(CNN) — Lee has strengthened into a hurricane as it moves over a record-warm Atlantic, with 75 mph sustained winds, according to a 5 p.m. EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center. The warm ocean waters are expected to fuel the storm to near Category-5 strength as it approaches the eastern Caribbean. Lee was located about 1,130 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, the center said. The storm had rapidly strengthened earlier Wednesday: Its sustained winds strengthened by 35 mph in the 24 hours after it formed as a tropical depression Tuesday morning.

Convicted murderer and disgraced former lawyer Alex Murdaugh is seeking a new trial in South Carolina, alleging the court clerk tampered with the jury as his lawyers claim there is "newly discovered evidence" in the case. Murdaugh, who is still facing charges of financial impropriety related to his family's law firm and the death of his former housekeeper, was convicted in March of killing his wife, Maggie, and son Paul in 2021. Attorneys for the 55-year-old alleged in a new court filing that Rebecca Hill, Colleton County's Clerk of Court, engaged in intentional misconduct — deliberately violating a defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury — to secure financial gain for herself.

Alex Murdaugh's attorneys are holding a press conference Tuesday to discuss their latest filing for a new trial

As a Florida judge rejects the district map Ron DeSantis demanded the legislature pass, @stevebenen writes that the Republican governor's losing streak is a sight to behold.

Mark Meadows pleads not guilty in Georgia and waives arraignment appearance

According to the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office (APSO), the Avoyelles 911 Communication Center received a report from the Corrections Staff of a possible escape at the facility in Cottonport Tuesday morning.  The APSO, Raymond Laborde Correctional Center (RLCC) Chase Team and other local police agencies have responded to assist in locating the escapees. Tracking K9s are on the ground in search of the escapees. The investigation and search are ongoing.

WASHINGTON — The divided Congress returns this week after a monthlong summer recess, facing important deadlines and a long to-do list of tasks to keep the federal government functioning. The first order of business is to fund the government before a Sept. 30 deadline or face a shutdown. The Democratic-led Senate returns Tuesday, and the two chambers are far from agreement, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s right-wing members rebel against a short-term bill to prevent a shutdown and buy more time for negotiations

(CNN) — A federal court blocked a newly-drawn Alabama congressional map because it didn’t create a second majority-Black district, as the Supreme Court had ordered earlier this year. In a unanimous decision from a three-judge panel, which had overseen the case before it reached the Supreme Court, the judges wrote that they were “disturbed” by Alabama’s actions in the case. “We are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires,” the judges, two of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote. The judges ordered a special master to submit three proposed maps that would create a second Black-majority district by September