United States
USDA prepared to approve soy plant genetically modified to withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide used to defoliate during Vietnam war
In early July, on the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to green-light a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less to...

Drought in U.S. reaching levels not seen in 50 years, pushing up crop prices
A drought gripping the Corn Belt and more than half the United States has reached proportions not seen in more than 50 years, the government reported Monday, jacking up crop prices and threatening to drive up the cost of food....
Two classes, divided by ‘I do’
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jessica Schairer has so much in common with her boss, Chris Faulkner, that a visitor to the day care center they run might get them confused....
Most Americans earn more than parents, but only a third rise in income class, study says
The overwhelming majority of Americans still make more money than their parents, but upward mobility is elusive for many, particularly for African Americans and those without a college degree, according to a new study released Monday....
Mysterious fatal crash offers rare look at U.S. commando presence in Mali
In pre-dawn darkness, a Toyota Land Cruiser skidded off a bridge in North Africa in the spring, plunging into the Niger River. When rescuers arrived, they found the bodies of three U.S. Army commandos — alongside three dead women....
Job growth remains tepid
It is increasingly apparent what the economy will look like when President Obama faces voters in November: pretty much what it looks like today.And that picture, a report from the Labor Department made clear on Friday, is far from the booming job growth that prevailed only a few months ago. In June,...
‘No child left behind’ law whittled down by White House: 26 states are now relieved from meeting the goal of making all students proficien...
In just five months, the Obama administration has freed schools in more than half the nation from central provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified....
Midwest’s heat dashes hopes for a bumper crop of corn
HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — Across a wide stretch of the Midwest, sweltering temperatures and a lack of rain are threatening what had been expected to be the nation’s largest corn crop in generations....

Lost in recession, toll on underemployed and underpaid
Throughout the Great Recession and the not-so-great recovery, the most commonly discussed measure of misery has been unemployment. But many middle-class and working-class people who are fortunate enough to have work are struggling as well, which is why Sherry Woods, a 59-year-old van driver from Atl...
Contractors run US spying missions in Africa
ENTEBBE, Uganda — Four small, white passenger planes sit outside a hangar here under a blazing sun, with no exterior markings save for U.S. registration numbers painted on the tails. A few burly men wearing aviator sunglasses and short haircuts poke silently around the wing flaps and landing gear....
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