2010-07-19 BBC
BBC News with Marian Marshall
The oil company BP says it's increasingly hopeful that the new cap on its stricken well in the Gulf of Mexico can be used to block the flow of oil completely until the leak is permanently sealed. The company's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, said no one wanted to see more oil leaking into the Gulf, and BP hoped to keep the cap closed if it could. From Louisiana, Laura Trevelyan.
For the third day in a row, there is no oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. While the commercial fishing waters have been reopened, some of the Gulf Coast beaches are seeing tourists returning. But so far, the gigantic metal cap seems to be sealing the well successfully. The US government says it will potentially approve an extension to the tests, provided careful monitoring continues. BP says the lower-than-expected pressure inside the cap is consistent with the oil well being depleted. In other words, there is less oil in the reservoir three months into the spill.
The head of Uganda's police, Kale Kayihura, says they have strong evidence that last week's deadly attacks in the capital Kampala were carried out by suicide bombers. From Kampala, Joshua Mmali reports.
Soon after the blasts, a police officer said he believed the head of a Somali man recovered from the rugby grounds pointed to a suicide attack as the man had borne the heaviest impact of the blast. Mr Kayihura also showed reconstructed images of the suspected \ \ suicide bombers which, he said, would be crucial to their investigation. The Somali militant group al-Shabab claimed last week that they were responsible for the attacks that left more than 70 people dead and injured many others. Responding to the claims, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said al-Shabab would be eliminated.
A gun attack on a birthday party in northern Mexico has left at least 17 people dead. Police said gunmen arrived at a bar in the city of Torreon in five vehicles in the early hours of the morning and opened fire with automatic weapons. Julian Miglierini reports from Mexico City.
A spokesperson for Mexico's attorney general's office told the BBC that the attack is believed to have been carried out by an organized crime gang. The state of Coahuila where Torreon is located is thought to be a stronghold of the powerful Zetas cartel. But their control over this territory is now said to be facing a challenge from their former allies - the Gulf cartel - in an alliance with the Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man. This turf war has increased violence in Coahuila of which this latest attack is one of the most gruesome examples.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed an important trade agreement, during a visit to the region by the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The deal allows Afghan trucks to use a land route through Pakistan to carry goods to India. It will also give landlocked Afghanistan access to Pakistani ports to increase its trade with the rest of the world.
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During her visit to the region, Mrs Clinton told the BBC there was more confidence and openness in relations between the two countries, but the problems still remained. She said the United States wanted Pakistan to do more to tackle Islamist militants. A BBC correspondent travelling with Mrs Clinton says the secretary of state has worked hard to improve Pakistani perceptions. But mistrust of American motives still runs deep.
President of Serbia Boris Tadic has hailed what he called a historic visit by his Croatian counterpart Ivo Josipovic. After a meeting in Belgrade, Mr Tadic said Serbia wished for the best possible relationship with its neighbour and former enemy. Mr Josipovic said both countries shared the goal of peace and stability. From Belgrade, Mark Lowen.
They may be neighbours, but relations between Croatia and Serbia have long been anything but close. It's just 15 years since the end of the Croatian war, which killed thousands in fighting between ethnic Croats and Serbs. But now, both are determined to move on with the Serbian President Boris Tadic calling this visit by his Croatian counterpart "historic". The two men stressed the cooperation and dialogue that they believe now defines their countries' relationship, and they stressed their common goal to join the European Union which, says Brussels, will only be achieved through better regional cooperation.
Huge crowds of party goers in Germany have turned a stretch of motorway into one of the country's biggest open-air festivals. A 60-kilometre section of the road between the cities of Dortmund and Duisburg was closed to traffic and opened up to pedestrians, cyclists and family picnics. The event was held to celebrate the Ruhr area's position as this year's European Capital of Culture.
There has been a surprise winner at one of the top four international golf tournaments, the British Open. Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa won by a considerable margin of seven strokes. It's his first major golf title. The world's top ranked golfer, the American Tiger Woods, finished 13 strokes behind Oosthuizen.
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