NEW YORK (AP) – Humans and Neanderthals cozied up from time to time when they lived in the same areas tens of thousands of years ago. But we don’t know much about who got with whom, or why.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Billions fewer birds are flying through North American skies than decades ago and their population is shrinking ever faster, mostly due to a combination of intensive agriculture and warming temperatures, a new study found.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA began another practice launch countdown Tuesday for its first moonshot in decades with astronauts after making repairs to fix dangerous fuel leaks that already have bumped the flight into March.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday revoked its own 2009 “endangerment finding,” a scientific conclusion that for 16 years has been the central basis for regulating planet-warming emissions from power plants, vehicles and other sources.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA’s first medical evacuation. SpaceX launched the replacements at NASA’s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on an expected eight- to nine-month mission stretching until fall.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The U.S.’s ocean regulator plans to make industry-friendly changes to a longstanding rule designed to protect vanishing whales, prompting criticism from environmental groups who cite the recent death of an endangered whale.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – Drought conditions have left over 2 million people facing hunger in parts of Kenya, with cattle-keeping communities in the northeast the hardest hit, according to the United Nations and others.

TOKYO (AP) – Japan said Monday it has successfully drilled and retrieved deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China.