The US is to lift its six-month ban on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico imposed after the BP oil spill.

A kidnapped Missouri boy gave a hint as to the ordeal he suffered when he told a US television audience he “never wanted any kid to go through what I went through".

A man pleaded not guilty today to charges of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy who was found four days later in the man’s apartment with another boy who had been missing for more than four years.

The man accused of abducting two teenage boys in the US is scheduled for to appear in court today for arraignment in one of the cases.

A 41-year old man has been charged with kidnap after shocked police discovered a 13-year-old boy who vanished five days ago – along with a 15-year-old boy who had missing since 2002.