Federal judge shutters Idaho grazing allotment to protect wild bighorns

BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge has ordered a western Idaho rancher to keep his sheep off his family’s traditional grazing ground on public land to protect wild native bighorns. Federal land managers on Monday opted not to fight the ruling.

Moscow’s mayor vows to battle blizzards in the frigid Russian capital this winter

MOSCOW — Moscow’s mercurial mayor, famous for seeding clouds to prevent rain during parades, is escalating his war on weather with plans to slash this year’s snowfall by one-fifth in the Russian capital.

Group of political scientists say US prestige declined dramatically in past decade

WASHINGTON — The United States’ standing in the world declined in the past decade to below Cold War levels, according to a leading group of political scientists.

Research paper: Harsh CIA interrogation techniques likely damaged memory functions of suspects

WASHINGTON — Prolonged stress from the CIA’s harsh interrogations could have impaired the memories of terrorist suspects, diminishing their ability to recall and provide the detailed information the spy agency sought, according to a scientific paper published Monday.

Animal study shows how easily swine flu overtakes regular flu strains, eases ’superbug’ fears

WASHINGTON — Put swine flu in a room with other strains of influenza and it doesn’t mix into a new superbug — it takes over, researchers reported Tuesday. University of Maryland researchers deliberately co-infected ferrets to examine one of the worst fears about the new swine flu. But fortunately, the flu didn’t mutate. The researchers carefully swabbed the ferrets’ nasal cavities and found no evidence of gene-swapping.

state-funded report concludes faulty fire investigation led to man’s execution in

DALLAS — A fire investigation that led to the execution of a man in the deaths of his three young children was so seriously flawed that its conclusion of arson can’t be supported, a fire expert hired by the state said in a new report.

Report: Ex-Scientologist ordered evidence destroyed in death of woman under church care

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A former high-ranking Scientology official who handled the case of a mentally ill member who died under church care ordered the destruction of incriminating evidence to cover up missteps, a newspaper reported Monday.

Report: Ex-Scientology executives say physical abuse was common among management

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The leader of the Church of Scientology struck his subordinates numerous times and set an example for physical violence among the tightly controlled religion’s management team, four former high-ranking executives told a newspaper for a story published Sunday.

Obama’s first global warming report dire, but offers hope; ‘Not too late,’ one official says

WASHINGTON — Rising sea levels, sweltering temperatures, deeper droughts, and heavier downpours — global warming’s serious effects are already here and getting worse, the Obama administration warned on Tuesday in the grimmest, most urgent language on climate change ever to come out of any White House.

Amid rubble of nuclear terror, bomb sleuths may come up short in hunt for clues, terrorists

VIENNA — If the unthinkable happened, would we be left on the day after, as radioactive dust settled, with the unknowable?

Researchers bet purple carrots will be easier to swallow than petroleum-based dyes in food

FRESNO, Calif. — The ancient purple carrot is returning to its roots, this time to dye processed foods rather than the robes of Afghan royals.

Geeky getaways from Popular Science magazine

NEW YORK — If your interests run more to science than surfing or sunbathing, you may find yourself shouting “Eureka!” when you discover the list of geeky getaways in Popular Science magazine’s May issue.