"While we rake over Clinton’s emails and Trump’s late-night tweets, climate has been the elephant in the room, leaving scientists and campaigners asking why there hasn’t been a single direct question about the crisis".

"As the 15-year Chicago Riverwalk project draws to a close, the city hopes to use its waterways to bridge neighborhoods."

"Long before the first winter frost, hundreds of drinking fountains in Chicago parks have been shut off after testing revealed high levels of brain-damaging lead in the water."

"Tasmanian devils have developed a natural immune response to the deadly facial tumour disease, confirming research that suggested the animals were rapidly evolving in response to the overwhelming threat."

"NASA has all but declared this year to be the hottest yet recorded, after September narrowly turned out the warmest in modern temperature monitoring."

"The United States expects Islamic State to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to repel an Iraqi-led offensive on the city of Mosul, U.S. officials say, although adding that the group's technical ability to develop such weapons is highly limited."

"The scale of a cholera outbreak in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew may be underreported because remote areas are cut off, a United Nations official in charge of controlling the disease said on Tuesday, adding protests over slow aid made the problem worse."

"Venezuela has no shortage of problems, but one of the more curious is its cheap prices at the gas pump. ... Venezuela is hardly the only developing country wasting oil and natural gas with consumer subsidies."