Tentative deal could be in place in 24 hours: During marathon talks Thursday, significant progress on a major sticking point in the NFL labor impasse—soaring rookie salaries—raised hopes that a tentative agreement in principle could perhaps come within 24 hours, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. They cautioned, however, that other key issues remain for owners and players to resolve, including free agency and new off-season workout rules. The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations aimed at ending the NFL’s four-month-long lockout are supposed to be confidential. After meeting for nearly 15 hours Thursday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith, players and owners were back at the negotiating table today attempting to end the sport’s first work stoppage since 1987.
Will improve reliability of cement and fail-safe devices: A year after it capped its out-of-control well in the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP says it is taking new steps to improve the reliability of the cement used to seal its wells and of the fail-safe devices used to prevent blowouts. The U.S. government welcomed the voluntary measures announced by the British firm, which seemed to target shortcomings addressed in several investigations of the disaster; but U.S. officials also noted that it has already established what it believes are strong safety and environmental standards that all operators are required to meet in order to operate in deep waters. Eleven men were killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded off Louisiana on April 20, 2010, leading to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The well was capped on July 15, 2010, and permanently sealed from the bottom two months later.
