Hurricane Isaac made landfall in south-east Louisiana today, with winds of nearly 80mph.

The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the US government official in charge of the crisis said.

EVERYONE gathered for the town hall meeting had been repeatedly instructed to show civility to the gentlemen from BP and the federal government.

A specially-built giant concrete-and-steel box designed to siphon oil away was being brought into use today as a short-term solution to bottling up the disastrous oil spill threatening sea life and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast of America.

Howling ashore with 110 mph winds, Hurricane Ike ravaged the Texas coast today, flooding thousands of homes and businesses, shattering windows in Houston’s skyscrapers and knocking out power to millions of people.

Alarming predictions of as many as 10,000 dead in New Orleans may have been greatly exaggerated, with authorities saying that the first street-by-street sweep of the swamped city revealed far fewer corpses than feared.