Homes wiped out...Looking out for flood victims...Report details horrors In Syria

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Just as a precaution, cadaver dogs are being used to search the ruins of buildings wiped out by a ferocious wildfire burning about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Officials haven't said yet how many homes have been destroyed, but they warn the number will be large. The fire has burned across 40 square miles and is only 4 percent contained despite the efforts of more than 1,500 firefighters.

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials are urging landlords to give short-term leases to the tens of thousands of residents forced out of their homes by the worst flooding in state history. It's estimated that more than 40,000 homes have been damaged. Some residents are unwilling to leave their homes despite the muck and steamy August heat. Seventy-thousand have registered for federal disaster assistance. At least 13 people have been killed.

BEIRUT (AP) — A new report from Amnesty International says more than 17,000 Syrians detained by the government of President Bashar Assad have died in government custody in the past five years. The report cites torture, diseases and other causes. Torture methods are said to include beatings, scalding and sexual violence.

WESTBROOK, Maine (AP) — Authorities in Westbrook, Maine, are investigating notes urging violence against Muslim residents of an apartment complex in the Portland suburb. An Iraqi man found a note and gave it to police. It read "All Muslims are Terrorists should be Killed." Police found a second note. An Iranian who once lived at the complex was fighting for the Islamic State group when he was killed in Lebanon last year.

VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii (AP) — For tourists and residents on Hawaii's Big Island, it's a sight to view, hear and smell. Lava from the Kilauea volcano creeping down the mountainside is dripping into the Pacific Ocean. The 2,000-degree molten rock crackles, hisses and releases plumes of steam and gas that reeks of sulfur. Thousands of people from around the world have swarmed Volcanoes National Park by land, sea and air for the natural spectacle.