LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wildfire investigators in California are looking for marijuana growers tied to a Mexican drug cartel they suspect of igniting a blaze that has charred more than 87,000 acres of a national forest.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Bill, the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season, revved up quickly as it headed toward Bermuda on Monday, while the remnants of Tropical Storm Ana posed a waning threat to the U.S. Gulf oil patch.

MARTHA’S VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS, Aug 16 - Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s pay czar, said on Sunday he has broad and “binding” authority over executive compensation, including the ability to “claw back” money already paid, and he is weighing how and whether to use that power.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. banking regulators have asked prospective buyers of struggling Texas bank Guaranty Financial Group to submit bids by Monday, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

CARACAS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is “lost in the Andromeda” galaxy on Latin American policy, his chief critic in the region, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said on Sunday, while demanding the closure of U.S. military bases.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As American consumers abandon gas-guzzling SUVs for greener alternatives, they also face a new kind of sticker shock — confusing claims about the energy efficiency of electric cars heading for showrooms.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Claudette, the third of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Sunday and was expected to move ashore within hours in the Florida panhandle.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storms Ana and Bill, the first named storms of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, were racing westward with gale force winds, and Bill was expected to develop into a hurricane in the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people near the surfing town of Santa Cruz, emptying wineries and rustic homes on Friday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts’ top securities regulator is trying to locate all investors who lost money in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and said he has no plans to settle a lawsuit against one of the swindler’s feeder funds.