A furious storm system that kicked up tornadoes, flash floods and hail as big as softballs has claimed at least 35 lives on a rampage that began in Oklahoma days ago, then smashed across several Southern states as it reached a new and deadly pitch in North Carolina and Virginia. (more)
In the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Japan. This is a terrible tragedy that has cost thousands of lives and destroyed infrastructure, homes and businesses. (more)
TULLY, Australia (AP) — First came the terrifying roar, then a violent bang like something had exploded. “We gotta go!” David Leger screamed to his father as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in Australia tore the roof off their home, sucking the air up and out of the room like a vacuum. (more)
CAIRNS, Australia (AP) — The tail end of one of Australia’s largest-ever cyclones triggered wild storms and flash flooding at the other end of the country Saturday, while residents in the cyclone zone picked through what was left of their homes. (more)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The United States Geological Service has reported a major earthquake in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale. (more)
TERESOPOLIS, Brazil (AP) — As night fell, barefoot volunteers dragged a generator and stadium lights into a town cemetery, where nearly 200 freshly dug graves lay open like wounds in the red clay soil, waiting for some of the hundreds killed by torrential rains. (more)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook southern Chile on Sunday, prompting tens of thousands to flee the coast for higher ground amid fears it could generate a tsunami like the one that ravaged the area last year. (more)
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Tornadoes fueled by unusually warm air pummeled the U.S. South and Midwest on Friday and early Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens. (more)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Anna Nicole Smith may have been just a “B-list celebrity,” but she hit the Bahamas like a hurricane, spreading scandals that toppled a string of officials and endangered the whole government, according to newly leaked U.S. diplomatic cables. (more)
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (AP) — The most powerful eruption in a century from a volatile Indonesian volcano has killed at least 78 people and raised the death toll to 122. (more)
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Two wildfires burning in Colorado on Friday prompted the evacuations of the homes of 1,700 people as well as more in neighboring foothills where dozens of houses were burned in a blaze last month. (more)
MOSCOW (AP) — Two volcanoes that erupted on the far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, blanketing a town with dust and spreading ash clouds across the Pacific, have mostly stopped spewing ash and flights are no longer diverted, Russian officials said Friday. (more)
PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Planes and helicopters delivering rescuers, medicine and other supplies landed for the first time Wednesday on remote Indonesian islands that were pounded by a 10-foot (3-meter) tsunami, sweeping away villages and killing at least 154 people. (more)
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Officials say an earthquake has rattled parts of central Oklahoma and was felt as far away as southern Kansas. (more)
OAXACA, Mexico (AP) — A loud noise shattered the early morning darkness as an entire hillside collapsed on a town in Mexico’s rain-soaked southern state of Oaxaca. Roads were blocked by slides and a washed-out bridge, and the only reports — via satellite phone — were grim: Hundreds could be buried or dead. (more)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has rocked New Zealand’s North Island. No damage or injuries have been reported. (more)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From the dusty rock mounds lining the streets to a National Palace that looks like it’s vomiting concrete from its core, rubble is one of the most visible reminders of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. (more)
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s prime minister warned Monday that the country’s economic recovery will be hurt by the weekend’s powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake that smashed buildings and wrecked roads and rail lines in the city of Christchurch. (more)
NAHUALA, Guatemala (AP) — When news came over the radio that a landslide had buried two pickup trucks and a bus along a major highway, Suagustino Pascual Tuy and others rushed to the rescue, picks and shovels in hand. (more)
YARMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Tropical storm Earl’s worst damage in New England has been to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note. (more)
