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Southwest Airlines unveils new portable charger rule for passenger safety

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Southwest Airlines unveils new portable charger rule for passenger safety


Travelers will need to follow a new rule regarding juicing up their devices while flying on Southwest Airlines.

The Texas-based airline will be “requiring customers to keep portable charging devices visible while in use during flight,” a Southwest spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted,” the spokesperson added.

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“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees.”

A passenger’s battery charger recently caught fire on a JetBlue flight from Florida to the Bahamas, Business Insider reported.

Starting May 28, Southwest Airlines is mandating that customers’ portable chargers remain visible during flights to enhance safety. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Smoke and flames erupted in the cabin of the flight due to the portable charger overheating in the passenger’s carry-on luggage.

Portable chargers, or power banks, are not allowed in checked bags but can be packed in carry-on bags as they have lithium-ion batteries, according to TSA.

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The FAA website notes that “all lithium-ion batteries are capable of overheating and experiencing a process called thermal runaway.”

Southwest Airlines has introduced a new rule requiring portable chargers to be visible during flights. (iStock)

“Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of various factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged, or improperly protected.”

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The policy will begin on May 28. Customers with the Southwest app have shared that they are receiving notifications about the policy already. 

Portable chargers or power banks are not allowed in checked bags but can be packed in carry-on bags as they have lithium-ion batteries, according to TSA. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In the “r/SouthwestAirlines” forum on Reddit, a user shared a screenshot of the notification, titling the post, “I had no idea this was an issue.”

The post said, “Got this pop-up for the first time, and I’m baffled.”

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The notification showed a battery graphic saying, “If you use a power bank during your flight, keep it out of your bag and in plain sight. Do not charge [the] device in the overhead bin.”



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South-Carolina

LSU completes sweep of South Carolina, 7-0

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LSU completes sweep of South Carolina, 7-0


BATON ROUGE, LA (USC SID) – The University of South Carolina baseball team fell to LSU, 7-0, Sunday afternoon (May 3) at Alex Box Stadium.

Omar Serna gave LSU a 2-0 lead in the third with a home run to left. Cade Arrambide’s sacrifice fly put the Tigers up 3-0 in the fifth. Tanner Reaves’ RBI single gave LSU a 4-0 lead but Ethan Lizama’s throw to the plate was called interference by Derek Curiel, holding the Tigers to one run.

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LSU scored a pair of runs in the sixth and added on in the seventh to make it 7-0.

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KJ Scobey had two of Carolina’s five hits in the contest. Alex Valentin took the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in four innings with six strikeouts.

POSTGAME NOTES

  • Josh Gregoire came in to pitch in his hometown of Baton Rouge. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed a hit with no runs.

  • Carolina had three errors on the day.

  • Carolina played in Baton Rouge for the first time since 2011.

UP NEXT

Carolina will take the midweek off for final exams and return to action on Friday afternoon (May 8) against Alabama. The game will start at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tennessee

Alabama and Tennessee move to draw new congressional districts in wake of Supreme Court ruling

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Alabama and Tennessee move to draw new congressional districts in wake of Supreme Court ruling


MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Republican governors in Alabama and Tennessee have summoned lawmakers into special sessions this week seeking new congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators back to Montgomery starting Monday to approve contingency plans for special primary elections in hopes that the Supreme Court will allow the state to switch congressional maps ahead of the November midterms. It’s a move that Republicans legislative leaders said would “give our state a fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” The seven-member delegation currently has two Democrats.

In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also announced a special session starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break up the state’s one Democratic-held House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis.

The Supreme Court decision striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana said the drawing of the district map relied too much on race. The ruling began reverberating through statehouses across the South as Republicans eyed the possibility of getting new lines in place for the 2026 midterm elections, or at least 2028.

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President Donald Trump encouraged the latest round of redistricting in a post on social media on Sunday, saying his party could gain 20 seats in the House.

“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump said. “That is more important than administrative convenience.”

Florida approved new districts the day of the Supreme Court ruling, and Louisiana moved quickly to postpone its May 16 congressional primary, drawing lawsuits from Democrats and civil rights groups. The state’s Republican leadership started planning for a redraw that could eliminate one or both of its congressional districts now represented by a Black lawmaker. South Carolina’s governor suggested his state might also reconsider its congressional map.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, described the court decision and the redistricting scramble as an attempt to roll back the Civil Rights Movement.

“They said we’re going to allow partisan politicians to gerrymander you, so that even when you show up, your voice won’t have as much impact because we’ll play with the lines,” he said Sunday from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once served as pastor. “That isn’t a new method. That’s an old method. That’s a Jim Crow method.”

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The Supreme Court ruling boosted an already intense national redistricting battle by providing Republican officials in some states potential new grounds to redraw voting districts.

Federal judges previously ordered Alabama to use a court-selected map with a second district with a substantial number of Black voters. The judges also ordered Alabama to use the new map until after the 2030 Census. Alabama is appealing that decision and is hoping the court, in light of the Louisiana ruling, will let Alabama revert to a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers.

“As I continue saying, Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said.

Tennessee’s move comes after a pressure campaign by Trump and other Republicans to reconfigure the state’s 9th Congressional District. Republicans have always been checkmated by the Voting Rights Act in their desire to spread the district’s Democratic voters around neighboring conservative districts and make it winnable, but the law may no longer be an impediment.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee said Friday. The move was encouraged by Trump, who wrote on social media Thursday that Lee had promised to work hard to give Republicans one extra seat.

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The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6. Democrats noted that in 2022 the state Supreme Court checked additional redistricting because it was too close to an election. They argued that the court is their best hope this time around too.

“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a democracy,” Democratic State Sen. Ramesh Akbari said at a news conference outside the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Alabama Democrats also sharply criticized the decision to try to change the maps ahead of looming elections.

“This special session is a blatant power grab by Republican leadership in Montgomery to eliminate seats held by Black Democrats,” said former Sen. Doug Jones, a Democratic candidate for Alabama governor.

Louisiana has suspended its May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts, though that is being challenged in court.

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Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by doing the same, then other states joined the battle. Lawmakers, commissions or courts have adopted new House districts in eight states.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Amy, Bill Barrow, Jack Brook, Nicholas Riccardi and David A. Lieb contributed to this report.



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Texas

Spencer Torkelson’s home run lifts Detroit Tigers past Texas Rangers, 7-1

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Spencer Torkelson’s home run lifts Detroit Tigers past Texas Rangers, 7-1



Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run homer and the Detroit Tigers pulled away to a 7-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night.

Torkelson had gone five games without a homer after tying a franchise record by homering in five consecutive games.

Kevin McGonigle had two RBI singles and Matt Vierling added a two-run double for Detroit, which has won all five of its home series. Hao-Yu Lee chipped in a run-scoring single.

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Tyler Holton served as an opener and retired two of the three batters he faced. Brant Hunter (4-0) tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Rangers starter Jack Leiter tied his career high with 10 strikeouts. He lasted 6 2/3 innings and was charged with five runs.

Leiter struck out six of the first eight batters he faced. He didn’t allow a baserunner until he issued a four-pitch walk to Riley Greene. Torkelson fell behind in the count 0-2, then clubbed a hanging slider over the left field wall to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.

McGonigle’s line drive single in the sixth knocked in Jake Rogers, who led off the inning with a liner that bounced past center fielder Evan Carter for a triple.

Texas scored in the seventh on Kyle Higashioka’s RBI groundout. The Tigers then scored four runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Vierling’s two-run bloop double.

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Up next

The Rangers begin a three-game road series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. RHP Jacob deGrom (2-1, 2.01) will start for Texas. 

Tigers ace LHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.70) will start the opener of a three-game home series against Boston on Monday.



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