"The federal agency responsible for making sure states effectively oversee the safety of natural gas and other pipelines is failing to do its job, a government watchdog said in a report released Friday."

"The Indian Point power plant is one of 10 sites considered most in need for a re-evaluation of earthquake vulnerability, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday."

"A warning from U.S. scientists that Oklahoma may be hit by a major earthquake has caused a run on insurance policies for tremors in the heartland state, adding to the woes of residents already in the firing line of devastating tornadoes."

"A new statistical review of stillbirths that occurred in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita show they occurred more frequently in areas suffering the worst damage to individual homes, including Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Vermilion parishes, according to a peer-reviewed study published Thursday (May 8)."

"More than 50,000 malnourished children in Somalia are at "death's door" less than three years after a famine, a group of aid agencies has warned."

"WASHINGTON -- The Transportation Department issued an emergency order Wednesday requiring that railroads inform state emergency management officials about the movement of large shipments of crude oil through their states and urged shippers not to use older model tanks cars that are easily ruptured in accidents, even at slow speeds."

"The annual membership directory of state utility regulators lists several hundred key staff members of the 50 state commissions. Not a single staff position in the 81 pages has 'cybersecurity' in the title."

"As Washington environmental regulators start wrestling with the safety of new and larger fuel terminals along the Pacific Coast, some residents in southwest Washington communities are getting restless — with worries about the safety of crude oil shipped by rail to refineries and shipping docks."

"Strong storms have been moving over the Southeast since this weekend, spawning tornadoes from Alabama to Arkansas. On Tuesday they trekked further east, spreading heavy rain across the Alabama coast and Florida Panhandle. Rainfall totals for many cities in those regions were so high that they were closer to hurricane totals than spring storms."