown by the agency includes historic action against more than 1,300 retailers and five major manufacturers for their roles in "perpetuating youth access," the agency said. The e-cigarette craze has driven what's arguably the largest uptick of teen nicotine use in decades after years of driving cigarette smoking rates to record lows. Teens who would have never smoked cigarettes are happily inhaling fruity flavors, sometimes without realizing it is packed with nicotine, an addictive substance. Middle school and high school students sneak the devices into schools and flaunt pictures of their vapes or of themselves performing tricks on Instagram. Across the entire e-cigarette category, the FDA is considering restricting manufacturers from selling flavored nicotine liquid or making the products undergo an agency review.
Cavill Reportedly Done Playing Superman in DC Extended Universe
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the end of an era! Henry Cavill is parting ways with Warner Bros., sources told The Hollywood Reporter. E! News has reached out to Cavill's rep for additional comment. Warner Bros. has no current plans for another "Superman" film starring Henry Cavill, a person familiar with the studio's plans said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "While no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films, we've always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill, and that remains unchanged," the studio said in a statement. It was released after a Hollywood Reporter article said Cavill's tenure as the Man of Steel appeared to be ending.
'60 Minutes' Chief Jeff Fager Fired Over Policy Violation
CBS News fired "60 Minutes" top executive Jeff Fager, who has been under investigation following reports he groped women at parties and tolerated an abusive workplace. The network news president, David Rhodes, said Fager's firing was "not directly related" to the allegations against him, but came because he violated company policy. A CBS News reporter working on a story about Fager revealed that he had sent her a text message urging her to "be careful." Fager is the third major figure at CBS to lose his job in the past year over misconduct allegations, following news anchor Charlie Rose last November and CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves. Fager said in a statement "my language was harsh, and despite the fact that journalists receive harsh demands for fairness all the time, CBS did not like it."
