The federal government declared BP

Some were more than a century old but still sturdy and doing their jobs. Many others were young and willowy, just getting going. Some of them were inscrutable; no one truly knew them or how they got there. But others felt like old friends.

Rescuers on Friday achieved an important milestone in the effort to rescue 33 trapped miners, reaching the caverns where the men are trapped with a bore hole that will now be widened so they can be pulled to safety.

Workers operating a drilling machine.

Crews on Friday began pumping cement into BP

African environment ministers pledged Friday to set up an international research body to study and protect the continent

France urged its citizens on Friday to leave the uranium mining region in Niger after saying it suspected the North African wing of Al Qaeda of kidnapping seven foreigners in the country, including five French citizens. There has been no claim of responsibility.

A ballot initiative to suspend a milestone California law curbing greenhouse gas emissions is drawing a wave of contributions from out-of-state oil companies, raising concerns among conservationists as it emerges as a test of public support for potentially costly environmental measures during tough economic times.

Charles and David Koch, the billionaires from Kansas who have played a prominent

A tough new smoking ban that goes into effect Wednesday outlaws lighting up in all public indoor areas and prohibits most tobacco advertising. But how effective it will be is an open question. Greece

As world leaders struggle to hash out a new global climate deal by December, they face a hurdle perhaps more formidable than getting big polluters like the United States and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: how to pay for the new accord.

For years, residents here complained about the yellow smoke pouring from the tall chimneys of the nearby coal-fired power plant, which left a film on their cars and pebbles of coal waste in their yards. Five states