BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
The man appointed to run a 20-billion-dollar fund in the United States to compensate those affected by huge amounts of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico has said he's determined to speed up the payment of claims. The fund is paid for by the oil company BP. Paul Adams reports from Washington.
Kenneth Feinberg says he wants to oversee a process that is fast and transparent. The man who ran the claim fund for the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks seems anxious to reassure the people of the Gulf that this will not be a long, drawn-out affair. In a round of television interviews days after his appointment, Mr Feinberg said he had witnessed it first-hand the frustration and anger of people uncertain about their financial future.
The man accused of trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square in New York in May, Faisal Shahzad, has pleaded guilty to all 10 charges against him. They include attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was arrested two days after the attack as he tried to board a flight bound for Dubai.
The US Supreme Court has overturned a lower-level court ruling which barred the American bio-tech company Monsanto from selling genetically modified alfalfa seeds until there had been an environmental-impact study. The ruling paves the way for Monsanto to resume marketing their version of alfalfa, even though research into the potential environmental consequences hasn't been completed. Alfalfa, which is used mostly as cattle feed, is the fourth most valuable crop in the United States.
Rescue workers in the Republic of Congo have found the wreckage of a plane that disappeared on Saturday while flying Australian mining company executives to an iron ore project. A government minister in Cameroon, where the plane took off, said there were no survivors. Will Ross reports.
The wreckage of the plane was found in a remote forested area of the Republic of Congo. Amongst the 11 passengers was the entire board of the Australian mining company, Sundance Resources. One of Australia's richest men, the mining tycoon, Ken Talbot, was also on the plane, as well as two British, two French and one American national. They'd all been visiting the Mbalam iron ore project which straddles Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, and from where Sundance Resources is hoping to extract 35 million tons of iron ore a year.
The Iraqi minister for electricity has tendered his resignation after violent protests against widespread power cuts. Here's James Hodges.
The Minister Karim Waheed declared his resignation on Iraqi state television. Demonstrators demanding his departure and protesting against widespread electricity blackout have clashed with police in a number of Iraqi cities in recent days. Two demonstrators in the southern city of Basra were killed on Saturday.
That report from James Hodges.
BBC News.
The British government says the number of its soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the invasion of 2001 has reached 300. The death of the latest Royal Marine was announced on the day that nine NATO personnel were killed in bomb attacks and a helicopter crash in the south of Afghanistan. The latest deaths made this the deadliest month for the international coalition this year.
An Israeli planning body has approved an initial plan to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem. The scheme, which is part of a redevelopment project in the Silwan neighbourhood, is still some way from being implemented. It's strongly opposed by the Palestinians, who believe it will tighten Israel's control of the area. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said it was a dangerous move.
The coach of the French team at the football World Cup, Raymond Domenech, has said his players' refusal to train on Sunday in protest at striker Nicolas Anelka being sent home was unspeakably stupid. He said he fully supported the decision by the French football authorities to expel Anelka from the squad after he refused to apologize to him for a foul-mouthed outburst. He was speaking to journalists in South Africa.
“I tried to convince the players that to boycott training would be an aberration, an imbecility, would be unspeakably stupid. And for 45 minutes myself and the rest of the staff tried to convince them as members of the French team not to behave in such a way.”
France are in great danger of elimination from the tournament after failing to win either of their two first games.
Officials at one of Colombia's toughest jails, La Modelo in Bogota, say the equivalent of 40,000 dollars has been stolen from the prison's safe. The money proceeds from the sale of food to visitors disappeared from the administrative wing. Police are searching for suspects among the almost 6,000 prisoners.
BBC News.
BP石油公司在美国成立了200亿美元的基金,用于赔偿受大量石油泄漏入墨西哥湾影响的人。接受委任对该基金进行运作的人表示,他决心加速赔付的进程。该基金由英国石油公司支付。Paul Adams在华盛顿报道。
肯尼思-范伯格(Kenneth Feinberg)表示,他希望监管整个快速,透明的过程。他曾经运营过9.11袭击受害者家属赔偿基金。现在,他似乎急于向墨西哥湾的人们保证,这不会是一个漫长,冗杂的过程。在接受委任后第二天的采访中,范伯格表示,他亲眼目睹了对财务前景不确定的人们的沮丧和愤怒。
被指控5月份在纽约时代广场阴谋实施汽车爆炸的男子费萨尔·哈扎德(Faisal Shahzad)对所有10项指控全部认罪。其中包括试图使用大规模破坏性武器。袭击后两天,他试图登上飞往迪拜的航班时被捕。
美国最高法院推翻了较低级法院的一项裁决。该裁决禁止美国生物科技公司孟山都公司出售基因工程改造的紫花苜蓿种子,直到进行了环境影响研究。最高法院的裁决为孟山都公司继续将他们的紫花苜蓿推向市场铺平了道路,尽管针对潜在的环境影响的研究还未完成。紫花苜蓿主要用作牛的饲料,是美国第四大最有价值的作物。
周六,搭载澳大利亚矿业公司高层前往某铁矿的飞机失踪,刚果共和国搜救人员现已发现飞机的残骸。飞机在喀麦隆起飞,喀麦隆一名政府部长表示,机上全部人员遇难,无一幸存。Will Ross报道。
飞机残骸出现在刚果共和国一个偏远的森林地区。机上乘客包括澳大利亚矿业公司森丹斯资源有限公司(Sundance Resources Ltd.)董事会所有成员。澳大利亚最富有的人之一,矿业大亨肯·塔尔博特(Ken Talbot)也在飞机上。此外还包括两名英国人,两名法国人和一名美国人。他们此行是为了参观横跨喀麦隆,刚果共和国和赤道几内亚的铁矿石项目。森丹斯资源有限公司每年将从该铁矿提取35000万吨铁。
伊拉克出现大规模的电力中断现象,引发暴力抗议,电力部长正式辞职。James Hodges报道。
电力部长瓦希德在伊拉克国家电视台宣布辞职。近几天来,在伊拉克几个城市,要求瓦希德辞职,抗议大范围电力管制的示威者与警方发生冲突。周六,伊拉克南部城市巴士拉两名示威者遇难。
James Hodges报道。
英国政府表示,自2001年入侵开始以来,在阿富汗牺牲的英国士兵的人数已经上升到300人。9名北约工作人员在炸弹袭击中遇难,直升飞机在阿富汗南部坠毁的当天宣布了皇家海军陆战队最新的死亡数字。最近的死亡事件使得本月成为今年以来该国际盟军面临的最为致命的一个月。
以色列某计划机构通过了毁坏东耶路撒冷22座帕勒斯坦房屋的初步计划。该体制是Silwan社区在发展项目的一部分,距离实施还有一段距离。这引起了巴勒斯坦人的强烈不满,他们相信这回加强以色列对该地区的控制。谈判代表艾瑞克特(Saeb Erekat)表示,这是非常危险的举动。
足球世界杯法国队教练多梅内克称,法国队队员因阿内尔卡被开除而拒绝参加周日的训练是极其愚蠢的行为。他说,他完全支持法国足协所作的将阿内尔卡开除的决定。此前,阿内尔卡辱骂教练,但拒绝道歉。多梅内克在南非接受了记者采访。
“我希望说服球员,抵制训练将是反常的,愚蠢的,极其愚蠢的。在45分钟的时间里,我和其他工作人员试图说服他们,作为法国队的成员,不应该做出这样的举动。”
由于前两场比赛均未获胜,法国面临被淘汰的危险。
哥伦比亚最严厉的监狱,La Modelo in Bogota的官员表示,监狱大约40,000美元的资金被盗。这笔资金来自向不受监管的访问者出售食物获得。警方正在从6,000名囚犯中寻找嫌疑人。