US Air Force planes are preparing to spray oil-dispersing chemicals off the coast of Louisiana as the operation to tackle a huge slick is stepped up. Fears of an ecological disaster along the southern US coast have mounted as oil from the sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico began to wash ashore. Animal rescue groups along the coast started to receive their first patients – seabirds coated in thick, black oil. Worsening weather conditions are threatening to hamper the operation. The US National Weather Service said strong winds could push the oil into inlets, ponds and lakes in south-east Louisiana over the weekend. Mystery blast Heavy seas are pushing the slick over the booms meant to contain it. In maps: Oil slick spread The US Navy has brought more booms and other equipment to the area. Fishermen – who face losing their livelihood from the spill – have been drafted in to help. Wetlands off the Louisiana coast sustain hundreds of wildlife species and a major seafood and fishing industry. Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day are gushing into the sea after the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank last week. It remains unclear what caused the blast, which left 11 workers missing, presumed dead. Alabama has joined Louisiana and Florida in declaring a state of emergency. The Louisiana National Guard is on standby to help with security, medical needs and engineering. Some 1,900 emergency workers and more than 300 ships and aircraft are being sent to the scene, President Barack Obama announced on Friday. Two C-130 Hercules cargo planes equipped with aerial spraying systems are preparing for flights at Lake Charles, Louisiana. BP blamed The military planes will join civilian aircraft that have been dumping tens of thousands of gallons of oil-dispersing chemicals. Meanwhile, the US government is piling more pressure on BP to stop the spill. BP is ultimately responsible President Barack Obama Oil spill: blame game begins BP in choppy waters after spill Voices: Gulf coast braced In pictures: Spill threatens wildlife Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano flew to Louisiana with other officials and urge the British oil and gas giant to use “additional assets to help lead the response in this effort”. “We will continue to push BP to engage in the strongest possible response,” she said. In a statement from the White House on Friday, President Obama said BP was “ultimately responsible… for paying the costs of response and clean-up operations”. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles defended the firm’s actions, saying it had mounted “the largest response effort ever done in the world”. The oil giant is sending teams underwater with remotely operated vehicles to try to shut off an underwater valve, but so far they have been unsuccessful. They are also having a relief-well drilled to decrease the pressure and slowing the leak, though experts say that could take up to three months. The US government said on Friday it was putting on hold all new offshore drilling until the cause of the spill is investigated. Last month President Obama eased a moratorium on new offshore drilling. The US government has designated the oil spill an “incident of national significance”, allowing it to draw on resources from across the country. Are you in the Gulf Coast 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.
Tens of thousands of people have marched in Albania’s capital to demand a partial recount of last year’s election, amid claims of vote-rigging. The demonstrators vowed to stay in Tirana’s main square until the government gave in to their demands. Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s conservatives narrowly won the general election in June 2009. Hundreds of policemen guarded the square as the government dismissed the protesters’ demands as illegal. ‘The final moment’ Socialist leader Edi Rama called on the demonstrators to show “peaceful resistance” during Friday’s march, which ended outside the main Albanian government building. Mr Rama, who is also mayor of Tirana, urged a campaign of disobedience against the government until the demand for a recount was met. “We must all tell the government that its fate begins and ends with our call: open the ballot boxes or leave,” Mr Rama was quoted as saying by the AP news agency. Mr Berisha’s Democrats and allies control 75 of parliament’s 140 seats. The Socialists are demanding a recount of several ballots, and have been boycotting parliament for months. Organisers claimed there were up to 200,000 people at the rally, although there was no official figure. It was the largest street protest against the election result so far. “This is the final moment,” Gramoc Ruci, a Socialist leader, told the crowd. The BBC’s Mark Lowen in Tirana says a sea of protestors were waving Socialist party flags and that banners accusing the prime minister of fraud and of damaging the economy lined their route. Albania is facing serious political deadlock, which is damaging its hopes of moving towards European Union membership, he adds.
A jury in Tennessee has convicted a former student of hacking the e-mail account of US politician Sarah Palin, Associated Press news agency reports. David Kernell, 22, was found guilty of obstructing justice and unauthorised access to a computer. He faces up to 20 years in prison for the first charge and one year for the charge of hacking. He broke into Ms Palin’s e-mail account during her 2008 Republican campaign for the vice-presidency of the US. Kernell, who was a student at the University of Tennessee at the time, was cleared of a charge of wire fraud. The jury were unable to agree on a verdict on a charge of identity fraud, for which he could face another trial. Kernell’s lawyer had said his client’s actions amounted to a college prank, rather than a crime. But prosecutors said it was an attempt to influence a national election through illegal means. Mrs Palin, who testified last Friday, said that Kernell had compromised the main way she had communicated with her family during the campaign by breaking into her Yahoo e-mail account.
Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks are set to start next week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says. Mrs Clinton told reporters in Washington that US special envoy George Mitchell would be returning to the region next week. Plans to launch indirect negotiations failed last month over a row about Israeli plans to build 1,600 homes in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled since January 2008. “We will be starting with proximity talks next week,” Mrs Clinton said. She added that “ultimately we want to see parties in direct negotiations”. America’s top diplomat also said Washington expected that Arab foreign ministers meeting on Saturday would endorse the new talks. ‘Guarantees’ The US has been trying to launch proximity talks between the two sides. These were knocked off course by an announcement in March that Israel had approved plans for the new homes in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo during a visit to Israel by US Vice-President Joe Biden. US-Israeli row: Israeli views Peace talks: Palestinian views The Palestinians – who want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state – then pulled out of the scheduled indirect talks last month in protest. Mr Mitchell’s team has been actively trying to extract guarantees from the Israelis to bring the Palestinians back to the proposed talks. Earlier this week, the US envoy said he had held “positive and productive” talks with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. A report in the Wall Street Journal last week quoted unnamed US officials as saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered measures including easing the blockade on Gaza, releasing prisoners, freezing the controversial 1,600 homes for two years, and agreeing to discuss borders and the status of Jerusalem. The Palestinians were still seeking clarification, but hoped to be in a position to seek the Arab League’s backing to re-enter talks at the meeting scheduled for 1 May. “We were always in favour of the talks, and we still want them to go ahead,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, it is unclear what promises the US has made to the Palestinians to guarantee there will be no further unilateral Israeli actions that undermine the process, the BBC’s State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas says. Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. It insists Jerusalem will remain its undivided capital. Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, among a Palestinian population of about 2.5 million. The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Lebanese officials are investigating the lynching by angry villagers of an Egyptian man accused of killing a local couple and their two grandchildren. The suspect was with police re-enacting the crime when he was seized by a mob in a village south of Beirut, according to Lebanese media reports. The mob stabbed him to death and then hanged him with a butcher’s hook from a pole in the village square. Officials condemned the action by villagers as “barbaric”. Interior Minister Ziad Baroud ordered an investigation and said such vigilante action was “extremely dangerous”. ‘Army intervention’ Mohammed Muslem, a 38-year-old Egyptian reportedly working as a butcher in Ketermaya village, had been arrested on suspicion of shooting dead an elderly couple and their granddaughters aged seven and nine. He is said to have confessed and was leading police officers through the events of the day when dozens of villagers dragged him away from police custody and began beating him with sticks and knives. Some witnesses said police rescued him and took him to a nearby hospital, only for the crowd to break in to the intensive care unit, drag him out and continue to beat him. After killing Mohammed Muslem, the mob is reported to have stripped him down to his underpants, driven his body through the streets on a car bonnet, and then hung him from a pole in the centre of the village with onlookers crying “Allahu Akbar” or God is Great. The army was finally able to intervene after 30 minutes and took his body away. “Whatever the feeling of the villagers, nothing can justify this type of reaction,” Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said. “We have the names of at least 10 people who took part in this horrible crime and the courts must now do their work. No state of law can condone what happened.” But villagers were unrepentant. “This man came to this village and he did a big crime…” one villager was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying. “And thank God the village took revenge with our own hands.”
French senator Charles Pasqua has been given a one-year suspended jail sentence for corruption while he was interior minister in the 1990s. A close aide of the former centre-right President, Jacques Chirac, he was convicted of embezzlement over sales of police equipment abroad. Mr Pasqua, 83, was cleared of two other charges. He denied any wrongdoing. Mr Chirac is to stand trial next year, accused of misuse of public funds when he was mayor of Paris in the 1990s.
Read more from the original source:
Oil spill sparks new drilling ban
The 2010 World Expo is about to open in Shanghai in what China hopes will be further proof of its rising global influence. More than 180 countries and international organisations are showcasing their culture in an event themed around sustainable development. Many are doing in so in pavilions with radical architecture. World leaders, including France’s President Sarkozy, are attending the opening ceremony. The city has increased security measures drastically in preparation for the event. An additional 8,000 police officers have been brought in to help Shanghai’s 46,000-strong police force to patrol the city, Chinese state media says. ‘Oppressive’ security Residents living near the Expo site have complained about oppressive security measures. “It’s just not convenient to get in and out any more,” Dong, a local resident, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. EXPO SHANGHAI Theme is “Better City, Better Life” 70 million visitors expected, mostly Chinese More than 200 countries and organisations on show 20,000 cultural performances First Expo in a developing country Site is 5.3sq km, twice the size of Monaco China says cost is $4.2bn – others say costs reached $58bn Standard day ticket costs 160RMB ($23: ?15) Runs from 1 May to 31 October China’s new showcase to the world Markets have been closed down to build Expo car parks, he added. Six people who protested about having their homes destroyed to make room for the Expo have been sent to labour camps, the Hong-Kong based Chinese Human Rights Defenders were quoted as saying by AP. Last week police seized four computers belonging to activist Feng Zhenghu, who had been trying to set up an alternative online Expo, highlighting alleged miscarriages of justice, the BBC’s Chris Hogg in Shanghai says. The Expo is seen as an opportunity for countries to try to win favour with the Chinese, our correspondent adds. Speaking at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, President Sarkozy – whose relationship with China has been testy after he criticized a Chinese security crackdown in Tibet in 2008 – said France and China would “think and work together”. Are you attending the Shanghai World Expo? Send us your comments using the form 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
Read more from the original source:
Goldman ‘facing criminal charges’
