"WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid of Nevada took a defiant and uncompromising stand on Monday before a showdown on the future of the filibuster, saying that Republicans must stop blocking executive branch nominations or he will try to change rules to 'save the Senate from becoming obsolete.'"

Canada is "making itself seen and heard inside the Beltway, lobbying for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial project that's become a lightning rod in the debate over climate change."

"Its stock is sliding. Its economic future is in question. The company that operated and is now responsible for shutting down the Paducah nuclear fuel plant insists it will meet its obligations to safely and cleanly return the aging facility to its owner, the U.S. Department of Energy, next year."

"What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Midwest was heading into one of the worst droughts in decades. Now much of the region is soggy. But the biggest loser from this year's heavy rains? The land itself."

"It’s difficult to talk about Louisiana seafood these days without the BP oil spill working its way into the conversation. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that television screens were filled with high-def images of fouled coastal marsh and angry fishermen forlornly staring at their idled fleet."

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a cloture motion July 11 for Gina McCarthy, President Obama's nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, setting up a confirmation vote that probably will occur July 16."

The incidence of autism has increased in recent decades, but scientists are still struggling to understand what causes the developmental disorder. Now they are starting to suspect "environmental epigenetics" may play a key role in its origin.

"An extensive new study confirms a long-suspected link between crippling birth defects and the nitrate contamination that threatens drinking water for 250,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley."

"The Food and Drug Administration has agreed to ban the use of a chemical linked to health problems in infant formula packaging."

"WASHINGTON -- Nearly two years after an outcry about arsenic in apple juice touched off by a segment on 'The Dr. Oz Show,' the federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing a new limit on acceptable levels."