Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled a dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph.

Tropical Storm Lee dumped more than a foot of rain in New Orleans and spun off tornadoes elsewhere as its centre came ashore in a slow crawl north that raised fears of inland flash flooding in America’s Deep South and beyond.

A father has been jailed for 25 years for putting his two-month-old daughter in a microwave.

A young father was jailed for 25 years today for severely burning his baby daughter when he put her in a microwave and turned it on for up to 20 seconds.

A tropical storm warning was issued today for parts of the Texas and Louisiana coasts as a tropical depression intensified in the Gulf of Mexico.

A man and woman fell overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico but were recovered alive after a four-hour search, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in New Orleans said.

British energy firm BP is settling a pair of court cases stemming from a deadly explosion at its Texas City oil refinery two years ago, a lawyer for the two workers said tonight.

A politician who enraged black leaders by saying black Virginians “should just get over” slavery, has changed his message, proposing celebrating the end of slavery instead.

Hurricane Rita strengthened into a Category 4 storm packing 135-mph winds as it churned into the Gulf of Mexico early today.

Hurricane Rita strengthened into a Category 4 storm packing 135-mph winds as it churned into the Gulf of Mexico early today.

Thousands of residents fled the Florida Keys as Tropical Storm Rita barrelled toward land, poised to grow into a hurricane with a potential nine-foot storm surge and sparking fears it could eventually ravage the Gulf Coast.

With thousands feared dead and the city’s remaining residents told to evacuate for weeks, conditions deteriorated further in submerged New Orleans today as looting spiralled out of control.

Hurricane Emily regained dangerous Category 4 strength today, frightening storm-weary islanders in Jamaica and Cayman Islands after ravaging Grenada.