A Senate bill that would protect U.S. forest land from wildfires and harmful insects by streamlining rules for removing underbrush gained momentum yesterday as blazes ravaged parts of the West.

A senior U.S. official said it was "urgent" for the European Union to find a way to end a three-year-old ban on approvals of new genetically modified crops.

Cambodian poachers killed about wild 100 elephants, tigers, leopards and rare bears in the past 18 months, threatening the survival of those species in the country, conservationists said. The numbers