(This report has been updated with new information.)

Officials in Cocke County ordered all of downtown Newport to evacuate immediately after 3 p.m. on September 27 after reports that a dam in North Carolina had “suffered a catastrophic failure,” despite the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency announced that around 4:40 p.m. Duke Energy said the dam had not failed.

Walters Dam is owned and operated by Duke Energy. He controls part of the Pigeon River. Walters Dam is also known as Waterville Dam and both names have been used in the notices of various officials.

“Duke Energy currently has all gates open at Waterville Dam and continues to transfer water through the dam,” Duke Energy spokeswoman Madison McDonald said in an email to Knox News. “We can confirm that both the dam and our locks are operating as expected.”

CNN
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The death of Hassan Nasrallah has put President Joe Biden in trouble: While no one in the White House shed tears for the longtime Hezbollah leader, the Israeli airstrike that killed him has only increased fears of an escalation of the conflict, Biden says actively work to avoid this.

Immediately after the operation, Biden quickly alerted the public that he had received no warning and was not involved. Only 24 hours later, after both Israel and Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah had been killed, Biden released a carefully worded statement in which he declared the death a “measure of justice” but reiterated that his “goal was de-escalation.” be.

For Biden, this moment amounts to another tense balancing act – this time just six weeks before a US presidential election. Already at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the nearly year-long war in Gaza, the president is now working to calm two fronts while his influence over Netanyahu’s decision-making appears to be at an all-time low.

Before Friday’s strike, Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire proposal negotiated by the United States and France that called for a 21-day break in fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border, angering American officials who had been led to believe he was on board.

Israel told the U.S. it would not launch its major operation in Beirut until it had already begun, to the frustration of some American officials who faced what they saw as repeated examples of Netanyahu defying Biden’s public and private pleas for restraint. have become tired.

Speaking to reporters in Delaware on Friday, Biden stressed he knew little about the operation.

“We are still gathering information,” the president said. He reiterated his fears that a major conflict could be on the horizon – which have diminished over the past year but have now peaked: “I’m always worried about that,” he said.

Despite all this concern, Israel’s target was undoubtedly someone the White House wanted dead.

“This is welcome,” a senior administration official told CNN after both the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death.

“No one here is mourning Nasrallah,” another senior government official said, calling the Hezbollah leader a “terrorist” and “murderer.”

“Hassan Nasrallah was a terrorist with American blood on his hands,” Vice President Kamala Harris wrote in a statement released midday Saturday.

As of Saturday morning, it was simply too early to assess what impact Nasrallah’s death would have in the region and the looming possibility of a major escalation, one of the officials said.

The American position currently is to be prepared for a range of possible retaliatory measures – if and when they come – but whether such retaliatory measures would come from Hezbollah, Iran or both is not currently clear, they said.

The Biden administration’s biggest question and concern is what impact Nasrallah’s death will have in the coming days and weeks on the region, where the risk of escalation and widening of the conflict was already high.

If the events of recent days had taken place six months ago, the threat of a second major war may have been even greater, the first senior administration official said. But Hezbollah has been “decimated” and Iran – which backs the militant group – has also been “severely weakened”, the official said.

Over the last month, Israel has destroyed Hezbollah weapons depots and significantly compromised its communications infrastructure, including through attacks on pagers and walkie-talkies.

Another senior US official previously told CNN that the US expects Iran to intervene in the conflict if its leaders realize they are in the process of “losing” Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy group.

As of Saturday, officials said the U.S. had seen no signs that Iran was preparing for a major, sustained retaliation, but acknowledged it was too early.

“Ultimately, our goal is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means,” Biden wrote in his statement released midday Saturday. “In Gaza, we are pursuing a UN Security Council-backed agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. In Lebanon, we negotiated an agreement that would return people safely to their homes in Israel and southern Lebanon.”

“It is time for these deals to be completed, for the threats to Israel to be eliminated and for the broader Middle East region to achieve greater stability,” he said.

Biden spoke by phone with Harris and her national security team on Saturday about developments in the Middle East, the White House said.

“President Biden convened a conference call with Vice President Harris and his national security team to receive an update on the situation in the Middle East, review the status of U.S. forces in the region, and continue diplomatic efforts to coordinate with allies and partners and de-escalate ongoing conflicts,” the White House said.

In a sign of U.S. fears that the situation could quickly deteriorate, the State Department on Saturday ordered certain employees and their family members to leave Lebanon as the conflict threatens to erupt into all-out war.

The ordered non-emergency departure of staff does not constitute an evacuation of the entire embassy, ​​but reflects increasing volatility in the country and its capital, Beirut.

The departure orders came just days after American officials expressed optimism about a “groundbreaking” proposal that they hoped would end violence on the Israel-Lebanon border.

American officials’ confidence in announcing the proposal was based in part on the fact that they were dealing with Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, as they drafted and revised the statement’s text. Ceasefire talks began Monday with a conversation between Dermer and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.

U.S. officials were under the impression that Netanyahu would favor a pause in fighting and were encouraged to work with French officials to draft a statement calling for a 21-day ceasefire.

Senior Biden administration officials were furious Thursday after Netanyahu rejected the plan, prompting them to demand a public statement from the Israelis to resolve the diplomatic embarrassment.

Disgruntled senior U.S. officials believed Netanyahu was responding to a backlash from far-right members of his government at home. Israeli officials, meanwhile, attributed the confusion to “miscommunication.”

Be that as it may, by Friday all talk of an impending ceasefire had died down when Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report.

The Kansas City Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers in an NFL game on Sunday afternoon. The matchup begins at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS. Fans can watch this game online for free by taking advantage of the free trial offered by Fubo TV, which also offers new users a $30 discount during their first month of service. Alternatively, DirecTV Stream offers a free trial.

Kansas City enters this matchup with a 3-0 record and the team is coming off a 22-17 win over Atlanta. During the win, Kansas City accumulated 345 total yards. Notably, the team’s star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns. His main target was wide receiver Rashee Rice, who finished the game with 12 receptions for 110 yards. If these two players put together a similar performance on Sunday, Kansas City has a great chance of defeating Los Angeles.

The Chargers go into this matchup with a 2-1 record and the team suffered a heavy 20-10 defeat against Pittsburgh. During the loss, Los Angeles gained just 166 total yards.

Los Angeles may be without star quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday after he suffered an injury against Pittsburgh. Before leaving the game due to injury, Herbert threw for 125 yards and a touchdown. If he is unable to play on Sunday, the Chargers will rely on their rushing attack. The team is currently averaging five yards per carry and has rushed for 456 yards this season.

Fans can watch this game online for free by taking advantage of the free trial offered by Fubo TV, which also offers new users a $30 discount during their first month of service. Alternatively, DirecTV Stream offers a free trial.

The Ohio State football team is entering the fifth week of the season.

Opening Big Ten play, the Buckeyes are coming off a 49-14 win over Marshall and now travel to East Lansing, Michigan to face Michigan State.

The Buckeyes are 3-0. Michigan State is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten.

Saturday’s matinee between the Pirates and Yankees will be Paul Skenes’ final appearance as he masterfully advances to the big leagues.

LSU’s 2023 first overall pick was the most electrifying pitching prospect we’ve seen since Stephen Strasburg. He averaged 98.8 mph on his fastball and posted nearly 11½ strikeouts per nine innings.

Skenes’ strikeouts prop line against the Yankees is 6.5, which he has surpassed in 73 percent of his 22 starts.

Regardless of which version of the Yankees lineup Aaron Boone chooses, this will be the highest-scoring WAR leader the Bombers have ever faced, behind only Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler and NL favorite Cy Young Chris Sale, who was the only one of these three to have recorded at least seven strikeouts in their respective meetings.

In a tiny sample, Skenes elicited two hesitant hits with his sinker against Juan Soto, whom he marched, and made quick work of Aaron Judge on a one-pitch groundout in the All-Star Game.

This sinker can flick corners deep and wide, making it his most popular put-away pitch, striking out batters on two-strike pitches with a 26.7 percent strike rate.

Find out everything you need to know about MLB betting

He’s the clear -250 favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year at BetMGM and – not that this game will significantly hurt or help his campaign in an abstract sense – we can expect the young pitching sensation to be his breakout -Season emphatically ends with a great success. Market stage.

The piece: Skenes over 6.5 strikeouts (FanDuel, -125).

Why should you trust New York Post Betting?

Sean Stangedi covers the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He focuses primarily on decisions that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.

A new report from NASA details that persistent air leaks at the International Space Station (ISS) pose “a major safety risk.”

The report released Sept. 26 by NASA’s Office of Inspector General and signed by Deputy Inspector General George A. Scott said the leak was in a tunnel connecting the Russian segment of the ISS to a docking port. According to the report, NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos continue to “work together to address structural issues with the Russian Service Module Transfer Tunnel.”

“According to NASA, Roscosmos is confident that they will be able to monitor and close the hatch to the service module before the leak rate reaches an unsustainable level,” the report said. “However, NASA and Roscosmos have not reached agreement on the point at which the leak rate is unsustainable.”

This leak, the root cause of which remains unknown, has already been discussed in the public forum, with Russia acknowledging the issue back in February. However, they said it did not pose a safety risk to the crew. Still, the newly released report states that NASA detected an “increase in the leak rate to its highest level ever” in April 2024.

In May and June, representatives from the ISS program and Roscosmos met to discuss their increasing concerns about the increased leak rate. “As of August 2024, the leak risk in the service module transfer tunnel is assessed at 5 x 5,” the report said. NASA’s risk scorecard is based on both “risk probability,” which is the likelihood that a potential risk will occur, and “risk impact,” which is the potential harm that could occur if a problem occurs. Five is considered “hardest” on the five-point scale.

If the leaks continue, NASA and Roscosmos could be forced to permanently close the hatch to the affected tunnel, which would prevent astronauts from using any of the four docking ports for the Russian segment. Currently, the report says they are constantly monitoring the leaks and temporarily closing the hatch when it is not needed.

The ISS is only scheduled to operate with NASA until 2030. At this point, they plan to work with SpaceX and exit the station in a controlled manner. In 2023, Russia committed to remaining on board until 2028 and plans to build the core of a new space station by 2030.

NASA’s September inspector general report includes some recommendations for NASA’s crew, including re-examining orbiting debris tracking instruments to “ensure the safety of the crew” and documenting “contingency plans” in the event of an emergency and in the event that the air leaks become worse due to damage.

Kamala Harris and her campaign plan to troll Donald Trump during Saturday night’s Alabama-Georgia game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will be in Tuscaloosa at the invitation of a “private citizen,” according to the University of Alabama.

According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Harris, his Democratic challenger, will reportedly have a message posted above the stadium saying, “Trump’s punt in the second debate.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has attended a college football game this season: He was in attendance at the Iowa-Iowa State Cy-Hawk rivalry game on Sept. 7.

As president, Trump also attended the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Alabama and Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and the 2019 Alabama-LSU in Tuscaloosa.

Additional safety measures will be in place at the Bryant-Denny Staidum for Saturday’s game.

“Additional security measures are being taken in collaboration with local and federal authorities, so fans are encouraged to arrive early to expedite the security screening process,” the university said.

Trump will be joined by U.S. Sen. Katie Britt and her husband, former Alabama and NFL offensive lineman Wesley Britt.

When Trump attends the Alabama-Georgia game tonight, the Harris campaign has arranged for a small plane to fly over Tuscaloosa with a banner reading “Trump’s Poking in the Second Debate.”

– Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 28, 2024