Hot Off The Wire

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Francine has weakened to a tropical depression after slamming into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, causing widespread power outages and sending a dangerous storm surge rushing into coastal communities. The National Hurricane Center predicted the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season would continue weakening. WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Firefighte...

Kamala Harris pressed a forceful case against Donald Trump on Tuesday in their first and perhaps only debate before the presidential election, repeatedly goading him in an event that showcased their starkly different visions for the country on abortion, immigration and American democracy. Less than two months from Election Day and hours before the first early ballots will begin to be mailed Wednes...

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are gearing up to take the stage for Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia, where they’ll fight to sway 2024 election voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics. The event, at 9 p.m. Eastern, will offer Americans their most detailed look at a campaign that’s dramatically changed since the last debate in June. In rapid fashion, President Joe Biden...

HIGHLAND, Calif. (AP) — More than 35,000 structures are being threatened by a wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles. The so-called Line Fire burned uncontrolled Sunday along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles east of LA. As of Sunday afternoon, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles of grass and chaparral. The cause is under inves...

Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: Fake online reviews and testimonials are a headache for small businesses. They hope the FTC can help. Schools are competing with cell phones. Here's how they think they could win. Party of one Restaurants are catering to a growing number of solo diners. COVID-19 government...

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting four people at his high school in Georgia is expected to make his first court appearance. It comes a day after his father was also arrested for allowing his son to have a weapon. According to arrest warrants obtained by The Associated Press, Colt Gray is accused of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle to kill two students an...

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — More than a year ago, tips about online posts threatening a school shooting led Georgia police to interview a 13-year-old boy, but investigators didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest. Officials say that boy opened fire Wednesday at a high school outside Atlanta and killed four people and wounded nine. The teen has been charged as an adult in the deaths of two Apa...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is using a New Hampshire campaign stop to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses. She's presenting a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes. She wants to expand from $5,000 to $50,000 tax incentives for small business startup expenses, with th...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog is holding talks with senior officials in Ukraine after attacks were reported near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi was holding the talks on Tuesday. Grossi has highlighted the vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure because...

Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: Powell at Jackson Hole 'The time has come' for the Fed to soon begin reducing interest rates. New surveys show signs of optimism among small business owners. Trump’s post of fake Taylor Swift endorsement is his latest embrace of AI-generated images. What's for breakf...

CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris has summoned Americans to reject political divisions and instead chart what she called a “new way forward.” She accepting her party’s nomination with a speech Thursday that blended biography with warnings about electing Donald Trump again to the White House. Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation as she closed out the Democratic Natio...

CHICAGO (AP) — The Democratic National Convention’s third night showcased a familiar former president in Bill Clinton and introduced more Americans to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. He was little known outside his state until Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. Walz used his background as a former teacher and football coach to put a home-town spin on the Democrats&...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 21 at 7:45 a.m. CT: CHICAGO (AP) — Warning of a difficult fight ahead, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and ominous. “America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady d...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 20 at 7:30 a.m. CT: CHICAGO (AP) — The Democratic National Convention’s first night has showcased speeches from the last Democrat to lose to Donald Trump and the last one to beat him. Hillary Clinton spoke hopefully of finally breaking the “glass ceiling” to elect a female president. Joe Biden laced into Trump and directly ack...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 19 at 7:45 a.m. CT: WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is entering the Democratic National Convention with increased excitement from Democrats and a steady rise in her favorability ratings among Americans as a whole. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 48% of U.S. adults now have a very...

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 17 at 6 a.m. CT: Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: There's an apostrophe battle brewing among grammar nerds. Is it Harris' or Harris's. Artists who object to Trump using their songs from Celine Dion and Isaac Hayes' estate. How it works From Paris to Los Angel...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 16 at 7:30 a.m. CT: DOHA, Qatar (AP) — International mediators have held a new round of talks aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages. A potential deal is seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict. The U.S., Qatar and Egypt met on Thursday with an Israeli delegation in Qat...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 15 at 8 a.m. CT: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto is barreling toward Bermuda after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water as sweltering heat envelop the U.S. territory, raising concerns about people’s health. A hurricane warning is in effect for Bermuda on Thursday, with Ernesto expect...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 14 at 8:15 a.m. CT: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Ernesto is dropping torrential rain on Puerto Rico and has left hundreds of thousands of people without power in the U.S. territory as it threatens to strengthen into a major hurricane en route to Bermuda. Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane later Wednesday as it moves away f...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 13 at 7:30 a.m. CT: KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square kilometers, or 386 square miles, of Russia’s neighboring Kursk region. His statement marked the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains of the lightning incursion that has embarrasse...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 12 at 7:30 a.m. CT: SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — The 2024 Olympics closed Sunday with an elaborate closing ceremony at the Stade de France just north of Paris. As the Olympics close in Paris, Los Angeles has now taken the torch. The city will become the third to host the games three times. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An official in the Kursk borde...

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 10 at 6 a.m. CT: Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: July ends 13-month streak of global heat records as El Nino ebbs, but experts warn against relief. Extreme heat is impacting most Americans' electricity bills, AP-NORC poll finds. High schoolers' mental health...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 9 at 7:30 a.m. CT: PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump has recommitted to debating Vice President Kamala Harris after recently backing out. The Republican presidential nominee held a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he taunted his new rival, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her cam...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 8 at 7:30 a.m. CT: VIENNA (AP) — Austrian authorities say both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. They said Thursday that investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes. Officials said one of the two confessed to planning to “ki...

On the vers ion of Hot off the Wire posted Aug. 7 at 7:15 a.m. CT: Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, looking to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states. She'll introduce Walz at a rally Tuesday evening in Philadelphia. Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a deadline last week....