BBC news 2010-07-26 加文本

BBC news 2010-07-26

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald.

The BBC has learned that BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward, who’s been widely criticised in the United States over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is to stand down. A senior source at the oil company told the BBC that Mr Hayward is currently negotiating the terms of his departure, and that an announcement was likely by Monday. From Washington, Madeleine Morris reports.

Tony Hayward has become a liability to BP here in the US, so it’s no surprise that his expected departure has generally been welcomed. Congressman Ed Markey, a leading critic of BP, reacted by calling Tony Hayward’s leadership "aloof and uninformed." In a statement, he warned that whoever took over the reins of the company would have, in his words, "an uphill climb" to correct Tony Hayward’s legacy. Fishermen in the Gulf who've spoken to the BBC say they too hope a new chief executive will lead to a new era in BP's actions.

The organiser of the huge German dance music festival, where 19 people were trampled to death on Saturday when panic broke out in the crowd, says the event will never be held again. Rainer Schaller said he could not express the shock he felt at what had happened at the event. The city’s deputy police chief, Detlef von Schmeling, said there were several foreigners among the dead.

"The police have identified 16 victims and informed the relatives of their respective consulates, because we had foreign nationals among the guests and among the victims. We are mourning a visitor from the Netherlands, one from Australia, one person came from Italy, and one from China. Not all of the 19 deceased have yet been identified."

A bomb has exploded at a bus-stop in the Thai capital Bangkok, killing one person. The blast was in an area that was occupied by anti-government "red-shirt" protesters for weeks until the army was sent in on May 19th. It’s not clear if the bombing was connected to a by-election in Bangkok, in which a leader of the protest was standing despite being in jail. The by-election was the first test of voters’ opinion since the red-shirt protest was suppressed with the loss of 90 lives. Preliminary results suggested the vote was won by the government’s candidate.

President Sebastian Pinera of Chile has rejected a proposal by the Roman Catholic Church that he pardon members of the armed force convicted of human rights abuses during military rule in the 1970s and 80s. President Pinera said the proposal had created tension and opened old wounds in Chile. Individual cases will be considered, but not if they involve crimes against humanity and other serious offenses such as murder and terrorism.

Reports from Yemen say six soldiers have been killed in an attack in the south of the country. The reports quote local officials in Shabwa province which contains many of Yemen’s oil facilities.

World News from the BBC.

A North African militant group has been reported of saying that it has killed a French hostage it was holding. A leader of the group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a recording broadcast on al-Jazeera television that Michel Germaneau was killed on Saturday in revenge for the killing of six group members during a raid to free the hostage by French and Mauritanian troops.

Officials in Pakistan say four militants were killed in an American drone attack in the tribal area of North Waziristan, the second such attack on the same day. The first attack in South Waziristan killed five militants.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has threatened to halt oil exports to the United States if his country is attacked by Colombia, in an escalating dispute over allegations that Venezuela is harboring Colombian rebels. Mr Chavez said that he had received intelligence that the possibility of armed aggression from Colombia backed by the US was greater than it had ever been. Mr Chavez broke diplomatic ties with Colombia last week after Bogota presented detailed accusations that Farc and ELN rebels were operating inside Venezuela.

The Ferrari Formula-1 team has been fined $100,000 for breach of sporting regulations following the controversial victory of its Spanish driver Fernando Alonso at the German Grand Prix. The stewards at Hockenheim said Ferrari had instructed Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa to slow down towards the end of the race and make way for Alonso who had a better chance of winning the driver’s championship. David Croft reports.

A breach of Article 39.1, Ferrari guilty of issuing team orders, stage-managing Fernando Alonso’s victory at the expense of his teammate Felipe Massa. Not but it took a genius to work it out: the coded messages from Massa’s race engineer on the team radio, his apology to his driver after Massa conceded the lead, and the reaction of both the Brazilian and Fernando Alonso himself had given the game away long before the stewards issued their $100,000 fine.

BBC News.