Growing faster than almost any other state, Florida’s estimated population topped 23.3 million in 2024.

Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents.

Diners, drive-ins, walk-up shacks — roadside restaurants are iconic to America's food culture.

The list is divided into different regions of the country, including the North, Midwest, West and — in Florida’s case — South.

The Associated Press interviewed and photographed dozens of South Koreans for a detailed look at the nation’s stark division over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s headlong pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles targeting the South and its major ally and protector, the United States.

Public health experts from some of the nation’s leading research universities have deployed a massive medical trailer to rural parts of the South as part of an ambitious and unusual new health study.

If you're planning to hit the road this summer, spice up your itinerary with a stop in one of these American hot spots.

The American dream of homeownership is changing, particularly for younger generations.

Experts say planning before a tornado threatens is key for staying safe.

A Florida beach has been recognized by Southern Living for its out-of-this-world clear waters.

A decisive vote against the United Auto Workers at two Mercedes factories in Alabama sidetracked the union's grand plan to sign up workers at nonunion plants mainly in the South.

At least one person is dead in Florida as powerful storms continue to pummel the South during a week of severe weather across the U.S. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for some north Florida counties.

The United Auto Workers union is celebrating a huge win at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where workers will now be represented by the union.

A major spring storm is hitting parts of the central United States with heavy snow, rain and high winds.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea and called for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries.

North Korea has again fired artillery shells near its tense sea boundary with the South.

Immigration powered population gains in the United States for a second year in a row.

The United Auto Workers union has announced plans to try to simultaneously organize workers at more than a dozen nonunion auto factories.

The upcoming United States winter looks likely to be a bit low on snow and extreme cold outbreaks, with federal forecasters predicting the North to get warmer than normal and the South wetter and stormier.

Texas’ power grid operator is asking residents to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system as a heat wave keeps parts of the state and southern U.S. in triple-digit temperatures.

Damaging winds and tornadoes have toppled trees, damaged buildings and left tens of thousands without power as a powerful storm system crosses the South.

Fun Spot and its quaint amusement parks here need no introduction to longtime commercial watchers, but those of us who haven’t yet visited either Central Florida location will soon be able to for less than half the price!

Grocery shoppers continued to feel a slight reprieve in April as grocery prices fell month-over-month for the second consecutive month, after a run of increases spanning back to September 2020.

Authorities say five people were killed when a tornado tore through an area of rural southeastern Missouri before dawn on Wednesday.

The United States is Earth's punching bag for nasty weather.

Grocery prices at large are not going down, but there are some exceptions.

Southern states are more frequently turning to pay-to-use express lanes as a way to address highway congestion without raising taxes.

The weather has been wacky across the country this past week. In the South and Mid-Atlantic, there has been record warmth. In the West, record cold.

Leaders in Marion County are set to make a final vote to approve a new Buc-ee's gas station.

There have certainly been rounds of cold in Florida from time to time this winter, but more often than not, it has been warm.

The U.S. population center is on track this decade to take a southern swerve for the first time in history.

A large tornado damaged homes and uprooted trees in Alabama Thursday as a powerful storm system pushed through the South.

Severe weather possible for parts of Southeast on Thursday.

Cooler temps are on the way!

A species of glass frogs found in South and Central America has the rare ability to turn on and off its transparent appearance.

MacKenzie Scott is dedicating an unusually large share of her giving to nonprofits in the South — a region that megaphilanthropy and particularly tech donors have long been criticized for ignoring.

The famously resilient restaurant, with its simple comfort food, is known for staying open after a storm, even when everything else is closed.

Following a string of union victories at Amazon and Starbucks, a group of prominent progressive grantmakers is seeking to put a total of $20 million into a coalition with organized labor that will steer funds to organizing and advocacy campaigns in the South.

People are flocking to pools, beaches and cooling centers in a swath of the Midwest and South spanning from northern Florida to the Great Lakes, as a heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s and beyond and may have caused the deaths of at least two people in the Milwaukee area.

One of the things that can be impacted during extreme weather is your car.

Consumer Reports offers tips on choosing the best generator, protecting your family and pets, and more.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the South Korean defense minister a “scum-like guy” for talking about preemptive strikes on the North and warned the South may face “a serious threat.”.

Damaging wind, hail make up main threats Saturday afternoon, evening.

Parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are gearing up for several feet of snow, while parts of the South are getting ready for the coldest air in years. Through Friday, off of the Carolinas, a storm system will start to strengthen as it lifts north. Over the weekend, the storm is set to explode, potentially dropping more than two feet of snow in spots along the East Coast.

A massive winter storm will likely take shape across the southern U.S. this weekend.

At the COVID-19 update on Wednesday afternoon, the 167th for Orange County since the pandemic began, Demings pointed out that there was no presence of omicron in the wastewater only a month ago.

A Midwest restaurant chain focused on beers and burgers is set to open its first location in the South this November not far from Walt Disney World's All-Star Movies Resort.

COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed to levels not seen seen since last winter, wiping out months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for sweeping new vaccination requirements.

Nanci Griffith, the Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter from Texas whose literary songs like “Love at the Five and Dime” celebrated the South, has died.

The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has crossed 100,000 new confirmed daily infections.

It looks like something to celebrate: small businesses posting “Help Wanted” signs as the economy edges toward normalcy.

Thursday, the Storm Prediction Center highlighted some of the same areas as last week’s outbreak with their rare high risk tag for the likelihood of another tornado outbreak. The high risk category is the highest level on the Storm Prediction Center’s outlook scale and reserved for the most extreme severe weather outbreaks. Severe weather setupThis outbreak has the potential to be even worse than last Wednesday’s outbreak of severe weather. Any discrete, kidney bean-shaped cell in the future radar has the potential to produce long-lived strong tornadoes. These storms will not move into Central Florida as a strong area of high pressure forces these storms to stay north of our area.

Republicans argued that the death penalty should remain a sentencing option for especially heinous crimes and to bring justice to victims and their families. In addition to the 23 states that have now abolished the death penalty, three others have moratoriums in place that were imposed by their governors. Jason Miyares, a death penalty supporter, expressed disappointment in the new law. AdRobert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and a death penalty opponent, said abolishing executions in Virginia could mark the beginning of the end for capital punishment in the South, where the highest number of prisoners are put to death. It is the moral thing to do — to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” he said.

Over decades, many white workers have drifted toward Republicans, attracted in part by cultural identity and an anti-establishment posture. Even without that law, labor leaders say the Amazon result could be a springboard for labor organizing nationwide. Merritt, an expert on Southern labor politics, drew a straight line from the pre-Civil War economy to the current climate. Before slavery’s abolition, she said, white workers were threatened -- explicitly or implicitly -- with being replaced by slaves, stripping them of any leverage with employers. Eventually, northern industrialists entered Southern markets, joining white Southern land barons to take advantage of cheap labor in industries including textiles, steel and mining.

Joggers run down a street empty of cars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Nolensville, Tenn. A second winter storm in a week is bringing more snow to much of Tennessee. A rural hospital in Anahuac, Texas, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Houston, lost both water and power. Memphis, Light, Gas & Water issued a boil-water advisory on Thursday out of concern that low water pressure caused by problems at aging pumping stations and water main ruptures could lead to contamination. That hospital has a water purification system for dialysis and has water reserves for tasks such as cooking and bathing patients, he said. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare also reported problems at some of its Memphis-area facilities due to water pressure problems and the boil advisory.

Houston and several surrounding cities are under a boil water notice as many residents are still without running water in their homes. But the crisis was far from over in parts of the South, where many people still lacked safe drinking water. The next phase of the state’s disaster response will be to test drinking water from systems knocked offline by the cold. Power was cut to a New Orleans facility that pumps drinking water from the Mississippi River and generators were used until electricity was restored. Drinking water was made available at fire stations throughout Jackson and officials also planned to set up bottled water pickup sites.

FILE- In this Sept. 14, 2017, file photo, Indian army trucks drive near Pangong Tso lake near the India China border in India's Ladakh area. According to India, Chinese soldiers occupied the area between Fingers 4 and 8 last year. “Reciprocally, the Indian troops will be based at their permanent base” near Finger 3, Singh said. LAC is broken in parts where the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan border China. According to some Indian and Chinese strategic experts, India’s move exacerbated existing tensions with China, leading to the June border clash.

In this undated photo provided by Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, Dr. Stanley Fineman looks through a microscope at Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Center in Atlanta to examine the pollen. Just look at cherry blossoms opening several days earlier in Japan and Washington, D.C., he said. The South and southern Midwest are getting pollen season about 1.3 days earlier each year, while it’s coming about 1.1 days earlier in the West, he said. The northern Midwest is getting allergy season about 0.65 days earlier per year, and it’s coming 0.33 days earlier a year in the Southeast. But since the 2000s, about 65% of earlier pollen seasons can be blamed on warming, he said.

FILE- In this Sept. 14, 2017, file photo, Indian army trucks drive near Pangong Tso lake near the India China border in India's Ladakh area. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)SRINAGAR – Indian and Chinese soldiers brawled last week along the countries' disputed border, Indian officials said Monday, as a monthslong standoff between the nuclear-armed rivals continued. Two Indian security officials said at least 18 Chinese soldiers tried to cross into Indian-claimed territory at Naku La last Wednesday night and were blocked by Indian soldiers, leading to clashes with sticks and stones. The two officials said over a dozen Indian soldiers and at least eight Chinese soldiers received minor injuries. The frontier is broken in parts where the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan border China, and where Sikkim, the site of the latest brawl, is sandwiched.

The NAACP's Legal Defense Fund launched a $40 million scholarship program on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, to create a new generation of civil rights lawyers. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi, left, and Henry Griffin)ATLANTA – The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund launched a $40 million scholarship program on Monday to support a new generation of civil rights lawyers, dedicated to pursuing racial justice across the South. With that whopping gift from a single anonymous donor, the fund plans to put 50 students through law schools around the country. In return, they must commit to eight years of racial justice work in the South, starting with a two-year post-graduate fellowship in a civil rights organization. “The donor very much wanted to support the development of civil rights lawyers in the South.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The National Health Commission said 90 of those confirmed cases were in Hebei province, adjacent to Beijing, where the country’s biggest recent outbreak occurred. State health officials announced this week that vaccine eligibility would be expanded to educators and seniors beginning Jan. 23. But federal officials have since said the stockpile was exhausted when those promises were made and governors can’t expect any windfall shipments. President Donald Trump had invoked the Defense Production Act to address various aspects of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Parts of the Southern Plains and Deep South will be dealing with the white stuff Sunday into Monday. A storm system will dive into the Plains from Southern Rockies bringing with it the potential for heavy snow in parts of Central and Northern Texas. Rain, snow and ice spread across Texas Sunday. A widespread 3-6′” of snow is forecast through Central Texas with isolated amounts of up to 8″ possible. Winter weather alertsA Winter Storm Watch is in effect for much of Central Texas and Northwest Louisiana.

People stand in lines to get COVID-19 tests in Samut Sakhon, South of Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. Thailand’s Disease Control Department said Sunday that they found 141 more cases linked to the market outbreak. The new outbreak has been traced to a 67-year-old shrimp vendor at the seafood market. At the Mahachai seafood market, there was a listless atmosphere as idle workers sat around, unable to leave the area. With fewer than 5,000 cases and 60 deaths, Thailand has been able to largely control the virus.

Health workers record migrant workers ahead of collecting nasal swab samples from them to test for COVID-19 in Samut Sakhon, south of Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. Thailand on Sunday reported a few new local infections, a day after identifying more than 500 cases south of Bangkok in a country that had largely brought the pandemic under control. (AP Photo/ Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul)SYDNEY – The outbreak in Sydney’s northern beach suburbs has grown to 70 cases with an additional 30 in the last 24 hours, and authorities say they may never be able to trace the source. A new list of cases, however, shows the virus had spread to greater Sydney and other parts of the state. Thailand’s Disease Control Department said Sunday that they found 141 more cases linked to the market outbreak.

Two-thirds of the United States should get a warmer than normal winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted. Only Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota, will get a colder than normal winter, forecasters said. The rest of the nation will likely be closer to normal, NOAA said. Judah Cohen, a winter weather specialist for the private firm Atmospheric Environmental Research, sees a harsher winter for the Northeast than NOAA does. But he said La Nina is the strongest indicator among several for what drives winter weather.

***11:24 10/2/20 UPDATE***Tropical Storm Gamma has formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. The tropical storm is 75 miles south of Cozumel Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph moving northwest at 9 mph. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Cabo Catoche Mexico and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for South of Punta Herrero to Puerto Costa Maya Mexico and west of Cabo Catoche to Dzilam Mexico. Central Florida won’t see direct impacts over the weekend from Tropical Storm Gamma, but the moisture associated with the storm will impact the Sunshine State. Tropical moisture surges inTropical moisture from Tropical Storm Gamma will be pulled into Central Florida along a stalled cold front, the same front that delivered the fall feel to Florida earlier in the week.

With the new cases, Florida has now reported 665,730 cases of the virus in the past six months. The AHCA, which oversees all health care facilities, has a running database of current COVID-19 hospitalizations whereas the DOH only reports total hospitalizations. Here are three things to know about the coronavirus for Sept. 14:Florida bars reopen: For the first time since late June, Florida bars that do not serve food For the first time since late June, Florida bars that do not serve food will be able to reopen Monday. Central Florida schools reopen: after closing following multiple positive COVID-19 cases on the campuses. Students at two Central Florida schools returned to the classroom Monday after closing following multiple positive COVID-19 cases on the campuses.

SEOUL A typhoon barreled through the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, damaging buildings, flooding roads and toppling utility poles before weakening into a tropical storm. No casualties have been immediately reported in either South or North Korea as a downgraded Typhoon Bavi headed into China after passing near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, South Koreas weather agency said. It reported damages to houses and public facilities in North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae provinces, where the typhoon made landfall. In South Korea, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported damages to buildings, walls, roads and other structures. South Korean authorities also halted some railroad services, shut down public parks and sea bridges and moved hundreds of fishing boats and passenger vessels to safety.

Of the states yet to vote, Tennessee was the only one where ratification was considered possible under prevailing political conditions. At that time, women in more than half the states could vote in presidential elections. The attitude was, If you ratify the 19th Amendment, youre not a good son of the South,' Spruill said. 'These white radical women from outside are going to insist that Black women get the vote. The 19th Amendment was a starting point, wrote Sharon Harley, a professor of African American Studies at the University of Maryland.

Construction of U.S. homes jumped 17.3% in June as some states reopened, but the pace still lags last year after this spring's massive slowdown in building activity due to the coronavirus outbreak. Even after a second straight month of increases, construction activity remains 4% below last years pace. Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, rose 2.1% to 1.24 million units. Home builders had been hopeful that housing would recover as the nation reopens, spurred by the lowest mortgage rates in 50 years. However its unclear whether the rebound is sustainable as infections have spiked, especially in the South, where business have reopened and people have been increasingly venturing outside of their homes.

A private laboratory handling millions of coronavirus tests and antibody tests is currently seeing unprecedented demand which is delaying when people get their results back. Quest Diagnostics, one of the many private labs running COVID-19 tests, says beginning on June 29 the lab chain began seeing a surge in tests. However, turnaround time can fluctuate with demand and vary by region, according to the lab. Quest Diagnostics has performed and reported results of approximately 6.6 million COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tests and approximately 2.4 million COVID-19 antibody tests. The chain is turning around 120,000 coronavirus tests a day and is planning to increase its capacity to 150,000 throughout the month of July.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. A human head was found Tuesday morning on the side of a Florida road, police said. The head was found in St. Petersburg, along 38th Ave. South between 31st and 34th streets South. St. Petersburg police tweeted, investigating human head found on the side of the road on 38th Av S between 31st and 34th St. South. Anyone with info call 727-893-7780.No other details have been released.

FILE - This June 23, 2015 file photo shows a carving depicting Confederate Civil War figures Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, in Stone Mountain, Ga. But the largest Confederate monument ever crafted colossal figures carved into the solid rock of a Georgia mountainside may outlast them all. And Democratic proposals to strip the protective language from Georgia law have fallen flat with the Republican-controlled Legislature. The group hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum who later would carve Mount Rushmore to design a massive Confederate monument in 1915. Its website highlights miniature golf and a dinosaur-themed attraction while downplaying the Confederate carving, Confederate flags and brick terraces dedicated to each Confederate state.

When these patients wind up in hospital beds, their conditions are less acute than those of people infected during the deadliest phase of the states outbreak. I think thats where the weak spots come in, said Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist and medical professor at the University of Florida. New confirmed cases have spiked significantly over the past week. The Florida Department of Health reported on Tuesday more than 6,012 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The big spike in Floridas confirmed new cases so far hasnt translated into a deluge of critical hospitalizations statewide.

But this week it appeared to shift speed by suspending purported plans to take unspecified retaliatory action against South Korea. The North may want a South Korean commitment to resume operations at a shuttered jointly-run factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, which was where the liaison office was located, or to restart South Korean tours to the Norths Diamond Mountain resort. However, any action is likely to be measured in a way to avoid a full-scale retaliation by the U.S. and South Korean militaries. They also vowed to restart South Korean tours to Diamond Mountain and operations at the Kaesong factory park when possible, expressing hope that sanctions would end. South Korea needs to quickly shift its focus from developing inter-Korean relations to managing inter-Korean hostilities, said Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute.

The car of Bubba Wallace (43) is prepped on pit row prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega Ala., Monday June 22, 2020. Wallace climbed out of his car and wept. The race began with Martin Truex Jr. on the pole in front of a mostly empty venue. Up to 5,000 fans were allowed into Talladega for the race only the second race with fans since NASCAR returned from the pandemic-forced shutdown but attendance was significantly lower Monday after the one-day postponement because of rain. It doesnt matter what your opinion is, its when you cross that line, then your opinion no longer matters.

WASHINGTON US home construction rebounded 4.3% in May after steep declines caused by shutdowns due to the coronavirus. Compared with last year, however, construction activity remains 23.2% below last year's pace. Hot spots are popping up in regions of the country where building activity is increasing, but not in the South, where housing starts slid. The report showed that construction of new single-family homes was up 5.4% while construction of apartments with five units or more increased 16.9%. Construction was up a huge 69.8% in the West and 12.8% in the Northeast but housing starts fell 16% in the South, the biggest market for home construction, and were down 1.5% in the Midwest.

NEW YORK HBO Max has temporarily removed Gone With the Wind from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. Protests in the wake of George Floyd's death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness of both current and past productions. The BBC also removed episodes of Little Britain," a comedy series that featured a character in blackface, from its streaming service. "These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible, said an HBO Max spokesman in a statement. Gone With the Wind has long been denounced for featuring slave characters who remain loyal to their former owners after the abolition of slavery.

North Korea has threatened to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if the South fails to prevent activists from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File)SEOUL North Korea threatened on Thursday to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if the South fails to prevent activists from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. Sending balloons across the border has been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government. (South Korean) authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making sort of excuses, she said. After years in her brothers shadow, Kim Yo Jong emerged as part of her brother's diplomatic efforts in 2018.

South quarterback Justin Herbert of Oregon (10) throws a pass during the first half of the Senior Bowl college football game Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Gordon, who didn't start until his senior year, led the North to three touchdowns in the third quarter in a 31-17 victory over the South in the Senior Bowl on Saturday. The Cougars' prolific passer entered the all-star game for senior NFL prospects after halftime and twice took the North downfield. 3 jersey in honor of late Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski.. “I guess that kind of correlates to my time at Washington State. Gordon, who finished second nationally in passing yards and touchdowns, completed 8 of 12 passes for 69 yards and two short touchdowns. AWARDSWhile Herbert was the game MVP, Florida running back Lamical Perine was named South player of the game and Gordon won North honors.