GRAND ISLE, La. — The crashing waves and gusting winds churned up by Tropical Storm Alex put the Gulf oil spill largely in Mother Nature's hands Tuesday. Regardless of whether the storm makes things worse or better, it has turned many people fighting the spill into spectators.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has rejected appeals by the Obama administration and the nation's largest tobacco companies to get involved in a legal fight about the dangers of cigarette smoking that has stretched more than 10 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan undergoes questioning before senators this week, some of the hearing may sound like it's in a foreign language. But don't adjust the TV or look for subtitles.
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MEXICO CITY — Gunmen assassinated the front-running candidate for governor of a Mexican border state Monday in what President Felipe Calderon called an attempt by drug gangs to sway local and state elections this weekend.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The person who gets picked to fill the seat vacated by the death of Democratic U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd won't have to face an election until 2012, a key decision for Democrats nationally trying to hold onto a slim majority in Congress after this November's elections.

WASHINGTON — Robert C. Byrd, who rose from the poverty of West Virginia coal country to become the sage and conscience of U.S. Senate in a political career stretching more than half a century, died Monday. He was 92.

CHICAGO — If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Chicago's handgun ban, the city will likely do what Washington, D.C., did when its own ban was overturned two years ago: Put in place all sorts of restrictions to make it tougher to buy guns and easier for police to know who has them.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan pledged Monday to be properly deferential to Congress if confirmed as a justice and to strive to "consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law."

BP shares fell more than 6 percent in New York on Friday to a 14-year low as the costs rise for containing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

WASHINGTON — Deaths of infants and toddlers trapped inside hot automobiles have mounted in recent weeks, prompting warnings from the government and safety groups at the start of summer.