"Federal regulators have announced the results of a September inspection blitz targeting 13 coal mines in seven states 'previously cited for violations regarding respirable dust sampling ... inadequate dust control ... and hazard complaints' involving excessive coal dust."

"For a superstorm, hurricane Sandy has had surprisingly little effect on gasoline prices."

"Even in areas hit hard by the storm, gas prices were up only nominally on the first day: less than a penny in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, according to GasBuddy.com, a group of local websites that track gasoline prices. By the second day, they had stabilized or were falling again.

If anything, hurricane Sandy may be helping to push prices down faster.

"'Ocean grabbing' or aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets is a threat to food security in developing nations where governments should do more to promote local, small-scale fisheries, a study by a U.N. expert said on Tuesday."

"As Hurricane Sandy pushed floodwater through New York's streets and into its subways, many wondered how the city's infamous rat population would fare -- sink or swim?"

"Britain is facing its worst ecological disaster in at least a generation, as a devastating fungus that has already wiped out most of continental Europe's ash trees, appears to have taken root in rural England, conservationists say."

"Shell Oil had its problems this year drilling off the Arctic coast of Alaska, but on Wednesday it declared success on the final day of operations for the season. (Only a brief autumn exploration season is allowed by regulators because of ice floes.)"

"Mitt Romney’s new television ad suggesting that the auto bailout will result in American jeep jobs getting shipped to China has been widely pilloried by news organizations, both nationally and in Ohio. The Romney campaign’s response: It is expanding the ad campaign."

"The images of a paralysed New York City at the mercy of Hurricane Sandy's wall of water have forced climate change on to the political agenda in the final week of the 2012 presidential election campaign."

"Scores of supporters turned up to Mitt Romney's rally-turned-storm relief event in Ohio Monday with supplies to donate to survivors of Superstorm Sandy, but the candidate's campaign was prepared with supplies of their own in case people arrived empty handed."