The historic heat wave that’s smothered western Europe this summer has caused transportation chaos. Railroad tracks warped, airport runways failed and key roads buckled.

On July 18, the busy A14 highway in Cambridge, England, was shut down after developing a bizarre ridge that, while enticing to skateboarders, would be calamitous to fast-...Read more

CHICAGO — Under pressure to address skyrocketing street crime last summer, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a $1 million reward program for people who report illegal guns.

“I want you to know that I recognize that people are scared. People all over the city. This is the topic of conversation,” Lightfoot said as she announced the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Under a white tent about four blocks north of Temple Hospital, a nurse checked Robert White’s blood pressure, as cars and delivery trucks rumbled past.

“You’re doing well,” said Barbara Hitchens, a nurse practitioner, suggesting she’ll see him again in another a week.

Instead of a doctor’s office, the 62-year-old ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The families sat in lawn chairs, watching big yellow machines claw through the earth.

The summer sun bore down on the empty lot in Largo nestled between a Baptist church and the Pinellas Trail. Drivers and pedestrians stopped, curious, as about a dozen forensic investigators continued their rhythm of digging: shovel, sift, ...Read more

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Two days after arriving at a temporary migrant shelter at the border with the U.S. in June, Rosa Viridiana Ceron Alpizar’s 9-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son fell ill. Most of the kids in the converted gym had stomach issues after being served a meal of sausage and beans, she recalled.

Alpizar’s daughter ...Read more

MIAMI — When the cargo ship “Miss Lilie” left Miami one recent afternoon and pulled into port along Haiti’s northwest coast, it had all the markings of a legitimate government operation.

Men in canoes waited until nighttime to unload the freight and stash it on a nearby island. Armed anti-drug trafficking officers showed up at the wharf...Read more

Prison officials have long said that inmates’ friends and family members bear the most blame for the flow of drugs and other forbidden items into Florida prisons.

The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a test of that hypothesis: With visitors barred from visiting Florida state prisons for several months, would the amount of drugs, ...Read more

The omicron-specific COVID-19 booster may be available in a few weeks, assuming federal agencies sign off on the new shot, a top White House COVID-19 official said this week.

The booster has been widely expected for months, especially since the latest dominant omicron subvariant, BA.5, “looks really different in lots and lots of ways from the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As Death Valley National Park gets ready to reopen its most popular sites on Saturday after heavy flooding, California national parks are still reeling from the aftermath.

After heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in the state's mountains and deserts, Death Valley was forced to close all roads into the park on Aug. 5. The ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Over concerns of a pair of Bay Area cities, the California High-Speed Rail Authority board finalized its choice of a route alternative for about 49 miles of tracks between San Francisco and San Jose.

Thursday’s actions included certification of thousands of pages of environmental analysis for the stretch, in which high-...Read more

Rain showers and thunderstorms associated with a tropical wave located over northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico have become better organized as the system treks toward the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.

Some “slow development” is possible over the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.

An Air Force Reserve ...Read more

WATSONVILLE, Calif. – Multiple fatalities were reported Thursday after two airplanes collided while trying to land at the Watsonville Municipal Airport in Santa Cruz County, according to the city.

The collision was reported just before 3 p.m., the city said in a statement posted to social media.

“Multiple agencies responded to Watsonville ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — More than a decade ago, allegations arose that Michael Jackson didn't sing all the songs on his 2010 album "Michael," which was released the year after his death. On Thursday, the California Supreme Court weighed in with a ruling that set new legal precedent around entertainment advertising.

The question the state's highest ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has thrown cold water on a controversial Senate proposal that aims to ban the sharing of information about abortion resources in South Carolina.

On Thursday, McMaster said state Sen. Richard Cash’s bill — S. 1373 — goes too far and is unconstitutional. The governor made his comments after ...Read more

PONTIAC, Mich. — An Oakland County Circuit judge said he will rule Friday morning on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s request for a preliminary injunction against letting county prosecutors bring charges in abortion cases under Michigan's 1931 law.

Judge Jacob Cunningham has heard from five medical professionals and lawyers from both sides of the ...Read more

A Florida law restricting workplace bias or diversity training violates the First Amendment and can’t be enforced, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The preliminary injunction granted by Chief Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida doesn’t address application of the law (H.B. 7) in Florida schools. A...Read more

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rejected a disarmament-for-aid deal offered by South Korea’s president, calling it a “stupid” plan and dismissing the idea of engaging with Seoul.

Kim Yo Jong told South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to “stop dreaming in vain,” the state’s official Korean Central News Agency...Read more