Republicans have moved into the ritual of formally nominating Mitt Romney as their candidate to unseat president Barack Obama, anxiously watching a storm threatening to hit New Orleans just as the first political speeches begin.

Powerful storms stretching from the US Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes in the north wrecked two small towns and killed at least 28 people as the system tore roofs off schools and homes and damaged a maximum-security prison. It was the second deadly tornado outbreak this week.

Oil giant BP is facing a wave of protests as it holds its annual general meeting in London days before the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

AN apologetic advertising campaign by BP for causing the biggest oil spill in US history has earned the company more criticism than sympathy as the pollution spreads across the US Gulf Coast from Louisiana into Alabama and Florida.

An apologetic advertising campaign by BP for causing the biggest oil spill in US history has earned the company more criticism than sympathy as the pollution spreads across the US Gulf Coast from Louisiana into Alabama and Florida.

THE giant Gulf of Mexico oil slick was last night closing in on the pristine Florida coast, as deep sea robotic submarines hit a new snag in BP’s latest bid to contain the spill.

OIL from BP’s out-of-control Gulf of Mexico oil spill could threaten the Mississippi and Alabama coasts this week, US forecasters said yesterday, as public anger surged over the nation’s worst environmental disaster.

ENERGY giant BP yesterday said it was capturing about a fifth of the estimated oil gushing from its ruptured undersea Gulf of Mexico well and hoped to try to fully stop the flow later this week.

ONE day it was the flowing locks on a client’s head; the next it was being stuffed in women’s nylons and on its way to help soak up the oil that has begun to wash ashore on the US Gulf Coast.

THE US Coast Guard said it was to start a “controlled burn” yesterday to battle a giant oil slick from last week’s deadly offshore drilling rig explosion, as the spill threatened wide-scale coastal damage to four US Gulf Coast states.

“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.

On the same day that New Orleans residents marked the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s wrath, another storm strengthened into a hurricane miles away and threatened to hit the US Gulf Coast once again.

TROPICAL storm Gustav surged toward hurricane force last night as it drove toward Jamaica and aimed for the Cayman islands, prompting evacuations of tourists and offshore oil workers.

Crude oil rose to $70 a barrel in Asian trading today, driven by concerns over declining petrol stocks in the US and Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the international community.

HOURS after Hurricane Katrina lashed the US Gulf Coast, Louisiana’s governor mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans’ protective levees were intact, according to a video which emerged last night.

When it comes to celebrity dog-parenting skills, Joss Stone is tops and Paris Hilton is the worst, according to an online poll of readers of two dog magazines.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will make their first official appearance together in the United States today.

Former President George HW Bush, reminiscing about his political life, said at a fundraiser yesterday that he has enjoyed working with former President Bill Clinton.

Punishing winds and rain pummelled the Mexican island of Cozumel early today and Cancun braced for the brunt of Wilma’s wrath as the massive hurricane inched toward Mexico’s resort-studded coastline, where thousands of stranded tourists took refuge in shelters and hotel ballrooms.

Desperate tourists, trapped after Mexico’s Cancun airport closed, shuttled from luxury hotels to emergency shelters ahead of Hurricane Wilma, which forecasters say is growing stronger.

TROPICAL Storm Wilma strengthened yesterday after forming in the northwestern Caribbean, tying the record for the most named storms in an Atlantic season and following a path that some forecasters believe could menace the Gulf Coast next week as a hurricane.

A new tropical storm has formed in the Caribbean, equalling the record for the most storms formed in the Atlantic in one season.

STORMS battering the US Gulf Coast will soften the immediate economic outlook but rebuilding will boost growth, US Treasury Secretary John Snow told an international financial conference.

Residents along the Texas and Louisiana coasts began clearing away debris today as crews worked to restore electricity to more than one million customers in four states after Hurricane Rita tore through the US Gulf Coast, causing less damage than feared.

HURRICANE Rita's rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee yesterday, cascading into one of the city's lowest-lying neighbourhoods in a repeat of New Orleans's flooding nightmare.

HURRICANE Rita is a storm of breathtaking size, chillingly described by experts as the “perfect storm.”

Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled toward the Gulf Coast as a Category 5, 175-mph monster today as more than 1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana were sent packing on orders from authorities who learned a bitter lesson from Katrina.

OIL prices rose over $1 yesterday as Hurricane Rita threatened US Gulf of Mexico oil facilities, but rising fuel inventories helped ease concern of potential supply disruptions.

OPEC will probably raise its output ceiling this week in an attempt to rein in near-record oil prices, but refining bottlenecks will continue to drive the market and make any potential hike nothing more than a symbolic gesture.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed condolences, Sweden’s Prime Minister said it was a “painful example” of challenges facing the world and the premier of tiny Mauritius pointed out that vulnerable islands could face the same fate as New Orleans.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush headed to the US Gulf Coast yesterday to confront a region where the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina were receding but anger and frustration still overflowed.

Nato nations were today expected to approve plans drawn up by the military to use alliance ships and aircraft to rush European aid to US regions hit by Hurricane Katrina.

The Irish Road Haulage Association has called for government measures to help truckers hit by rising fuel prices.

GLOBAL economic growth will stay above four percent this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, but he warned that the high price of oil posed an increasing risk to the outlook.

Japan is in talks with the International Energy Agency on measures to help ease petroleum supplies in the US Gulf Coast area, including a possible release of some of Japan’s strategic oil reserves, a trade ministry official said today.

NEW ORLEANS’ mayor issued an urgent plea for relief of his flooded city on Thursday as gunshots and looting hampered the evacuation of desperate crowds trying to escape Hurricane Katrina’s destruction.

US President George W Bush, already under fire for the Iraq war, yesterday tried to fight off criticism over his response to Hurricane Katrina as he pleaded with Americans to keep politics out of the disaster.

HELICOPTERS plucked frantic survivors from rooftops yesterday and officials said hundreds of people may have died in Hurricane Katrina’s attack on the US Gulf Coast, which sent a wall of water into Mississippi and flooded New Orleans.

Rick Wilking, New Orleans

Adam Nossiter, New Orleans

Hurricane Lili gave Louisiana’s coast a 100 mph overnight battering that swamped streets, knocked out power and snapped trees.

A man has shot three people before turning the gun on himself and commiting suicide at a US Gulf Coast casino.