BBC news 2010-09-03 加文本

BBC news 2010-09-03

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

Firefighting vessels are being sent to an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, after an explosion on board. The platform, operated by the American company Mariner Energy, was ablaze for several hours. Coast Guard say all 13 workers onboard the rig have been accounted for. It's not clear whether there has been an oil leak from the stricken platform. Rajesh Mirchandani reports.

A Louisiana Coast Guard official confirmed oil sheen has been spotted around the platform where fire broke out. It's a thin film on the surface of the sea, not a slick, about 1.5 kilometres long and 30 metres wide. But the official could not confirm the sheen came from the burning rig. Earlier, a spokesman from Mariner Energy which owns the facility said an initial flyover appeared to show no spill. The platform was not producing oil or gas at the time, although seven wells operated by the company are nearby and oil can be stored on board.

Coast Guards in Canada say a tanker carrying 9 million litres of diesel fuel has run aground in the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. Attempts have been made to refloat the vessel. Coast Guards say no fuel is believed to have been spilled.

Israel and the Palestinians have held their first direct negotiations in nearly two years in Washington. The American Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, said the talks had been “constructive” and both sides had agreed to meet again in the Middle East in two weeks. From the US State Department, Kim Ghattas reports.

Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu held an-hour-long meeting with Hilary Clinton and George Mitchell with no translators or note-takers in the room according to a senior American official. Negotiators from both sides then join the meeting for half an hour before the two leaders sat down again, alone, in Mrs Clinton's outer office. George Mitchell described the meeting as “long and productive”, and said the relationship between the two men was “cordial” and the mood “constructive”. The American envoy said the logical next step was to reach a framework agreement that would then pave the way to a comprehensive treaty.

Israel and the Palestinians have held their first, excuse me. The International Cricket Council has announced that three Pakistani cricketers have been charged under its anti-corruption code in the wake of a match-fixing scandal that has stunned followers of the game. The ICC said the three, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, have been notified of the charges and have been suspended from playing cricket at any level. James Pearce reports.

The International Cricket Council's statement announcing the players’ suspension could hardly have been clearer. “We will not tolerate corruption in cricket, simple as that," said the ICC's chief executive Haroon Lorgat. The wording of the charges has not yet been revealed. All that we are told so far is that they are various. The players have been given 14 days to respond. The ICC's decision came at the end of a day of fast-moving events. It begun with an announcement that the three players had decided to withdraw from the rest of the tour.

World New from the BBC.

The International Monetary Fund is to give Pakistan $450 million in emergency flood aid in the next few weeks, and the World Bank has also increased its funding by $100 million. The Pakistani authority say the floods have affected 20 million people, but the money needed to help that must have been vey slow to arrive. From Washington, here is Laura Trevelyan.

As Pakistan struggles with the impact of the floods, the International Monetary Fund has stepped in to provide emergency aid. Government has been slow to pledge the money the United Nations says is needed for the initial relief efforts. Donors have been worried about their money falling into the hands of the Pakistani Taliban. Four hundred and ninety million dollars is the UN's target. Only half of the money to help people in the longer term has been pledged. So the IMF decision to give $450 million to Pakistan's government is significant.

Clashes have broken out again between demonstrators and police in the Mozambican capital Maputo, a day after protests over rising prices left several people dead. A BBC correspondent in the city says youths block roads with burning tyres and other debris. The government says seven people died and nearly 300 were injured on Wednesday.

United Nations' top human rights official says she's postponing the release of a report that has angered Rwanda. A draft accused the Rwandan army of possible genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting Rwanda to threaten to withdraw its troops from UN peacekeeping missions. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says the final version next month will include comments from the countries concerned.

And the American fast food chain Burger King has agreed to a takeover. A private equity firm 3G Capital is buying it for $3.2 billion. Analysts say Burger King has been hurt by high levels of unemployment among the young men who make up its core market.

And that's the latest BBC News.