BBC news 2010-05-31 加文本

2010-05-31 BBC

BBC News with Julie Candler.

A day after the oil company BP failed to seal an underwater oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the White House has given a somber assessment of the likely outcome. President Obama's adviser on energy Carol Browner suggested that six weeks after it began, the leak could continue until August.

"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we've ever faced in this country. It's certainly the biggest oil spill, and we’re responding with the biggest environmental response. More oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico than at any other time in our history; it means there's more oil than the Exxon Valdez."

After failing to block the leaking well with mud, BP is now to try remote-controlled robots. They’ll try to slice through a broken pipe and fit a device to transfer the leaking oil to the surface. BP warned though that the procedure has never been carried out before at such a depth.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled a visit to Argentina after the city of Buenos Aires called off a ceremony to honour the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk. The Turkish foreign ministry accused the Buenos Aires authorities of acceding to the demands of the Armenian community there and deciding not to unveil a bust of Ataturk in the city. Genc Lamani reports.

The Turkish foreign ministry accused the Buenos Aires authorities of bowing to pressure from the Armenian community there. Turkey and Armenia are in a long-running dispute over the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago. The foreign ministry in Ankara said Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner spoke with Mr Erdogan to explain she could not overrule the decision - an explanation Mr Erdogan had found unacceptable.

The organizers of a flotilla of ships trying to deliver aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say the boats have sailed from an anchorage off the coast of Cyprus. They planned to get to Gaza on Monday. The territory has been under an Israeli blockade over the past three years, and Israel says it's ready to intercept the flotilla and deport the activists. This Palestinian campaigner Jamal Khudari urged the international community to give their support.

"We welcome them and we support them and we also send a message for all the world, all the international community and Arab and Muslim community to support them and to give them more support against Israel."

Polls have just closed in Colombia where people are voting for a new president to replace Alvaro Uribe who’s completed two terms in office. Opinion polls predict a close contest between the two main contenders - Mr Uribe's former Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos, and the Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus. Mr Santos has promised to continue Mr Uribe's tough stance against left-wing rebels, while Mr Mockus has put more emphasis on education and rule of law. No candidate wins a majority. There will be a second round run-off in three weeks’ time.

World News from the BBC.

The remains of 12 Mexican independence leaders have been exhumed in a solemn military ceremony led by President Felipe Calderon. Bands played and crowds threw white flowers as the bones of the national heroes were paraded through Mexico City with an escort of hundreds of soldiers. The crypts were opened as part of celebrations to mark 200 years since the start of Mexico's War of Independence from Spain.

Iraq has sent its first ambassador to Kuwait since it invaded the country 20 years ago. The new ambassador Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Ulum faces many challenges in helping to repair the relationship between the two states. These include the issue of Iraq paying Kuwait millions of dollars in war reparations.

Civil liberties groups have criticised African leaders who’re gathering for the Africa-France summit in the French city of Nice which starts on Monday. The organizations say that only two of the 38 African heads of state attending the meeting could not be accused of human rights violations. Estelle Nkounkou-Ngongo from West African Human Rights Defenders Network described it as a fake summit and said it was hypocritical for African leaders to talk about good governance and democracy at the event.

The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni are taking part in a football match in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The match involving diplomats, aid agency workers and local players at the Mandela Stadium was intended to highlight the plight of war victims, particularly those who suffered at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army rebels during the conflict in the north of the country. Mr Ban said he enjoyed the game.

"It was a great game, and I like to play football, but I never thought, I never expected that I would play with president of Uganda."

Mr Ban is attending a conference of the International Criminal Court in Kampala on Monday.

BBC News.