National (U.S.)

The smoke from wildfires can have harmful effects on human health, especially for children, seniors, and the chronically ill.

"Tropical Storm Katia, which lost its Category 1 hurricane charateristics Thursday evening, is not expected to strengthen much on Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest report. "

"Record-breaking triple-digit temperatures were prolonging a devastating drought that has been baking the South and the dry spell could extend into next year and beyond, climate experts said on Thursday."

"A new study says firefighters who toiled in the wreckage of the World Trade Center in 2001 were 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who were not there, the strongest evidence to date of a possible link between work at ground zero and cancer."

"The earthquake that shook the East Coast last week rattled casks holding radioactive nuclear waste at a Virginia plant, moving them as much as 4.5 inches from their original position, the plant's operator said.

The 5.8-magnitude quake shifted 25 casks, each 16 feet tall and weighing 115 tons, on a concrete pad at Dominion Resources Inc's North Anna nuclear plant."

Roberta Rampton reports for Reuters September 1, 2011.

"NEW ORLEANS -- A slow-moving tropical depression was slogging toward the U.S. Gulf coast Friday, packing walloping rains that could drench the region with up to 20 inches (50 centimeters). In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal said he was concerned about the serious threat of flash flooding in his state and he declared a state of emergency Thursday. After devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005, nothing is being taken for granted."

"Texas governor Rick Perry tried to sideline a state commissioner who opposed expanding the scope of a nuclear-waste landfill owned by one of the governor's biggest political donors, Reuters has learned."

"The risk that an earthquake would cause a severe accident at a U.S. nuclear plant is greater than previously thought, 24 times as high in one case, according to an AP analysis of preliminary government data. The nation's nuclear regulator believes a quarter of America's reactors may need modifications to make them safer."

"A major fruit company's lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration could have a chilling effect on regulators' efforts to get tainted food off the market. Florida-based Del Monte Fresh Produce is striking back at the FDA with a lawsuit after the agency halted imports of its Guatemalan cantaloupes, saying they may be contaminated with salmonella. Such a lawsuit is extremely rare, and the threat of litigation could make officials more reluctant to tell the public about the possibility of contamination in food."