THE DEATH TOLL RISES AFTER WILDFIRES TEAR THROUGH PARTS OF HAWAII

LOOK BEFORE YOU END THAT CALL – A BIG CHANGE IS ON THE WAY FOR IPHONE USERS.

THE RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.

THIS IS STRAIGHT-ARROW NEWS.

BRINGING YOU UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACTS.

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY– AUGUST 9TH.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

I’M KARAH RUCKER.

THE DEATH TOLL HAS RISEN ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI AFTER WILDFIRES QUICKLY BURNED THROUGH RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES.

AT LEAST 36 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED DEAD AND THOUSANDS ARE DISPLACED.

AN ISLAND TYPICALLY COMPARABLE TO PARADISE —

IS NOW COVERED IN SMOKE AND ASH AS THE BURNING GLOW OF RED FLAMES OVERTOOK PORTIONS OF THE ISLAND —

FUELED BY STRONG WINDS FROM A NEARBY HURRICANE.

ACCORDING TO LOCAL OFFICIALS ON THE GROUND —

AT LEAST 300 HOMES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.

THERE WERE REPORTS OF PEOPLE JUMPING INTO THE OCEAN IN ORDER TO ESCAPE THE RAGING WILDFIRE.

A HELICOPTER VIEW SHOWS THE SCORCHED ISLAND FROM ABOVE.

RICHIE OLSTEN — ITS PILOT — DESCRIBED THE DEVASTATION AS SOMETHING THE ISLAND HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.

“What we saw looked like an area that had been bombed and burned by in a war zone. It was unbelievable. I’ve flown out of Maui for 52 years and all the different fire things that we had going on here in 52 years. I’ve never seen anything 1/100th as the devastation there.”

AIRPORTS IN HAWAII HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED BY TOURISTS TRYING TO GET OFF THE ISLAND.

SHELTERS ARE PACKED AS RESIDENTS HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO.

AS OF THIS MORNING– THE ISLAND IS IN SEARCH-AND-RESCUE MODE.

WHEN THINGS SWITCH TO RECOVERY — IT WILL BE A LONG ROAD AHEAD FOR A PLACE WHERE THE ECONOMY IS DRIVEN BY TOURISM.

A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN ECUADOR’S UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION HAS BEEN KILLED.

FERNANDO VILLA-VICENCIO WAS ASSASSINATED AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN THE COUNTRY’S CAPITAL ON WEDNESDAY.

THE SMALL COUNTRY IN SOUTH AMERICA HAS SEEN A RISE IN DEADLY AND VIOLENT CRIME.

THE CANDIDATE WAS A VOCAL CRITIC OF THE CORRUPTION AND ORGANIZED CRIME.

THE SUSPECTED GUNMAN DIED FOLLOWING AN EXCHANGE OF GUNFIRE WITH AUTHORITIES.

LOCAL MEDIA REPORTED 30 SHOTS HAD BEEN FIRED AS VILLA-VICENCIO WAS LEAVING A POLITICAL RALLY AT A SCHOOL.

ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT GUILLERMO LASSO HAS MOBILIZED ITS ARMED FORCES — ANNOUNCING A STATE OF EMERGENCY.

THE ELECTION IS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 20TH AND WILL GO ON AS PLANNED.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH OBTAINED A SEARCH WARRANT FOR RECORDS FROM FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S TWITTER ACCOUNT EARLIER THIS YEAR. — AND WHEN TWITTER FAILED TO MAKE THE DEADLINE TO COMPLY, THE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY WAS FINED $350,000.

THESE NEW DETAILS WERE CONFIRMED IN COURT DOCUMENTS RELEASED WEDNESDAY IN AN ORDER FROM A THREE-JUDGE PANEL WITH THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS IN WASHINGTON.

THE COURT REJECTED TWITTER’S CLAIM THAT IT SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CONTEMPT FOR INITIALLY FAILING TO COMPLY WITH SMITH’S WARRANT.

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS OBTAINED THE SEARCH WARRANT ON JANUARY 17, ALONG WITH A NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT THAT PROHIBITED TWITTER FROM DISCLOSING THE WARRANT TO ANYONE — INCLUDING TRUMP HIMSELF.

ACCORDING TO THE RULING, TWITTER QUOTE – “DID NOT QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF THE SEARCH WARRANT” BUT OBJECTED TO THE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT – FOUR DAYS AFTER THE COMPLIANCE DEADLINE – ARGUING IT VIOLATED ITS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.

THE JUDGES HOWEVER SIDED AGAINST TWITTER.

IT’S UNCLEAR WHAT INFORMATION THE SPECIAL COUNSEL WAS SEEKING FROM TRUMP’S TWITTER ACCOUNT.

HIS TEAM HAS CHARGED THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN TWO FEDERAL CASES: ONE FOR MISHANDLING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AND THE OTHER FOR ATTEMPTS TO OVERTURN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

TRUMP HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO ALL CHARGES.

ONCE AGAIN — THE U.S. IS LOOKING TO PROTECT ITSELF FROM THE POTENTIAL NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT THAT IS CHINA.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HAS SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT RESTRICTS NEW AMERICAN INVESTMENTS IN CERTAIN HIGH-TECH SECTORS IN CHINA.

THE ORDER PROHIBITS VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS FROM PUTTING MONEY TOWARD CHINA’S EFFORTS TO DEVELOP SEMI-CONDUCTORS, ADVANCE ITS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OR STRENGTHEN ITS MILITARY, WEAPONRY, AND SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITIES.

BEIJING IS LIKELY TO PUSHBACK AGAINST THE NEW BAN.

THERE HAS BEEN AN ONGOING ESCALATION BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD POWERS — AS DOMINANCE IN THESE TECH SECTORS IS GETTING INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE.

A MAJOR DEAL IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY COULD BE ANNONCED AS SOON AS TODAY.

TAPESTRY — THE COMPANY BEHIND BRANDS COACH AND KATE SPADE — IS IN TALKS TO BUY “CAPRI HOLDINGS” WHICH OWNS MICHAEL KORS, JIMMY CHOO AND VERSACE, ACCORDING TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

THE REPORT SAYS THE MOVE WOULD MAKE THE U.S. COMPANIES MORE COMPETITIVE WITH THEIR EUROPEAN COUNTER-PARTS WHO HAVE BEEN STRIKING THEIR OWN DEALS.

CAPRI HAD MOVED REPORTING ITS FISCAL FIRST-QUARTER EARNINGS FROM EARLIER THIS WEEK TO TODAY, BUT DID NOT PROVIDE A REASON.

CURRENTLY CAPRI HAS A MARKET VALUE OF $4 BILLION DOLLARS. TAPESTRY SITS AT AROUND 10 BILLION.

IPHONE USERS WILL SOON HAVE TO BE CAUTIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR THUMB’S MUSCLE MEMORY –BECAUSE APPLE IS PLANNING TO BRING SOME BIG CHANGES TO THEIR PHONES’ DISPLAYS.

IT APPEARS THE END-CALL BUTTON IS MOVING WITH THE UPCOMING RELEASE OF I-O-S 17.

RIGHT NOW, IPHONE USERS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE RED BUTTON’S PLACEMENT –

IN THE CENTER TOWARDS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.

BUT WHEN THE NEW UPDATES LAUNCH IN THE FALL, THE RED BUTTON WILL BE IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION.

IN BETA VERSIONS OF THE SOFTWARE UPDATE, THE BUTTON SITS IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN – AMONG A GROUP OF OTHER OPTIONS SUCH AS MUTE, FACETIME, AND THE KEYPAD.

APPLE IS STILL TESTING THE NEW FEATURES AND HAS NOT SAID IF THE END-BUTTON’S LOCATION COULD BE CUSTOMIZABLE – FOR THOSE WORRIED YOU MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY FACETIME SOMEONE WHEN YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO HANG UP ON THEM.