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BP gets OK to work for government again
WASHINGTON – The oil company behind the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history can once again perform work for the federal government.
Under an agreement reached Thursday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than two dozen BP entities and its Houston-based oil production and exploration arm can secure new government contracts.
The company had been suspended from performing any new government work since November 2012, after BP agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $4.5 billion fine for criminal charges involving the death of 11 workers and lying to Congress about how much oil was spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.
Crews continue search for more blast victims
NEW YORK – Rescue workers using dogs and thermal-detection gear to search the rubble Thursday for more victims of a gas explosion found an eighth body, while investigators tried to pinpoint the leak and determine whether it had anything to do with New York’s aging gas and water mains, some from the 1800s.
At least five people were unaccounted for after the deafening blast Wednesday morning destroyed two five-story apartment buildings in East Harlem that were served by an 1887 cast-iron gas main. More than 60 people were injured.
Fire and utility officials said that if the buildings were plagued in recent days, as some tenants claimed, they have no evidence anyone reported it before Wednesday.
Kerry warns Russia of possible sanctions
WASHINGTON – In a last-minute bid to stave off a new chapter in the East-West crisis over Ukraine, Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia on Thursday that it faces immediate and “very serious” sanctions if it annexes Ukraine’s strategic Crimea region.
His comments echoed those of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hours earlier said Russia risks “massive” political and economic consequences if it refuses to soften its stance against the new government in Kiev.
The warnings from the West served as a last attempt to head off a confrontation over Crimea, which holds a vote Sunday on whether to break off from Ukraine and perhaps join Russia.
Associated Press
