After teen’s death, the spicy One Chip Challenge is pulled

The maker of an extremely spicy tortilla chip sold as the One Chip Challenge and popularized as a dare on social media is pulling the product after the family of a Massachusetts teenager blamed the stunt for his death.

The cause of Harris Wolobah’s death last Friday hasn’t been determined and an autopsy was still pending as of Thursday, but the 14-year-old’s family blames the challenge.

Since his death, the Texas-based manufacturer, Paqui, has asked retailers to stop selling the individually wrapped chips — a step 7-Eleven already has taken.

The One Chip Challenge chip sells for about $10 and comes wrapped in a sealed foil pouch that is enclosed in a coffin-shaped cardboard box. The package warns that the chip is made for the “vengeful pleasure of intense heat and pain,” is intended for adults and should be kept out of reach of children.

WORCESTER, MASS. >>

Hurricane Lee charges through open Atlantic waters

Hurricane Lee whirled through open waters on Thursday as forecasters warned it could become the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season.

Lee was not expected to make landfall while on a projected path that will take it near the northeast Caribbean, although forecasters said tropical storm conditions are possible on some islands. Meteorologists said it was too early to provide details on potential rainfall and wind gusts.

The Category 4 hurricane was located about 780 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 130 miles per hour and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph.

The storm was expected to grow even more powerful late Thursday and remain a major hurricane into next week.

“Lee continues to strengthen at an exceptional rate,” the National Hurricane Center said.

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO >>

Report: 2 attacks by Islamist militants in Mali leave 64 dead

Two attacks by Islamist insurgents in the restive north of Mali on Thursday killed 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, according to a provisional death toll given by the country’s military junta.

A passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu on the Niger River and a Malian military position in Bamba further downstream in the Gao region were targeted, according to a statement from the military junta read on state television. It said the attacks have been claimed by Islamist extremist insurgent group JNIM, an umbrella coalition of armed groups aligned with al-qaida.

The Malian government announcement said its forces, in responding to the attacks, killed some 50 assailants. Three days of national mourning to honor the civilians and troops killed begin Friday.

Timbuktu has been blockaded by armed groups since late August, when the Malian army deployed reinforcements to the region.

BAMAKO, MALI >>