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Dozens of wildfires are burning out of control in southern California. More than 700 homes have burned and some 265,000 residents were evacuated. Walls of flame whipped from mountain passes to the edges of the state's celebrated coastline.

The Santa Ana winds driving California's wildfires are fabled. Some call them the Santa Anas and others call them the devil's breath. While they make the winters warm and pleasant by blowing the worst air pollution out to sea, they can also spawn massive infernos.

The Anthropocene Working Group is proposing a small but deep lake outside of Toronto, Canada — Crawford Lake — to place a historic marker.

Iraqi leaders are vowing to crack down on the Kurdish separatist group known as the PKK as Turkish troops gather at Iraq's mountainous northern border. Diplomatic talks between Turkey and Iraq on Tuesday brought promises, but it's unclear what Baghdad can do to rein in the Kurdish rebels.

Some schools that have had MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staph aureus, infections are responding with deep-cleanings to kill germs. But to prevent MRSA infections, health experts say, schools should focus on changing student hygiene.

A Senate committee takes up the farm bill. They are finding it difficult to rein in the automatic payments that go to commodity crop farmers. Critics say the bill continues to the benefit of a small number of big farms.

There's no relief for firefighters and residents in Southern California as wildfires continue to burn out of control. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and hundreds of homes lost.

Elementary school teacher Barbara Morgan — who was the backup for Christa McAuliffe on the tragic 1986 Challenger mission — finally made it to space this year on the shuttle Endeavour. Morgan talks about teaching, her preparations for the flight, and her time in space.

Many major news organizations depend on Iraqi reporters to conduct interviews, take photos, and write articles about what is taking place in the violent region. Two Iraqi journalists talk about the enormous risks they take to report their stories.

Germany's far right can be a place for support and camaraderie. But once members stray from political lines, they are considered traitors.

More than a quarter-million people have been ordered to evacuate from the path of the Southern California wildfires. Hot, dry wind off the desert is whipping the series of fires, and authorities say there's little they can do to stop the flames until the winds die down — Tuesday at the earliest.

Louisiana Rep. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, is now the state's governor-elect. He becomes the first Indian-American to head a state government, and at 36, he will be the youngest governor. He promises the endemic corruption that is longstanding in the state won't be tolerated.

A bombing attack against Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her supporters draws worldwide condemnation. A suicide bomber attacked her convoy within hours of her triumphant return to Karachi as it was moving through downtown.

Shot-putter Adam Nelson has been picked to participate in the Olympics for a third time. In the final round of the shot put in Eugene, Ore., this weekend, he took third place with a 20.89-meter toss. Nelson is a two-time Olympic silver medalist.

All summer, Weekend Edition traveling commentator Captain Fatty Goodlander is sending in stories from his travels abroad. This week, his essay comes from the South China Sea off Johor Bahru, a city in Malaysia.

Michael Merriman of Napa, Calif., recently bought and renovated a 1958 Airstream trailer, which he took to Bozeman, Mont., for the 51st International Airstream Rally. He describes a sea of vintage RVs at Montana State University.

The Colombian military on Wednesday freed 15 people held by the FARC rebel group. The hostages include Ingrid Betancourt, who was running for president when the FARC kidnapped her six years ago, and three American military contractors. Carolina Barco Isakson, Colombia's ambassador to the U.S., talks about the rescue operation.

Spain's soccer team beat Germany 1-0 to win the Euro 2008 championship. It's the team's first major title in more than 40 years.

From Jamie Lynn Spears to pregnancy pacts and nationwide stats showing the teen birthrate rising, the director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy talks about teen pregnancy.

Seven prison guards who had access to an inmate found strangled in a Prince George's County, Md., jail Sunday are now under investigation. County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey said his office would convene a grand jury to review evidence in the case.

In a major five-to-four decision last week, the Supreme Court overturned the 32-year-old ban on handguns in the nation's capital. For more, Farai Chideya speaks with Bob Levy, a Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies at the CATO Institute and co-counsel for Richard Heller. Heller is the plaintiff who successfully challenged the ban.

The U.S. labor market is in its longest losing streak in six years. The Labor Department announced Thursday that the economy lost 62,000 jobs in June. It's the sixth straight monthly decline. But the overall unemployment rate held steady, at about 5.5 percent.

More than 520 people have been killed there in Juarez, Mexico, in drug-related violence since the start of the year. The police department is under attack and from both organized crime and the mayor. And most residents say there's no end in sight.

A group of mothers build shrines on the Arlington National Cemetery graves of their sons killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ribbons in the trees, photographs leaning up against the stones and wind chimes keep the memories of their sons alive.

In a dramatic 5-4 ruling, justices declared that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to self-defense and gun ownership. Will this put an end to handgun bans nationwide?