UN climate talks: Faint progress on money, none on pollution

Opening pocketbooks wider to fight climate change? That’s looking slightly more doable. Closing more smokestacks for the same goal? Not yet sold. World leaders made “faint signs of progress” on the financial end of fighting climate change in a special United Nations...

COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu

COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000. The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the...

Nobody hurt but much damage in Spanish volcano eruption

LA LAGUNA, Spain (AP) — Giant rivers of lava tumbled slowly but relentlessly toward the sea Monday after a volcano erupted on a Spanish island off northwest Africa, with prompt evacuations helping to avoid casualties. Long fingers of fiery red lava slid down hillsides...

The AP Interview: UN chief warns China, US to avoid Cold War

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Warning of a potential new Cold War, the head of the United Nations implored China and the United States to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship before problems between the two large and deeply influential countries spill over even further into the...

4 famous giant trees unharmed by Sequoia National Park fire

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — Four famous giant sequoias were not harmed by a wildfire that reached the edge of Giant Forest in California’s Sequoia National Park, authorities said. The Four Guardsmen, a group of trees that form a natural entryway on the road to the...

Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11

Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is...

HP, Procter & Gamble join companies pledge to cut emissions

BERLIN (AP) — Computer-maker HP, consumer goods business Procter & Gamble and coffee capsule company Nespresso have joined a corporate pledge to sharply cut their greenhouse gas emissions over nearly two decades. The Climate Pledge, a grouping of companies and...

Volcano erupts on Atlantic island; lava destroys some homes

LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Spain (AP) — A volcano on Spain’s Atlantic Ocean island of La Palma erupted Sunday after a weeklong buildup of seismic activity, prompting authorities to evacuate thousands as lava flows destroyed isolated houses and threatened to reach the coast. New eruptions...

Virginia to add tests to find pandemic-related learning gaps

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Schools across Virginia will soon administer additional testing to assess how students in grades 3 through 8 are doing in math and reading after two turbulent school years. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the mandated tests are part of...

Spanish scientists say the volcano on La Palma island in the Canary Islands Atlantic archipelago has erupted