The US military has halted flights carrying Haitian earthquake victims to the United States, apparently in a dispute over medical care costs.

“Extremely dangerous” Hurricane Ike grew to fierce Category 4 strength today as it roared on an uncertain path that forced millions from the Caribbean to Florida, and Louisiana to Mexico, to wonder where it would eventually strike.

After days of hammering at Republican rival John McCain, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama struck a conciliatory note and urged unity in service of a greater good in a speech to college graduates.

Homeowners fought desperate losing battles today against relentless wildfires sweeping across Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Wildfires fuelled by dry, windy weather damaged about 50 homes on Florida’s central Atlantic coast and driving hundreds of residents away as the governor declared a state of emergency.

REPUBLICAN presidential candidate John McCain has a big decision ahead of him — picking a vice presidential running mate whose presence on the ticket would reassure Americans concerned about McCain’s age.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged US states to pressure Washington to do more to prevent climate change, discounting the argument that protecting the environment hurts the economy.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged US states today to pressure Washington to do more to prevent climate change, discounting the argument that protecting the environment hurts the economy.

A wildfire roared across brush-covered hills in Los Angeles’ sprawling Griffith Park, triggering evacuations of homes and some of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Florida governor Charlie Crist said he was seriously thinking about pardoning dead rock star Jim Morrison for the singer’s 1970 indecent exposure and profanity conviction stemming from a Miami concert the year before.

FLORIDA governor, Charlie Crist, is being asked to pardon the late Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, 38 years after the rock star was convicted of exposing himself during a Miami concert.

A commission reviewing the botched lethal injection of a death-row inmate urged Florida’s governor to find a way to ensure inmates are unconscious before extremely painful drugs are injected.

Search efforts resumed amid fresh rain today across a swath of central Florida devastated by tornado-bearing thunderstorms that killed at least 20 people, including a high school girl struck by a tree as she lay in bed.

Republican control of Congress was on the line today in a US election coloured by voters’ dismay over the Iraq war and misbehaviour in Washington.

Florida