CHEAT SHEET
TOP 10 RIGHT NOW
Despite dropping from hurricane status, tropical storm Alex continued to hinder cleanup efforts on Thursday, preventing BP from increasing its containment capacity to 53,000 barrels a day from roughly 28,000. The heavy winds also pushed more oil-polluted water toward the coast, where relief teams had to temporarily stop spraying dispersant chemicals and burning oil. Meanwhile, BP dispelled a rumor that it had managed to cap the leak, which boosted shares in London on Thursday morning. "That would be really good news, but that's not the information we have," a BP spokesman said. It added that the gushing would still go on for at least several weeks.