LOS ANGELES — Cleanup efforts at a fire-ravaged cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights just got messier.

In a letter sent Friday, Greg Lehmkuhl — chief executive of Lineage, which manages the facility — accused Altus Power, the solar panel subcontractor whose rooftop equipment is suspected of potentially sparking the June 17 blaze, of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The eve of the United States’ 250th birthday in Philadelphia was less celebration and more chagrin, as oppressive heat left swaths of tourists and revelers in an aimless search of pomp and circumstance.

On Friday, Wawa’s Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade was canceled because of 100-plus-degree temperatures ...Read more

Venezuela’s official earthquake death toll climbed to 2,645 on Friday as a new United Nations-backed assessment estimated the twin earthquakes caused at least $37 billion in direct physical damage, underscoring the enormous reconstruction challenge facing a country already weakened by years of economic decline and deteriorating infrastructure....Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida man faces up to 10 years in prison for federal charges related to the theft of Smokey Bear signs from the Panhandle to Orlando in order to sell them on Facebook Marketplace.

A federal grand jury on Monday indicted Hunter Drake Lovett, 30, of Pace, for theft of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s ...Read more

Power demand on the largest U.S. grid surged to a record this week as a searing heat dome continues to hover over the east of the country on Friday, halting some Independence Day festivities in the nation’s capital.

PJM Interconnection LLC, a power grid serving 67 million people across 13 states from the District of Columbia to Chicago, said ...Read more

The Tibetan New Yorker who set himself on fire outside the United Nations to protest the Chinese occupation of his native home livestreamed his death, officials said.

Lobga Rangzen also recorded a six-minute appeal for Tibet’s freedom and independence in his native language before putting on traditional monastic robes and walking to 42nd St ...Read more

DEARBORN, Mich. — Dearborn's Fairlane Town Center erupted in chaos Friday afternoon after a shooting left two people dead and one injured.

Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said officers responded to the shooting at the mall on Michigan Avenue around 1:25 p.m. Friday. One of the victims died in the mall; the other, at the hospital. Shahin ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers worked through the night into Friday morning to approve a new state budget that will use an array of spending cuts and funding maneuvers to close a $1 billion tax revenue gap.

The spending plan will increase the state's investment in basic per-student support for Michigan schools, will attempt to boost ...Read more

European NATO allies have mostly replaced the assets that the U.S. has cut from its rescue plans in case of a war in Europe, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Sir John Stringer said in an interview.

Stringer made the assurance to Bloomberg Television ahead of the alliance’s summit in Ankara next week, at which allies will try to smooth ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned six people who he said were sentenced or in prison for “fixing their car,” a day before the U.S. celebrates 250 years of independence on July 4.

Trump didn’t identify the people or specify their offenses. In a presidential memorandum issued Monday, he asked the Environmental Protection Agency...Read more

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s approval rating dipped below 50% for the first time in a new poll, as concerns mount over falling purchasing power fueled by rising prices.

The leftist leader’s approval slipped to 49% in June from 53% a month earlier, according to LatAm Pulse, a survey conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News and published ...Read more

Brazil’s Federal Police carried out several temporary arrest warrants and search-and-seizure orders on Friday, including to two individuals who were sanctioned by the U.S., in an operation that happened earlier than initially planned.

About $2 billion in their assets were frozen by the courts.

Stella Stefanie Nunes Henrique de Oliveira was ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick couldn’t find a valid reason for a third of former Gov. Mike Parson’s use of state aircraft, according to an audit published Thursday.

Fitzpatrick reviewed the governor’s office during the final leg of his tenure, from July 1, 2024, to Jan. 13, 2025. The former Republican ...Read more

Novorossiysk, home to Russia’s largest oil port on the Black Sea, is running out of road fuel, the latest fallout from a supply crunch spreading across the country as Ukraine continues attacks on key refineries.

“Currently, no gasoline is sold at filling stations,” the Novorossiysk administration said Friday in a statement on its website....Read more

Andy Burnham ruled out calling a U.K. general election if he succeeds Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister.

Asked on the social media platform Reddit on Friday whether he would go to polls, the only declared candidate to succeed Starmer in Labour’s leadership election this month said “no.” Burnham said he’d stick to the party’s ...Read more

A searing heat dome was set to push electricity demand across the eastern U.S. toward record levels over the July 4 holiday, straining power grids and halting one of the main events in Washington, D.C., for hours.

The dangerous heat wave was forecast to bring triple-digit temperatures to many American cities and the U.S. capital, where the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia-based federal appeals court gave President Donald Trump’s administration the final go-ahead to install its own exhibit at the President’s House.

The new panels, which historians have criticized for whitewashing George Washington’s role in enslaving nine people, have been manufactured and stand ready to ...Read more

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez is facing mounting political fallout from last week’s twin earthquakes, with nearly half of Venezuelans saying holding new elections is more urgent than rebuilding after the disaster.

Rodríguez’s disapproval rating climbed to 63.3% in June, up almost five percentage points from May, according to an ...Read more