"Amid indications that Maryland’s oyster population is on the rebound, state fisheries managers are easing some harvest limits they had imposed two years ago."

"The lightning that came through Washington, Idaho, and Montana Tuesday and Wednesday started many wildfires, in large part due to the dry fuels and the fact that little or no rain accompanied the lightning."

"The European Commission has fined Volkswagen Group and BMW $1 billion for colluding with Daimler to hold back the development of technology that could have reduced harmful emissions from their vehicles."

"Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed a law yesterday [Wednesday] to permanently bar offshore wind from state waters in a compromise with lobstermen."

"Flash flood watches were in effect for parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut until noon on Friday, as the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa was expected to deliver heavy rain across the area."

"At 17, Dara McAnulty is becoming one of Britain’s most acclaimed nature writers, with work that touches on his autism as much as the world around his home."

"Chicago has a weakness at its very foundations. The towering skyscrapers and temples of commerce were built upon a swamp."

"In Madagascar, hunger has already left people eating raw red cactus fruits, wild leaves, even the very locusts that helped decimate crops. The southern part of the country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, with the World Food Program warning that 1.14 million people are food-insecure and 400,000 people are headed toward starvation."

"If all goes to plan, General Motors Co.'s future electric cars will rely on batteries made from a broiling-hot, brownish fluid that gushes from the California desert."