It’s been five days since Emmanuel Macron was last seen in public. And there are no indications that there’ll be any presidential sightings before the decisive second round of the legislative vote on Sunday.

His press office says he currently has no speaking engagements scheduled before the election. The French president is hunkering down ...Read more

As nearly 2,000 firefighters continued to battle the Thompson Fire near Oroville, in Butte County, California, on Thursday, there were reports that some of the 28,000 residents forced to evacuate might be returning home.

The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, had consumed an estimated 3,500 acres by Thursday, according to ...Read more

Hurricane Beryl is barreling toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as local authorities move to evacuate residents from communities along the storm’s path ahead of an expected landfall as early as Thursday night.

Beryl is about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Tulum, Mexico, and is carrying maximum sustained winds near 110 miles an hour, the ...Read more

Even on the eve of the Fourth of July, a majority of Americans aren’t thrilled with fireworks, at least in close proximity.

A Florida Atlantic University poll released to coincide with Independence Day found broad support for stricter regulation on the sale and use of consumer fireworks.

And, like virtually everything else in American life ...Read more

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — While the Fourth of July brought drizzles and gray skies, it didn't stop at least a couple of families from enjoying the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad the day after it reopened for the first time since a mass shooting there two and a half weeks ago.

The city said it reopened the facility on the advice of the Oakland ...Read more

Crews made more progress on Thursday fighting the McCain fire in East County near Boulevard and had it 87% contained by 6 p.m. Pacific, Cal Fire San Diego said.

The blaze was the latest warning for San Diego County in what is already shaping up to be a fierce fire season statewide. A historic heat wave across California has heightened concerns ...Read more

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is projected to win the U.K. general election with a huge majority, a result that would reflect a seismic realignment in British politics as Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives imploded.

The official election exit poll predicted Labour will win 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, the most since Tony ...Read more

Jackie Speier — the former U.S. Congresswoman who represented California’s 14th district from 2008 to 2013 — has breast cancer.

The San Francisco native, who in March was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, made the news public via social media.

“I have personal news that I want to share with you because we can all ...Read more

CHICAGO — Highland Park residents on Thursday took a major step in the town’s collective grief: They gathered wagons, ribbons and flags for a July Fourth parade.

Two years after a gunman killed seven people and injured dozens more at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade, the North Shore suburb is continuing to reckon with how to both ...Read more

Two Colorado nonprofit groups called publicly on Attorney General Phil Weiser this week to “root out collusion and price fixing among large landlords” amid national and state scrutiny of software that’s allegedly used by property owners to artificially increase rental prices.

The nonprofits — law firm Towards Justice and the housing ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE — Nearly four months after an elderly couple was found shot to death in their Fort Lauderdale home and their car stolen from their driveway, police said a man who was in a relationship with one of the couple’s granddaughters was the person who took the car.

Claudette, 85, and her husband Major Melvin, 89, were found shot in ...Read more

The pound was steady after an exit poll indicated the U.K.’s Labour Party will secure its long-predicted landslide election victory, with Keir Starmer set to become Prime Minister on a pledge of greater economic stability.

The currency was little changed around $1.276, with markets hoping a tumultuous period in British politics is over. The ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More evacuations have been relaxed Thursday as firefighters continued to battle flames and extreme heat at the Thompson Fire burning near Lake Oroville in Butte County.

The wildfire, which started Tuesday morning on Cherokee Road, has charred 3,747 acres (5.85 square miles) and was 7% contained in the latest update from ...Read more

A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman and exposing himself to her inside a library bathroom has been charged, Tennessee police told news outlets.

Kevin Standberry, 35, was arrested on attempted rape and sexual battery charges in connection with the July 1 incident at the Cossitt Library in Memphis, WHBQ reported, citing police.

The ...Read more

Israel is weighing a response from Hamas in the long-stalled talks on how to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza, while weathering an intense rocket attack from Hezbollah as fighting escalates across the Lebanese border.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office approved the departure of a negotiating team to hold talks on the release of ...Read more

Hamas has broadly agreed to the framework of a cease-fire proposal with Israel, a senior U.S. administration official said, though mechanics of the deal have yet to be resolved.

The response was received earlier this week through Qatari officials, who have served a key intermediary between Hamas and Israel, along with Egypt. Calling the ...Read more

An Independence Day shootout ended with a gunman dead and a ranger wounded at Canyon Village in the central part of Yellowstone National Park.

The incident unfolded late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, the National Parks Service said in a news release.

“Rangers responded to a report of an individual with a firearm who was making ...Read more

CHICAGO — Michael Lemon woke up in his home early on the July 4 holiday to the sound of what he thought were firecrackers. Instead, he found his mother, brother and cousins bloodied and bullet holes in the front windows.

“Ran out my room, seen my little brother bleeding. I just seen bloodshed. Once I saw blood, I didn’t know what to do,�...Read more