WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, ending a yearslong legal battle and allowing him to return home a free man for the first time since 2012.

The first named storm of the hurricane season is threatening the Gulf Coast of Mexico and Texas with flooding and tropical-storm-force winds.

Residents in the New Mexico village of Ruidoso were told to immediately flee Monday due to a wildfire that had grown to more than 1,300 acres, officials said.

Torrential rains pounded South Florida on Wednesday as officials warned residents to steer clear of "life threatening flooding" in some of the state's most populous regions.

© Joe Raedle