Bill Chappell

A Waffle House near the S.C.-N.C. border briefly closed down under orders from police — a sign of how seriously people are taking Hurricane Florence.

"Our friends had been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town," the man known as Alexander Petrov tells RT. He's accused of traveling to the U.K. to poison a former KGB spy.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm's eyewall is ashore in North Carolina, where more than 20 inches of rain has fallen and storm surge has reached 10 feet in some places.

The storm, now Category 2 strength, is still on track to strike the Carolinas Thursday night and Friday.

Russia's president said the men whom U.K. police recently accused of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal are private citizens, not Russian agents, and urged them to speak out.

The Category 4 storm is expected to hit the Carolinas and Virginia late Thursday or early Friday. All along the coast, people are being urged — or ordered — to get out, and get out early.

The severity of Hurricane Florence is intensifying, triggering hurricane warnings along most of North Carolina's coast and a portion of South Carolina's.

An affidavit for an arrest warrant says the officer found the door ajar at what she thought was her own home. It says she saw a man inside the dark room and gave him orders that he didn't follow.

The storm gained winds of 140 mph — a day earlier than predicted, and it is expected to intensify as it crosses over water. Forecasters predict Florence will hit the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday.

"I still have lots of dreams to pursue," the Alibaba co-founder said of the transition. A former English teacher, Ma said, "I also want to return to education ... because this is what I love to do."

The owners say it's the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Each of its 87 turbines stands more than twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

"The stolen data did not include travel or passport details," the airline said. But hackers were able to access customers' names, email addresses and credit card information.

Wage growth — and more specifically, the lack of vigorous pay raises — continued to be an issue, with average hourly earnings nudging slightly upward to 2.9 percent.

One day after becoming the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic season, Florence lost some steam — but it's expected to regain dangerously strong winds by Monday.

When "Unite the Right" organizer Jason Kessler attempted to hold a news conference after a woman was killed protesting his rally, an angry group shouted him down — and one man threw a punch.

After landing, 10 people were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, says Eric Phillips, press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The CDC is investigating.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the pair "are officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU."

As big names threatened to drop out and debate over free speech boiled, New Yorker editor David Remnick disinvited Bannon. "I will not take part in an event that normalizes hate," Judd Apatow said.

Gordon came ashore just west of the Alabama border, according to the National Hurricane Center. A storm surge of 3-5 feet is possible for all of coastal Mississippi, forecasters say.

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says it is alarmed by reports of detentions, mass surveillance, and "frequent baseless police stops."