JUST when we thought the summer breezes would blow away some of our recession worries and cheer us all up, another lump of bad news rolls in.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, abruptly announced she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she thinks Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama regrets not making Hillary Clinton his running mate.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin defended nearly 200 million US dollars in federal pet projects she sought as Alaska governor this year as her ticket mate John McCain insisted she had never requested them.

Exxon Mobil’s appeal of a £2.8bn (€4.08bn) judgment Alaska jurors levied as punishment for the 1989 Valdez oil spill was heading back to a federal appeals court today.

A FEDERAL judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay about $6.75 billion to thousands of Alaskans affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

A federal judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay about $6.75bn (€5.4bn) to thousands of Alaskans affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

HURRICANE Isabel put the US capital in crisis mode yesterday, shutting the city’s metro for the first time, closing government offices and putting famous museums off-limits long before the storm hit.

The US Senate yesterday sided with environmentalists over the Bush administration’s controversial plans to open up some of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.