2010-05-08 BBC
BBC News with David Austin.
The leaders of two of Britain’s main parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, are discussing whether they can form a coalition government, following Thursday's inconclusive general election. The Conservative leader David Cameron whose party won most seats but fell short of the majority has approached the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Here is Ross Hawkins.
David Cameron said he wanted to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats. Direct discussions between him and Nick Clegg about that offer began with a phone call this afternoon, described as very constructive but in which there was no real discussion of detail. Mr. Cameron has offered a committee of inquiry on an electoral reform. Many Lib Dems wanta firmer commitment to changing the way elections are run before making any sort of agreement. And if the current negotiations fail, the Liberal Democrats could yet end up talking to Labor.
With all the results from the seats contested on Thursday now in, the Conservatives have won 306 with Labor taking 258. The Liberal Democrats ended on 57.
The main European stock markets have closed sharply lower after a week in which share prices were hit by worries of the Greek economy and the amount of debt owed by some European governments. In the United States the main stock market indexes also closed lower. Duncan Bartlett reports.
Friday afternoon saw dramatic falls in share prices throughout Europe. At one point it seemed that shares were almost in the state of free fall. But most of the major stock exchanges recovered somewhat before the close of trading. Naturally the uncertainty of the UK election result was a factor in London, but elsewhere traders are much more worried about the way in which banks have been lending money to European governments.Trust between the banks is at risk and that has led to fears that the system may seize up as it did in 2008.
Leaders of the 16 countries that use the European single currency the euro have been meeting in Brussels to discuss how to prevent the Greek financial crisis spreading. The value of the Euro has fallen on fears that countries such as Spain and Portugal could suffer similar problems. This report from Johnny Diamond.
This emergency summit of Eurozone leaders should be a formality. All week cabinets and parliaments across the 16 countries that use the Euro have been passing legislation necessary to extend a 145-billion-dollar loan to Greece. Now presidents and prime ministers have come to Brussels to sign off the deal. There will be no formal conclusions to the gathering that would any come in full meeting of European Union leaders. But the statement that emerges at the end of the summit will be watched for any detail as to how the Eurozone intends to change its economic governance following the most tumultuous moments in the Euro's history. Johnny Diamond reporting.
This is the World News from the BCC.
Engineers have been lowering a giant container to the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to capture oil gushing from a blown-out well. The company that operates the site, BP hopes that the device will be operational by Monday
and will trap about 85% of the oil leaking out. Rajesh Mirchandani has more.
The delicate process has begun to lower the 100-ton container and secure it directly on top of the leaking well more than 1,500 meters down. It has never been tried at such depth and there is no guarantee of the work. A surface slick covering thousands of square kilometres has formed since last month when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded,killing 11 workers.
Oil has now come ashore on a few remote islands. Some birds covered in it have been found.
A court in Russia has imposed a 5-year jail sentence on a man accused of hijacking a Russian crude cargo ship which went missing for several weeks in mysterious circumstances last year. The Moscow Court convicted Andrea Luniav, an Estonian resident, of piracy. He was one of8 people accused of seizing the vessel the Arctic Sea in July as it sailed near Sweden. Moscow has denied the allegations that the ship was in fact carrying weapons to Iran and that the official story of piracy was a cover to avoid diplomatic embarrassment.
The South African police commissioner Becky Taily has said he is praying for the United States' football team to be
knocked out of the World Cup quickly, so that police won't have to face the security challenge of a visit by President Obama. Mr. Taily told parliamentary committee on Friday he had been told that President Obama might fly into South Africa for a match if the US team reached second or third rounds.
Police in Iran are reported to have arrested 80 young men and women for attending an illegal concert. The Teheran chief prosecutor was quoted in Iranian media as saying that revelers have been indulging in what he termed "lustful,
pleasure-seeking activities."
And that's the latest BBC News.