‘Top Kill’ Effort Seems to Be Working, U.S. Says Cautiously  —  HOUSTON — The latest effort to plug a gushing underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be working, officials and engineers said on Thursday morning, though definitive word on its success was still hours away.

BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast  —  WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.

Obama gives press conference on Deepwater Horizon oil leak, containment efforts, oversight reforms  —  President Obama on Thursday began a news conference in which he was expected to announce a six-month ban on drilling new deepwater oil wells and cancel plans for exploratory drilling …

Obama: Critics 'don't know the facts'  —  Tackling an environmental crisis quickly becoming one of the most serious political threats to his presidency, President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that critics of the federal government's response to the oil spill in the Gulf “don't know the facts.”

DEFINE ‘SUFFICIENTLY ENRAGED’.... The New York Times's Jeff Zeleny live-blogged President Obama's press conference this afternoon, and wrapped things up asking whether the president demonstrated to the country that he's “in control of the crisis on the Gulf.” … At least he resisted the urge to compare Obama to Spock.