A resident in Greenfield, Massachusetts clears snow off his car, December 27, 2012. A powerful winter storm has pounded the US northeast, bringing heavy snow and strong winds across several states and killing several people. The storm, which has claimed some 16 lives so far, hit the northeast on Thursday after it wreaked havoc on a region stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The tempest... 

An explosion at a BP oil rig resulted in a devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. A US federal judge has approved a USD 7.8 billion settlement which sees the BP oil giant pay out USD 7.8 billion in compensation to people and businesses affected by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. US District Judge Carl Barbier gave his final verdict on Friday. The ruling covers nearly 100,000... 

The most powerful earthquakes in the history of the United States happened along the New Madrid Fault in 1811 and 1812. Those earthquakes were reportedly felt more than 1,000 miles away. Scientists assure us that one day we will once again see very powerful earthquakes along the New Madrid fault. It is only a question of when it will happen. Today, the New Madrid fault zone covers portions of Illinois,... 

Severe tornadoes in the US have left at least 313 people dead across several central and southern states. A massive spring storm system tearing through central and southern United States, has left over 300 people dead across nine states, emergency officials say. At least 204 people died in the State of Alabama alone, many in Tuscaloosa, a city of over 83,000 where a massive tornado devastated the city,... 

Workers clean oil and tar balls Wednesday from Biloxi Beach, Miss. University scientists have spotted the first indications oil is entering the Gulf seafood chain — in crab larvae — and one expert warns the effect on fisheries could last “years, probably not a matter of months” and affect many species. Scientists with the University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University in New Orleans... 

Civil rights advocates in eastern Louisiana are calling for a justice of the peace of Tangipahoa Parish to resign after he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. “He’s an elected public official and one of his duties is to marry people. He doesn’t have the right to say he doesn’t believe in it,” Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP branch of... 

Mississippi mayor: "Kiss my black ass!" "Be afraid, be very afraid!" A tiny Mississippi delta town has elected its first black mayor after the white incumbent, unopposed for 30 years, faced a young challenger inspired by President Barack Obama’s feat in winning the White House. In a shock result in Alligator (population 220), Tommie “Tomaso” Brown, 38, defeated Robert...