BBC news 2010-08-05 加文本

2010-08-05 BBC

BBC News, this is Mike Cooper.

President Obama says the battle to stop the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is finally close to coming to an end. A government report has calculated that three quarters of the oil has now either been captured, burnt off, evaporated or broken down by nature. But the report also warned that beaches and marshes in the area were still at risk and that the long-term impact was unclear. From Washington, here is Iain MacKenzie.

The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the operation in the Gulf was now moving to a second phase, one of clean-up and damage assessment. He promised that the administration would maintain its commitment to the families and communities along the coast. His comments come as BP confirmed it had successfully secured the well by pumping it full of heavy drilling mud, a procedure known as "static kill".

Early results in the referendum in Kenya on a new constitution indicate that it's been overwhelmingly approved in most parts of the country. The results indicate a vote of 66% in favour with 34% against. Peter Greste reports.

With early results giving them a 2-1 majority nationally, the "Yes" campaign looks as though it's been vindicated. But a breakdown of the numbers by province shows a deeply fragmented country with some regions voting almost unanimously in favour while others, such as the Rift Valley, voting 2-1 against. That matters because the Rift experienced some of the worst violence that nearly plunged Kenya into a civil war two and a half years ago. The constitutional merge from that conflict is the centrepiece of a package of reforms designed to help the country avoid a repeat of the crisis.

The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked and reprimanded several top military officials for failing to stop wildfires from destroying a naval base outside Moscow. As the fires continue to blaze, radioactive material has been removed from a nuclear facility to the east of the city. Here is Richard Galpin.

The facility in Sarov is Russia's most important nuclear research centre. The whole area is closed to foreigners. It lies in one of the regions worst affected by the fires, some of which, the government has admitted, are out of control. Hundreds of extra firefighters had already been sent to Sarov to protect the facility from the approaching flames. But now the government says it's taken the drastic step of moving all the nuclear material. The head of the nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, insisted there was no danger of any kind of a nuclear accident because of the fires.

The Italian government has survived a no-confidence motion against one of its ministers in parliament. The vote was seen as a test of the government's authority after a key ally of the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and some 30 members of parliament defected from the governing coalition last week. The motion was defeated only because the rebel members of parliament abstained.

World News from the BBC

American media are reporting that a federal judge in the United States has overturned a ban on same-sex marriages in California. The judge found in favour of gay and lesbian rights activists who'd argued that the ban was unconstitutional.

Forty of America's richest families and individuals have promised to give at least half of their wealth to charity. The billionaires signed up to a project known as "The Giving Pledge" started by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the investor Warren Buffett. Those giving their money away include the filmmaker George Lucas and the Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg.

The commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, has issued new guidelines to troops. He's emphasizing the need to reduce civilian casualties but stressing the right of NATO-led forces to defend themselves. The emphasis on civilian deaths was a key legacy of Stanley McChrystal, General Petraeus's predecessor who was sacked last month. But there had been concern, particularly in the United States, that NATO troops from other countries serving in Afghanistan were also at risk.

Judges in The Hague have cleared the way for the British supermodel Naomi Campbell to testify at the war crimes trial of the former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Ms Campbell allegedly received an uncut diamond from Mr Taylor as a gift, as Jonny Hogg reports.

Mr Taylor's lawyer had argued that Naomi Campbell should not appear until prosecutors provided a summary of what she was likely to say in court. This was rejected by the judges. Prosecutors say Ms Campbell received a diamond from Mr Taylor in 1997. If this were true, they believe it would help prove Mr Taylor had been paid in diamonds by Sierra Leonean rebels in exchange for weapons during that country's civil war. He denies all charges, and Ms Campbell will now find herself an unwilling participant in a trial trying to prove murder, rape, enslavement and the use of child soldiers.

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