Nation & World Glance
Florence evacuees return as others brace for more flooding
WILMINGTON, N.C. — The crisis from Hurricane Florence is slowly moving to South Carolina along with the trillions of gallons of water dumped by the storm.
People in coastal Horry County and nearby areas had enough warning and certainty about where the water was going that hundreds loaded furniture from their homes into trucks and flatbeds to take to higher ground.
In North Carolina, many started returning to flooded homes as the rivers receded. They were met by silty mud on walls and floors, blown out windows and terrible odors.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster estimated his state has already suffered $1.2 billion in damage. He asked Congress for help.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says the state is still tallying its storm damage, but says it will be in the billions.
Florence is blamed for at least 41 deaths in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Well over half of those killed were in vehicles.
Moon to carry private message from Kim Jong Un to Trump
SEOUL, South Korea — A beaming South Korean President Moon Jae-in, freshly returned home Thursday from a whirlwind three-day summit with Kim Jong Un, said the North Korean leader wants the U.S. secretary of state to visit Pyongyang soon for nuclear talks, and also hopes for a quick follow-up to his June summit with President Donald Trump.
Only hours after standing with Kim on the peak of a volcano that’s at the heart of Kim dynasty propaganda, Moon told reporters in Seoul that he will be carrying a private message from Kim to Trump about the nuclear standoff when he meets the U.S. president in New York next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session.
Both Trump, who has repeatedly spoken of his good relationship with Kim, and the North Korean leader have expressed a desire to follow up on the June meeting in Singapore that was meant to settle an impasse that seemed to be edging toward war last year. But there are worries among observers about whether Kim is as committed to denuclearization as he claims.
Moon faces increasing pressure from Washington to find a path forward in efforts to get Kim to completely — and unilaterally — abandon his nuclear arsenal, which is thought to be closing in on the ability to accurately target any part of the continental United States.
Colorado meatpacker recalls ground beef after E. coli death
FORT MORGAN, Colo. — A Colorado meatpacker is recalling more than 132,000 pounds of ground beef after a suspected E. coli outbreak killed one person and sickened 17, officials said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday the beef was produced and packaged at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan on June 21 and shipped to retailers nationwide.
The products include 3-, 10- and 20-pound packages of ground beef under the Our Certified, Excel, Sterling Silver, Certified and Fire River Farms brands with July 11 use or freeze by dates.
Regulators warned that people should also check for the products in their freezers. They advise throwing the products away or returning them to the location of purchase.
In a statement on Thursday, Cargill said all of the affected products have been removed from supermarkets. Food safety teams are reviewing the Fort Morgan facility and others “to ensure we continue to deliver safe food,” the statement said.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service did not release information about the people who died or became ill, including locations.