NEW ORLEANS - An oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the explosion occurred early Thursday, about 145 kilometers south of Vermilion Bay, along the coast of the southern state of Louisiana. The explosion set the production platform on fire, and it is reportedly still burning.
The Coast Guard says […]

NEW ORLEANS - Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast.  Recovery from the massive storm has been a long and painful process.  Among recorded Atlantic Hurricanes, Katrina was one of the most powerful, ranking sixth all-time.  More than 1800 people were killed either during the storm’s landfall or in the floods […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Agriculture Department official ousted last month over remarks she made about race has declined an offer to return to work at the agency.
Shirley Sherrod met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday.  He had offered her a position overseeing civil rights efforts in the agency.
During a press conference after the meeting, […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says he has “no regrets” about comments he made supporting Muslims’ right to build a mosque near the site of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.
Mr. Obama was asked about the remarks Wednesday while concluding an economic talk with residents in Ohio.
The president’s comments on the mosque […]

CHICAGO - Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been convicted of making false statements to federal agents, in a corruption case that grew out of allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after the 2008 presidential election.
After two weeks of deliberations, jurors in Chicago Tuesday convicted the former governor, […]

NEW ORLEANS - A new study by scientists in the Gulf of Mexico finds that oil from the worst offshore oil spill in history is settling on the sea floor, where it is harming critical microscopic organisms.
Researchers at the University of South Florida issued the report on the impact of the BP oil spill Tuesday. 
They […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate’s top Democrat has spoken out against plans to build a Muslim cultural center and mosque near the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
A spokesman for Harry Reid says the Senate majority leader appreciates that the First Amendment protects freedom of religion.  But he says the […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he will likely leave his post next year, ending what would be a very eventful four-year tenure. 
Secretary Gates told Foreign Policy magazine one of the most difficult things in public life is knowing when to leave office, and he believes the right time for him will be […]

NEW ORLEANS - Shrimpers returned to the waters off Louisiana Monday at the start of the state’s first shrimping season since the BP oil disaster spilled millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.
The shrimping season began amid concern over oil that may still be in the water.  Some Americans have been reluctant […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama’s support for an Islamic center to be built near the scene of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has done little to mollify critics of the plan.  However, it has strengthened the argument that it should be allowed in because of America’s tradition of religious freedom.
The proposed cultural center […]

WASHINGTON - On August 9, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the elimination of a major U.S. combat command as a cost-cutting measure. The Joint Forces Command employs about 6,000 people around (the US southern city of) Norfolk, Virginia.  People who live in the region are concerned possible job losses will create a downturn in […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says he supports a plan to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center in New York, near the scene of the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks.  It was the first time the president has expressed his opinion about the intense controversy.
President Obama spoke Friday night at a White House […]

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers across the U.S. have raised taxes on cigarettes to provide local governments with much needed funds.
But a thriving black market in cigarettes is costing governments billions of dollars a year in lost revenue. That’s prompted agencies at all levels to join an effort to fight cigarette trafficking.
Price of a smoke
The price of […]

WASHINGTON - The question of missile defense is not addressed in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), recently signed by the United States and Russia.  But the issue remains contentious between Washington and Moscow.
The New START treaty deals essentially with limiting offensive nuclear forces.
Under the terms of the pact, each country will have no […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican to hold that office, has died in a plane crash in his home state of Alaska.
Stevens was among the victims of the crash late Monday of a small plane (DeHavilland DHC-3T) near a remote Alaskan fishing village.  The National Transportation Safety Board says five of […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. military officials say they expect to meet a September 1 deadline for withdrawing combat forces from Iraq, despite continuing violence in the country and the inability of Iraqis to form a national government.
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, says the country continues to face real security challenges weeks […]

NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. official in charge of the government’s response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has authorized BP to cement its ruptured oil well, which has gushed crude into the waters since an oil rig explosion in April.
But Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said late Wednesday the implementation of this […]

NEW ORLEANS - Oil giant BP says its latest procedure to plug the leak in a ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was successful.
The company issued a statement early Wednesday, a day after it began the so-called “static kill” operation. The operation involves pumping heavy mud into the well, and eventually sealing it […]

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives has voted to pass a $59-billion emergency war-funding bill for the U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan and other Pentagon operational expenses. 
On the Senate side, the general chosen to be the chief of U.S. Central Command has condemned the leaks of tens of thousands of U.S. military documents on the […]

WASHINGTON - The Americans with Disabilities Act, also called ADA, is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disabilities. It regulates federal and local programs, transportation, public accommodations and commercial facilities, and has, by wide accounts, transformed the lives of the disabled.
On Monday, as one disabled activist commemorated […]

WASHINGTON - In U.S. politics, some new public-opinion polls contain bad news for President Barack Obama and some good news for conservative activists who make up the so called Tea Party movement.  The new surveys appear less than four months before congressional midterm elections in November.  
In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, President Obama’s approval rating […]

NEW ORLEANS - U.S. officials say a cap on a damaged oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to have a small leak, but they say there are no plans to remove the cap from the well. Engineers are carefully studying the well for any evidence of problems.
Engineers spotted the leak in the containment […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate gave final legislative approval Thursday to a major overhaul of the rules governing the nation’s financial system. The measure is the biggest overhaul of U.S. financial regulation rules since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and analysts say its passage is a major legislative victory for President Barack Obama and […]

NEW ORLEANS - BP says it has stopped the flow of oil from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico as part of a pressure test.  Engineers plan to continue the test for as long as 48 hours.
BP engineers began the pressure test on Thursday.  It involves closing a series of valves on the […]