HOUSTON — Tropical Storm Nicholas gathered strength Sept. 13 and threatened to blow ashore in Texas as a hurricane that could bring up to 20 inches of rain to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana.

NEW YORK — Ford Motor Co. has hired a former executive from Apple and Tesla to be the company’s head of advanced technology and new embedded systems, a critical post as the auto industry moves to adopt vehicles powered by electricity and guided by computers.

BERLIN — German automaker Daimler on Sept. 3 dismissed a “cease and desist” demand from two environmental groups to commit to ending the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030.

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana residents still reeling from flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Ida scrambled Sept. 1 for food, gas, water and relief from the sweltering heat as thousands of line workers toiled to restore electricity and officials vowed to set up more sites where people could get free meals and cool off.

Two people were killed and at least 10 others were injured late Aug. 30 when seven vehicles plunged, one after another, into a deep hole where a dark, rural highway collapsed as Hurricane Ida blew through Mississippi, authorities said Aug. 31.

Louisiana communities battered by Ida faced a new danger as they began the massive task of clearing debris and repairing damage from the storm: the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Tesla using its partially automated driving system slammed into a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser Aug. 28 on an interstate near downtown Orlando and narrowly missed its driver, who had pulled over to assist a disabled vehicle.

LONDON — McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers.

WESTERLY, R.I. — Tropical Storm Henri hit the coast of Rhode Island Aug. 22, packing high winds that knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and bands of rain that led to flash flooding from New Jersey to Massachusetts.

MEXICO CITY — Workers at a General Motors plant in Mexico have voted to end a collective bargaining contract negotiated by an old-guard union accused of intimidation tactics in earlier votes. It was an early display of the effectiveness of labor mechanisms negotiated under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.