Environment

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United States basketball player Kobe Bryant speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Olympic Park, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London. The 2012 Summer Olympics begin with opening ceremonies on Friday. (AP Photo/Stephen Pond, PA)

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The Culex pipiens (left) is the primary mosquito that can transmit West Nile virus to humans, birds and other animals. It is produced in stagnant water. At right is an Aedes vexans, primarily a nuisance mosquito produced from freshwater that it is not a key transmitter of disease. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Bottles of Pepsi Next and Pepsi Max are displayed among cans of 10-calorie sodas from PepsiCo., on June 11, 2012, in New York. (Associated Press)

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Stanley Martin Homes is building single-family homes on quarter-acre sites at Woodland Park in Wildewood in California. The homes have 2,148 to 2,827 finished square feet, with base prices from $291,990 to $364,990.

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The kitchen in the Braddock model at Woodland Park in Wildewood has a center island, birch cabinets, granite counters and stainless steel appliances.

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Soldiers arrange a pyre of elephant tusks and thousands of pieces of worked ivory as they prepare to burn stocks corresponding to roughly 850 dead elephants in Gabon. The World Wildlife Federation lauded the commitment to curb poaching. (Associated Press)

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Calves are auctioned Friday at the livestock market in Burwell, Neb. With a record drought drying up grazing land and cornfields, ranchers are selling off their cattle early to avoid high feed costs. (Associated Press)

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Women affected by AIDS share stories of survival at the Reach Out clinic near Kampala, Uganda, which receives funding from a U.S.-backed program. Research suggests stemming the spread of the AIDS virus may be possible, even in some of the world’s poorest countries. (Associated Press)

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The Navajo in New Mexico presented Pendleton blankets to welcome the “Lone Ranger” stars, director and producer to their land. (Disney via Associated Press)

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A Fisker plug-in hybrid car is exhibited at the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany in 2009. (Associated Press, file)

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There will be a private screening in D.C. on Wednesday for “2016: Obama’s America,” a documentary produced by Hollywood heavyweight Gerald Molen. It opens to the public Friday. (Rocky Mountain Pictures)

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A portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin rests on a pile of debris at a flooded house in Krimsk, about 750 miles south of Moscow. Flooding killed more than 170 in southern Russia on July 6 and 7. The president is taking heat for a fumbled early warning. (Associated Press)

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A damaged car suffered by flood seen next to a flooded house in Krimsk, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 8, 2012. The death toll from severe flooding in the Black Sea region of southern Russia has risen to at least 150. (AP Photo/Ignat Kozlov)