内容摘要：In a photo provided by Alley and Tim Wade, students are being rescued by boat after flash flooding in Westernport, MD., Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Alley and Tim Wade via AP)

In a photo provided by Alley and Tim Wade, students are being rescued by boat after flash flooding in Westernport, MD., Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Alley and Tim Wade via AP)

They are carnivores that slurp up earthworms like noodles, and are some of the world’s largest snails , with oversized, distinctive shells in a range of rich earth colors and swirling patterns.The Powelliphanta augusta was the center of public uproar and legal proceedings in the early 2000s, when an energy company’s plans to mine for coal threatened to destroy the snails’ habitat.

Some 4,000 were removed from the site and relocated, while 2,000 more were housed in chilled storage in the West Coast town of Hokitika to ensure the preservation of the species, which is slow to breed and doesn’t adapt well to new habitats.In 2011, some 800 of the snails accidentally died in a Department of Conservation refrigerator with faulty temperature control.But the species’ slow survival continues: In March this year, there were nearly 1,900 snails and nearly 2,200 eggs in captivity, the conservation agency said.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans still reeling from the outcome of last year’s presidential election were not responding Sunday to government calls to get out and vote for lawmakers, governors and other officials. That left voting centers practically empty at times and put officials on the defensive.The election, which the political opposition urged people to

, is the first to allow broad voter participation since last year’s presidential contest, which President

. It’s taking place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote.“The moisture that we’re getting from the Gulf of Mexico is a lot more than we used to get,” said Bluestein. “That makes the likelihood that we’re getting a stronger storm higher and that’s pretty unusual.”

Destroyed homes are seen after a severe storm passed through the area, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in London, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Destroyed homes are seen after a severe storm passed through the area, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in London, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Temperatures in the Gulf are a couple of degrees warmer than usual for this time of year, according to the weather service.The connection between climate change and tornadoes is not as well understood as the links between other types of extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and heat waves, experts say.