Environment and nature

WASHINGTON (AP) — While scientists believe the universe began with a Big Bang, most Americans put a big question mark on the concept, an...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — After early complaints that out-of-state firms got the most jobs, some local construction trade workers and union members in Pennsylvania, Ohio...

BERLIN (AP) — The cost of keeping global warming in check is "relatively modest," but only if the world acts quickly to reverse the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just about everyone thinking about running for president is kicking it into gear now, slowpokes included. For months, many prospective 2016 presidential...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A pregnant South Carolina woman pointed to the ocean, locked the doors and rolled up the windows, telling her three...

BEIJING (AP) — A major Chinese government news service used a racist slur to describe the departing American ambassador in a mean-spirited editorial on...

2014 Mercedes Benz E Class Cabriolet by Dee Ann DurbinAP Auto Writer TROY, Mich. (AP) — Move over, silver. After more than a decade as the world's favorite car color, silver is falling in popularity to white. PPG Industries, the leading supplier of automotive paints, says 25 percent of the vehicles it supplied in the 2013 model year were white, up 3 percent from the prior year. Silver and black tied for second, with 18 percent each.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins by Kevin BegosAssociated Press Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Thousands of young environmentalists from around the country are heading to Pittsburgh, planning to strengthen the green movement by involving more people of different races and backgrounds. The four-day Power Shift conference beginning Friday takes on some traditional issues in a new way. Organizers are fighting coal mining, fracking for oil and gas, and climate change, but doing it through sessions such as "Racism and the Climate Movement," ''Sex and Sustainability," ''Young Leaders from Puerto Rico's Frontlines," and "Lessons from Transgender Activism."

BACK IN BUSINESS--President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) by Andrew TaylorAssociated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) — The government unlocked its doors Thursday after 16 days, with President Barack Obama saluting the resolution of Congress' bitter standoff but lambasting Republicans for the partial shutdown that he said had damaged the U.S. economy and America's credibility around the world.

Rihanna performs in Perth, Australia during the first concert of the Australian leg of her Diamonds World Tour. (AP Photo/Lee Griffith, File)BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities have arrested a bar owner in connection with a lewd sex show mentioned in racy tweets by pop star Rihanna during her recent trip to Thailand, officials said Monday, two weeks after an Instagram photo of Rihanna with a protected primate led to the arrest of two other men.