2010-07-17 BBC
BBC News with David Austin.
President Barack Obama has welcomed BP's success in stopping the flow of oil from its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico. He emphasized that whatever the next move was, it would be governed by science and that an enormous clear-up operation was still needed.
"The new cap is good news. Either we will be able to use it to stop the flow, or we will be able to use it to capture almost all of the oil until the relief well is done. But we are not going to know for certain which approach makes sense until additional data is in. And all the American people should rest assured that all of these decisions will be based on the science and what's best for the people of the Gulf."
Earlier, BP's share price rose sharply following its success in stopping the flow of oil for the first time in nearly three months of trying.
The World Health Organization has strongly criticized a report by the campaign group Amnesty International that condemned North Korea's health system. The director general of the WHO Margaret Chan said the report was largely based on evidence from people who left the country several years ago. Imogen Foulkes reports.
Last April, WHO director general Margaret Chan returned from an official visit to North Korea to describe the health system there as the envy of many developing nations, with no shortage of doctors or nurses. Nevertheless, the WHO admits great challenges remain in North Korea, but a spokesman said improving health for people there would not be achieved by turning the issue into a political football.
Scientists in the US have created a new strain of mosquito that's resistant to malaria, meaning it can't then pass the disease onto humans. But their release into the wild is several years away, as Victoria Gill reports.
Scientists say this is a key step on a long journey towards fighting the disease with genetically modified mosquitos. The researchers used a single genetic tweak to interfere with the production of a molecule in the insect's gut. Previous studies have attempted a similar approach, but this is the first time that scientists have completely blocked the development of the malaria parasite inside the mosquito. This rendered the insect unable to spread the disease. The ultimate aim is to release these malaria-resistant mosquitos into the wild, but scientists will first need to work on more genetic trickery to give their insects a competitive advantage over their disease-spreading counterparts.
The Mexican army says suspected drug traffickers used a car bomb to attack a police patrol in the border city of Juarez on Thursday. Two police officers and two medical personnel answering an emergency call were killed when a vehicle containing 10 kilos of explosive was detonated remotely by a mobile phone. It's thought to be the first such attack since President Felipe Calderon declared war on Mexico's drug cartels in 2006.
This is the World News from the BBC.
The remains of the Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar have been exhumed to see if he was murdered nearly two centuries ago. President Hugo Chavez ordered that the tomb of Bolivar be opened, because he suspects that the independence leader was the victim of a conspiracy rather than tuberculosis as most historians maintain. This report from James Read.
Hugo Chavez announced the exhumation of his political idol in typically flamboyant style on the social networking site Twitter. "We have seen the remains of the Great Bolivar," he twittered, "we have cried, we have sworn allegiance." Beyond the emotional rhetoric, forensic experts have been examining the remains. Venezuela's attorney general said they had made important findings. President Chavez regards the man, known as the liberator, as the inspiration for his Bolivarian revolution. But others insist Bolivar would have little sympathy for the socialist policies of his would-be heir.
An independent human rights group, Human Rights Watch, is calling on the Pakistani government to investigate reports of more than 200 extrajudicial killings in the Swat Valley. Most of these killings were allegedly carried out by the army in the 10 months since the area returned to government control. A spokesman for the Pakistani army denied its involvement in any such act.
The British defence technology company, QinetiQ, has set a record by keeping an unmanned, solar-powered aircraft aloft for more than a week. It hopes the Zephyr can stay in the air for another week. With a wingspan of more than 22 metres, the Zephyr has two propeller engines powered by solar cells.
The head of the technology firm Apple Steve Jobs has apologized to customers over an antenna problem with its latest product, the iPhone 4. He told a news conference in California that customers were being offered a free protective casing for the device. Some consumers have complained that the iPhone 4 can lose signal strength and even entire calls when held in a certain way.
That's the latest BBC News.