"Five million people have been affected by floods in the Pakistani provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh, according to regional officials.
At least 133 people have been killed, officials said, and the number is expected to rise.
About 900 villages have been submerged and about 100,000 homes have been completely destroyed.
"A pipeline bill offered by House Republicans on Wednesday would block some safety reforms and ignores other recent safety recommendations made by accident investigators in response to a deadly natural gas explosion last year near San Francisco."
"Operation Helping Hands, the Catholic ministry that employed thousands of volunteers to rebuild nearly 200 homes after Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday it will shut down next summer, sooner than expected, because of its disastrous encounter with toxic Chinese drywall."
"KYOTO, Japan — Investigators concluded Thursday that a nuclear plant operator that tried to manipulate public opinion with fake e-mails was acting under instructions from a high-ranking local government official, adding a new twist to a scandal that has hampered Japan's efforts to restart idled nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster."
"Last month's record earthquake in the eastern United States may have shaken a Virginia nuclear plant twice as hard as it was designed to withstand, a spokesman for the U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday."
"Ten years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, public health and safety watchdogs are increasingly concerned that the country's program for securing chemical facilities from terrorists and thefts contains significant loopholes and leaves millions of Americans at risk."
"SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- The San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California has shut down because of a massive power outage that's affecting millions in California, Arizona and Mexico."
"BP Plc is looking to ramp up activity in the Gulf of Mexico in the coming months and is applying for new well permits there this quarter, an executive said on Tuesday, as the firm looks to move on from a huge oil spill last year."
"Ten years later, responders who breathed the toxic dust and noxious fumes at New York City’s Ground Zero while searching for survivors are still suffering the effects of the attacks. The environmental hazards at the World Trade Center disaster site – mercury from fluorescent light bulbs, dioxin and benzene emitted as the jets burned, asbestos from the building materials, and more – have caused post-traumatic symptoms, severe respiratory ailments, immune problems and, some suspect, a greatly increased cancer risk."
"Firefighters gained ground Wednesday against one of the most destructive wildfires in Texas history even as the state said the number of homes lost reached almost 800, and an elite search team set out to find any victims in the smoking ruins."
