August 29 top stories
It is August 29. Here are today’s top stories.
Hurricane Idalia to hit Florida Wednesday morning
Hurricane Idalia is forecast to make landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast by Wednesday morning as a major hurricane (Category 3 or above).
Officials are warning of life-threatening storm surges, damaging winds, and flooding rain along the Florida Gulf Coast and for bad storms to impact northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolina as the hurricane travels northeast.
At the time of signing the news, the hurricane is a Category 1 storm and is spinning in waters north of Cuba.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged people to listen to evacuation orders and make storm preparations.
UNC-Chapel hill professor murdered
A professor at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill was shot and killed by a graduate student on Monday afternoon. The shooting happened on campus.
The suspected shooter, Tailei Qi, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The professor was Zijie Yan, who worked in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences. Qi was listed as a graduate student in Yan’s research group.
Police have not revealed a possible motive, but said having the suspect in custody will allow them to figure out the “why.”
Deadly helicopter crash in Florida
On Monday morning in Florida, a helicopter operated by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue was caught on video crashing into an apartment complex. The helicopter was struggling to stay in the air and had smoke and fire coming out of it as it spun downwards.
The helicopter had three people on board at the time and one person was killed: Broward Sheriff’s Office Capt. Terryson Jackson. He was 50. The two others were fire rescue employees who crawled out of the helicopter after the crash.
An adult woman who was in an apartment died due to the helicopter crash.
Officials said the helicopter was on its way to provide medical assistance to a mother and daughter who was in a car crash when it started experiencing mechanical issues that led to a fire on board.
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Parasitic worm found in woman’s brain
Doctors who performed brain surgery on a 64-year-old woman in Australia were shocked to find a 3-inch live worm inside the brain. It is the world’s first discovery of a live worm inside a human brain.
The worm was identified as a roundworm that is typically found in pythons. Experts believe the woman contracted the parasite from foraging vegetables in the area, which is inhabited by carpet pythons.
The woman suffered three weeks of abdominal pain, fever-like symptoms, and experienced forgetfulness and depression. An MRI scan showed that there was something abnormal in her brain and the surgery showed exactly what it was.
Experts said this shows how diseases can emerge from interactions between animals and humans and that it is important to wash one’s hands after foraging.
Nigerian police detain “gay suspects” at wedding
CBS News reported that police in Nigeria said they detained at least 67 people who were celebrating a same-sex wedding and that it is one of Nigeria’s largest mass detentions targeting homosexuality, which is outlawed in the country.
A police spokesperson said they arrested “gay suspects” around 2 a.m. local time after storming a hotel.
CBS said arrests of LGBTQ people are common in Nigeria and that “suspects” can face up to 14 years in prison.
Human rights groups condemned the arrests and the law.
That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
Hurricane: https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2023-08-27-tropical-storm-idalia-hurricane-watches-florida
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/hurricane-idalia-florida-08-29-23/index.html
Helicopter: https://abcnews.go.com/US/fire-rescue-helicopter-crashes-florida-2-hospitalized/story
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/us/helicopter-crash-pompano-beach-florida-sheriff.html
Worm: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/australia/australia-parasitic-worm-brain-scn-intl-hnk/index.html
Nigeria: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nigeria-gay-suspects-detained-same-sex-wedding-lgbtq-rights-africa/