A vibrant sea of grasses once flowed across the North American continent: the great prairies that Laura Ingalls Wilder described as “spreading to the edge of the sky.” All but a fraction vanished during the 19th century as migrants from Europe advanced across the heart of America, plowing the land into farms and settlements. “Most people, I think, would drive past a prairie and just see a lot of boring grass,” says Chris Helzer, director of science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska and author of a popular prairie photography blog. Over the last three decades, a dedicated community of conservationists and land managers has worked to preserve American grasslands in all their manifold forms: the tallgrass, shortgrass, and mixed-grass prairies of the Midwest, as well as lesser-known varieties, such as the northwest prairies in Oregon and Washington, or the sandplain grasslands in Massachusetts.

Enjoying home

“The notion that the European Union has never been less united than now has taken hold in the public consciousness,” writes Miguel Otero Iglesias. “The recurring theme is that EU countries are unable to agree on euro reforms, on migratory flow management, on how to deal with growing aggressiveness from the US, Russia and China.... Divisions exist, and they are serious, but a calm and collected analysis, with historical perspective, shows that Europe is probably more united today than ever before. “When it comes to internet censorship, Russia has long followed China’s example...,” writes Leonid Kovachich.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade, staying near Wednesday's four-month peak while Japan's Nikkei was almost flat. Reports of progress in trade talks between the United States and China have prompted investors to be mildly optimistic that the two countries could reach a compromise to avoid tariff hikes on March 1, although few details from the talks have emerged. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he might extend his March 1 deadline, which would stop an immediate increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent.

Japanese employment information services company Recruit Co., Ltd. has invested in a blockchain-focused company Beam Development Limited, according to an announcement published on Feb. 18. Per today’s press release, Recruit has invested in Israeli blockchain startup Beam Development Limited. The investment was made through Recruit’s $25 million fund called RSP Blockchain Tech Fund Pte. Ltd. The latter is focused on investing and acquiring shares in blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.

RBA Governor Philip Lowe dumped a tightening bias in favor of a neutral policy outlook earlier this month amid increasing risks at home and abroad and a downgrade in forecast domestic economic growth.

Why we can’t turn away from shows like Serial and Making a Murderer. (Photo: Getty Images)

Adonis Hill, a trainer on the upcoming show “Fit to Fat to Fit,” went from weighing 217 pounds to 286 pounds by consuming 8,000 calories a day.

Karen Kinzle Zegel spends her days working on the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation website, fielding questions and giving out information on a disease she barely knew existed five years ago – until it took the life of her son, for whom the foundation is named. Karen remembers, “We were a football family, his dad was a coach, I would cheer and yell and you know, do all the things the football mom does. At the time, she was unaware of CTE – chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head – and the role it was playing in Patrick’s life.

It’s been 71 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, but African-American participation in the MLB has sharply declined since its peak in the early ’80s.

Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press. The AP’s survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from the pollution, a major black eye on Rio’s Olympic project that has set off alarm bells among sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.

After months of back and forth negotiations, the Congressional compromise that ultimately averted yet another government shutdown last week was immediately overshadowed by President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on Friday to unlock additional funding for the construction of a border wall. Trump wasn’t the only one disappointed by the spending deal, which allocated $1.4 billion for the construction of new barriers along the border and provided funds to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase immigration detention capacity to record levels. In negotiations with Congressional Republicans and the White House, Democrats unsuccessfully sought to impose a limit on the number of detention beds.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, who chairs the elections subcommittee, vowed that “the record we compile … will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we still need the Voting Rights Act.”

Behind the scenes, critics say, the Western Energy Alliance is driving the agenda of the department, helping oil and gas companies gain easier access to federal lands.