The man due to become the new chief executive of BP says a smaller, wiser company will emerge from the crisis surrounding the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Bob Dudley, an American citizen who's currently BP's managing director, told US television that his top priority would be the clean-up operation.

"Sometimes events like this shake you to the core, the foundation, and you have two responses - one is to run away from it and hide; the other is to respond and really change the culture of the company and

make sure

all the checks and balances are there, just to make sure this does not happen again."

Cuba's former President Fidel Castro says he will release the first volume of his memoirs next month. The book will be called The Strategic Victory and will focus on the story of how a few hundred revolutionaries under his command defeated the Cuban army in 1958. It'll include

reminiscence

s from his childhood and describe how he became a guerrilla fighter.

The mayor of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro has launched a 10-year plan to renovate many of the city's favelas or slums. The mayor said the plan would benefit over 260,000 households and would cost around 4.5 billion dollars. It's part of the city's preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Some news just in: within the past few minutes, the Argentine football authorities have confirmed that the iconic coach of the national side, Diego Maradona, will not continue in his job, and his contract will not be