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The number of people who died in a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, last week now stands at 15, officials said Tuesday. They also ruled out natural causes as a potential spark for last Wednesday's fire.

Blame shifting was in high gear Tuesday on Capitol Hill and at the White House as the first air traffic delays tied to the furloughs of Federal Aviation Administration controllers began to get attention.

Under current laws, if a background check shows your name is on the national terror watch list, you can still purchase a gun. Government data show that people on terrorism watch lists were able to buy guns or explosives after a background check more than 1,300 times between 2004 and 2010.

Once people figured out how to roast the seeds of the Coffea plant in the 1400s, coffee took over the world. In doing so, it fueled creativity, revolutions, new business ventures, literature, music — and slavery.

Corn production was down last year thanks to drought. This year, conditions are too cold and wet for farmers to plant the crop. Without a break in the clouds pretty soon, there may be another shortage of the crop at harvest time.

It doesn't take much effort to find bags of coffee with labels that promise social and environmental improvements. But each one of these certification programs promises something different for the farmer and the land — and every promise involves some compromises.

In Boston on Tuesday, residents and business owners on Boylston Street were allowed to return for the first time since last week's bombings. They returned to stores with windows blown out, restaurants with the remains of uneaten meals still sitting on tables and barricades to keep the public away from the scene.

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.

There are reports that the suspects planned to head to New York City next. Also, surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is said to have told investigators the plot was put together only recently.

Officials say the eight-story building on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, housed several garment factories. More than 85 people are dead, and officials expect the toll to rise.