"Thunderstorms that brought significant rainfall to the northern U.S. Midwest early this week, accompanied by warm temperatures, bolstered growth prospects for recently planted corn and soybean crops, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday."

"The Energy Department is moving toward abandoning a half-built factory that has cost $3.7 billion so far and was intended to make reactor fuel out of plutonium from retired nuclear bombs — part of an agreement with Russia to shrink the world’s supply of nuclear bomb fuel after the cold war."

"NEW ORLEANS — BP is placing full-page advertisements in three of the nation’s largest newspapers on Wednesday as the company mounts an aggressive campaign to challenge what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts to businesses after its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"The Lyme-disease infection rate is growing. So is the battle over how to treat it."

"Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) blasted President Obama's proposals to address climate change, saying new regulations on power plants would unfairly burden the coal industry."

"Yes, such a group exists. It thinks the world is flat -- but also getting warmer."

"President Obama set a high bar for approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, declaring for the first time that he would let the project go forward only if it does not 'significantly increase' emissions of greenhouse gases."

"WASHINGTON -- President Obama, declaring that 'Americans across the country are already paying the price of inaction,' announced sweeping measures on Tuesday to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and prepare the nation for a future of rising temperatures."

"The solar plane will land in New York City soon, but its water-borne counterpart is already here: Early this week the world's largest solar-powered boat steamed into lower Manhattan and docked in small marina, usually reserved for multimillion dollar yachts, in the shadow of the new World Trade Center tower."

"WASHINGTON -- A Twitter photo and phone tip from a resident helped animal keepers track down a red panda in a Washington neighborhood after it went missing from the Smithsonian's National Zoo."