AP - The House wrapped up the Democrats' "100 Hours" legislative sprint Thursday with time to spare, voting to recoup billions of dollars in lost royalties from oil and gas companies and roll back industry tax breaks.
AP - The House rolled back billions of dollars in oil industry subsidies Thursday in what supporters hailed as a new direction in energy policy toward more renewable fuels. Critics said the action would reduce domestic oil production and increase reliance on imports.
Reuters - A U.S. spacecraft is zooming toward
a close encounter with Jupiter to study its tempestuous
atmosphere, ring system and four of its moons before dashing
off to see distant Pluto in 2015, scientists said on Thursday.
AP - A biotechnology advocacy group reported Thursday that a record number of biotech crops were planted worldwide last year, but critics complained the gains were more of the same: aimed at making corn, soy and cotton crops resistant to weed killers and bugs.
AP - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to create a special committee Thursday in an effort to jump-start long-delayed government efforts to deal with global warming and produce a bill by Independence Day.
AFP - Hurricane force winds battered parts of Europe, killing at least 23 people and triggering a dramatic air-sea rescue from a sinking cargo ship in the English Channel.
AFP - They say it never rains in sunny California. But for a brief, bizarre spell, the Golden State famed for beaches and "Baywatch" got snow instead.
Reuters - U.S. crude oil futures fell below $50
a barrel on Thursday, the first time since May 2005, after
government inventory data showed a large crude oil supply build
last week along with increases in refined products supplies.
AFP - Russian space agency Roskosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) are in talks to jointly build a space shuttle that could be launched from a base in French Guiana, representatives of Russian space constructor RKK Energiya and ESA said.
AP - Rescuers in eight boats returned to the waters off Long Island on Thursday, hoping to coax some wayward dolphins out of a shallow cove and into deeper water where they can find desperately needed food.
Reuters - Michael Strizki heats
and cools his house year-round and runs a full range of
appliances including such power-guzzlers as a hot tub and a
wide-screen TV without paying a penny in utility bills.
AFP - Snow has fallen in normally balmy southern California, as Americans coped with a deadly nationwide cold snap that has left hundreds of thousands in the dark and caused billions in crop damage.
AFP - The British Isles and Germany were battered by a severe storm front packing gale-force winds that left one man dead in northwest England, with forecasters predicting worse to come.
AFP - The birth of a baby gorilla will be broadcast live from Prague zoo over the Internet as part of Czech public radio's ongoing alternative primate reality show, Cesky Rozhlas has said.
