WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government scientists studying the BP disaster are reporting the best possible outcome: Microbes are consuming the oil in the Gulf without depleting the oxygen in the water and creating "dead zones" where fish cannot survive....

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The government turned up the pressure Tuesday on the head of a small Florida church who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, warning him that doing so could endanger U.S. troops and Americans everywhere....

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- David Myers knew it was time to leave when he looked out into the forest and spotted bright red flames towering skyward. Then came a blinding cloud of smoke and a deafening roar as the fire ripped through the wilderness....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Billionaire philanthropist George Soros is putting up $100 million, one of the largest donations of its kind, to expand Human Rights Watch and help it court more international support....

NEW YORK (AP) -- The flight attendant accused of onboard antics that captured the nation's attention when he told off a passenger and slid down the plane's emergency chute with a beer will undergo a mental health evaluation with the aim of avoiding jail time in a possible plea deal....

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Merriam-Webster's "Word of the Summer" is not even a word. That's something no one can "refudiate."...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Mayor Richard M. Daley, who wielded more control over Chicago than anyone but his father decades before, said Tuesday he will not seek re-election, bringing a surprising end to a dynasty whose name became synonymous with the city's legendary political machine....

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) -- A 36-year-old factory worker who spent much of his adult life in prison was charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting and murdering a 14-year-old girl whose badly burned body was found behind gravel piles at the asphalt plant where he worked....

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Tropical Storm Hermine gave a wet and windy punch to Texas on Tuesday before weakening into a tropical depression, leaving only minor scrapes in the storm-weary Rio Grande Valley, which is proving resilient this hurricane season after taking a third tropical system on the chin....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police Chief Charlie Beck on Tuesday promised a thorough, transparent investigation into an officer's shooting of a knife-wielding man whose death sparked a violent protest in a poor immigrant neighborhood....