National News - The Morning Sun

A flyover of historic Lahaina shows entire neighborhoods that had been a vibrant vision of color and island life reduced to gray ash. Block after block is nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. (August 10) (AP Video: Ty O'Neil)

Fast-moving Hawaii fires will take a heavy toll on the state's environment

The fast-moving wildfires that raked Maui this week will take a heavy toll on the environment. Experts say the fires are likely to transform the landscape in unwanted ways including hastening … more

By DOUG GLASS and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT | 8/11/23

Demonstrators run past tires set on fire during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

AP-Week in Pictures: Aug. 3 - Aug. 10, 2023

From fiery protests in Haiti, to wildfires in Hawaii, to an assassination in Ecuador, this photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The … more

8/10/23

Wildfire wreckage is left behind following a stubborn blaze on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

'Ash and debris': Journalist covering Maui fires surveys destruction of once-vibrant Hawaii town

A Las Vegas-based video journalist for The Associated Press dispatched to cover devastating wind-fueled wildfires in Hawaii says the scene over Maui was one of the worst he’s seen in more than … more

By TY O'NEIL | 8/10/23

This photo provided by Phoenix-based Rattlesnake Solutions shows one of their employees holding a coachwhip snake found inside a toilet in a home in Tucson, Ariz., on July 16, 2023. (Nikolaus Kemme/Rattlesnake Solutions via AP)

Snake in a toilet: Slithering visitor to Arizona home camps out where homeowner least expects it

Like a scene out of a horror movie, Michelle Lespron returned to her Tucson, Arizona, home to find a snake camped out in her toilet. The reptilian run-in happened July 15 but Lespron has been getting … more

8/10/23

Commissioner Allen Dickerson, appears on a screen, while speaking during a Federal Election Commission public meeting on whether it should regulate the use of AI-generated political campaign advertisements, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

FEC moves toward potentially regulating AI deepfakes in campaign ads

The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election, a move advocates say would safeguard voters against a … more

By ALI SWENSON | 8/10/23

FILE - Monica Lee stands outside her eldest son's house in Braxton, Miss., March 21, 2023, as she talks about her youngest son, Damien Cameron. The 29-year-old Black man, with a history of mental illness, died in July 2021 after being arrested by two Rankin County sheriff's deputies. A civil suit can continue against a former Mississippi deputy who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to torturing and shooting a Black man in the mouth, with the suit alleging the former deputy is also responsible for the death of another Black man in 2021. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)

Civil suit can continue against corrupt former deputy linked to death of Mississippi man

A civil suit can continue against a former Mississippi deputy who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to torturing and shooting a Black man in the mouth. The suit alleges the deputy is also responsible for the … more

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG | 8/10/23

FILE - A makeshift memorial stands outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018. Robert Bowers, the man who killed 11 congregants at the Pittsburgh synagogue, was formally sentenced to death on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

White supremacist accused of threatening jury, witnesses in trial of Pittsburgh synagogue gunman

A self-proclaimed white supremacist has been arrested on charges that he made online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue. … more

8/10/23

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2015 file photo, a man walks along a trail during sunset near Manhattan, Kan. In 2022, about 49,500 people took their own lives in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

US suicides hit an all-time high last year

About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever. That's according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has … more

By MIKE STOBBE | 8/10/23

FILE - A piece of wall is seen amid the wreckage of Nina Lavigna's beachfront home, after half of her house collapsed following Hurricane Nicole, Nov. 12, 2022, in Wilbur-By-The-Sea, Fla. Record hot ocean temperatures and a tardy El Nino are doubling the chances of a nasty Atlantic hurricane season this summer and fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

NOAA doubles the chances for a nasty Atlantic hurricane season due to hot ocean, tardy El Nino

Federal forecasters are doubling chances of a nasty Atlantic hurricane season this summer and fall. Thursday's forecast update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration increased the … more

BY SETH BORENSTEIN | 8/10/23

A home under construction is shown on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 in Sudbury, Mass. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs to 6.96% this week, matching highest level this year

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to just under 7%, the latest setback for would-be homebuyers already facing affordability challenges due to a housing market limited by a … more

By ALEX VEIGA | 8/10/23

Emergency crews respond to the scene of a fatal crash on Interstate 81 near Chambersburg, Pa., late Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. A recreational vehicle blew a tire on the interstate highway in , crossed the median and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, killing four people in the RV and the truck driver, authorities said. (WPMT/FOX43 via AP)

5 killed when RV blows tire, crashes head-on into tractor-trailer

Pennsylvania state police say five people died when a recreational vehicle blew a tire on an interstate highway, crossed the median and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer. The crash occurred … more

8/10/23

A sign advertising for new drivers adorns the back of a tanker carrying fuel in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Loveland, Colo. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Number of Americans applying for jobless aid rises, but not enough to cause concern

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits jumped last week, but not enough to cause concern about a still-strong U.S. labor market. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits rose by … more

By MATT OTT | 8/10/23

FILE - This photo shows a Coach retail shop at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., on May 3, 2019. Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 billion deal puts Tapestry in a better position to take on its big European fashion rivals. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Big fashion is getting bigger. Parent of Coach will buy Versace owner Capri in $8.5 billion deal

Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 … more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN | 8/10/23

Video from a helicopter shows the vast destruction of Lahaina, a historic town in Hawaii leveled by wildfire. Authorities say at least six people died in the blaze. (August 10)

Wildfire devastates Hawaii's historic Lahaina Town, a former capital of the kingdom

Smoke and ash lingered over Lahaina after a wildfire devastated Lahaina Town, one of Hawaii’s most historic cities and onetime capital of the former kingdom. It’s feared that the blaze consumed … more

By MARK THIESSEN and AUDREY McAVOY | 8/10/23

This computer rendering provided by Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority depicts the planned Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project, which, when completed in five years, will channel sediment-laden Mississippi River water into southeast Louisiana's Barataria Basin. The nearly $3 billion project is an attempt to mimic the natural building of delta wetlands that occurred for thousands of years before levees and flow-control structures were built in an effort to prevent flooding and hold the river on its current course. (Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority via AP)

A billion-dollar coastal project begins in Louisiana. Will it work as sea levels rise?

Officials are breaking ground in southeast Louisiana on a nearly $3 billion project to fight coastal wetland loss. It involves building massive gates in a section of levee in a rural area southeast … more

By KEVIN McGILL | 8/10/23

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

Wildfires take Maui by surprise, burning through a historic town and killing at least 6 people

Wildfires have devastated parts of the island of Maui in Hawaii, killing at least six people, damaging or destroying more than 270 structures and reducing parts of historic Lahaina to ash. Dozens of … more

By AUDREY MCAVOY, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and NICK PERRY | 8/10/23

Patient Mike Camilleri works with physical therapist Beth Hughes in St. Louis, Mo., on March 1, 2023. Somehow, a mild case of COVID-19 set off a chain reaction that eventually left Camilleri with dangerous blood pressure spikes, a heartbeat that raced with slight exertion, and episodes of intense chest pain. (AP Photo/Angie Wang)

COVID-19 took a toll on heart health and doctors are still grappling with how to help

COVID-19 has taken a toll on the nation's heart health but how profound is only starting to emerge. Heart attack deaths spiked early in the pandemic, erasing years of progress in battling … more

By LAURAN NEERGAARD | 8/10/23

Smoke blows across the slope of Haleakala volcano on Maui, Hawaii, as a fire burns in Maui's upcountry region on Tuesday, Aug. 8. 2023. Several Hawaii communities were forced to evacuate from wildfires that destroyed at least two homes as of Tuesday as a dry season mixed with strong wind gusts made for dangerous fire conditions. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

What's driving Maui's devastating fires, and how climate change is fueling those conditions

A dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging, including high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation. … more

By CLAIRE RUSH | 8/9/23

President Joe Biden stands in front of the flag of New Mexico as he speaks at the Arcosa Wind Towers, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Belen, N.M. Biden is making the case that his policies of financial and tax incentives have revived U.S. manufacturing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden wants to compensate New Mexico residents sickened by radiation during 1945 nuclear testing

President Joe Biden says he’s open to granting assistance for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing, including in New Mexico, where the world’s first atomic bomb … more

8/9/23

Journalists seek regulations to govern fast-moving artificial intelligence technology

News organizations are seeking regulations to govern the fast-moving artificial intelligence technology that threatens upheavals for their businesses. Several sent an open letter on Wednesday calling … more

8/9/23