Earl threatens East Coast with weekend pounding (AP)
AP - Hurricane Earl packed winds near 125 mph as it blew toward North Carolina on Thursday putting the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Canada on alert for a Labor Day weekend pounding by waves gales and rain.
Oil sheen spreading from Gulf platform explosion (AP)
AP - A mile-long oil sheen spread Thursday from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana west of the site of BP's massive spill.

