The U.S. Navy is working to develop drone ships as it faces a growing threat from China. The Navy envisions robotic vessels keeping an electronic eye on enemy forces across the vast Pacific Ocean, extending the reach of firepower and keeping sailors out of harm’s way.

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky’s governor said 15 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal officials announced plans Thursday to spend $401 million in grants and loans to expand the reach and improve the speed of internet for rural residents, tribes and businesses in 11 West and Central U.S. states. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that farmers, store owners, schoolchildren and people seeking telehealth medical checkups will benefit from the ReConnect and Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee programs.

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Heavy rains have caused flash flooding and mudslides as storms pound parts of central Appalachia. Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday at least eight people have died from flooding in Kentucky. He says property damage has been massive, with hundreds losing their homes.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Heatwave duration records could be broken in the Pacific Northwest this week and authorities are expanding capacity at some cooling centers as temperatures near triple digits are forecast to extend into the weekend. The National Weather Service has extended the excessive heat warning for Portland, Oregon, from Thursday through Saturday evening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace. The decline in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill that's designed to encourage more semiconductor companies to build chip plants in the United States. The $280 billion measure, which awaits a House vote, includes federal grants and tax breaks for companies that construct their chip facilities in the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — A bidder has paid nearly $2.8 million at auction for a jacket worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the historic first mission to the moon's surface in 1969. Sotheby's says the amount paid for the Apollo 11 Inflight Coverall Jacket is the highest for any American space-flown artifact sold at auction.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is caught in an awkward, painful place. A confusing one, too. Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers keep spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month. In the midst of it all, prices have accelerated to four-decade highs, and the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to douse the inflationary flames with higher interest rates.

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Record rainfall has caused widespread flash flooding across the St. Louis area, closing multiple roadways and prompting rescues from vehicles and homes. There were no immediate reports Tuesday of injuries to people, but several puppies drowned when water got into a building at a stray dog rescue operation in St. Peters.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The trial for a commercial truck driver charged with causing the deaths in 2019 of seven members of a Marine motorcycle club is starting Tuesday. Jurors on Monday traced Volodymyr Zhukovskyy’s route from a New Hampshire auto dealership to the crash site about 10 miles away.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The temperatures in Portland, Oregon, could top 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday amid the hottest stretch of a week-long heat wave in the Pacific Northwest region that rarely experiences such scorching weather. Forecasters have issued an excessive heat warning for parts of Oregon and Washington. Highs in Seattle could hit the 90s and temperatures in eastern Oregon and Washington could close in on 110 F.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government is conducting a review of four dams on a Maine river that could result in a lifeline for the last wild Atlantic salmon in the U.S. The last of the wild salmon live in a group of rivers in Maine and have been listed under the Endangered Species Act since 2000.

JERSEYDALE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters significantly slowed the spread of a smoky wildfire burning near Yosemite National Park. Thousands of residents of remote mountain communities are still under evacuation orders Monday. Crews “made good headway” against the Oak Fire, according to a Sunday night incident report. More than 2,500 firefighters are battling the blaze, contending with steep terrain and hot weather.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police are searching for people involved in a weekend shooting at a park in which two people were killed and five wounded. The LA Police Department says the shooting occurred Sunday afternoon at Peck Park in the city's San Pedro neighborhood.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska is burning this year in ways rarely or ever seen. So far this year more than 530 wildfires have burned an area the size of Connecticut and the typically worst of the fire season lays ahead. Among the wildfires already this year was the largest ever in a typically largely fireproof southwest region of the state.

COVID-19 infections are again on the rise and filling families with dread as a new school year approaches. They fear the return of the pandemic scourge of outbreaks that sideline large numbers of teachers, close school buildings, and force students back into remote learning.

It turns out millennials haven't strayed very far from the areas where they grew up. A study released Monday by Harvard University and U.S. Census Bureau researchers found that by age 26 more than two-thirds of millennials lived in the same area where they grew up, 80% had moved less than 100 miles away and 90% resided less than 500 miles away.

SAN PEDRO, Calif. (AP) — At least seven people have been injured after gunfire erupted at a Los Angeles park. The LA Police Department said the shooting occurred around 3:50 p.m. Sunday at Peck Park in LA's San Pedro neighborhood. The LAPD said it wasn't an active shooter situation but provided no more information.

JERSEYDALE, Calif. (AP) — A destructive wildfire near Yosemite National Park is burning out of control and has grown into one of California’s biggest blazes of the year. Thousands of residents were ordered to flee remote mountain communities. Some 2,000 firefighters are battling the Oak Fire, contending with steep terrain and hot weather.

Police say three family members were shot to death while camping in a state park in eastern Iowa, and the suspected gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement that officers responded to reports of a shooting at the Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground before 6:30 a.m. Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID symptoms left President Joe Biden with a deep, raspy voice and persistent cough as he met Friday via videoconference with his top economic team, but he tried to strike a reassuring tone, declaring, “I feel much better than I sound.”

DETROIT (AP) — The FBI says it found no evidence of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa during a search of land under a New Jersey bridge. Hoffa has been missing since 1975 when he was last seen in suburban Detroit. The decades-long mystery turned last year to land next to a former landfill under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Marine Corps has halted water operations for its new amphibious combat vehicles while it investigates why two of the seafaring tanks ran into trouble off Southern California's coast this week amid high surf. No one was injured when one of the vehicles rolled onto its side in waves Tuesday that were unusually high because of a storm in the southern hemisphere.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest has begun in Key West on the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway’s July 21 birth. This year’s competition attracted 135 portly, bearded men, who are endeavoring to prove their likeness to the famed American author. The contest is a highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festivities, staged to celebrate the creative talent and colorful lifestyle of the man who lived and wrote on the island for most of the 1930s.