The incident occurred in Pikesville, located northwest of Baltimore, just outside the city limits. (Baltimore County Fire Department)
(PIKESVILLE, Md.) — Over 30 people were injured after a public transit bus crashed into a building in Maryland on Wednesday in an incident that involved multiple vehicles, authorities said.
The incident occurred in Pikesville, located northwest of Baltimore, just outside the city limits.
A Maryland Transit Administration bus collided with a building, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department. Seven other vehicles were also involved, including one that rolled over, it said.
Overall, at least 33 people were injured, including one critically, authorities said. Two people were temporarily trapped, one in the bus and another in a vehicle, the fire department said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he is monitoring the situation.
“We are deeply grateful for our first responders who acted with speed and skill to ensure the safety of our neighbors,” he said in a post on social media. “We’ve been in close coordination with local officials to provide any support needed on the ground.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Scheduled to open in 2031, 2 World Trade Center will be the global headquarters of American Express as seen in this rendering of the building. (Foster + Partners/WTC)
(NEW YORK) — Twenty-five years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, left a gaping void in Lower Manhattan, American Express broke ground Thursday on its new headquarters, a tiered glass and steel tower at 2 World Trade Center.
The 55-story, 2 million square foot building with more than an acre of outdoor terraces and gardens is the last commercial development in the footprint of the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed in 2031 and rise 1,226 feet.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the project will create 3,200 jobs and inject $6 billion into the city’s economy.
“We are standing today on hallowed ground,” Mamdani said.
“This has been a long journey,” said Lisa Silverstein of Silverstein Properties, the developer of the site since 2001. “This is the capstone for the World Trade Center.”
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department released this photo during the search for Nolan Xavier Wells, 18, in Mississippi. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Department)
(OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.) — The family of Mississippi teen Nolan Xavier Wells will conduct an independent autopsy following the 18-year-old’s mysterious death, according to attorney Ben Crump, who revealed new details about what he says unfolded on the day Wells vanished.
“He was a good kid. He was beloved. He was a college athlete. He had everything going for him. And so to go on that island … and then not to come back is what is concerning,” Crump told ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
Wells went missing on the 4th of July after going on a boat trip with his high school friends to the popular, undeveloped Horn Island, just south of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, according to officials and Crump. The location is accessible only by private boat and doesn’t have facilities, drinking water or staff.
“[The friends] left [Horn Island] and went back without Nolan,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there.”
A body believed to be Wells was recovered Monday, officials said.
Authorities said they believe Wells drowned and don’t suspect foul play, but the sheriff’s office stressed Wednesday that investigators are “working diligently to determine exactly what occurred.”
Crump said investigators “continue to tell the family that ‘We don’t see any evidence of any foul play,’ even though you have students who recorded an altercation while they were on the boats.” Crump described the altercation as “Nolan and somebody yelling at one another on the boat.”
According to Crump, Wells’ friends took the teen’s phone with them when they left Horn Island. Crump said when Wells’ family got his phone back, messages had been deleted.
Crump also said Wells’ father described the 18-year-old college football player as “an elite athlete.”
“He said that his son could swim. And so, they’re just not accepting that Nolan drowned accidentally,” Crump said.
Crump said the independent autopsy will be conducted in Washington, D.C.
The sheriff’s office stressed Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone who was on or near the northwest tip of Horn Island to come forward with photos or videos, “particularly those depicting alleged altercations or containing images of, or believed to include Nolan Wells.”
The sheriff’s office said it’s also looking for anyone who may have seen Wells or “observed or heard an argument, disturbance, or other unusual activity while on the island.”
“Even information that may seem insignificant could prove valuable to investigators. We encourage anyone with firsthand knowledge to come forward,” the department said.
“Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences remain with Nolan Wells’ family during this difficult time,” the department added.
A European heat wave continues, July 8, 2026, sending temperatures into triple digits across France and increasing fire danger. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — As hundreds of firefighters are battling wildfires that have ignited across France and other parts of western Europe, climate scientists released a report this week showing the region experienced its warmest June on record.
Sweltering temperatures in Western Europe in June, including a heat wave that broke records across several countries, are now extending into July, with a heat wave returning amidst multiple wildfires in France and other parts of Western Europe.
Last month’s deadly western European heat wave occurred not only during the hottest June on record for Western Europe, but it was the second warmest globally, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European Union scientific Earth observation program.
“June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing. Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record, and continued record warmth in the global ocean,” Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said in the report.
She noted that the record-breaking heat reflects “a climate system continuing to accumulate heat.”
“The result is increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean, and growing risks for people, ecosystems and infrastructure across Europe and beyond,” Burgess said.
The report comes as wildfires have broken out in parts of Western Europe amid a severe drought.
Wildfires have broken out in Spain, Portugal and Greece.
The biggest wildfire in Western Europe is raging in the Pyrénées of France, prompting organizers of the famed Tour de France road cycling race, which started on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, to ban spectators from lining the route in the mountainous region.
“The exceptionally large wildfire currently raging in the Pyrénées-Orientales is requiring a massive mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and all government agencies,” race organizers said in a statement. “The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control.”
Race organizers said only cyclists participating in the Tour de France and their supporting teams are authorized to travel the race route, which officials are trying to keep clear for emergency traffic.
The blaze in southwestern France near the Spanish border has burned 4,936 hectares, or a little over 12,000 acres, French officials said in a social media post on Wednesday.
At least 12,000 people had been evacuated from 27 municipalities across the Pyrénées-Orientales, although some have been allowed to return home as flames have subsided in some areas, authorities said.
The Pyrénées town of Vinça, which has a population of about 2,200, remained evacuated on Wednesday along with 11 other villages in the region.
Video from the region showed homes and vehicles burned, and huge swaths of forestland blackened. Firefighting aircraft were also filmed swooping down on burning areas, dropping fire retardant.
Earlier this week, the European Union announced it was sending such aircraft to France from Sweden and Cyprus.
About 450 firefighters are battling the fire in the Pyrénées from the ground and the air, but are struggling to gain control of the wildfire amid triple-digit temperatures in the area and wind gusts of up to 30 mph, officials said. Another 170 gendarmes, or law enforcement officers, have also been dispatched to the region to support the firefighting effort.
Firefighters appeared to make progress in battling the fire, reporting Wednesday that the conflagration did not expand overnight.
Temperatures in parts of southwestern France are forecast to reach 105 degrees on Wednesday, with temperatures climbing to 95 degrees and above across three-quarters of the country.
Most of the country is under an “elevated” fire alert.
High to very high fire danger warnings remained in effect on Wednesday in at least 54 departments — or local regional areas, including the Pyrénées-Orientales department, officials said.
Before the current wildfire outbreak, the highest number of departments under high or very high fire danger warnings at the same time was 29 in 2025, authorities noted.
Officials and experts have noted the fire season has begun weeks earlier than usual in France amid the unseasonal extreme heat wave that hit Europe in June. The heat wave has returned this week.
Scientists have said the record temperatures are being pushed up by climate change.
A 22-year-old firefighter was killed while battling a blaze in the Savoie region in the French Alps on Tuesday night, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Fire danger warnings have also been issued in the Rhône Valley in southeast France, and across the central and western regions of the country.
The danger is expected to remain at a high level through this week across most of the country, given the lack of rain, scorching temperature and low humidity, authorities said.
ABC News’ Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.
The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool along the National Mall on Tuesday, July 3, 2026 in Washington, D.C.Rushed work continues at the White House and across the nation’s capital in preparation for the country’s 250 anniversary on July 4. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — pleaded not guilty through his attorney to the felony charge he faces for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press for the first time aboard the new Air Force One while in flight from RAF Mildenhall AFB to Joint Base Andrews July 8, 2026 after leaving the United Kingdom. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Secret Service urged President Donald Trump to fly out of Turkey on the old Air Force One instead of the newly retrofitted Qatari-gifted plane out of an abundance of caution amid the escalation with Iran, multiple sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
The Qatari-gifted plane left the NATO summit in Turkey earlier in the day for Mildenhall Air Force Base in England, a move Trump claimed Wednesday morning was for members of the military to tour the aircraft.
While Trump has said the change in plane had nothing to do with security concerns, he also reiterated, when asked by reporters if security concerns caused the change in flight plans, that he’s “No. 1 on the kill list for Iran.”
The change in plans was not prompted by a specific threat, but influenced in part by differences in the plane security capabilities, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
Mike Centrella, the Secret Service’s former head of field operations, said the law enforcement agency “simply doesn’t take chances when it comes to the president’s safety, whether at home or abroad.”
“Presidential travel is incredibly complex, and every movement and potential risk is carefully considered,” Centrella told ABC News. “The mindset is always the same: plan for what you know, prepare for what you don’t and make sure you’re ready for the unexpected.”
Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, told ABC News on Thursday that “the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff. As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats.”
The New York Times first reported on the Secret Service recommendation.
When the president ultimately left Turkey in the old Air Force One to link up with the new plane in England, passengers on the aircraft were instructed to keep their windows down during the flight. According to flight data, the plane carrying the president did not turn on its tracker until it was over the Black Sea near Istanbul.
Despite continuing to insist there was no security issue that prompted him to change planes for his Turkey departure, Trump suggested that the passengers may have been asked to keep their window shades down because they were “probably on a dangerous flight.”
“Well, yeah, because you’re, you know, probably on a dangerous flight, because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with,” Trump said, referring to Iran.
While the administration insists that the newly acquired plane meets the safety and security requirements necessary to fly the president, the speed of the retrofitting, which took about one year, has raised questions about whether the Qatari-gifted plane boasts the same defensive security measures as the old plane.
Many of the details of the retrofitting on the new plane are considered classified. The Air Force has said the new plane is “safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission. Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.”
On Tuesday, a group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink demanding transparency into the project from the Air Force and L3Harris, claiming the administration is ignoring national security concerns so in service of delivering Trump a “fancy plane for his personal enjoyment.”
Trump took his first trip in the newly retrofitted plane last week on a trip to North Dakota.
Before the first trip, the U.S. Air Force had been modifying the jet in Texas since September to meet the security, communications and other needs to transport the president. The Air Force had estimated it would cost less than $400 million to retrofit the gift.
The plane is to be used as the new Air Force One until shortly before Trump leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement have told ABC News.
General view of a demolished building at Caraballeda after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 27, 2026, in La Guaira, Venezuela.(Photo by Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)
(VENEZUELA) — The death toll in Venezuela has climbed to at least 3,685 in the wake of the two powerful earthquakes that devastated the country, Venezuelan lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said.
The pair of earthquakes struck on June 24, knocking down buildings, sending residents fleeing for safety and trapping some survivors under the rubble for days. Thousands were injured and more than 26,000 people were impacted, including those who lost homes or saw serious damage to their homes, officials said.
Nine Americans are among the dead, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Fox News on Tuesday.
John Barrett, Chargé d’Affaires of the American embassy in Caracas, said Tuesday that the U.S. was “assisting the Venezuelans in terms of storing and caring for the deceased remains that are being pulled out of the rubble.”
“The government reports that they have accounted and identified the vast majority of bodies received, but they’re continuing to go through that process, and as I understand it, are collecting DNA fingerprints, dental records from those bodies that they’re in the process of still waiting to identify in coordination with family members,” he said.
Barrett said the four U.S. urban search and rescue teams sent to Venezuela have “completed their mission and returned home.”
“We are deeply grateful for their service. These highly skilled men and women helped save six lives and brought hope to countless families during Venezuela’s darkest hours,” he said. “The Department of State Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) remains on the ground, working alongside partners to deliver food, water, medical care, shelter, and other critical assistance to affected communities.”
Click here for information on how to help the victims.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.
A European heat wave continues, July 8, 2026, sending temperatures into triple digits across France and increasing fire danger. (ABC News)
(FRANCE) — Amid widespread severe drought and sweltering temperatures, hundreds of firefighters are battling to contain multiple wildfires that have ignited in France, destroying homes and prompting thousands of evacuations, authorities said.
The biggest wildfire is raging in the Pyrénées, prompting organizers of the famed Tour de France road cycling race, which started on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, to ban spectators from lining the route in the mountainous region.
“The exceptionally large wildfire currently raging in the Pyrénées-Orientales is requiring a massive mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and all government agencies,” race organizers said in a statement. “The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control.”
Race organizers said only cyclists participating in the Tour de France and their supporting teams are authorized to travel the race route, which officials are trying to keep clear for emergency traffic.
The blaze in southwestern France near the Spanish border has burned 4,936 hectares, or a little over 12,000 acres, French officials said in a social media post on Wednesday.
At least 12,000 people had been evacuated from 27 municipalities across the Pyrénées-Orientales, although some have been allowed to return home as flames have subsided in some areas, authorities said.
The Pyrénées town of Vinça, which has a population of about 2,200, remained evacuated on Wednesday along with 11 other villages in the region.
Video from the region showed homes and vehicles burned, and huge swaths of forestland blackened. Firefighting aircraft were also filmed swooping down on burning areas, dropping fire retardant.
Earlier this week, the European Union announced it was sending such aircraft to France from Sweden and Cyprus.
About 450 firefighters are battling the fire in the Pyrénées from the ground and the air, but are struggling to gain control of the wildfire amid triple-digit temperatures in the area and wind gusts of up to 30 mph, officials said. Another 170 gendarmes, or law enforcement officers, have also been dispatched to the region to support the firefighting effort.
Firefighters appeared to make progress in battling the fire, reporting Wednesday that the conflagration did not expand overnight.
Temperatures in parts of southwestern France are forecast to reach 105 degrees on Wednesday, with temperatures climbing to 95 degrees and above across three-quarters of the country.
Most of the country is under an “elevated” fire alert.
High to very high fire danger warnings remained in effect on Wednesday in at least 54 departments — or local regional areas, including the Pyrénées-Orientales department, officials said.
Before the current wildfire outbreak, the highest number of departments under high or very high fire danger warnings at the same time was 29 in 2025, authorities noted.
Officials and experts have noted the fire season has begun weeks earlier than usual in France amid the unseasonal extreme heat wave that hit Europe in June. The heat wave has returned this week.
Scientists have said the record temperatures are being pushed up by climate change.
A 22-year-old firefighter was killed while battling a blaze in the Savoie region in the French Alps on Tuesday night, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Fire danger warnings have also been issued in the Rhône Valley in southeast France, and across the central and western regions of the country.
The danger is expected to remain at a high level through this week across most of the country, given the lack of rain, scorching temperature and low humidity, authorities said.
Brian Cole Jr. is seen in this undated yearbook photo from the C.D. Hylton High School in 2013. (C.D. Hylton High School)
(WASHINGTON) — Brian Cole Jr., the Virginia man charged with placing pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is set to go to trial in February, a federal judge said during a court hearing Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali set the trial date for Feb. 16 based on a request from Cole’s lawyers, who pointed to massive tranches of evidence the government has shared with them stemming from the roughly five-year investigation into the placement of the pipe bombs.
The government and Cole’s attorneys said they expect the trial could take as long as two weeks.
Both sides will next return to court on Sept. 10 for a status conference.
On Monday, Judge Ali ruled that the sweeping clemency granted by President Donald Trump for all of the individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack does not apply to Cole.
Cole’s defense attorneys had argued that Cole should be covered by President Trump’s pardons on the basis that his actions were allegedly related to Congress’ convening of the joint session the next day.
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., leaves the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(BELLUVUE, Neb.) — While Congress is out of session this week, a House Republican encountered a hostile crowd at a heated town hall meeting in Bellevue, Nebraska, Tuesday night – a sour reception that may preview the tenor other lawmakers could face heading into the midterm elections.
Rep. Mike Flood faced repeated boos and shouts from audience members as they pressed him on the SAVE America Act, Israel, NATO, the bipartisan housing bill, the Trump administration’s policies and more, as seen on video of the town hall recorded by ABC affiliate KETV in Omaha.
While it’s uncertain how many in the audience were constituents, Tuesday’s contentious event wasn’t the first time Flood has found himself before angry crowds at town halls. Flood was shouted down and booed in Seward, Nebraska, where hundreds of people attended his town hall May 28 of last year, while defending the then-proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“F—— liar!” one attendee shouted at Flood Tuesday while he was discussing violent crime rates declining and the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation efforts.
“Listen, violent crime is down – ask the people of Washington, D.C., how much safer Washington is today compared to a year ago,” Flood said as the audience jeered.
“Violent crime is down in American cities. Violent crime is down in New York City. A lot of people that came here that were committing crimes have either been incarcerated or deported. The numbers speak for themselves,” Flood said.
Flood also was drowned out by the audience as he voiced his support for the proposed SAVE America Act and voter ID laws – key issues that are part of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda.
“What I can’t stand is what is so objectionable about having to show a driver’s license, a passport, or a birth certificate at your place where you vote,” Flood said, as the attendees booed.
The congressman further said that while Nebraska in his “opinion” deals with “little” election fraud, he added, “when people believe that our elections are secure, it breeds respect for the law, our democracy, our country, our election leaders. There are so many benefits.”
A man in the audience demanded the congressman explain the evidence he has to back up claims of election fraud, which Trump continues to promote without evidence to support his claims. Flood pushed back, saying he believes Joe Biden was duly elected president in the 2020 election.
”I have never argued that there was an inaccurate result, and I always recognized Joe Biden was our president, so I am not a congressman that has ever made that claim,” Flood responded.
Constituents further heckled Flood when the congressman said, “I want to be very clear: We have no greater ally in the Middle East than Israel,” prompting loud boos from the audience.
“What happened in Israel was horrific,” Flood said, referring to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas. “If that had happened on our soil, we as Americans would rise up and eliminate that threat.”
As the conversation continued to scrutinize the Trump administration’s foreign policy, Flood also appeared to defend the administration’s actions in Iran.
“We need to finish the job. We cannot put up with a regime that in the last 12 months has killed 45,000 of their own people. That is wrong. We have to have moral clarity here,” he said. “I support Israel.”
While Trump attends the NATO Summit in Turkey, Flood said he fully supports the alliance, declaring it “has contributed greatly to the security of the world. I think they’re an important part of us.”
Flood received a more positive response regarding other topics, such as when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a thug” and voiced his support for Ukraine. He also earned some applause when he expressed confidence that the bipartisan housing bill currently on Trump’s desk will become law.
“If [Trump] doesn’t sign it, it becomes law, and the good news about this is next week it’s likely to be a public law,” he said. “That’s what I’m focusing on – bipartisan common-sense results.”
However, when Flood brought up the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes massive cuts to government benefits such as Medicaid and SNAP food assistance, the audience loudly booed. Several constituents raised concerns about losing SNAP benefits under the new law.
“I want people that are food insecure to get resources. I also want people that are able-bodied and can work to work. If you don’t work, you shouldn’t expect free healthcare,” Flood said.
Flood’s comments about Medicaid prompted one audience member to shout “tax the rich” in response.
