Hamstrung by Congress, Obama tries to clinch climate pact
By JOSH LEDERMAN and SETH BORENSTEIN President Barack Obama is trying to negotiate a legacy-making climate change pact this coming week in Paris with one hand tied behind his back.…
Environment and nature
Pope calls slum conditions in Nairobi an injustice
Visiting one of Nairobi’s many shantytowns on Friday, Pope Francis denounced conditions slum-dwellers are forced to live in, saying access to safe water is a basic human right and that…
Killing Keystone XL, Obama says pipeline not in US interests
By JOSH LEDERMAN President Barack Obama killed a Canadian energy giant’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring the proposed project wouldn’t serve U.S. national interests and…
Authorities: Illinois officer ‘staged suicide,’ after crimes
By DON BABWIN A northern Illinois police officer whose fatal shooting triggered a large manhunt carefully staged his death to make it look like he was killed in the line…
China, France say climate pact should have 5-year reviews
By LOUISE WATT The Chinese and French presidents announced Monday they have agreed that a global climate change pact should require countries to review their emissions pledges every five years,…
New plant tests US appetite for seawater desalination
By ELLIOT SPAGAT There’s far more riding on the Americas’ largest seawater desalination plant than the 50 million gallons of drinking water it will produce for the San Diego area…
China summons US ambassador to protest ship near reef
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and ROBERT BURNS China summoned the American ambassador to protest the U.S. Navy’s sailing of a warship close to one of China’s artificial islands in the South…
Mexico braces for strongest hurricane in Western hemisphere
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Hurricane Patricia headed toward southwestern Mexico Friday as a monster Category 5 storm, the strongest ever in the Western Hemisphere that forecasters said could make a “potentially…