Thursday, September 24, 2026

Pork, Beef and Goat Recalled Nationwide as Highest Warning Issued

Star Meat Delivery Inc. is recalling about 167,639 pounds of raw beef, pork and goat because they were produced without federal inspection, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) alert said. The Class I recall says that the products have a false USDA mark of inspection. The FSIS describes a Class I as involving a health hazard “where there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.” Products with an “EST. 1363” number on them should be considered unsafe to eat, the alert warns. Numerous recalls have been issued this year across the country due to the potential for damage, foodborne illness, contamination, lack of inspection or undeclared food allergens. Recently, federal officials also announced a recall of J. HIGGS brand loaded bacon and cheddar potato chips due to concerns over potentially undeclared soy, which can trigger allergies. According to the alert, the recalled beef, pork and goat products were produced on various dates before Tuesday, distributed in bulk under the A&D Foods label to restaurant and retail locations across the country. The recalled products were packaged via vacuum-seal and placed into cardboard boxes. The alert notes in part that “individual consumer packages may not bear this labeling, as retail stores may have applied their own stickers with pricing and safe handling instructions.” There have been no confirmed reported injuries or illnesses related to the recall, according to the FSIS. (Newsweek)

Popular weight-loss drugs face numerous lawsuits over rare ‘eye stroke’ linked to vision loss

Hundreds of consumers are suing the manufacturers of GLP-1 receptor agonists, alleging the medications may increase the risk of a rare form of vision loss. The patients behind the lawsuits allege that the medications caused NAION (nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy). NAION is a rare eye condition in which blood flow to the optic nerve is suddenly reduced, leading to sudden vision loss. It is the most common cause of acute optic nerve injury in adults over age 50, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the National Eye Institute, which describes it as an “eye stroke.” The problem with NAION is there’s no treatment, so it can cause some very profound vision loss. The companies in question, Novo Nordisk (maker of Ozempic and Wegovy) and Eli Lilly (maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound), have disputed the allegations. Novo Nordisk called the lawsuits meritless and pointed to company-funded research finding no increased risk of NAION with its drugs. Eli Lilly said it continues to monitor safety data and maintained that current studies do not prove GLP-1 medications cause the condition. Most of the published research to date has examined semaglutide, rather than tirzepatide. In a data analysis of 37 million adults published in JAMA Ophthalmology in 2025, researchers found that people using semaglutide experienced a modest increase in NAION risk compared to people taking SGLT2 inhibitors, another class of diabetes medication. The FDA has said it is reviewing available evidence regarding a possible association between semaglutide and NAION. The agency has not concluded that semaglutide causes NAION and has not issued a safety warning for semaglutide medications. The European Medicines Agency concluded there is sufficient evidence of a possible association to recommend adding NAION as a “very rare” adverse reaction to semaglutide product information in Europe. NAION typically causes sudden, painless vision loss in one eye, per the AAO. Other symptoms may include blurred or dim vision, loss of peripheral vision or decreased color vision. Symptoms tend to develop first thing in the morning after waking up. The biggest risk factors for the condition include age, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnea and smoking. As many people taking GLP-1 drugs have diabetes or obesity, some of these underlying risk factors could be factors in vision issues, experts note. Diabetes itself is a well-established risk factor for NAION, making it difficult for observational studies to separate the effects of the disease from those of the medication, experts have noted. (Fox News)

Florida Tesla driver fled crash, but iPhone’s automatic 911 call led them straight to him

A Florida man was accused of a hit-and-run after his iPhone’s crash detection feature automatically called 911, alerting deputies to a crash he reportedly caused. Deputies said Christopher Brewer was accused of crashing his Tesla into a light pole and two trees in a Lee County community Sunday night, causing approximately $20,000 in damage. When deputies arrived, the debris had been cleaned up, and Brewer was reportedly not at the scene. The arrest report stated that Brewer and another person told Miromar Lakes security that he was going to the hospital. However, deputies later learned from a woman that Brewer was at her house and had not gone to the hospital. Deputies said the 911 call came in just past 9:30 p.m. as an automated crash notification from Brewer’s iPhone. According to Apple, the crash detection feature can identify a crash and display a notification. If the user does not respond within 30 seconds, the phone automatically calls 911. Brewer is facing a charge of hit-and-run. (Gulf Coast News Now)

Monopoly returns to McDonald’s

McDonald’s is giving customers the chance to win money and prizes with the return of its Monopoly game, but with a big change for 2026. Beginning Tuesday, October 6 for a limited time, Monopoly game pieces will be available on the following menu items at participating U.S. locations:

• Large Hot McCafé Beverages (Premium Roast Coffee, Mocha, Latte, Cappuccino, Americano, Macchiato, as well as Hot Tea and Premium Hot Chocolate)
• Large Soft Drinks
• Large Iced Coffees, Iced Teas, Lemonade and McCafé Specialty Drinks
• Large Fries
• Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese Sandwich
• Big Mac Sandwich
• 10-Piece Chicken McNuggets (regular only, not Spicy Chicken McNuggets)
• 4-Piece McCrispy Strips
• Hash Browns
• Biscuit Sandwiches (excluding limited-time Biscuit Sandwiches)
• McMuffin Sandwiches

Instead of getting a paper board and sticking the pieces to it, all gameplay will now be in the McDonald’s mobile app, where you will scan the game pieces in the app to reveal instant-win food, loyalty points or bigger prizes. (McDonalds)

Woman gives birth to baby in KFC parking & gives him fitting nickname: ‘Colonel Cody’

A woman from the U.K. reportedly gave birth to her baby boy in a KFC parking lot — and now she and her family have a fitting nickname for him. Katie Murphy, 33, and her partner, Stephen Kirby, 32, were driving to a hospital on August 29 when Murphy said she suddenly felt the urge to push. That’s when Kirby pulled over. He parked in a KFC parking lot and called for help. “When the ambulance dispatcher was trying to locate our location, the only place we could find was the KFC,” Murphy said. “As my partner pulled into the car park, and as he made his way round to the passenger side and opened the door, he caught my son just in time,” she added. Paramedics arrived minutes later and took Murphy and the newborn to a hospital with Kirby following the ambulance. Their son — who they named Cody — was born healthy and weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. The family has since given Cody the nickname “Colonel Cody,” a reference to KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders. Murphy said hospital staff learned of the delivery and ordered KFC for dinner. The couple, who also have a 4-year-old daughter, joked that they would take Cody to the restaurant for his first birthday and perhaps his first job. A KFC spokesperson said the company was honored to have been the location of Cody’s birth and sent the family merchandise and vouchers to celebrate. (KOMO)

Apple is developing new fitness tracker aimed at rivalling Whoop

Apple Inc is developing a screenless health and fitness tracker similar to Whoop Inc’s wrist-worn device, part of an effort to rethink its smartwatch lineup and add new wearable technologies. The company has been exploring the category for several months and is now developing prototypes, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The effort has support from top executives, but Apple hasn’t decided whether to release the product, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is confidential. The project remains in a preliminary phase known internally as a technology investigation. If Apple proceeds with a release, the device likely won’t debut before 2028. A spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment. The prototypes feature a thin fabric band with a sensor-equipped computing module. The absence of a screen would distinguish the device from the Apple Watch, a display-centric product that combines fitness tracking with apps, notifications and other functions. The potential Whoop rival has drawn particular interest from Apple executive chairman Tim Cook and services chief Eddy Cue, the people said. The latter executive took over the company’s health efforts late last year. Though Apple remains a top seller of smartwatches – especially in the US – competitors such as Whoop and smart ring maker Oura Inc are growing quickly, with millions of users each. Their rise is prompting Apple to reconsider its approach to health and fitness tracking. At the same time, a leadership transition is underway at Apple’s watch and health businesses. Jeff Williams, the former chief operating officer who oversaw both areas, retired at the end of last year. Stan Ng, who led marketing for the Apple Watch and health, and Jay Blahnik, who ran Apple’s fitness strategy, have also left the company. The Apple Watch serves a broader range of purposes. Apple has already begun incorporating Whoop-style features into its latest Watch and revamped Health app. Those include more advanced heart-rate tracking and metrics that assess users’ readiness for the day. The technology can estimate a person’s biological age based on health data. The new app also has a cleaner, easier-to-understand interface, reflecting the influence of rival offerings. Alphabet Inc’s Google has also entered the screenless wearables market with the recent launch of the Fitbit Air. Garmin Ltd, a pioneer of location-tracking and fitness devices, has been moving in this direction as well. Members of Apple’s Vision hardware team have participated in the new tracker’s early engineering work. That group developed the Vision Pro headset and is working on other wearables, including Apple’s first smart glasses and AirPods with cameras, both targeted for a 2027 release. (The Star)

Anthropic unveils Claude Opus 5.5

Anthropic on Tuesday launched Claude Opus 5.5, a new AI model that it ​says delivers performance comparable to its top-tier Fable 5.1 while ‌costing 40% less to run than its predecessor. The release lands amid growing debate over AI risks. CEO Dario Amodei earlier this month called on ​the global AI community to slow down the pace ​of releasing new capabilities to address safety concerns. Anthropic ⁠said Opus 5.5 underwent external testing by independent ​AI safety research groups Frontier Design and METR before launch ​and includes safeguards previously reserved for its most capable systems. According to Anthropic, Opus 5.5 outscored rival OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol on a software ​development benchmark while costing roughly one-third as much ​to run. Opus 5.5 is priced at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million ‌output ⁠tokens, 20% below Opus 5, Anthropic said. The model is available on platforms including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The model also scored better than previous systems in internal safety tests ​and was about ​85% less ⁠likely than Opus 5 or Mythos 5.1 to attempt to bypass containment boundaries in ​a dedicated evaluation, the company said. Claude Sonnet ​5.5 ⁠and Claude Haiku 5.5 will be released in the coming weeks, the company said, bringing many of the same performance, ⁠speed and ​safety improvements. Anthropic is also expanding ​programs that give vetted cybersecurity and life-sciences researchers broader access to the ​model. (Reuters)

Alzheimer’s Is No Longer an Untreatable Disease, Major Report Concludes

Dementia research has reached a profound turning point. Alzheimer’s disease was once considered ‘untreatable’, but that is not the universal rule any longer, according to this year’s World Alzheimer Report. In the past five years alone, novel drugs have been shown to modestly slow decline in early Alzheimer’s, while growing evidence suggests some dementia cases could potentially be delayed or prevented through risk reduction. Today, hundreds of clinical trials worldwide are now investigating possible medicines, new diagnostic options, and lifestyle interventions to identify, treat, or delay cognitive decline. ADI calls itself the ‘global voice of dementia’. It is a worldwide federation of dementia associations in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). Every year since 2009, the ADI has published a report on dementia research, and each year, it covers a different topic. This year’s report is titled ‘A New Era in Dementia Clinical Trials’, and it argues that dementia research has now entered a period of remarkable scientific momentum. This moment is akin to oncology in the 1990s, argue the authors, when the first generation of cancer therapies, while imperfect, opened the door to effective drug combos, precision medicine, and earlier intervention. As populations age worldwide, some estimates predict there will be 139 million people living with dementia by 2050. Even modest delays in the onset of cognitive decline could translate to millions fewer cases. Just recently, for instance, WHO published new guidelines on how to reduce the risk of dementia. According to emerging research, as many as 45 percent of dementia cases could potentially be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors across the lifespan. These include hypertension, depression, physical inactivity, smoking, diabetes, excessive alcohol use, and high cholesterol. Dementia clinical trials also stand at an important moment in history, according to the report. Between 2000 and 2020, more than 99 percent of experimental drugs failed in clinical trials. The recent arrival of the drugs donanemab and lecanemab was a huge moment, argues Cath Mummery, director of the UK’s Dementia Trials Network. These were the first fully approved drugs shown to modestly slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease, rather than merely treating its symptoms. Today, not all researchers are convinced that donanemab and lecanemab lead to clinically meaningful benefits; for instance, they don’t seem to work the same for every patient or in every part of the brain. But the approval of these two drugs represents a positive turn of events, which has changed our expectations for what dementia research may achieve, argues the new report. Over the past decade, the number of candidate medicines under investigation for dementia has increased by around 40 percent. Currently, researchers are evaluating 158 potential therapies across 192 clinical trials worldwide. This year alone, we should get results from eight Phase III trials – which rigorously test treatments on a large number of people in comparison to standard care. A lot of these drugs are already approved for use in humans. In fact, more than a third of dementia drugs currently in the pipeline were originally developed for other conditions. (Science Alert)

Woman dies after monkey launches flying kick at her outside her home

This is the moment a monkey launched a deadly flying kick at an elderly woman outside her home. The attack happened at 91-year-old Najamunnisa Begum’s home in B.T. Patil Nagar in Karnataka, India, on the evening of September 19. CCTV footage shows Najamunnisa standing at the entrance to the small courtyard before walking towards the side of the house after hearing a noise. She peered around the corner before suddenly turning and moving back towards the house as the monkey appeared. The animal then launched itself at the elderly woman, striking her with its feet and sending her crashing backwards onto the ground. Najamunnisa fell and hit her head on the ground, suffering fatal injuries as the monkey ran away across the courtyard. Moments later, the woman’s daughter came out of the house after hearing the commotion and saw her mother lying on the ground. The monkey then rushed back towards her daughter as if to attack again before jumping onto the garden wall. Najamunnisa was taken to a private hospital for treatment after suffering a head injury and initially recovering. But her condition later deteriorated, and she died in hospital the following day. The incident comes amid a series of fatal encounters involving monkeys in India in recent weeks. A 55-year-old woman died after falling from a rooftop while reportedly trying to escape monkeys in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on 10th September. Four days later, another woman died after falling from a rooftop following a reported monkey attack in Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh. (Metro)

Supreme Court to take third look at Missouri redistricted map

For the third time in a month the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up the legal battle over Missouri’s redistricted congressional map following a lower court ruling that sided with the new map. The Supreme Court has twice ruled against the new map, clearing the way for the state to use a congressional map drawn in 2022, which it also used in 2024. On Monday, the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in favor of the new map which was drawn to favor Republicans. Opponents of adopting the new map asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to again weigh in, arguing that ballots have already been sent out using that map and a change at this late stage would create “chaos on both sides on Election Day.” Missouri held its primaries under the new map in August before it was struck down by the courts. Reverting to the 2022 map will move some voters into different districts than they were in during the primary, raising concerns about voting rights. In its ruling on Monday, the Court of Appeals said that holding the election under different district lines than the primary would be unconstitutional. (UPI)

WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE TO ALL AUDIENCES!!

Florida mom accused of having sex with her dog claims she was framed by vengeful ex — as friends launch fundraiser

Friends of the Florida mom who was arrested after her husband allegedly caught her on camera performing sex acts with her dog have launched a fundraiser to support her — claiming she was set up by her vengeful spouse. Malia Nummerdor, a 38-year-old mother of two sons, was arrested last week after her estranged husband Erik Nummerdor made the disturbing accusations publicly on Facebook and claimed he had video and photo evidence, according to charging documents. Ever since, Malia and her sons’ “lives have been turned upside down following a painful and difficult situation involving Malia’s estranged husband and allegations against her that she maintains are untrue,” an online fundraiser started on Monday claims. The post claims the family has been displaced from their home and Malia, of Punta Gorda, is now facing significant legal costs. Malia grew up as an only child and has no surviving parents, leaving her to lean on her close friends for support, according to the fundraiser. “Malia is facing serious allegations, and she needs experienced legal representation to ensure that she has the opportunity to fully address them through the proper legal process. This situation has also deeply affected her two young sons, who deserve privacy, stability, and as much normalcy as possible while the adults involved work through what comes next. This fundraiser is not asking anyone to decide the facts of the case. It is about helping a mother and her children get through an extraordinarily difficult period and making sure Malia has access to appropriate legal representation.” However, the fundraiser has so far had few takers — with just two donations of less than $20 in the day since it launched. Malia was charged with sexual contact with an animal after her husband told police that he had installed two security cameras in the home to find out who had been stealing money from a coin jar, according to an arrest report from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. The cameras were known to everyone in the home, according to Erik. While reviewing the recordings from a bedroom camera, he found video of Malia allegedly engaging in sex acts with the family dog, Ranger, cops said. The husband gave investigators the recording and access to the laptop that contained the footage, which “provided an independent source of corroboration beyond Erik’s statements,” police said. On September 15, police interviewed Malia who appeared impaired and admitted that she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Malia’s Facebook profile contains photos of her over the years with Erik, whom she married in 2023, and her two sons. She was arrested on September 15 and booked at the Charlotte County Jail, where she flashed a toothy grin for her mugshot, records show. She’s since been released. (New York Post)

Find a banknote with a ‘solid’ serial number? It’s probably worth so much more

Building a collection of unique banknotes? You’d be off to a solid start if you find one with a “solid” serial number. A “solid” serial number, as known to collectors, is a serial number on a U.S. banknote that features only a single repeating digit, such as “11111111” or “77777777.” Bills with such numbers might not be quite as rare as, say, a discontinued banknote or a bill with a double denomination error, but they’re still among some of the most recognized “oddities” in paper-money collecting. However, that a “solid” serial number is technically “just as rare or common as any other,” mathematically speaking. But much like collectors who seek out “radar” serial numbers (i.e., palindromic numbers, such as 12344321 or 55433455), there are indeed niche collectors willing to pay well over face value for more unique specimens. In fact, banknotes with solid serial numbers generally fetch more than other so-called “fancy” serial numbers, seeing as there are fewer possible bills with solid numbers in a series. Archived auction data from Heritage Auctions and Stacks Bowers shows that solid-numbered bills have routinely sold for thousands of dollars apiece, if they’re in good condition. Some buyers have also paid premiums for specific solid numbers like 77777777 or 88888888 — numbers thought to be more lucky or auspicious in certain cultures. (A “near-perfect” $100 bill with a solid 8 serial number sold for more than $19,000 in 2024, the Heritage Auction website indicates.) Imperfect bills with solid serial numbers can still fetch many times their face value, recent eBay sales indicate. An ungraded $1 note with a solid 3 serial number sold for $1,600 earlier this month, while a $5 bill with a solid 2 serial number sold for $2,660 as part of a series with several other bills of sequential serial numbers. The auction platform also appears to be crawling with “near solid” or “almost solid” banknotes for sale (e.g., 44444447 or 91999999), though those were selling for far less. (Yahoo Life)

Thursday Is On Record With:

• Cherries Jubilee Day
• Familial Hypercholesterolemia Day
• Professional Baseball Day
• Punctuation Day
• Remember Me Thursday (Fourth Thursday)
• Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving
• World Gorilla Day
• World Maritime Day (Last Thursday)

Historical Events 

622 – Prophet Muhammad completes his hijra from Mecca to Medina.

1664 – The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England.

1789 – US Congress Adopts the Judiciary Act of 1789. The act was passed by the first Congress of the United States. It created the US federal judiciary including the Supreme Court.

1852 – The first airship powered by (a steam) engine, created by Henri Giffard, travels 17 mi from Paris to Trappes.

1869 – Black Friday in the United States. A group of speculators headed by James Fisk and Jay Gould started hoarding gold, which led to high gold prices. The US Treasury under the orders of President Ulysses S. Grant sold a large amount of gold leading to a plummet in gold prices within the span of minutes.

1914 – World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.

1915 – “The Lamb,” Douglas Fairbanks first film, was shown at the Knickerbocker Theater in New York City, NY.

1929 – The first all-instrument flight took place in New York when Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY2 Biplane over Mitchell Field.

1933 – “Roses and Drums” was heard on WABC in New York City. It was the first dramatic presentation for radio.

1934 – Babe Ruth played his last game as a New York Yankee player.

1938 – Don Budge became the first tennis player to win all four of the major titles when he won the U.S. Tennis Open. He had already won the Australian Open, the French Open and the British Open.

1946 – Clark Clifford and George Elsey, military advisers to U.S. President Harry S. Truman, present him with a top-secret report on the Soviet Union that first recommends the containment policy.

1948 – Honda Motor Company is founded by Soichiro Honda. The automobile manufacturer is also the world’s largest producer of motorcycles.

1950 – Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. A blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe.

1955 – U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver, CO.

1957 – The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field.

1957 – U.S. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, AR, to enforce school integration.

1957 – Camp Nou, a stadium that seats over 99,000 opens its doors for football fans. Situated in Barcelona, Spain, it is the largest stadium in Europe and the 11th largest in the world.

1960 – The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier was launched. The USS Enterprise set out from Newport News, VA.

1961 – “The Bullwinkle Show” premiered in prime time on NBC-TV. The show was originally on ABC in the afternoon as “Rocky and His Friends.”

1963 – The U.S. Senate ratified a treaty that limited nuclear testing. The treaty was between the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union.

1968 – “60 Minutes” premiered on CBS-TV.

1968 – Swaziland joins the United Nations.

1968 – “The Mod Squad” premiered on ABC-TV.

1973 – Guinea-Bissau gains independence. Guinea-Bissau declared its independence from Portugal. The declaration was recognized almost a year later on September 10, 1974.

1977 – “The Love Boat” debuted on ABC-TV. The theme song was sung by Jack Jones and was written by Paul Williams and Charles Fox.

1988 – National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar.

1995 – Three decades of Israeli occupation of West Bank cities ended with the signing of a pact by Israel and the PLO.

1996 – The United States, represented by President Clinton, and the world’s other major nuclear powers signed a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.

1998 – The U.S. Federal Reserve released into circulation $2 billion in new harder-to-counterfeit $20 bills.

2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush froze the assets of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups.

2003 – Anthony Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.