USA

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii’s governor warned that scores more people could be found dead following ferocious wildfires on Maui, as search and rescue crews scoured neighborhoods street by street and prepared to comb through buildings charred by flames that galloped a mile a minute.

The blazes, which consumed most of the historic town of Lahaina, are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, with a toll of 96. Two fires have not yet been completely contained, according to an update from Maui County late Sunday.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13 (NNN-SABA) – The United Nations welcomed the release of five of its security personnel, who were kidnapped in Yemen on Feb 11, 2022.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, was delighted to learn of the release, his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq said, adding that, “available information suggests that all five colleagues are in good health.”

The UN chief was profoundly relieved that their ordeal and the anxiety of their families and friends have finally come to an end, Haq said in a statement.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Smoke still billowed upward in many parts of Maui, the second largest in the chain of islands which make up the state of Hawaii, and Friday's night sky glowed in places where flames leap up from the landscape like the tongues of fire over a funeral pyre.

Five days after the devastating hurricane-driven wildfires dubbed Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry Maui Fires, 93 people have been confirmed dead as of Saturday, according to the Maui County.

DEADLIEST WILDFIRES IN MODERN U.S.

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — A jury has acquitted one of two brothers charged in a decade-old slaying in north central Indiana.

The jury deliberated less than 90 minutes Friday night before acquitting 36-year-old Jesse McCartney of Kokomo of all charges in the death of 21-year-old Destiny Pittman. She was found shot to death Feb. 7, 2013, at her Kokomo home.

McCartney was charged with two counts of felony murder and other counts including robbery resulting in bodily injury, burglary resulting in bodily injury and conspiracy to commit burglary.

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Republicans in Nevada could have two chances next year to decide who they want to be their party’s presidential nominee. The catch: Only one will count.

The Nevada GOP is insisting on holding its own caucus despite a new state law calling for a primary election, a move critics say is designed to benefit former President Donald Trump. The competing contests are likely to confuse some and require GOP campaigns to spend extra time and money educating voters in one of the earliest states to cast ballots for the presidential nomination.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are teaming up with the Biden administration and a progressive advocacy group to turn policy efforts to curb “ junk fees ” into a political rallying cry, betting that a small but potentially potent kitchen table issue will resonate with voters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even President Joe Biden has some regrets about the name of the Inflation Reduction Act: As the giant law turns 1 on Wednesday, it’s increasingly clear that immediately curbing prices wasn’t the point.

While price increases have cooled over the past year — the inflation rate has dropped from 9% to 3.2% — most economists say little to none of the drop came from the law.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gone was the helicopter, but Donald Trump on Saturday renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair.

Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, a baby farm animal exhibit and a popular Grand Concourse pub.

PLUM, Pa. (AP) — Four people were dead and a fifth was unaccounted for following a house explosion in western Pennsylvania that destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others Saturday morning, authorities said.

Allegheny County officials said three people were taken to hospitals after the blast shortly before 10:30 a.m. in the borough of Plum, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel Friday in the Hunter Biden probe, a surprise move that intensifies the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.

Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he named David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who had already been probing Hunter Biden’s financial dealings, as special counsel after plea deal talks in the case broke down.