Winter weather can upend even the best-laid travel plans, but one less thing to worry about is losing money if your flight is canceled: U. S. airlines are required to provide refunds. A major, dayslong winter storm is threatening to bring snow, sleet, ice and extensive power outages to about half the U. S. population. Thousands of weekend flights already have been canceled, and forecasters warn that catastrophic damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane. a for...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Guan Heng, who exposed human rights abuses in his native China, has been in U. S. custody since being swept up in an immigration enforcement operation in August. He says he dares not even think about what would happen to him if he were sent back. “I would be prosecuted, I would be jailed, I would be tortured. All of that could happen,” Guan, 38, told The Associated Press in a recent call from the Broome County Correctional Facility in New York. A judge on Monday is to U...

YANACOCHA RESERVE, Ecuador (AP) — Deep in the Ecuadorian Andes, an ancient forest stands as a final sanctuary against the encroachment of human activity. This is the Yanacocha Reserve, the last refuge for the Black-breasted puffleg (Eriocnemis nigrivestis), a tiny hummingbird teetering on the edge of extinction. Measuring just 9 centimeters (3. 5 inches), this emblematic bird of Quito is one of the most threatened species on the planet. According to the International Union for Conservation a...