"Former FBI Director Louis Freeh will head an ethics probe of the organization that’s processing and paying oil-spill damage claims for BP Plc."

"The El Nino weather pattern that can bring drought to Australia and rain to South America was 'unusually active' at the end of the 20th century, possibly due to climate change, a University of Hawaii study found."

"Researchers studied 2,222 tree-ring records as proxies for temperature and rainfall over the past 700 years, the university wrote in an online statement dated yesterday. The records indicate the El Nino-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon has been increasingly active in recent decades relative to the past seven centuries.

"Scientists have found a way to forecast El Nino weather events in the Pacific a year in advance, long enough to let farmers plant crops less vulnerable to global shifts in rainfall, a study showed on Monday."

"LAWRENCE, Kansas -- Monica Haverkamp is ready to heap praise on the upkeep and cleanliness of Clinton State Park. Until she’s asked about the beach."

"A federal judge in Washington D.C. has tossed out a new SEC rule requiring oil companies to disclose payments to foreign governments. The rule stemmed from the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and had been trumpeted by human rights group as a means to reduce corruption in otherwise poor, oil-producing countries in Africa and the Middle East."

"One of the deadliest wildfires in a generation vastly expanded Monday to cover more than 8,000 acres, sweeping up sharp slopes through dry scrub and gnarled piñon pines a day after fickle winds and flames killed 19 firefighters."

"Nuclear and radioactive materials are still going missing and the information the United Nations atomic agency receives about such incidents may be the tip of the iceberg, said a senior U.N. official."

"President used second executive order this week to launch task force which will draft strategy to curb $10 billion illegal trade."

"WASHINGTON -- Environmental safety groups are stepping up efforts to prevent a reportedly dangerous yet widely used herbicide from being sold in the United States, even as the country’s primary environmental regulator is considering increasing the amount of the herbicide allowed in the U.S. food supply."

"The smokestacks, more than 800 feet tall, barely peek from behind the tall pines just across from Chester Allen's farm, but to him the damage from Plant Yates' coal is plain to see."

"SARGENT, Ga. – The smokestacks, more than 800 feet tall, barely peek from behind the tall pines just across from Chester Allen's farm, but to him the damage from Plant Yates' coal is plain to see."