2010-05-14 BBC
BBC news with Marian Marshall.
The oil company BP has revealed that the cost of tackling the oil spill from a broken well in the Gulf of Mexico has risen dramatically. It now stands at $450m, but it is still rising fast. Jannat Jalil reports.
The oil giant says its attempts to contain the spill are now costing around $33m a day. That's five times more than a figure that was initially calculated. But despite the huge expense it’s incurring, BP has yet to make much progress in stemming the flow of oil. Nearly 13,000 people and more than 500 boats are being deployed to try to skim and direct the oil. Robotic devices have been used, so far, unsuccessfully to try to stop the leak 5000 feet below sea level, and the final bill could be in the billions, as there's still the prospect of future compensation claims and possible fines.
Soldiers in the Thai capital Bangkok have opened fire on anti-government protesters during an operation to seal off an area which the demonstrators have made their base. One protester was killed. The violence came after deadline for the protesters to disperse expired. Rachel Harvey is in Bangkok and told us what happened.
A little while after the deadline when nights had completely fallen, there was a burst of gunfire and an explosion. We know that a renegade army general who has described himself as an adviser to the red-shirt movement to security advisor has been shot and, we believe, is seriously injured. We’ve heard more reports of further gunfire and at least one protester has been shot in the head - shot dead.
The Thai government has extended the state of emergency in the capital to a further 15 provinces.
Police in Greece say a bomb has exploded outside the top security prison near Athens. A telephone warning had been given. No group has said it was responsible, but similar attacks have been blamed on left-wing guerrillas. Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.
This was a big explosion. The blast was heard in central Athens more that 8 km away. There are unconfirmed reports that a woman has been hurt. According to a police spokesman, the bomb was placed next to the wall housing women prisoners at Korydallos top security jail. A warning call was made to the Eleftherotypia newspaper, saying the device would explode in 20 minutes. The police say it went off on time.
Earlier, tourism officials said that at least 20,000 people cancelled hotel reservations in Athens, following violent protests last week against the government’s emergency economic measures.
United States Attorney-General Eric Holder has said that a series of recent arrests are a significant step in the investigations into the failed car bomb attack in Time Square in New York earlier this month. He says that he believes that those detained may have provided funds for the only person so far arrested in connection with the attempted bombing, Faisal Shehzad, an American man of Pakistani origin.
World News from the BBC.
The White House says President Obama and his Russian counterpart Demitrie Medvedev have agreed to intensify efforts towards new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The White House said that in a wide-ranging telephone call, the two leaders noted the good progress made so far and agreed to instruct their negotiators to step up efforts to reach conclusion as soon as possible.
Hundreds of supporters of the ousted president of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev have broken into local government buildings in 3 southern towns. Rayhan Demytrie reports from neighbouring Kazakhstan.
Supporters of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstan's leader deposed in an uprising last month, have broken into government offices in the southern regions of Jalalabad and Batken. Earlier on Thursday, a group of several hundred protesters seized the government building in the city of Osh, demanding the reinstatement of the region's former governor. Some reports suggest that flights were disrupted at the airport in Osh. This is the biggest challenge for the Kyrgyzstan's interim government which is struggling to restore order in the country following the popular uprising in early April. Meanwhile, all diplomats from the Belarus Embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishekek have been recalled because of security concerns.
The Afghan president Hamid Karzai has visited the US National Cemetery at Arlington near Washington DC, where he paid his respects to the American troops killed in the conflict in Afghanistan. He was accompanied by the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and senior military figures including General Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The renowned Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez has been granted a visa to perform in the United States next month for the first time in decades. The veteran prima ballerina Alicia Alonso, another staunch supporter of Cuba’s communist government has also been granted a visa. Cultural exchanges like these were routinely blocked under previous US governments.
BBC News.