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Three cabinet ministers, led by Foreign Secretary William Hague, have arrived in Kabul to meet political and military leaders in the Afghan capital. Mr Hague, Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell are looking at ways to accelerate Afghan troop training. Dr Fox said he was seeking to pull out UK troops “as soon as possible” and Britain was not a “global policeman”. But Mr Mitchell said it was “crucial” to create a functioning Afghan state. Interviewed by journalists on their RAF flight into Kabul, the ministers indicated they were not planning any significant changes to UK policy on Afghanistan. And Dr Fox said the sacrifices of British troops remained essential. “When I got this job the very first question I asked myself was ‘do we have to be in Afghanistan, do our troops have to take these costs of life and limb?’ And my answer is still ‘yes’.” We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country Liam Fox, defence secretary However, in an earlier interview with The Times, Dr Fox suggested he was seeking ways of getting troops home. “We need to accept we are at the limit of numbers now and I would like the forces to come back as soon as possible,” he said. In the first Afghanistan visit of the new coalition government, he confirmed the ministers would be examining whether Afghans could manage their own security by 2014 – as suggested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan. “I want to talk to people on the ground, our trainers, to see whether there is room to accelerate [Afghan troop training] without diminishing the quality.” ‘Stable society crucial’ He also argued that British troops were not in the country to fix Afghan society. “We have to reset expectations and timelines,” he said. “National security is the focus now. We are not a global policeman. We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened.” We need to ensure that we help the Afghan people to build a functioning state Andrew Mitchell, international development secretary The BBC’s Mark Dummett in Kabul said these were “strong words” from Dr Fox that signalled the new administration was considering a different approach to the war from its Labour predecessors. Meanwhile, however, Mr Mitchell has insisted it is “absolutely crucial” to create a stable society in Afghanistan. “We need to ensure that we help the Afghan people to build a functioning state,” he said. “That’s about providing basic education and healthcare facilities, but it’s also about ensuring there are opportunities for promoting livelihoods so that people have jobs.” Col Richard Kemp, former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there seemed to be a “change of approach” from the government but that ministers needed to “get their act together on the message”. Battling the insurgents that threatened the security of Britain and creating a functioning Afghan state and were both valid objectives, he said. “The priority, as Liam Fox says, is to deal with the security situation in Afghanistan and to ensure the streets of the UK and the rest of the world are safer than they are at present. “But in order for them to do that, we must rebuild and repair the society in Afghanistan – and that does include things like education policy, the economy, governance etc.” Nato restructuring Mr Hague earlier said the three ministers were travelling together to ensure they had “a properly coherent British approach to Afghanistan”. He added: “The question is how to support the efforts of the Afghan government and our Nato partners, not whether to support them.” The three Conservative ministers will meet senior Afghan politicians, including President Hamid Karzai, and General McChrystal. The talks come after a Sea King helicopter carrying British troops was hit by enemy fire while landing in Helmand province in the south of Afghanistan. An Army spokesman said the aircraft was arriving at a checkpoint in the Nad-e Ali on Friday when it was hit. The Ministry of Defence has also announced that about 8,000 British troops based in Helmand province are to come under the operational command of the US. The move is part of a restructuring of Nato forces, with command and control in southern Afghanistan split into two.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said it will not be feasible to entirely remove a controversial US base from the island of Okinawa. The US Marines’ Futenma base is deeply unpopular with Japanese and removing it had been a key election pledge of the prime minister. But on a visit to the island, Mr Hatoyama said “realistically speaking, it is impossible” to fully relocate it. The base is home to more than half the 47,000 American troops based in Japan. “I really feel sorry as I visit here today that I must ask for the Okinawan people’s understanding that part of the base operations would have to stay,” the AFP news agency quoted Mr Hatoyama as saying. He said maintaining the base in some form was needed for national security, under Japan’s post-war military alliance with the US. Protests Mr Hatoyama, who had promised to resolve the issue by the end of May, was speaking on his first visit to Okinawa since becoming prime minister. He appealed to the people of Okinawa to accept a compromise agreement and to “share the burden” of the base. Japan and the US agreed a deal in 2006 to reduce US troop presence in Okinawa and move personnel away from built-up areas, but Mr Hatoyama had favoured removing troops completely. The row over Futenma has undermined support for Japan’s centre-left government and damaged its ties with the US. Last month, nearly 100,000 people staged a protest on the southern island, demanding that the base be removed. Islanders have been angered by incidents involving US troops based there, including the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three US servicemen. Other complaints have focused on noise levels and objections to the US military use of Japanese land.

The US government has designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an “incident of national significance”. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters that this move would allow resources to be ordered in from other areas of the US. The US military has joined efforts to stem oil leaking from the well beneath where a rig exploded and sank last week, as fears rise about its scale. The US Coast Guard says oil is expected to start washing ashore on Friday. Rear Admiral Mary Landry said 5,000 barrels a day – five times more than initially thought – were believed to be gushing into the sea off Louisiana. Ms Napolitano is to go to the area to oversee operations. ANALYSIS Andy Gallacher, BBC News, Venice, Louisiana News that up to five times as much oil is now leaking from the sunken rig have given a new sense of urgency to the situation here on the Gulf Coast. The huge slick is now close to reaching land and if the weather turns as forecasters predict, the oil may reach the coastline sooner than thought. Attempts at controlled burns may be inevitable but Louisiana is now asking for outside help to try to stem the flow of oil. There is some dispute as to how much oil is now spewing from the sunken rig but all along this delicate coastline, officials are preparing themselves for what could be a huge environmental disaster. Meanwhile, the government had ordered inspections of all deep-water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico to see if anti-spill regulations are being followed. The oil slick caused by the leak from the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig is 45 miles by 105 miles. If the coastguard estimate is correct, within two months the spill could match the 11 million gallons spilt from the Exxon Valdez tanker off Alaska in 1989. BP’s chief operating officer of exploration and production, Doug Suttles, welcomed the US military’s offer of help. He said the company was using remote operative vehicles (ROVs) to try to find out how much oil was leaking into the sea. “This is very, very difficult to estimate,” Mr Suttles told reporters. “Down below the surface we actually can’t meter this oil so we can just observe it… what our ROV pictures show to us on the sea floor hasn’t changed since we first saw the leak… but what we can say based on what we’re picking up on the surface it looks like it is more.” Mr Suttles estimated something between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels a day was leaking. Meanwhile, a firefighting expert said the disaster may become the biggest oil spill ever. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mike Miller, head of Canadian oil well firefighting company Safety Boss, told the BBC World Service: “Probably the only thing comparable to this is the Kuwait fires [following the Gulf War in 1991]. “The Exxon Valdez is going to pale in comparison to this as it goes on.” Scientists say only a quarter of local marine wildlife survived the Exxon Valdez disaster. Controlled burn The scale of the operation to contain the oil spill and protect both the US coastline and wildlife is unprecedented, with the military and other government agencies collaborating with BP – which had hired the sunken rig – and industry leaders. Efforts to stem the flow are being complicated by the depth of the leak at the underwater well, which is about 5,000ft (1,525m) beneath the surface. A coastguard crew has set fire to part of the oil slick in an attempt to save environmentally-fragile wetlands. A “controlled burn” of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi River delta. But Mr Miller warned that burning off leaking oil was not a long-term solution. “The object of this game is to shut off the flow,” he said. Relief well Engineers are working on a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but it may be weeks before this is in place. OIL SPILL DISASTERS 1991: 520m gallons were deliberately released from Iraqi oil tankers during the first Gulf War to impede the US invasion 1979: 140m gallons were spilt over nine months after a well blow-out in the Bay of Campeche off Mexico’s coast 1979: 90m gallons leaked from a Greek oil tanker after it collided with another ship off the coast of Trinidad 1983: 80m gallons leaked into the Gulf over several months after a tanker collided with a drilling platform 1989: 11m gallons were spilt into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in the Exxon Valdez disaster Richard Black’s blog In pictures: Efforts to contain leak Send us your comments It is feared that work on sealing the leaking well using robotic submersibles might take months. BP is also working on a “relief well” to intersect the original well, but this is experimental and could take two to three months to stop the flow. Seventy vessels – oil skimmers, tugboats barges and special recovery boats that separate oil from water – as well as five aeroplanes, were working to spray dispersants and round up oil, BP said. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. Louisiana’s coast contains some 40% of the nation’s wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds. AFP news agency reports that two Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of the rig of negligence, and seeking at least $5m in damages plus undetermined punitive damages. Under US law, BP will be expected to meet all the costs of the spill clean-up operation. Are you in the area? Are you affected by the oil slick, or have you seen it spreading? Send us your comments using the form below. You can also send us your pictures and videos to +44 7725 100100 or email them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk Find out more about how to send your pictures At no time should you put yourself or others at risk. Name: Email address: Town and Country: Phone number (optional): Comments: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.

Women can now serve on US submarines, after a ban was lifted. The US defence department had announced the move in February and the deadline for any objection from Congress passed at midnight on Wednesday. Training women for their new duties and the creation of appropriate quarters mean it could be more than a year before women take up their posts. The cramped conditions had previously precluded women, despite serving alongside men on surface ships. About 15% of US navy personnel are women. Training course Defence Secretary Robert Gates had given Congress notice that the ban would end unless it objected and that deadline passed at midnight on Wednesday. ANALYSIS Adam Brookes, BBC News, Washington Admirers of the United States military often describe it as a progressive organisation. On the gender front, however, submariners have been hold-outs. Female sailors on submarines, some have argued, will compromise missions when they become pregnant, will complicate the already fragile social ecosystem of the submarine, and will add stress to wives ashore. Senior military officers seem confident these grumbles will disappear, and soon women will be accepted aboard the way they are on aircraft carriers and in the cockpit of combat aircraft. This change is one small part of a broader transformation of attitudes in the US military, a transformation which reflects changes in US society as a whole towards race, gender, class and sexuality. The Navy may find its plan to ban smoking aboard submarines meets tougher resistance than its plan to allow women to serve in the dark, silent depths. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement: “There are extremely capable women in the navy who have the talent and desire to succeed in the submarine force. “We literally could not run the navy without women today.” The first women submariners are likely to be aboard ballistic and guided-missile submarines as they have more living space and will not require alterations. However, there is a 15-month submarine officer training course. Chief of Naval Operations, Adm Gary Roughead, said: “It would be foolish to not take the great talent, the great confidence and intellect of the young women who serve in our navy today and bring that into our submarine force.” The US navy has also announced another key change to service requirements. As of 31 December, smoking will no longer be allowed on submarines. There are estimated to be more than 5,000 submariner smokers but they will be expected to fall in line with the general ban on indoor smoking the military imposed in 1993. Are you a submariner? What do you think about the end of the ban? Are you a woman who would like to become a submariner? You can send us your views using the form below: A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. Name Your E-mail address Town & Country Phone number (optional): Comments The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions

The US military has joined efforts to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as fears rise about its scale. Five times as much oil as previously thought could be leaking from the well beneath where a rig exploded and sank last week, US officials said earlier. The slick is 45 miles (72km) by 105 miles (169km) – almost the size of Jamaica – and heading for the US coast. A third leak has been discovered, and a fire-fighting expert said the disaster may become the biggest oil spill ever. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. “Probably the only thing comparable to this is the Kuwait fires [following the Gulf War in 1991],” Mike Miller, head of Canadian oil well fire-fighting company Safety Boss, told the BBC World Service. “The Exxon Valdez [tanker disaster off Alaska in 1989] is going to pale [into insignificance] in comparison to this as it goes on.” Scientists say only a quarter of local marine wildlife survived the Exxon Valdez disaster. Some 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day were now thought to be gushing into the sea 50 miles off Louisiana’s coast, said the US Coastguard’s Rear Admiral Mary Landry. If those estimates are correct, the spill could match the 11m gallons spilt from the Exxon Valdez within two months. Controlled burn The scale of the operation to contain the oil spill and protect both the US coastline and wildlife is unprecendented, with the military and other government agencies collaborating with BP – which had hired the sunken rig – and industry leaders. ANALYSIS Andy Gallacher, BBC News, Venice, Louisiana Despite efforts to burn off the oil, the crews here are now battling against the odds. The US Coast Guard’s discovery of another leak spewing oil from the collapsed rig has many here bracing for an environmental disaster on a huge scale. An estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day are now pouring into the Gulf of Mexico and forecasters say a new weather front could push the slick towards this coastline at an even faster rate. The state of Louisiana is now asking for emergency assistance as the oil slick draws closer. It now seems inevitable that Louisiana’s coastline will be hit and at least another two states could be affected. Welcoming the US military’s offer of help, BP’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company would take help from anyone to combat the spill, but gave no specifics of what form that help might take. Efforts to stem the flow are being complicated by the depth of the leak at the underwater well, which is about 5,000ft (1,525m) beneath the surface. Weather forecasters have meanwhile warned that changing winds could drive the oil slick ashore by Friday night. Its leading edge is now only 20 miles (32km) east of the mouth of the Mississippi. A coast guard crew has set fire to part of the oil slick in an attempt to save environmentally-fragile wetlands. The “controlled burn” of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi river delta. But Mr Miller warned that burning off leaking oil was not a long-term solution. “The object of this game is to shut off the flow,” he said. Relief well Engineers are working on a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but it may be weeks before this is in place. It is feared that work on sealing the leaking well using robotic submersibles might take months. BP is also working on a “relief well” to intersect the original well, but this is experimental and could take two to three months to stop the flow. President Barack Obama had been briefed on the new developments, and BP has welcomed the offer of assistance from the defence department to help contain the spill. Seventy vessels – oil skimmers, tugboats barges and special recovery boats that separate oil from water – as well as five aeroplanes were working to spray dispersants and round up oil, BP said. Burn zone Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. OIL SPILL DISASTERS 1991: 520m gallons were deliberately released from Iraqi oil tankers during the first Gulf War to impede the US invasion 1979: 140m gallons were spilt over nine months after a well blow-out in the Bay of Campeche off Mexico’s coast 1979: 90m gallons leaked from a Greek oil tanker after it collided with another ship off the coast of Trinidad 1983: 80m gallons leaked into the Gulf over several months after a tanker collided with a drilling platform 1989: 11m gallons were spilt into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in the Exxon Valdez disaster Richard Black’s blog In pictures: Efforts to contain leak Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the top priority was “to protect our citizens and the environment”. With the spill moving towards Louisiana’s coast, which contains some 40% of the nation’s wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds, it was hoped a “controlled burn” of oil contained by special booms would limit the impact. Environmental experts say animals nearby might be affected by toxic fumes, but perhaps not as much as if they were coated in oil. On Wednesday afternoon, BP and coastguard boats swept the thickest concentrations of oil into a fire-resistant boom. This was then towed to a five-mile “burn zone” set up inside the slick, where it was set alight shortly before nightfall. Are you in the area? Are you affected by the oil slick, or have you seen it spreading? Send us your comments using the form below. You can also send us your pictures and videos to +44 7725 100100 or email them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk Find out more about how to send your pictures At no time should you put yourself or others at risk. Name: Email address: Town and Country: Phone number (optional): Comments: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.

Republicans in the US Senate have dropped their objection to a debate on the most significant reforms to financial regulations since the 1930s. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Republicans would “at last allow debate on the bill to bring accountability to Wall Street”. Republicans had blocked action on the bill for three consecutive days. The agreement came after Democrats threatened to hold an extraordinary all-night session in the Senate. Republicans insisted they had won some crucial concessions from Democrats, including the elimination of a $50bn (?32.9bn) fund that would be used to help pay for dismantling big financial firms in distress. President Barack Obama said he was “very pleased” the proposals would be debated, and that Americans must never again allow the financial practices that triggered the global economic crisis. “The time for reform is now,” he said in a speech in Illinois. But he warned that he would oppose any legislation that he felt was too heavily influenced by lobbyists trying to protect Wall Street. ‘Wide-ranging implications’ In an apparent victory for President Obama and his Democratic colleagues, Republican Senators said on Wednesday that they would no longer negotiate behind closed doors over the bill, and would try to change some of its provisions through open, formal discussion. [I] will work aggressively in the days ahead to ensure that the majority does not use our mutual interest in regulating Wall Street to extend the federal government’s unwanted hand into Main Street Sen Richard Shelby “I believe we owed the American people our best effort to make whatever changes we could to this incredibly complex piece of legislation because it will have wide-ranging implications for our economy,” Sen Richard Shelby, the senior Republican on the banking committee, said in a statement. He added: “I remain deeply troubled by a number of provisions in this bill and will work aggressively in the days ahead to ensure that the majority does not use our mutual interest in regulating Wall Street to extend the federal government’s unwanted hand into Main Street.” Sen Shelby said he had been assured that the Democrats would consider Republican amendments during the debate. “It’s time for this debate to begin,” Sen Dodd said. “And it must be a serious, vigorous debate. It is time for the Senate to operate as the Senate should.” “Members must be allowed to offer amendments. We must allow many voices to be heard as we work to create a sound foundation for our nation’s future economic strength,” he added. Wall Street has fiercely resisted President Obama’s financial reforms The BBC’s Madeleine Morris in Washington says the two parties still have differences, such as over establishing a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve that would have power to police transactions between institutions that provide financial services and their customers. Sen Shelby said the “massive new bureaucracy would have unchecked authority to regulate whatever it wants, whenever it wants, however it wants”. The Republicans still control enough votes in the Senate to prevent any bill from being passed. The Democrats have 59 seats, one short of the number required to defeat a filibuster, a method used to delay or block the passage of legislation. But our correspondent says there is widespread public support for tightening the regulation of Wall Street, and both sides expect a bill to be approved eventually. It will be months, however, before a final vote is held, she adds.

The Foreign Office has apologised for a “foolish” document which suggested the Pope’s UK visit could be marked by the launch of “Benedict-branded” condoms. The junior civil servant responsible had been put on other duties, it said. Called “The ideal visit would see…”, the paper suggested the Pope be invited to open an abortion clinic and bless a gay marriage during September’s visit. The Foreign Office stressed the paper, which resulted from a “brainstorm” on the visit, did not reflect its views. The document was obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. The UK’s ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met senior officials of the Holy See to express regret on behalf of the government. ‘Song with Queen’ Foreign Secretary David Miliband is said to have been “appalled” by its contents. The paper was attached as one of three “background documents” to a memo dated 5 March 2010 inviting officials in Whitehall and Downing Street to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit. It suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by “sacking dodgy bishops” and launching a helpline for abused children. The individual responsible… has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view Foreign Office spokesman It went on to propose the Pope could apologise for the Spanish Armada or sing a song with the Queen for charity. It listed “positive” public figures who could be made part of the Pope’s visit, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and 2009 Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle, and those considered “negative”, such as Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and prominent atheist Richard Dawkins. The official responsible said in a cover note: “Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The ‘ideal visit’ paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas.” An investigation was launched after some recipients of the memo objected to its tone. ‘Deeply sorry’ A Foreign Office spokesman said the department was “deeply sorry” for any offence the document had caused. “This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful,” he said. “The text was not cleared or shown to ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation. “The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view.” The Foreign Office said the memo had resulted from discussions by a group of three or four junior staff in a team working on the papal visit. Earlier this year the Pope announced 2010 would see the first papal visit to the UK since John Paul II’s of 1982. Pope Benedict XVI’s visit will take place from 16 to 19 September, during which time he is expected to visit Birmingham, as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, and Scotland.

A prototype spaceplane developed for the US military has been launched into orbit from Florida. The X-37B, which has been likened to a scaled-down space shuttle, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 0052 BST (1952 EDT). The military vehicle is unpiloted and will carry out the first autonomous re-entry and landing in the history of the US space programme. The spacecraft can return experiments to Earth for inspection and analysis. At 9m long (29ft), 4.5m (15ft), the reusable spaceplane is about one quarter the size of the shuttle, with a large engine mounted at the rear of the ship for orbit changing. And while the space shuttle uses a fuel cell power system; the military vehicle is powered by a solar array and lithium-ion batteries. The precise objectives and cost of the programme are secret. But the first few flights will allow officials to evaluate the vehicle’s performance and ensure components and systems work the way they are supposed to. It might be at this point in time that [the Air Force is] going to roll the dice and see if something good happens Dr Joan Johnson-Freese US Naval War College “The top priority technology demonstration on this first flight is the vehicle itself,” Gary Payton, the US Air Force’s deputy under secretary for space programs, told journalists on a teleconference this week. “Getting it into orbit, getting the payload bay doors open, the solar array deployed, learning about on-orbit attitude control and bringing it all back.” The X-37B was launched vertically atop an Atlas V rocket. The Air Force (USAF) says the vehicle will be used to test advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics and high temperature structures and seals. The Pentagon has not specified a duration for this mission, but the X-37B is designed to operate on orbit for up to 270 days: “In all honesty, we don’t know when it’s coming back for sure. It depends on the progress that we make with the on-orbit experiments, the on-orbit demonstrations,” said Mr Payton. Once the mission is complete, a command will be sent from the ground prompting the 5,000kg (11,000lb) spaceplane to fire its engine to re-enter the atmosphere. It will then autonomously navigate its way to the 4.5km (15,000ft) -long primary runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The X-37B started life in 1999 as a US space agency programme, but Nasa handed the project over to the Pentagon in September 2004. As such, the Air Force is in a position to talk openly about the craft’s design, but its purpose remains classified. Dr Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of national security and decision making at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, said the military would be waiting to see if this project yielded new capabilities: “It might be at this point in time that [the US Air Force is] going to roll the dice and see if something good happens. “If it does, they’ll continue with it. Otherwise, this will be another one of those [experimental] projects that goes into a bin somewhere.” Second plane The USAF has requisitioned a second experimental plane from the prime contractor Boeing; this is being targeted for launch sometime in 2011. Speculation about the craft’s purpose has led to accusations that the project could move us a step closer to the weaponisation of space. Mr Payton responded: “I don’t know how this could be called weaponisation of space. It’s just an updated version of the space shuttle type of activities in space. We, the Air Force, have a suite of military missions in space and this new vehicle could potentially help us do those missions better.” Dr Johnson-Freese told BBC News: “At one point they were talking about an ability to loiter in space. The Air Force has a long history of wanting a spaceplane with those kinds of capabilities.” “If in fact it lives up to its speculated hype, it could be a manoeuvrable satellite. You could move it to, for example, hover over the straits of Taiwan and it could evade attempts to shoot it down. It could do a lot of things that up until this point have been mostly fiction.” One space propulsion expert told BBC News said that the spacecraft would have to expend lots of fuel in order to hover and thus would only be able to do so for limited periods of time. The programme is now led by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO). Edwards Air Force Base, also in California, has been designated as the vehicle’s back-up landing facility. The Soviet Union carried out an autonomous re-entry and landing with its Buran space shuttle in 1988. Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

A consortium of nine companies has won the right to build a hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil. Brazil’s electricity regulator said the Norte Energia consortium would build the Belo Monte dam, to which indigenous groups and environmentalists object. It is led by the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco. Officials say the dam on the Xingu River is crucial for development, but critics argue thousands of people will be displaced and an ecosystem damaged. The bidding had been halted three times before a final appeal by the government allowed the winning bidder to be announced. Low returns About 500 people gathered on Tuesday outside the offices of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (Aneel) in the capital, Brasilia, to protest against the auction. ANALYSIS Paulo Cabral, BBC News, Sao Paulo About 80% of the energy in Brazil comes from hydroelectric dams and the government is serious about building new ones. The state-owned Energy Research Company estimates that only a third of the hydroelectric potential of the country has been tapped into. And most of the remaining sites lie in the Amazon basin. Hydroelectric power is often praised as renewable and low-emission, but it often causes disruption to nature and people. Environmentalists say Brazil should be looking into increasing the efficiency of current power plants and using alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, instead of building dams. But the government says that it has to produce a lot of energy to feed a booming economy and that burning oil, gas or coal in conventional power plants would be the only other viable option. With the Belo Monte dam and other similar projects moving forward, the debate over where development conflicts with conservation is likely to grow just as aggressively. The environmentalist group, Greenpeace, dumped several tonnes of manure at the door to demonstrate what it said was “the legacy that the Lula government is leaving by insisting on this project”. But after a last-minute injunction was lifted, Aneel announced that Norte Energia had won the rights to develop the Belo Monte dam with an offer of 77.97 reals ($57.12) per megawatt produced. There was only one other competitor – the Belo Monte consortium. Earlier this month, two of Brazil’s biggest construction companies walked away from the bidding process, saying the financial returns were too low. The government had set a maximum price of 83 reals per megawatt. The proposal to build a hydro-electric dam on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon in the northern state of Para, has long been a source of controversy. The initial project was abandoned in the 1990s amid widespread protests both in Brazil and around the world. Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will threaten the survival of indigenous groups, and the lives of up to 40,000 people could be affected as 500 sq km of land would be flooded. Luis Xipaya, an indigenous leader in the city of Altamira, near the proposed dam, said 150 Xikrin Kayapo Indians would move to the construction site by Wednesday. “There will be bloodshed and the government will be responsible for that,” he told the Reuters news agency. The government has dismissed the criticism and promised the winning consortium would pay $800m to protect the environment. The 11,000 MW dam would be third largest in the world, after the Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay. It is expected to provide electricity to 23 million homes. With Brazil’s economy continuing to show signs of growth, ministers say hydro-electric plants are a vital way to ensure power supplies over the next decade – and at least 70 dams are said to be planned for the Amazon region. Critics say the Belo Monte plant will be hugely inefficient, generating less than 10% of its capacity during the three to four months of the year when water levels are low.

Europe’s airlines and airports have called for an immediate reassessment of flight restrictions imposed because of volcanic ash from Iceland. Two bodies that represent most of Europe’s airlines and airports say they question the extent of the flight restrictions currently imposed. Airlines that have carried out test flights say planes showed no obvious damage after flying through the ash. Millions of travellers have been hit by four days of air travel disruption. The disruption is said to be greater than the shutdown that followed the 9/11 attacks. About 20 European countries have closed their airspace and some have extended flight bans into Monday. COUNTRIES AFFECTED Airspace closed: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK Partial closures: Italy (northern airspace closed until Monday) Norway (limited flights in north) Flights operating: Greece, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Spain Live updates on cloud In pictures: Flight disruption Economic impact of closures The flight bans came amid fears that the ash – a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles – can seriously damage aircraft engines. Airlines are estimated to be losing some ?130m ($200m) a day. The two airline bodies, ACI Europe and AEA, said: “The eruption of the Icelandic volcano is not an unprecedented event and the procedures applied in other parts of the world for volcanic eruptions do not appear to require the kind of restrictions that are presently being imposed in Europe.” One of the airlines that carried out tests over the weekend was Dutch carrier KLM. Its chief executive Peter Hartman, who was on board, said there was “nothing unusual” about the flight. “If the technical examination confirms this… we then hope to get permission as soon as possible to partially restart our operations,” he added. Steven Verhagen, vice-president of the Dutch Airline Pilots Association, told the Associated Press news agency: “In our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights.” Germany’s two biggest airlines, Lufthansa and Air Berlin, also said they had carried out test flights without apparent damage, as did Air France. Air Berlin spokeswoman Diana Daedelow told the BBC: “It is astonishing that these findings… have seemingly been ignored in the decision-making process of the aviation safety authorities.” Worsening disruption British Airways is due to conduct test flights over the Atlantic later on Sunday. Results are expected on Monday. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement Day turns to night as the dense ash cloud leaves Eyjafjallajokull in the dark However BBC business editor Robert Peston says BA and other airlines are working on the assumption that they will not be allowed to fly until Thursday at the earliest. UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, said “urgent discussions” were taking place between European and international agencies to ease the chaos. “We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern,” he said. I’ve only got enough medication for my epilepsy to last me until tomorrow, so my seizures are likely to start again unless I get access to that George Craib, Amsterdam Volcano ash: Your stories Weather experts say wind patterns mean the cloud is not likely to move far until later in the week. Brian Flynn, head of operations at Eurocontrol – which co-ordinates air traffic control in 38 nations – said aviation authorities were dealing with an “unknown phenomenon”, but dismissed suggestions they were being over-cautious. “With the over-riding objective of protecting the travelling public, these exceptional measures have to be taken,” he said. Meanwhile travel disruption worsened on Sunday. Eurocontrol said only 4,000 flights were expected in European airspace, against 24,000 normally. On Saturday there were 5,000 flights. All but 55 of 337 scheduled flights by US carriers to and from Europe were also cancelled. Polish funeral Since Thursday, countries across northern and central Europe have either closed airspace or shut key airports. Iceland volcano in maps Volcanic ash: Your travel stories How long will ash last? Britain has extended a ban on most flights in its airspace until at least 0700 local time on Monday (0600 GMT). Ireland is closing its airspace until 1200 GMT on Monday. However airports in northern Spain – including Barcelona – reopened on Sunday. Ukraine opened Kiev airport, which had been closed since Saturday, enabling President Viktor Yanukovich to attend the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Many world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, were unable to attend the funeral of Mr Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash last week, because of the travel restrictions. Commuters across northern Europe have sought other means of transport, packing out trains, buses and ferries. Southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending a plume of ash 8.5km (5.3 miles) high into the air. Have you been affected by the volcanic eruption in Iceland or by disruptions to air traffic caused by volcanic ash? Send us your experiences using the form below. Send your pictures or videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 if you are in the UK or+44 7725 100 100 if you are abroad. If you have a large file you can upload it here . Read the terms and conditions A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. Name Your E-mail address Town & Country Phone number (optional): Comments The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions