Travel

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Better weather has slowed the growth of the huge California wildfire near Lake Tahoe resort communities, authorities said Friday.

The Caldor Fire remained only a few miles from the city of South Lake Tahoe, which was emptied of 22,000 residents days ago, along with casinos and shops across the state line in Nevada, but no significant fire activity occurred since Thursday , officials said.

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency says the world — and especially urban areas — experienced a brief, sharp drop in emissions of air pollutants last year amid lockdown measures and related travel restrictions put in place over the coronavirus pandemic.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After a pandemic-related absence of almost two years, Universal Orlando Resort's celebration of all things scary opened for screams on Friday.

Halloween Horror Nights kicked off at the Florida theme park resort for a 30th year of disturbing haunted houses, live entertainment and celebrations of pop-culture scares.

STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — As fearful Lake Tahoe residents packed up belongings and fled a raging wildfire burning toward the California-Nevada border, some encountered an unexpected obstacle: price gouging.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Traffic at Florida's busiest airport this holiday weekend is forecast to exceed pre-pandemic crowds.

Officials at Orlando International Airport said Wednesday that this Labor Day weekend they are expecting more than 303,000 departures, a 7% increase above Labor Day weekend in 2019.

BERLIN (AP) — A court on Thursday rejected a bid by German train operator Deutsche Bahn for an emergency injunction to stop a strike by many train drivers that has disrupted rail traffic in the country for a third time this summer.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Better weather on Thursday helped the battle against a huge California wildfire threatening communities around Lake Tahoe, but fire commanders warned firefighters to be prepared for ongoing dangers.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — After two bone-dry years that sank the U.S. Southwest deeper into drought, this summer's rainy season unleashed with fury.

Monsoon storms have brought spectacular lightning shows, bounties of wildflowers and mushrooms, and record rainfall to the region's deserts.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama and The Poor People's Campaign have been chosen to receive Freedom Awards from the National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee.

The museum said Wednesday that Obama and campaign's two leaders, the Rev.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The international team investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine seven years ago appealed Thursday for Russians in the city of Kursk to come forward with information about the deployment of the missile that investigators say downed the plane, killing all 298 people on board.

MARRERO, La. (AP) — Gwen Warren describes herself as a “strong woman.” But after days without electricity in a hot, sweaty Louisiana summer after Hurricane Ida wiped out the power to her home, she decided it was best to get on a bus and go to a shelter in northern Louisiana until the lights came back on.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported its first coronavirus death in more than six months on Saturday, while the number of new cases continued to trend downward.

Health authorities said the woman who died was in her 90s and had underlying health problems.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench says he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this year's induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York.

The 73-year-old Bench posted Friday on Twitter that he had the virus.

HONOLULU (AP) — Health care workers in Hawaii say a lack of government action is worsening an already crippling surge of coronavirus cases in the islands, and without effective policy changes the state’s limited hospitals could face a grim crisis.

SANGEH, Indonesia (AP) — Deprived of their preferred food source — the bananas, peanuts and other goodies brought in by tourists now kept away by the coronavirus — hungry monkeys on the resort island of Bali have taken to raiding villagers’ homes in their search for something tasty.

NEW YORK (AP) — It took just a few days for Monica Muquinche to reach New York after leaving Ecuador’s Andean highlands with her 10-year-old son.

Major stock indexes on Wall Street closed mostly lower Friday, though a rally in Big Tech companies nudged the Nasdaq to another all-time high.

The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% a day after notching a record high.

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — When Yousef's wife and their four children boarded a July 15 flight in San Diego to attend her brother's wedding in Afghanistan, they were looking forward to a month of family gatherings.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited injured U.S. troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday night.

There are 15 Marines at the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, who were wounded in an Aug.

NEW YORK (AP) — A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers and tornado damage Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning more than 40 people in their homes and cars.

Even before a strict abortion ban took effect in Texas this week, clinics in neighboring states were fielding growing numbers of calls from women desperate for options.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cunard Line canceled the first four scheduled trips of the Queen Mary 2 in more than a year, saying Thursday that after the long layoff during the pandemic it wants the ship’s next cruises “to be closer to home.”

LONDON (AP) — Shardul Thakur has been nicknamed “Beefy” by India coach Ravi Shastri, in a playful nod to former England great Ian Botham, and he showed just why at the Oval on Thursday.

India was in trouble at 127-7 after barely two sessions of the fourth test against England when Thakur launched a stunning, counterattacking cameo of which Botham would be proud.

Chris Pronger finished a game of air hockey and put the paddle down to pick up the phone.

It's as close to hockey as the Hall of Fame defenseman will get any time soon.

Pronger worked in the NHL's department of player safety after his playing days were over and tried out the management path in the Florida Panthers front office.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Even in the final days of Washington’s chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the U.S. government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal officials closed a portion of trails at a national forest in Northern California where a family and their dog mysteriously died last month, citing pending toxicology reports on nearby water.

HONOLULU (AP) — A 24-year-old Illinois woman submitted a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to visit Hawaii with a glaring spelling error that led to her arrest: Moderna was spelled “Maderna," according to court documents.

TORONTO (AP) — Ontario on Wednesday became the fourth Canadian province to announce residents will have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter restaurants, theaters, gyms and other indoor public venues.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The OPEC oil producers' cartel and allied non-member countries led by Russia signed off Wednesday on gradually increasing production as the global economy and demand for fuel continue to recover from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

ROME (AP) — Police outnumbered demonstrators at several of Italy's main train stations as COVID-19 vaccination or tests became mandatory Wednesday for long-distance travel within the country. Threats by some of the rule's opponents to block railroad tracks apparently fizzled.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has extended for one year a Trump-era ban on the use of U.S.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan Roman Catholic leader has said the government must win back the confidence of the church before the two sides can hold talks on the church's criticisms of inquiries into 2019 Easter Sunday bomb blasts that killed 269 people.