While Oklahoma begins to clean up after a ferocious tornado, the site of one of the worst twisters in American history — Joplin, Mo., a little more than 200 miles away — marked a solemn anniversary Wednesday.On May 22, 2011, a tornado all but wiped Joplin off the map. The twister killed 161 people, injured more than 1,000 and wrought almost $3 billion worth of damage. It was clocked at more than 2...

Expulsion from the Boy Scouts of America is a dishonor few Scouts endure. But that was the punishment imposed on Kim Kuska, a self-taught naturalist and former biology teacher who had been with the organization for more than 50 years.His crime: an obsession with the rare, and unfortunately named, Dudley’s lousewort.Since the 1970s, the Eagle Scout and adult Scout leader-turned-whistle-blower has w...

A tornado warning was issued for parts of Massachusetts on Wednesday evening as a severe weather storm capable of producing a twister was spotted on radar, forecasters said.The "dangerous storm" was located near Salem, or 11 miles northeast of Amherst, the National Weather Service warned.Residents were told to take cover. No confirmed tornado was spotted, however, and about 45 minutes later the We...

On the eve of a major address by President Barack Obama on his counterterrorism policy, the Obama administration revealed Wednesday that drone strikes since 2009 had killed four Americans overseas – one of whom, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was targeted in Yemen because he’d planned and was planning terrorist attacks on the United States – principally the plot to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas ...