National (U.S.)

"WASHINGTON — America's 12 largest supermarkets and retailers are failing to curb their hydrofluorocarbon emissions, adding large amounts of greenhouse gases to the environment, according to a new report."

"Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) apologized Thursday for scolding a park ranger over keeping the World War II Memorial closed during the government shutdown."

"In the spring of 2005, Georgia-Pacific Corp. found itself facing nearly $1 billion in liability from a product it hadn’t made in nearly three decades: a putty-like building material, known as joint compound, containing the cancer-causing mineral asbestos."

"Every woman in this story is confoundingly non-descript. Short hair, often grey. Conservative dress. Unmarried; soft-spoken. Most are well into their 70s, and all will tell you that their way of life is dying out. They will also tell you, with surprising conviction, that the world is in peril."

"When it snowed in Flagstaff, Ariz., recently, thousands of people woke up and turned up their electric heating, and Arizona Public Service saw electricity demand reach a morning peak. To meet the demand, the company used the previous afternoon’s sunshine."

"Glenn Greenwald, the reporter and blogger on the National Security Agency's massive surveillance program, is leaving Britain's Guardian newspaper to join a new media venture."

"The federal shutdown is sidelining more than government workers. It's also putting years worth of climate change research in jeopardy, scientists say."

"Conservative groups ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, accusing him of earmarking $2 billion for a famously troubled lock-and-dam project that would benefit his home state as part of the bill to reopen the government and avert a debt default."

"House Republicans on Wednesday assailed the National Park Service director for erecting barriers at national monuments during the government shutdown."

"Congressional Republicans conceded defeat on Wednesday in their bitter budget fight with President Obama over the new health care law as the House and Senate approved last-minute legislation ending a disruptive 16-day government shutdown and extending federal borrowing power to avert a financial default with potentially worldwide economic repercussions."