"In line with President Obama's strategy to 'systematically degrade, dismantle and defeat' the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Treasury Department said Wednesday that it plans to up its pressure on the terror group's oil sales."

"Climate change could kill up to 90 percent of the forests covering the Rocky Mountains, warned  the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists today in a new study based in part on projections made by the U.S. Forest Service."

"The ozone layer that shields life from cancer-causing solar rays is showing its first sign of recovery after years of dangerous depletion, a U.N. study said on Wednesday, in a rare piece of good news on the environment."

"Sorry Charlie (and David): It turns out there are some things money can’t buy, like Senate races in liberal states. And that means the Democrats just might keep control of the Senate."

"You’ve probably heard about Cliven Bundy. He’s the Nevada rancher who in April led a ragtag bunch of self-styled militiamen in fending off federal agents who tried to confiscate his cows for grazing on public lands without permits. Well, there’s a case making its way through the courts now that could make the Bundy standoff look like child’s play."

"Steve Lipsky’s tainted water well had already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in Texas’ highest court – the biggest test of a state law meant to curb attempts to stifle public protest."

"Nuclear watchdog gives go-ahead to switch two reactors back on but Shinzo Abe faces uphill battle to win over sceptical public"

"The death toll from the heaviest rain to fall on Kashmir in 50 years rose to more than 400 on Tuesday, with thousands still trapped on rooftops and residents criticizing Indian and Pakistani authorities for not doing enough to help them."

"Heat waves are quickly becoming one of the world's deadliest weather phenomena. In the United States, extreme heat now kills more people each year than tornadoes, hurricanes, or flooding. And a massive heat wave, like the one that hit Europe in 2003, can kill tens of thousands in a blow."

"PALOMINAS, Ariz. -- The San Pedro River is idyllic on a mid-August morning, with tall cottonwood trees creating a shady respite from temperatures already into the high 80s and muddy banks pocked with animal tracks."