AP - Louisiana's state-run insurer is nearing a mass settlement with homeowners that would be the first deal of its kind in the state since hurricanes Rita and Katrina led to thousands of lawsuits, an attorney for the homeowners said Monday.

AP - Hurricane Katrina's damage was so vast that it's hard to estimate when the recovery will be completed, the federal official overseeing the effort said Thursday.

AP - Louisiana's state-run insurer is nearing a mass settlement with homeowners that would be the first deal of its kind in the state since hurricanes Rita and Katrina led to thousands of lawsuits, an attorney for the homeowners said Monday.

AP - Large businesses awarded million-dollar government contracts for Hurricane Katrina cleanup are bending or exploiting rules aimed at helping small companies share the work, congressional investigators said Thursday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush, under fire for slow reconstruction efforts in areas wrecked by Hurricane Katrina, visited the Gulf of Mexico Thursday telling victims he had not forgotten about them.

AP - Watching for changes in the inner eyewall of a hurricane may help forecasters overcome one of their most perplexing challenges: predicting sudden strengthening or weakening.

AFP - Flying research aircraft into the intense hurricanes of 2005 has given scientists new insight into how the massive storms suddenly gain and lose strength, according to a study out Thursday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush faced new pressure to jump-start the recovery from Hurricane Katrina on Thursday as he toured the Gulf Coast region hit by the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

AP - Louisiana's state-run insurer is nearing a mass settlement with homeowners that would be the first deal of its kind in the state since hurricanes Rita and Katrina led to thousands of lawsuits, an attorney for the homeowners said Monday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush faced new pressure to jump-start the recovery from Hurricane Katrina on Thursday as he toured the Gulf Coast region hit by the worst U.S. natural disaster.

AP - President Bush on Thursday acknowledged the deep frustration of Hurricane Katrina victims and said the federal government shares the blame for the slow recovery of the Gulf Coast.

AP - Large businesses awarded million-dollar government contracts for Hurricane Katrina cleanup are bending or exploiting rules aimed at helping small companies share the work, congressional investigators said Thursday.

Reuters - Scientists using data from planes flying into a large hurricane have documented changes inside these swirling storms that can quickly alter their intensity, and say these insights can improve forecasting.

AP - Louisiana's state-run insurer is nearing a mass settlement with homeowners that would be the first deal of its kind in the state since hurricanes Rita and Katrina led to thousands of lawsuits, an attorney for the homeowners said Monday.

AP - The National Guard and Reserves don't get enough money or equipment and are left out of important planning for national emergencies, an independent panel concluded Thursday, long after the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina exposed serious stresses on the services.

Reuters - The likelihood of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season is growing as a Pacific Ocean El Nino system, which drove storms away from the Gulf Coast in 2006, ended in the past few weeks, meteorologists said on Thursday.

AP - Watching for changes in the inner eyewall of a hurricane may help forecasters overcome one of their most perplexing challenges: predicting sudden strengthening or weakening. The ability to predict what path a hurricane will follow has improved dramatically in recent years, but anticipating sudden changes in intensity has remained a problem.

AP - Large businesses awarded million-dollar government contracts for Hurricane Katrina cleanup are bending or exploiting rules aimed at helping small companies share the work, congressional investigators said Thursday.