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Former President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he will be skipping Wednesday's first Republican presidential primary debate — and others as well. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site. "I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!" His spokesman did not immediately clarify whether he plans to boycott every primary debate or just those that have currently been scheduled. The former president and early GOP frontrunner had said for months that he saw little upside in joining his GOP rivals on stage when they gather for the first time in Milwaukee Wednesday, given his commanding lead in the race. And he had made clear to those he had spoken to in recent days that his opinion had not changed. Read: Trump, 18 allies indicted in Georgia over 2020 election meddling, the 4th criminal case against him “Why would I allow people at 1 or 2% and 0% to be hitting me with questions all night?” he said in an interview in June with Fox News host Bret Baier, who will be serving as a moderator. Trump has also repeatedly criticized Fox, the host of the Aug. 23 primetime event, insisting it is a “hostile network” that he believes will not treat him fairly. Trump had been discussing a number of debate counterprogramming options, including sitting for an interview with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has been hosting a show on the website formerly known as Twitter. Carlson was spotted at Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club ahead of the announcement, according to a person familiar with the visit who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it. The New York Times reported Saturday the interview set to air Wednesday has already been taped. “We cannot confirm or deny — stay tuned,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. The idea had been one of several alternatives Trump had floated in conversations in recent weeks. They included possibly showing up in Milwaukee at the last minute or attending but sitting in the audience and offering live commentary on his Truth Social site. He had also discussed potentially calling into different networks to draw viewers from the debate, or holding a rally instead. Read: Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election The decision marks another chapter in Trump's ongoing feud with Fox, which was once a staunch defender, but is now perceived to be more favorable to his leading rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Fox executives and hosts had lobbied Trump to attend, both privately and on the network's airwaves. But Trump, according to a person close to him, was unswayed, believing executives would not have been wooing him if they weren’t concerned about their ratings. A person familiar had said earlier Sunday that Trump and his team had not notified the Republican National Committee of his plans. Meanwhile, Trump's rivals had been goading him to appear and preparing in the hopes that he might, concerned that a no-show might make them appear like second-tier candidates and deny them the opportunity to land a knockout blow against the race's Goliath that could change the trajectory of the race. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of the few candidates willing to directly take on Trump, has been accusing the former president of lacking “the guts to show up" and calling him “a coward” if he doesn't. A super PAC supporting DeSantis released an ad in which the narrator says: “We can’t afford a nominee who is too weak to debate.” And in a posting Sunday on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said the Florida governor looked forward to sharing his vision Wednesday on what he'll do as president because “no one is entitled to this nomination, including Donald Trump. You have to show up and earn it." Read: Trump set for first public appearances since federal indictment, speaking in Georgia, North Carolina Trump has pushed back on the attacks, telling Newsmax’s Eric Bolling that he saw little benefit in participating when he’s already leading by a wide margin. “It's not a question of guts. It’s a question of intelligence,” he said. Trump has also said that he will not sign a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee if he loses the nomination — a requirement set by the Republican National Committee for appearing on stage. “Why would I sign it?” he said. “I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there, there’s a problem.” Nonetheless, his advisers insisted for weeks that he had yet to make a final decision, even as they acknowledged it was “pretty clear” from his public and private statements that he was unlikely to appear. It's not the first time Trump has chosen to skip a major GOP debate. During his 2016 campaign, Trump decided to forgo the final GOP primary face-off before the Iowa caucuses and instead held his own campaign event — a flashy telethon-style gathering in Iowa that was billed as a fundraiser for veterans. While the event earned him headlines and drew attention away from his rivals, Trump went on to lose the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas — a loss some former aides have blamed, at least in part, on his decision to skip the debate. Read: Trump charged over classified documents in 1st federal indictment of an ex-president In 2020, Trump pulled out of the second general election debate against now-President Joe Biden after the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan group that has hosted general election debates for more than three decades, sought to make it virtual after Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Trump refused, saying he would only debate on stage. Trump is not the only candidate who will likely be missing Wednesday's event. Several lesser-known rivals appear unlikely to reach the threshold set by the RNC to participate. To qualify, candidates must have received contributions from at least 40,000 individual donors, with at least 200 unique donors in 20 or more states. They also must poll at at least 1% in three designated national polls, or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21. Candidates who have met the qualifications include DeSantis, Christie, former vice president Mike Pence, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. Beyond the fundraising and polling requirements, the RNC has said candidates must also sign the pledge agreeing to support the eventual party nominee as well as agreeing not to participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debate for the remainder of the election cycle. The RNC is boycotting events organized by the Commission for Presidential Debates, alleging bias. “I affirm that if I do not win the 2024 Republican nomination of President of the United States, I will honor the will of the primary voters and support the nominee in order to save our country and beat Joe Biden,” reads the pledge, according to a copy posted by DeSantis to the social media site X. Candidates also must pledge not to run as an independent, write-in candidate or third-party nominee. While several candidates, including Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have taken issue with the requirement, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd so far is the only one who has said definitively that he will not sign the pledge because he refuses to support Trump if he becomes the eventual nominee. Christie has said he will sign whatever is needed to get him on the stage. In addition to voicing opposition to the loyalty pledge, Trump has suggested he is opposed to boycotting general election debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. “You have, really, an obligation to do that," he said in a radio interview this spring.

The United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement this week that will eventually see five detained Americans in Iran and an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. released from custody after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets are transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar. The complex deal — which came together after months of indirect negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials — was announced on Thursday when Iran moved four of the five Americans from prison to house arrest. The fifth American had already been under house arrest. Details of the money transfer, the timing of its completion and the ultimate release of both the American and Iranian prisoners remain unclear. However, U.S. and Iranian officials say they believe the agreement could be complete by mid- to late-September. A look at what is known about the deal. WHAT’S IN IT? Under the tentative agreement, the U.S. has given its blessing to South Korea to convert frozen Iranian assets held there from the South Korean currency, the won, to euros. That money then would be sent to Qatar, a small, energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that has been a mediator in the talks. The amount from Seoul could be anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion, depending on exchange rates. The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019. Read: Trump, 18 allies indicted in Georgia over 2020 election meddling, the 4th criminal case against him The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program. Some in Iran have disputed the U.S. claim, saying that Tehran will have total control over the funds. Qatar has not commented publicly on how it will monitor the disbursement of the money. In exchange, Iran is to release the five Iranian-Americans held as prisoners in the country. Currently, they are under guard at a hotel in Tehran, according to a U.S.-based lawyer advocating for one of them. WHY WILL IT TAKE SO LONG? Iran does not want the frozen assets in South Korean won, which is less convertible than euros or U.S. dollars. U.S. officials say that while South Korea is on board with the transfer it is concerned that converting $6 or $7 billion in won into other currencies at once will adversely affect its exchange rate and economy. Thus, South Korea is proceeding slowly, converting smaller amounts of the frozen assets for the eventual transfer to the central bank in Qatar. In addition, as the money is transferred, it has to avoid touching the U.S. financial system where it could become subject to American sanctions. So a complicated and time-consuming series of transfers through third-country banks has been arranged. Read: As death toll from Maui fire reaches 89, authorities say effort to count the losses is just starting “We have worked extensively with the South Koreans on this and there’s no impediment to the movement of the account from South Korea to Qatar,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday. In Doha, Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi said, “What we have achieved in this agreement reflects the confidence of these parties in the State of Qatar as a neutral mediator and international partner in resolving international disputes by peaceful means.” He did not address how the money would be policed. WHO ARE THE DETAINED IRANIAN-AMERICANS? The identities of three of the five prisoners have been made public. It remains unclear who the other two are. The American government has described them as wanting to keep their identities private and Iran has not named them either. The three known are Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges. Another is Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist serving a 10-year sentence. The third is Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. Those advocating for their release describe them as wrongfully detained and innocent. Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips in negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Read more: US military may put armed troops on commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran seizures WHY IS THIS DEAL HAPPENING NOW? For Iran, years of American sanctions following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers has crushed its already-anemic economy. Previous claims of progress in talks over the frozen assets have provided only short-term boosts to Iran’s hobbled rial currency. The release of that money, even if only disbursed under strict circumstances, could provide an economic boost. For the U.S., the administration of President Joe Biden has tried to get Iran back into the deal, which fell apart after Trump’s 2018 withdrawal. Last year, countries involved in the initial agreement offered Tehran what was described as their last, best roadmap to restore the accord. Iran did not accept it. Still, Iran hawks in Congress and outside critics of the 2015 nuclear deal have criticized the new arrangement. Former Vice President Mike Pence and the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have all compared the money transfer to paying a ransom and said the Biden administration is encouraging Iran to continue taking prisoners. Read more: Belgium, Iran conduct prisoner swap in Oman, freeing aid worker and diplomat convicted in bomb plot WILL THE U.S. RELEASE IRANIAN PRISONERS HELD IN AMERICA? On Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry made a point of bringing up those prisoners. American officials have declined to comment on who or how many Iranian prisoners might be released in a final agreement. But Iranian media in the past identified several prisoners with cases tied to violations of U.S. export laws and restrictions on doing business with Iran. Those alleged violations include the transfer of money through Venezuela and sales of dual-use equipment that the U.S. says could be used in Iran’s military and nuclear programs. DOES THIS MEAN IRAN-U.S. TENSIONS ARE EASING? No. Outside of the tensions over the nuclear deal and Iran’s atomic ambitions, a series of attacks and ship seizures in the Mideast have been attributed to Tehran since 2019. The Pentagon is considering a plan to put U.S. troops on board to guard commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass moving out of the Persian Gulf. A major deployment of U.S. sailors and Marines, alongside F-35s, F-16s and other aircraft, is also underway in the region. Meanwhile, Iran supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine amid its war on Kyiv. Read more: Iran unveils what it calls a hypersonic missile able to beat air defenses amid tensions with US

 Donald Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday, accused of scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. It’s the fourth criminal case to be brought against the former president and the second this month to allege that he tried to subvert the results of the vote. The indictment details dozens of acts by Trump and his allies to undo his defeat in the battleground state, including hectoring Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes to keep him power, pestering officials with bogus claims of voter fraud and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump. Read: Biden heads west for a policy victory lap, drawing an implicit contrast with Trump “Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” says the indictment issued Monday night by the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Other defendants included former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced his efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia. How Fani Willis oversaw what might be the most sprawling legal case against Donald TrumpThe indictment bookends a remarkable crush of criminal cases — four in five months, each in a different city — that would be daunting for anyone, never mind a defendant simultaneously running for president. It comes just two weeks after the Justice Department special counsel charged him in a vast conspiracy to overturn the election, underscoring how prosecutors after lengthy investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol have now, two-and-a-half years later, taken steps to hold Trump to account for an assault on the underpinnings of American democracy. Read: Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election Though the indictment is centered on Trump’s efforts to subvert election results in just one state, its sprawling web of defendants stands apart from the more tightly-targeted case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which so far only names Trump as a defendant. The Georgia case also stands out because, unlike the two federal prosecutions he faces, Trump would not have the opportunity to try to pardon himself if elected president. As indictments mount, Trump — the leading Republican candidate for president in 2024 — often invokes his distinction as the only former president to face criminal charges. He is campaigning and fundraising around these themes, portraying himself as the victim of Democratic prosecutors out to get him. The indictment charges Trump with making false statements and writings for a series of claims he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other state election officials on Jan. 2, 2021, including that up to 300,000 ballots “were dropped mysteriously into the rolls” in the 2020 election, that more than 4,500 people voted who weren’t on registration lists and that a Fulton County election worker, Ruby Freeman, was a “professional vote scammer.”

As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 89, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century. Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said. “We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” noting that the death toll is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.” He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains. Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal." Two people have been identified so far, he said. Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colorless landscape. “It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced,” Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. "We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.” At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86% were residential. Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to $6 billion. He said it would take “an incredible amount of time” to recover." At least two other fires have been burning on Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said. Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96% were residential. Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center. He encouraged those with missing family members to go to the family assistance center. Read: Survivors of Maui's wildfires return home to blackened ruins as death toll rises to 67 “We need you to do the DNA test. We need to identify your loved ones,” Pelletier said. Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it. Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital. Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect. Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter. “God took a really good man,” Weber-Bogar said. The newly released death toll surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds. The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency alert system with sirens that are tested monthly. Read: Death toll from train derailment in Pakistan rises to 30 with 60 others injured Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate the warning sirens sounded before fire hit the town. Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach. Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island. “It outpaced anything firefighters could have done in the early hours,” U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell said, adding that it moved horizontally, structure to structure and “incredibly fast.” “It was a low-to-the-ground fire. It was grass-fed by all evidence that we could observe today,” she said. The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes. Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure. Maui’s firefighting efforts may have been hampered by limited staff and equipment. Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association, said there are a maximum of 65 county firefighters working at any given time, who are responsible for three islands: Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Green said officials will review policies and procedures to improve safety. “People have asked why we are reviewing what’s going on and it’s because the world has changed. A storm now can be a hurricane-fire or a fire-hurricane,” he said. “That’s what we experienced, that’s why we’re looking into these policies, to find out how we can best protect our people.” Lahaina resident Riley Curran said he doubted that county officials could have done more, given the speed of the onrushing flames. He fled his Front Street home after seeing the oncoming fire from the roof of a neighboring building. Read more: Israel presses on with hunt for West Bank militants. The death toll rises to 10 and civilians flee “It’s not that people didn’t try to do anything," Curran said. “The fire went from zero to 100.”

Blackened hulks of burned-out cars, the pavement streaked with melted and then rehardened chrome. Block after block of flattened homes and businesses. Incinerated telephone poles, and elevator shafts rising from ashy lots where apartment buildings once stood. A truck bed full of glass bottles, warped into surreal shapes by the furious heat. Anthony Garcia assessed the devastation as he stood under historic Lahaina's iconic banyan tree, now charred, and swept twisted branches into neat piles next to another heap filled with dead animals — cats, roosters and other birds killed by the smoke and flames. Somehow it made sense in a world turned upside-down. "If I don't do something, I'll go nuts," said Garcia, who lost everything he owned. "I'm losing my faith in God." 53 people have died from the Hawaii wildfires, governor says  That was the scene residents found when they were allowed back home to take stock of their shattered homes and lives Friday as the toll rose to 67 confirmed dead in this week's wildfires, which tore through parts of Maui and were still short of full containment and being battled by firefighters. Attorney General Anne Lopez's office announced it will conduct a comprehensive review of decision-making and standing policies leading up to, during and after the wildfires. "My Department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing with the public the results of this review," Lopez said in a statement. "As we continue to support all aspects of the ongoing relief effort, now is the time to begin this process of understanding." Heat, wildfires and floods make summer of 2023 "a summer of extremes" Associated Press journalists also witnessed the devastation, with nearly every building destroyed on Front Street, the heart of Lahaina and the economic hub of the island. Surviving roosters, which are known to roam Hawaii streets, meandered through the ashes, and there was an eerie traffic jam of charred cars that didn't escape the inferno. "It hit so quick, it was incredible," resident Kyle Scharnhorst said as he surveyed his apartment complex's damage in the morning. "It was like a war zone." The wildfires are the state's deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted the development of the territory-wide emergency system that includes sirens, which are sounded monthly to test their readiness. But many fire survivors said in interviews that they didn't hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare, realizing they were in danger only when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby. Climate change keeps making wildfires and smoke worse. Scientists call it the 'new abnormal' "There was no warning. There was absolutely none. Nobody came around. We didn't see a fire truck or anybody," said Lynn Robinson, who lost her home. Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people had to run for their lives. Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations — but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach. Gov. Josh Green warned that the death toll would likely rise as search and rescue operations continue. Authorities set a curfew from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday. "The recovery's going to be extraordinarily complicated, but we do want people to get back to their homes and just do what they can to assess safely, because it's pretty dangerous," Green told Hawaii News Now. Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, at least three wildfires erupted on Maui this week, racing through parched brush covering the island. The most serious one swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and left it a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes. Skeletal remains of buildings bowed under roofs that pancaked in the blaze. Palm trees were torched, boats in the harbor were scorched and the stench of burning lingered. The wildfire is already projected to be the second-costliest disaster in Hawaii history, behind only Hurricane Iniki in 1992, according to calculations by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company. Summer and Gilles Gerling sought to salvage keepsakes from the ashes of their home. But all they could find was the piggy bank Summer Gerling's father gave her as a child, their daughter's jade bracelet and the watches they gifted each other for their wedding. Their wedding rings were gone. They described their fear as the strong wind whipped the smoke and flames closer. But they said they were just happy that they and their two children made it out alive. "It is what it is," Gilles Gerling said. "Safety was the main concern. These are all material things." Cadaver-sniffing dogs were brought in to assist the search for the dead, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said. The wildfire is the deadliest in the U.S. since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. Lahaina's wildfire risk is well known. Maui County's hazard mitigation plan, last updated in 2020, identified Lahaina and other West Maui communities as having frequent wildfires and a large number of buildings at risk of wildfire damage. The report also noted that West Maui had the island's second-highest rate of households without a vehicle and the highest rate of non-English speakers. "This may limit the population's ability to receive, understand and take expedient action during hazard events," the plan noted. Maui's firefighting efforts may also have been hampered by a small staff, said Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association. There are a maximum of 65 firefighters working at any given time in the county, and they are responsible for three islands — Maui, Molokai and Lanai — he said. Those crews have about 13 fire engines and two ladder trucks, but the department does not have any off-road vehicles, he said. That means crews can't attack brush fires thoroughly before they reach roads or populated areas. Maui water officials warned residents in Kula and Lahaina who have running water that it may be contaminated and they should not drink it — even after boiling — and should take only short, lukewarm showers "in a well-ventilated room" to avoid exposure to possible chemical vapors. But Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University whose team was called in after the Camp Fire and the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, said "showering in water that potentially contains hazardous waste levels of benzene is not advisable" and a do-not-use order would be appropriate until sampling and analysis have been done. When she fled Tuesday, Lahaina resident Lana Vierra thought it would be temporary. She spent Friday morning filling out FEMA assistance forms at a relative's house in Haiku. Though she knew the home where she raised five children was gone, along with treasured items like baby pictures and yearbooks, she was eager to return. "To actually stand there on your burnt grounds and get your wheels turning on how to move forward — I think it will give families that peace," she said. Riley Curran said he fled his home on Front Street after climbing up a neighboring apartment building to get a better look at the onrushing fire. He doubts county officials could have done more to stave off disaster, because it happened so fast. "It's not that people didn't try to do anything. ... The fire went from 0 to 100," Curran said. Curran added that he grew up in California and has seen horrendous wildfires, but "I've never seen one eat an entire town in four hours."  

A search of the wildfire devastation on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of obliterated neighborhoods and landmarks charred beyond recognition, as the death toll rose to at least 53 and survivors told harrowing tales of narrow escapes with only the clothes on their backs. A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighborhoods that had been a vibrant vision of color and island life reduced to gray ash. Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. Boats in the harbor were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island's west side. "Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down," Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed by fires that were still burning, he said. Already the state's deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami killed 61 people on the Big Island, the death toll will likely rise further as search and rescue operations continue, Green added. "We are heartsick," Green said. Tiffany Kidder Winn's gift store Whaler's Locker, which is one of the town's oldest shops, was among the many businesses destroyed. As she assessed the damage Thursday, she came upon a line of burned-out vehicles, some with charred bodies inside. "It looked like they were trying to get out, but were stuck in traffic and couldn't get off Front Street," she said. She later spotted a body leaning against a seawall. Winn said the destruction was so widespread, "I couldn't even tell where I was because all the landmarks were gone." Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took Maui by surprise, racing through parched growth covering the island and then feasting on homes and anything else that lay in its path. The official death toll of 53 as of Thursday makes this the deadliest U.S. wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been inaccessible due to the three ongoing fires, including the one in Lahaina that was 80% contained on Thursday, according to a Maui County news release. Dozens of people have been injured, some critically. "We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern," said Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Search and rescue teams still won't be able to reach certain areas until the fire lines are secure and access is safe, Weintraub added. The flames left some people with mere minutes to act and led some to flee into the ocean. A Lahaina man, Bosco Bae, posted video on Facebook from Tuesday night that showed fire burning nearly every building on a street as sirens blared and windblown sparks raced by. Bae, who said he was one of the last people to leave the town, was evacuated to the island's main airport and was waiting to be allowed to return home. Marlon Vasquez, a 31-year-old cook from Guatemala who came to the U.S. in January 2022, said that when he heard the fire alarms, it was already too late to flee in his car. "I opened the door, and the fire was almost on top of us," he said from an evacuation center at a gymnasium. "We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into the next day, because the fire didn't stop." Vasquez and his brother Eduardo escaped via roads that were clogged with vehicles full of people. The smoke was so toxic that he vomited. He said he's not sure his roommates and neighbors made it to safety. Lahaina residents Kamuela Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso described their harrowing escape under smoke-filled skies. The couple and their 6-year-old son got back to their apartment after a quick dash to the supermarket for water, and only had time to grab a change of clothes and run as the bushes around them caught fire. "We barely made it out," Kawaakoa, 34, said at an evacuation shelter, still unsure if anything was left of their apartment. As the family fled, they called 911 when they saw the Hale Mahaolu senior living facility across the road erupt in flames. Chelsey Vierra's grandmother, Louise Abihai, was living at Hale Mahaolu, and the family doesn't know if she got out. "She doesn't have a phone. She's 97 years old," Vierra said Thursday. "She can walk. She is strong." Relatives are monitoring shelter lists and calling the hospital. "We got to find our loved one, but there's no communication here," said Vierra, who fled the flames. "We don't know who to ask about where she went." Communications have been spotty on the island, with 911, landline and cellular service failing at times. Power was also out in parts of Maui. Tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 flew out of Maui on Wednesday with at least 1,500 more expected to leave Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, state transportation director. Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to receive thousands. In coastal Kihei, southeast of Lahaina, wide swaths of ground glowed red with embers Wednesday night as flames continued to chew through trees and buildings. Gusty winds blew sparks over a black and orange patchwork of charred earth and still-crackling hot spots. The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora passing far to the south. It's the latest in a series of disasters caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events. Wildfires aren't unusual in Hawaii, but the weather of the past few weeks created the fuel for a devastating blaze and, once ignited, the high winds created the disaster, said Thomas Smith an associate professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Hawaii's Big Island is also currently seeing blazes, Mayor Mitch Roth said, although there were no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there. With communications hampered, it was difficult for many to check in with friends and family members. Some people were posting messages on social media. A Family Assistance Center opened at the Kahului Community Center for people looking for the missing. Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, of the Hawaii State Department of Defense, said Wednesday night that officials were working to get communications restored, distribute water and possibly add law enforcement personnel. He said National Guard helicopters had dropped 150,000 gallons (568,000 liters) of water on the fires. The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who jumped into the water to escape the flames and smoke. Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said Wednesday that officials hadn't yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster on Maui. Traveling in Utah on Thursday, he pledged that the federal response will ensure that "anyone who's lost a loved one, or whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately." Biden promised to streamline requests for assistance and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was "surging emergency personnel" on the island.

The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to two U.S. officials. This latest package will include missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defense system, munitions for howitzers and tanks, Javelin rockets, mine-clearing equipment, 12 million rounds of small arms ammunition and demolition munitions, said a U.S. official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been publicly announced. The aid comes as the U.S. funding for Ukraine is nearly all spent and the Biden administration is expected to request a new package of supplemental aid from Congress to continue that support. Ukraine has already received more than $43 billion from the U.S. since Russia invaded last year. Those funds have provided weapons systems like howitzers and millions of rounds of ammunition to fight back against the much larger Russian military. Due to the intense and bloody land war there, much of the ammunition and weaponry has already been used up. In eastern areas of the country, intense fighting between the two sides means that along the front line, “multiple changes” in position and control take place within a day, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said Wednesday on her official Telegram channel. Read: A wildfire on Maui kills at least 6 as it sweeps through historic town, forcing some into the ocean The Biden administration is funding the Ukraine war effort through two programs. presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, which pulls weapons from existing U.S. stockpiles; and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI, which funds long-term contracts for larger weapons systems like tanks that need to be either built or modified by defense companies. Both funding tracks run through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The administration would already be out of PDA money for fiscal year 2023 if the Pentagon had not discovered it made an accounting error by overvaluing previous rounds of weapons systems given to Ukraine. As a result, it has about $6.2 billion left in PDA money to keep support going until Congress approves additional funds. This latest aid package of $200 million is being drawn from that surplus. Read: Pakistani court seeks 'government response' over Imran Khan's appeal, refuses to release him “We feel confident that we can continue to supply Ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing Tuesday. “I’m just not going to get ahead of anything in terms of any supplemental or any additional requests to Congress.” There is also about $600 million remaining in fiscal year 2023 USAI funds.

Thousands of people raced to escape homes in Maui as blazes swept across the Hawaiian island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town and killing at least 36 people in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in recent years. The fire took the island by surprise, leaving behind burned-out cars on once busy streets and smoking piles of rubble where historic buildings had stood in Lahaina, which dates to the 1700s and has long been a favorite destination of tourists. Crews battled blazes in several places on the island Wednesday, and the flames forced some adults and children to flee into the ocean. At least 36 people have died, according to a statement from Maui County late Wednesday that said no other details were available. Officials said earlier that 271 structures were damaged or destroyed and dozens of people injured. It is the deadliest fire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and virtually razed the town of Paradise. Officials warned that the death toll in Hawaii could rise, with the fires still burning and teams spreading out to search charred areas. Read: Pakistani court seeks 'government response' over Imran Khan's appeal, refuses to release him Lahaina residents Kamuela Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso described a harrowing escape under smoke-filled skies Tuesday afternoon. The couple and their 6-year-old son got back to their apartment after a quick dash to the supermarket for water, and only had time to grab a change of clothes and run as the bushes around them caught fire. “We barely made it out,” Kawaakoa said at an evacuation shelter on Wednesday, still unsure if anything was left of their apartment. As the family fled, a senior center across the road erupted in flames. They called 911, but didn't know if the people got out. As they drove away, downed utility poles and others fleeing in cars slowed their progress. “It was so hard to sit there and just watch my town burn to ashes and not be able to do anything," Kawaakoa, 34, said. As the fires rage, tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 visitors flew out of Maui on Wednesday, with at least another 1,500 expected to leave Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, state transportation director. Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in the thousands who have been displaced. Read: Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting rescue workers with consecutive missile strikes Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said the island had “been tested like never before in our lifetime.” “We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” he said in a recorded statement. “In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a ‘kaiaulu,’ or community, as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.” The fires were whipped by strong winds from Hurricane Dora passing far to the south. It's the latest in a series of disasters caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events. Wildfires aren't unusual in Hawaii, but the weather of the past few weeks created the fuel for a devastating blaze and, once ignited, the high winds created the disaster, said Thomas Smith an associate professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Read: Death toll from train derailment in Pakistan rises to 30 with 60 others injured "The vegetation in the lowland areas of Maui is particularly parched this year, with below-average precipitation in the spring, and hardly any rainfall this summer. The Big Island is also currently seeing blazes, Mayor Mitch Roth said, although there had been no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there. As winds eased somewhat on Maui on Wednesday, pilots were able to view the full scope of the devastation. Aerial video from Lahaina showed dozens of homes and businesses razed, including on Front Street, where tourists once gathered to shop and dine. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbor were scorched, and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees. “It’s horrifying. I’ve flown here 52 years and I’ve never seen anything come close to that,” said Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company. “We had tears in our eyes." Search-and-rescue teams are fanning out in the devastated areas in the hopes of finding survivors, Adam Weintraub, communication director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Read: Heat, wildfires and floods make summer of 2023 "a summer of extremes" Addressing the fear that there could be additional deaths, Weintraub acknowledged “these were large and fast-moving fires, and it’s only recently that we’ve started to get our arms around them and contain them. So, we’re hoping for the best, but we’re prepared for the worst.” About 14,500 customers in Maui were without power early Wednesday. With cell service and phone lines down in some areas, many people were struggling to check in with friends and family members living near the wildfires. Some were posting messages on social media. Tiare Lawrence was frantically trying to reach her siblings who live near where a gas station exploded in Lahaina. “There’s no service, so we can’t get ahold of anyone,” she said from the Maui community of Pukalani. Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, from the Hawaii State Department of Defense, told reporters Wednesday night that officials were working to get communications restored, to distribute water, and possibly adding law enforcement personnel. He said National Guard helicopters had dropped 150,000 gallons of water on the Maui fires. The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who jumped into the water to escape flames and smoke, including two children. Among those injured were three people with critical burns who were flown to Oahu, officials said. Bissen, the Maui County mayor, said at a Wednesday morning news conference that officials hadn't yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires, but officials did point to the combination of dry conditions, low humidity and high winds. Mauro Farinelli, of Lahaina, said the winds started blowing hard on Tuesday, and then somehow a fire started up on a hillside. “It just ripped through everything with amazing speed,” he said, adding it was “like a blowtorch.” The winds were so strong they blew his garage door off its hinges and trapped his car in the garage, Farinelli said. So a friend drove him, along with his wife, Judit, and dog, Susi, to an evacuation shelter. He had no idea what had happened to their home. “We’re hoping for the best,” he said, “but we’re pretty sure it’s gone.” President Joe Biden ordered all available federal assets to help with the response. He said the Hawaii National Guard had mobilized helicopters to help with fire suppression as well as search-and-rescue efforts. “Our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses and communities destroyed," Biden said in a statement. Gov. Josh Green cut short a trip and planned to return Wednesday evening. In his absence, acting Gov. Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation and urged tourists to stay away. Alan Dickar, who owns a poster gallery and three houses in Lahaina, bemoaned the loss of so much in the town and to him personally. “The central two blocks is the economic heart of this island, and I don’t know what’s left,” he said. “Every significant thing I owned burned down today.”

— Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups. Opposition to the proposal was widespread, even spreading into Republican territory. In fact, in early returns, support for the measure fell far short of former President Donald Trump’s performance during the 2020 election in nearly every county. Dennis Willard, a spokesperson for the opposition campaign One Person One Vote, called Issue 1 a “deceptive power grab” that was intended to diminish the influence of the state’s voters. “Tonight is a major victory for democracy in Ohio,” Willard told a jubilant crowd at the opposition campaign’s watch party. “The majority still rules in Ohio.” Read: Investigators say Myanmar's military is committing increasingly brazen war crimes President Joe Biden hailed Tuesday's result, releasing a statement saying: “This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions. Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.” A major national group that opposes abortion rights, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called the result “a sad day for Ohio" while criticizing the outside money that helped the opposition — even though both sides relied on national groups and individuals in their campaigns. Republican lawmakers who had pushed the measure — and put it before voters during the height of summer vacation season — explained away the defeat as a result of too little time to adequately explain it to voters. A main backer, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman, predicted lawmakers would try again, though probably not as soon as next year. “Obviously, there are a lot of folks that did not want this to happen — not just because of the November issues, but for all of the other ones that are coming,” he said. While abortion was not directly on the special election ballot, the result marks the latest setback for Republicans in a conservative-leaning state who favor imposing tough restrictions on the procedure. Ohio Republicans placed the question on the summer ballot in hopes of undercutting a citizen initiative that voters will decide in November that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state. Read: UN chief calls for due process in proceedings against Pakistan's Khan Other states where voters have considered abortion rights since last year’s Supreme Court ruling have protected them, including in red states such as Kansas and Kentucky. In trying to explain the defeat the Tuesday evening, state Rep. Jim Hoops, the House GOP whip, said the debate over Issue 1 became overly politicized because of the looming abortion rights question: “It’s just unfortunate that it became political." Interest in Ohio's special election was intense, even after Republicans ignored their own law that took effect earlier this year to place the question before voters in August. Voters cast nearly 700,000 early in-person and mail ballots ahead of Tuesday’s final day of voting, more than double the number of advance votes in a typical primary election. Early turnout was especially heavy in the Democratic-leaning counties surrounding Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. One Person One Vote represented a broad, bipartisan coalition of voting rights, labor, faith and community groups. The group also had as allies four living ex-governors of the state and five former state attorneys general of both parties, who called the proposed change bad public policy. In place since 1912, the simple majority standard is a much more surmountable hurdle for Ohioans for Reproductive Rights, the group advancing November’s abortion rights amendment. It would establish “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” with “reasonable limits.” Eric Chon, a Columbus resident who voted against the measure, said there was a clear anti-abortion agenda to the election. Noting that the GOP voted just last year to get rid of August elections entirely due to low turnout for hyperlocal issues, Chon said, “Every time something doesn’t go their way, they change the rules.” Voters in several states have approved ballot questions protecting access to abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but typically have done so with less than 60% of the vote. AP VoteCast polling last year found that 59% of Ohio voters say abortion should generally be legal. The result came in the very type of August special election that Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a candidate for U.S. Senate, had previously testified against as undemocratic because of historically low turnout. Republican lawmakers just last year had voted to mostly eliminate such elections, a law they ignored for this year’s election. Al Daum, of Hilliard, just west of Columbus, said he didn’t feel the rules were being changed to undermine the power of his vote and said he was in favor of the special election measure. Along with increasing the threshold to 60%, it would mandate that any signatures for a constitutional amendment be gathered from all of Ohio’s 88 counties, not just 44. It’s a change that Daum said would give more Ohio residents a chance to make their voices heard. GOP lawmakers had cited possible future amendments related to gun control or minimum wage increases as reasons a higher threshold should be required. Voters’ rejection of the proposal marked a rare rebuke for Ohio Republicans, who have held power across every branch of state government for 12 years. Ohio Right to Life, the state’s oldest and largest anti-abortion group and a key force behind the special election measure, vowed to continue fighting into the fall.

President Joe Biden set out Monday on a Western swing aimed at showcasing his work on conservation, clean energy and veterans' benefits as he seeks to draw an implicit contrast between his administration's accomplishments and former President Donald Trump's legal troubles. Biden's first stop will be the Grand Canyon area, where on Tuesday he will announce a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) around Grand Canyon National Park and limit uranium mining, White House officials said. Climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters accompanying Biden aboard Air Force One on Monday that the president will designate his fifth national monument during the stop in northern Arizona. He said a dozen tribes had “stepped up” and asked for the monument. After Arizona, Biden will travel to New Mexico and Utah. READ: Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election The Democratic president will be in Albuquerque on Wednesday and will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs, and he'll visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He'll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city. Biden will use the three-night trip to “continue to highlight the progress he’s making across his agenda," particularly when it comes to climate change, said Natalie Quillian, the White House deputy chief of staff. "You can expect to us to highlight more groundbreakings of projects, more ribbon cuttings and opportunities to show the American people how these investments and jobs are reaching their communities and their neighborhoods," she said. The White House has been pushing to demonstrate the impact of Biden's policies, hoping to harness lower inflation numbers and strong employment figures to alleviate the president's sagging poll numbers. READ: Trump indicted over attempts to overturn 2020 election Biden is fresh from more than a week of vacation at his homes in Rehoboth Beach and Wilmington, Delaware. On the day that Trump faced a new indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss, Biden went to a fish restaurant with first lady Jill Biden, saw the movie “Oppenheimer” and took a moonlit walk across the beach. He hasn't commented about the charges against his Republican predecessor, maintaining the same strategic silence he did regarding the previous two indictments. The criminal charges appear to have done little to dampen Republican voters' enthusiasm for Trump, who remains the leading candidate for his party's 2024 nomination for president. The situation has also provided a challenge and an opportunity for Biden. The legal dramas have drawn attention away from the White House, making it harder for Biden to generate public attention for his accomplishments. But it's also created a suitable backdrop for Biden's promise to break with years of Trump-fueled chaos and focus on governing. Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg said Trump's legal trouble “sucks the oxygen out of everything else” and limits the chances for Republicans to discuss other issues, such as the economy. “People like to say nothing matters anymore," she said. "But the conversation that you’re not having actually does matter.” Biden's trip will traverse a varied political landscape. READ: UFO congressional hearing 'insulting' to US employees, top Pentagon official says Arizona is a key battleground state that Biden won narrowly in 2020, making him the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1996 to carry the state. Arizona also is one of a handful of genuinely competitive states heading into next year's election, making it critical to Biden's reelection bid. New Mexico is considered safe for Democrats. Utah is a Republican stronghold whose governor, Spencer Cox, has stressed finding common ground across party lines. It's also a critical region for conversations about climate change. Phoenix saw 31 days in a row of temperatures at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.4 degrees Celsius). Biden’s senior adviser on clean energy, John Podesta, said the president would talk about “the investments that we need to ensure that we are building a resilient society going forward in the face of what is becoming a challenging situation.” Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed without evidence that he's being targeted by Democrats trying to keep him from reclaiming the White House.