BBC news 2010-05-27 加文本

2010-05-27 BBC

BBC News with Gaenor Howells

The oil company BP says it's started a critical attempt to plug the damaged well that's been leaking huge amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The operation has never been tried before. Rajesh Mirchandani in Louisiana has the details.

More than five weeks since the rig explosion that killed 11 people and caused the leak, BP is beginning its latest attempt to plug the well. The so-called "top kill" method involves shooting large amounts of dense fluid called "drilling mud" into the well. The hope is that the pressure of the mud will be greater than that of the escaping oil and slow or stop the leak. Then cement will be pumped in on top to seal off the well for good. BP says chances of success are 60-70%.

Earlier, BP acknowledged that there had been a whole series of failures before the explosion that caused the spill. Two leading congressmen have meanwhile said BP documents indicate there were several warning signs before the accident, but action appears to have been taken too late.

The Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding says there will be an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 44 people in the capital Kingston. They were killed in battles between civilians and security forces searching for Christopher "Dudus" Coke, an alleged drug lord wanted in the US. Jamaica's Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the BBC they were looking into allegations of human rights abuses by the authorities.

"The reports have been coming out fast and furious in terms of accusations of breaches of human rights, but I wouldn't want to prejudge this particular situation. It's an operation that's ongoing."

Christopher Coke is believed to be hiding in an area of the capital where residents say they are running out of food, water and medication after being confined to their homes since the search began on Monday.

For the first time in its history, the International Criminal Court is to ask the United Nations Security Council to take action against a member country for failing to implement arrest warrants against its citizens. The ICC has formally told the Council that the Sudanese government is protecting two suspected Darfur war criminals. They are former minister, who allegedly recruited, funded and armed the Janjaweed militia, and one of the most senior militia leaders. Beatrice le Fraper, who is a special adviser to the ICC prosecutor, said it would be up to the Security Council to decide what measures to take against Sudan.

The body representing Roman Catholic bishops in Italy has for the first time put a figure on the number of cases of pedophile priests that have been reported to Church authorities over the past 10 years. The Italian Catholic bishops conference said around 100 cases had been reported. The BBC's Vatican correspondent says that although the conference had been under pressure to reveal the statistics which until now had been secret, the figure still didn't indicate how many of the priests involved had been defrocked or reported to the police.

World News from the BBC

Scientists have warned that the global supply of wheat could be under threat from a new strain of fungus which can destroy an entire harvest. Known as UG99, the fungus is already endemic in Kenya where it's destroyed around 80% of the wheat crop over several seasons. Our science reporter Matt Mcgrath has more.

The reddish-brown, wind-borne pathogen was discovered a decade ago in East Africa. It attacks the crop's vascular tissue, causing the wheat plant to fall over and can lead to the loss of an entire harvest. Scientists have successfully developed new varieties of wheat which are resistant to the original fungus, but these latest strains have overcome this resistance. Researchers say that the speed at which the fungus moves makes it difficult to control. It can travel 160 kilometres in a day. The big worry now is that research suggests the fungus is on the march.

The chief executive and founder of the social networking company Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has announced changes to the site's privacy settings after growing criticism from users that they are losing control over their personal information. Speaking at a news conference at the company's headquarters in California, Mr Zuckerberg said simpler settings will roll out to more than 400 million users worldwide in the coming days.

Preliminary results in the South American nation of Suriname suggest an opposition coalition including a party led by a former military ruler has won the parliamentary elections. The mega combination coalition reportedly gained 23 out of 51 seats.

One of the world's biggest football clubs, Real Madrid of Spain, have announced that they planned to appoint the colorful Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho as their new boss after sacking their current manager Manuel Pellegrini. Madrid say the appointment will be completed when once Mourinho has reached agreement over his contract as coach with his current Italian club Inter Milan which won the Champions League on Saturday.

BBC News.