Today’s accountability news:

• As an oil spill spreads in the Gulf of Mexico, The Wall Street Journal reports that the BP well involved in the leak lacked a safeguard device that might have prevented or limited the extent of the spill.
• A provision in the House financial reform bill would shift enforcement power over the Internet to the Federal Trade Commission, The Washington Post says. This comes on the heels of a court battle over the extent of the Federal Communications Commission’s regulatory power over the Internet.
• The Associated Press details a debate among legal scholars over whether the CIA’s secret use of remotely piloted drone aircraft against terrorists in Pakistan and Yemen is illegal assassination or self-defense.
• A new study by the American Lung Association reveals that “175 million people — more than half the population — are still living in areas where the air is often too dangerous to breathe,” NPR reports.
• The Obama administration is trying to force a New York Times reporter, James Risen, to testify in a leak case and reveal his confidential sources, the paper reports. The subpoena, authorized by Attorney General Eric Holder, involves a chapter in Risen’s book “State of War” dealing with failed U.S. attempts to infiltrate Iran’s nuclear weapons research.

These stories are part of our ongoing roundup of investigations from other news outlets. For more, visit our Investigations Elsewhere page.