Arsonists attack French high-speed rail system hours before opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Arsonists attacked France's high-speed rail network early Friday, setting fires that paralyzed train travel to Paris for some 800,000 people across Europe, including athletes heading to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Targeting remote locations far from the...

Man dies at 27 from heat exposure at a Georgia prison, lawsuit says

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia sun scorched the slab of concrete beneath Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano’s body when nurses found him in a puddle of his own excrement, vomiting, according to a complaint. Officers left Ramirez in an outdoor cell at Telfair State Prison on July 20,...

I tried Speedo's Olympic swimsuit. It's fast in the pool, but takes forever to put on

PARIS (AP) — It's usually not a good sign when a swimsuit needs instructions for how to put it on. More concerning? When you learn that even Olympians need about 10 minutes to get into Speedo's new Fastskin LZR Intent and LZR Valor suits. Determined to squeeze into the latest...

Climate change imperils drought-stricken Morocco’s cereal farmers and its food supply

KENITRA, Morocco (AP) — Golden fields of wheat no longer produce the bounty they once did in Morocco. A six-year drought has imperiled the country's entire agriculture sector, including farmers who grow cereals and grains used to feed humans and livestock. The North African nation...

As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas cities look to alternatives for water

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — The Rio Grande is no longer a reliable source of water for South Texas. That’s the sobering conclusion Rio Grande Valley officials are facing as water levels at the international reservoirs that feed into the river remain dangerously low — and a hurricane...

Drought threatens millions of children as school dropouts rise along with hunger in southern Africa

MUDZI, Zimbabwe (AP) — It’s Tuesday morning, and 5-year-old Talent should be in school. Instead, he's foraging for the fruit that his family is counting on for food now that crops have withered in the heat. Blame the El Nino phenomenon that altered weather worldwide for over a...

Mounting home demolitions and settler attacks plunge a Palestinian village into crisis

UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank (AP) — First came the Israeli military bulldozers, which tore down a quarter of the homes in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair. Then came the settler attacks. In the aftermath, dozens of people were left homeless and without consistent access to...

Long-unpaid bills lead to some water service cutoffs in Mississippi's capital city

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Water service is being shut off at some apartment complexes in Mississippi's capital city because of long-unpaid bills, the company that runs the Jackson water system said Wednesday. JXN Water said in a statement that it has made “major strides in improving...

Louisiana lawmakers work to address 'silent danger' of thousands of dead and beetle-infested trees

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Dead pine trees, weakened by last summer's drought and hungry beetles, are a major public safety concern for Louisiana residents, with fears that fragile tree limbs may come crashing down on homes, roads, power lines and businesses without warning, officials say. ...

Beryl weakens to tropical depression but still bringing rain, tornado risks after millions left without power in Texas