Millions of Americans are being urged to prepare as a powerful, hurricane-like storm moves toward the East Coast.

Meteorologists say the nor’easter—a powerful Atlantic storm that develops off the coast—has formed a large, clearly defined eye resembling the structure of tropical cyclones that become hurricanes at this time of year.

The well-organized system is expected to strike the Northeast within hours, bringing torrential rain, coastal flooding, tropical-storm-force winds and power outages from Virginia to Maine.

New England is forecast to experience the most severe conditions. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine could see wind gusts of up to 70 mph, while many areas may receive between four and eight inches of rain.

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter warned that the storm could be remembered for its damaging coastal flooding and severe beach erosion, particularly along eastern Long Island and the Massachusetts coast.

Coastal flood warnings were issued Thursday for New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The National Weather Service said the storm could drive more than three feet of seawater onto land in some locations.

The storm’s most dangerous conditions are expected along the East Coast by Friday. Millions could lose power in coastal New Jersey, the greater New York City region, eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts and southern Maine.

National Weather Service officials in Virginia warned that widespread flooding in vulnerable areas would increase the risk of property damage to waterfront and shoreline homes and businesses.

AccuWeather forecasts widespread wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph from Friday through Sunday—strong enough to damage property.

Some gusts could reach 80 mph, a wind speed comparable to that of a Category 1 hurricane.

The National Weather Service cautioned that the powerful winds could topple trees and damage power lines, triggering widespread outages.

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Travel conditions may also become dangerous, particularly for box trucks, tractor-trailers, recreational vehicles, buses and moving vans. Their large profiles make them especially vulnerable to being blown over in extreme winds.

Localized flooding has already affected Virginia, where inches of water covered roads and neighborhood streets as the storm moved north along the Atlantic coast.

In New Jersey, beaches in Atlantic City were closed to swimmers because of hazardous conditions. The National Weather Service also issued rip-current alerts for the Carolinas, New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.

Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Steve Downey told WPVI that swimming would remain prohibited, saying patrol crews were ensuring the water stayed closed because it was not safe.

Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels that move rapidly away from the shoreline. They can pull swimmers into deeper water, where exhaustion may make it difficult to escape and can turn the currents deadly.

Ocean waves are also expected to grow to dangerous and potentially life-threatening levels this week, with NWS warning of eight to 12-foot waves along the Jersey Shore, Delaware and beaches in Virginia and the Carolinas on Thursday. 

Those warnings are expected to move up the East Coast on Friday, with the entire Massachusetts coast expected to be at ‘major’ risk for flooding, beach erosion and property damage, according to AccuWeather.

In New England, Porter noted: ‘Many trees still have their leaves, which catch more wind and place additional strain on their roots, further increasing the risk for trees to come down and may also increase the number of power outages as compared to similar storms.’

Meteorologists have referred to the incoming storm as a ‘blockbuster’ nor’easter and compared its structure to a standard hurricane – despite the National Hurricane Center choosing to not call this weather system a named tropical cyclone.

Porter explained that the nor’easter has been slowly moving over the warm water of the Gulf Stream for several days, which has given it some of the same characteristics of tropical storms and hurricane – such as is massive swirling eye.

‘Such hybrid storms are called subtropical storms. If that occurs, the storm could be assigned a name by the National Hurricane Center,’ the meteorologist added.

Something still feels off.

The Dodgers never said it outright, but their lineup offered a clear clue.

When Shohei Ohtani returned from the 15-day injured list, Los Angeles placed him in the No. 2 spot.

That was no reflection on Mookie Betts, who moved into the leadoff role. The eight-time All-Star is batting .317 over his past 42 games. But Ohtani is Ohtani.

When healthy—or even nearly healthy—Ohtani is baseball’s most dynamic player. If the Dodgers truly believed he was ready to be that force in the postseason, they likely would have restored him to his familiar place atop the order, regardless of how Betts or anyone else was performing, and without concern over the opposing pitcher’s handedness.

The Dodgers presumably knew more about the condition of Ohtani’s right arm and left knee than they were willing to reveal publicly.

That is why Ohtani’s encouraging performance Wednesday deserves some perspective.

There was no question he looked sharper in the Dodgers’ 5-1 loss to the San Diego Padres than he had in his previous appearance.

Still, that performance did not prove Ohtani was back to his old form—or that he will reach it at any point during the playoffs.

The return of an MVP can alter a team’s outlook, particularly when that player is as healthy as the Dodgers said Ohtani was after more than two weeks of rest. Yet president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts both tried to keep expectations in check before the game.

Asked what version of Ohtani the Dodgers should expect, Friedman said, “I mean, these aren’t things there’s a clear answer to.”

Roberts said he was looking for Ohtani to be “controlled, taking good at-bats.”

By that measure, Ohtani’s first game back was an emphatic success.

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In the opening inning, he singled against left-hander Robbie Ray on a low pitch that his injured knee might not have allowed him to reach just two or three weeks earlier.

Later, Ohtani sent a 99-mph fastball to the warning track, drawing an excited call from Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis: “That is a majestic fly ball!”

“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t getting to that pitch,” Roberts said of the elevated four-seam fastball thrown by right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez.

For the most part, Ohtani avoided chasing pitches beyond the strike zone. He reached two-ball counts in each of his first four plate appearances and worked a walk in the third inning.

The Dodgers would gladly accept more games like this from Ohtani. Whether or not he was capable of doing everything he once did, the Padres still treated him as a major threat—and that presence alone carried value in the lineup.

Ohtani has admitted that returning to 100% health this season was unlikely. To preserve the danger he brings to opposing teams, however, he must avoid slipping back to the physical limitations that preceded his injured-list stint.

“Shohei says he feels back to where he was earlier in the year, which is great, which is a good start,” Friedman said. “Now, it’s one thing to feel that way for any player coming back from the IL. When you’re coming back, now the question is, as you start to load on real games and that intensity and that workload, it’s making sure that what we’re done keeps guys in position to be at their best.”

Or, in this case, to at least be viewed as a threat.

Roberts previously described Ohtani as “pain-free” but acknowledged he was still dealing with “discomfort you can play through.” The Dodgers have already seen what happens when Ohtani plays too many games with his arm and knee problems, and every game he plays theoretically pushes him closer to the stage at which the pain becomes unbearable.

How close is Ohtani to that point?

Was the usually-aggressive Ohtani as patient as he was in the batter’s box because he wanted to protect his arm by limiting his swings? 

Did his warning-track drive not clear the outfield wall because he hit the ball with the end of his bat or because he wasn’t at full strength?

What should be made of the two at-bats in which he struck out? With the bases loaded, two outs and the count full in the fourth inning, Ohtani was late on a 98.5-mph sinker by David Morgan. In the ninth, Ohtani looked as if he had no chance against closer Mason Miller, who struck him out on three pitches.

Ohtani wasn’t made available to answer any of these questions. By the time the clubhouse opened to reporters, Ohtani was gone.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Stanford University is facing backlash after artificial intelligence was used to alter a photograph of three students, changing the appearance and race of people shown in the image. The incident has prompted accusations that the university violated its own AI policy.

The controversy involves a photo taken in a Stanford dining hall that was later used in university materials. Students said the image was modified with AI before being displayed.

“It’s kind of unacceptable. Stanford is a place that actually prides itself on having students from over 60 different countries in their incoming class. They have diversity and they shouldn’t need to fabricate it,” said Stanford freshman Kavinder Patel.

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A New York City kitten rescue organization has barred MAGA supporters from adopting cats.

Itty Bitty City Kitties said yesterday that “conservative” voters would not be welcome at its Rockaway Beach location.

“If your politics involve racism, bigotry, dehumanizing immigrants, or cheering on cruelty toward vulnerable people, please kindly f**k right off,” the rescue wrote in an Instagram post.

Samantha Knox, director of Itty Bitty City Kitties, told Fox News that the organization weighs applicants’ “public conduct and demonstrated values” during the adoption process.

Knox said a history of “celebrating harm or abuse, be it toward people or animals” would be considered a red flag. The rescue, she added, would never place a vulnerable animal with anyone it believed posed a risk to the animal’s welfare.

The strict adoption policy quickly drew backlash, including criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA.

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk told Fox News: “Homeless animals don’t care which side of abortion you are on or whether you believe in global warming or support Palestine or Israel or if you don’t vote at all, ever.”

“We hope this policy, which is human-centric, is reconsidered and abolished,” Newkirk added.

Itty Bitty City Kitties describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on caring for orphaned and neonatal kittens.

The organization is also listed among New York state’s registered pet rescues.

“As an animal welfare rescue, our primary responsibility is ensuring the animals in our care go to safe, compassionate homes,” Knox told Fox News.

She defended the rescue’s screening process, saying that a history of “celebrating cruelty” could affect whether an applicant was considered suitable to care for an animal.

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Knox said each application would be assessed according to the applicant’s “conduct, ethical alignment and animal safety.”

Knox told the outlet that “MAGA is a political movement and ideology, not a recognized political party.”

She said the rescue does not screen out or reject applicants solely because of their registered political-party affiliation.

However, her Instagram post also stated that conservatives would not be permitted to adopt cats from Itty Bitty City Kitties.

The policy also left questions about how the rescue would handle prospective adopters who describe themselves as “not political.”

‘Nice loophole,’ Knox wrote. ‘Still nope.’

‘These kittens are looking for homes with a tote bag collection, oat milk, an aggressively progressive group chat, a compost bin, NPR playing somewhere in the background, and someone who has rage-donated to mutual aid at least once,’ the post continued. 

‘We reserve the right to reject any application where an applicant’s expressed values, public statements or actions demonstrate a failure to meet our safety and welfare standards,’ she told Fox News.

The agency has often shared screenshots of graphic and hurtful messages that they have received for their political views. 

Knox told Fox that the messages illustrate the ‘kind of conduct the rescue considers relevant when evaluating prospective homes.’

PETA disregarded the ideology.

‘Political affiliation is not a reliable measure of whether someone will be a good guardian,” the organization told Fox News Digital. 

Brad Pitt and his loyal canine co-star Odin are fighting to survive in Heart of the Beast, a new survival thriller arriving in theaters this weekend.

Directed by David Ayer, whose recent films include The Beekeeper and A Working Man, Heart of the Beast features a screenplay by Cameron Alexander. Pitt plays James Belmont, a retired Army Special Forces veteran caring for Odin, his former military combat dog. Both characters carry the psychological scars of their service and suffer from PTSD after the trauma of combat in the Middle East.

Their ordeal takes an even more dangerous turn when James and Odin survive a plane crash and become stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they must confront the brutal elements and find a way back to safety. Whether they make it out alive is something you’ll have to discover in the film.

With J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe also joining the cast, Heart of the Beast could be an ideal choice for viewers who love military stories, survival thrillers and dogs. If you would rather watch the film at home than see it on the big screen, here is what we know so far about when and where Heart of the Beast may be available to stream online.

Where to watch the new Brad Pitt movie Heart of the Beast:

Heart of the Beast will initially be available only in movie theaters when it opens across the U.S. on Friday, September 25. You can search for nearby showtimes through Fandango. The film is not yet available to watch online or on a streaming service.

Is the Heart of the Beast movie streaming on Netflix or Prime Video?

Heart of the Beast is not currently streaming on Netflix or Prime Video, and it is unlikely to arrive on Netflix soon because the film is a Paramount Pictures release. Paramount movies typically move to the company’s own streaming service, Paramount+, rather than Netflix.

Eventually, you should be able to buy or rent Heart of the Beast through Prime Video and other digital platforms. However, the film is not expected to be included with a standard Prime subscription anytime soon. Anyone hoping to watch the new Brad Pitt movie at home will need to wait for its digital release or for its eventual debut on Paramount+.

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Paramount+ currently offers two subscription options: Essential and Premium. New subscribers can presently sign up for a seven-day free trial of the Premium plan.

The ad-supported Essential plan generally costs $8.99 per month. The ad-free Premium plan, which includes Showtime titles and live CBS programming, costs $13.99 per month.

When will Heart of the Beast be streaming on Paramount+?

Based on the expected release timeline, Heart of the Beast could begin streaming on Paramount+ around late December 2026.

Paramount has not announced an official Heart of the Beast streaming date. For now, the movie is playing only in theaters. Still, a Paramount+ release is expected eventually. The timing remains uncertain, although another recent Paramount film, Scary Movie (2026), arrived on digital platforms about one month after its theatrical debut and began streaming on Paramount+ roughly three months after opening in theaters.

If Heart of the Beast follows a comparable release schedule, it could reach digital services around late October 2026 and Paramount+ around late December 2026. That estimate assumes Paramount+ and HBO Max have not yet merged into a single streaming service, as planned.

These dates are only projections, however. If you want to watch Brad Pitt in Heart of the Beast right away, the only option is to see the survival thriller in theaters.

Florida deputies released tense body-camera footage showing the moment they used a Taser on a burglary suspect who allegedly approached them while carrying a sword and refused repeated orders to put it down.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded early Tuesday to a Gainesville home after a caller reported that a man had forced his way inside with a sword and driven the occupants outdoors against their will.

As deputies arrived, one officer could be heard addressing 26-year-old Josiah Smith: “Hey, brother, do me a favor, drop the sword. Drop the sword on the ground, my man. Let me talk to you, OK? It’s the sheriff’s office.”

Moments later, the deputy warned fellow officers over the radio, “Hey, we got him at gunpoint, he’s not compliant, he keeps approaching.”

The deputy continued issuing commands before raising his voice: “Josiah, throw the sword away, OK? Hey, stop, stop! Don’t move, stop. Stop, stop!”

The video then captures Smith falling backward after deputies deployed a Taser.

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According to the sheriff’s office, Smith ignored deputies’ lawful commands to drop the sword and lie on the ground. “Deputies used a less lethal launcher, shooting a foam round at Smith in order to get him to drop the sword,” the agency said. “Unsuccessful, deputies deployed a taser, and Smith was detained.”

The sheriff’s office said investigators determined that Smith and the alleged victim had no prior relationship.

Smith was arrested and faces charges of armed burglary of an occupied dwelling, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed kidnapping and resisting without violence.