Royal Dutch Shell is pushing ahead with plans for the world's deepest offshore oil and gas production facility. It will be nearly two miles beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. It is testing the bounds of the oil and gas industry's capability to drill ever deeper.

In Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday, children took to downtown streets in a reenactment of historic events there 50 years ago. It's part of a series of events this year marking Birmingham's crucial role in the civil rights movement.

James Everett Dutschke faces charges of sending poisoned letters to President Obama and other officials. He's the second suspect federal authorities have arrested in the case. Another man was released from jail last week after a lack of physical evidence tying him to the ricin-tainted letters.

Philadelphia journalist and author Rod Dreher moved back to his hometown in Louisiana after his sister died there in 2010, and adopted the community she left behind. His experiences led to the book The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life.

The federal probe of poisoned letters sent to President Obama and others has taken an abrupt change of course. On Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors dropped charges against the Mississippi man first arrested in the case. FBI agents have taken their search for clues to another man's house in Tupelo.

Authorities have dropped charges against a man accused of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Obama and Congress.

For years, the Doolittle Raiders have met to remember their World War II mission. They were the first to fly bombing raids over Tokyo. With few surviving members, they will meet for the last time this week.

The giant sinkhole is threatening a neighborhood in southern Louisiana. A salt mine collapsed last year, creating a series of problems regulators say they've never seen before, including tremors and oil and gas leaks and a sinkhole that covers 9 acres. Residents are losing patience.

It's not unusual for states to offer up tax breaks and other incentives to lure industry. Now, Alabama is adding a new enticement for European airplane maker Airbus and its suppliers: protection from legal liability.

A federal judge will hear testimony Tuesday in a civil suit over who is to blame and who should be financially liable for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, the court in New Orleans heard more than eight hours of opening statements from lawyers for the government and several defendants.

Some who live along the Gulf Coast say the $4.5 billion in criminal and civil penalties aren't enough. Local authorities will continue to press their cases.

Active duty and retired members of the military are an important voting bloc in Florida, which holds its primary Tuesday. But which of the remaining four GOP candidates best represents the issues of military voters?