Morning Headlines - Monday, Aug. 26, 2024 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Israel And Hezbollah Exchange Strikes Before Pulling Back, Jolting Region Amid Gaza Cease-Fire Talks

Israel and the Hezbollah militant group launched their heaviest exchange of fire after months of strikes and counterstrikes. By mid-morning Sunday, it appeared to have ended, with both sides saying they only aimed at military targets.

Authorities in Lebanon said the Israeli strikes killed three people, while Israel said one of its soldiers was killed.

President Biden is closely monitoring the events in Israel and Lebanon. "At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts," National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement.

GOP, Democrats Prepare For 10-Week Sprint In Dead-Even Trump-Harris Race

Democrats and Republicans are bracing for an election that will be narrowly decided as they gear up for the final 10-week sprint in the race between former President Trump and Vice President Harris.

Harris’s party has sought to cast themselves as underdogs, even as her entry into the campaign has supercharged Democrats down in the dumps over President Biden’s chances of reelection.

As Democrats guard against overconfidence, the Trump campaign and Republicans feel they still have multiple paths to victory and advantages on the issues that matter the most to many voters.

Feds Take Grocery Merger To Court Amid 2024 Fight Over High Food Prices

A challenge to the merger of the country’s two largest grocery store chains goes to trial Monday — the Biden-Harris administration’s latest and perhaps most consequential bid to combat high grocery prices.

The administration sued to stop the $25 billion deal to merge supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons in February, arguing that it would lead to higher food costs and fewer and worse jobs for unionized workers. They now have a chance to make their case before a federal judge in Oregon over the course of the three-week trial.

Massachusetts Towns On Alert Over Potentially Deadly Mosquito-Borne Virus

Ten Massachusetts counties are at high or critical risk from the mosquito-borne virus eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but potentially deadly virus, state health officials warn.

There are currently no vaccines or medicines available to treat EEE, also known as "Triple E," which about 30% of people die from, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NASA Says Boeing's Starliner Astronauts Will Return To Earth On Different Spacecraft In February

The two astronauts who went up to the International Space Station (ISS) on Boeing's Starliner will have to come home on a different spacecraft next year, NASA officials announced Saturday.

Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, who performed the first crewed test flight of Starliner, will return in February 2025 on the Space-X crew 9, according to NASA.

The Boeing Starliner will return in a separate flight uncrewed, NASA said.

Democracy On Line? Swing State Wisconsin Offers A Test

Michael Hovde has a lot he dislikes about Donald Trump's agenda. But when he votes in November in the electorally crucial state of Wisconsin, he believes the stakes are far higher than mere policy issues.

"Trump, I think, is an existential threat to democracy," the 36-year-old said as he strolled through the bustling downtown of Appleton, one of the most politically diverse areas of one of the most closely divided US states.

Feds Target Two Wisconsin Towns Over Lack Of Accessible Voting Machines

The U.S. Department of Justice threatened legal action in July against two northern Wisconsin towns that allegedly didn’t have accessible voting equipment in the April election.

At least one of the towns, which is represented by some officials who have voiced distrust of electronic voting equipment, appears to be on a collision course with the agency after a local voter said it didn’t use the federally required voting equipment in the Aug. 13 election, either.

Missing Burnett County Man Found Safe

Authorities were asking for your help in finding a missing man who was last seen Sunday morning in Bayfield County.

Frank left Sunday morning to run an errand with his two dogs and never returned.

The Burnett County Sheriff's Office now says Frank and his dogs have been found safe in Minnesota.

2 Waukesha County Communities Vote To Ban Ballot Drop Boxes

Two Waukesha County municipalities have decided to prevent residents from using absentee ballot drop boxes in the upcoming presidential election. The decision comes after the Wisconsin Supreme Court last month reversed a near-total ban of the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state.

The Brookfield Common Council last week voted against allowing residents to use the city’s utility payment drop box outside of City Hall for absentee ballots. Last month, New Berlin took a similar step.

Packers Close Preseason By Beating Ravens 30-7 As Both Teams Rest Their Top Players

Arron Mosby got a strip-sack that resulted in a touchdown and intercepted a pass on consecutive series to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Baltimore Ravens 30-7 on Saturday as both teams closed the preseason by resting nearly all of their starters.

Ravens center Nick Samac and running back Owen Wright were both carted off the field in the first half. Samac, a rookie seventh-round pick from Michigan State, had been getting some first-team reps in camp while 2023 Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum deals with a neck issue.