5 things you need to know Thursday
Hurricane Maria expected to drench the Dominican Republic
After blasting through Puerto Rico on Wednesday, leaving the entire island powerless, Hurricane Maria will bring fierce winds and drenching rain to the Dominican Republic on Thursday. As the storm moves to the northwest overnight Thursday and into Friday, Maria will roar past the Turks and Caicos Islands and eastern portions of the Bahamas, where hurricane warnings are in effect. Fortunately, those could be the final nations directly impacted by the ferocious storm, which should move to the north and then northeast, away from the United States, over the weekend and into early next week.
Mexico City quake: Rescuers struggle to free people trapped under rubble
Rescue efforts in Mexico City will carry on Thursday as emergency responders try to find more survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings caused by Tuesday's magnitude-7.1 earthquake. The massive quake hit near the town of Raboso, about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Workers pulled 52 people from the rubble of collapsed buildings in the capital, the Mexico City government said. Authorities have asked the public to bring lamps and mirrors to help with the rescue efforts. On Wednesday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto declared three days of mourning following the deadly quake.
Official criminally indicted in Flint water crisis appears in court
A state official's preliminary examination for his alleged actions and inactions in the Flint water crisis is due in court Thursday. Nick Lyon, a lifelong public servant who still serves as director of Gov. Rick Snyder's Department of Health and Human Services, faces two felony charges — including a single count of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the December 2015 death of Robert Skidmore, 85. Lyon is both the highest-ranking government official charged in the Flint probe and the first to face a manslaughter charge.
Ivanka Trump reveals her battle with postpartum depression
Ivanka Trump's Instagram account is carefully curated with seemingly perfect photos of her three young children, but as viewers will find out on Dr. Oz Thursday, her experience as a mother has not been as effortless as she makes it appear. "With each of my three children, I had some level of postpartum," she told Oz in an excerpt shown Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America, though he had to prompt her to say the word "depression."
Happy birthday, Stephen King!
The “King of Horror” turns 70 today. The prolific author has given fans dozens of iconic stories to keep them up at night. His work has been adapted to film more than 60 times, and the newest incarnation of his creepy clown saga, It has smashed box office records — although it hasn’t made him any friends in the clown community. King is the inspiration behind classic films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Shining as well as chilling tales like Carrie and Misery. King fans are eagerly awaiting his latest project, a collaboration with his son Owen King called Sleeping Beauties, which comes out Sept. 26.
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